Executive Director, Piano Star International Competition
Founder & CEO, Piano League®
Founder & CEO, Piano League®
coming soon
Directors
Brian Yuebing Lin
Executive Director, Piano Star International Competition
Founder & CEO, Piano League®Dr. Brian Yuebing Lin is a pianist whose career seamlessly integrates performance, education, and leadership to empower musicians worldwide. As the Founder and CEO of Piano League® and the Executive Director of the Piano Star International Competition, Dr. Lin has cultivated global platforms that celebrate and advance excellence in piano performance and education.
With over a decade of teaching experience, Dr. Lin has worked with students at all levels — from beginners to conservatory musicians — many of whom have gone on to win top prizes in international competitions. He has also shared his expertise through masterclasses and lectures, including the widely attended “How to Play Difficult Pieces with Ease” seminar presented to over 100 piano teachers in China. Dr. Lin has taught at institutions including the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and East Carolina University, and previously served as Executive Director of Nova Music Academy in Shenzhen, where he oversaw curriculum development, faculty coordination, and school-wide strategy for over 200 students.
As a performer, he has received international recognition, winning the Sascha Gorodnitzki Memorial Prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and third prize at the Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg International Competition. He has performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras such as the Houston Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, and Richardson Symphony, and appeared at venues including Steinway Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, as well as the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia.
Originally from Shenzhen, China, Dr. Lin began his piano studies at age four. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University and both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers include Yong Hi Moon, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Joseph Kalichstein, Matti Raekallio, Tamás Ungár, Eleanor Wong, Zhaoyi Dan, Ping Li, and Walter Gui.
Artistic Director, Piano Star International CompetitionSherry Kim
Artistic Director, Piano Star International CompetitionKorean-American pianist Sherry Kim is leading a multi-faceted career as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and private piano teacher. She recently graduated from Manhattan School of Music, studying under Alexandre Moutouzkine, with a Professional Studies certificate (May 2017) and with a Master of Music degree in Classical Piano (May 2016).
Previously, she graduated from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with a Bachelor of Music under Alan Chow.
In addition to her primary teachers, Sherry has had the opportunity to work with a number of the world’s most renowned pedagogues including Yoheved Kaplinsky, Richard Goode, Jerome Lowenthal, Nelita True, Paul Schenly, John Perry, Anton Nel, and Daniel Shapiro among others.
A laureate of many competitions, Sherry is the winner of the 2014 Dora Zaslavsky-Koch Concerto Competition at MSM and also the winner of the 2015 Jefferson Symphony International Young Artist Competition. She was named second prize winner of the VI Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, CT, and a semi-finalist at the 2017 Dallas International Piano Competition.
Some of Sherry’s other notable performances include: an orchestral performance of Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 with the Miami Music Festival Symphony Orchestra as the winner of the 2019 MMF Concerto Competition, an all-Chopin solo recital in New York City, and 2nd prize at the 2019 Washington International Piano Festival Competition.
In addition to her performances, Sherry holds a strong reputation as a private piano instructor in the NYC/NJ area. She is the founder and the host of the Ensemble Extravaganza annual event which takes place in NYC, where local students get the opportunity to perform in piano ensembles. In addition to teaching, Sherry has been on the faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University as a collaborative pianist since 2022. Sherry is the Artistic Director of the Piano Star International Competition hosted by Piano League.Korean-American pianist Sherry Kim is leading a multi-faceted career as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and private piano teacher. She recently graduated from Manhattan School of Music, studying under Alexandre Moutouzkine, with a Professional Studies certificate (May 2017) and with a Master of Music degree in Classical Piano (May 2016).Previously, she graduated from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with a Bachelor of Music under Alan Chow.In addition to her primary teachers, Sherry has had the opportunity to work with a number of the world’s most renowned pedagogues including Yoheved Kaplinsky, Richard Goode, Jerome Lowenthal, Nelita True, Paul Schenly, John Perry, Anton Nel, and Daniel Shapiro among others.A laureate of many competitions, Sherry is the winner of the 2014 Dora Zaslavsky-Koch Concerto Competition at MSM and also the winner of the 2015 Jefferson Symphony International Young Artist Competition. She was named second prize winner of the VI Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, CT, and a semi-finalist at the 2017 Dallas International Piano Competition.Some of Sherry’s other notable performances include: an orchestral performance of Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 with the Miami Music Festival Symphony Orchestra as the winner of the 2019 MMF Concerto Competition, an all-Chopin solo recital in New York City, and 2nd prize at the 2019 Washington International Piano Festival Competition.In addition to her performances, Sherry holds a strong reputation as a private piano instructor in the NYC/NJ area. She is the founder and the host of the Ensemble Extravaganza annual event which takes place in NYC, where local students get the opportunity to perform in piano ensembles. In addition to teaching, Sherry has been on the faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University as a collaborative pianist since 2022. Sherry is the Artistic Director of the Piano Star International Competition hosted by Piano League.
