East Carolina Piano Festival Program 2021

East Carolina® Piano Festival

June 27 - July 4, 2021

ECPF 2021 Events A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall Sunday, June 27

7:00pm Festival Opening Concert

Monday, June 28

1:00pm Yukiko Sekino Masterclass

Tuesday, June 29

10:00am Michelle Cann Masterclass 7:30pm Michelle Cann Solo Recital

Wednesday, June 30

1:00pm Michelle Cann Masterclass

Thursday, July 1

10:00am Alexander Kobrin Masterclass 1:00pm Alexander Kobrin Masterclass

Friday, July 2

9:00am Matti Raekallio Masterclass 12:00pm Matti Raekallio Masterclass 7:30pm Alexander Kobrin Solo Recital

Sunday, July 4

11:00am Young Artist Program Final Concert I 2:00pm Young Artist Program Final Concert II 3:30pm Young Artist Program Final Concert III

Room B110 Tuesday, June 29

1:20pm Vocal Rooms: An Exploration of Improvisational Composition Marc Callahan will lead a workshop inspired by the techniques of legendary composer and performance artist Meredith Monk.

Wednesday, June 30

11:00am Conversations with Michelle Cann

Saturday, July 3

11:00am Conversations with Alexander Kobrin 2

Festival Opening Concert A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall Sunday, June 27th, 2021 – 7:00pm Sonata in D minor Gavatta K. 64...........................................Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in D minor K. 9 (1685-1757) Sonata in D minor Aria K. 32 Sonata in D minor K. 141 John O’Brien Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 31 No. 1.......................... Ludwig van Beethoven I. Allegro vivace (1770-1827) II. Adagio grazioso III. Rondo Kwan Yi Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat Major, Op. 61................................Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Keiko Sekino Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat Major, Op. 83................................Sergei Prokofiev I. Allegro inquieto (1891-1953) II. Andante caloroso III. Precipitato Yukiko Sekino

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Michelle Cann Piano Recital A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall Tuesday, June 29th, 2021 – 7:30pm Ballade no. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47..........................................Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Piano Sonata in E minor................................................................. Florence Price I. Andante-Allegro (1887-1953) II. Andante III. Scherzo

~intermission~ Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2.................................... Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Ballade, Op. 10 No. 2 Fantasie Nègre no. 1 in E minor ................................................... Florence Price (1887-1953)

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Alexander Kobrin Piano Recital A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall Friday, July 2nd, 2021 – 7:30pm Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 26.............................. Ludwig van Beethoven I. Andante con variazioni (1770-1827) II. Scherzo, allegro molto III. Maestoso andante, marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe IV. Allegro Fantasie, Op. 49...........................................................................Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Berceuse, Op. 57 Barcarolle, Op. 60

~intermission~ Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958................................................... Franz Schubert I. Allegro (1797-1828) II. Adagio III. Menuetto: Allegro – Trio IV. Allegro

This concert is generously sponsored by Drs. B. Christine Clark and D. Lynn Morris.

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Guest & Faculty Artists Marc Callahan Marc Callahan, bass baritone, holds degrees from Oberlin College, CCM, the École Normale de Musique de Paris and the Schola Cantorum. His performance career has taken him around the world, singing at opera houses such as: The Royal Opera House, Santa Fe Opera, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Théâtre du Capitole, Opéra National de Lyon, Opéra de Montpellier, Opéra Comique, Théâtre Royale de Versailles, Opéra de Marseille, and others. Opera magazine has reviewed him as “a powerful baritone, providing wickedly glamorous tone.”

As a director and designer, Marc Callahan has received critical acclaim for his production of JeanPhilippe Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, saying it was “designed and directed with jaw-dropping invention” and was awarded first prize for his production of Kurt Weill’s Der Jasager from the National Opera Association and was a national winner Honorable Mention for the Charles C. Reilly Director’s Prize. He has worked on productions at the Royal Opera House, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Holland Festival, Scottish Opera, Miami Music Festival, the New World Center, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Théâtre du Capitole. Recent productions include: The Marriage of Figaro, Cendrillon, and The Blue Forest, Help, Help, the Globolinks!, Der Jasager, Lohengrin, Alcina, ATLAS, Die Walküre, Il sogno di Scipione, and L’incoronazione di Poppea (“…devising a brilliant production of remarkable dramatic intimacy.”).

He is currently on the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill as an Assistant Professor of Music.

Michelle Cann Pianist Michelle Cann made her orchestral debut at age fourteen and has since performed as a soloist with numerous ensembles including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, and the New Jersey Orchestra.

A champion of the music of Florence Price, Ms. Cann performed the New York City premiere of the composer’s Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in July 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2021, which the Philadelphia Inquirer called “exquisite.” She has also performed Price’s works for solo piano and chamber ensemble for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Society of Detroit, and the New World Symphony, among other presenters.

