2019 CONTESTANTS

Jeanne Amièle

CANADA

Canadian pianist Jeanne Amièle has distinguished herself at several national competitions in recent years.

In 2015, she was awarded the Grand Prize at the Canadian Music Competition and 3rd Prize at the OSM Manulife Competition. In 2016, she won 1st Prize in the Shean Piano Competition and 2nd Prize in the Stepping Stone Canadian Music Competition. She recently was awarded 2nd Prize Pierre Mantha and the John Newmark Prize in the Prix d’Europe Competition.

Jeanne has also been invited to play as a soloist with various Canadian orchestras, including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Prior, the Montreal I Musici Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jean- Marie Zeitouni, the Apassionata Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Myssyk, and the Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jacques Lacombe. She is regularly featured in solo recitals and chamber music concerts, notably with pianist Simon Larivière with whom she forms the Amièle-Larivière Duo. In 2017, she participated in the recording of Sonatas & Nocturnes—19th-Century Gems for Bassoon and Piano under the label MSR Classics in collaboration with Michel Bettez, first bassoonist of the Orchestre Métropolitain. The recording was praised by the critics, and the prestigious magazine Gramophone wrote that the pianist played “with full-blooded richness and poetry.” Jeanne Amièle is a Doctor of Music. She was trained with pianist and professor Jean Saulnier at the University of Montreal, where she received a scholarship from the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Graduate Scholarships Program for her doctorate studies. She also studied at the Haute École de Musique of Geneva, Switzerland with professor Dominique Weber while doing an international exchange program. �

HwaYoung An

KOREA

Pianist HwaYoung An was born in Seoul, South Korea, and began her piano studies at the age of four.

In summer 2018, she had a solo recital at Ehrbar-Saal, in Vienna, Austria, as a Grand Prix winner at the 9th International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition in Vienna, Austria, and won Second Prize and the Audience Prize at the San Jose International Piano Competition in 2017. Also, she won Second Prize and the Audience Favorite Prize at the Seattle International Piano Competition in the same year. In Boston in 2016, she performed Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the soloist competition, and this was followed by receiving First Prize from the Boston University Richmond Piano Competition. In 2014, she gave a solo debut recital in Boston as a winner of the Kumho Foundation Young Artist Series Audition. In 2013, she was a finalist of the 32nd Delia Steinberg International Piano Competition in Madrid, Spain. In 2015, she was invited to participate in “The Pianofest in the Hamptons” in East Hampton, New York, and performed her solos in various venues around the Hamptons area. Besides solo playing, as a dedicated chamber musician, she formed a piano quartet named “Quartet Klang,” while in college in Korea, and gave recitals in Kumho Art Hall and varied halls at Seoul National University. To further her chamber playing, she has attended Kneisel Hall Chamber

Music Festival and the Sarasota Music Festival, where she was selected by faculty members to perform with her ensemble at the Sarasota Opera House. Recently in summer 2019, she was a staff pianist for tuba/euphonium and trombone workshops at Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Previously, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University, then moved to the United States to continue her music studies. She got her Master of Music degree with full scholarship and stipend from Yale University School of Music and her Artist Diploma from the Colburn School with full scholarship as well. Her previous teachers are Peter Frankl, Ory Shihor, and Kwi-Hyun Kim. In May 2019, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree as a full scholarship recipient at Boston University under Prof. Pavel Nersessian, and also served as a teaching assistant. �

Sergey Belyavsky

RUSSIA

Sergey Belyavsky finished Central Music School in Moscow State Conservatory in 2011, and in 2016 finished Moscow State P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

He is currently studying in Tel-Aviv at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music. He has won many competition prizes such as First Prize in the 7th International Competition Dedication to F. Liszt in Moscow, 2010 and the Liszt Ferenc International Piano Competition in Budapest, Hungary, 2011 and Grand Prize and the overall winner of the “eMuse” Online Music Competition, 2015 (Athens, Greece). He was holder of a fellowship of the Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation from 2010-2011. He gave a solo performance at Carnegie Hall, New York, in 2011, Cortot Hall Paris in 2014, and in other great European concert halls. He has performed with many international orchestras such as Musica Viva (A. Rudin), the Russian National Orchestra (A. Sladkovsky), the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra (Chief Conductor Pavel Kogan), Szeged Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), Budapest Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio, Kazakhstan State Symphonic Orchestra, and many others. He has toured considerably in a number of countries such as Israel, the USA, Germany, Spain, Italy, San Marino, France, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, South Korea, Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Greece, Morocco, and Australia. He made his first solo CD in 2008 and later a CD dedicated to the 200-year anniversary of Franz Liszt in 2011. In 2013, he recorded a CD of 24 études of Chopin. �

Young Sun Choi

KOREA

Young Sun Choi is a 26-year-old pianist from South Korea.