Grand Final Judges
William Edward Gilbert Professor of Piano and former Dean, Yale School of MusicRobert Blocker
William Edward Gilbert Professor of Piano and former Dean, Yale School of MusicDescribed by the Los Angeles Times as an artist of “great skill and accomplishment,” Robert Blocker, the William Edward Gilbert Professor of Piano at Yale, has forged an inspired career as a concert pianist, a transformative academic leader, and an impassioned advocate of the arts and education. Blocker began his study of piano at age five, presenting his first public recital two years later. Today, he performs throughout the world, appearing as an acclaimed pianist and described by the Italian newspaper La Provincia as “a pianist of purified technique – one could say perfect.” In addition to his impact as a performer, Blocker has forged an inspired career as an academic eader and an impassioned educator. From 1995 to 2023, he served as the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music. Currently, he is the William Edward Gilbert Professor of Piano and Affiliate Professor of Management along with his role as Senior Advisor to the Yale President. Blocker’s advocacy for classical music, the arts, and education are best reflected and represented by the diverse plethora of his board memberships and leadership roles such as the Van Cliburn Foundation (past Director), the advisory boards of the Avery Fisher Artist Program, Stoeger Prize at Lincoln Center, the Gilmore Artist Advisory board of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. He also served as the Senior Global Advisor to the National Youth Orchestra of China and the Senior Global Artistic Advisor for the Shenzhen International Piano and Dance Festivals, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In 2000, Steinway & Sons featured Blocker in a film along with Billy Joel and Van Cliburn celebrating the tercentennial year of the piano. Robert Blocker if the recipient of the Sanford Medal and four honorary degrees. He received Yale’s Nathan Hale Award for extraordinary service in 2023. Blocker holds the title of Honorary Professor at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, where he was also appointed an Honorary Fellow. His most recent recording, Eight Contemporary Character Pieces for Piano, was released in 2024 by Nimbus (UK). Blocker can also be heard on the Albany, Credia, Naxos, and Sonus labels. Yale Press will publish the second book by Blocker in 2026, entitled “Music – The Currency of Hope.”
Faculty, Manhattan School of Music and the University of British ColumbiaDavid Fung
Faculty, Manhattan School of Music and the University of British ColumbiaPraised for his “ravishing and simply gorgeous” performances in The Washington Post, pianist David Fung is widely recognized for interpretations that are elegant and refined, yet intensely poetic and uncommonly expressive.
With a repertoire of over sixty concertos, Mr. Fung is a regular soloist with the world’s premier ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the major orchestras in Australia including the Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney Symphony Orchestras, working with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Michael Francis, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Lan Shui, and Christian Zacharias. An incisive interpreter of Mozart and Bach, Mr. Fung has collaborated with the Israel, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Orpheus, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestras, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
He has captivated audiences at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Louvre, Gewandhaus, Palais des Beaux-Arts, and Zürich Tonhalle, as well as the major halls in Asia, including the Beijing Concert Hall, Guangzhou Opera House, Hong Kong Town Hall, Seoul Art Center, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Taiwan National Concert Hall, and the Tianjin Grand Theater. Notable festival appearances include Aspen, Blossom, Caramoor, Edinburgh, Hong Kong Arts, and Ravinia Festival. Fung frequently collaborates with prominent ensembles such as the Brentano, Dover, Jupiter, and Verona Quartets, and has released over a dozen albums on Steinway, Pentatone, Orchid, Genuin, Yarlung, and Naxos.
Mr. Fung garnered international attention as a top prizewinner of the Arthur Rubinstein Piano International Masters Competition in Tel Aviv, where he was further distinguished by the Chamber Music and Mozart Prizes, and the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels.
He is the first piano graduate of the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, where he studied with John Perry, and later worked with Peter Frankl, Claude Frank and Arie Vardi at Yale University and the Hannover Hochschüle. Mr. Fung is a curator at the Chan Center for the Performing Arts in Vancouver and serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and the University of British Columbia. Mr. Fung is a Steinway Artist.
Coordinator, Piano Program, Northwestern Bienen School of MusicJames Giles
Coordinator, Piano Program, Northwestern Bienen School of MusicJames Giles regularly performs in important musical centers in America, Europe, and Asia. This season he plays Stravinsky with Northwestern’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble; plays recitals in Italy and Portugal; tours China; and travels to Yale, Lawrence University, New England Conservatory, University of Texas, University of Michigan, and Indiana University.
In an eclectic repertoire encompassing the solo and chamber music literatures, Giles is equally at home in the standard repertoire as in the music of our time. He has commissioned and premiered works by William Bolcom, C. Curtis-Smith, Stephen Hough, Lowell Liebermann, Ned Rorem, Augusta Read Thomas, Earl Wild, and James Wintle. Most of these new works are featured on Giles’s Albany Records release entitled “American Virtuoso.” His recording of solo works by Schumann and Prokofiev is available on England’s Master Musicians label. He recorded John Harbison’s Horn Trio with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and Timothy Dunne’s Concerto with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic.
He has performed with New York’s Jupiter Symphony (Alkan and Czerny); the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra in Queen Elizabeth Hall (Mozart and Beethoven); the Kharkiv Philharmonic in Ukraine (Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff); and with the Opera Orchestra of New York in Alice Tully Hall (Chopin). After his Tully Hall solo recital debut, critic Harris Goldsmith wrote: “Giles has a truly distinctive interpretive persona. This was beautiful pianism – direct and unmannered.”
A native of North Carolina, Dr. Giles studied with Byron Janis at the Manhattan School of Music, Jerome Lowenthal at the Juilliard School, Nelita True at the Eastman School of Music, and Robert Shannon at Oberlin College. He received early career assistance from the Clarisse B. Kampel Foundation and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Italy with the legendary pianist Lazar Berman.
- Faculty, Manhattan School of Music
Concert pianist, Van Cliburn Competition Gold medalistOlga Kern
Faculty, Manhattan School of Music
Concert pianist, Van Cliburn Competition Gold medalistWith a vivid onstage presence, dazzling technique, and keen musicianship, pianist Olga Kern is widely recognized as one of the great artists of her generation, captivating audiences and critics alike. At seventeen, she was awarded first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, and in 2001, she launched her U.S. career, winning a historic Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—the only woman in the last 50 years to do so.
