A graduate of Yale University School of Music, Anton Smirnov began his piano studies at the age of seven in Novosibirsk, Russia. He has made more than 1,500 public performances worldwide at venues that include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Upon his graduation from Novosibirsk Conservatory, he moved to the US and graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with an Artist Diploma in 2010.

Anton is a dedicated and gifted teacher: his students have won numerous prizes at national and international competitions. Besides teaching piano, Mr. Smirnov enjoys teaching chamber groups and conducting string orchestras.

As a soloist, Anton is a prizewinner of several international piano competitions including the Moscow International Competition for Young Musicians, International Russian Music Piano Competition in San Jose, CA, Oberlin Concerto Competition, Corpus Christi International Concerto Competition, Louisiana International Piano Competition, the NTD International Piano Competition in New York, and others. He has performed as a soloist with various orchestras including the Tomsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Omsk Philarmonic Orchestra, San Jose Symphony and the Oberlin Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Anton collaborated with the members of Quatuor Ebene; double bass players Edgar Meyer and Eugene Levinson, violinists Simone Perter, Mark Kaplan and Grigory Sokolovsky, violist Barbara Westphal, Antonio Lysy, and many others.

Anton has participated in many international music festivals including International Program New Names, Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Banff International Master Classes, and Sarasota International Music Festival. Anton is a member of the collaborative faculty at The Heifetz International Music Institute. He participates in the Heifetz on Tour music series, performing chamber music with finest young string players.

As of now, Anton is Head of Piano Department at Russian School of Music in Irvine, CA.

Chinese-born pianist Chen Liang is a recording artist for KNS Classical in Spain and a performing artist for Chengdu City Concert Hall in China. He has played with Chong Qing Philharmonic in China, the Greece Symphony Orchestra in New York and Lynn Philharmonic in Florida.

Chen is the winner of the Clara Schumann International Piano Competition, the Manhattan International Music Competition, the Lira International Piano Competition, the Big Arts Classical Music Scholarship Competition, and the Lynn Concerto Competition. He also won top prizes in many other competitions including ArsClassica International Piano Competition in Italy, Piano Texas Music Festival Concerto Competition and the Chautauqua Music Festival Piano Competition.

Currently, Chen serves as Vice President of South King County Music Teachers' Association in Seattle and Artistic Board for the Seattle International Piano Competition. He is also on the piano faculty at the Chopin Academy of Music. Chen performs as a Collaborative Pianist for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Choral Company. Before moving to Seattle, Chen was a former Piano Faculty at Eastman Community Music School in New York and an Adjunct Lecturer at the State University of New York at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo). Back in China, Chen co-founded the Beyond Clouds summer piano festival in Chengdu and has been serving as the Artistic Director since 2018. Chen holds his degrees from Lynn University Conservatory of Music (BM) with Dr. Roberta Rust and the Eastman School of Music (MM, DMA), with Ms. Natalya Antonova.

Dr. Huixian Wu has performed widely as a solo and chamber musician at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Italy, the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain, Carnegie Hall in USA, Suiyuan Music Hall in China, and at numerous academic institutions as a guest artist. Her artistic mission centers on expression, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Through her performances, Dr. Wu seeks to rejuvenate existing musical expressions and foster connections beyond traditional music boundaries.

As a pianist, Dr. Wu has been recognized with numerous awards, including first prizes in the Charleston International Music Competition and the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition. Her research and performance work continue to shape the evolving landscape of music, drawing on both Western Classical traditions and contemporary innovations.

She has presented at College Music Society (CMS) conferences and Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) conferences at state and national levels.

Dr. Wu is an accomplished pianist and educator, currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Music/Keyboard at Talladega College. She earned her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance from Florida State University and holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance, along with a Post-Bachelor Certification in Historical Keyboard Performance, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Jianan Xu, a Chinese pianist, is earning praise from famous musician Solomon Mikowsky for his incredible technique and musical sensitivity.

Jianan completed his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Piano Performance at the University of Kansas, where he also serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. He earned a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Mannes School of Music, where he studied under professors Vladimir Feltsman, Alvin Chow, Alan Chow, and Angela Cheng. He also received specialized training in fortepiano with American keyboardist David Breitman. His foundational piano education began at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China, where he studied with Professors Shao Dan, Wu Ying, and Zhou Ting.

His vibrant performance at the Third Beethoven Festival Young Pianists Piano Competition was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize and invited him to perform at a special concert during the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Germany. Jianan also has amassed numerous awards, including first prize at the Charleston International Piano Competition, first prize at the Four Cities Piano Competition, second prize at the University of Kansas Piano Concerto Competition, semifinalist at the London International Concerto Competition, the Suzana Szorenyi International Duo Piano Competition in Bucharest, Romania, and the Wideman International Piano Competition. At the age of 12, he gave his first solo recital at the Shanghai Concert Hall. His performance career spans solo recitals and chamber music concerts across Spain, Germany, France, China, the United States, and Romania. As an advocate for piano duos and chamber music, he has consistently dedicated himself to various charitable performances. He has participated in numerous chamber music and piano duos concerts across China. In 2019, he organized and directed China's first multi-piano concert in Hangzhou. The concert caused a sensation and garnered significant attention across China, introducing audiences to diverse forms of piano performance.

Beyond his performance, Jianan is an accomplished piano teacher. He received a piano pedagogy cognate from the University of Kansas. He has taught at the Shanghai Experimental School and the University of Kansas School of Music. His students have gained admission to conservatories worldwide, including Michigan State University, Mannes School of Music, Lynn University, Xi'an Conservatory, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. As an active jury member, Jianan has served in renowned competitions such as the Shanghai International Piano Competition and the Liszt International Youth Piano Competition. He is an honorary member of both the Shanghai Musicians Association and the Piano Committee of the Shanghai Musicians Association. Jianan is currently working on a recording project with the Blue Griffin label; the release is scheduled for the end of 2025.

Kookhee Hong, a native of South Korea, began piano lessons at age four and won first prizes in numerous Korean national competitions. She continued her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under tutelage of Elenor Sokoloff. She appeared in master classes by Emanuel Ax, Gary Graffman, Claude Frank, Sergio Perticaroli, Lev Natocheny and Peter Eicher.

As a full scholarship student of Solomon Mikowsky, Dr. Hong completed Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees, Professional Studies Diploma and Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the Manhattan School of Music. She won first prize at the Carlet International Competition in Valencia, second prize at the Maria Canals International Competition in Barcelona, the audience prize and Alicia de Larrocha Spanish prize at the Andorra International Competition, and was also a prize winner at the Panama International Competition.

Frequently in demand as a recitalist abroad, she also appeared as a soloist with the Tenerife Symphony, the Manhattan Symphony, the Carlet Sinfonia, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic and the Panama National Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Hong currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Hope International University and Irvine Valley College. Her students have been accepted to prestigious music schools such as California State University, Fullerton, University of California Los Angeles and Eastman School of Music.

Pianist Yalan Piao, originally from China, is an active soloist and collaborative pianist who has performed extensively in concert halls and churches across the United States, Italy, and China.

As a soloist, Dr. Piao has earned top prizes in the Marquette Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition and the American Protégé Competition. She has given solo recitals at renowned venues including the Shanghai Concert Hall, He Luting Concert Hall, Kresge Hall at Madonna University, and numerous churches throughout the Metro Detroit area. Her recent performances include a recital tour in Alaska, where she was featured as soloist. She has also participated in esteemed music festivals such as the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, BIMFA on the Road International Music Festival, and Walnut Hill Music Festival.

As a collaborative pianist, Dr. Piao has worked with a wide range of instrumentalists and orchestras in both China and the United States. Her performances have taken place at prominent venues such as Shanghai Concert Hall and Chongqing Symphony Orchestra Hall, as well as in Michigan at Jackson College's Potter Center, Chelsea High School with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Dawson Auditorium with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and the Brighton Center for the Performing Arts with the Michigan Philharmonic. She has also performed in Italy with vocalists and cellists as part of the Centro Studi Della Giacoma program. In addition, she has served as a staff pianist at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Stulberg International String Competition, Collabfest, and the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference.

Beyond the stage, Dr. Piao is a passionate educator. She has served as a mentor at Celebrating the Spectrum: A Festival for Music and Life, a program for young pianists with autism at Michigan State University. She is a sought-after adjudicator for piano competitions and has successfully guided her students through programs such as RCM, MMTA's Student Achievement Testing, and the American Guild of Music. She currently serves on the Member at Large for the Livonia Area Piano Teachers Forum (LAPTF), and will serve as the Michigan Regional Director for the 2026 Orbifold Competition.

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the international stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition, 2017 Washington International Competition, and the Warning International Piano Competition. The Worthing Herald music critic Richard Amey praised his recent performance "flair for the unusual and his technical and artistic capacity to deliver," as well as his "musical and emotional intelligence, dexterity and virtuosity," listening to Chen as soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.5 "Egyptian" with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. His vibrant playing at the Pacific International Piano Competition (Canada) was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize ("…Yi-Yang showed an impressive breadth of emotional investment and natural affinity for the music he played. The informed individuality and command of his performance was immediately compelling to the judges. We feel this young man has a fine future as an artist. He seems to 'own' the piano as he plays, and this makes his performance extremely powerful" - Dr. Robin McCabe).

Yi-Yang Chen is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Kansas and the Artist Director of the Orbifold Music Festival in California. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen has been playing the piano since the age of 8. Yi-Yang completed his Doctor of Musical Arts And Bachelor's of Music at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys, and his Master's degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal. He also has solo/chamber masterclasses with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Pollack, Joseph Kalichstein.

Yi-Yang Chen is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, and Mu Phi Epsilon. He enjoys swimming, biking, traveling, and composing. Yi-Yang is currently working on a recording project with Champs Hill label (UK); the release is scheduled for 2025. Before joining KU (University of Kansas), Yi-Yang served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University as a tenure-track professor.

Dr. Chen is a Steinway Artist.

Ariana Solotoff, originally from New York, lives and works in Los Angeles as a performer and teacher of violin and viola.

Ms. Solotoff earned her Bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School under the mentorship of Michael Tree and Masao Kawasaki, and her Masters from the Haute École de Musique de Genève in Switzerland where she studied with Miguel Da Silva. While in Geneva, she was a recipient of the prestigious Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Scholarship Award.

Ariana has performed with many chamber and symphonic orchestras across the US and Europe including Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Venia, Hulencourt Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Regală and Orchestra Națională Radio România.

She has made appearances on the Grammy Awards, Video Game Music Awards and Disney Channel, and recorded in several film soundtracks, pop and rock albums for artists such as Beyoncé, Yendry, Mergui and others. She has also performed live with Kelly Clarkson, Sheléa, Twenty One Pilots and joined the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for their Hidden In Pieces tour in 2025.

As an educator, Ariana runs the Pascale Music Program where she teaches violin, viola and piano. She is also on faculty at Montecito International Music Festival, Idyllwild Arts Intensive Summer Music Program and Cremona International Music Academy in Italy.

Ariana is the creator and director of Popsical Music, an initiative driven by her passion for making classical music accessible to all. She is dedicated to encouraging newcomers to explore and engage with the genre in a welcoming and inspiring way. Ariana's mission is to introduce as many young children and families as possible to the beauty and richness of classical music.

Boryana Popova is a Los Angeles-based concert violinist, session player, and violin teacher. Born in Bulgaria, Boryana arrived in Los Angeles in 2007 where she completed both her Masters and Doctorate degrees in violin performance at UCLA. She has performed as a soloist, chamber, and orchestra musician throughout Europe and The United States.

Christina Wu, a Chinese-born violinist, is a versatile, charismatic, and passionate soloist, chamber musician. Prize winner of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell International Young Artist Competition, she has given numerous performances across Asia, North America, and Europe.

Currently serving as concertmaster in Cascade Symphony Orchestra, Christina also appears frequently with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, played as principal second violin with the Seattle Chamber Orchestra, and Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra. As an active chamber musician, her recent chamber music engagement includes playing in the Classical KING FM 98.1 Northwest Focus LIVE, and performing in the concert series at Cascadia Art Museum.

Her past affiliations include playing first violin with Washington Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, and Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. In 2010, she was a selected member of the Youth Orchestra of the World, performing at the Youth Olympics Games Opening Ceremony and Gala Concert. Her notable collaborations feature legends such as Leon Fleisher, Kiri Te Kanawa, the Vienna Boys' Choir, Jose Carreras, Joseph Silverstein, Lang Lang, Ray Chen, Midori Gotto.

Jinhyun Kim is a celebrated cellist from South Korea, renowned for her exceptional artistry and dynamic performances. Currently, she holds the prestigious role of Principal Cellist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and serves as the Assistant Principal Cellist with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her regular positions, Jinhyun is a substitute musician with both the Detroit Opera and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, showcasing her versatility and adaptability across diverse musical settings. She also collaborates with the Jackson Symphony and Flint Symphony and is a core member of ConTempus Initiative, a prominent new music ensemble based in mid-Michigan.

Beyond her performance career, Jinhyun is deeply committed to music education. She serves as an Adjunct Professor of Cello at Albion College, Oakland University and Spring Arbor University, and is also a dedicated cello faculty member at the Flint School of Performing Arts. Jinhyun holds certification from the Suzuki Association of the Americas as a registered Suzuki teacher and is a member of the American String Teachers Association. Her extensive experience includes serving on audition and competition panels for both student and professional orchestras, where she offers valuable insights to nurture emerging talent.

Jinhyun's musical journey began at the age of eight, laying the foundation for a remarkable career. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at Ewha Womans University in South Korea, where she took her initial steps in the world of music. Her quest for excellence led her to Michigan State University, where she achieved both her Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. During her time at MSU, she contributed as a graduate teaching assistant, all while earning recognition through esteemed awards and grants.

Jinhyun's recent performance highlights include a celebrated solo appearance with the Livingston Symphony Orchestra, where she performed as a concerto soloist to great acclaim. Her talent has graced renowned stages and garnered acclaim. She marked her musical journey with a debut concert at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea in 2011. Notably, she had the privilege of participating in a master class with celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma at the Fairchild Theater at MSU in November 2013. Her musical prowess was further showcased when she triumphed in the Michigan State University honors competition, leading to a stellar performance as a concerto soloist with the MSU Symphony Orchestra at the Wharton Center in March 2014. This performance was even broadcast multiple times on 90.5 WKAR.

Jinhyun's musical journey has also taken her to Carnegie Hall in New York, where she performed twice, for the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition 2016 Winners Recital and for the first prize winner concert of the 2019 Golden Classical Music Awards.

A remarkable chapter in Jinhyun's career unfolded at the National Orchestral Institute Festival 2016 at the University of Maryland. There, she had the privilege of collaborating with distinguished conductors such as James Ross, Teddy Abrams, and Osmo Vänskä. Her contributions to the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic's recordings, including Thompson: Symphony No. 2, were celebrated by Naxos Records.

Jinhyun's artistry extends beyond traditional orchestral settings. She has been a pivotal figure as the Principal Cellist with Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, contributing to a performance of Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light at the Detroit Institute of Arts in March 2018. Furthermore, she showcased her soloist abilities as a cellist in the Michigan Opera Theatre's fall 2020 production, Twilight: Gods. Her performance garnered rave reviews in prominent publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Opera News, and The New Yorker.

Jinhyun Kim's dedication to her craft and her significant contributions to the world of classical music are a testament to her unwavering commitment and exceptional talent. Her continued journey promises to be a source of inspiration to musicians and music enthusiasts alike.

Mr. Yuan Fang, professor of violin, founder and head of the Orchestral Instruments Department of China Conservatory of Music, Beijing, and Deputy Director of China Youth Philharmonic.

Visiting Professor of University of Washington and Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Western Michigan University, Faculty member of Midwest University Graduate School of Music.

As a jury member of the China National Violin and Piano Competition, the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition, the Shlomo-Mint International Violin Competition, the Singapore International Music Competition, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges International Violin Competition, and the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside (PAFE).

Barbara Wiltsie, mezzo-soprano, has soloed with numerous symphonies, chorale groups and opera companies throughout the Midwest; including the DSO, Southwestern Michigan Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Bach Festival of Kalamazoo, Mendelssohn Chorale of Pittsburgh, The Singers Club of Cleveland, Opera!Lenawee, Michigan Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Civic Opera, and Toledo Opera. A former long-time Michigan Opera Theatre Touring Artist, she has garnered many awards, such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as a two-time Regional finalist, winner of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Performance Prize and a winner in the NOA Artist Awards.

Her operatic roles with noted opera companies include Carmen, Cherubino, Hansel, Dido, Mercedes, Dorabella, Dinah, Prince Orlofsky, Kate Pinkerton, Giovanna, and La Ciesca. Orchestral works as soloist include Mozart's C Minor Mass, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem Mass, and Stravinski's Oedipus Rex.

Wiltsie's directed shows over the past 20 years with Lyric Theatre include The Phantom of the Opera, The Secret Garden, Godspell, Urinetown, Brigadoon, Fiddler on the Roof, A Christmas Carol, Little Shop of Horrors, Gianni Schicchi, The Magic Flute, Brundibar, and The Pirates of Penzance. She has also produced shows which she was the playwright utilizing operatic or musical theatre selections: Opéra en Seville, Vienna to the Theresienstadt Ghettos, and Here's A How-de-do (Gilbert & Sullivan music).

A recipient of the Madonna University 2004 Teaching of Excellence Adjunct Faculty award, her full-time duties since 2006 include Director and 2003 founder of Lyric Theatre, vocal related courses and additional courses related to theatre and music business management. In 2017 she became Chair of the Music Department, now titled Program Director-Music as part of the Department of Art, Music, and Dance.

In addition to her university duties, Wiltsie was the Founder and Managing Director/Vocal instructor for the Madonna University Summer Music Theater Intensive for high school students, and is a sought-after adjudicator for MSVMA, NATS and other musical organizations. She is Co-Director of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Auditions - Michigan Committee, and Board Member for the Livonia Symphony Orchestra.

Praised for her beautiful singing by The Stratford Herald for her performance in England, international mezzo-soprano Katie H. Stevenson has enjoyed an operatic career that spanned Germany, Ireland, Canada, and across the U.S.

Prior to her time abroad, she lived in NYC where her career blossomed and she performed numerous opera roles along the East Coast such as Carmen and Mercedes in Carmen, Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, and Emilia in Otello, along with concert appearances at DiCapo Opera, Opera Collective, and Opera on Tap NYC.

During her years in Anchorage Alaska, Katie performed with the Anchorage Opera as well as the Anchorage Concert Choir Association. As a Young Artist she performed the role of The Secretary in The Consul and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte in Young Artist programs in Canada and North Carolina.

Since moving to Seattle in 2015 she has performed roles and concerts with Pacific Northwest Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Northwest Opera In Schools Etc., Seattle Modern Opera Company, Bellevue Festival of the Nativity, and the Ladies' Musical Club.

In addition to performing, Katie teaches voice and piano to young students and is active on the board for the Puget Sound Chapter of NATS.

Dr. Barr earned degrees in church music and choral conducting from Westminster Choir College (B.M.), Southern Methodist University (M.M., M.S.M.), and the University of Michigan (D.M.A.). He has served as organist and choir director at churches in Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey and Texas.

Under Dr. Barr's direction, the Tuskegee Choir has toured the Midwestern and East Coast regions of the United States, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Choir has also presented numerous concerts throughout the Southeast.

As an organ recitalist, Dr. Barr has twice been a featured organist at the Colour of Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. He is also a music workshop clinician.

Dr. Barr is co-director of the Italian Opera Study Abroad Program, which offers students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) a four-week study of Italian opera with a renowned coach in Italy.

Dr. Barr is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association of Negro Musicians, and the American Guild of Organists. He is also actively involved in the Tuskegee community through the Optimist Club, an organization that supports children and youth, and through the Tuskegee Repertory Theatre.

Her students have won over 200 prizes at national and international competitions. She is a solo and chamber instrumentalist. But her main field of activity is the piano. 35 years she is a piano professor at National School of Arts. Antoaneta Vodenicharova is often invited as a member of the juries of a major national and international competitions/ "Manolov Competition" NY- USA ; "Pancho Vladigerov"- Bulgaria ; "Liszt- Bartok"- Bulgaria etc.

Education

D.M.A. Piano Performance and Literature, Eastman School of Music

M.M. Piano Performance, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

B.M. Piano Performance; Music Theory, University of Michigan

Elizabeth Crecca is Assistant Professor of Music at Truman State University, where she is head of the piano program and director of the Truman State University Piano Festival and Competition. She has taught, performed, and presented at the Bilkent University Piano Festival, University of Missouri—St. Louis Keyboard Camp, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Chautauqua Piano Program, Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival, and American Bach Soloists Academy. Dr. Crecca has appeared as recitalist and masterclass clinician at universities across the U.S. including the Eastman School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, University of Michigan, University of Oklahoma, Fresno State, Utah State, Hillsdale College, and Rochester Institute of Technology. She has won top prizes in competitions including Chautauqua and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Young Artist Division. Her repertoire ranges from premieres of new works to Baroque and Classical works on period instruments, and she has been praised for her "distinctive voice" at the piano (The Chautauquan Daily).

Dr. Crecca's research explores the connections among analysis, history, and performance, focusing largely on performance practice and its practical applications. She has been invited to perform and present at conferences including the MTNA National Conference, World Piano Teachers Association World Piano Conference, and Kansas/Missouri Music Teachers Association State Conference. Her lecture recital, "Performance Practice in the Piano Music of Béla Bartók: Exploring Compositional Source Material and Historical Recordings," was nominated for Eastman's Lecture Recital Prize.