A piano student from age six, Choi graduated from Yewon Arts School then continued her musical studies at Seoul Arts High School under the tutelage of Jung Won Moon, an Indiana University Jacobs School of Music alumna. Choi earned a national scholarship for the outstanding artists from the Korean government and graduated summa cum laude from Seoul National University with a degree in piano and musicology. She studied piano with Aviram Reichert and musicology with Hee Suk Oh. She has won top prizes in numerous competitions, including the Lyon International Piano Competition, Ann & Charles Eisemann International Competition, Mladi Virtuozi International Competition, Indiana Matinee Musicale Collegiate Scholarship Competition, the National Society of Arts and Letters Competition, Korea-Asia Piano Open Competition, and Dong-A Music Competition. She has given solo recitals in Seoul, Korea, at such venues as Kumho Art Hall, Youngsan Art Hall, Samick Art Hall, and Youngsan Yangjae Hall. Choi has performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Kazan Chamber Orchestra “La Primavera” in France, Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Prime Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea, and Weber’s Konzertstück with the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra in the USA. As a chamber musician, she participated in a piano trio recital in the Yamaha Artist Services Seoul. Choi is currently pursuing a Master’s degree with Arnaldo Cohen at the Jacobs School, Indiana University, where she holds a full scholarship and serves as associate instructor in piano. �

Willem Petrus De Beer

SOUTH AFRICA

Willem de Beer originally hails from Bethlehem, South Africa.

He has been the winner of most of the music competitions South Africa has to offer. He most recently won the 6th UNISA National Piano Competition in July 2019. This competition is widely regarded to be South Africa’s premiere music competition. Willem has performed with all of South Africa’s professional orchestras and has performed at most of South Africa’s most notable concert series and classical music festivals. He completed his BMus degree (cum laude) under the guidance of Prof. Joseph Stanford and his Master’s degree (cum laude) with Dr. Bryan Wallick at the University of Pretoria. Currently, Willem is studying toward a second Master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a student of Prof. Anton Nel. He is married to Renée de Beer. �

Baron Fenwick

UNITED STATES

Baron Fenwick was recently awarded the silver medal in the 2019 Sendai International Music Competition.

At 25 years old, he regularly performs with orchestras around the world – this season includes performances with the Flint Symphony, the South Shore Symphony, the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, and the Sendai Philharmonic, among others. He performed with the Mannes Orchestra after winning the 2018 Mannes Concerto Competition. After recently making his debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, his 2018/19 recital season brought him to cities from New York to Beijing and many others. Baron Fenwick received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Mannes College of Music as a student of Vladimir Feltsman and Pavlina Dokovska. Originally from Boone, North Carolina, he now lives in New York City. �

Federico Gad Crema

ITALY

Born in Milan in 1999, Federico Gad Crema started his piano studies at the age of nine.

He graduated in 2016 from the G. Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan with the highest score and distinctions, 110 cum laude. Mr. Crema continued his studies at the prestigious Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, and he is now working toward a Master’s degree at the Conservatory of Music in Milan. He is the winner of numerous prestigious national and international piano competitions in Italy, France, Germany, Greece, and the USA, and he's recently been awarded First Prize and special prize at the prestigious “CIAD International Piano Competition 2018” and Third Prize and special prize at the “Casagrande International Piano Competition 2019.” He performed at the world-famous Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York, and he also performed important solo recitals in Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, and the USA. As a soloist, he performed with the Philarmonic Orchestra of Bacau, the Symphonic Orchestra of Cannes, the “UNIMI” Orchestra of Milan, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, the Orchestra dell'Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, the Neojiba Orchestra, and the Chapelle Musicale Orchestra of Tournai, among many others. In 2017, he started an important collaboration with the piano star Jean-Ives Thibaudet performing at the Wallis Annenberg Center of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and in 2018 he made his solo debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488. �

Nejc Kamplet

SLOVENIA

Nejc Kamplet, born in 1996, comes from a musical family and has been studying piano since the age of five.

He currently studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, with Prof. Zuzana Niederdorfer, and earlier he studied with Prof. Saša Gerželj Donaldson at the Maribor Conservatory of Music. Recent piano competition awards include: First Prize and scholarship in the “Hildegard Maschmann Stiftung” Piano Competition in Vienna, Austria; Third Prize solo and Second Prize in the ensemble round in the 9th New York International Piano Competition, USA; First Prize in the “Martha Debelli Scholarship” Piano Competition in Graz, Austria; First Prize in the 4th Euregio International Piano Competition in Geilenkirchen, Germany; Second Prize in the 15th Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Ettlingen, Germany; First and EMCY Prize in the 6th International “Young Academy Award” in Rome, Italy; two First and Special Prizes in the 2nd and 3rd International Piano Competitions “Forum per tasti” in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia; First and Special Prize in the “Jurica Murai” International Piano Competition in Varaždin, Croatia; and four gold plaquettes in the “Temsig” Slovenian National Piano Competition.

Since a very young age, Nejc has regularly performed at music festivals such as Festival Ljubljana, Festival Lent, Festival Maribor, Carpe Artem, Night of Slovenian Composers, Arsonore, Les Nuits Pianistiques in Slovenia, and abroad. He has performed as a soloist with the following orchestras:

SNG Maribor Symphony, Festine Symphony, Ljubljana Chamber Philharmonic, Banska- Bystrica State Opera, Slovak Sinfonietta, and the Wuhan Philharmonic.

