faculty Archives

Bradley Bolen

As a Steinway artist and the Texas Music Teachers Association’s choice as “Collegiate Teacher of the Year” for 2023, Dr. Bradley Bolen has enjoyed a diverse career as performer, studio teacher, clinician, and guest lecturer.

Dr. Bolen received a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from The University of Texas at Arlington in 1985 and Master of Music and DMA degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in 1989 and 2000. His principal teachers have included David Stokan and Nancy Burton Garrett, with additional training by such notable musicians as, Martin Canin, Menahem Pressler, Claude Frank, and Earl Wild. As a University of Texas Fellow, he designed and marketed a series of highly successful lecture courses for general concert audiences. These courses included: “Ten Ways to Listen,” “The Masterpiece and the Romantic Dream, ” “Beethoven to Picasso, ” and “Piano! Piano!”

An enthusiastic proponent of new music, Bolen gave the world premiere performance of renowned pianist Earl Wild’s “Sonata 2000” in 2003. Wild later wrote, “Bradley Bolen is one of the most astute musicians I have encountered in my long career. His pianistic abilities are of the highest level, and his perceptive powers as an interpreter are extraordinary.” Bolen’s recording collaborations include a release for music for horn and piano with hornist Jeffrey Powers, and a recital featuring the works of Brahms, Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, and Milhaud with duo pianist Vincent De Vries on the MSR Classics label, which received acclaim from notable publications such as The Atlantic Audio Society, Gramophone, and World Magazine.

Dr. Bolen is also active as faculty and adjudicator for festivals and events throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He has served as summer faculty for Rocky Ridge Music Center (Colorado), The Zywiec Summer Music Festival (Zywiec, Poland), the Austrian-American Mozart Academy (Salzburg, Austria), and American Voices (Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon), and most recently adjudicated the Lutoslawski International Piano Competition in Zambrow, Poland, and the Gloria Artis Chopin International Piano Competition in Vienna, Austria.

Currently, Bolen serves as Senior Lecturer at Baylor University, where he has an active studio of talented students, most recently including the 2022 national winner of the Music Teachers National Association’s Young Artist piano competition, as well as a finalist in the 2023 edition of the Weatherford International Piano Competition.

Additionally, Bolen has served as a reviewer for The American Record Guide, and has arranged and recorded music for film, including Touchstone Pictures’ “The War at Home” and Erik Borzi’s “Silent Paradise.”

Dr. Bolen is a travel enthusiast, especially to off-the-beaten path locations, and recently visited Ukraine and Nigeria where he conducted masterclasses for students and faculty. Currently, he is a book contributor for a Cambridge University Press publication on pedagogy in developing nations.

Alvin Zhu

Steinway Artist, Dr. Alvin Zhu has performed Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Gershwin, and Rachmaninoff concertos with orchestras around the world, appearing at Alice Tully Hall, Sydney Opera House, Beijing Concert Hall, Forbidden City Concert Hall, Tianjin Grand Theater, Palais du Congress, Stadio Olimpico, and the Amphitheater in Chautauqua. He has recorded for NPR’s “From the Top” as a featured Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, Pittsburgh’s WQED radio, Beijing Youth Radio, and Steinway’s SPIRIO player-piano catalog. Zhu holds top prizes in international and national competitions including the West Virginia, Patrick Price, and Pittsburgh Young Artist International Competitions. As a juror, he has been on the panel of the 2021 Lang Lang International Music Festival in Ningbo and Shenzhen, 2021 Franz Liszt Youth, 2021 Paderewski, 2021 Paris Vivace, 2020 Singapore, and the 2018 Steinway International Piano Competitions. Zhu currently holds the position of Artistic Director of the International Piano Professionals Association’s (IPPA) China Division and honorary positions as Overseas Artistic Consultant for both the Global Outstanding Chinese Artists Association (GOCAA) and the Suzhou Qiaolian Arts Ensemble.

He has given masterclasses at universities including Yale, Soochow, Texas State, Brigham Young, and Weber State; conservatories including Wuhan, Sichuan, Xinghai, Liu Shikun Arts School; and musical organizations including Steinway Beijing and Shanghai, Tianjin Grand Theater, and Lang Lang Music World in Hangzhou and Shenzhen. As an educator and scholar, Zhu is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and has researched the musical contributions of his paternal grandfather Gong Yi Zhu, a master piano pedagogue whose influence in China is still widely felt today. He has been a guest lecturer at the United States Embassy in Beijing, The Juilliard School in New York, Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and Soochow University in Taiwan.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Zhu produced a musical tribute entitled “Project Mompou” for healthcare and essential workers around the world. The video project features Zhu and five of his Tianjin Juilliard Pre-College students performing Spanish composer Federico Mompou’s poignant “Impresiones Íntimas.”

Zhu started piano and violin lessons at age four. Zhu holds BM, MM, and DMA degrees in piano performance from the Juilliard School in New York under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin.