Prior to joining the faculty at Truman, Dr. Crecca taught at Bucknell University, Bradley University, and the Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester. At Eastman she launched a masterclass series and was nominated for the Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Her piano students have performed and won top prizes in the Truman State University Gold Medal Concerto Competition, University of Rochester Concerto Competition, Bradley University Concerto and Aria Competition, UR Performing Arts Conference, and several masterclass series.

Dr. Crecca holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music in Piano Performance with a Baroque Emphasis from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Music Theory from the University of Michigan. She studied piano with Natalya Antonova, Yoshikazu Nagai, and Logan Skelton, as well as harpsichord and fortepiano with Corey Jamason and Lisa Crawford.

"His playing encompasses a technical perfection which never lacks musical expression; rather, it captivates and convinces with serious intensity." - Ingo Harden in Fono Forum

Mario Häring was born in November 1989 in Hanover, Germany and grew up in Berlin. Descending from a GermanJapanese family of musicians, he gained first experiences with the piano and violin at the young age of three years and shortly after took up his first piano lessons. Even before finishing high school, he became a student of Professor Fabio Bidini at the Julius-Stern-Institute of the University of the Arts Berlin and of Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at HMTM Hanover. It was also with Prof. Kämmerling and Prof. Lars Vogt that Mario Häring completed his studies, which he finished in 2017 with the highest grade.

He gained special recognition at the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition by winning the 2nd prize as well as the inaugural Yaltah Menuhin Award for the best chamber music performance.

In the year 2003 Mario Häring gave his orchestral debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall. Since then, his concert activities led him to renowned halls such as Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Theâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He was a guest at major festivals such as the Festival La Roque d'Anthéron, the Schwetzinger Festival, the Kissinger Sommer and the festival "Spannungen" in Heimbach. In spring 2017 he was the first "Intendant in residence" of the newly founded festival ":alpenarte" in Schwarzenberg, Austria. Concert engagements led him through Europe, Asia and the USA.

His chamber music partners include Sharon Kam, Soyoung Yoon, Pablo Barragán, Kian Soltani and Emmanuel Tjeknavorian.

He is a founding member of the Bawandi Trio (with Patrick Hollich – Clarinet and Alexandre Castro-Balbi – Cello) and the Capybara Piano Quartet (Shuichi Okada – Violin, Takehiro Konoe – Viola, Minjoung Kim – Cello) with whom he won first prize at the 2023 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition.

In the past seasons, Mario Häring has performed regularly in the major European concert halls, where he gave concerts with cellist Kian Soltani as well as with oboist Cristina Gómez Godoy and violist Sara Ferrández as part of the ECHO "Rising Stars" series.

His discography now includes three solo albums and five chamber music albums. For the album "Røta", he was awarded the Opus Klassik 2021 together with violinist Ragnhild Hemsing and cellist Benedict Klöckner.

On his latest album "EXTASE", released by Berlin Classics, he explores the emotions of an imaginary Berlin techno weekend through works by Debussy, Liszt, Connesson, Scriabin, Cage, Rachmaninoff and Wagner.

“I have been impressed by her musical commitment as well as her high level technical skill.“ - Michel Béroff (Legendary French Pianist)

"A unique musician and the brightest presence on stage." - Akiko Ebi (Japanese Pianist)

Muzi Li is a highly acclaimed young Chinese pianist on the international stage, recognized as one of the world’s most promising and outstanding young female pianists. Hailed by Germany’s historic newspaper Murrhardter Zeitung as “a radiant pianist, a rising star…”

Italian critic Alfonso Sarno noted in Mundo Musicos: “Her performance is exquisitely refined, with a crystal-clear tone. Her slender arms possess remarkable inner power, and her ten fingers work like those of a magician, effortlessly conjuring diverse styles and tonal colors."

Even before finishing high school, she became a student of Professor Susanne Grützmann at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns-Eisler“ Berlin and later of Prof. Markus Groh at the university of arts Berlin. It was also with Prof. Groh that Muzi completed her bachelor and master studies, which she finished in 2022 with the highest grade. She is currently pursuing her Konzertexamen degree, under the guidance of Prof. Florian Wiek at HMDK Stuttgart in Germany, where she also teaches as assistant teacher in the piano faculty.

She has won prizes at many prestigious competitions, most recently the 1st prize and Expressive Performance Prize at the Salzburg International Music Competition in Austria, and the 1st prize at the Orbetello International Piano Competition in Italy.

Muzi also received the 1st prize and the Audience’s Choice prize at the 5th Francesco Cardaropoli International Piano Competition in Italy, and the 1st prize at the 2023 Mimas Festival International Piano Competition in Procida, and a special scholarship award, sponsored by Krause Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. Among her many honours, Muzi also won 1st prize at the 15th Giovani Musicisti International Piano Competition in Venice, and the 1st prize at the 6th UK international piano competition in London.

As one of the most active young pianists on the international stage, Muzi has performed across 18 countries, spanning five continents, including China, Germany, the USA, Canada, Brazil, France, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

This past season, Muzi performed extensively in Europe, Asia, and South America, giving performances at such prominent venues as Berlin Philharmonie in Germany (January 2025), the Salle Cortot in Paris, Solitär performance Hall in Salzburg, the Evans Hall in New York, the Theatro Municipal in Brazil, the Montreal concert hall in Canada, the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Madrid, and the Santa Margherita Nuova in Naples.

In 2024, she signed with KNS Classical (Spain), and will release her debut solo CD in 2025. Her interviews feature in “Mundo Musicos” (Italy) and “Napoli Music Weekly”, with coverage in “Murrhardter Zeitung” (Germany), “Salerno Daily” (Italy), “Segovia Headlines” (Spain), “Royal Post” (Liechtenstein), and “7 Days media” (Canada).

Nick Zhang received piano training under the legendary pianists Ronald Farren-Price (a student of Claudio Arrau) and Rita Reichman (a student of Seymour Lipkin, Mieczysław Horszowski, and Rosina Lhévinne). Under their guidance, he pursued the exploration of the logical relationship between tonal color and dynamics in his performances. He believes that if a performer cannot find an appropriate sound (including dynamics and tone) for different pieces, the performance will inevitably lack artistic objectivity and be overly spontaneous.

Nick furthered his piano studies in Germany under the tutelage of Klaus Bessler, head of the piano department at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, who praised him as a passionate and extremely talented pianist.

Nick studied piano in the pre-college program at the New England Conservatory in Boston and performed with the Harvard University Music Department. He later enrolled in a joint program at Yale University and the University of Melbourne, where he continued his piano studies and earned Bachelor's degrees with a double major in Economics and International Politics, along with a piano diploma.

He later studied piano and earned a Master's degree at the Royal College of Music in London. He also received piano guidance from Andrew Schiff, Robert Macdonald, and Solomon Mikowsky.

Nick has played concerts in China, Australia, London, Germany, America, and Italy. He has also collaborated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performing Mozart piano concertos. He was invited to perform at the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne, Australia, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Apart from music, Nick is also fascinated by philosophy, history, literature, and mathematics, having won a prize in the Mathematical Olympiad. During 2015 - 2017, he taught piano and math at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne.

Italian native Roberto Plano performs regularly throughout North America and Europe – notably at Lincoln Center, Sala Verdi, Salle Cortot, Wigmore Hall and the Herkulessaal. He has appeared with orchestras all over the world, under the direction of renowned conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, James Conlon, Pinchas Zuckerman, Miguel Harth-Bedoya. He has been a featured recitalist at the internationally acclaimed Newport Festival, the Portland Piano Festival, Ravinia Festival and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival (USA), Chopin Festival (Poland), the Bologna Festival - Great Soloists (Italy), and many others. He played with String Quartets such as the Takacs, Cremona, St. Petersburg, Fine Arts, Jupiter, Muir, as well as soloists such as Ilya Grubert, Pavel Berman, Jiri Barta, Enrico Bronzi, and in duo with his wife Paola Del Negro.

Mr. Plano was the First Prize Winner at the 2001 Cleveland International Piano Competition, Prize Winner at the Honens, Dublin, Sendai, Geza Anda and Valencia Competitions and Finalist at the 2005 Van Cliburn and the Busoni Competitions, in addition to having won 15 First Prizes in National Competitions in Italy. In January 2018 he won the American Prize in the solo professional division. Mr. Plano's engaging personality has made him a favorite guest on radio programs such as NPR's Performance Today.

He has recorded more than 20 commercial CDs for Briliant, Sipario, Azica, Arktos, DaVinci, Concerto, being awarded five stars by several music magazines. and he recently released several World Première CDs with music by Andrea Luchesi (1741-1801). Mr. Plano gave the world premiere of two Luchesi piano concertos with the Busoni Chamber Orchestra in Trieste, Italy; the US premiere took place with the Toledo Symphony, Stefan Sanderling conducting. Mr. Plano's debut recording with DECCA Classics was also recently released, featuring the "Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses" by Liszt, which have not been recorded by Decca since the 60's. Recent events include soloist appearances with Kremerata Baltica at the Portogruaro International Festival in Italy, with the Royal Camerata at the Athenauem Theater in Bucarest (Romania), and recitals and chamber music concerts at the Stellenbosh Symposium, Sudafrica, at the Yamaha Center, Taiwan, at Vivace Vilnius Festival in Lituania, Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain and at the Boston Athenauem in USA. He was also invited to give several concerts in Russia, including two concerts at the Kremlin State Palace in Moscow, and a 10-concert chamber music tour in China with The Juilliard School's faculty Laurie Smukler and Darrett Adkins.

Mr. Plano studied at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, the Ecole Normale "Cortot" in Paris, where he earned the Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste, obtaining first prize with unanimous decision and congratulations of the Jury, and the Lake Como Academy. Mr. Plano has been described by The Chronicle as the "Pavarotti of the Piano" for his lyricism and defined by Chicago radio commentator Paul Harvey as the heir to Rubinstein and Horowitz. In Italy, he has appeared on the cover of the most important music magazine, Amadeus, and has been awarded several prizes, including the Lumen Claro, awarded by the city of Varese to its most celebrated citizens. NY Times music critic Anthony Tommasini has written: "This Italian pianist showed artistic maturity beyond his years… there was a wonderful clarity and control of inner voices in his performances…".

After joining in 2016 the Faculty of Boston University, in 2018 he has been appointed Associate Professor of Piano at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. One of the most sought-after teachers in the world, Mr. Plano also regularly teaches during the summer at Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival and at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. Since 2023 he is Professor of Piano and Chair of School of Keyboard Studies at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland) and International Visiting Professor of Piano at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (UK). Fequently invited in international juries around the world, this season he is a member of the Jury, among others, of the Seoul International Music Competition, the Van Cliburn Competition (Screening Jury) and the Honens International Piano Competition (Final Jury).

Pianist Tristan Gang Tian has won acclaim from global audiences for his rich emotional expression in music, acute insight, profound understanding of music, and diverse musical colors. As a pianist with dual identities in performance and education, his career trajectory demonstrates distinct characteristics of internationalization and professionalism. During his studies in the US, he was mentored by international masters including Hung-Kuan Chen, Akiko Ebi, Alon Goldstein, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Vadym Kholodenko, Tamas Ungar, forming a diversified and inclusive performing style.

His academic footprint spans authoritative organizations such as the Music Teachers National Association, Phi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and the American Liszt Society, highlighting his recognition in music education and academic research. In cultural communication, he promotes the popularization of classical music through dual efforts of public welfare courses and international tours.

In education, he combines international performing concepts with domestic teaching needs, filling the gap in connecting performing practice and educational theory. Mr. Tian has held solo concerts in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Vancouver, Mexico City, Costa Rica, Panama, Singapore, China, Korea, and Japan. He is also the co-founder and the executive director of Washington International Rachmaninoff Music Competition, a member of Alink-Argerich Foundation.

Bulgaria-born pianist Veselin Ninov is a recording artist and the winner of numerous national and international competitions in the USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.

Mr. Ninov has performed with orchestras, judged international festivals and competitions, and has given master classes and solo and chamber music recitals in Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Steinway Hall, and others.

Veselin is the Artistic Director of the Manolov International Competition and currently runs a private teaching studio in New York. In 2024 he received the prize for high pedagogical accomplishments awarded by Steinway & Sons.

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the international stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition, 2017 Washington International Competition, and the Warning International Piano Competition. The Worthing Herald music critic Richard Amey praised his recent performance "flair for the unusual and his technical and artistic capacity to deliver," as well as his "musical and emotional intelligence, dexterity and virtuosity," listening to Chen as soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.5 "Egyptian" with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. His vibrant playing at the Pacific International Piano Competition (Canada) was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize ("…Yi-Yang showed an impressive breadth of emotional investment and natural affinity for the music he played. The informed individuality and command of his performance was immediately compelling to the judges. We feel this young man has a fine future as an artist. He seems to 'own' the piano as he plays, and this makes his performance extremely powerful" - Dr. Robin McCabe).

Yi-Yang Chen is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Kansas and the Artist Director of the Orbifold Music Festival in California. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen has been playing the piano since the age of 8. Yi-Yang completed his Doctor of Musical Arts And Bachelor's of Music at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys, and his Master's degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal. He also has solo/chamber masterclasses with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Pollack, Joseph Kalichstein.

Yi-Yang Chen is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, and Mu Phi Epsilon. He enjoys swimming, biking, traveling, and composing. Yi-Yang is currently working on a recording project with Champs Hill label (UK); the release is scheduled for 2025. Before joining KU (University of Kansas), Yi-Yang served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University as a tenure-track professor.

Dr. Chen is a Steinway Artist.

Misia Iannoni Sebastianini is an Italian violinist and currently a violin professor at the "Morlacchi" Conservatory in Perugia.

She studied at the "Santa Cecilia" Conservatory in Rome and graduated in 2016 with the highest honors, distinction, and a mention of honor. In 2018, she earned a second-level degree in chamber music at the "Arrigo Boito" Conservatory in Parma with a score of 110, distinction, and a mention of honor.

She owes her violin training to Masters Marco Fiorini, Oleksandr Semchuk, Ksenia Milas, and Pavel Berman and she further honed her skills with Leonidas Kavakos, Massimo Quarta, Felix Ayo, Dora Schwarzberg, Mariana Sirbu, Natalia Prishepenko, Alessandro Moccia, and Virgilio Gori.

Recently, Misia completed her studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel under the guidance of Rainer Schmidt, supported by the De Sono Association. Her final concert for the Master's in Violin Performance in 2022 won a prize for the best exam of the year. She continued her specialization with a Master's in Soloist Performance, also under Maestro Rainer Schmidt, which concluded with a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Sinfonieorchester Basel at the prestigious Stadtcasino in Basel.

Misia is a founding member of the Quartetto Werther, an ensemble that won the F. Abbiati Prize – A. Farulli Prize in 2020, Third Prize at the 20th edition of the "Trio di Trieste" International Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the Alberto Burri Competition in 2019, Third Prize at the Città di Pinerolo Competition in 2023 and Second Prize at Lugano Chamber Music Award.

The quartet's extensive concert activity includes performances at major institutions such as the International House of Music in Moscow, Teatro La Fenice in Venezia, Unione Musicale in Torino, Bologna Festival, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Società dei Concerti in Milano, Teatro Ristori in Verona, and the Società del Quartetto in Milano.

They graduated from the chamber music masterclasses at the Santa Cecilia Academy with a score of 10, honors, and a mention (for the first time in the history of the academy's chamber music courses), also receiving the prestigious Sinopoli Prize, presented by President Mattarella.

She was invited by Bruno Giuranna to serve as a jury member for the first "Premio Farulli" String Quartet International Competition in 2020 and by Eugenio De Rosa to be part of the jury for the "Annarosa Taddei" International Competition in 2023 (a competition she had previously won in 2016).

In 2023, she was invited to hold a masterclass for the Erasmus+ Key Action 1 Mobility Program, working with students from the School of Music for particularly talented young musicians in Skopje, Macedonia.

She plays a 1928 F. Guadagnini violin.

Graduated from the National Music School Panaiot Pipkov Bulgaria with Professional Qualification in Viola Performance and completed degrees at the National Academy of Music 'Prof. Pancho Vladigerov', Sofia, Bulgaria before continuing with her Artist Diploma Program in New York.

Her ability as a solo and chamber musician has been recognized by more than forty national and international competitions in Europe and the USA as she was the winner of numerous prizes including:

First Prize and Scholarship - National Competition "Svetoslav Obertenov" - Provadia 2006

First Prize and Special Prize "Veliko Penev"- National Competition for best performance of Bulgarian music - Burgas 2008

First Prize and Scholarship - International Competition "German and Austrian Music 2007

Second Prize - International Competition "Hopes, talents, masters" 2007

Special Soloist Price - National Competition in Pleven 2007

Second Prize for Chamber Music - International Competition "The Earth and The People" 2010

First Prize - International Academy Competition for Chamber Music, 2010

First Prize - International Competition for German and Austrian Music "M.A.G.I.C" - Burgas, 2011

First Prize - International Chamber Music Competition New York Concert Artists - New York 2014

Tonya Bibashka was awarded by the Bulgarian Minister of Culture for her contribution to the Bulgarian Music and Arts and a five-time winner of their scholarship for future career developments.

Tonya was a soloist of Philharmonic Orchestras and Chamber Orchestras such as Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia State Academy of Music Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Long Island Conservatory New York.

Tonya participated in a variety of master classes and festivals such as Varna summer where she won scholarship for outstanding Viola performer. She also was a Principal Violist, selected from audition by members of the Vienna Philharmonic, at International Orchestra with Conductor Sir Neville Marriner.

She is an acting principal violist of the New York Virtuosos, the CFO Chamber Orchestra NY and a member of a various string ensembles. She is also a jury member of Manolov International Competition NY.

Vladislav Andonov graduated from the Bulgarian State Conservatory (now the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov") in 1983 in the viola class of Prof. Alexander Neynski. He won a gold medal from the National Festival of Arts - 1978, first prizes and laureate titles from the National Competition - Provadia (1982) and the Seventh All-Bulgarian Competition - 1984.

Since 1981, Vladislav Andonov has been a member of the "Eolina" quartet, with which he has performed hundreds of concerts in Bulgaria and more than 20 countries around the world. As a member of the quartet, he has made recordings for various radio companies in Bulgaria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Cyprus. He has made more than 20 films for the Bulgarian National Television, as well as for televisions from Austria, Italy, Ukraine, Cyprus, Greece. He has recorded two gramophone records and 6 CDs. He has two nominations from the Bulgarian National Radio for Musician of the Year, and is the winner of the Silver (1989), Golden (1994) and Crystal (2001) Lyre from the Union of Bulgarian Music and Dance Artists.

Since 1988, Vladislav Andonov has been a part-time, and since 2006 a full-time viola teacher at the National Academy of Music "P. Vladigerov". Since 1987, he has taught the subjects "History of the Viola" and "Methodology", and since 1989, "Pedagogical Practice". He has given master classes in Bulgaria, Germany and Greece.

Vladislav Andonov is a soloist with the Sofia, Varna, Shumen, Vratsa Philharmonics, the Pazardzhik Orchestra, the Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Sofia Soloists Concert Hall. He has given concerts in Bulgaria, Germany, Poland and Greece. Since 2017 is a Doctor of Musicology and Musical Art (PhD), since 2019 he has been an associate professor, and since 2023 – a professor in the Department of String Instruments. He is the organizer of the festival "Viola Days at the NMA", which has been held every two years since 2015 and aims to popularize the viola and the music written for it.

Collaborative Pianist & Vocal Coach, specializing in opera and art song.

With over eight years of experience, he have worked with numerous vocal instructors and professional opera singers.

Active in conservatories, universities, opera theaters, and music academies, where he serve as both a pianist and vocal coach.

In 2018, he won the "Special Duo" Award at the National Italian Chamber Music Competition in Milan. In the same year, he participated as an accompanying pianist in rehearsals for La Bohème by Puccini and Rigoletto by Verdi at the Conservatorio di Musica G. Verdi in Milan and was admitted to the collaborative piano course at the Dance Academy of Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

From 2019 to 2022, he taught at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China as a master coach for opera singers. During this period, he was frequently invited as a pianist and master collaborator for rehearsals of La Bohème and the "Puccini Theme Concert," conducted by the renowned conductor Li Wei, at the Shanghai Opera House and Zhejiang Opera House in China.

In 2020, he was invited by Xinjiang University in China to perform as an accompanying pianist in a concert. That same year, he worked as a master trainer, preparing students for entrance into the University of Southampton's Highfield Campus in the United Kingdom, the Conservatorio di Musica G. Verdi in Milan, and Ball State University in the United States.

In 2021, he was invited by Chinese baritone Ye Yong to perform as an accompanying pianist at the Grand Theatre in Hangzhou, China. At the same venue, he also performed as an accompanist for a special "Russian Concert." Additionally, he accompanied concerts featuring sopranos Zhao Jing and Me Yanan.

Since 2023, he has been a faculty member in the Collaborative Program and Vocal Coaching at the Brescia Conservatory (Italy).

Prof. Deyan Pavlov is a renowned conductor with the Sofia Philharmonic.

Antoinette Perry, born into a family of professional musicians, gave her first public performance at the age of four. Since then she has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Germany, France, England, and in over 15 cities of the People's Republic of China. She has been heard often on NPR and the Bravo! Channel, and has recorded for the Crystal, Harmonie, Pacific Rainbow, Pacific Serenades, Excelsior, and Navona/PARMA labels.

Bio information to be added.

American pianist Carlos Gardels has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has established a career that fuses elements of performance, composition, teaching, and educational/arts outreach.

A Los Angeles native, Mr. Gardels made his professional debut at age fifteen as a soloist in the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto with the Pasadena Youth Orchestra in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, and made his debut appearance in Carnegie Recital Hall in 2016. He has been awarded prizes from the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the American Protege Competition, and the National Society of Arts and Letters.