Highlights of her Summer 2021 activities include a repeat performance with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, an appearance with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, and a role on the jury of the Cleveland International Piano Competition.

Ms. Cann regularly appears in recital and as a chamber musician throughout the U.S., China, and South Korea. Notable venues include the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Barbican in London with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

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Ms. Cann regularly performs duo recitals with her sister, pianist Kimberly Cann; together their “sheer verve and evident passion is something to behold” (Mountain Xpress).

Ms. Cann has appeared as cohost and collaborative pianist with NPR’s From The Top, collaborating with actor/conductor Damon Gupton, violinist Leila Josefowicz, and violinist and MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta. She has also been featured on WRTI-FM and WHYY-TV in Philadelphia. Her summer festival appearances have included the Taos Chamber Music Festival, Yellow Barn, Perlman Music Program, Music Academy of the West, Geneva Music Festival, and Pianofest in the Hamptons, where she serves as artist in residence.

Ms. Cann has won top prizes in state, national, and international competitions including the International Russian Music Piano Competition, the Blount Slawson Young Artists Competition, and the Wideman International Piano Competition. In 2019 she served as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s MAC Music Innovator in recognition of her role as an African-American classical musician who embodies artistry, innovation, and a commitment to education and community engagement.

Ms. Cann manifests this commitment through her activities in Philadelphia and as part of touring engagements around the globe. She has served as the director of two children’s choruses in the El Sistema-inspired program Play On Philly and was among the first class of ArtistYear fellows at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with community partners City Year, Teach for America, and AmeriCorps to provide arts education and access to underserved communities in Philadelphia. In 2019 she served on the faculty of the Sphinx Performance Academy during its inaugural year at the Juilliard School.

Ms. Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro, and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert McDonald.

Ms. Cann served as a collaborative staff pianist at the Curtis Institute of Music for several years. She joined the faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies.

Alexander Kobrin “He surrendered neither the smoothness nor the dynamic fluidity that the modern piano allows, and he gave his sense of fantasy free rein, and creating an almost confessional spirit .”

— The New York Times Called the “Van Cliburn of today” by the BBC, pianist Alexander Kobrin has placed himself at the forefront of today’s performing musicians. His prize winning performances have been praised for their brilliant technique, musicality, and emotional engagement with the audience. The New York Times has written that Mr. Kobrin was a “fastidious guide” to Schumann’s “otherworldly visions, pointing out hunters, flowers, haunted corners and friendly bowers, all captured in richly characterized vignettes.” “This was a performance that will be revered and remembered as a landmark of the regeneration of exceptional classical music in Central New York.”-critic wrote after Mr. Kobrin’s performance of Second Piano Concerto by Johannes Brahms with Syracuse Symphony in Syracuse,NY. In 2005, Mr. Kobrin was awarded the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, TX. His numerous successes in competitions

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also include top prizes at the Busoni International Piano Competition (First Prize), Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (Top Prize), Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow (First Prize) Mr. Kobrin has performed with many of the world’s great orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Verdi, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Moscow Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Berliner Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Swedish Radio Symphony, Birmingham Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with such conductors as Mikhail Pletnev, Mikhail Jurovsky, Mark Elder, Vassiliy Sinaisky, James Conlon, Claus Peter Flor, Alexander Lazarev, Vassiliy Petrenko and Yuri Bashmet.

He has appeared in recital at major halls worldwide, including Carnegie Zankel Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, Louvre Auditorium,Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot in Paris, Munich Herkulesaal and Berliner Filarmonia Hall in Germany, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong, as well as Sala Verdi in Milan and many others. Other past performances have included recitals at Bass Hall for the Cliburn Series, the Washington Performing Arts Society, La Roque d’Antheron, the Ravinia Festival, the Beethoven Easter Festival, Busoni Festival , the renowned Klavier-Festival Ruhr, the Festival Musique dans le Grésivaudan ,the International Keyboard Institute & Festival, annual concert tours in Japan, China and Taiwan.

Though widely acclaimed as a performer, Mr. Kobrin’s teaching has been an inspiration to many students through his passion for music. From 2003 to 2010 he served on the faculty of the Russian State Gnessin’s Academy of Music. In 2010 Alexander Kobrin was named the L. Rexford Distinguished Chair in Piano at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, and since 2013 until 2017 has been a member of the celebrated Artist Faculty of New York University’s Steinhardt School. In July 2017, Mr.Kobrin has joined the faculty of the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochster,NY. Mr. Kobrin has also given masterclasses in Europe and Asia, the International Piano Series and at the Conservatories of Japan and China.