He has collaborated with conductors Jin Hyoun Baek, Pawel Przytocki, Jiri Rozen, Taejung Lee, Benjamin Pionnier, Živa Ploj Peršuh, and Slavko Magdič. Nejc has performed numerous concerts throughout Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Germany, France, China, Croatia, Slovakia, Estonia, and Lithuania and attended masterclasses with many world-renowned pianists such as Jacques Rouvier, Arie Vardi, Daejin Kim, Mikhail Voskresensky, Aleksandar Madžar, Ian Hobson, Grigory Gruzman, Aquilles D. Vigne, Arbo Valdma, and Sofya Gulyak. He also made live recordings for Slovenian National Television, which were broadcast multiple times. Nejc was also a scholarship recipient from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture and City of Graz, Austria, for his outstanding cultural achievements. �

Simon Karakulidi

RUSSIA

Born in 1997 in Novorossiysk, Russia, Simon Karakulidi began his studies with Prof. Mira Marchenko at Central Musical School in Moscow in 2013.

Simon is a prizewinner of the First Vladimir Krainev Piano Competition in Moscow (Second Prize and two special awards), and “Astana Piano Passion” Piano Competition (First Prize). Simon has participated in masterclasses with world-acclaimed musicians such as Leon Fleisher, Arie Vardi, William Grant Nabore, and Pavel Nercessian.

In June 2018, Simon was awarded the Enlight Prize at the Art of Piano Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2019, Simon was awarded First Prize at the Ann & Charles Eisemann International Young Artists Competition and the Grand Prize of the Naftzger Competition. In the summer of 2019, Simon was a finalist in the International Keyboard Institute & Festival Competition in New York City. Since August 2016, Simon has been studying with Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University under full scholarship. �

Connie Kim-Sheng

UNITED STATES

Born in La Crescenta, California, to musical parents, Connie Kim-Sheng began her piano studies with her mother at three years old.

She then studied with John Perry, Hung- Kuan Chen, and Meng-Chieh Liu at the Glenn Gould School and New England Conservatory, respectively. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music under the guidance of Jeffrey Kahane.

Her awards include top prizes in the Los Angeles Liszt International Competition, the Bronslaw Kaper Awards held by the LA Philharmonic, the Virginia Waring International Competition, the Knigge Music Competition, and the New Orleans International Piano Competition, as well as a finalist and special prizewinner at the Eastman Young Artists International Competition.

As a winner of the annual concerto competition at the Glenn Gould School, she performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. Kim-Sheng has also performed with the Rio Hondo Symphony as a part of her First Prize in the Rio Hondo Concerto Competition, and with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra. She has also joined the Verde Valley Sinfonietta, the Cal State Northridge Orchestra, and the American Youth Symphony as a soloist.

Kim-Sheng was awarded the prestigious Davidson Fellows Scholarship, which was established to support graduating high school students in music or the sciences, and she also received generous scholarships from the Young Musicians Foundation. When she was 13, she was featured on NPR’s From the Top.

Kim-Sheng has had the opportunity to work with many preeminent musicians such as Gary Graffman, Anton Kuerti, Menahem Pressler, Leon Fleisher, Robert McDonald, Seymour Lipkin, Stephen Hough, Arie Vardi, Julian Martin, Pavel Nersessian, and Robert Levin. �

Edwin Kim

UNITED STATES

Award-winning pianist Edwin (Sungpil) Kim performs as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist across the US and in his native South Korea.

Praised by International Piano Magazine for performances infused with “magic in atmosphere, individuality and poise,” his repertoire encompasses timeless masterpieces of the piano literature along with innovative new compositions.

As a dedicated advocate of contemporary music, Mr. Kim founded Ensemble Evolve, whose mission is to pair the standard repertoire with contemporary works to bridge the stereotypical distance between the two communities. The group will present its first season in 2020 with a program showcasing compositions by a world-renowned composer, Kevin Puts, a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Recently, Edwin Kim won the first prize and the Best Polonaise Prize at the 3rd Australian International Chopin Piano Competition in Canberra, AU. In 2018, National Institute of Frederic Chopin invited him to give recitals at the Chopin’s birthplace, zelazowa wola. His upcoming concerts of 2019 include a chamber concert at Flushing Town Hall in November, followed by a concert tour in South Korea.

As a recitalist, he performs in prestigious halls as well as casual venues that support his mission to make classical music accessible to people everywhere. He has performed as part of Yamaha's Rising Artist Series, at the Sydney Opera House, the Seoul Arts Center, and Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. In 2015, he was heard by thousands in the New York metropolitan region performing an all-Chopin recital live on WWFM radio. For further records, please visit sungpilkim.com/biography.