He has been invited to perform solo recitals in Paris at the American Church's Atelier Concert Series, in London at St. Martin-in-the Field's "Pianists Of the World" concert series, and has studied and performed at the Alion Baltic Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City. In the Southern California area he has soloed with the Beach Cities Symphony, Young Artist's Concert Orchestra, Gold Coast Chamber Orchestra, and performed recitals at the Richard Nixon Library, USC's Dornsife Brain and Creativity Institute, Pasadena Presbyterian Church's Music at Noon series, among others.

Mr. Gardels completed his undergraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and received a Master's Degree at Indiana University Bloomington. His major teachers were HakSoon Swiatkowski, Jeffrey Cohen, Emile Naoumoff, and Neil Stannard. Other mentors have included David Dubal, Cyprien Katsaris, and Ruth Slenczynska. He has also studied composition privately with Ian Krouse.

An esteemed and versatile teacher, Mr. Gardels is on the faculty of Citrus College in Glendora, CA, where he teaches class piano, applied piano, music history, and music appreciation. He has additionally developed a large and vibrant studio of private students in Los Angeles, working with students of all ages and levels. An active member of the Music Teacher's Association of California (MTAC), and the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA), he currently serves as chairperson of the masterclass program for the Pasadena Branch MTAC, bringing in guest teachers from around the world. He was voted a 2021 "Top Piano Teacher" by Steinway and Sons, and his private students have won awards at the local an international level, performed in Carnegie Hall, and gone on to become music majors.

He regularly serves as a judge and evaluator for exams and competitions and appears frequently as a masterclass clinician. In 2014 he was a visiting faculty member at the FaceArt Academy of Music in Shanghai.

Gaining increasing notoriety as a composer, his 2017 piece "Late October" was a winner of the MTAC "Composers Today" Awards, and his "Three Fantasies" for Solo Piano were released in August 2022 by Theodore Presser Music. He has also composed music for film and theatre. As a writer, his articles on music, pedagogy, and composition have been featured in The Huffington Post, Clavier, Pianist Magazine, and the California Music Teacher.

Upcoming activities include a recording of Chopin and Debussy on the Centaur Label, and a release of original works for solo piano, as well as the creation of "Alive in LA": a solo recital program and series based up of composers and artists residing in the Los Angeles area.

Praised as "sparkling" by The New York Times and "a rising star" by China Musical Weekly, pianist Hui Wu displays her versatility through a creative approach to programming, stemming from a contemporary/classical music duality. Her recent performance highlights include west coast premiere of Merrill Songs by Matthew Aucoin; multimedia project with artists Nova Jiang and Gaëlle Choisne in collaboration with the Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator(LACI) and The Mistake Room, as well as chamber music appearances at the Beverly Hills National Auditions Winners' concert series.

Hui serves as the Southern Festival Chair in California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). She is also a frequent adjudicator in music competitions in the US. Currently, she teaches at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, Moorpark College, Cal Lutheran University, and Junior Chamber Music. Hui studied at The Juilliard School for her Bachelor and Master's degrees with full scholarship. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Her teachers include Matti Raekallio, Jerome Lowenthal, Stewart Gordon, Philip Lasser, and Donald Crockett.

In the past seasons, her performances have included solo recital tours and master classes in China and Germany. Other highlights included premieres in Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Concert at Disney Concert Hall; "Art as Activism" concert with Christopher Rountree and contemporary ensemble wild Up; debut of her "Lone Journey" multimedia project in collaboration with the USC Thornton Arts Leadership Program, in addition to chamber music appearances in China with violinist Rainer Honeck, Stefan Dohr, and Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson. She has also been invited to perform at the opening night concert in the Tully Scope Festival in Lincoln Center and chamber music appearances with choreographer Zach Winokur and the Juilliard Dance Division. She has also performed Nick Didkovsky's Zero Waste for pianist and computer on Beyond the Machine 12.1 series at the Music Technology Center in Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater.

As an avid chamber musician, Hui has been invited to festivals such as at Taos School of Music, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, International Summer Music Festival in Goslar, Germany, PianoTexas Festival, and Beijing International Music Festival and Academy. She is the founder of ensemble demitasse and trio E'Toile. Her mentors and collaborators include Michel Beroff, Malcolm Bilson, Peter Donohoe, Peter Frankl, Margo Garrett, Joseph Kalichstein, Seymour Lipkin, Susan Narucki, Charles Neidich, Menahem Pressler, Gary Wedow, GuangRen Zhou, Robert McDonald, Michael Tree, as well as the Brentano, Borromeo, and the ShangHai Quartets among others.

A composer and advocate of new music, Hui has performed and premiered numerous contemporary works by composers such as Matthew Aucoin, Du Yun, Huang Ruo, Chen Yi, Jeffrey Parola, Eric Nathan, Paul Chihara, and Elliott Schwartz. Ms. Wu has collaborated with Juilliard's Dance Division on her composition Simogatas for soprano and piano four hands. In addition, Wu's Three Little Pieces for Orchestra (2011) was premiered by conductor Euntaek Kim and the Double Visions Orchestra. Her other compositions vocal and instrumental works have also been premiered and performed in New York, Los Angeles, and in China. Recently, she premiered her Aprés Notations (2015) to pay tribute to Pierre Boulez and That Light In My Dream (2017) at the 2017 unSUNg project with soprano Kyra Folk-Farber.

Born in China, Hui started her musical training at the age of four. At the age of thirteen, she made her debut recital in GuangDong Concert Hall with 12 Chopin Etudes and Liszt Rhapsodies. She has won numerous competitions including first prizes in the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition in New York, the Murray Dranoff International Artists Competition in Miami, the Beverly Hills National Auditions, and the 65th Steinway International Piano Competition. Hui has also won top prizes in the Ettlingen International Competition in Germany, the Corpus Christi International Competition, Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Award, Young Artists Concerto Competition in Texas, the National Youth Piano Competition of GulangYu International Piano Art Festival and the Golden Clock Piano Competition in China

Praised by critics for her “passionate…polished and expressive” performances, pianist HyeJin Kim is one of South Korea's most thrilling young classical stars. Born in Seoul, she began playing piano at age five, and later enrolled at the prestigious Yewon Arts School. She furthered her studies in Germany, earning her master of art in musical art as a “Konzertexamen” (highest distinction) from Berlin's Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. She recently received an artist diploma at the Colburn School in its Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Fabio Bidini.

Ms. Kim first attracted international attention at age 17 when, as its youngest participant, she won third prize in Italy's prestigious Busoni Competition. Andrea Bonatta, the head of the jury, said 'I am thrilled about her flawless musicality and technique, which promises success as an internationally recognized pianist.' Since then, Ms. Kim has received numerous awards including prizes at the 2008 Hong Kong International Piano Competition, DAAD Prize, Steinway and Sons Advancement Award Competition, and Toronto International Piano Competition. She has performed and toured with numerous orchestras such as the Russian State Philharmonic, Konzerthaus Orchester, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Praha Broadcast and Budapest Symphony Orchestras; Bohuslav Martinů, Seoul, Dae-jeon, Pilsen, and Moravian Philharmonic Orchestras; and the State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, and Hessischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester. She has worked with noted conductors including Eliahu Inbal, Carl St. Clair, Christoph Poppen, Achim Fiedler, Yehuda Gilad, Tomáš Hanus, Shi-yeon Sung, Dae Jin Kim, Jiri Malat, and Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

Ms. Kim has been invited to participate in international venues and music festivals including the Konzerthaus of Berlin, Herkulessaal of Munich, Rudolfinum/Dvorak Hall and Smetana Hall of Prague, Seoul Arts Center, Marvão Music Festival, Napa Valley Festival, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Korea Symphony Festival, Cesky Krumlov Festival, Praha Spring Festival, and Kotor Arts Festival, among others. Ms. Kim has participated in master classes with artists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jerome Rose, Robert McDonald, Aquiles Delle Vigne, Bernd Geotzke, John O'Connor, Arnold Steinhardt, Clive Greensmith, Martin Beaver, Robert Lipsett, and the Opus One Quartet.

Ms. Kim made her major label debut in 2013 with her recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra led by Eduard Topchjan, on Sony Classical. In 2016, Ms. Kim made her Carnegie Hall recital debut performing music of Scarlatti, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Barber, and Gershwin. She made her west coast debut with George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with MUSE/IQUE. Last season, she appeared on the live broadcast program What Makes It Great? hosted by Robert Kapilow on National Public Radio, chamber concerts with the Salastina Music Society including the west coast premiere of Fanny Mendelssohn's Easter Sonata and a U.K. tour of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Russian State Philharmonic under the baton of Valery Polyansky.

In fall 2018, Ms. Kim began teaching at the Community School and pre-college Music Academy divisions of the Colburn School.

Dr. Hyoung Wuk Kim has enjoyed an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist. His performances have been broadcast nationally on the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), and MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corp.) and he has given numerous recitals in Korea, France, and the United States.

Dr. Kim holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature, as well as a Masters degree and Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University in Korea.

Dr. Kim serves on the piano faculty at the California School of the Arts. His students have been prizewinners in numerous competitions and are accepted to some of the top music schools and conservatories in the country.

He regularly serves as a juror for piano competitions, including as a jury member for the final rounds of the Orbifold Global Music Competition.

Chinese born pianist Jun Sun has showed his musical individuality and musicianship from various performing experiments and teaching experiences. Sun had successfully made appearance in notable halls around the world such as Alice Tully Hall and Peter Jay Sharp Theater in Lincoln Center, The Great Hall in Leeds, Chinese National Theater, Shanghai Concert Hall and China National Centre of the Performing Arts. Sun also was invited as a guest performer to universities such as the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Transylvania University and West Virginia University.

Having made his orchestral debut with Fou T'song in 2007 with Shanghai Conservatory orchestra, Sun's growing musicianship won him prizes such as Crescendo Music Award 2012, two special prizes in William Kapell International piano Competition, the second prize in the Young Concert Artists International Competition and also he is a laureate of the China International Piano Competition in 2010. In the Leeds International Piano Competition 2015, he received the semi-final prize. New York Concert Review hails Sun has "Unquestionable pianism" and "Unique music expression".

Sun has also explored himself in modern art as he has given performances of the artwork Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on "Ode to Joy" for a Prepared Piano (2008) in MoMA at New York by artists Jennifer Allora (American, born 1974) and Guillermo Calzadilla (Cuban, born 1971) combine the mediums of performance art and sculpture.

Jun Sun received bachelor of music and master of music degree from the Juilliard School with full scholarship under Robert McDonald, also the artist diploma degree at the Manhattan School of Music with the guidance of Marc Silverman. While at Juilliard, Mr. Sun won the Brahms Piano Concerto no.1 competition which he performed it with the Juilliard Orchestra conducted and coached by Leon Fleisher. Jun Sun is a faculty member of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China since 2015.

Menghan Cao, Co-founder of The M Music Group, currently a piano faculty at Orange County Music and Dance. Ms.Cao originally from China, then moved to the United States for her high school education at Interlochen Arts Academy in 2010. Ms.Cao received her bachelor degree from Eastman School of Music in Piano Performance with Natalya Antonova. She graduated with a Master of Music and Graduate Certificate both at University of Southern California with Bernadene Blaha in 2021.

Ms.Cao has been teaching piano students on all levels and ages since 2014, and is capable of teaching in both English and Mandarin. Plenty of students here who have participated and performed at the competition. Many of her students have successfully acquired the ABRSM & CM Certifications. In 2017, she was invited to be a teaching assistant in both Cadenza Beijing W-town International Chamber Music Summer Camp, and also, Steinway International Piano Preparatory Academy, Orange County, CA in 2019.

As an experienced piano performer, Ms.Cao has given solo piano recitals in Los Angeles CA, Rochester NY, Beijing China and Yingkou China. She also participated in many partner's recitals such as piano trio, duo piano and piano quartets. In 2016, Ms. Cao toured with Interlochen Orchestra as an orchestral and choral pianist to many cities in the east coast of the U.S.

Ms. Cao has won many competitions, domestically and internationally. Including Michigan Music Teacher Association (MMTA) Concerto Competition, the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). Social Music Works, James Ramos International Video Competition, Hong Kong Asia Piano Open Competition in Mozart Sonata Group, Grieg Group, and the Winner of her age group, and Xinghai Cup Competition.

"Gao plays the piano with full of colors, characters, emotions and imaginations. She listens into herself, hears the music, and the piano becomes an extension of her mind" --- Yangzi Newspaper A renowned Young Steinway Artist, Dr. Mingyi Gao is an educator, recitalist, guest artist, chamber musician and adjudicator, Inductee of Steinway Hall of Fame. She has been performed in venues throughout China, Europe and North America.Dr. Gao was born in the city of Nanjing, China and made her solo recital debut at the age of seven. She was winners of Jiangsu Piano Competition, Gulangyu Piano Competition, NTDTV Global Piano Competition, Grand Prize Virtuoso Global Music Competition, New York “Golden Classical Music Awards" Global Competition. She has participated and performed in Shanghai Global Piano Festival, Prague Global Music Festival, Eastman “Music for All" program, the Chautauqua Global Music Festival with orchestra and the tribute to legendary Vladimir Horowitz Concert, etc. Also, Dr. Gao can be heard through the CD release of Czerny Exercises, etc. Her CD recordings include repertoires of Czerny-Piano Technique Practice, Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert and Bartok, etc.Dr. Gao holds a BM degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music and graduate degrees (MM and DMA) of Musical arts degrees in piano performance and literature from Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Steinway Artist Ms. Rebecca Penneys. Dr. Gao frequently communicates with young pianists through recitals, competitions and masterclasses at conservatories and universities. She was the guest professor at Taizhou University and AMF “Master Series". She gave lectures, masterclasses and recitals at Nanjing University, Summit Jewish community centers and Fudan University. Dr. Gao is the founder and director of Sino-Wing Global Piano Competition. She is a member of MTAC, SYMF and previous chair of Orange County West Southern California Jr. Bach Festival. She is a pointed judge of WPTA IPC and Vivace Global Piano Competition. Dr. Gao's piano studio has been established with Steinway Piano since 2004 and her students include grand prizewinners in national and Global competitions, which leads to performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the performing arts, Duncan Recital Hall and Antelope Valley College Performing Arts Theatre. Also, Dr. Gao's students have received offers and gone on to attend universities such as UC Berkeley, University of Toronto, UCI, NYU, Yale School of Music, Emory University. Dr. Mingyi Gao is an acclaimed Music Artist. She founded a non profit organization as The M Music Group, which is on a mission to share the beauty and love of music to life. The non profit group seeing professional success around 2022, with the release of their first chamber concert in Orange County. With music, we will overcome countless obstacles on the way up, and continue to work hard each and every day to keep the musical journey moving forward.

Nina Scolnik, pianist, has concertized in the United States and abroad as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, chamber musician and collaborative pianist.

She has been a guest artist with the American, Angeles, Lydian, and Blaeu string quartets and has collaborated with principals of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Boston Symphony, and with distinguished cellists Nathaniel Rosen, Stephen Erdody, and the late Gerhard Mantel. Scolnik has also performed on important European venues such as the Rudolfinum in Prague and the Palais Auersperg in Vienna where she was a soloist with the Wiener Residenzorchester, as well as at celebrated music festivals in Vipiteno and Völs am Schlern, Italy; Festival Amaryllis in Mosnes, France; and the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic. She has also performed at the Williams International Piano Festival, Tulane University Keyboard Festival, Great Pianists at Stetson Series, and the Amherst, New World, and Aspen Music Festivals in the United States. Scolnik recorded Stravinsky's four-hand piano transcription of the Rite of Spring on two pianos with Lorna Griffitt for the Sacre Project, part of the Pacific Symphony's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work's first performance.

Scolnik has distinguished herself internationally through her master classes, lectures, research, and clinical success in the rehabilitation of injured musicians. She has presented at music conferences, universities, conservatories, and festivals in the United States, Canada, France, Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic, and is one of just a few specialists in the field who work with pianists afflicted with focal dystonia.

A Professor of Teaching in the Department of Music at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine, Scolnik teaches piano performance, art song, chamber music, and pedagogy. For over three decades, Scolnik has groomed pianists for serious careers as performers, scholars, and teachers. Scolnik received the 2019 Excellence in Pedagogical Development Award from UCI's Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation and the 2019-2020 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentorship from UROP's Division of Undergraduate Education. A DECADE Mentor for the Department of Music, Scolnik also serves on the Claire Trevor School of the Arts Climate Council.

Born in Lewiston, Maine, Scolnik is a graduate of both the Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School of Music. Her principal teachers have included Edna Golandsky, Dorothy Taubman, Martin Canin, Joseph Schwartz, Artur Balsam, Lenore Engdahl and Natasha Chances.

Hungarian-American pianist Peter Klimo has been fortunate to take his performing talents around the world and is always looking to share his passion for music and the piano. Following his 2nd prize victory at the 2014 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, Peter embarked on several concert tours, notably throughout Holland, the US, and South Korea. Having participated in several other international competitions as well, Peter won 3rd prize at the 2019 Bartók World Piano Competition, 3rd prize at the 2019 Bösendorfer International Piano Competition, as well as special prizes at the 2017 Maj Lind and 2014 Wideman International Piano Competitions.

Recent performance highlights include a concerto performance with the Youth Orchestras of Fresno conducted by Thomas Loewenheim, chamber music as part of CSUN's annual Chamberfest, a solo recital at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington D.C. as part of the Embassy Recital Series, solo recitals at both California State University Northridge and CSU Fresno, a concerto performance in Budapest, Hungary with conductor Nimrod Pfeffer and the Hungarian National Philharmonic, and two further concerto performances with the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra. Peter has performed concerti in Budapest with the HNPO under the baton of Zsolt Hamar as well as with Gergely Ménesi and the Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra; Phoenix, Arizona, with Matthew Kasper and the Phoenix Symphony; Seoul, South Korea with Hee-Chuhn Choi and the KBS Symphony Orchestra as well as with Dae-Jin Kim and the Seoul Arts Center Festival Orchestra; Los Angeles, California with John Roscigno and the 52nd American Liszt Society Festival Orchestra; and Columbus, Georgia with George del Gobbo and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Also an avid chamber musician, Peter toured with violinist Tessa Lark in the US and Holland, and with the Belenus Quartet in Austria and Holland. He performed Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., at Sprague Hall at the Yale School of Music with all members playing from memory, throughout Holland in 2016 with winners of the International Tromp Percussion Competition, as well as at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival. Most recently, Peter and his colleagues Limor Toren-Immerman and Thomas Loewenheim formed the Fresno State Piano Trio, with performances in Fresno and at UCLA.

A Los Angeles native, he began his piano studies at the age of nine with Vicharini and Rosanna Marzaroli, and continued with Dr. Tyler Tom while attending the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Peter earned his Bachelor's Degree from the Eastman School of Music studying with Dr. Nelita True, his Master's Degree from the Yale School of Music studying with Peter Frankl, an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University with Dr. Tamás Ungár, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music with Alan Chow.

Passionate about education and sustaining the art form, Peter has given masterclasses at Cal State University Northridge, Azusa Pacific University, Hardin Simmons University, at both Los Angeles and Orange County High Schools for the Arts, for the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic Society and the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania, and served as a faculty member for the 2013 inaugural year of the DBS Summer Music Festival in Hong Kong. He is frequently called to adjudicate competitions both local and international, has maintained a private studio in Los Angeles, and is Assistant Professor of Piano at California State University Fresno.

Hailed by the New York Times as "a marvelous pianist," Peter Takács has performed widely, receiving critical and audience acclaim for his penetrating and communicative musical interpretations. Takács was born in Bucharest, Romania, and started his musical studies before his fourth birthday. After his debut recital at age 7, he was a frequent recitalist in his native city until his parents' request for immigration to the West, at which point all his studies and performances were banned. He continued studying clandestinely with his piano teacher until his family was finally allowed to immigrate to France, where, at age 14, he was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris.

Upon Takács' arrival in the United States, his outstanding musical talents continued to be recognized with full scholarships to Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, and a three-year fellowship for doctoral studies at the Peabody Conservatory, where he completed his artistic training with renowned pianist Leon Fleisher.

Takács has performed as guest soloist with major orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, as well as at important summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Music Mountain, Chautauqua Institution, ARIA International, Schlern Music Festival in the Italian Alps, Tel Hai International Master Classes in Israel, and Sweden's Helsingborg Festival. Since 2008, he has been a member of the faculty at the Montecito Summer Music Festival in Santa Barbara, California. He has performed and recorded the cycle of 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, which were released on the Cambria label to critical acclaim in 2011.

Takács' success as a teacher is attested to by the accomplishments of his students, who have won top prizes in competitions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South Africa. They have been accepted at major graduate schools such as the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and Peabody Conservatory, among many others. Takács has given master classes in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and has been a jury member at prestigious national and international competitions such as the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, the Canadian National Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. He has taught piano at Oberlin since 1976.

Pianist Priscila Navarro is the first prize winner of several international competitions, including the Liszt-Garritson International Competition in Baltimore, Maryland, Beethoven Sonata Competition in Tennessee, Chopin International Competition of Texas, Artist Series of Sarasota, Florida, Imola City Awards, Italy, and the Heida Hermanns International Music Competition in Connecticut.

Priscila made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in 2013 as an international competition winner and returned there this 2022 for further concerts.

She received a Special Bach prize at the International City of Vigo Competition in Spain, where she was one of five finalists from over 400 participating pianists, with a jury presided by Martha Argerich.

Her performances in England in 2021 were streamed on BBC public radio as well as the Medici TV channel.

More recently, in 2022, she received the Christa-Marshall Bach foundation prize at the Leipzig Bach competition.

