Jivan Ramesh is a surprising musical talent in a non-musical family. Before the age of 3 he expressed a desire to play cello. On his fifth birthday he became the youngest string player to play at Carnegie Hall .
Recently turned 10, Jivan is enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music in the pre-college program, on almost full scholarship, having won the Dianne Danese Flagello Scholarship. He studies under famed cello pedagogue, Marion Feldman and plays in the MSM Repertory Orchestra. He also plays in a professional adult orchestra, the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, as well as in a number of chambers.
Jivan has been composing music since the age of 5. He composes in many musical styles, including classical, Chinese, Indian, and fiddle, and his compositions have been played by a number of ensembles, chamber groups.
Recently, his composition, The Bird and the Koi, was played by a string orchestra at a gala concert at the NY Metropolitan Museum. Jivan also won an International Composition Competition against teens and adults up to 21 (he needed to get special permission to compete because of his young age). His composition, Dusk, will be premiered at the award ceremony in St. Louis in 2019. Jivan is also composing the music for the upcoming indie movie Running Scared.
Jivan has the theoretical background to back up his composing. At the age of nine, Jivan wrote the AP Music Theory College Board Exam and was the youngest in the world to write it and get a perfect score (he also got perfect scores in every subsection).
Some well-known composers have heard Jivan’s compositions and are encouraging him to continue. Ira Taxin is privately tutoring him in composition, and Sir Michael Dadap and Bruce Adolphe are mentoring him. Jivan also has mentoring sessions or ongoing email correspondence on composition with Jay Ungar, Tan Dun, and Bright Sheng.
Jivan has won numerous awards in cello and composition including the Silver Medal at the Sinovision TV Teen talent awards with his own composition, and numerous top awards at the Kiwanis Festivals in Ontario, Canada. Just recently, Jivan won the Tilles Scholar Award.
At the age of 5 performed the solo at the televised Opening Ceremonies of the International Children's Games 2014 to a full stadium. He has also played at the Opening Session of the Kiwanis International Convention at Toronto Convention Center to a crowd of over 6,000 with a standing ovation. He was also a featured performer at the United Nations last year.
Jivan is not advanced only in music. He started reading at the age of 1, by 2 he could read most children's books, and by 3 he was reading books like the Hobbit. Currently he is a staff writer for Young Mensan Magazine with numerous articles published.
He also loves math and science. Jivan completed the math program at the Stanford Gifted and Talented program, and is currently taking courses at the accredited University of Nebraska Online High School at Grade 9 - 11 level.
Jivan is also very involved in volunteer work, performing for music therapy at hospitals and nursing homes, and volunteering in child literacy programs. He is a Mensa Honor Society Platinum member for his 770 hours of volunteer work in recent years.
He enjoys coding and robotic, and his Lego Robotics team has won regional Championships for 3 years, and has competed at the World’s tournament. In sports, Jivan loves swimming and is a Black Belt in Karate. When he grows up he would like to be a paleogeneticist.