Mr. Kobrin has been a jury member for many international piano competitions, including the Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano,Hamamatsu International Piano Competion, the Blüthner International Piano Competition in Vienna, E-Competition in Fairbanks, AK and the Neuhaus International Piano Festival in Moscow.

Mr. Kobrin has released recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Quartz, and Centaur labels, covering a wide swath of the piano literature. His Schumann album,released on Centaur Records has been included into top-5 albums of the year in 2015 by Fanfare Magazine. Gramophone Magazine raved about his Cliburn Competition release on Harmonia Mundi, writing that “in [Rachmaninoff’s] Second Sonata (played in the 1931 revision), despite fire-storms of virtuosity, there is always room for everything to tell and Kobrin achieves a hypnotic sense of the music’s dark necromancy.”

Mr. Kobrin was born in 1980 in Moscow. At the age of five, he was enrolled in the world-famous Gnessin Special School of Music after which he attended the prestigious Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. His teachers have included renowned professors Tatiana Zelikman and Lev Naumov.

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John O’Brien John O’Brien was born into a musical family. He studied piano with his father from the age of five until graduating from high school. While in high school he also studied violin, flute, and later harp and spent many hours playing string quartets with his three younger brothers. He began his undergraduate studies as a double major in violin and piano performance studying violin with Robert Gerle and piano with William Masselos. He continued his college piano studies with John Perry. In 1989 Dr. O’Brien was awarded the DMA in accompanying from the University of Southern California. There he studied with Gwendolyn Koldofsy and Jean Barr. While at USC he also studied organ with Cherry Rhodes and harpsichord with Malcolm Hamilton. Dr. O’Brien has been on the faculty of East Carolina University since 1985. He has been the Professor of Accompanying, Chairperson of the Department of Vocal Studies and Director of the ECU Opera Theatre. Dr. O’Brien has collaborated with such artists as Metropolitan Opera stars Hilda Harris and Victoria Livengood, violinist Eliot Chapo, tenor Bill Brown, soprano Louise Toppin, flautist Carol Wincence, and clarinetist Deborah Chodacki. He has performed in New York’s Merkin Recital Hall, Weill Recital Hall, and at the Istanbul Festival with cellist Selma Gokcen. As keyboardist he performs regularly with Atlanta Baroque, Clarino Consort and Baroque dance soloist Paige WhitleyBauguess. He has performed recitals with soprano Julianne Bairdand baroque violinist Julie Andrijeski, (Apollo’s Fire). He was a featured artist at the 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 Magnolia Baroque Festival in Winston-Salem NC and he has performed several times at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival with Chatham Baroque. Dr. O’Brien is Organist/Choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church in Kinston NC and he is the conductor of the Eastern Youth Orchestra. It is interesting to note that of all the wonderful musicians Dr. O’Brien has played with the most famous musician he can claim association with is a former EYO student—Grammy winning andPulitzer Prize winning composer Caroline Shaw. ®

Dr. O’Brien’s home, The Music House, is a Victorian home — one of the oldest in Greenville — which has been meticulously preserved and decorated in period style. On the National Register of Historic Places it was built in 1902 by Jesse Moye. The Music House serves as a unique venue in Eastern North Carolina for approximately forty varied concerts per year.

Dr. O’Brien owns three pianos, a fortepiano, a harpsichord, three pump organs and two pipe organs.

His Victorian Model “C” 8-foot “Small Concert Grand” Steinway was built in 1887. It was used as the performance instrument at Steinway hall in NYC until it was sold in 1904. The piano has undergone a complete restoration and now resides in his music room where it is used for practice and concerts.

Matti Raekallio Pianist Matti Raekallio was born 1954 in Helsinki. He studied in his home country as well as with Maria Curcio in London, with Dieter Weber at the Vienna Academy of Music, and at the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatory in Russia.

Raekallio made his American debut in 1981 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. In his concerts, he has performed cycles of the complete piano Sonatas of Beethoven, Scriabin, and Prokofiev, as well as altogether 62 piano concertos. He has recorded about 20 albums, including an acclaimed set of the complete Prokofiev Sonatas. He first taught for 30 years at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki while also temporarily working as professor in Kungliga Musikhögskolan in Stockholm and at Western Michigan University. In 2005, Raekallio became professor of the Hochschule für

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Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany. Two years later, in 2007, he was invited to join the faculty at Juilliard. He has held a part-time professorship at Bard College Conservatory and also holds a part-time professorship at Oberlin College Conservatory. His students include several first prize winners in major international competitions. He serves as an adjudicator and teaches master classes in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Raekallio’s doctorate (Dr. Mus.) from the Sibelius Academy focused of the history of piano fingering. Subsequently, Raekallio became a member of an international research team, investigating pianists’ fingering choices from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology.