Priscila is a champion and advocate of Latin American music, conducting research and creative activities to further the propagation of Latin American art.

In her pursuit of representation and inclusion, she developed a piano method for children based on Peruvian folk tunes, the first of its kind.

She presented a program of Latin American dances at the Bravo Piano Festival in Hilton Head Island.

This 2022 she made her Kennedy Center debut with a program combining staple repertoire by Chopin and works by Peruvian and Ecuadorean composers.

She received a grant to perform a program of music by Peruvian composer Jimmy Lopez and Cuban American composer Tania Leon in 2023.

As a chamber musician, Priscila regularly performs with a wide variety of musicians.

She did a tour of Peru with violist Jodi Levitz, professor of viola at the University of Miami.

This past season, she presented a program of songs by American female composers alongside mezzo-soprano Sarah Barber.

Priscila forms a piano duet with Dr. Michael Baron.

Their first album was released in December 2021 with the MSR Classics label, followed by a Carnegie Hall premiere concert in March 2022.

They have received five-star reviews from the American Record Guide and Fanfare Magazine.

Priscila holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the Frost School of Music, where she also completed Master and Artist Diploma degrees as a student of Santiago Rodriguez and Kevin Kenner.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida Gulf Coast University where she studied with Dr. Michael Baron.

Priscila began her music studies at the age of 9 at the National Conservatory of Peru with Professor Lydia Hung.

Besides her busy performance career, Priscila is a passionate pedagogue and has been on the jury at several international competitions, including the Chopin International Competition for Latin American pianists, the Heida Hermanns International Competition, and the Parnassus International Competition.

She is also the artistic director and founder of the Parnassus Music Society, an organization that focuses on providing high-quality musical events in Latin America, as well as promoting young Latin American pianists with opportunities for performance and education.

Priscila is Assistant Professor of piano at the University of Kansas.

As a winner of the 2023 national audition, she also joined the roster of Astral Artists.

Brazilian-American pianist Rafael Liebich has earned degrees from the State University of Campinas, the Federal University of the Rio Grande do Sul State, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music.

He was faculty and Artist-In-Residence at University of La Verne, and currently holds teaching positions at El Camino College, California State University - Los Angeles (CalStateLA), and Neighborhood Music School in Los Angeles (where he also acts as Director of Programs and Evaluation).

Much sought as a performer, collaborative, and recording artist, he has performed for various ensembles and concert series throughout Southern California, and worked in studio recordings for soundtracks of short movies and documentaries.

An advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Liebich actively pursues embracing diversity in his performances as well as in his pedagogical practice.

He is a member of the International Society for Music Education, and his scholarly work includes publications in music analysis, music education and sociology, and music interpretation and aesthetics.

He has adjudicated for Piano Festivals for MTAC in Southern California, and has offered lectures and conference editorial board reviews for universities in his native South Brazil.

From USC Thornton School of Music he received honors such as the Keyboard Ensemble Award, the Keyboard Studies Department Award, as well as induction into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honors Society.

In his spare time, Rafael enjoys long walks, cooking, and taking care of his orchids.

More on: http://rafaelliebich.wixsite.com/piano.

Noted for “stepping outside the box - artistically and personally”, (Jacques Goddijn, Goodmesh Agency) and praised for her “exhilarating, alternately mysterious, lighthearted, but also profound, contemplative playing” (Opus Klassiek), Suejin Jung leads a distinctive international career as a concert pianist and multimedia artist.

Her multimedia project, “Breathmark,” received first prize at the Goodmesh Concours and is showcased in her debut album released by the TRPTK label.

As a collaborative pianist, Suejin has been featured at festivals such as Music Academy International, Ecoles d'Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, and New York International Piano Competition.

She has been a featured soloist with Ensemble Calliopée , Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, The Discovery Orchestra, Monmouth Symphony Orchestra and her performances have been broadcasted and live-streamed on PBS, NPO Klassiek and The Strad.

Jung received Bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School as a recipient of Kamiya Sisters, Paul Jacobs Memorial, and G.G. Ulmer Memorial Scholarships.

She furthered her studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris as a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship recipient of the Fondation des États-Unis.

She completed her Doctorate in Piano Performance from Rutgers University.

As an educator, Suejin teaches at the Montecito Music Festival and previously served as a faculty member at Drew University, Rutgers University Extension Division, New York Music School, and PS 11 in Manhattan as an Education Outreach Fellow through the Juilliard School.

She is a co-founder of MIMA, dedicated to designing meaningful art forms and realizing their hidden potential through collaboration.

Bulgaria-born pianist Veselin Ninov is a recording artist and the winner of numerous national and international competitions in the USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.

Mr. Ninov has performed with orchestras, judged international festivals and competitions, and has given master classes and solo and chamber music recitals in Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Steinway Hall, and others.

Veselin is the Artistic Director of the Manolov International Competition and currently runs a private teaching studio in New York. In 2024 he received the prize for high pedagogical accomplishments awarded by Steinway & Sons.

Chinese pianist XIAOHUI YANG, a winner of the 2017 Naumburg International Piano Competition has been hailed by the press as a "tastefully polished musician" (Haaretz, Israel) and “a magician of sound and virtuosity” (La Libre, Belgium).

She has been featured in performances throughout four continents, including in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Ozawa Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Seoul Arts Center.

Ms. Yang has been a soloist with ensembles including the Louisiana Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony, Curtis Symphony, Galveston Symphony and Poland's Capella Bydgostiensis.

Solo and collaborative performances include recitals for Portland Piano International, Shriver Hall Concert Series (Baltimore), Union College Concert Series (Schenectady, NY), Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (Chicago) and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY).

A dedicated chamber musician, Ms. Yang has taken part in renowned North American festivals such as Marlboro, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Banff and Taos, and has performed with luminaries such as Peter Wiley, Charles Neidich and Roberto Diaz.

Ms. Yang has been invited to perform on tours with Ravinia's Steans Music Institute and Curtis on Tour at concert halls in the United States, Korea, and Greece.

She is also a founding member of the Steans Piano Trio, alongside Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra violinist Eunice Kim and Boston Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal cellist Oliver Aldort.

Ms. Yang is a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ignat Solzhenitsyn and was a recipient of the Festorazzi Prize for the best graduating piano student.

She earned her master's degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Robert McDonald, and currently is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Peabody Conservatory, under the tutelage of Boris Slutsky.

Before moving to the United States, Ms. Yang studied at the Attached Music School of Shenyang Conservatory of Music with Danwen Wei, Xianwei Cheng and Rosemary Platt.

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the international stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition, 2017 Washington International Competition, and the Warning International Piano Competition. The Worthing Herald music critic Richard Amey praised his recent performance "flair for the unusual and his technical and artistic capacity to deliver," as well as his "musical and emotional intelligence, dexterity and virtuosity," listening to Chen as soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.5 "Egyptian" with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. His vibrant playing at the Pacific International Piano Competition (Canada) was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize ("…Yi-Yang showed an impressive breadth of emotional investment and natural affinity for the music he played. The informed individuality and command of his performance was immediately compelling to the judges. We feel this young man has a fine future as an artist. He seems to 'own' the piano as he plays, and this makes his performance extremely powerful" - Dr. Robin McCabe).

Yi-Yang Chen is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Kansas and the Artist Director of the Orbifold Music Festival in California. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen has been playing the piano since the age of 8. Yi-Yang completed his Doctor of Musical Arts And Bachelor's of Music at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys, and his Master's degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal. He also has solo/chamber masterclasses with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Pollack, Joseph Kalichstein.

Yi-Yang Chen is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, and Mu Phi Epsilon. He enjoys swimming, biking, traveling, and composing. Yi-Yang is currently working on a recording project with Champs Hill label (UK); the release is scheduled for 2025. Before joining KU (University of Kansas), Yi-Yang served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University as a tenure-track professor.

Dr. Chen is a Steinway Artist.

Chinese born pianist Yun Wei has appeared in notable halls around the world, including Alice Tully Hall and Paul Hall in Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, The Green Space in WQXR and Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall in New York, and Shanghai Oriental Hall in Shanghai, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel, and the Great Hall and the Town Hall in Leeds, United Kingdom.

Born in Hunan, China, Yun Wei began her piano studies at the age of 6.

She received her bachelor's degree (2014), master's degree (2016) and the prestigious Artist Diploma program(2018) from The Juilliard School under the guidance of Robert McDonald.

Yun Wei is currently a faculty member in the piano department of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou, China.

Having made her professional orchestral debut at age of 16 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as winner of the Piano Texas concerto competition, Miss Wei has gone on to garner additional honors and awards.

Her many awards include winner of New York's Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition and the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition, laureate of the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition, where she worked with Conductor Sir Mark Elder and the Halle Orchestra, and winner, the 2014/2015 The Juilliard School Bachauer Piano Competition.

Miss Wei has given interviews and performances for public media including the BBC radio 3, WQXR radio, Houston Public Radio and China's Hubei classical radio station.

She was also invited to give masterclasses and performances by West Virginia University, Kansas University, Houston University, Rockefeller University and the Tianjin Juilliard School

Chinese-born pianist Zhao Wang is currently the Director of Accompanying at Central Michigan University School of Music. Dr. Wang has performed as a soloist in the cities of Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Japan, the United States, and China. As an avid chamber musician, she frequently collaborates in concerts and recordings with renowned faculty members at prestigious universities and orchestras. She is a founding member of Circulo Trio, a clarinet-violin-piano trio which has been a featured guest ensemble at Thailand International Composition Festival, received the Verdehr Trio endowment at Michigan State University, and presented multiple interdisciplinary musical works alongside traditional repertoire in concert tours in the recent years. In addition to the appearances with Circulo trio, Dr. Wang has also performed regularly at Henri Selmer Summer Academy, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Music Festival at Walnut Hill, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and Chengjiang Chamber Music Series in China. As a dedicated educator, Dr. Wang is an active member of MTNA, and was invited to adjudicate the state final at MMTA in 2019 and 2023.

Dr. Wang received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastman School of Music, with a doctorate from Michigan State University, all in Piano Performance. She also received two additional master's degrees in Collaborative Piano and Piano Pedagogy from Michigan State University.

A native of Taiwan, Huai-En Tsai received both Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.

He teaches at Midwest University Washington Campus and the Catoctin School of Music.

He also serves as the Minister of Music at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.

As a leader of cultural affairs in the Washington DC area, he received recognition from the Maryland State Government and the White House.

Limor Toren-Immerman has won numerous regional and national competitions and has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout United States, Israel, and Russia.

Her concert career has additionally taken her through Europe, Middle East, Japan, and Canada, performing the American premiere of Leonid Desyatnikov's Russian Seasons, and violin concerti of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, and Bach.

She has collaborated with many internationally acclaimed artists, such as Rachel Barton, Lynn Harrell, Paul Coletti, Martin Beaver, Steven Tenenbom, Erika Raum, Patrick Gallois, and Guillaume Sutre, to name a few.

She has held principal positions in many Southern California Orchestras and has performed under the batons of Zubin Mehta, Kurt Mazur, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Zanderling, and Charles Dutoit, among many others.

Presently, she serves as Concertmaster for the Mozart Classical and Palm Springs Opera in the Park orchestras in Southern California, and performs as a Guest Concertmaster with the Fresno Philharmonic and other Southern California orchestras.

As a diverse chamber music player, Ms. Toren-Immerman performs music from Baroque to the twenty first century and is a member of the Fresno State Topelli Piano Trio and Trio Accento, who's début CD Extant Blues, was released on Albany Records in December 2019.

A recent collaboration with an acclaimed pianist Hatem Nadim has been commemorated in a new CD: Johannes Brahms - Violin Sonatas, released on Albany Records in March of 2022.

Her latest CD Timeless Rhapsody presenting Solo Violin Sonatas by Bach, Bartók, and Ben-Haim is scheduled for release in June of 2024.

An enthusiastic educator, Dr. Toren-Immerman currently holds a Professor of Music in Violin and Viola position on the faculty of the California State University Fresno.

Prior to this appointment she served on the faculty of Shepherds University School of Music in Los Angeles and as a visiting Professor of Music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

She has also been a regularly featured guest of international music festivals, such as the Colburn School Summer Chamber Music Intensive, the International Music Academy and Competition in Cremona, Italy, Chamber Music Unbound in Mammoth Lakes, California, Fresno Opera and Orchestra Summer Academy in Fresno, CA, Chamber Music Roundup in Fort Worth, Texas, Music in the Mountains Festival and Conservatory in Durango, Colorado, InterHarmony International Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy, and CSU Summer Music.

Dr. Toren-Immerman began her formal musical education in Russia, at the Moscow Gnessins' College of Music.

She holds Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma from Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, Israel, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.

Throughout her career, Ms. Toren-Immerman has been distinguished and honored: she was the recipient of the USC Associates Musical Scholars Award, the USC Chamber Orchestra Ensemble Award, the Baroness Leni Fe Bland Award, the H.I.A.S. Award, and of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship and Jascha Heifetz Endowed Violin Scholarship.

She was also elected to join honorable societies such as Mu Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Praised by The Black Forest Messenger of Germany "Thrilled Violin Playing!" and "Unforgettable Performance!”, violinist Shu-Ting Yao enjoys her career as a solo, chamber and orchestral violinist.

She frequently appears in major concert venues in U.S., Europe and Asia.

Highlights of her performances in recent seasons include a recital at Carnegie Hall's Weil Recital Hall, Europe recital tour under sponsorship of Bösendorfer piano company, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy's Inauguration in Japanese Embassy, the U.S. Secretary John Kerry's lecture in Washington DC and National Dinners at the Twin Oaks.

She was also the featured artist in concert series of Frostburg State University in Maryland, Salon Music Series of Shepherd University in West Virginia, concert series of FMMC in Washington DC and chamber music society in Taipei Philharmonic.

Yao performed with many acclaimed ensembles, including Charleston Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, Manhattan Symphonie, Apollo Orchestra, Paragon Philharmonia, The Symphony of the Potomac, Baltimore Philharmonic, Bel Cantanti Opera Orchestra, Toscanini New Orchestra, Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, National String Symphonia.

She also served as the professor of violin and viola at Frostburg State University.

A native of Taiwan, Yao began her music study with violin and piano at the age of seven.

She holds Bachelor of Music degree in Performance and Education from National Taipei University of Education (NTUE), Master of Music Degree from Peabody Conservatory and the Professional Study Diploma from Mannes College of Music in New York City.

She obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Catholic University of America where she served as a full scholarship fellow as well as the teaching assistant in the music theory department.

Her primary teachers include Keng-Yuen Tseng, Nina Beilina, Emil Chudnovsky, Richard Chang and Jody Gatwood.

Yao won the first prize of the NTUE concerto competition in 2001 and the Baltimore Music Club Competition in 2009.

While at NTUE, she was invited to attend Aspen Music Festival and Asia Youth Orchestra.

In 2009, Yao attended the Masterclass of Kronberg Academy in Germany where she studies with Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Roby Lakatos, Daniel Hope and Ana Chumachenko.

She was also the featured soloist at the Twentieth American Cardinals Dinner in Houston, TX and the 100th Anniversary of Taiwan ROC Founding Day Celebration Ceremony in Washington DC.

As an active violin teacher, Yao's students won positions in All-State Orchestras, AYPO, MCYO and PVYO as well as prestigious college and graduate school admissions, such as: Columbia, Penn, Juilliard, Peabody, Yale, NEC, Rice and Eastman.

Yao currently serves as faculty of violin and viola at the Catoctin School of Music in Leesburg, Virginia

Praised for her “musical maturity and masterful technique,” (Leipziger Volkszeitung) Korean-born violinist Soo Yeon Kim is a multi-faceted artist and educator, regularly appearing in recitals in major concert halls and giving masterclasses throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Past concerts include appearances in Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall and Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center, Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Hall in Germany, and the Kennedy Center.

Winner of Juilliard's Pre-College Concerto Competition and Eastman School of Music's Concerto Competition, she garnered both national and international recognition, as well as appearing in major music festivals as a young artist around the globe-Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies, Aspen Music Festival, Holland Music Sessions in Netherlands, Leipzig Internationale Sommer-Musikakademie and Kronberg Academy in Germany.

A passionate educator, Dr. Kim served on violin faculty, as well as teaching fellow and artist positions at University of Rochester-Eastman, Luzerne Music Center, Bay View Music Festival, Thurnauer School of Music of Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, and Juilliard.

Currently Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Houghton University, she directs the String Chamber Ensemble and the institution's summer music festival, while retaining a full private strings studio of over a decade.

Her young and mature students won top prizes in regional and international competitions and were admitted to top conservatories and dual program universities-Juilliard, MSM, Columbia, Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard.

Dr. Kim is a graduate of Juilliard (Pre-College, B.M. & M.M.) under the tutelage of Stephen Clapp and Sylvia Rosenberg on a full scholarship.

In 2020, she earned her doctorate degree (D.M.A.) from Eastman, where she also minored in Music History and String Pedagogy on merit scholarships, studying with Robin Scott.

For more information on her future performance and teaching engagements please visit her website at drsooyeonkim.com.

Graduated from the National Music School Panaiot Pipkov Bulgaria with Professional Qualification in Viola Performance and completed degrees at the National Academy of Music 'Prof. Pancho Vladigerov', Sofia, Bulgaria before continuing with her Artist Diploma Program in New York.

Her ability as a solo and chamber musician has been recognized by more than forty national and international competitions in Europe and the USA as she was the winner of numerous prizes including:

First Prize and Scholarship - National Competition "Svetoslav Obertenov" - Provadia 2006

First Prize and Special Prize "Veliko Penev"- National Competition for best performance of Bulgarian music - Burgas 2008

First Prize and Scholarship - International Competition "German and Austrian Music 2007

Second Prize - International Competition "Hopes, talents, masters" 2007

Special Soloist Price - National Competition in Pleven 2007

Second Prize for Chamber Music - International Competition "The Earth and The People" 2010

First Prize - International Academy Competition for Chamber Music, 2010

First Prize - International Competition for German and Austrian Music "M.A.G.I.C" - Burgas, 2011

First Prize - International Chamber Music Competition New York Concert Artists - New York 2014

Tonya Bibashka was awarded by the Bulgarian Minister of Culture for her contribution to the Bulgarian Music and Arts and a five-time winner of their scholarship for future career developments.

Tonya was a soloist of Philharmonic Orchestras and Chamber Orchestras such as Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia State Academy of Music Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Long Island Conservatory New York.

Tonya participated in a variety of master classes and festivals such as Varna summer where she won scholarship for outstanding Viola performer. She also was a Principal Violist, selected from audition by members of the Vienna Philharmonic, at International Orchestra with Conductor Sir Neville Marriner.

She is an acting principal violist of the New York Virtuosos, the CFO Chamber Orchestra NY and a member of a various string ensembles. She is also a jury member of Manolov International Competition NY.

Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh has performed as soloist and recitalist in various venues across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, and China.

The venues she performed at include the Horncastle Arena, Sydney Opera House, Shanghai Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. John's Smith Square, Boston Court Performing Arts Centre, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh also frequently performs with major ensembles and concert series around LA, including the Dilijan Chamber Music Series, MEC (Monday Evening Concerts), Cracow Duo, Synchromy, Jacaranda, and ACB (American Contemporary Ballet).

She has also presented at AWMAT (Alliance of Women in Media Arts and Technology) and ACMI (Asian Classical Music Initiative).

As of 2021, she is a member of ECHOI — MEC's ensemble-in-residence.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh was the 2009 winner of the Gisborne International Music Competition.

She has been frequently aired live on 3MBS FM, ABC radio, Radio New Zealand, Shanghai People's Radio Station Classical 94.7, KUSC, and Classical KING FM.

Furthermore, she has been a fellow at the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Atlantic Music Festival, SICPP (Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice), and NMFS (New Music for Strings).

In addition, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh is also a dedicated pedagogue.

She has partaken in tours spanning regional NSW in Australia, regional Washington State, and Los Angeles in the US, where she gave masterclasses, lectures, and performances.

Between 2016 and 2019, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh was a Teaching Assistant and Fellow for the String Department within the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

She is currently a Teaching Artist at the Beckman YOLA Center, and a Principle Musician at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

She is also the president of ACMI's 2024 International Conference, which will be hosted by Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles in April.

Most recently, she was invited to serve as a Panelist for the International Grand Music Festival in Indonesia and the Irvine Conservatory International Music Competition.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh completed her Bachelor of Music Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Professor Alice Waten.

She furthered her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Professor György Pauk, achieving her Master of Arts degree.

In 2020, she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles under the guidance of Professors Movses Pogossian, Guillaume Sutre, and Varty Manouelian.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh was supported by the Tait Memorial Trust - The Thornton Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, Woolf Mernick, and Margot MacGibbon during her studies in London.

During her studies in Los Angeles, she was supported by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fund, Friends of Strings Award, Greenschlpoon, and the Edna and Yu Shan Han Foundation.

In 2019, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh released her debut album Soliloquy under SHEVA Contemporary.

It includes works by Édith de Chizy, David Paterson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Sculthorpe, Rodion Shchedrin, and Eugène Ysaÿe.

She is also featured on Yalil Guerra's 2020 album Renacimiento, performing "La Magia de Tus Ojos".

Yuuki Hashimori began her violin studies at the age of three.

She studied under Akiko Tatsumi (President and professor of violin at Toho Gakuen School of Music) from the age of eight.

She was the youngest winner of the 5th annual Classic Music Competition in Japan.

She won 1st prize in the 51st annual Japan Music Competition for young people in Tokyo, and was again the youngest winner.

She performed in a joint concert in Kobe, Japan, for “Most promising young students.”

She was selected from all over Japan to participate in the 1st Miyazaki International Chamber Music Festival and was performed in a violin seminar with Isaac Stern and in Master Classes with Augustin Dumay.