Since 2015, Mr. Kim has been serving on the faculty alongside the principals and concertmasters of the major orchestras of Europe and North America at the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy in British Columbia, and joined the faculty for the Piano at Peabody (an amateur summer course) in 2016. �

Elizaveta Kliuchereva

RUSSIA

Elizaveta Kliuchereva began studying music at the age of six with Manana Kandelaki at the Central Music School, Moscow State P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

She graduated school with Professor Maxim Zheleznov and now she is a student of P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory class of Professor Alexander Strukov. She has also studied at the Academy Incontri col Maestro in Imola with Professor Boris Petrushansky and Hochschule fur Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Professor Arie Vardi.

Elizaveta has won many prizes at competitions, including First Prize at Scriabin International in Paris, 2010; Grand Prix and First Prize at VII Villuan Young Pianists Competition (Nizhny Novgorod, 2012); First Prize at VI North International Piano Competition in Newcastle, UK, 2013; Grand Prix at IV Artobolevskaya Young Pianists International Competition, Moscow 2012; Grand Prix at Villahermosa International Piano Competition, Mexico, 2015; Second Prize and Silver Medal at IX Tchaikovsky International Youth Competition, Novosibirsk, 2015; First Prize at “Concertino Praga” International Competition, 2016; Second Prize and Silver Medal at I Arthur Rubinstein International Youth Competition, Beijing, Pekin 2016; First Prize at Eurasian Music Games Piano Competition, Astana, KZ, 2017; Second Prize (First Prize was not awarded) at XX Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition, Italy, 2017; First Prize at Junior Chopin Piano Competition in Narva, Estonia, 2018; and First Prize at Lyon International Piano Competition, France, 2018.

Elizaveta has performed with many orchestras such as: the Ukrainian Kharkiv Philharmonic; the Central Music School at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory; the Hilton Head Symphony, South Carolina; the National Philharmonic of Russia; the State Academic Symphony “Evgeny Svetlanov” at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory; the St. Petersburg State Symphony; the Prague Radio Symphony; the Karaganda Symphony Orchestra; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Elizaveta was selected as a Junior Jury member at the 15th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, 2017, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

In 2019, Elizaveta received a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participated in the Intensive Music Weeks and activities offered by the Academy. �

Richard Octaviano Kogima

BRAZIL

Richard Octaviano Kogima is a Brazilian pianist, composer, and conductor, currently pursuing a Master’s degree in piano performance at the Zurich University of the Arts, in the class of Konstantin Scherbakov.

His performances have recently been defined as “memorable and revelatory” (Gregory Sullivan, Theater Jones), filled with “multifaceted nuance and transparent sound” (Badische Zeitung, Südkurier). Having graduated from high school as a valedictorian, Richard received his Bachelor’s in piano performance at Universidade de São Paulo. He then entered Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris where he obtained his “Diplome Superieur d’Execution,” funded by a full scholarship from “Fond Brésil.” His former teachers include Eduardo Monteiro, Guigla Katsarava, Maria José Carrasqueira, and his grandmother, Helgard Ostermayer Octaviano.

Richard has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Brazil, the United States, and Europe in venues that include Tonhalle Maag and Tonhalle Kleiner Saal (Zurich), Salle Cortot (Paris), University Aula (Oslo), Mirabell Schloss (Austria), Howard Performing Arts Center (USA), Theatro Castro Mendes (Campinas, Brasil), and Auditório Claudio Santoro (Brazil).

A laureate of several international competitions, Richard has been awarded First Prize at the 25th Concours

Internationale Flame (Paris), Landolt Competition Zürich, and the 5th Andrews International Music Competition (Michigan, USA); Second Prize at the Duttweiler-Hug Beethoven Competition (Zurich) and at the Florianopolis Latin-American Piano Competition (Brazil); and the “Press Award for Outstanding Musicianship” at the Olga Kern International Piano Competition (Albuquerque, USA) and an Audience Prize and “Best Performance of the Contemporary Work” prize at the Concours International Alain Marinaro (France). Among the music festivals and masterclasses Richard has participated in are the Emil Gilels Festival, Usedomer Musikfest, Germany; Festspillene i Bergen, Valdres Sommersymfoni, Norway; Mozarteum Sommerakademie, Austria; Chautauqua Institution Music Festival, USA; Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão, Brazil. He has worked in masterclasses and received musical insights from artist such as Maria João Pires, Leif Ove Andsnes, Herbert Blomstedt, Dimitri Bashkirov, Christian Zacharias, Jiri Hlinka, Robert Levin, and Jean-Louis Steuerman.

Richard has a parallel career as a conductor, having received training from Marc Kissoczy, Aylton Escobar, and Gil Jardim. In 2013, he was appointed principal conductor of the Carlos Gomes Choir, following conductor Turibio de Burgo. He also worked as the concertmaster and assistant conductor of the UNASP Youth Orchestra. Richard also dedicates time to composing for various musical forces, with emphasis in sacred music. �

Aaron Kurz

UNITED STATES

Aaron Kurz is a concert pianist who is currently working toward an Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music.