Raekallio received the Leonie Sonning Foundation Grant (Denmark) in 1980, and was recipient of the five-year artist grant from the state of Finland three times. He served for three years (1998-2000) as a member of the Finnish Academy’s Council for Research of Culture and Society. In 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from the Estonian Academy of Music.

Keiko Sekino Pianist Keiko Sekino enjoys an active career as a solo recitalist and chamber musician in the United States and abroad, having performed at such venues as Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, BennettGordon Hall at Ravinia Park, and Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Spain. She has participated in festivals including Ravinia, Norfolk, and Yellow Barn in the United States and Kuhmo, Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander, La Gesse, and Pontino in Europe.

In 2006, Keiko Sekino was one of four pianists invited to participate in the Carnegie Hall Professional Workshop with Thomas Quasthoff. As a duo with soprano Awet Andemicael, she worked with baritone Thomas Quasthoff and pianist Justus Zeyen on Lieder by Schubert, Wolf, and Strauss in public masterclasses and was presented in a recital at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Her performances have also been featured on WFMT (Chicago)’s From Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute series and on WDAV (Davidson, North Carolina).

An accomplished chamber musician, Ms. Sekino has shared the stage with violinists Ana Chumachenko and MinJung Kang, and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Daedalus Quartet, and Enso Quartet. In 2016, her recording of Schumann’s complete works for cello and piano with cellist Emanuel Gruber was released from Delos label.

Keiko Sekino completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and holds additional degrees from Yale University in economics and music. Among her teachers are Peter Frankl and Robert McDonald. She has also worked closely with Elisso Virsaladze, Claude Frank, Boris Berman, and Margo Garrett. She serves as Associate Professor of Piano and Director of Applied Piano Studies at the East Carolina University School of Music.

Yukiko Sekino Praised for her “thrilling, inspirational performance” (Florida SunSentinel) and “elegance of line, leaping energy” (San Jose Mercury News), pianist Yukiko Sekino has forged a career that encompasses a wide range of interests. A soloist noted for her performances of Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin, she frequently collaborates in chamber music and performs some of the most challenging twentieth and twentyfirst century works.

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Sekino is the Gold Medalist of the 2006 International Russian Music Piano Competition and a 2010 winner of the S&R Foundation’s Washington Award. She made a debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age sixteen, and has since performed with the New World Symphony, Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, and Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra. Recent recitals include those at the Overtures Series in Washington, D.C., Dame Myra Hess Concerts in Chicago, Hitomi Memorial Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Northeast Asia International Piano Festival in China. She has given masterclasses in the United States and China.

Between 2005 and 2008, she was a resident pianist of the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. In 2013, she performed as a soloist in Elliott Carter’s Double Concerto for Piano and Harpsichordat Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in culmination of Weill Institute Professional Training Workshop with John Adams and David Robertson.

Sekino is a graduate of Harvard University and the Juilliard School, and holds a doctoral degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her teachers include Gilbert Kalish, Seymour Lipkin, Robert Levin, and Eda Shlyam. She previously taught at Colby College, and currently teaches piano at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the New England Conservatory Prep School.

Kwan Yi 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, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.

Yi has appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Brevard Festival Orchestra under the batons of Hans Graf, Julian Kuerti, and Mikhail Tartanikov. As a recitalist and masterclass instructor, he has completed residencies at the BGSU College of Musical Arts, MSU College of Music, and the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music. 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 Masters, and Peoples’ Symphony Concert Series. He has recorded for Hänssler and FHR labels with violinist Itamar Zorman.

A recipient of many honors and prizes, Yi’s awards include Mieczyslaw Munz Prize, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, and prizes at the Fourth Sendai International Piano Competition in Japan.

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 assistant professor of piano at the ECU School of Music and chairperson of the NFMC Young Artist Piano Award.

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Young Artist Program Final Concerts A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall Sunday, July 4 , 2019 – 11:00am, 2:00pm, and 3:30pm th

Will Aarons is a first-year student at Yale University who was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has studied piano with Mimi Solomon for five years and has attended summer festivals such as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Program and the Brevard Music Center. He especially enjoys playing chamber music and has participated in the Chapel Hill-based MYCO Chamber Players program for four years. As part of the program, he has received instruction from artists such as Peter Frankl, the Horszowski Trio, and the Verona String Quartet. With his piano trio, Will recently performed at the North Carolina Museum of Art as part of a lecture series sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Outside of music, he coaches high school debate and is interested in educational policy and equity. In his free time, he loves running (slowly), playing ping pong, reading philosophy, and brewing kombucha.