She also participated in Master Classes with Irina Bochkova at the International Tchaikovsky Music Competition.

She has been featured on TV programs such as “Shin Daimeinonai Ongakukai” and “Takeshi no Daredemo Picasso” since she was a child.

At the age of 11, Hashimori became the youngest scholarship student at the Cologne University of Music in Germany.

She studied under renowned professor Zakhar Bron.

At Nagano International Music Festival in 2006, she collaborated with Ludwig Müller (Concertmaster of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra), and appeared in grand prize winner concert in Tokyo.

She is also the first-prize and Best New Artist winner of the 13th Oikawa Production Audition.

From Sep. 2007, Hashimori received a scholarship, and started to study at Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts as a Student of Shmuel Ashkenasi.

In 2009, she won first-prize of CCPA Concerto Competition, and she performed Brahms concerto with the CCPA orchestra for two nights, and these concerts were on the radio broadcast in Chicago.

In 2011, she received her Bachelor of Performing Arts in Violin Performance from Roosevelt University.

In 2010, she was invited by National University of Los Andes in South America Colombia and gave a recital in Bogota, the capital city.

In the United States, she appeared at Latin Grammy Awards ceremony and performed with Carlos Santana and Ricky Martin.

In 2014, Hashimori made her CD debut on Octavia Records with her album “Grand Waltz.”

The album received favorable reviews from various media outlets, such as “The rich tone spun from her natural bowing is attractive.”

In 2017, she released guitarist Kazumi Watanabe's latest album “TOKYO WONDERER Kazumi Watanabe with Strings” as a strings member.

From 2018 to 2019, she was an associate concertmistress for world stars Sarah Brightman and IL DIVO's Japan tours.

Since 2019, Hashimori has been appointed as a concertmistress for Yale Philharmonic Orchestra.

She proposes new ways to enjoy classical music by collaborating with world-renowned designer Junko Koshino on costume collaboration and world premiere of artificial intelligence AI composition works, and holds innovative concerts every year.

She has also been involved in many charity performances.

She has worked to raise money for a school in Benin, South Africa, holding a “Charity Concert For Benin's Children” five times in Japan and once in Germany.

She has also raised money for orphans in Japan.

In 2020 and 2021, she performed two consecutive years at Saitama City Memorial Service for War Dead.

Hashimori has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo New Philharmonic Orchestra, the NHK Danyuu Symphony Orchestra, the Kojima Musica Collegia, and others.

She has appeared in numerous concerts in Germany, France, Switzerland, Russia, and various parts of America as well as Japan including La Folle Journée TOKYO 2018.

She has appeared in many newspapers and has served as a violin instructor for TV programs such as Nippon Television's “Tokkan Special National Tax Collector” and BS-TBS's “In order for family to be family.”

In 2020, she appeared in a PV for Japanese mattress brand Literie produced by Moble Co., Ltd.

On New Year's Day 2022, she performed Stradivarius at the popular variety show “Geinojin Kakuzuke Check."

Yuuki Hashimori is currently based in Japan and the United States, and is active in many areas such as solo performances, concertmistress, numerous filming and recording opportunities, and serving as a competition judge.

She also teaches at the Super Soloists Academy by Nippon Violin Co., Ltd. and provides guidance to young talents.

Praised for her beautiful singing by The Stratford Herald for her performance in England, international mezzo-soprano Katie H. Stevenson has enjoyed an operatic career that spanned Germany, Ireland, Canada, and across the U.S.

Prior to her time abroad, she lived in NYC where her career blossomed and she performed numerous opera roles along the East Coast such as Carmen and Mercedes in Carmen, Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, and Emilia in Otello, along with concert appearances at DiCapo Opera, Opera Collective, and Opera on Tap NYC.

During her years in Anchorage Alaska, Katie performed with the Anchorage Opera as well as the Anchorage Concert Choir Association. As a Young Artist she performed the role of The Secretary in The Consul and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte in Young Artist programs in Canada and North Carolina.

Since moving to Seattle in 2015 she has performed roles and concerts with Pacific Northwest Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Northwest Opera In Schools Etc., Seattle Modern Opera Company, Bellevue Festival of the Nativity, and the Ladies' Musical Club.

In addition to performing, Katie teaches voice and piano to young students and is active on the board for the Puget Sound Chapter of NATS.

Tenor Kyuyoung Lee, hailing from South Korea, has captivated audiences with his performances across a multitude of prestigious programs in his homeland. Notably, he has collaborated with the Korea Prime Philharmonic Orchestra, showcasing his remarkable talent on numerous occasions. Dr. Lee's accolades include laureate titles from esteemed competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera Competition in the Colorado district in 2015 and the Saltwork Opera Competition in 2017.

In leading roles with the Boston University Opera Institute, Dr. Lee has demonstrated his vocal prowess portraying characters including Alfredo in La Traviata, the Mayor in Albert Herring, Sheldon in Later the Same Evening, and Doofey in Sweets by Kate. His versatility extends to the Aspen Opera Theater Center, where he covered roles like Rodolfo in La Boheme and Luigi in A Wedding. During his tenure at USC, Dr. Lee enriched the stage as Tamino in The Magic Flute and the Chaplain of the Monastery in Dialogues of the Carmelites with the USC Thornton Opera. His operatic repertoire encompasses diverse roles, including Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Manhattan School of Music, Lucarnio in Ariodante with Chautauqua Opera, and Hoffmann in The Tales of Hoffmann at the Music Academy of the West.

Dr. Lee holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Arts from Seoul National University, a Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California under the guidance of Professor Elizabeth Hynes, a Professional Studies Certificate in Vocal Arts from the Manhattan School of Music under Professor Marlena Kleinm Malas, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University, where he studied under Dr. Lynn Eustis. His commitment to excellence has been acknowledged through prestigious scholarships, including the Seoul National University Alumni Development Fund Scholarship and the Music Merit Scholarship for Outstanding Academic Record at USC.

Currently, Dr. Lee shares his wealth of knowledge and passion for music as a distinguished faculty member in the Music departments at Long Beach City College and Moorpark College.

Born in Italy in 1996, Alberto Ferro achieved his Master's degree (2018) under the guidance of Prof. Epifanio Comis, at the "Vincenzo Bellini" State Conservatoire of Music in Catania. He also attended several piano masterclasses held by very important pianists such as Leslie Howard, Elisso Virsaladze, Joaquín Achúcarro, Richard Goode, Boris Berezovsky, Jörg Demus and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

He won a lot of prizes in international competitions, including: 1st Prize and Audience Prize at the International Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn (2017); 2nd Prize, International Press Prize and Haydn Prize at the "Ferruccio Busoni" International Piano Competition in Bolzano (2015); 6th Prize and Musiq'3 Prize of the public at the “Queen Elisabeth” International Piano Competition in Brussels (2016); 2nd Prize at the "Premio Jaén" International Piano Competition (2022); Finalist Prize at the "Arthur Rubinstein" International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv (2023); Finalist Prize and Children's Corner Prize at the "Clara Haskil" International Piano Competition in Vevey (2017).

He has performed many concerts throughout Europe: State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, University of the Arts in Berlin, Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Herkulessaal in Munich, Centre for Fine Arts, Flagey and Royal Conservatoire in Brussels, Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment in Belgrade, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg, Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Rudolf-Oetker-Halle in Bielefeld, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Constanța, Musikhuset in Aarhus, Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, Teatro La Fenice and Teatro Malibran in Venice, Philharmonic Hall in Liège, Philharmonie in Luxembourg, Concertgebouw in Bruges, LAC in Lugano, Regentenbau in Bad Kissingen, Festspielhaus in Erl.

Festival and associations appearances have included the Copenhagen Summer Festival, Unione Musicale di Torino, Bologna Festival, Ravello Festival, Amici della Musica di Firenze, Società dei Concerti and Società del Quartetto di Milano, Tyrolean Festival Erl, Kissinger Sommer, Beethovenfest, Piano aux Jacobins, Gent Festival van Vlaanderen, and many others.

He has performed with several orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Fenice, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, under renowned conductors such as Arvo Volmer, Dirk Kaftan, Heribert Beissel, Günter Neuhold, Paul Meyer, Thierry Fischer, Marin Alsop, Christian Zacharias and many others.

Many of his recordings were broadcast by radio and television broadcasters in Italy (Rai 3, Rai 5, Rai Radio 1, Rai Radio 3, Rai Südtirol, Radio Popolare, Venice Classic Radio) and abroad (RTBF, VRT, Musiq'3, Klara, ORF III, MDR Kultur, RTS, arte, Deutsche Welle). Furthermore, some important music magazines (Suonare News, Amadeus, Crescendo, Andante, Pizzicato) have published many articles about him.

He recorded for some important labels such as Brilliant, Warner, Da Vinci and Muso. He is currently Professor of Piano at the “Alessandro Scarlatti" State Conservatoire of Music in Palermo.

Active as a soloist, with orchestra and in chamber ensembles, Carlo Palese has cooperated with outstanding musicians. All the ensembles featuring his presence mirror his interests in multiple aspects of musical expression; from the classic duet with bow instruments to organ, harmonium, theremin, percussions, actors, and wider groups. In the field of contemporary music, he has often performed works dedicated to him.

He has made collaborations with R.A.I. (Italian Television ) and recorded for Camerata Tokyo and EMA Vinci.

Carlo Palese obtained his Diploma in piano at the Conservatoire “L. Boccherini” in Lucca, summa cum laude, and honorable mention under the guidance of Itala Balestri Del Corona. He then studied for a period of time with Maria Tipo and, for some years, under the guidance of Pietro Rigacci. Subsequently, he was a student of Aquiles delle Vigne, obtaining the "Diplome Supérieur d Exécution" at the Ecole Normale de Musique “A. Cortot” in Paris. He has also worked with the teacher and musicologist Piero Rattalino upon various aspects of musical performance and piano repertoire. He has attended masterclasses with Jean Fassina, Murray Perahia, and others.

During these years he wins several prizes in important national and International Piano Competitions (Viotti-Valsesia, Rome, Milano, Caltanissetta, Treviso, Torrefranca prize, Taranto, Udine, Marsala among many others). In 1992 he got the second prize at the Cincinnati World Piano Competition.

Currently, he is a piano professor in Lucca at Conservatoire “Luigi Boccherini”, where he also takes care of the organization of the Open Piano Festival. A sought-after teacher, he regularly holds masterclasses in Italy and abroad ( Katowice K. Szymanowski Academy International Masterclasses, Miami Piano Festival Academy, etc.). His students are often winners in important competitions.

He is often invited to serve as jury member in international piano competitions. The intent of spreading musical culture has led Carlo Palese to be active also in the field of music promotion. He is the artistic consultant of “Classica con Gusto”, a concert series in Teatro Goldoni in Livorno; he is President of “Livornoclassica”and Artistic Director of Livorno Piano Competition and of PerPIANO concerts.

Mr. Dahao Guo, pianist and music activist based in the United States; President of Perfect Pitch Global Arts Center in New York, Founder and Co-Director of North Coast International Piano Festival & Competition in California. Mr. Guo received B.M. and M.M. degrees in Piano Performance from Eastman School of Music, as well as M.M. degree in Business Management from Nazareth University.

He studied under the renowned piano educator and Gold Prize winner of the Busoni Piano Competition, Thomas Schumacher; and the world-famous piano performer, chamber music performer and educator, Silver Prize winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Barry Snyder. Mr. Guo has exchanged and studied with many world-renowned musicians such as Christian Zimmermann and Alfred Brendel, and has collaborated with famous musicians from various countries.

North Coast International Piano Festival and Competition founded by Mr. Guo was named one of the ten most influential music festivals in the United States, has invited many top musicians such as Jerome Lowenthal, Douglas Humpherys, Logan Skelton, Olga Kern, Alexander Kobrin, Barry Snyder, Thomas Schumacher, Bruce Brubaker, Daniela Mineva, etc. and winners of the competition are invited to perform in distinguished venues such as Carnegie Hall.

Since 2013, Mr. Guo has continuously invited world-famous musicians and educators to China to present concerts, lecture-recitals and master classes. He has served as judge in many piano competitions, such as MTNA National Piano Competition, North Coast Piano Competition, Empire State Competition, National Federation Piano Competition, etc.

Mr. Guo is committed to helping young Chinese pianists study in the U.S. Up to now, Mr. Guo has sent more than one hundred outstanding young pianists to top professional music schools in the United States, such as Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Mannes School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Boston Conservatory of Music, Boston University and NYU Steinhardt, University of Miami Frost School of Music, etc.

"Mr. Guo's performance fully demonstrates all the talents that a modern pianist should possess. With exquisite performance skills and unparalleled tone control, he swept through the United States like a whirlwind compared to other Chinese pianists today." — Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Praised as "sparkling" by The New York Times and "a rising star" by China Musical Weekly, pianist Hui Wu displays her versatility through a creative approach to programming, stemming from a contemporary/classical music duality. Her recent performance highlights include west coast premiere of Merrill Songs by Matthew Aucoin; multimedia project with artists Nova Jiang and Gaëlle Choisne in collaboration with the Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator(LACI) and The Mistake Room, as well as chamber music appearances at the Beverly Hills National Auditions Winners' concert series.

Hui serves as the Southern Festival Chair in California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). She is also a frequent adjudicator in music competitions in the US. Currently, she teaches at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, Moorpark College, Cal Lutheran University, and Junior Chamber Music. Hui studied at The Juilliard School for her Bachelor and Master's degrees with full scholarship. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Her teachers include Matti Raekallio, Jerome Lowenthal, Stewart Gordon, Philip Lasser, and Donald Crockett.

In the past seasons, her performances have included solo recital tours and master classes in China and Germany. Other highlights included premieres in Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Concert at Disney Concert Hall; "Art as Activism" concert with Christopher Rountree and contemporary ensemble wild Up; debut of her "Lone Journey" multimedia project in collaboration with the USC Thornton Arts Leadership Program, in addition to chamber music appearances in China with violinist Rainer Honeck, Stefan Dohr, and Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson. She has also been invited to perform at the opening night concert in the Tully Scope Festival in Lincoln Center and chamber music appearances with choreographer Zach Winokur and the Juilliard Dance Division. She has also performed Nick Didkovsky's Zero Waste for pianist and computer on Beyond the Machine 12.1 series at the Music Technology Center in Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater.

As an avid chamber musician, Hui has been invited to festivals such as at Taos School of Music, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, International Summer Music Festival in Goslar, Germany, PianoTexas Festival, and Beijing International Music Festival and Academy. She is the founder of ensemble demitasse and trio E'Toile. Her mentors and collaborators include Michel Beroff, Malcolm Bilson, Peter Donohoe, Peter Frankl, Margo Garrett, Joseph Kalichstein, Seymour Lipkin, Susan Narucki, Charles Neidich, Menahem Pressler, Gary Wedow, GuangRen Zhou, Robert McDonald, Michael Tree, as well as the Brentano, Borromeo, and the ShangHai Quartets among others.

A composer and advocate of new music, Hui has performed and premiered numerous contemporary works by composers such as Matthew Aucoin, Du Yun, Huang Ruo, Chen Yi, Jeffrey Parola, Eric Nathan, Paul Chihara, and Elliott Schwartz. Ms. Wu has collaborated with Juilliard's Dance Division on her composition Simogatas for soprano and piano four hands. In addition, Wu's Three Little Pieces for Orchestra (2011) was premiered by conductor Euntaek Kim and the Double Visions Orchestra. Her other compositions vocal and instrumental works have also been premiered and performed in New York, Los Angeles, and in China. Recently, she premiered her Aprés Notations (2015) to pay tribute to Pierre Boulez and That Light In My Dream (2017) at the 2017 unSUNg project with soprano Kyra Folk-Farber.

Born in China, Hui started her musical training at the age of four. At the age of thirteen, she made her debut recital in GuangDong Concert Hall with 12 Chopin Etudes and Liszt Rhapsodies. She has won numerous competitions including first prizes in the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition in New York, the Murray Dranoff International Artists Competition in Miami, the Beverly Hills National Auditions, and the 65th Steinway International Piano Competition. Hui has also won top prizes in the Ettlingen International Competition in Germany, the Corpus Christi International Competition, Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Award, Young Artists Concerto Competition in Texas, the National Youth Piano Competition of GulangYu International Piano Art Festival and the Golden Clock Piano Competition in China

Praised by the New York Times for his “revelatory" performances, and by the Toronto Star for his “technically flawless, poetically inspired and immensely assured playing," pianist Jiayan Sun has performed frequently with The Cleveland Orchestra, The Hallé Orchestra, the Chinese and RTÉ (Ireland) National Symphony Orchestras, the Fort Worth and Toledo Symphony Orchestras, the Toronto and Aspen Concert Orchestras, the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, and he has conducted from the keyboard the Meiningen Court Orchestra. His performances have been broadcast by the BBC, the RTÉ, China Central Television, and classical music radio stations in North America. He has performed at and participated in the Verbier Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, the Aspen Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, PianoTexas. Under the mentorship of Sir András Schiff, he was invited to give a number of solo recitals in Europe as part of Schiff's “Building Bridges" project for the 2017-2018 season.

Mr. Sun has been awarded prizes at many of the major Global piano competitions, including the third prize at the Leeds Global Piano Competition, the second prize at the Dublin Global Piano Competition, the fourth prize and the audience prize at the Cleveland Global Piano Competition, the first prize at the inaugural CCC Toronto Global Piano Competition, and others. Playing early keyboard instruments and studying historical performance practice has played a significant role in Mr. Sun's musical activities, with critically acclaimed appearances with the American Classical Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall.

Hailed from Yantai, China, he received the Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School. He continues his studies at Juilliard as a doctoral candidate under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Stephen Hough. His other mentors include pianists Malcolm Bilson, Richard Goode, Robert Levin, and harpsichordist Lionel Party. His devotion to the art of composition led him to study with the composer Philip Lasser. As the Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist in Piano at Smith College, he is presenting Beethoven's complete piano sonatas chronologically in a series of eight recitals in the 2018-2019 season.

The First Prize winner and recipient of the Baroque Prize at the 2012 San Antonio International Piano Competition, Dr. Lo-An Lin, was born in Taipei, Taiwan. A pianist with “brilliance" and “thoughtfulness" (San Antonio Express), Lin has performed throughout the United States and abroad. She recently gave her debut recital at Carnegie, Weill Recital Hall as the recipient of Lowry Award at Eastman School of Music. Highlights of her solo performances include performances and recitals at the Seoul National Arts Center in Korea, National Recital Hall and Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, the Steinway Hall in New York City, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Lin has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras, such as the San Antonio Symphony, the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Orchestra in Australia, the Glenn Gould School Orchestra in Canada, the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, Suzhou National Orchestra, and the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in Taipei, Taiwan.

Lo-An has received top prizes and acclaims from numerous international and national piano competitions. She was the recipient of the First Prize and the Baroque Performance Prize at the San Antonio International Piano Competition, First Prize at the collegiate division of MTNA Piano Competition in California and the First Prize at the National MTNA Senior division competition, Third Prize at the Corpus Christi International Piano Competition, Second Prize at the Lennox Young Artists International Competition, First Prize, and Audience prize, Concerto prize, and Best performance of an Australian work prize at the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, First Prize at the Viardo International Youth Piano Competition, Second Prize at the Missouri Southern International Piano Youth division, and Second Prize at the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition.

A passionate teacher, Dr. Lin received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree majoring in Piano Performance with a minor in Piano Pedagogy at Eastman School of Music, where she served as a teaching assistant for class piano program, as well as a studio assistant for renown piano pedagogues Nelita True and Tony Caramia. In addition to her teaching assistantships, she has taught private and group lessons at Eastman Community Music School, served as a secondary piano lesson instructor at Yale School of Music and lecturer at the Nazareth School of Music. Lin has been invited to give recitals and masterclasses at many colleges and universities in America, including Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, East Tennessee State University, Denison University, University of Alabama, and San Francisco Conservatory.

Her students have received top prizes in many national and international piano competitions, including Liszt Memorial Prize International Piano Open Competition, London Young Musician Competition, Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition, Steinway Piano Competition East China division, Shanghai International Piano Competition, etc.

As an avid chamber musician, Lin has appeared as a guest artist at the Cactus Pear Music Festival. She has also performed chamber music at festivals such as Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and collaborated with Calder Quartet in Piano Texas Music Festival. Lin has held position as a collaborative pianist at Nazareth College and Pittsford School district.

Lo-An received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music in 2019, where she also received Master of Music degree studying with Dr. Nelita True. While she was a student at the Yale School of music, she was selected twice to represent the piano department to perform in Kennedy Center and Steinway Hall. She received Artist Diploma at Yale in 2014, as the recipient of the George W. Miles Scholarship studying with internationally acclaimed pianist Professor Hung-Kuan Chen. She received her Bachelor of Music degree studying with Professor Yoshikazu Nagai at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was awarded Outstanding Achievement in Piano.

Lo-An is on the roster of OPUS Music Management in Taiwan and currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the Soochow University School of Music in Suzhou, China.

Hailed by Olin Chism of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as “a highly musical person, a master not only of technique but of interpretation” and Lyn Bronson of Peninsula Reviews as having “a masterful technical control that permitted him to go way beyond technical challenges and reveal the essential beauty and significance of each work he performed,” pianist NING ZHOU has been a laureate in several distinguished international piano competitions. A native of China, now residing in Texas, he has competed in the 2009 Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Fort Worth, the 2015 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and was a semi-finalist in the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels, in addition to victories in several competitions while living in China and USA.An avid chamber musician, Ning Zhou won first prize in the 3rd Coltman Chamber Music Competition in Austin Texas, and was invited to perform at the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival 2014 in Courmayeur, Italy, and the Decoda Chamber Music Institute in 2016.Ning holds master's degrees from the Shanghai Conservatory and the San Francisco Conservatory as well as an Artist Certificate in Chamber Music, while studying with Mack McCray and Sharon Mann, also at the San Francisco Conservatory. He is currently pursuing his DMA degree as a Teaching Fellow at the UNT College of Music, under the direction of Dr. Pamela Mia Paul. He joined the piano faculty at Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in 2020 and is the official recording engineer and artist with KNS Classic.