He has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, in venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Salle Cortot in Paris, and the Palace of Peace and Harmony in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Aaron has soloed with numerous orchestras, including the Fort Worth Symphony, Shanxi Shuozilun Symphony (China), New Millennium Orchestra, Central Texas Philharmonic, Round Rock Symphony, Dakota Valley Symphony, Lewisville Lake Symphony, University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra, and Meadows Symphony Orchestra.

Aaron has been a prizewinner in many national and international competitions, including the New York International Piano Competition (IPC), Los Angeles IPC, Virginia Waring IPC, Viardo IPC, and Emilio del Rosario IPC. Recently, Aaron traveled to China, where he gave multiple performances alongside a masterclass and lecture at the Xi’an Conservatory.

In addition to concertizing, Aaron also wants to help spread classical music to those who would benefit most from it. He has spent two years working with the Van Cliburn Foundation, which teaches classical music principles to children in underprivileged school districts via interactive seminars. These concerts aim to both spread the joy of classical music and inspire the next generation of musicians.

Aaron holds a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Alexander Kobrin and Logan Skelton, respectively. Before college, he studied with Carol Leone of Southern Methodist University. In his spare time, Aaron also enjoys both playing and watching sports. �

Hyuk Lee

KOREA

Hyuk Lee was born in Seoul in 2000 and began his career in music when he was just three years old, studying violin and piano.

From a very young age, he had great enthusiasm for listening to music and learning musical instruments and to better support his musical studies, he decided to do homeschooling, with combined studies at the Sunhwa Pre-College Music Academy. After taking the Grand Prize at the 2009 Little Mozart Competition, he had the privilege of being invited by the Mirabell Chamber Orchestra to a concert in Salzburg, Austria. In addition, he was selected as a music scholarship recipient of the Doosan Yonkang Foundation, which contributes to the development of Korean culture and arts.

In 2012, when he was 12 years old, he had the honor of being the youngest person in competition history to win the Grand Prize at the 8th Moscow International F. Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, as well as winning the Best Concerto Award prize for his performance with orchestra.

With the guidance of Prof. Arnold Stefan, a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, he began to take the challenge of studying piano more and more seriously. In 2014, he moved to Moscow, Russia, and continued to study at the Moscow Central Music School.

In 2016, at the age of 16, he participated in his first senior competition, the 10th Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He was the youngest person in

history to win this competition. In 2018, he received Third Prize at the 10th Hamamatsu Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan.

Hyuk Lee now studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with professor Vladimir Ovchinnikov, and he continues his concert activity at various concert halls and festivals, such as Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, the 72nd Duszniki Chopin Piano Festival, Bolshoi Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Czech Smetana Hall, Rudolfinum (Dvořák Hall), National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Paris Salle Cortot, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo Kioi Hall, and Yamaha Ginza Hall, among others.

Also an active chamber musician, he received First Prize at the 8th Moscow Beethoven Festival in the group “Chamber Ensemble,” in Moscow, Russia. �

Narae Lee

KOREA

Korean-born pianist Narae Lee began to play the piano at the age of seven and made her official debut at the Rising Young Stars Concert a year later.

She has won numerous prizes and participated in competitions and festivals, both nationally and internationally, including the Wideman Piano Competition, Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Delta Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition, Coeur d’Alene Symphony Young Artists Competition, the World Piano Competition, Art of the Piano, Chautauqua Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival as an assistant of Piano and Collaborative Piano faculties, New Paltz Piano Summer, Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, Samick- Seiler Piano Competition, the Mayor of Seoul City Prize, the Grand Prix Round Prize, and the 21st-Century Artist Special Prize at Osaka International Piano Competition in Japan. She has recently won the top prize at the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington DC.

As a winner of the Seoul Philharmonic Concerto Competition, Ms. Lee made her orchestral debut with Seoul Philharmonic during the 18th Annual Concert at the National Theater of Korea in 2009. Also, she has performed with the CCM Philharmonia Orchestra and the CCM Concert Orchestra as a winner of the CCM Piano Concerto Competition (Piano Concerto for the Left Hand by Ravel). As a soloist, she has appeared at the Piano Gala Concert at the Eastern Music Festival with the piano

faculty, the New Artists Series Recital, and the Samick-Seiler New Artists Concert at Youngsan Art Hall. She has performed international masterclasses given by Alexander Gavrylyuk, Andreas Haeflinger, Jerome Lowenthal, Robert McDonald, Kevin Kenner, Jerome Rose, Alexander Toradze, and Blanca Uribe.

Ms. Lee studied at Sunhwa Arts High School with Jeeyoung Shin and Yonsei University with Misha Kim in South Korea. She has earned her Bachelor of Music degree as a Cum Laude studying under the tutelage of Awadagin Pratt from the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music. Ms. Lee was a recipient of the Honors Scholarship and William Black Award. After her Bachelor of Music degree, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland, to study further for her Master of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Boris Slutsky. Currently, she is pursuing her Doctoral of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Conservatory. �

Kirill Prokopov

RUSSIA

Kirill Prokopov is a young artist whose career has been rapidly developing in two directions—as an academic pianist and as a performer on historical keyboard instruments.