A Steinway Artist and Spirio Steinway piano ambassador, Olga is a laureate of several international competitions. In 2016 she was Jury Chairman of both Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition and the first Olga Kern International Piano Competition, where she also holds the title of Artistic Director. In December 2021, Olga was Jury Chairman of the 1st Chopin Animato International Piano competition in Paris, France. In coming seasons, she will continue to serve on the juries of several high-level competitions. Olga frequently gives masterclasses and since 2017 has served on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Also in 2017, Olga received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (New York City). In 2019, she was appointed the Connie & Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music at the Virginia Arts Festival.
Olga has performed with many prominent orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), as well as Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Pittsburgh Symphony, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 2023–2024 season, she performs Rachmaninoff’s four piano concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Austin Symphony and with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, appears with the Czech Philharmonic on a nation-wide telecast, and tours South Africa and Asia.
Faculty, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins UniversityHyun-Sook Park
Faculty, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins UniversityPianist Hyun-Sook Park earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied under Ellen Mack. Dr. Park obtained both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Peabody Conservatory. In 1985, she won the Peabody Mozart Piano Concerto Competition and performed with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. While pursuing her graduate studies at Peabody, she served as the coordinator of the Conservatory’s accompanying programs as a teaching assistant.
Dr. Park has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Presser Foundation Scholarship, the Lillian Gutman Memorial Prize, the Annie Wentz Scholarship, and the Rose Marie Milholland Award in Piano. She also received a Korean Honor Scholarship from the Korean Embassy in the United States and is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda. Currently, she is on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory and the piano faculty at the Preparatory. In May 2010, she was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Preparatory. Additionally, she is part of the Peabody Conservatory’s piano pedagogy faculty and co-directs the Preparatory’s Peabody Piano Academy.
Dr. Park collaborates with her sister Hyunah Yu and has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Evening of Songs Series, the Shriver Hall Concert Series, the Brattleboro Music Center Concert Series, and Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. She has also been featured in the Chamber Concert Series at Friedberg Concert Hall.
Final Round Judges - Virtual
Pianist, Director, Gijon International Piano Festival and Palmetto International Piano FestivalAmy Gustafson
Pianist, Director, Gijon International Piano Festival and Palmetto International Piano FestivalPraised for her “exquisite sensitivity” and a “style filled with class and elegance” by La Voz de Asturias (Asturias, Spain) and recognized as a “talented player who doesn’t fit the cookie-cutter mold” by Lucid Culture (New York City), American pianist Amy E. Gustafson has performed across the United States and in both Western and Eastern Europe. Her debut album, Reverie, consists of music by Claude Debussy and was released in June 2017. Her second album From Darkness to Light will be released in Spring of 2026.
Notable performances include replacing the late legendary pianist Abbey Simon in Los Angeles at LACMA’s series, Sundays Live, an appearance with the Sofia Sinfionetta in Sofia, Bulgaria, a performance with Ensemble Tayada in Candas, Spain. Other engagements have taken her to Spain, China, and Canada, and she has also performed New York City venues, such as Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Trinity Church Wall Street, Tenri Cultural Institute, CAMI Hall and the Kosciuszko Foundation.
Gustafson has won numerous awards, including the second prize in the International Young Artists Piano Competition, second prize in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, and the Special Presentation Award and the Alumni Award from Artists International Presentations, Inc.
Gustafson completed her studies at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. Her major teachers have included Julian Martin, Andre-Michel Schub, Anton Nel, Constance Keene, and Miyoko Lotto, and she has benefited from the advice of many renowned pedagogues, including Solomon Mikowsky, Arie Vardi, Veda Kaplinsky, and Robert McDonald.
In addition to her performing career, Gustafson has served on the faculty of the Millersville University and Elizabethtown College. She is Executive Director and Faculty of the Gijón International Piano Festival in Gijón, Spain, as well as the Director of the Palmetto International Piano Festival in South Carolina.
Assistant Professor of Music at Rollins CollegeByeol Kim
Assistant Professor of Music at Rollins CollegeSteinway Artist Byeol Kim is praised for her “ingeniously colorful imagination and stage charisma” (Agata Nowakowska) and “hushed performances as an operatic singer on the piano” (Cleveland Classical). She creates immersive programs—grounded, personal, and multidimensional—where refined musicianship meets narrative, visual design, and story.
Her performances span North America, Europe, and Asia, in venues from Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall to Flagey in Brussels and Petit Palau in Barcelona. A laureate of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Paderewski International Piano Competition, Kim is equally recognized for Audience Prizes and special awards—honors that revealed her specialty: forging deep bonds with listeners and creating experiences that bring audiences back again.
Her interdisciplinary projects take a multi-sensory approach, blending music with visual media, literature, and other arts to engage both ear and imagination. Nocturnal Journey, her recent recital program, dissolves traditional boundaries between works, unfolding as a single arc carrying audiences through an unbroken hour of reflection, dream, and transformation. She also earned the Digital Challenge Prize from Music Academy of the West for an earlier performance integrating animation and live piano.
In 2025, Kim edited and recorded Excelcia Publishing’s Piano Anthology series, contributing interpretive insight and pedagogical depth to a major resource for pianists and educators.
Her upcoming season, The Long Becoming, reflects on transformation and identity, culminating in the world premiere of Estrella by Texu Kim, inspired by the meaning of her Korean name—“star.”