“Stefano is a pianist with complete technical facility and a beautiful tonal palette.

He possesses a natural charisma and an unforced, sophisticated sense of style in a wide range of repertoire.

His dynamic range is wide and he orchestrates beautifully on the piano, with a varied tone which sings at all dynamic levels.

He has brilliance, delicacy, drive and sense of architecture, all revelead in a fine artistic manner”

Garrick Ohlsson

Since his early years of study Stefano Andreatta has received numerous prizes in national and international competitions for young pianists, later establishing himself in major piano competitions in Italy and abroad.

In 2016 he was the winner of the "Friuli Venezia Giulia” International Piano Competition, receiving from the jury also the special prizes for the best performance of Beethoven's sonata and for the 20th-century piece (Rachmaninov's Sonata No. 2).

In recent years, he has distinguished himself in competitions that are members of the Geneva Federation (WFIMC), such as “Casagrande” in Terni and “Honens” in Calgary.

At the Cleveland Competition his performance of Beethoven was again recognised and awarded.

In 2017 he won third prize and a medal at the prestigious Montreal International Competition, in an edition with over 300 participants in the selections, with a final broadcasted on the medici.tv platform.

His first recording project was released in 2018 for KNS Classical, dedicated to Sonatas by Scarlatti, Clementi, Beethoven and Rachmaninov.

He has performed as a soloist and in chamber ensembles in Italy, Germany, England, Spain, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Canada and the United States in prestigious halls such as: Sala dei Giganti (Padua), RDAM Concert Hall (Copenhagen), Tivoli Concert Hall (Copenhagen), Maison Symphonique (Montréal), Teatro Bon (Udine), Astana Opera Theatre (Astana), Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (Salt Lake City), Hanns Eisler Concert Hall (Berlin), Fazioli Concert Hall (Sacile), Auditorium del Massimo (Rome), Auditorium Manuel de Falla (Madrid), Sony Auditorium (Madrid), Sala Ateneu (Bacau), Weinman Hall (Santa Barbara - California), Jack Singer Concert Hall (Calgary).

In 2023 he was invited by “La Società dei Concerti” in Milan with music by Beethoven, Bartòk, Bach and Rachmaninov, and he gave in Bologna the first Italian performance of J.D. Krynen's Sonata, entitled "Cantar de mio Cid" and inspired by the Spanish epic poem of the same name.

The same year, he won the International “Rovere d'Oro” Prize.

The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia awarded him the “Giuseppe Sinopoli” prize in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.

Stefano Andreatta graduated at the Conservatorio “A. Steffani” in Castelfranco Veneto.

After study experiences with Jerome Lowenthal and Anna Kravchenko, he subsequently specialised with Massimiliano Ferrati and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Niklas Sivelov.

He graduated with top marks and honours under the guidance of Benedetto Lupo at the Courses of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Pianist Tian Tian began her piano training at the age of four in her native China. Upon arriving in the United States, she studied with Logan Skelton and quickly began amassing top prizes at national and international competitions. These included 2nd prize at the MTNA Baldwin Junior High school Piano Competition, 2nd prize at the Cooper International Piano Competition (Oberlin), 1st prize at the Idyllwild Arts Academy Young Artist Competition, 2nd prize at the Missouri Southern International Competition, and 3rd place at the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition.She continued her training at the Juilliard School, where she received B.M. and M.M. degrees under the tutelage of Robert McDonald. In the fall 2011 Tian completed a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Literature with a minor in Chamber Music and Accompanying at the Eastman School of Music where she was a student of (and served as teaching assistant to) Nelita True. Dr. Tian maintains a busy performance schedule in the U.S and abroad. Solo appearances have included music festivals such as Piano Texas, the Gilmore Festival, and Summer Courses with Arie Vardi (Germany). Recent concerto appearances included the Windsor Symphony and the Idyllwild Chamber Orchestra. As a member of the Studzinsky Trio, she has recently performed in the U.S., China, and Korea.Dr. Tian is an Associate Professor of Piano and the area coordinator at Oakland University. Prior to that, she was on the faculty of the University of Central Missouri. Her students have repeatedly performed well in competitions and festivals. Since 2008, she has returned to China annually to present concerts, lectures and masterclasses, which have earned her the title of Honorary Professor at Shandong Normal University and Yunnan Institute for the Arts (in 2008), Shaoxing Academy of the Arts (2009), Weifang Academy, Mudanjiang Teacher's University, Ludong University, Qufu University (2010), Qingdao University (2012), and Shandong University of Technology (2015).

“Her performance was incredibly expressive… effortlessly moving from delicate flourishes to pounding intensity…” (Toronto Star).

Pianist Yang Liu captivates audiences worldwide with her profound musicianship and extraordinary virtuosity. Since making a successful concerto debut at the age of fourteen with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, she has performed in some of the most renowned concert halls in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the Lincoln Center in New York City, Koerner Hall in Toronto, Beijing Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall, the Château de Fontainebleau in France.

Ms. Liu's musical prowess has garnered her many prestigious awards, including First Prize in the Toronto International Piano Competition, First Prize in the professional category of the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Second Prize in the Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards, Fourth Prize of the International Chopin Competition for Young Pianist, among others. She has also participated in many international music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, PianoTexas, Fontainebleau School of Music, International Musical Artistry Goslar, and Imola Summer Music Academy and Festival. In 2014, she became a member of the Musicians Club of New York.

In 2022, Naxos Records released her album “Schubert: German Dances, Ländlers, and Écossaises”, featuring Schubert's dances performed on both a modern piano and a fortepiano. The album includes world premiere recordings and a Ländler completed by Yang Liu based on Schubert's fragment. Later in the same year, her album “Dancing on the Keys, Volume I” showcased waltzes by Chopin, Grünfeld/Johann Strauss Jr., Schubert/Richard Strauss, and Ravel, was released on QQ Music in China.

Ms. Liu's musical journey began in her hometown of Fuzhou, China. She earned both Bachelor's and Master's of Music degrees from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale School of Music with Dr. Melvin Chen, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Peabody Institute-Johns Hopkins University with Prof. Yong Hi Moon. In addition, she has been studying at The Imola International Academy Foundation “Incontri con il Maestro” in Italy with Prof. Vovka Ashkenazy.

In addition to her performing career, Ms. Liu is also deeply committed to sharing her passion and expertise with the next generation of musicians. As an avid educator, she is on the piano faculty at Smith College, actively teaching in the New York region, and has served as the assistant of keyboard studies at the Peabody Institute. Her students have achieved success in international competitions and have been accepted into prominent music conservatories such as the Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and Peabody Institute.

Yang Liu is the founder and director of theOcean Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City devoted to presenting concert series and educational programs. She is a Steinway Artist.

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the international stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition, 2017 Washington International Competition, and the Warning International Piano Competition. The Worthing Herald music critic Richard Amey praised his recent performance "flair for the unusual and his technical and artistic capacity to deliver," as well as his "musical and emotional intelligence, dexterity and virtuosity," listening to Chen as soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.5 "Egyptian" with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. His vibrant playing at the Pacific International Piano Competition (Canada) was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize ("…Yi-Yang showed an impressive breadth of emotional investment and natural affinity for the music he played. The informed individuality and command of his performance was immediately compelling to the judges. We feel this young man has a fine future as an artist. He seems to 'own' the piano as he plays, and this makes his performance extremely powerful" - Dr. Robin McCabe).

Yi-Yang Chen is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Kansas and the Artist Director of the Orbifold Music Festival in California. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen has been playing the piano since the age of 8. Yi-Yang completed his Doctor of Musical Arts And Bachelor's of Music at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys, and his Master's degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal. He also has solo/chamber masterclasses with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Pollack, Joseph Kalichstein.

Yi-Yang Chen is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, and Mu Phi Epsilon. He enjoys swimming, biking, traveling, and composing. Yi-Yang is currently working on a recording project with Champs Hill label (UK); the release is scheduled for 2025. Before joining KU (University of Kansas), Yi-Yang served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University as a tenure-track professor.

Dr. Chen is a Steinway Artist.

Born in Turin (Italy), Luisella Germano graduated with honors in Piano at the Conservatorio Statale “G.Verdi” in Torino (State Conservatory of Music in Turin).

After receiving a scholarship from “De Sono” Associazione per la musica in Torino (De Sono Association for Music in Turin), she specialized in chamber music with “Trio di Trieste” at the Accademia Ducale in Genoa, and “Trio di Milano” at the High Music School in Fiesole (Florence).

Before turning her attention to the operatic repertoire, Ms Germano won many prizes in several international competitions as soloist and as part of chamber ensembles.

After graduating with honors from the highly prestigious Accademia Teatro “La Scala” in Milan, as “vocal coach”, she worked at the Opera houses in Frankfurt, in Nice and in Turin (2003 till 2012).

In 2012 won an audition at the Vienna State Opera as “vocal coach”.

She worked there as responsible of the italian repertoire from 2012 till 2020.

After 2020 she worked regularly as guest at “Theater an der Wien”(Vienna), at “Teatro Massimo” Palermo (Italy), at „Teatro Regio“ Torino (Italy), at “La Monnaie“ Opera house (Brussels), at the Berlin State Opera.

From 2006 till 2017 she also regularly worked with the RAI Symphony National Orchestra as “vocal coach” and pianist.

During the summers 2016 and 2017 she served on the artistic staff at the Salzburger Festspiele (Salzburg Opera Festival) as a vocal coach and musical Assistant.

Ms Germano has worked alongside conductors such as Alain Altinoglu, Marco Armiliato, Semyon Bychkov, Jesus Lopez Cobos, James Conlon, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Myung-Whung Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Ivanovič Fedoseev, Michele Mariotti, Riccardo Muti, Gianandrea Noseda, Juraj Valčuha, Zubin Mehta, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Evelino Pidó, Pinchas Steinberg, Jeffrey Tate.

From 2016 on she worked several times with M° Riccardo Muti as “vocal coach” and “fortepiano player” for the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy.

Since 2018 Ms Germano has held a collaborative pianist position at the “Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien” (the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna) - Department of Vocal Studies.

Collaborative Pianist & Vocal Coach, specializing in opera and art song.

With over eight years of experience, he have worked with numerous vocal instructors and professional opera singers.

Active in conservatories, universities, opera theaters, and music academies, where he serve as both a pianist and vocal coach.

In 2018, he won the "Special Duo" Award at the National Italian Chamber Music Competition in Milan. In the same year, he participated as an accompanying pianist in rehearsals for La Bohème by Puccini and Rigoletto by Verdi at the Conservatorio di Musica G. Verdi in Milan and was admitted to the collaborative piano course at the Dance Academy of Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

From 2019 to 2022, he taught at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China as a master coach for opera singers. During this period, he was frequently invited as a pianist and master collaborator for rehearsals of La Bohème and the "Puccini Theme Concert," conducted by the renowned conductor Li Wei, at the Shanghai Opera House and Zhejiang Opera House in China.

In 2020, he was invited by Xinjiang University in China to perform as an accompanying pianist in a concert. That same year, he worked as a master trainer, preparing students for entrance into the University of Southampton's Highfield Campus in the United Kingdom, the Conservatorio di Musica G. Verdi in Milan, and Ball State University in the United States.

In 2021, he was invited by Chinese baritone Ye Yong to perform as an accompanying pianist at the Grand Theatre in Hangzhou, China. At the same venue, he also performed as an accompanist for a special "Russian Concert." Additionally, he accompanied concerts featuring sopranos Zhao Jing and Me Yanan.

Since 2023, he has been a faculty member in the Collaborative Program and Vocal Coaching at the Brescia Conservatory (Italy).

Antoinette Perry, born into a family of professional musicians, gave her first public performance at the age of four. Since then she has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Germany, France, England, and in over 15 cities of the People's Republic of China. She has been heard often on NPR and the Bravo! Channel, and has recorded for the Crystal, Harmonie, Pacific Rainbow, Pacific Serenades, Excelsior, and Navona/PARMA labels.

Pianist Assaff Weisman's performances have taken him to some of the major venues in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. These include appearances at London's Wigmore Hall, the Rudolfinum in Prague, Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Philips Hall in The Hague, and Lincoln Center in New York.

As first prize winner in the 2006 Iowa International Piano Competition, he has appeared as soloist with the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), Sioux City Symphony, the American Chamber Orchestra, the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Peru.

His radio credits include WQXR's "Young Artist Showcase" and "The Voice of Music" in Israel, as well as multiple appearances on WGBH radio in Boston, where he has recorded repertoire ranging from Bach to André Previn. His 2002 release of an all-Schubert recording for Yamaha's "NYC Rising Star" series quickly became one of its best sellers.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Weisman has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Arcanto String Quartets, the Beaux Arts Trio, and has taken part in the Aspen Music Festival, Campos do Jordão (Brazil), Lima Chamber Music Festival (Peru), The Music Festival of the Hamptons, and Verbier (Switzerland).

He is a founding member, and the Executive Director of the award-winning Israeli Chamber Project, with which he has toured since 2008. Mr. Weisman is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees as a student of Herbert Stessin, and where he is a member of the Extension Division piano faculty.

Prior to his studies in New York, he studied with Professor Victor Derevianko in Israel where he was a winner of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarships. Mr. Weisman is a Yamaha Artist.

Transparent yet intricate, Cindy Cox's compositions synthesize old and new musical designs. The natural world and ecological concerns inspire many of the special harmonies and textural colorations in her works.

Cox is active as a pianist and has performed and recorded many of her own compositions, including the large-scale Hierosgamos and Sylvan Pieces. A number of her works feature technologies developed at UC Berkeley's Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), such as Pianos and the Etudes for piano sampler keyboards. Her compositions with text such as Singing the lines, The Other Side of the World, and The Shape of the Shell evolved through collaboration with her husband, poet John Campion. Together they are currently collaborating on a musical theater project, The Road to Xibalba, based on the ancient Mayan myth of creation The Popol Vuh. Cox's recent commission from the Toulmin Foundation and the American League of Orchestras was for Dreaming a world's edge, premiered by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in May 2022.

She has received awards and commissions from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Guggenheim Foundation, the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, Meet the Composer, the Fulbright Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Toulmin Foundation with the League of American Orchestras. She has been a Fellow at Tanglewood, Aspen, the MacDowell Colony, Civitella Ranieri, and Giardini La Mortella.

Recent performances have taken place at the Venice Biennale, the Festival de la Habana in Cuba, the American Academy in Rome, Carnegie and Merkin Halls in New York City, the National Gallery in Washington, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, and the Biblioteca National in Buenos Aires. Her music has been performed by the Kronos Quartet, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony, the California Symphony, the Alexander Quartet, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the Eco Ensemble. There are five monograph recordings of Cox's music, and her scores are published by World a Tuning Fork Press (www.cacox.com).

Her music may also be accessed on https://soundcloud.com/cindy-cox. Cindy Cox is also a Professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

A prize winner of several national and international competitions, Donald Law is a solo and collaborative pianist. Donald was the 1 st prize winner of the 7 th Lucien Wang Piano Competition 2016. He has also been awarded 2 nd prize in the Artist (Piano) category in the 1 st Nanyang International Music Competition 2017. His other competition accolades were such as top 3 of Shingeru Kawai International Piano Competition 2017 (Singapore - Malaysia region), 5th prize in the Medan International Piano Competition 2015, and “Honorary Mention” in NAFA - Music Essentials Piano Concerto Competition 2011.

Over the past few years, Donald has been performing in London's Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at the Royal College of Music, and in Singapore's leading performance venues, such as the Esplanade, the Arts House, Lee Foundation Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall. He has been invited to play in numerous public masterclasses by Dennis Lee, Huseyin Sermet, Noriko Ogawa, Dina Parakhina, Gordon Fergus Thompson and Dr. Robert Winter, to name a few. He has also played on four concerts as the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 in G K. 453 with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) Wind Ensemble, directed by NAFA Head of Winds and Brass - Joost Flach. Donald has also been actively performing at summer music festivals and concerts across Europe in England, Germany, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro, playing solo and chamber music with international artists from Italy and Korea. In 2018, with the invitation of Musikschule Kirn-Meisenheim-Bad Sobemheim, Donald was invited as a piano accompanist and soloist to give performances in Ru Gao, China, as part of the school's cultural exchange programme. In 2006, under the invitation of Kerry Oils & Grains Co. Ltd., Donald performed a piano performance as part of their press conference to announce “Obtaining Suppliership for Cooking Oil for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games” in Beijing Kerry Center Hotel, China. He has also performed a piano recital as part of Tan Tock Seng (TTS) Hospital's “Art of Healing” Series at the TTS Hospital Atrium in Singapore.

Donald was a recipient of numerous education scholarships, such as the Overseas - Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) Undergraduate Scholarship, Ngee Ann Kongsi Merit Award and Tay Chay Bing Bursary, before havin graduated with a Diploma (with highest mark in graduation recital) from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and a First-Class Honours from Royal College of Music - Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Bachelors of Music in Performance, under the tutelage of Lena Ching Kah Pick (NAFA Head of Piano) and concert pianist Boris Kraljevic. Donald was also a recipient of the Henry Wood Trust Fund during his studies at the Royal College of Music in London, where he graduated with a Masters of Music in Performance under the tutelage of Dina Parakhina, and the current deputy head of piano faculty at the Royal Northern College of Music, Ashley Wass. Donald has also studied with the Head of the Academy of the Performing Arts (HAMU), Ivan Klánsky (Prague, Czech Republic) and concert pianist Hüseyin Sermet (Paris, France). Recently, Donald joined KNS Classical, becoming their Artist and just completed recording his solo album under the KNS Classical label.

Fabio Bidini today is recognized as one of the most important pianists and pedagogues. Bernard Holland of the New York Times stated: "He is capable of an admirable simplicity…truly touching."

At the age of five he was given his first piano lessons and, a half year later, he had his first public performance. In the following years he won 11 of the most important Italian piano competitions, including always the Audience Prize as well as all the special prizes.

He made his final graduation as “Magna cum Laude" and was one of the youngest graduates ever of the prestigious “Conservatorio Santa Cecilia" in Rome. Pianists who made a significant contribution to his artistic development were Orazio Frugoni and Maria Tipo.

After winning top prizes in the most famous Global piano competitions, his sensational success at the Busoni and at the Van Cliburn Global Piano Competition opened him the door to a constantly growing Global career.

His outstanding piano playing that combines technical wizardry with poetic lyricism and his fascinating culture of the attack of the keyboard brought him to have a glowing London debut in the Barbican Center with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas in the presence of Sir Georg Solti. Shortly after, he performed at the United Nation as a soloist of the BBC Wales and had his highly acclaimed North American debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Joel Levi.

Since then Mr. Bidini has been a frequent guest of the most prominent orchestras worldwide (San Francisco Sympony, Dallas Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philharmonia Orchestra of London, BBC Orchestra Wales) playing in the world's most famous concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center Philadelphia, Kennedy-Center Washington, Royal Festival Hall, Davies Hall, Tonhalle Zürich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Rudolfinum, Auditorio Nacionál-Madrid, Auditorio de Zaragoza, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, among others).

He has also collaborated with leading conductors of our time, including Michael Tilson Thomas, Ivan Fischer, Andrey Boreyko, Zoltan Kocsis, Eri Klas, GianAndrea Noseda, Barry Wordsworth, Yoel Levi, Pavel Kogan, Louis Lane, Tadaaki Otaka, Mathias Bamert, Jesus Lopez Cobos, JoAnn Falletta, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Max Valdes, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Michael Christie, Carlos Prieto, Rossen Milanov among others.

He has been repeatedly invited to perform at prestigious festivals, such as the Tuscan Sun Festival Cortona/ Napa, Festival Radio France Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, La Roque d'Anthéron Global Piano Festival, Stern Grove Festival, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Global Piano Festival, Festival dei Due Mondi, Grant Park Festival Chicago.

Mr. Bidini is also greatly in demand as a chamber music partner. He has enjoyed artistic collaboration with the American String Quartet, the Janacek Quartet, the Brodsky Quartet, the Szymanowski Quartet, the Modigliani Quartet, Zoltan Kocsis, Nikolaj Znaider, Johannes Moser, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Paula Robison, Corey Cerovsek, Wendy Warner, Eva Urbanova, Eva Mei, Nina Kotova, Alexis-Pia Gerlach, Maria Bachmann, Dimitri Ashkenazy e Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker. He has formed a formal duo with Ms. Hopcker, and, with the publication of their debut CD of sonatas of S.Prokofieff and R.Strauss, they have laid the foundations for extensive collaborations with the US American label True Sounds.

Mr. Bidini's discography comprises of 14 CDs of leading recording companies such as BMG, Naxos, Classichord, Musikstrasse, EPR, True Sounds, among others.

In 2005 Mr. Bidini accepted a professorship in the piano departement of the “Universität der Künste - Berlin". In 2009 he won one of the most important chairs for piano in Germany at the “Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler" in Berlin.

In 2015 the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles founded the Carol Colburn Grigor Piano Chair for Fabio Bidini and he currently serves as faculty at the prestigious conservatory. Additionally he serves as an artist in residence at the “Hochschule für Musik und Tanz" in Köln.He is an official Steinway Artist.

