Adrian Anantawan

Eighteen year old Adrian Anantawan has been playing the violin since the age of 9. Unlike most young, rising stars on the classical music scene, Anantawan, who went to high school at the Etobicoke Schools for the Arts, in Toronto, was born without a right hand and uses a prosthetic device that fits onto the end of his forearm in order to play.

Anantawan is in his first year at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institure of Music, arguably the world’s most prestigious and most selective music conservatory. Prior to joining Curtis, he also won a summer scholarship to the Meadowmount School of Music in New York – another prestigious institute, which accepted Anantawan based on the submission of a tape and without knowing about his disability.

He is the recipient of the 2002 Rosemary Kennedy International Young Soloist Award and debuted at the Kennedy Centre in March of this year. Anantawan swims, lifts weights and plays baseball in his spare time and is a spokesperson for CHAMP, the Child Amputee Program of War Amps Canada.