His repertoire includes music from four centuries: from the 17th century to the present.

A graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he studied from well-known Russian musicians Ekaterina Derzhavina, Yuri Polubelov (piano and chamber ensemble), and Olga Filippova (historical keyboard instruments). He also improved his performing skills with the outstanding European masters Christine Schornsheim, Czvi Meniker (Germany), Hamish Milne (UK), and Marianne Jacobs (Sweden).

Kirill Prokopov is the winner of international competitions, including “Music Without Limits” (Druskininkai, Lithuania, 2018, First Prize) and “Wanda Landowska International Harpsichord Competition” (Ruvo di Puglia, Italy, 2019, Grand Prix). He was the participant of the N. Roslavets and N. Gabo International Festival of Contemporary Art (Bryansk, Russia, 2018), the International Festival of Modern Music “Moscow Autumn” (Moscow, Russia, 2015), and the International Baroque Academy within the uri Bashmet International Music Festival (Yaroslavl, Russia, 2019).

Kirill Prokopov collaborates actively with famous singers, the soloists of leading Moscow theatres such as the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre, the Moscow State Opera, and Ballet Theatre for Young Audience named after Natalia Sats. He is also a guest artist of the German-Russian Institute of Culture in Dresden (Germany).

Kirill Prokopov was born in Lyudinovo, Kaluga region in 1992. He received his first piano lessons at the age of six at the Lyudinovo music school where he studied with Irena Klechinska-Sarnavskaya. He graduated from the Bryansk College of Music, where his teacher was Lyudmila Urusova. He is currently studying postgraduate courses at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Professor Olga Filippova. �

Cristian Sandrin

ROMANIA

Born in Bucharest, Romania, to a family of musicians, Cristian Sandrin started his musical training with Marina Dragomirescu and Cristian Dumitrescu at Colegiul National de Arte “Dinu Lipatti.”

He had his solo debut at the famous Romanian Atheneum Hall in 2006. He has successfully completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with First Class Honours for Advanced Diploma, Master in Music and Bachelor of Music. For his MMus final recital, he obtained a DipRAM institutional award for an outstanding performance. In the past year, he has held scholarships from the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, the Tillet Trust, Help Musicians UK, and the Harold Craxton Memorial Trust. He was also a Piano Fellow of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Martin Musical Scholarship Fund scheme.

Cristian Sandrin is a very active performer, having had his solo debut at the Wigmore Hall in September 2017. Currently a Countess of Munster Recital Scheme artist, Cristian is touring the UK, performing solo recitals and engagement with orchestras in London, Matlock, Carlisle, Sunderland, Whitley, Petersfield, Bournemouth, Leatherhead, Riverbarn House, and many others. Since 2014, Cristian has also been experimenting with conducting small ensembles from the keyboard, mostly Mozart’s Piano Concertos.

Other UK engagements included recitals at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Queen Elisabeth Hall, St. James Piccadilly, Brighton, Oxford, Chipping Campden, and Scotland. In the

past season, Cristian has been invited to hold solo recitals in festivals in the Netherlands and Germany. In Romania, Cristian Sandrin is a frequent guest artist of the Bacau National Philharmonic, Sibiu National Philharmonic, Ramnicu-Valcea National Philharmonic, and the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, performing under the baton of Ovidiu Balan, Mark Csikes, and Florin Totan. International engagements include performances at Salle Cortot in Paris, Marstall Platz in Berlin, Salla Manuel de Falla in Madrid, Palazzo Ricci in Montepulciano, “La Fenice” Theatre in Venice, “Bulgaria Hall” in Sophia, and the Polish National Philharmonic Hall during the 2015 International Fryderyk Chopin.

He is a laurate of many international and local competitions, such as First Prize of the Citta di Olleggio Piano Competition (2019), Third Prize of the Councours Musical de Versailles (2019), Second Prize of the Windsor International Piano Competition (2018), Third Prize of the Sheepdrove Piano Competition (2018), runner-up of the Automobile Club de France IPC (2011), a laureate of the Animato Competition in Paris (2012), and First Prize of the Yurii Boukoff International Piano Competition (2009). He has been a semifinalist of the Vendome Prize, being invited in the Verbier Festival in 2019. Cristian is a recent holder of the Harold Craxton Chamber Music prize at the Royal Academy of Music, being also a past recipient of the William Sterndale Bennett Prize. �

Tetiana Shafran

UKRAINE

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1989, Tetiana Shafran started playing piano at the age of three.

She graduated from the Lysenko Special Music School and the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine with A. Vasin (2012) and O. Yablonskaya Piano Academy with Prof. Oxana Yablonskaya (USA-Israel), and from 2015-2017, studied in Spain and Israel.