Described as a “striking interpreter” who gives a “committed and heartfelt performance” by Musical America and The New York Times, pianist Fanya Lin has entranced audiences worldwide with her charismatic and fiery performances. Lin's “mesmerizing performance” of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini in UK was depicted as “a tornado had touched down through her body and lifted her, feathers fluttering, from the piano stool as she weighed into the keys.” Her orchestral reengagements include Utah Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, The Jackson Symphony, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, and New Art Symphony.

An avid soloist, Fanya promotes classical music to the public by creating innovative concert programs and engages her audience by presenting interactive performances. Her solo recitals have been featured in numerous prestigious concert series, including the Schubert Club Musicians on the Rise, the Stecher and Horowitz Young Artist Series, and The Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania. As a philanthropist, Fanya has collaborated with various non-profit organizations through fundraising galas and salon concerts to create access for education and promote mental illness awareness.

Fanya also dedicates herself to new music by performing with contemporary music organizations such as Focus and Axiom. Her recent projects include performance of Boulez Sur Incises for three harps, three pianos, and three percussionists, piano-duet concert featuring works by celebrated female composers Tania León, Gabriela Lena Frank, Chen Yi, and Kay He. Her work was featured in newly released albums Dan Asia: Ivory II and Metropolis: The Piano Music of Joshua Nichols by Summit Records.

As a chamber musician, Fanya has collaborated with world-class musicians including Noah Bendix-Balgley (concert master of the Berlin Philharmonic), Romie de Guise-Langlois (clarinetist of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society), and Ta'u Pupu'a (tenor in major opera productions including Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera). In 2020, Fanya and her colleague Dr. Daniel Linder formed the Lin-Linder Piano Duo and has been praised for their “strong combination” and ability to “create a satisfying experience” (Fanfare). Fanya also performs regularly with her Saxophone colleague Dr. Edward Goodman. Their EPs On Walls by Greg Simon and Phil Woods Sonata are recently released by Soundset Recordings.

A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Fanya is a top prizewinner of the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, Concours International de Piano France-Amériques, New York International Piano Competition, and Seattle International Piano Competition. Fanya earned her Doctoral Degree at the University of Minnesota under the guidance of Emerita Distinguished McKnight Professor Lydia Artymiw; her Master's Degree at The Juilliard School with Professor Hung-Kuan Chen and Jerome Lowenthal; and her Bachelor's Degree at Weber State University with Dr. Yu-Jane Yang. Currently, Dr. Fanya Lin is serving as the Associate Professor of Practice in Piano at the University of Arizona, where she teaches applied piano lessons, chamber music, piano literature, and Yoga for Musicians course.

Establishing herself as one of today's promising emerging artists, pianist Hanbo Ma has made appearances in solo recitals, as well as being featured with orchestras throughout Asia, Europe and North America. Her career began with her performance of Islamey by Balakirev at Severence Hall in Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 17, after which she received recognitions by winning the San Jose International Piano Competition, the St. Andrews International Piano Competition, the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, as well as others, and was selected as the only recipient of the Cobos Piano Prize given by Eastman School of Music in 2015.

Dr. Ma has given numbers of concert tours such as an All-Liszt recital tour in North America and Europe sponsored by the Embassy of Hungary in Washington D.C, Liszt Memorial Museum in Budapest, Hungry and Hungarian Cultural center in London, England; a series of concerts and master classes on French and Russian Music at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, East Tennessee State University, Biola University and Wuhan Conservatory in China.

An active pianist, Dr. Ma not only performs solo recitals, but also enjoys performing with chamber groups and contemporary composers. In 2013, she was invited to be one of the twelve scholars at Heartland Chamber Music Festival, where her chamber performance was live-streamed on Kansas Public Radio. In 2017, Dr. Ma collaborated with string quintet from University of Southern California to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 while conducting from the piano. Dr. Ma has premiered numbers of works, including a world premier of Ben Kwok's Sounds From the Lung Fields, Dr. Chih-long Hu's Formosa Caprices and Elizabeth Baker's Four Plane, which is a piece the composer dedicated to Dr. Ma. Dr. Ma's most recent project is in preparation of recording and premiering composer Michael Colina's Piano Concerto with The Florida Symphony.

Dr. Ma holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. Her primary teachers including Chih-long Hu, Rebecca Penneys and Daniel Pollack. During her time at USC, She also studied Composition and Orchestral Conducting with National medal of art recipient Morten Lauridsen and Maestro Larry Livingston. In 2023, Dr. Ma has been inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame, a prestigious designation recognizing the work of North America's most committed and passionate piano educators. Her latest CD From Schumann, With Love is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Polish-born pianist Igor Lipinski made his orchestra debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on NPR's Performance Today playing Paderewski's Piano Concerto under the baton of JoAnn Falletta. As an orchestra soloist, he has appeared with Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra, Lakes Area Music Festival Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and Paderewski Symphony Orchestra at Chicago's Symphony Center.

He maintains an active concert career in the U.S. including a live broadcast recital at Chicago's premiere classical music station 98.7 WFMT and “33 Variations," an award-winning theater play based on Beethoven's Diabelli Variations.

Highlights of recent concert seasons include recitals at the San Francisco International Piano Festival, College of Charleston International Piano Series in Charleston, South Carolina, WNYC's Greene Space in New York City, Teatro Jordão at the European Piano Teachers Conference in Guimarães, Portugal, and Mozarthaus Museum's Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna, Austria.

At age 12, Lipinski won the Grand Prix and the First Prize at the Paderewski Competition for Young Pianists in Tuchów, Poland. At 17, he played the role of a pianist in Kazimierz Braun's theatre play "Paderewski's Children" at the University at Buffalo. A year later, he graduated from the Paderewski Music High School in Tarnów, Poland where he studied piano with Jaroslaw Iwaneczko.

Lipinski earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Musical Arts and Master of Music in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester where he studied piano under the tutelage of Douglas Humpherys. As a teaching assistant of Vincent Lenti and Tony Caramia, he received Eastman's Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Lipinski continued his graduate studies at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music earning his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Alan Chow. Upon graduation from Northwestern, Lipinski joined the piano faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as the Lecturer of Piano where he received the KMTA Teacher of the Year award. In Fall 2017, Lipinski joined the piano faculty at the University of Oklahoma as the Assistant Professor of Piano.

Lipinski's students have won multiple awards including the University of Oklahoma Concerto Competition and the Oklahoma MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition. Lipinski has been an adjudicator for many national piano competitions including Dallas International Piano Competition, Texas Music Teachers Association State Conference in Houston, and the Young Artist Piano Competition Finals of the 2020 MTNA National Conference in Chicago where he was also selected to present a conference session entitled “Reimagining The Piano Recital: Creative Ideas To Engage Your Audience."

Lipinski's research interests focus on the history of recital programming featured in his DMA dissertation “From Liszt to Victor Borge: A Legacy of Unique Piano Performances." Recognized for his own creative programming, Lipinski unified two of his lifelong passions, classical music and magic, in a unique recital program Piano Illusions. Originally developed for his honors senior thesis at Eastman, Lipinski collaborated on the program with Teller of Las Vegas duo Penn & Teller and won the WQXR Classical Comedy Contest at Caroline's on Broadway. In light of his success in New York, Lipinski presented “Piano Illusions" at renowned concert series and festivals including Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation in Salt Lake City and Musica del Cuore Concert Series in Hong Kong.

Passionate recording artist, Lipinski has released several albums under his own concept record label Vanishing Records including Alchemy, Ravel, Masterpieces, and Liszt, all available on Spotify and Apple Music. His latest release features an album of piano music by Czech composer Leoš Janáček.

American pianist Jerome Lowenthal has been a Juilliard faculty member since 1991. He has received prizes in international competitions in Brussels, Bolzano, and Darmstadt, and has appeared with major orchestras in the U.S., including Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, National, Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Minnesota. He has premiered solo music by Rochberg, Capanna, Reise, and Rorem's Piano Concerto No. 3. He has played duo recitals with Denis Brott, Itzhak Perlman, Ronit Amir, and Ursula Oppens.

Lowenthal is a regular participant in chamber music festivals in Sitka, Alaska; Montreal; and Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West. He played the New York premiere of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 3 with New York Philharmonic. Lowenthal has made numerous recordings of solo concerto and chamber music repertoire.

Lowenthal studied with Olga Samaroff, William Kapell, and at Juilliard with Edward Steuermann. He also studied with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique on a Fulbright Grant.

Praised by the New York Times for his “revelatory" performances, and by the Toronto Star for his “technically flawless, poetically inspired and immensely assured playing," pianist Jiayan Sun has performed frequently with The Cleveland Orchestra, The Hallé Orchestra, the Chinese and RTÉ (Ireland) National Symphony Orchestras, the Fort Worth and Toledo Symphony Orchestras, the Toronto and Aspen Concert Orchestras, the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, and he has conducted from the keyboard the Meiningen Court Orchestra. His performances have been broadcast by the BBC, the RTÉ, China Central Television, and classical music radio stations in North America. He has performed at and participated in the Verbier Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, the Aspen Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, PianoTexas. Under the mentorship of Sir András Schiff, he was invited to give a number of solo recitals in Europe as part of Schiff's “Building Bridges" project for the 2017-2018 season.

Mr. Sun has been awarded prizes at many of the major Global piano competitions, including the third prize at the Leeds Global Piano Competition, the second prize at the Dublin Global Piano Competition, the fourth prize and the audience prize at the Cleveland Global Piano Competition, the first prize at the inaugural CCC Toronto Global Piano Competition, and others. Playing early keyboard instruments and studying historical performance practice has played a significant role in Mr. Sun's musical activities, with critically acclaimed appearances with the American Classical Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall.

Hailed from Yantai, China, he received the Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School. He continues his studies at Juilliard as a doctoral candidate under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Stephen Hough. His other mentors include pianists Malcolm Bilson, Richard Goode, Robert Levin, and harpsichordist Lionel Party. His devotion to the art of composition led him to study with the composer Philip Lasser. As the Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist in Piano at Smith College, he is presenting Beethoven's complete piano sonatas chronologically in a series of eight recitals in the 2018-2019 season.

Pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered international acclaim and he has been recognized for his “hypnotically powerful and precise" pianism and “dynamic and distinguished" interpretations. His concert tours and performances have taken place in major concert halls, universities and concert organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, Mexico, South America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Notable venues include Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), The Mormon Tabernacle (Utah), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), Place des Arts (Montreal), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Suntori Hall (Tokyo), National Gallery (Kingston) and Town Hall (Melbourne). He has appeared with several Canadian and American orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Canadian Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Los Angeles Cameratta, Utah Chamber Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Orchestra at Temple Square. Recent orchestral performances have included concerti by Dvorak, Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Balakirev, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Berg and Scharwenka.

Fitz-Gerald's concerts have frequently been recorded for local, national and international radio, and television networks in Canada, the U.S., South America, France, Japan, China, Korea and Australia. His CD recordings can be found on the Summit, Quatro Corde, AFCM, Centaur, GM, Yamaha PianoSoft and Ivory Classics records labels. In constant demand as a chamber musician, he has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as: Hagai, Shaham, Patrick Gallois, Stephen Isserlis, Anne Akiko Meyers, Richard Stolzman, Alan Civil, Camilla Wicks, Midori, Eudice Shapiro, Milton Thomas, Karen Tuttle, Donald McInnes, Ronald Leonard, the Bartok, St. Petersburg and St. Lawrence String Quartets.

For many years, Fitz-Gerald was studio pianist in summer programs for some of the leading artist-teachers of our time, including William Primrose, Lillian Fuchs, Zara Nelsova, Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Zoltan Szekely, Lorand Fenyves and Marcel Moyse. He regularly performs two-piano and four-hand recitals with Bernadene Blaha, appearing at prestigious festivals, conventions, music teacher's symposiums and concert venues throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The Blaha/Fitz-Gerald Duo has performed extensively throughout Canada under the auspices of the Piano Six program, the Canada Council Touring Office and the Cross Country Classics program.

Fitz-Gerald also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting masterclasses and lecture-symposiums throughout the world. His students have been prize-winners in many major piano and chamber music competitions, including: the Rubinstein International Piano Competition, Vilna International Piano Competition, IBLA International Piano Competition, American Orff-Schullwerke International Competition, ARD International Piano Competition, the Music Teacher's National Association national competition, Los Angeles Liszt International Piano Competition, Jean Francaix International Competition, Canadian National Music Competitions and the Colman National Chamber Music Competition.

Today his students can be found winning competitions, performing, recording and teaching at many of the finest conservatories and universities throughout the world. In addition to his position as Professor of Piano Performance and Collaborative Arts at USC Thornton, Fitz-Gerald is also a regular visiting artist-teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts, a frequent masterclass teacher at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, the Aria International Summer Institute in Indiana, as well as visiting faculty at many other national and international music festivals and institutions throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Born in Kelowna, British Columbia, Fitz-Gerald was a full scholarship student at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where his principal teachers were Marek Jablonski, Robin Wood and Alma Brock-Smith. In addition, he has worked extensively with Menahem Pressler, John Perry, Gyorgy Sebok and Leon Fleisher. He has won several prestigious competitions, grants and awards, including the Du Maurier Search for the Stars, CBC National Radio Auditions and the Young Artists' National Piano Competition.

The First Prize winner and recipient of the Baroque Prize at the 2012 San Antonio International Piano Competition, Dr. Lo-An Lin, was born in Taipei, Taiwan. A pianist with “brilliance" and “thoughtfulness" (San Antonio Express), Lin has performed throughout the United States and abroad. She recently gave her debut recital at Carnegie, Weill Recital Hall as the recipient of Lowry Award at Eastman School of Music. Highlights of her solo performances include performances and recitals at the Seoul National Arts Center in Korea, National Recital Hall and Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, the Steinway Hall in New York City, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Lin has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras, such as the San Antonio Symphony, the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Orchestra in Australia, the Glenn Gould School Orchestra in Canada, the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, Suzhou National Orchestra, and the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in Taipei, Taiwan.

Lo-An has received top prizes and acclaims from numerous international and national piano competitions. She was the recipient of the First Prize and the Baroque Performance Prize at the San Antonio International Piano Competition, First Prize at the collegiate division of MTNA Piano Competition in California and the First Prize at the National MTNA Senior division competition, Third Prize at the Corpus Christi International Piano Competition, Second Prize at the Lennox Young Artists International Competition, First Prize, and Audience prize, Concerto prize, and Best performance of an Australian work prize at the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, First Prize at the Viardo International Youth Piano Competition, Second Prize at the Missouri Southern International Piano Youth division, and Second Prize at the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition.

A passionate teacher, Dr. Lin received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree majoring in Piano Performance with a minor in Piano Pedagogy at Eastman School of Music, where she served as a teaching assistant for class piano program, as well as a studio assistant for renown piano pedagogues Nelita True and Tony Caramia. In addition to her teaching assistantships, she has taught private and group lessons at Eastman Community Music School, served as a secondary piano lesson instructor at Yale School of Music and lecturer at the Nazareth School of Music. Lin has been invited to give recitals and masterclasses at many colleges and universities in America, including Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, East Tennessee State University, Denison University, University of Alabama, and San Francisco Conservatory.

Her students have received top prizes in many national and international piano competitions, including Liszt Memorial Prize International Piano Open Competition, London Young Musician Competition, Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition, Steinway Piano Competition East China division, Shanghai International Piano Competition, etc.

As an avid chamber musician, Lin has appeared as a guest artist at the Cactus Pear Music Festival. She has also performed chamber music at festivals such as Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and collaborated with Calder Quartet in Piano Texas Music Festival. Lin has held position as a collaborative pianist at Nazareth College and Pittsford School district.

Lo-An received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music in 2019, where she also received Master of Music degree studying with Dr. Nelita True. While she was a student at the Yale School of music, she was selected twice to represent the piano department to perform in Kennedy Center and Steinway Hall. She received Artist Diploma at Yale in 2014, as the recipient of the George W. Miles Scholarship studying with internationally acclaimed pianist Professor Hung-Kuan Chen. She received her Bachelor of Music degree studying with Professor Yoshikazu Nagai at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was awarded Outstanding Achievement in Piano.

Lo-An is on the roster of OPUS Music Management in Taiwan and currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the Soochow University School of Music in Suzhou, China.

Mark Demidovich started studying piano at age 7 and has been teaching others to play for more than 12 years. A native of Kostroma, Russia, who lives in Downtown Hollywood, Mark emigrated to the U.S. in 2011 to continue his education, which included The Long Island Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School in New York City, one of the world's leading music schools.

He has won many international music competitions, performed numerous solo recitals, and appeared as a guest soloist with orchestras in Russia, Bulgaria, Sweden and the U.S., where venues included the White House, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Lincoln Center.

Despite all of his accomplishments, Mark had a dream that went unfulfilled - until now. "From the moment I started teaching, it was always my dream to have my own music school," he said. "I want to have an impact on as many people as I can, to bring music into their lives, and having my own school allows me to do that."

Mark has taught students ranging in age from 4 to 75. And during this time, he honed his successful student-centered teaching method that combines the traditional method of learning an instrument with behavioral psychology and contemporary studies on how people learn.

Menghan Cao, Co-founder of The M Music Group, currently a piano faculty at Orange County Music and Dance. Ms.Cao originally from China, then moved to the United States for her high school education at Interlochen Arts Academy in 2010. Ms.Cao received her bachelor degree from Eastman School of Music in Piano Performance with Natalya Antonova. She graduated with a Master of Music and Graduate Certificate both at University of Southern California with Bernadene Blaha in 2021.

Ms.Cao has been teaching piano students on all levels and ages since 2014, and is capable of teaching in both English and Mandarin. Plenty of students here who have participated and performed at the competition. Many of her students have successfully acquired the ABRSM & CM Certifications. In 2017, she was invited to be a teaching assistant in both Cadenza Beijing W-town International Chamber Music Summer Camp, and also, Steinway International Piano Preparatory Academy, Orange County, CA in 2019.

As an experienced piano performer, Ms.Cao has given solo piano recitals in Los Angeles CA, Rochester NY, Beijing China and Yingkou China. She also participated in many partner's recitals such as piano trio, duo piano and piano quartets. In 2016, Ms. Cao toured with Interlochen Orchestra as an orchestral and choral pianist to many cities in the east coast of the U.S.

Ms. Cao has won many competitions, domestically and internationally. Including Michigan Music Teacher Association (MMTA) Concerto Competition, the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). Social Music Works, James Ramos International Video Competition, Hong Kong Asia Piano Open Competition in Mozart Sonata Group, Grieg Group, and the Winner of her age group, and Xinghai Cup Competition.

"Gao plays the piano with full of colors, characters, emotions and imaginations. She listens into herself, hears the music, and the piano becomes an extension of her mind" --- Yangzi Newspaper A renowned Young Steinway Artist, Dr. Mingyi Gao is an educator, recitalist, guest artist, chamber musician and adjudicator, Inductee of Steinway Hall of Fame. She has been performed in venues throughout China, Europe and North America.Dr. Gao was born in the city of Nanjing, China and made her solo recital debut at the age of seven. She was winners of Jiangsu Piano Competition, Gulangyu Piano Competition, NTDTV Global Piano Competition, Grand Prize Virtuoso Global Music Competition, New York “Golden Classical Music Awards" Global Competition. She has participated and performed in Shanghai Global Piano Festival, Prague Global Music Festival, Eastman “Music for All" program, the Chautauqua Global Music Festival with orchestra and the tribute to legendary Vladimir Horowitz Concert, etc. Also, Dr. Gao can be heard through the CD release of Czerny Exercises, etc. Her CD recordings include repertoires of Czerny-Piano Technique Practice, Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert and Bartok, etc.Dr. Gao holds a BM degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music and graduate degrees (MM and DMA) of Musical arts degrees in piano performance and literature from Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Steinway Artist Ms. Rebecca Penneys. Dr. Gao frequently communicates with young pianists through recitals, competitions and masterclasses at conservatories and universities. She was the guest professor at Taizhou University and AMF “Master Series". She gave lectures, masterclasses and recitals at Nanjing University, Summit Jewish community centers and Fudan University. Dr. Gao is the founder and director of Sino-Wing Global Piano Competition. She is a member of MTAC, SYMF and previous chair of Orange County West Southern California Jr. Bach Festival. She is a pointed judge of WPTA IPC and Vivace Global Piano Competition. Dr. Gao's piano studio has been established with Steinway Piano since 2004 and her students include grand prizewinners in national and Global competitions, which leads to performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the performing arts, Duncan Recital Hall and Antelope Valley College Performing Arts Theatre. Also, Dr. Gao's students have received offers and gone on to attend universities such as UC Berkeley, University of Toronto, UCI, NYU, Yale School of Music, Emory University. Dr. Mingyi Gao is an acclaimed Music Artist. She founded a non profit organization as The M Music Group, which is on a mission to share the beauty and love of music to life. The non profit group seeing professional success around 2022, with the release of their first chamber concert in Orange County. With music, we will overcome countless obstacles on the way up, and continue to work hard each and every day to keep the musical journey moving forward.

American pianist Nicholas Dold has enjoyed an active career performing across the United States as both a solo and collaborative musician. He has been a featured artist for Minnesota Public Radio's "Performance Today", 91.9 Classical KC, Indiana Public Radio, the Duxbury Music Festival, the Orchestral Institute of Napa Valley, Chamber Music Silicon Valley, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, Opera San Jose, the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, and the University of Alaska - Fairbanks.

Equally committed as an educator, he is recognized as a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). He was appointed to the Keyboard Faculty at William Jewell College in 2022 and prior to that, served on the Collaborative Piano Faculty and Staff at Santa Clara University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His work in the area of developing chamber music and collaborative training curricula for pre-college musicians continues to be his major ongoing pedagogical endeavor as the founder and director of the Kansas City Young Chamber Musicians.

