Orbifold Music Festival X Sicily

Chinese soprano Zhengyingyue (Elaine) Huang has been an apprentice with Russia International Art Festival in Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia, San Miguel Institute of Bel Canto in Mexico. She also perform 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. Dr. Huang has participated in a variety of music festivals and competitions and has won top prizes in the Russian International Opera Competition, Minnesota NATS competition, Kansas City Musical Club Miller Scholarship Award, Ordin International Competition , London International Classical Music Competition, and Charleston International Contemporary Music Competition. In addition to opera, she has been working as a pianist at Tyrolean International Piano Academy, Austria. Dr. Huang is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and the National Association of Teachers of Singing(NATS). A new music enthusiast, she has world-premiered the chamber opera Snow Angel which explores the rediscovery and reclamation of personal identity and agency following a sexual assault of the sole female protagonist. As a musician who is passionate about social justice and ethnic diversity, she founded the Asian Classical Music Initiative in 2021. Asian Classical Music Initiative aims to create a platform for the recognition and celebration of the contributions made by Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander classical music composers. This organization is focused on presenting diverse musical styles and traditions, including both classical and contemporary genres, to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the rich and varied cultural heritage of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Since its founding in the summer of 2021, KU ACMI has already produced several concerts and hosted three international conferences, which brought together scholars, composers, performers, and music enthusiasts from around the world to share their insights and perspectives on AAAPI classical music. The initiative is also engaged in outreach efforts to raise awareness of AAAPI music and provide educational opportunities for musicians and students who are interested in exploring this genre. Through its various activities, the KU Asian Classical Music Initiative seeks to build bridges between cultures and communities and to foster greater understanding and appreciation of the unique artistic expressions of the AAAPI communities. Dr. Huang holds degrees from East China Normal University(B.A), Temple University(M.M), and the University of Kansas(D.M.A).

Laura McCauley, Uzbek-American Soprano, has been hailed for her “gleaming” voice and “explosive presentation” (Ken Herman, San Diego Story). Laura was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont District Competition for 2022-St. Louis and 2018-Arizona, and was awarded the Encouragement Award in 2019 and 2017. She was also a finalist in TriCities Next Online Vocal Competition in 2020.
Laura is currently at The Florentine Opera for her second season as a Baumgartner Studio Artist. Laura has covered Juliette in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, sang Fiordiligi in Cosi: An Adaptation, and performerd Bertha in The Barber of Seville. Laura was also the featured soprano in Covers, a collaborative new work performance with Immortal Girlfriend. With Florentine Opera's outreach initiative, Laura sang Donna Bartola and Donna Basilia in an adaptation of the Barber of Seville for children and will be singing a variety of characters in this year's The Child and the Enchantments. For the coming season's mainstage roles, Laura will be singing Gianetta in L'Elisir d'amore and covering Adina. She will be featured in Maria de Buenos Aires and singing Guadalena in Songbird.
Laura has sung with Arizona Opera's OPERAtunity as the Stepsister and Fairy Godmother in their production of Cinderella as well as their Opera 101 program. As a Young Artist with Seagle Festival, Laura sang her first Mimi in La Bohème in 2021. As a Studio Artist with Opera Neo, she sang the role of Satirino in La Calisto in 2018. While living in Chicago, her most recent home base, Laura sang in the American premier of Die Kathrin with Folks Operetta, sang with MIOpera's production of Pirates of Penzance as Mable, and was a member of the ensemble in Opera Festival of Chicago's production of Verdi's Il Corsaro.
Her past roles include Tirésias (Les Mamelles de Tirésias), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), the title role in Semele, and scenes as Gilda (Rigoletto), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Norina (Don Pasquale), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Servilia (La clemenza di Tito) and Baroness (Der Wildschütz). Laura received her Master's Degree from Arizona State University and her Undergraduate Degree from Ithaca College.

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.

Washington National Opera, Opera Singer/Producer A regular performer at major opera houses, he has performed a wide range of roles such as Assur in Semiramide, Selim in Il turco in Italia, Mustafa' in L'Italiana in Algeri, Don Basilio in Barbiere di Siviglia, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Gaudenzio in Il Signor Bruschino, Orbazzano in Tancredi di G.Rossini,Don Bartolo in Barbiere di Siviglia di G. Paisiello, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale in Don Pasquale, Dulcamara in L'Elisir d'Amore di G. Donizetti,Colline in La Bohème di G. Puccini, Oroveso in Norma, Il Conte Rodolfo in La Sonnambula di V. Bellini Conte di Walter in Luisa Miller, Silva in Ernani, Il Re and Ramfis in Aida Messa di Requiem, Zaccaria in Nabucco, Attila in Attila, Ferrando in Il Trovatore di G. Verdi e various oratori of Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Händel, Rossini, Verdi, Boccherini.
His most important international engagements have included: Liceu Barcelona, Münchner Rundfunk Orchester (Live Recording of Alidoro in La Cenerentola with Sony Classical RCA), Bolshoi Theatre, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall Moscow, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Holland Park, Grange Park, Glyndebourne, Covent Garden London, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, Carnegie Hall USA. Concertgebow Amsterdam, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Regio Turin, Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa, Opera Ireland, Semperoper Dresden, Puccini Festival Torre del Lago and Teatro Arcimboldi Milan.
He has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta Riccardo Chailly Alberto Zedda, Eve Queler Paolo Olmi Esa-Pekka Salonen Alan Curtis Carlo Rizzi Bruno Campanella Romano Gandolfi Emanuel Villaume Stefano Ranzani Riccardo Frizza Jonathan Webb.