Tetiana is the prizewinner of approximately 18 international piano competitions. Among those prizes are: 1 award of Concours International de Piano France-Amériques (Paris, France, 2019); 3 award of VII Parnassos International Piano Competition (Monterey, Mexico, 2018); 3 award of 18th Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition (Valencia, Spain, 2013); 2 award of Concorso Pianistico Internazionale “Città di San Donà di Piave” (Italy, 2019); 2 award of International Piano Competition “Monopoli Prize” (Barletta, Italy, 2015); 1 award of Emil Gilels International Piano Competition (Odessa, Ukraine, 2015); 1 award of the Carl Filtsch International Piano Competition (Sibiu, Romania, 2016); 1 award of Antonio Napolitano International Piano Competition (Salerno, Italy, 2017).

She has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia, including the Grand Theatre (Shenzhen, China), Lindeman Hall (Oslo, Norway), Llevellyn Hall (Canberra, Australia), Main Hall of Palau de la Musica (Valencia, Spain), Theatre Mohammed V (Rabat, Morocco), Sala Cecilia Meireles (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Felicja Blumental Music Center (Tel Aviv, Israel), Congress Hall (Gabala, Azerbaijan), and many others. She performed with many orchestras and conductors, such as maestros D. Yablonsky, H. Earle, F. Krager, G. Glinka, M. Dyadyura, M. Anamammedov, and many others.

She has also recorded for radio and TV productions for Italian, Israeli , Spanish, and Ukrainian broadcasts. �

Qilin Sun

CHINA

Hailed by the Irish Times as a brilliant performer with “unfettered enthusiasm,” pianist Qilin Sun develops herself as both a soloist and a collaborative musician.

She had her debut with an orchestra at age 11, playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, she has been performing in various venues throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. She has also received a number of awards and accolades, including the First Prize in the Xing Hai Cup National Youth Piano Competition in Beijing, Second Prize in the China Wen Hua Award National Piano Competition, and First Prize in the 5th Asian Piano Competition in Hong Kong.

Her recent concert highlights include the opening gala concert with the Chengdu Orchestra in the City Concert Hall in China, and recitals at Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, Royal Dublin Society of Ireland, Ruïnekerk in the Netherlands, Imperial Palace of Goslar in Germany, Grand Hall of Sichuan Conservatory of Music in China, Aspen Chapel in Colorado, Chateau of Fontainebleau in France, Studzinski Hall of Bowdoin College, Paul Hall, Morse Hall, and the Peter J. Sharp Theater of The Juilliard School, along with other various venues throughout New York City.

As an enthusiastic collaborative musician, Ms. Sun is currently a member of the Altezza Piano Trio. Having been promoted by The Juilliard School’s Honors Chamber Music Program, the trio made its recital debut at Alice Tully Hall and is quickly establishing itselfmas an exciting and promising ensemble in New York City. In addition, as a member of The New Juilliard Ensemble, Ms. Sun premiered several new works playing the piano and celesta in Alice Tully Hall.

Born in Sichuan, China, Ms. Sun started playing the piano at the age of three. After completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at The Juilliard School in 2018, Ms. Sun was accepted again by The Juilliard School for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, the most prestigious program the school offers. She is currently a C.V. Starr doctoral fellow under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio. �

Daniel Tselyakov

CANADA

Born into a musical family, Daniel Tselyakov began his piano studies at the age of five with his father, wellknown Canadian pianist Alexander Tselyakov, before subsequently completing a Bachelor’s degree at the Oberlin Conservatory with Angela Cheng.

Daniel is currently pursuing his Doctorate degree and full-teaching assistantship at the University of Utah with Ning Lu.

His recent accomplishments include winning the Southwest Division of the MTNA Steinway Young Artist Piano Competition, the Audience Prize and Fourth Prize at the Livorno International Piano Competition in Italy, and the Best Contemporary Work Prize at the San Jose International Piano Competition. Daniel has also previously received a full scholarship to the Art of Piano and PianoTexas Academies and Pinchas Zukerman’s Young Artist International Program at the National Arts Center in Ottawa.

Rolando Valdes

MEXICO

Rolando Valdés is a Mexican pianist, born in 1990, who currently lives in Germany, holding a Master’s degree in piano performance and currently studying the Konzertexam (highest music degree in Germany) under the guidance of Grigory Gruzman and Balázs Szokolay at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar.

He has held an Excellence scholarship from the Swiss government and is also a participant of the Scholarship Yehudi Menuhin. He has performed concerts in Mexico, France, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the USA, and Japan.

He began his studies at a very young age and in 2001 enrolled in Escuela Superior de Música INBA in Mexico City, under the tutelage of Eduardo Arzate, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree of music in piano performance with high honors. In 2011, he continued his studies in Germany, where Balázs Szokolay took him as his student to pursue an Artist Diploma and later in 2014, a Master in Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar.

He acquired a Master’s degree in Performance at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich, Switzerland, where he studied with the world-famous pianist Konstantin Scherbakov, and he also studied Orchestral Conducting with Mark Kissoczy. In Mexico, he has performed more than 100 public concerts in more than 15 different cities, playing with the Fine Arts Chamber Orchestra, Yucatan Symphony Orchestra,

Eduardo Mata Orchestra, Coahuila Camerata, Oaxaca Symphony Orchestra, Nuevo Leon Symphony Orchestra, the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, and several university orchestras, sometimes conducting them from the piano.