Kim is Assistant Professor of Music at Rollins College, where she directs the Rollins Community School of Music and founded its Summer Piano Academy—spaces where music is not only heard, but experienced.Steinway Artist Byeol Kim is praised for her “ingeniously colorful imagination and stage charisma” (Agata Nowakowska) and “hushed performances as an operatic singer on the piano” (Cleveland Classical). She creates immersive programs—grounded, personal, and multidimensional—where refined musicianship meets narrative, visual design, and story.
Her performances span North America, Europe, and Asia, in venues from Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall to Flagey in Brussels and Petit Palau in Barcelona. A laureate of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Paderewski International Piano Competition, Kim is equally recognized for Audience Prizes and special awards—honors that revealed her specialty: forging deep bonds with listeners and creating experiences that bring audiences back again.
Her interdisciplinary projects take a multi-sensory approach, blending music with visual media, literature, and other arts to engage both ear and imagination. Nocturnal Journey, her recent recital program, dissolves traditional boundaries between works, unfolding as a single arc carrying audiences through an unbroken hour of reflection, dream, and transformation. She also earned the Digital Challenge Prize from Music Academy of the West for an earlier performance integrating animation and live piano.
In 2025, Kim edited and recorded Excelcia Publishing’s Piano Anthology series, contributing interpretive insight and pedagogical depth to a major resource for pianists and educators.
Her upcoming season, The Long Becoming, reflects on transformation and identity, culminating in the world premiere of Estrella by Texu Kim, inspired by the meaning of her Korean name—“star.”
Kim is Assistant Professor of Music at Rollins College, where she directs the Rollins Community School of Music and founded its Summer Piano Academy—spaces where music is not only heard, but experienced.
- Professor, Ohio University School of Music
Christopher Fisher
Professor, Ohio University School of MusicDr. Christopher Fisher is Professor of Piano at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where he chairs the Keyboard Division and directs the internationally recognized undergraduate and graduate piano performance and pedagogy programs. He is the Artistic Director of the Ohio University Piano Pedagogy Seminar. Dr. Fisher served as Director of the Ohio University School of Music from 2020-2022 and Assistant Director from 2019-2020. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award
Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups, the only comprehensive group piano pedagogy textbook of its kind. He has published in leading keyboard journals including Keyboard Companion, American Music Teacher, Clavier, and Clavier Companion. He is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari, which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe.
As a performing artist, Dr. Fisher frequently plays both solo and collaborative recitals, including duet and duo piano performances with wife, pianist Katherine Fisher. The Fisher Piano Duo was awarded first prize in the Adult Duo Division of the Graves Piano and Organ Company/OhioMTA Piano Competition in 2007. As a recording artist, Dr. Fisher can be heard on the MSR Classics label (Samplings: New Music for Bassoon and Piano; MS1547).
A native of Missouri, Dr. Fisher holds degrees from Wichita State University (Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy) and Northwest Missouri State University (Bachelor of Arts). He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where he was the recipient of the prestigious Alumni Graduate Fellowship. His piano and piano pedagogy teachers include Edward Gates, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Julie Bees, Sylvia Coats, Richard Bobo, and Betty Preston.
Co-Founder of Fried MusicConnie Kim-Sheng Fried
Co-Founder of Fried MusicBorn into a musical family, pianist Connie Kim-Sheng began her studies at the age of three with her mother and was accepted into the private studio of renowned pedagogue John Perry by age eleven. At twelve, she gave her solo debut and has since performed across the United States and internationally, including in Canada, China, Spain, Poland, Germany, and Australia.
She has appeared as a soloist with the YMF Debut Orchestra, Rio Hondo Symphony, Northridge Orchestra, and Verde Valley Sinfonietta. Prizewinner at numerous competitions, Connie’s accolades include top honors at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, LA Philharmonic’s Bronislaw Kaper Awards, the Knigge Competition, and the New Orleans International Piano Competition for Young Artists. She was also a finalist and special prizewinner at the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition. As winner of the Glenn Gould School concerto competition, she performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto at Koerner Hall with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra.
A dedicated chamber musician, Connie has attended selective music festivals including Ravinia Steans Institute, Kneisel Hall, Aspen, Orford, and Sarasota, working closely with high-caliber artists such as Leon Fleisher, Miriam Fried, and Arie Vardi.
She earned her bachelor’s at The Glenn Gould School on full scholarship, followed by graduate studies at New England Conservatory with Hung-Kuan Chen and Meng-Chieh Liu, and a doctorate at USC Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Jeffrey Kahane.
Connie currently serves as co-director of Junior Chamber Music’s Los Angeles branch. She is also piano faculty and co-founder of Fried Music, a dynamic music school that houses an advanced Pre-College Program, concert series, and more.
Keyboard Harmony Faculty at Colburn Conservatory of Music, Tonebase Piano CoachEloise Kim
Keyboard Harmony Faculty at Colburn Conservatory of Music, Tonebase Piano CoachPraised for her “great poetic phrasing and poised lyrical nature (The Columbian), Dr. Eloise Kim is a pianist-performer and passionate educator. Kim received her doctorate at the USC Thornton School of Music, graduating with the DMA Keyboard Departmental Award. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree at The Colburn Conservatory and Master’s at the Manhattan School of Music, where she graduated with the Helen Cohn Outstanding Pianist in Chamber Music Award.
As the grand-prize recipient of the Pinault International Piano Competition, Dr. Kim gave her first solo piano recital debut in Carnegie Weill Recital Hall at age 11. Kim was also a semi-finalist of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, finalist of the New York International Piano Competition, and a top prizewinner of the Lennox, Kingsville, and Jefferson Young Artists International piano competitions.