He regularly adjudicates and presents at both the state and local levels, most recently for the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC), California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT), the Washington State Music Teachers Association (WSMTA), and the Kansas Music Teachers Association (KMTA).

He received his graduate and undergraduate degrees at Indiana University, where he studied piano performance with Reiko Shigeoka-Neriki, chamber music with Yael Weiss, and collaborative piano with Chih-Yi Chen. For more information, please visit www.nicholasdold.com

Dr. Nicholas Ong is the first Malaysian to receive a Doctorate in Piano Performance from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. He is the recipient of many international prizes, including first prize at the Yvonne Lefébure International Piano Competition in France. The New York Times praised him for his “firm rubber-ball touch and bounce” and Le Figaro for his “astonishing virtuosity.” He has performed concerts in major halls across the United States, Europe and Asia. A fervent believer in contemporary music, Dr. Ong has performed with Ensemble 2e2m in France, New Juilliard Ensemble, Mimesis Ensemble, and was involved in the Soundbridge Contemporary Music Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival, collaborating and premiering works by upcoming composers. Dr. Ong is in demand for masterclasses and a frequent guest faculty at the Asia International Piano Academy Festival (AIPAF) in South Korea. Currently, he is a senior lecturer at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore and director of the KL Conservatory in Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Nick Zhang received piano training under the legendary pianists Ronald Farren-Price (a student of Claudio Arrau) and Rita Reichman (a student of Seymour Lipkin, Mieczysław Horszowski, and Rosina Lhévinne). Under their guidance, he pursued the exploration of the logical relationship between tonal color and dynamics in his performances. He believes that if a performer cannot find an appropriate sound (including dynamics and tone) for different pieces, the performance will inevitably lack artistic objectivity and be overly spontaneous.

Nick furthered his piano studies in Germany under the tutelage of Klaus Bessler, head of the piano department at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, who praised him as a passionate and extremely talented pianist.

Nick studied piano in the pre-college program at the New England Conservatory in Boston and performed with the Harvard University Music Department. He later enrolled in a joint program at Yale University and the University of Melbourne, where he continued his piano studies and earned Bachelor's degrees with a double major in Economics and International Politics, along with a piano diploma.

He later studied piano and earned a Master's degree at the Royal College of Music in London. He also received piano guidance from Andrew Schiff, Robert Macdonald, and Solomon Mikowsky.

Nick has played concerts in China, Australia, London, Germany, America, and Italy. He has also collaborated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performing Mozart piano concertos. He was invited to perform at the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne, Australia, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Apart from music, Nick is also fascinated by philosophy, history, literature, and mathematics, having won a prize in the Mathematical Olympiad. During 2015 - 2017, he taught piano and math at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne.

Nina Scolnik, pianist, has concertized in the United States and abroad as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, chamber musician and collaborative pianist.

She has been a guest artist with the American, Angeles, Lydian, and Blaeu string quartets and has collaborated with principals of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Boston Symphony, and with distinguished cellists Nathaniel Rosen, Stephen Erdody, and the late Gerhard Mantel. Scolnik has also performed on important European venues such as the Rudolfinum in Prague and the Palais Auersperg in Vienna where she was a soloist with the Wiener Residenzorchester, as well as at celebrated music festivals in Vipiteno and Völs am Schlern, Italy; Festival Amaryllis in Mosnes, France; and the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic. She has also performed at the Williams International Piano Festival, Tulane University Keyboard Festival, Great Pianists at Stetson Series, and the Amherst, New World, and Aspen Music Festivals in the United States. Scolnik recorded Stravinsky's four-hand piano transcription of the Rite of Spring on two pianos with Lorna Griffitt for the Sacre Project, part of the Pacific Symphony's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work's first performance.

Scolnik has distinguished herself internationally through her master classes, lectures, research, and clinical success in the rehabilitation of injured musicians. She has presented at music conferences, universities, conservatories, and festivals in the United States, Canada, France, Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic, and is one of just a few specialists in the field who work with pianists afflicted with focal dystonia.

A Professor of Teaching in the Department of Music at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine, Scolnik teaches piano performance, art song, chamber music, and pedagogy. For over three decades, Scolnik has groomed pianists for serious careers as performers, scholars, and teachers. Scolnik received the 2019 Excellence in Pedagogical Development Award from UCI's Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation and the 2019-2020 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentorship from UROP's Division of Undergraduate Education. A DECADE Mentor for the Department of Music, Scolnik also serves on the Claire Trevor School of the Arts Climate Council.

Born in Lewiston, Maine, Scolnik is a graduate of both the Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School of Music. Her principal teachers have included Edna Golandsky, Dorothy Taubman, Martin Canin, Joseph Schwartz, Artur Balsam, Lenore Engdahl and Natasha Chances.

Dr. Shun-Lin Chou has appeared internationally in concerto, solo, and chamber performances. Declared an artist of international stature (Taiwan Times), who shined at the piano ... effortlessly and flawlessly (Schwäbische Zeitung, Germany), he has performed to critical acclaim as soloist with over a dozen orchestras in such prestigious venues as the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, and the Eastman Theatre.

Dr. Chou has completed an around-the-world recital tour to Europe and Asia, with successful performances in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States. Recent appearances include concerto re-engagements with the Gala Festival Orchestra (Taiwan), Braddell Heights Symphony (Singapore), as well as the Antelope Valley Symphony, and the Long Beach Community Concert Association. An experienced chamber musician, Chou was a member of the Hawthorne Trio, the resident artist group at Missouri State University.

An active adjudicator and clinician, Shun-Lin Chou has adjudicated for Music Teachers National Association, Fite Young Artist Piano Festival, and the national Hellam Competition, among others, and has presented masterclasses and lecture recitals in colleges and universities in several countries. He was invited to serve a four-day residency in Kansas City, Missouri, as the KCMTA's 2002 master teacher. He has held a number of posts in music teachers organization, serving twice as Missouri Music Teachers Association's Convention Chair and is currently state chair of Honors Auditions for California Association of Professional Music Teachers. Dr. Shun-Lin Sam Chou was appointed Director of Keyboard Studies at California State University, Long Beach in August, 2003. Prior to joining the faculty at CSULB, he served as a tenured associate professor of piano at Missouri State University. An experienced teacher of students of all ages and levels, he has previously taught at Tunghai University summer music festival in Taiwan, the Missouri Fine Arts Academy, the Preparatory Piano Laboratory Program at the University of Michigan, and the Eastman School of Music. Chou earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and the prestigious Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music after being awarded a Graduate Fellowship, and received a Masters in Piano Pedagogy and Performance degree from the University of Michigan. His principal teachers include Nelita True, Louis Nagel and Reginald Gerig.

Bulgaria-born pianist Veselin Ninov is a recording artist and the winner of numerous national and international competitions in the USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.

Mr. Ninov has performed with orchestras, judged international festivals and competitions, and has given master classes and solo and chamber music recitals in Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Steinway Hall, and others.

Veselin is the Artistic Director of the Manolov International Competition and currently runs a private teaching studio in New York. In 2024 he received the prize for high pedagogical accomplishments awarded by Steinway & Sons.

Dr. Ya-Ju Chuang is an active performer, appearing as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and music educator. As a performer, Chuang has been awarded numerous prizes and scholarships in Taiwan and the United States. She was a National Finalist at The American Prize in Piano Performance(concerto)- The Lorin Hollander Award in 2022, first prize winner at the Golden Classical Music Awards, Brussels Grand Prize Virtuoso International competition, and American Protégé International Competition. She was also a top prize winner in the National Taiwan Competition. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with many artists such as Yevgeny Kutik, Scott Dixon, Patrick Williams, and Robert Spring. In addition, she worked as a collaborative pianist at Music Teachers National Association East Central Division competitions and National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions. As a pedagogue, Chuang presented in the MMTA State Conference, the MTNA Collegiate Chapter Piano Pedagogy Symposium, and MTNA Conference. Chuang received her D.M.A. in Piano Performance and M.M. in Piano Pedagogy from Michigan State University, M.M. in Piano Performance from Kent State University. Her primary teachers include Panayis Lyras, Derek Polischuk, Jerry Wong, Lin-Ju Ou, Juanelva Rose, and Ming-Jen Chuang. Chuang is a Collaborative Pianist at Interlochen Arts Academy.

“Her performance was incredibly expressive… effortlessly moving from delicate flourishes to pounding intensity…” (Toronto Star).

Pianist Yang Liu captivates audiences worldwide with her profound musicianship and extraordinary virtuosity. Since making a successful concerto debut at the age of fourteen with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, she has performed in some of the most renowned concert halls in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the Lincoln Center in New York City, Koerner Hall in Toronto, Beijing Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall, the Château de Fontainebleau in France.

Ms. Liu's musical prowess has garnered her many prestigious awards, including First Prize in the Toronto International Piano Competition, First Prize in the professional category of the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Second Prize in the Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards, Fourth Prize of the International Chopin Competition for Young Pianist, among others. She has also participated in many international music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, PianoTexas, Fontainebleau School of Music, International Musical Artistry Goslar, and Imola Summer Music Academy and Festival. In 2014, she became a member of the Musicians Club of New York.

In 2022, Naxos Records released her album “Schubert: German Dances, Ländlers, and Écossaises”, featuring Schubert's dances performed on both a modern piano and a fortepiano. The album includes world premiere recordings and a Ländler completed by Yang Liu based on Schubert's fragment. Later in the same year, her album “Dancing on the Keys, Volume I” showcased waltzes by Chopin, Grünfeld/Johann Strauss Jr., Schubert/Richard Strauss, and Ravel, was released on QQ Music in China.

Ms. Liu's musical journey began in her hometown of Fuzhou, China. She earned both Bachelor's and Master's of Music degrees from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale School of Music with Dr. Melvin Chen, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Peabody Institute-Johns Hopkins University with Prof. Yong Hi Moon. In addition, she has been studying at The Imola International Academy Foundation “Incontri con il Maestro” in Italy with Prof. Vovka Ashkenazy.

In addition to her performing career, Ms. Liu is also deeply committed to sharing her passion and expertise with the next generation of musicians. As an avid educator, she is on the piano faculty at Smith College, actively teaching in the New York region, and has served as the assistant of keyboard studies at the Peabody Institute. Her students have achieved success in international competitions and have been accepted into prominent music conservatories such as the Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and Peabody Institute.

Yang Liu is the founder and director of theOcean Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City devoted to presenting concert series and educational programs. She is a Steinway Artist.

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the international stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition, 2017 Washington International Competition, and the Warning International Piano Competition. The Worthing Herald music critic Richard Amey praised his recent performance "flair for the unusual and his technical and artistic capacity to deliver," as well as his "musical and emotional intelligence, dexterity and virtuosity," listening to Chen as soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.5 "Egyptian" with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. His vibrant playing at the Pacific International Piano Competition (Canada) was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize ("…Yi-Yang showed an impressive breadth of emotional investment and natural affinity for the music he played. The informed individuality and command of his performance was immediately compelling to the judges. We feel this young man has a fine future as an artist. He seems to 'own' the piano as he plays, and this makes his performance extremely powerful" - Dr. Robin McCabe).

Yi-Yang Chen is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Kansas and the Artist Director of the Orbifold Music Festival in California. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen has been playing the piano since the age of 8. Yi-Yang completed his Doctor of Musical Arts And Bachelor's of Music at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys, and his Master's degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal. He also has solo/chamber masterclasses with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Pollack, Joseph Kalichstein.

Yi-Yang Chen is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, and Mu Phi Epsilon. He enjoys swimming, biking, traveling, and composing. Yi-Yang is currently working on a recording project with Champs Hill label (UK); the release is scheduled for 2025. Before joining KU (University of Kansas), Yi-Yang served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University as a tenure-track professor.

Dr. Chen is a Steinway Artist.

Zhou Yun graduated on scholarship in Royal College of Music with a First Class Masters. She performs in over twenty different countries, some including Spain, London, Hungary, Singapore, and China (Xia men, Shen Zhen, Guang Zhou, Shan Dong, Tian Ji, etc). Apart from performing. She is also a highly appointed judge of several worldwide international piano competitions, some includes Singapore international piano competition;France Vivace International Piano Competition;Steinway Youth Piano Competition ;Piano House international Competition at Carnegie Hall; 9th Asia Art Festival ; 12th ZhongSin international festival etc.

Chinese-born pianist Zhao Wang is currently the Director of Accompanying at Central Michigan University School of Music. Dr. Wang has performed as a soloist in the cities of Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Japan, the United States, and China. As an avid chamber musician, she frequently collaborates in concerts and recordings with renowned faculty members at prestigious universities and orchestras. She is a founding member of Circulo Trio, a clarinet-violin-piano trio which has been a featured guest ensemble at Thailand International Composition Festival, received the Verdehr Trio endowment at Michigan State University, and presented multiple interdisciplinary musical works alongside traditional repertoire in concert tours in the recent years. In addition to the appearances with Circulo trio, Dr. Wang has also performed regularly at Henri Selmer Summer Academy, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Music Festival at Walnut Hill, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and Chengjiang Chamber Music Series in China. As a dedicated educator, Dr. Wang is an active member of MTNA, and was invited to adjudicate the state final at MMTA in 2019 and 2023.

Dr. Wang received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastman School of Music, with a doctorate from Michigan State University, all in Piano Performance. She also received two additional master's degrees in Collaborative Piano and Piano Pedagogy from Michigan State University.

Virtuoso violinist Eric Silberger is a prize winner of the XIV Global Tchaikovsky Competition and the Michael Hill Global Violin Competition in 2011. His performances have been described by critics as “spine-tingling…astonishing" (The Guardian), “dazzling virtuoso playing" (The Washington Post), “impeccable level of playing, a wonderful musician" (Heather Kurzbauer, The Strad), and “ ….he has got everything in his favour, technique, composure and personality. We are on the eve of a great soloist" (El Pais, Spain).

Eric has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and around the world, including solo performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Chamber Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, London Philharmonia, Danish National Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, among others. Conductor collaborations include Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Dimitri Kitajenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Donald Runnicles, Robin Ticciati, and others. He has appeared at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Louvre in Paris, the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, The Moscow Global House of Music in Russia, Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, Royal Festival Hall in London, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, the National Arts Centre in Canada, and more. Among numerous television and radio appearances in the United States, Asia, and Europe, he was featured on Radio France, STV in China, KBS in Korea, and WQXR, WFYI, FOX 59, WISH-TV, and NPR, among others.

An avid chamber musician, Eric frequently performs chamber music Globally. He also has a special collaboration with bandoneonist and composer JP Jofre and the JP Jofre Hard Tango Chamber Band.

Eric received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Columbia University and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Mentors have included Glenn Dicterow, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Robert Mann, and Dorothy Delay, among others. He was also mentored by Maestro Lorin Maazel.

Eric plays on a rare J.B. Guadagnini violin from 1757 on generous loan from the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation Sau-Wing Lam collection.

Ms. Lo's virtuosic skills astounded…" — Stage and Cinema (February 2019)

Violinist Mann-Wen Lo has performed extensively throughout the world in the most prestigious venues as a soloist and chamber musician. Her solo debut came at age 10, performing Mozart's violin concerto No. 2 with the Academy of Taiwan Strings in the National Concert Hall in Taipei. Since then, she has been a recurring artist to perform at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Walt Disney Hall, among others. Featured on radio and TV broadcasts in the United States, Taiwan, Japan and France, Ms. Lo has gained recognition at numerous competitions and auditions. She is the first prize winner of the 2020 USC Solo Bach Competition and a recipient of Taiwan Council for Cultural Affairs Sponsorship. As a chamber musician, Ms. Lo has been awarded the grand prize of the Global Chamber Music Ensemble Competition, and is a winner of the Beverly Hills National Audition and the Oneppo Chamber Music Competition. Ms. Lo received the strings department outstanding achievement award, upon her completion of Doctor of Musical Arts at USC Thornton School of Music.

Chamber music is at the core of Ms. Lo's musical passion. She has collaborated in concerts with members of some of the world's best string quartets including the Juilliard String Quartet, the Cleveland Quartet, and the Takacs Quartet. She has also performed with concertmasters of New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, and Danish Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Lo has been invited as a guest artist at Camera Lucida in San Diego, Sunset MusicFest, and Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, among others.

Ms. Lo has participated in music festivals including Yellow Barn, Menuhin Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Saito Kinen Festival. In 2015, her string quartet was chosen as the American representative to perform at the Franco-American Chamber Music Festival.

Ms. Lo performs frequently with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Pasadena Symphony. She also collaborates with the directors at the American Contemporary Ballet as a soloist and in a chamber ensemble. She has been invited to perform as a guest concertmaster at the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra and the Pasadena Opera. Ms. Lo is a member of Delirium Musicum, a conductor-less chamber ensemble based in Los Angeles. The ensemble was recently awarded the San Francisco Classical Voice's Audience Choice Award in the category "Best Early Music/Baroque Performance" in 2020.

In addition to western classical music, Ms. Lo also enjoys jazz and bluegrass; she has performed with the Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck, and is a member of the Kaleidoscope Trio - an innovative ensemble with violin, clarinet and guitar. The trio performs various genres from western classical music to jazz, Klezmer and pop. She has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and recorded for TV series such as Chef's Table and BBC's Planet Earth II, as well as the Vitamin String Quartet and dulcimer sensational Ted Yoder's album Shadowlight.

Ms. Lo received her Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory, her Master of Music from the Yale School of Music, and her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Ms. Lo has an academic minor in music teaching and learning, and elective fields in instrumental conducting and jazz studies. Her principal mentors include Masuko Ushioda, Syoko Aki, and Glenn Dicterow.

Ms. Lo plays on a 1925 Guiseppe Friorini violin on generous loan from the Chi Mei Culture Foundation in Taiwan.

Graduated from the National Music School Panaiot Pipkov Bulgaria with Professional Qualification in Viola Performance and completed degrees at the National Academy of Music 'Prof. Pancho Vladigerov', Sofia, Bulgaria before continuing with her Artist Diploma Program in New York.

Her ability as a solo and chamber musician has been recognized by more than forty national and international competitions in Europe and the USA as she was the winner of numerous prizes including:

First Prize and Scholarship - National Competition "Svetoslav Obertenov" - Provadia 2006

First Prize and Special Prize "Veliko Penev"- National Competition for best performance of Bulgarian music - Burgas 2008

First Prize and Scholarship - International Competition "German and Austrian Music 2007

Second Prize - International Competition "Hopes, talents, masters" 2007

Special Soloist Price - National Competition in Pleven 2007

Second Prize for Chamber Music - International Competition "The Earth and The People" 2010

First Prize - International Academy Competition for Chamber Music, 2010

First Prize - International Competition for German and Austrian Music "M.A.G.I.C" - Burgas, 2011

First Prize - International Chamber Music Competition New York Concert Artists - New York 2014

Tonya Bibashka was awarded by the Bulgarian Minister of Culture for her contribution to the Bulgarian Music and Arts and a five-time winner of their scholarship for future career developments.

Tonya was a soloist of Philharmonic Orchestras and Chamber Orchestras such as Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia State Academy of Music Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Long Island Conservatory New York.

Tonya participated in a variety of master classes and festivals such as Varna summer where she won scholarship for outstanding Viola performer. She also was a Principal Violist, selected from audition by members of the Vienna Philharmonic, at International Orchestra with Conductor Sir Neville Marriner.

She is an acting principal violist of the New York Virtuosos, the CFO Chamber Orchestra NY and a member of a various string ensembles. She is also a jury member of Manolov International Competition NY.

Praised for her "velvety mezzo" (operawire) Christina Casey is "home" in Kansas City, MO. While pursuing an Artist Certificate at UMKC Conservatory, Ms. Casey was seen in the roles of Ramiro in Mozart's La finta giardiniera, Hänsel from Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel as well as Maman/la tasse Chinoise/la libellule in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges.

Ms. Casey is the co-founder of Kansas City's newest opera company Landlocked Opera. Landlocked Opera is committed to serving the Kansas City community with quality performances, and serving KC area artists with quality opportunities. Our motto is "Opera for All"

Ms. Casey made her professional debut with Lyric Opera of Kansas City as a chorister in their 2018 season. She has also sung professionally with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre. In 2016 she was a recipient of an Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, in the Little Rock, AR district.

Ms. Casey completed her Master of Music in Vocal Performance with Dr. Lori Bade at Louisiana State University and her Bachelor of music in Vocal Performance from University of Missouri with Ann Harrell

Ms. Casey maintains a highly successful private voice studio, including students of all ages and experience. Many of her students have placed in national competitions, been accepted to top undergraduate and graduate vocal music programs, and performed leading roles on the opera and musical theatre stages.

Chinese soprano Zhengyingyue (Elaine) Huang is currently pursuing her DMA in Voice Performance at The University of Kansas under professor Joyce Castle. She has been an apprentice with the Russia International Art Festival in Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia, and San Miguel Institute of Bel Canto in Mexico. She also performed several roles in LAH-SOW Minneapolis opera, Crittenden Opera Workshop, and the Landlocked Opera in the U.S.A. Her past roles include Baba in The Medium, Cio-Cio-san in Madama Butterfly, 2nd Witch in Dido and Aeneas, Mutter in Hänsel und Gretel, the second lady in Die Zauberflöte, Mrs. Gobineau in The Medium, and the title role in Suor Angelica. A new music enthusiast, she has world premiered the chamber opera Snow Angel that explores rediscovery and reclamation of personal identity and agency following a sexual assault of the sole female protagonist. As a musician passionate about social justice and ethnic diversity, she founded the KU Asian Classical Music Initiative in 2021, an academic music conference designed to bring awareness to the world of AAAPI classical music composers through concerts and conferences. In addition to ACMI, she also serves on the board of Asian Opera Alliance, KU School of Music DEIB committees, and Friend of Lied Center.