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.

“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 the Ocean Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City devoted to presenting concert series and educational programs. She is a Steinway Artist.

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 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, and the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, and he has conducted from the keyboard the Meiningen Court Orchestra. He has collaborated with prominent conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Michail Jurowski, Stefan Sanderling, Leon Fleisher, David Hayes, Thomas Crawford, Daejin Kim, Kerry Stratton and Xincao Li. 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, and 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.

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

Hailing from Yantai, China, he received Bachelor's, Master's and the Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Juilliard School 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. Currently Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Chair for Performance Activities at Smith College, he presented Beethoven's complete piano sonatas in chronological order, in addition to yearlong series devoted to the music of Schubert and Chopin. Jiayan Sun is a Steinway Artist.

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.

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).

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.

Pianist Hyoung Wuk Kim enjoys a versatile performing career as a recitalist as well as a chamber musician. He has garnered national acclaim for his "remarkable interpretation" in his performances. He won prizes in several competitions and played in numerous recitals throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. As a soloist, Hyoung appeared with several orchestras, such as Greece Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Sinfonietta. As a pianist who made the decision to pursue a professional career after his military service, Hyoung brings a unique perspective and approach into his teaching. His experience as a trumpeter in the military band added to his musicianship and ambition, leading him to return fully to his piano training. He also developed a deep understanding and knowledge of the technical mechanism of one's body in playing the piano and how to help young musicians interpret music. Over ten years of teaching experience at Eastman School of Music, The California School of the Arts, and Montecito Music Festival, many of his students have represented their developing musicianship and successes by winning competitions and performing with orchestras. Hyoung Kim received his Master of Music degree at University of Southern California, where he studied with Stewart Gordon and his Bachelor of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance and literature at Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Nelita True.

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.

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.

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.

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. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the Global stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex Global Piano Competition, 2017 Washington Global Competition, and the Waring Global 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 Global 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).

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, Glenn Dicterow, Thomas Sauer, and with members from the Cleveland, Shanghai, Borromeo, Brentano, Ying, and Guarneri String Quartets.

Yi-Yang has captivated audiences worldwide with his flamboyant playing. He has performed on five continents in acclaimed venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, Melbourne Recital Centre, National Concert Hall in Taipei, Banff Music Centre in Canada, ZK Matthews Great Hall in South Africa, and the Assembly Hall in Worthing, UK, with such orchestras as the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Avanti Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra, National Chinese Orchestra, and the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared at the Perlman Music Festival, Taos School of Music Summer Chamber Music Festival, Banff Music Centre, Music Academy of the West, Four Seasons Winter Workshop, and Brevard Music Center.

A wealth of experience enables Chen to become an outstanding teacher and performer. As the winner of the 2012 MTNA National Young Artist Piano Competition, Chen was given a Steinway piano and two concerts in Miami sponsored by the Chopin Foundation (USA) as his prize. In a review of his 2017 solo recital at Carnegie Weill Hall, New York Concert Review wrote, "He negotiated this difficult work with what appeared to be the greatest of ease. The passagework was sparkling, and the energy never flagging. Mr. Chen held the line and momentum throughout, challenges which many players struggle with in this work […]. It was a powerhouse performance. His bold, take-no- holds approach was all that one hopes for in this work. It is a high-risk proposition that demands a large technique, and Mr. Chen delivered. I've heard many performances of this sonata, and Mr. Chen's ranks among the best. "Chen also received top prizes at the Hilton Head Global Piano Competition, American Prize (Professional Division), UNISA Global Piano Competition (South Africa), Kerikeri Global Piano Competition (New Zealand), Seattle Global Piano competition, Thailand Global Piano Competition, San Jose Global Piano Competition, Roberto Melini Global Piano Competition (Italy), Five Towns Piano Competition, Schubert Club Competition, Thousand Islands Global Piano Competition, and Chopin Global Piano Competition in Hartford.

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 2022-2023. Before joining KU, Yi-Yang has served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University and was the Founder and Artistic Director of the Appalachian Music Festival & Competition.

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.