Dr. Kim currently maintains an active private piano studio with students of all ages. And currently holds the Keyboard Harmony Faculty position at Colburn Conservatory of Music and a coach at Tonebase Piano. Kim continues to enthusiastically perform as a collaborative pianist throughout the states. In supplement to music, Kim’s greatest joy comes from her lovely yorkie Tory, who shares many smiles and laughs to others’ hearts through numerous social media posts.
Faculty and Co-Founder of RR Academy, Pianist, ResearcherEvgenia Rabinovich
Faculty and Co-Founder of RR Academy, Pianist, ResearcherDr. Evgenia Rabinovich has established herself as a distinguished Vancouver-based pianist, teacher, collaborator, and researcher. Her performances have been described as “captivating” by audiences and her musicianship is hailed as having “flawless voicing, exquisite phrasing, and a brilliant sense of harmonic direction in everything she plays.” Her passion for expanding her knowledge has led her to complete a doctoral degree at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation, titled “Fostering Flow in Piano Performance through Effective Practice,” identified how students employ effective practice strategies towards optimal performance, fostering flow on stage.
Evgenia’s performance career includes concert appearances across the United States, Canada, Europe, and China. As a soloist, she has performed at renowned venues such as Steinway Hall in New York, Sala Dei Notari in Italy, and the Chan Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver, and many others. Since her concerto debut at age 15 with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra under Ken Hsieh, performing Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Evgenia has collaborated with multiple prestigious conductors and orchestras, having performed with the UBC Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Jonathan Girard, the Brunensis Virtuosi Orchestra under Maestro Danwen Wei, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Alicante under Maestro Uri Segal.
Evgenia is an honours with distinction graduate from the Mannes School of Music (The New School) in New York (BMUS, 2015) and the University of British Columbia (MMUS, 2017; DMA, 2025). Evgenia’s early musical studies include extended work with Dr. Sasha Starcevich and Mannes department head Professor Pavlina Dokovska. Evgenia began her university studies at UBC at the age of 15 after graduating early via the University Transitions Program for Gifted Adolescents. She received Early Entrance to the University of British Columbia and was awarded The Major Entrance Scholarship, focusing her early studies on psychology and English rhetoric while studying piano privately with Dr. Sasha Starcevich.
- Associate Professor of Piano at East Carolina University
Kwan Yi
Associate Professor of Piano at East Carolina UniversityPianist Kwan Yi has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, Mann Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Metropolitan and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Auditorium du Louvre, Teatro Gayarre, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.
Yi has appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Festival Orchestra, and the North Carolina Symphony under the batons of Hans Graf, Julian Kuerti, Grant Llewellyn, and Mikhail Tartanikov. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, and Roberto Diaz on national tours and was invited to perform at the Kronberg, Ravinia, Trondheim, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals and Carnegie Hall Presents, Curtis Presents, CIM Mixon Hall Masters, Mondavi Center Presents and Peoples’ Symphony Concert series. He has recorded for FHR and Hänssler labels with violinist Itamar Zorman. His solo and chamber albums are scheduled to be released on Sono Luminus and Centaur labels in the fall of 2025. The 2025-2026 season includes performances in China, Guatemala, and the U.K., residencies at Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, and Penn State University, a solo recital tour with a program of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage and chamber music performances throughout the U.S.
A recipient of many honors and prizes, Yi’s awards include Mieczyslaw Munz Prize, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, and prizes in the Fourth Sendai International Piano Competition.
Yi is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and the Peabody Institute where he worked with Leon Fleisher and Robert McDonald. He currently serves as associate professor of piano at the East Carolina University School of Music. Pianist Kwan Yi has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, Mann Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Metropolitan and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Auditorium du Louvre, Teatro Gayarre, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.
Yi has appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Festival Orchestra, and the North Carolina Symphony under the batons of Hans Graf, Julian Kuerti, Grant Llewellyn, and Mikhail Tartanikov. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, and Roberto Diaz on national tours and was invited to perform at the Kronberg, Ravinia, Trondheim, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals and Carnegie Hall Presents, Curtis Presents, CIM Mixon Hall Masters, Mondavi Center Presents and Peoples’ Symphony Concert series. He has recorded for FHR and Hänssler labels with violinist Itamar Zorman. His solo and chamber albums are scheduled to be released on Sono Luminus and Centaur labels in the fall of 2025. The 2025-2026 season includes performances in China, Guatemala, and the U.K., residencies at Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, and Penn State University, a solo recital tour with a program of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage and chamber music performances throughout the U.S.
A recipient of many honors and prizes, Yi’s awards include Mieczyslaw Munz Prize, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, and prizes in the Fourth Sendai International Piano Competition.
Yi is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and the Peabody Institute where he worked with Leon Fleisher and Robert McDonald. He currently serves as associate professor of piano at the East Carolina University School of Music.
Professor of Piano, Stephen F. Austin State UniversityMario Ajero
Professor of Piano, Stephen F. Austin State UniversityDr. Mario Ajero is Professor of Piano at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas where he teaches applied piano lessons, group piano classes, and piano pedagogy. He also serves as the Keyboard Area Coordinator, Director of the SFA Summer Piano Institute, and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies. Internationally recognized as an authority in incorporating technology in piano pedagogy and music education, he has presented at every major piano pedagogy conference in the United States and has been invited to perform and present in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, and Germany.
Dr. Ajero’s engagements include being a keynote presenter at the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, featured presenter at the Summer Summit at The Royal Conservatory, and being invited to present on technology to teach keyboard remotely for The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Ajero has authored articles for Piano Magazine and American Music Teacher and has presented at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Conference and NCKP: The Piano Conference. He was previously featured in a series of webinars from The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy entitled Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Resources for Online Instruction. Dr. Ajero’s piano pedagogy students have also given presentations at the Texas Music Teachers Association MTNA National Conferences. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Music from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and earned his Ph.D. in Music Education with a concentration in piano pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma.