Jeremy Becker is a junior piano performance major from Montclair, New Jersey. From his early days of lessons in his hometown to his years at Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts, Mr. Becker has been engaged in music since he was eight years old. He has performed in numerous recitals under his first teacher, Stephen Wu, and has continued to do so under the teachings of Richard Masters and Hsiang Tu since enrolling at Virginia Tech. Notable performances include a dual recital with his twin brother, Andrew, accompanying a student soprano, Mary Haugh, for their senior recital, “Italia!”, an Italian themed recital with Dr. Masters’ studio, as well as masterclasses taught by Jonathan Biss and Justin Badgerow. He has also served as accompanying pianist for the Virginia Tech Women’s choir at the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech and as Ms. Haugh’s accompanist at the Luther Memorial Lutheran Church in Blacksburg, VA. In addition to piano, Mr. Becker enjoys playing guitar and singing. Recently, he has become obsessed with the game show “Jeopardy!” and refuses to miss a night.

Anna Bray, age 13, lives in Sterling, Virginia. She is currently a student of Professor Alexander Shtarkman of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

Anna has performed at many venues, most notably the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Merkin Hall in New York City, the Washington Arts Club, the Linehan Concert Hall in Baltimore, the Embassies of Russia, Germany, France, Hungary, and the Netherlands. She was featured at the Embassy of Austria at the Fulbright Austria reception. Anna made her orchestral debut with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and is looking forward to performing with the Long Bay Symphony in the fall 2021. Anna has had the honor to play in masterclasses for Gary Graffman, Wei-Yi Yang, Boris Slutsky, Emile Naoumoff, and The Emerson String Quartet. She is a prizewinner of local, regional, national, and international competitions. Anna feels incredibly honored to be a participant for the second time here at the East Carolina Piano Festival. Other than being passionate about the piano, Anna likes to read, write poetry, discuss neuroscience and food science, exercise, and try foods from different ethnic cuisines.

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Native North Carolinian, Indiria Everett is a 22 year old pianist, contemporary composer, arranger, and teacher. She is a recent graduate of University of North Carolina at Greensboro receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Piano Performance. Indiria currently teaches at Bull City Music School located in Durham, North Carolina and has recently collaborated with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s piano instructor, Dr. Annie Jeng to compose original pedagogical pieces, exercises and 8-hand arrangements to eventually be published. During her undergraduate career, Indiria has performed one of her original pieces, “Nothing’s Impromptu” for UNCG’s College of Music and Visual Arts famous annual College series. She has also attended Louisiana’s Summer Bayou Festival to compose for experienced musicians and composers. She has traveled to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to work with the undergraduate chapter of the Society of Composers Inc. to premier her original piece, “Carousel.” The Greensboro symphony has invited Indiria to orchestrate a short melody written by a 5 year old student titled “The Secret Unicorn”. She has also traveled to Williamston, NC to give a free admission piano and composition recital at NC Arts Council to promote the arts within the community. She aspires to get her Master’s Degree in piano and composition in hopes to become a world-class pianist/accompanist, commission-based composer and teacher. Indiria is has a 3 year old parakeet and an 8 year old yorkie. She enjoys hiking, cooking vegan cuisine and paranormal exploration.

Douglas Han is a rising 10th grader who attends John T. Hoggard High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. He has been studying piano for about 10 years, and has played recitals for the NCMTA and the UNCW Community Music Academy, as well as at Kenan Chapel at Landfall. In 2018 and 2020, he won the NCMTA regional and state competitions with Highest Honors, and played in the NCMTA regional and state Performance Festival Honors Recitals. In November of 2018, Douglas won the Richard R. Deas Junior Division Concerto Competition. As a result, he had the opportunity to perform the 1st movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in F major with the Wilmington Youth Symphony under the direction of Dr. Steve Errante. Douglas is currently studying with Dr. Elizabeth Loparits, piano faculty at UNCW. Douglas was also under the tutelage of Dr. John Salmon while attending Summer Music Camp at UNCG. Outside of school, Douglas participates in Science Olympiad, and plays ice hockey for the Wilmington Junior Seahawks travel team, earning awards for both extracurricular activities.

Samuel Han moved to the Carolinas at the age of nine. One day, he surprised his school’s music teacher when, without any formal music training, Samuel approached her after a performance to ask why she had changed the key to some of the usual church songs. After hearing a schoolmate perform Khachaturian’s Sonatina in C Major at a talent show, Samuel fell in love with classical piano. At the age of twelve, he chose homeschooling as a means to devote more time to his craft, initially under the tutelage of Margaret Norwood in Charlotte. Samuel is now fifteen and studies with Dr. Paul Nitsch, the Carolyn G. McMahon Professor of Music at Queens University of Charlotte. Despite his late start, Samuel has received recognition in several piano competitions, including first place at the 2021 Charlotte Piano Teachers Forum Concerto Auditions. Before the pandemic, he gave volunteer performances at nursing homes and other venues. When not at the piano, Samuel enjoys swimming and learning new languages. His dream is to be a concert pianist and instructor. Samuel’s profound experience upon discovering classical piano has made him passionate about bringing classical music to a world in need of something greater.