In Germany, he played in more than 15 cities and had his debut as a soloist in the conducting competition Hans von Bülow, where he both played and conducted the prestigious Meininger Philharmonie Orchestra, playing later on as well with the Jenaer Philharmonie.

He has been a winner and finalist of the most recognized international competitions in Germany, France, and Mexico, both as a soloist and with chamber music ensembles such as Pianale klavierakademie, Concours International de Lyon, Merida International Piano Competition, Ricardo Castro National Competition 2012, and Parnassos National, among others.

He has attended several masterclasses and piano festivals in France, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Mexico, during which he has taken lessons with Alexander Gavrylyuk, Ferenc Rados, Aquiles delle Vigne, Friedemann Rieger, Joaquín Soriano, Uta Weyand, Peter Nagy, Akiko Ebi, Jacques Rouvier, Claudio Martinez, and Zoltán Kocsis, among others. He also contributes regularly in masterclasses in different Mexican universities, such as Escuela Superior de Musica, Universidad Veracruzana, and Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon.

He was recently a finalist in the Vigo City Piano Competition in its “Martha Argerich Edition,” with Martha Argerich as head of the jury; other jury members included Tamas Vasary and Nelson Freire. This year, he was also accepted to take part in the second triennial Olga Kern International Piano Competition in the USA. �

John Wilson

UNITED STATES

Having enjoyed a meteoric rise from his childhood days of learning Mozart sonatas by ear, American pianist John Wilson has established himself as an artist who is both refined in style, and also a “marvelous musical mad scientist” (Music Critics Association of North America).

With a repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary, John has performed extensively in North America in recital halls such as Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall (New York), New World Symphony Center (Miami), and Louis M. Davies Hall (San Francisco), where he recently made his solo debut under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony, playing solo works by Debussy. His playing was described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “having all the beauty and delicacy one would expect from Debussy.”

A sought-after collaborator for the world’s most prolific composers, Wilson has had the pleasure of being a part of numerous world premieres, performing on the U.S. and world premieres of solo piano works by Michael Tilson Thomas, duo works by Timo Andres and Judith Lang Zaimont, and ensemble works by John Adams, Steve Reich, Reinbert de Leeuw, HK Gruber, and Bernd Deutsch.

As a soloist, he has performed with the New World Symphony, Napa Valley Festival Symphony Orchestra, and both the New Amsterdam Symphony and OrchestraCamerata Notturna in New York

City. A top prize winner in international piano competitions, he most recently won First Prize in the 2019 International Respighi Competition, which resulted in an invitation to perform as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of New York; other prizes include first place in the American Prize Foundation 2019 Competition, and “Best Performance of an American Work” at the 2017 Liszt- Garrison International Piano Competition.

A devoted chamber musician and collaborator, he has appeared in chamber ensembles with musicians of the San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the San Diego Symphony. Wilson has performed in recital with violinist Joshua Bell, violinist Michael Barenboim, cellist Johannes Moser, violinist Anthony Marwood, and soprano Audra McDonald.

John has recorded for MSR Classics, and performances can be heard on Medici. tv and WQXR. His performance on the premiere recording for MSR Classics of Judith Lang was reviewed by Fanfare Magazine as “impeccable in every parameter.” Wilson’s debut solo CD will be recorded later this year. �

Mery Rui Xu

CHINA

Born in Beijing in 1996, Mery Rui Xu has dedicated her life to music from a young age, encouraged by her family, especially her dancer mother.

She began piano lessons at the age of four, entering the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music where she studied with Professor Zhao Pingguo.

At the age of 16 she moved to Europe. She entered the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” in Weimar in the class of Prof. Peter Waas. She is currently based in Lugano, Switzerland, where she’s working on a Master’s degree at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana.

Mery has won several prizes in many international piano competitions in her native country and abroad. Amongst them were first places at the Xiwang Piano Competition, the 14th Hongkong-Asia Piano Competition, The World Prize for Peace – US International Piano Competition, the 2nd Macau-Asia Piano Competition, and the 9th Concorso Internazionale Giovani Musicisti Premio Antonio Salieri. She also won the Second Prize at the 28th Roma International Piano Competition and the Third Prize at the 56th International Clara Schumann Piano Competition, the 4th International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition, the Primo Concorso Internazinale Luigi Valperga di Masino, and the International Competition for Piano and Orchestra Città di Cantù-Italy.

She enjoys performing both solo and chamber music programs, and she performed as soloist with the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra Mihail Jora and Orchestra of Conservatorio Svizzera Italiana. She has been invited to play concerts in China, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Her recital at LAC in Lugano was reported by RSI TV News.

Mery is an avid chamber musician and she regularly performs with singers and violinists.

She has attended masterclasses with Bernd Götzke, Jacob Leuschner, Anna Malikova, Homero Francesch, and Paolo Bordoni. �