- Klipsch Artist-in-Residence, Chair of Piano, University of Central Arkansas
Oliver Jia
Klipsch Artist-in-Residence, Chair of Piano, University of Central ArkansasDescribed as an artist with “incomparable color and beauty of sound” (Jan Popis, Chopin Gazeta: 2005), Swedish-American pianist Oliver Jia has performed for audiences all over the world, and actively appears in concerts on three major continents. With a repertoire of dozens of concerti in addition to over two hundred solo and chamber works, Oliver made his official debut at Isaac Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall under the baton of the late Maestro James DePreist, performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no. 5 with the Juilliard Orchestra.
As a testament to his wide-ranging performance career, Oliver has performed with the Orchestra of St Luke’s, the Fort Worth Symphony, the China National Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra, among others. He has made solo and concerti appearances at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, Royal Dublin Society, and the Manhattan Center, as well as the premier concert halls in mainland China.
In addition to his solo engagements, Oliver is an engaged chamber musician and has collaborated with numerous chamber ensembles, especially in the US region. As a teacher, Oliver has maintained a private studio for two decades, teaching both solo piano and chamber music.
Oliver was born in Nanking to a family with significant music backgrounds (his grandparents served as distinguished Peking Opera directors for decades), and spent his entire childhood in Stockholm. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Michigan, an Artist Diploma from Yale University, and Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. His major instructors have included Logan Skelton, Peter Frankl, Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Oxana Yablonskaya, and Paul van Ness.
Oliver has served as Klipsch Artist-in-Residence & Chair of Piano at the University of Central Arkansas since 2025.
Director of Keyboard Division and Instructor of Piano, Eastern Illinois University, Festival Manager, Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival (Italy); Festival Coordinator, Gijón International Piano Festival (Spain)Shichao Zhang
Director of Keyboard Division and Instructor of Piano, Eastern Illinois University, Festival Manager, Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival (Italy); Festival Coordinator, Gijón International Piano Festival (Spain)Pianist Shichao Zhang is an accomplished performer and educator who currently serves as the Director of the Keyboard Division and the Instructor of Piano at Eastern Illinois University, a position he has held since 2023. His career has spanned prestigious institutions, including the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University as an Instructor, the Music Department of Skidmore College as a Visiting Artist-in-Residence, and Helongjiang University of Technology in China as a Visiting Professor.
Zhang has taught masterclasses and lessons at Euro Music Festival & Academy in Poland, Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, East Tennessee State University, Morningside College, etc. His students have been accepted by schools such as Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Institute, among others.
In addition to his teaching and performing commitments, Dr. Zhang proudly serves as the Festival Manager of the Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival in Italy and the Festival Coordinator of the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain.
Dr. Zhang’s musical journey has taken him around the world, with solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and concerto performances throughout China, the United States, and Europe. His playing has been praised as “Mr. Zhang has excellent technique and is a very probing musician…” “Shichao’s performances reflect a great musicality, depth of interpretation, and technical expertise…”
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Dr. Zhang earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature with a minor in Chamber Music and Accompanying under the tutelage of Professors Douglas Humpherys and Jean Barr. Zhang’s academic journey at Eastman also included earning a Master’s degree in Piano Performance and Literature in 2014 and a Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in 2012, accompanied by the Eastman Humanities Prize (GPA 4.0/4.0). Originally from China, Zhang received his early training in Beijing under Madam Yafen Zhu and Ms. Chen Zhang.
Music director of TKCC and Seohan orchestraYisak Isaac Seo
Music director of TKCC and Seohan orchestraIsaac Seo is a Canadian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Seohan Orchestra and the Toronto Korean Canadian Choir. Also, appearing as guest conductor and a piano pedagogue. He was admitted to International Chopin competition and Queen Elizabeth competition. For a decade, he worked as an accompanist under number of conductor’s in New York City and became the musical director of the St. Timothy Church of Toronto in 2018.
He audited Maestro Uri Myer’s Doctoral Conducting Classes at the University of Toronto. Isaac became the music director of Toronto Korean Canadian Choir TKCC, and he founded his own professional orchestral ensemble, Seohan Orchestra. Also serving as a guest conductor to OYMI youth orchestra. Isaac actively adjudicates music competitions and give Master Classes.
Isaac has studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Montreal University, Conservatory de Belgium. He received the Bachelors degree at the Juilliard School and Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Isaac’s musical mentors includes, Peter Longworth, Marc Durand, John Perry, Leon Fleisher, Jacques Rouvier, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Evegeny Moguilevsky, Phillip Kawin, Andre Laplante, Anton Kuerti, Alfred Brendel and Martha Argerich. Isaac’s solo piano career has led him tour major halls in Paris, Rome, New York, Belgium, Atri, Toronto, Montreal and more.
As a Piano Pedagogue, his pupils have won prizes from Pre-college concerto competition in NYC, CMC (Canadian Music Competition) in Toronto, Lincoln Center Debut competition in NYC, Junior-Bachauer in Utah, Kiwanis Music festival, OYMI and a $10,000 Scholarship from the National Young Arts Foundation Competition in the United States. His students have appeared as soloists with orchestras in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Toronto.
Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore CollegeYoung Kim
Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore CollegeYoung Kim, Steinway Artist, has performed internationally as a soloist in recitals and with orchestras and as a chamber musician. A native of South Korea, Kim has performed in major concert venues in Korea and has appeared as a soloist with the Saint Petersburg State Capella Symphony Orchestra in Russia, Vienna International Orchestra in Altenburg, Austria, Schenectady Symphony Orchestra and Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra in the Capital District of NY.