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Savannah Howard, 19, is from Birmingham, Alabama and has been studying piano for 15 years. She is currently a Woodruff Scholar at Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music and studies under Dr. Henry Kramer. Savannah has won top prizes in many competitions including the Future Stars International Piano Competition, the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, the Lois Pickard Concerto Competition, the Nashville Steinway Competition, the Gulf Coast Steinway Society Competition, as well as many others. She has also been heavily involved with her state’s MTNA competitions and has won top prizes in these competitions as well. Savannah made her orchestral debut with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra playing Grieg’s Piano Concerto and has since made an appearance with the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra. Savannah is also involved in and enjoys activities associated with collaborative piano and chamber music. She often plays with her school’s orchestra and wind ensemble, in addition to being involved with many chamber music ensembles. When Savannah is not playing piano, she enjoys spending time with her friends and hiking.

Dotson Hsing is studying at the University of Maryland, College Park pursuing a double degree in computer science and piano performance.

Starting his piano studies at age four, he has studied with Tzi-Ming Yang, Kwan Yi, Mikhail Volchok and is currently studying with Mayron Tsong.

Dotson frequently performs at competitions in the DMV metropolitan area, and has appeared as a soloist with his high school orchestra, local performance venues, and at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Dotson is a prizewinner of many competitions including the Bethesda Steinway Chopin Competition, the Baltimore International Piano Festival Competition, and The Maryland State Music Teachers Association Competitions. Outside of piano, Dotson enjoys playing violin, and working with computers.

Adrian King is a high school senior from Silverdale, Washington. He is a student of Dr. Peter Mack of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and Dr. Dainius Vaicekonis of Seattle Pacific University. Adrian will be attending Eastman School of Music this fall. Adrian has been a prize winner at many international competitions in both piano solo, concerto, and duet categories. He was the winner of the 2019 Seattle International Piano Competition. Adrian received 1st prize at the 2018 Aloha International Piano Competition. He was a National YoungArts winner in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He received a 1st prize in the 2021 Steinway/Avanti Future Stars Piano Competition and the 2019 Vienna International Music Competition. He was a prize winner in the 2021 Canada International Piano Competition. He was a finalist in the 2019 Kaufman International Youth Piano Competition in New York City. Adrian and his sister, Mya, received 2nd place in the 2016-17 National MTNA Competition in Baltimore, Senior Duet Division. Adrian won the concerto competition at the 2017 Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota and performed Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto with the NLMF orchestra under conductor, Gavriel Heine. He has also performed concerti with orchestras in both Washington and Hawaii.

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Jackson Klauke was born in Raleigh, NC and grew up in the neighboring town of Cary, NC. Jackson has been playing piano for 13 years, since the age of 6. He took group piano for 2 years and then transferred over to private lessons, where he studied with Judy Ruggero.

Jackson is now studying with Dr. Keiko Sekino at the East Carolina University School of Music. He competed in Young Artist Auditions, a piano competition in Raleigh, NC almost every year as a middle and high schooler and took home 2nd and 3rd place trophies as well as an honorable mention. Although primarily a pianist, Jackson plays a few other instruments including trumpet, hand bells at church, and drum set for a band formed at his high school that goes by the name of Blue Cold Mountain Experience.

Twelve-year-old Olivia Li from Cary, NC studies the piano with Florence Ko and has over the years garnered myriad awards and scholarships. She has placed first in various competitions including Princess category of the 2021 Young Artist Auditions, the 2021 Bullard competition, the 2020 Nakarai/Withers Piano Competition, the 2020 SYMF Southwestern Youth Music Festival Competition, the USA IMAE Music & Art Exchange International Piano Competition, the Frances Wolff Memorial Award of NCFMC State Competition hosted by the NC Federation Music Club, Young Artist I and Senior II of the Young Artist Auditions, Lady of State Royalty Competition, and Division II of the NC Steinway Piano Competition, an event where she had collected the top prize in Division I a year earlier as well. As a result of her first-place finishes in the American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music and in the Golden Classical Music Awards Competition, Olivia was twice invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2018. In her spare time, Olivia enjoys sharing her music with others and frequently performs at local charity events and retirement centers, both in person and online.