Dr. Kim has been frequently invited to present lectures, recitals, and piano master classes in colleges and universities in Asia, Europe and in the US. Most recently, she was invited to perform and present piano master classes at the University of Szeged in Hungary, University of Seoul, and Kookmin University in Seoul, Korea.
Kim was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in 2019 and received the Thomas A. Manion Distinguished Faculty Award at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, where she was a Professor of Piano from 2002-2021.
Kim holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota, Artist Diploma from Yale University, M.M. from The Juilliard School, and B.M. from Seoul National University. She is currently a Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Final Round Judges- New York, USA
Piano Faculty, Mannes School of Music Pre-CollegeBaichao Lan
Piano Faculty, Mannes School of Music Pre-CollegePianist Baichao Lan began playing the piano at the age of four. His debut album (Baichao Lan: Schumann and Prokofiev) has won him acclaim worldwide. His performances and interviews have been broadcast on Radio New Zealand. He earned a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Sir Stephen Hough and Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, and a Bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory under Prof. Alexander Korsantia.
As a concert pianist, Baichao has been invited to give performances around the world. In 2017, he appeared as a soloist with the renowned National Philharmonic of Ukraine under Maestro Vitaliy Protasov. He was also invited to play concerts at the 2020 Focus Festival in New York, the 2019 Animato Concert Series in Paris, the 2016 Mendelssohn International Academy in Leipzig, the 2016 Shanghai International Piano Festival, and the 2015 From Easter to Ascension International Festival in Tbilisi. In addition to his international festival appearances, Baichao has had the privilege of playing in some of the top concert halls in the world, including Lincoln Center in New York, Salle Cortot in Paris.
He has won over 20 national and international piano competitions. Some of his accomplishments include the Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Ukraine, the Paderewski International Piano Competition in the USA, and the Kerikeri International Piano Competition in New Zealand.
As an educator, his students have won major competitions including the Chicago International Piano Competition and the U.S. Chopin International Piano Competition. Some of his students have continued their professional studies at leading conservatories and performed at prestigious concert halls around the world. He has been honored as a Steinway Top Piano Teacher. Currently, Baichao Lan is on the piano faculty of the Mannes School of Music Pre-College.
- Concert Pianist
Chelsea Wang
Concert PianistPraised by the New York Times as an “excellent young pianist”, Chelsea Wang has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America in venues including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, Kimmel Center’s Perelman Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Phillips Collection, Benjamin Franklin Hall, Guarneri Hall, and more. She has also performed extensively in Europe and Asia, appearing in venues including Konzerthaus Berlin, Munich’s Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, Konzertsaal at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, Dresden Hochschule fur Musik, Chamber Hall of Warsaw Philharmonic, Seoul Arts Center, Taipei National Concert Hall, Kaohsiung Weiwuying Center for the Arts, and Hong Kong City Hall. She is a prizewinner and finalist of many national and international piano competitions including the Seoul International Piano Competition, Washington International Piano Competition, and New York International Piano Competition.
Ms. Wang made her orchestral debut at the age of six and has performed with many orchestras since then including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New Orleans Civic Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Fort Dodge Symphony Orchestra, Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, among others.
A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Ms. Wang began playing the piano at four years old, and her early formal piano studies were under the tutelage of Chiu-Ling Lin and Ksenia Nosikova. She received a Bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and was awarded the prestigious Sergei Rachmaninoff Award upon graduation. She received her Master of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of Leon Fleisher and Yong-Hi Moon, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with James Giles.Praised by the New York Times as an “excellent young pianist”, Chelsea Wang has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America in venues including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, Kimmel Center’s Perelman Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Phillips Collection, Benjamin Franklin Hall, Guarneri Hall, and more. She has also performed extensively in Europe and Asia, appearing in venues including Konzerthaus Berlin, Munich’s Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, Konzertsaal at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, Dresden Hochschule fur Musik, Chamber Hall of Warsaw Philharmonic, Seoul Arts Center, Taipei National Concert Hall, Kaohsiung Weiwuying Center for the Arts, and Hong Kong City Hall. She is a prizewinner and finalist of many national and international piano competitions including the Seoul International Piano Competition, Washington International Piano Competition, and New York International Piano Competition.
Ms. Wang made her orchestral debut at the age of six and has performed with many orchestras since then including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New Orleans Civic Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Fort Dodge Symphony Orchestra, Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, among others.
A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Ms. Wang began playing the piano at four years old, and her early formal piano studies were under the tutelage of Chiu-Ling Lin and Ksenia Nosikova. She received a Bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and was awarded the prestigious Sergei Rachmaninoff Award upon graduation. She received her Master of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of Leon Fleisher and Yong-Hi Moon, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with James Giles.
Teacher, PianistChiu-Tze Lin
Teacher, PianistSteinway Artist Chiu-Tze Lin is a pianist, conductor, and teacher who has an unyielding belief in her students. Ms. Lin was inducted into the Steinway Teachers Hall of Fame, on the first occasion that such honors were given to teachers by the Steinway company. She was also recognized by the Music Teachers National Association as a Foundation Fellow.
Ms. Lin’s students have received recognition both nationally and internationally. As “Rising Stars” in the 1st International Music Festival sponsored by China’s Ministry of Culture, their performances in the Peoples’ Congress Hall and Forbidden City Concert Hall have been broadcast on CCTV across China and around the world. Her students have received awards in the Kaufman International Piano Competition, Cooper International Piano Competition, and the New York International Piano Competition. Ms. Lin’s students have won top prizes in the New Jersey Music Teachers Young Musicians Competition. Her students have also won the MTNA Eastern Division Competitions and advanced to the National Finals. Ms. Lin’s students have appeared as soloists with numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Shanghai Chamber Orchestra, Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, Ambler Symphony, and the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey.