Chloe Lin is a seventh-grader at Cary Academy, NC. She started learning piano at age six and is a student of Florence Ko. Over the past few years, Chloe has won various awards in different competitions. In the 2019 North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs junior scholarship competition, she won first place in the state competition for the Maxine Taylor Fountain Award. In the Young Artist Auditions by Raleigh Piano Teachers Association, she placed first for Senior I in 2019 and Young Artist I in 2021. In the Cary Apex Piano Teachers Association Middle School Elizabeth Bullard Competition, Chloe placed second in 2021.

Chloe has taken several masterclasses outside of her regular piano lessons.

During the summer of 2019, she participated in the International Piano Festival of Philadelphia, where she took masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Gary Graffman and Susan Starr.

During the winter of 2020, she participated in the World Winter E-Masterclasses 2020 by Associazione Culturale Napolinova and took master class with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi. In her spare time, Chloe likes drawing and ballet. She founded Kid’s Creative Dance Workshop during the pandemic last summer to teach young kids dance virtually. The program has been run for three sessions, and the fourth is going to start this summer.

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Jenna Ng, an eighth-grade student at New Covenant Schools in Lynchburg, VA, has been studying piano since the age of five. She placed first in the Forest Lions Club Bland Competition in both 2020 and 2021, and, after advancing to the district level, won second and first place respectively. Jenna is also an active chamber musician and accompanist. She currently studies piano with Dr. Emily Yap Chua, Chair of the Music Department of Randolph College. Aside from playing the piano, Jenna is a competitive gymnast, an avid reader and writer, and a four-time Scripps National Spelling Bee participant. In school, she serves as secretary on the Middle School Student Council and plays the violin for her school’s orchestra.

Marco Passalacqua, 17 years old, is a rising senior at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has been studying piano since the age of 7.

He currently lives in Greenville, North Carolina, where he studies piano with Yee Wing Chan. He has received Highest Honors ratings at both district and state levels of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association Piano Performance Festival for the past two years. While the pandemic had shut down most performance opportunities, Marco continued to pursue his passion for music by performing in multiple virtual recitals and participating in the virtual piano repertoire program with pianist Benjamin Hochman through Bard College Conservatory of Music in the summer of 2020. Aside from piano, Marco also tutors biology and is active in his school’s Science Olympiad team.

Helen Steffan began playing piano at the age of six. Since 2015, she has been studying under Dr. Amanda Virelles at Fayetteville School of Music, where she was awarded for Excellence in Performance in 2019.

She won third prize in the preliminary round for Professional Group III in the 2020 Piano League Piano Star International Competition. She won first place in Division II and the award for outstanding musicianship and artistry in the 2020 Weymouth Young Musicians Festival, and was awarded first place in the senior division of the Fayetteville Piano Teachers Association competition in 2019 and 2021. She has enjoyed spending her summer making music at Summer Sonatina International Piano Camp in Vermont and Summerjam music camp in North Carolina. Her love for piano has spilled over into all of the performing arts and she also plays the guitar, sings, dances, and participates in theatre. She lives in Fayetteville, NC. Iris Wang was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and she has been learning piano for about 7 years with Ms. Olga Urick. Through the years, Iris has participated in competitions such as NCMTA, Young Artist, NCFMC Royalty, RPTA Scholarship, CAPTA Elizabeth Bullard Competition, and UNCSA Classical Sonata Competition. She has played in masterclasses with professors such as Kwan Yi, Keiko Sekino, Dmitri Shteinberg, Dmitri Vorobiev, Clara Yang, Adam Wibrowski, and John Salmon, and has participated in a two-day lecture by Edna Golandsky pertaining to technique and memorization. Aside from piano, Iris also enjoys reading, art, sewing, and singing in her school’s choir.

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Katie Wang lives in Brentwood, Tennessee, and she is an 8th grade middle school student. Katie started piano when she was nine years old in 2016.

Her first piano teacher was Dr. Olga Harris at Tennessee State University.

After that, Katie learned from Dr. Jerome Reed at Lipscomb University from 2017 to 2019. Beginning in the fall of 2019, Katie studied with Dr. Heather Conner in Blair Academy at Vanderbilt University. She has participated in and won various piano competitions, such as the Nashville Piano Achievement Competition, Young Artist Achievement Award at Nashville, TMTA state competition, UTC Piano Arts Competition. Last year, Katie was the alternate in MTNA Junior Piano at the state level in Tennessee. She received an honorable mention in the recent Frost International Young Artist Piano Competition. In her free time, Katie also plays the violin and enjoys hiking. She has four smart budgies and a talkative cockatiel, each of which are very playful and entertaining.

Leo Yicheng Yang is a 7th grader at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has been studying piano with Terry Correia for 5 years. He is on a piano performance team and has performed in many venues along the East Coast, including churches, senior homes, and elementary schools across Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas, as well as colleges such as the Spartanburg Community College and Washington and Lee University. Leo has placed in several competitions: Piano Guild (Superior, Top Talent 2017-2021); DeBose National Piano Competition, AL (2nd Place, Accelerated Intermediate Division, 2019); Durham Music Teacher Association Performance Festival (1st Place, Ages 12-13, 2020); Nakarai/Withers Piano Competition, NC (Lyrical Prize, Advanced Level, 2020); and W. Darr Wise Piano Competition, SC (2nd Place, Junior Division, 2021). Leo loves playing and performing piano, not only for the challenge and excitement of learning new pieces but also for the thrill and gratification of communicating to an audience through music. Through the years, he has gone from practicing with method books to playing sonatas, and from being shy in public to feeling exhilarated by performances. Besides piano, Leo also plays bass clarinet, and competes in mathematics and swimming.

From Bellevue, Washington, Min Joo Yi is currently pursuing her D.M.A. with Professor Yong-Hi Moon at Peabody Conservatory with a graduate assistantship in accompanying, where she also received her M.M and G.P.D. She holds an A.B. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a music performance certificate from Princeton University. She was recognized in the 2020 U.S.A USA National Chopin Piano Competition (semifinalist), 2020 American International Piano Competition (semifinalist), 2019 Yale Gordon Piano Competition (third prize), 2019 Concours International Piano Campus (bronze medal), 2017 Young Artists Concert Series of Sarasota National Competition (fourth prize), 2013 Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition (second prize), and the 2011 Schimmel USASU International Piano Competition (bronze medal). She is also the two-time recipient of the 2020 and 2021 Caswell and Constance Caplan Career Development Grant, 2018-19 Leo B. Swinderman Prize, 2017 & 2018 Clara Ascherfeld Award, 2017 & 2018 Loraine Bernstein Memorial Fund, 20142016 Princeton University Scheide Scholarship, 2013 CBC Spouses Heineken USA Performing Arts Scholarship, 2012 National YoungArts Foundation Merit Scholarship, 2010 Evelyn Lindblad Folland Endowment Fund Award, and 2010 Donna & Edwin Kornfeld Piano Scholarship.

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Andrea Yun was born in Freehold, New Jersey and grew up in Cary, North Carolina. She is currently a 7th grader at Martin Middle School.

At the age of 5, she started taking piano lessons at the Cary School of Music with Ms. Brittany Jones. When she turned 8, she transferred to Ms. Olga Urick’s Piano Studio and continues to study classical piano with her. Some of the competitions/festivals she has attended include NCMTA, YAA, Bullard, Scholarship, CAPTA Sonatina Competition, and Steinway Competition. Andrea has won numerous awards at NCMTA and YAA. Recently, she received 2nd place in category YA 1 for YAA. Outside of Piano, Andrea enjoys painting, singing, reading, writing, snowboarding and playing video games. In 2018, she held a solo art exhibition in Durham, NC. Her art has been displayed in places like Cary Ballet Conservatory and Cary Library. She has received many art awards from the North Carolina State Fair, Gifts of Gold, and 311 Art Gallery.

In the past, Andrea has studied other instruments like the Violin, Alto Sax, and guitar. At Martin Middle, she was in the Symphonic band and Honors Orchestra. Andrea wishes to continue her piano studies and grow as an artist.

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The East Carolina Piano Festival expresses its deepest appreciation to the donors listed on this page for their generous gifts in support of guest artist concerts and the Young Artist Program.

This list reflects gifts received as of June 15, 2021. We hope that you will consider making a tax-deductible donation. Contributions may be in the form of cash check or credit card. To make a contribution, please contact Keiko Sekino at (252) 328-5184 or sekinok@ecu.edu.

Festival Sponsor $25,000 Concert Sponsor $6,000 Drs. B. Christine Clark and D. Lynn Morris Guest Artist Sponsor $3,000 Dr. and Mrs. D.H. Taylor Young Artist Sponsor $1,000-$2,999 Mrs. Jane Rose Mr. Yifan Xie and Mrs. Juliana Jing Supporter $500-$999 Mrs. Elizabeth Archie

Contributor $250-$499 Mrs. Lynne Cox Mr. Dale Newton Music Academy South Friend Up to $249 Mrs. Frances Cain Mr. James Carter Cypress Landing Cary Apex Piano Teachers Association

East Carolina Piano Festival Administration Artistic Director........................................................................... Keiko Sekino Festival Coordinators................................ Evan Martschenko, Jenna Poppe Festival Staff................................Jackson Cowsert, Micah Lee, Sarah Locke

Special Thanks Gary Crawford Dr. John Holter ECU School of Music Jon and Bob Shaw