Chiu-Tze Lin is the music director of the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bravura Youth Orchestra (BYO). The BYO was lauded numerous times by US Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim for engaging in international cultural exchanges through music. The BYO has performed in China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, and European cities including Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague. Her commitment to education in the arts led to her selection for a top 100 Global Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
- Piano Faculty, Manhattan School of Music - Precollege division
Kayoung An
Piano Faculty, Manhattan School of Music - Precollege division“Passionate,” “expressive,” “bold,” and “sensitive: This is how critics described pianist Kayoung An’s performance with the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie. Her playing was praised by Korea Music Review: “Along with elegance, she has fire.”
Multi-award-winning pianist Kayoung An has performed as a soloist and chamber music artist at prominent halls such as Carnegie Hall, SummerStage, Bruno Walter Auditorium, Seoul Art Center, and Chicago Cultural Center. She has also performed for broadcasts on WFMT Chicago (98.7 MHz), KBS Classic FM, KBS-TV (Korea Broadcasting System), and WBFY Belfast Radio (100.9 MHz). Kayoung An toured in Korea with Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie in 2017 and appeared on stage with renowned orchestras such as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonians, Amadeo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra, Morning Heights Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, to name a few. During her dedicated musical career, she was fortunate to work with prominent conductors such as Gábor Hontvári, Lawrence Golan, Francis Fortier, and others. Kayoung An has been a guest solo artist at the Bar Harbor Music Festival, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Lechetzsky Association, and Arts on the Lake Recital Series. Her recent recording, “Kayoung An and Friends Play Bernard Hoffer,” in collaboration with David Gilbert, former assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, has been released by Albany Records.Dr. Kayoung An received a doctorate in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She also holds degrees from New England Conservatory, Colburn Conservatory, and Cleveland Institute of Music. Kayoung An is an enthusiastic educator whose students have won many prestigious national and international competitions. She is a sought-after master class teacher and international competition adjudicator. 
Staff Pianist and Part-Time Faculty, The Juilliard SchoolLeon Bernsdorf
Staff Pianist and Part-Time Faculty, The Juilliard SchoolLeon Bernsdorf is a pianist and teaching artist living in Brooklyn, NY. He is the recipient of numerous international piano competition prizes, such as the Liszt Competition Budapest, Premio Jaen, Dallas International Piano Competition, and the Boston University and Glenn Gould School concerto competitions.
León gave his orchestra debut at age 15 in the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, performing Grieg’s piano concerto with the Hamburg Youth Symphony Orchestra. Further orchestral engagements soon followed, including the Heidelberg Philharmonic and the Hamburg Camerata. Aside from Germany and the US, he has performed concerts in Canada, Italy, Spain, Russia, Japan, China, and South East Asia. Through his success at the Liszt Competition in Budapest in 2016 (3rd Prize), León has concertized extensively in all parts of Hungary, including solo and orchestra appearances in Budpest, Eger, Miskolc and many other cities.
After receiving his pre-college diploma from the Andreas Franke Akademie of the Hochschule Hamburg, León completed his education in North America. He holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Boston University, as well as an Artist Diploma degree from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. He finished his Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) with Professor Robert McDonald at Juilliard in May 2023. His dissertation, “Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Piano Works: A Critical Guide”, is the first English thesis on the composer’s piano music, and was published by the Juilliard School.
In recent years, León has focused his musical attention on collaborating and teaching. At Juilliard, he works with the studios of Carol Rodland (viola), Laurie Smukler (violin), and Amy Burton (voice). Together with his duo partner, Jeremy Lap Hei Hao (violin), he won the Premio Amici della Musica Verona (Italy) in Fall 2023 and will return to Italy for the prize winners’ concert in early 2025.
- Recording Artist, Virtu.Academy and Harlem School of the Arts Piano Faculty
Michael Kaykov
Recording Artist, Virtu.Academy and Harlem School of the Arts Piano FacultyAmerican pianist and educator Dr. Michael Kaykov was born into a musical family and gave his first public performance at the age of six. He has earned his Bachelor of Music degree with honors from Mannes College of Music, studying with professor Jerome Rose and Master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. He finished his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at the Manhattan School of Music, writing his dissertation “The Evolution of Alexander Scriabin’s Harmonic Language and Pianistic Textures Across his Etudes Op. 8, 42 and 65” under the guidance of renowned Fulbright scholar and musicologist Dr. Edward Green.
Michael appeared as a soloist throughout USA, Europe and Asia. The third album of his Liszt series was released by Odradek Records in April 2024 and earned favorable reviews in Fanfare Magazine and MusicWeb International. Several more all-Liszt albums are in preparation.Michael Kaykov is a Steinway & Sons educational partner and on the Harlem School of the Arts (NYC) and Virtu.Academy piano faculty.Michael has been a recipient of the Kamiya Sisters Piano Scholarship, Susan W. Rose Piano Scholarship, and the Celia and Joseph Ascher Fund for Piano Award (Juilliard School, 2012-2014); Piano Scholarship and Doctoral Fellowship (Manhattan School of Music, 2014-2020); and the Cirio Foundation (NYC) Scholarship (2016-2020). Michael’s scholarly articles (musicology) have been published in the International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music (IRASM, Croatian Musicological Society), Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki (PMN, Russia), and Innovation Art Studies (ICONI, Russia).