Mengyang Pan

Born in China, British pianist Mengyang Pan studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing before relocating to the UK at age 14. She attended the Purcell School for Young Musicians on a full scholarship, studying under the tutorage of Tessa Nicolson, and subsequently completed her music education at the Royal College of Music, London, mentored by distinguished professors Gordon Fergus-Thompson and Prof. Vanessa Latarche.

Mengyang is the prize winner of prestigious competitions, including the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition, Bromsgrove International Young Musician’s Platform, Dudley International Piano Competition, Norah Sands Award, MBF Educational Award, Chappell Gold Medal, Birmingham International Piano Competition, Ettlingen International Piano Competition and many more.

An accomplished pianist, Mengyang has graced renowned UK stages, including the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, and St. John’s Smith Square. Her remarkable musical journey extends beyond borders, captivating audiences across continental Europe and her native China.

Appreciated for her delicate touch and tonal shades, critics described her playing as “[…] so fine that time seemed to stand still. Her shading, use of tone colour, and the most brilliantly clear and precise placing of the music in the highest register was a real joy to hear.”

Mengyang has worked with renowned conductors, such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, John Wilson, and Mikk Murdvee. Since 2016, Mengyang has collaborated regularly with conductor Michael Rose and the Bedford Symphony Orchestra, performing many piano concerti. Her latest performance of the Schumann Piano Concerto in February 2023 received the highest acclaim.

In addition to being an active performer, Mengyang is a dedicated educator and is currently a professor of piano at the Royal College of Music and a chamber music coach at the RCM Junior Department. Mengyang regularly serves as an adjudicator for international competitions and gives masterclasses and workshops at music festivals worldwide. Her passion for piano pedagogy has made her more involved with RCM educational modules. In addition, she is the director of pedagogy at the Cheltenham Ladies’ College – The Thinking Pianist summer music programme.

Byeol Kim

Steinway Artist Byeol Kim has earned a reputation for her “ingeniously colorful imagination with stage charisma,” remarking “hushed performances as an operatic singer on the piano” (Agata Nowakowska, Cleveland Classical).

She is a top prizewinner of Cleveland, Paderewski, Dallas, Louisiana, San Antonio, New Orleans, and Washington International Piano competitions. Her recent appearances with orchestras include the Cleveland Orchestra, Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic in Poland, Pohang Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and others. She has performed worldwide, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Teatro Civico in Italy, Flagey in Belgium, Petit Palau Hall in Spain, and Koerner Hall in Toronto. A sought-after chamber musician, Ms. Kim has collaborated with Cho–LiangLin, Jian Wang, Yura Lee, The Fifth House Ensemble, Escher String Quartet, and The Rolston String Quartet.

Passionate about expanding the scope of classical music, she seeks to communicate with a larger audience in society. In her U.S. debut, she performed female American composer, Amy Beach’s, piano concerto with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and was acclaimed to “impress with energy and freshness” (The Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy). Since then, she has been advocating diversity and social issues through her programs, where her creative artistry not only shines through her performances, but is also reflected through her projects; recording her insightful repertoire “the mid-length fantasies and literature,” conducting Mozart Piano Concertos from the piano, and also visual art projects. Her artistic vision is recognized as a leader of the new generation, winning the Creative Digital Challenge Award by The Music Academy of the West in 2020.

Dr. Kim received her Artist Diploma as the first candidate ever to be accepted by Jon Kimura Parker at Rice University and holds a Doctorate degree from Northwestern University. She visits colleges and music festivals as a guest artist, including The University of Toronto and The Amalfi Coast Music & Art Festival. In 2023 Spring, she teaches at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Byeol Kim is a Steinway Artist.

Jasmin Arakawa

Hailed by Gramophone for her ‘characterful sparkle’, Jasmin Arakawa has performed widely in North America, Central and South America, Europe, China and Japan. A prizewinner of the Jean Françaix International Music Competition, she has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau in Paris and Victoria Hall in Geneva, as well as in broadcasts of the ABC Australia, BBC and Radio France. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Philips Symfonie Orkest in Amsterdam, Orquestra Sinfonica de Piracicaba in Brazil, and numerous orchestras in the United States and her native Japan. Arakawa released her debut solo album Klavierabend on MSR Classics to critical acclaim, praised by American Record Guide for her ‘rich lyricism’ and ‘supreme clarity’.

Arakawa has collaborated with notable artists including cellists Zuill Bailey, Colin Carr and Gary Hoffman, flutists Jean Ferrandis, Marina Piccinini, and Carol Wincenc, clarinetist James Campbell, and the Penderecki String Quartet. In addition, she has served as Collaborative Pianist in Residence at the Banff Centre in Canada for three seasons.

Jasmin Arakawa is a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts. She holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Emile Naoumoff, the last protégé of Nadia Boulanger. Arakawa is Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at the University of Florida and Director of the UF International Piano Festival. [www.jasminarakawa.com]

Shiyu Wang

Pianist Shiyu Wang has given solo recitals and performances in the United States, China, Japan, and Europe. She has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Changsha Symphony Orchestra, and University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra. Shiyu won First Prize in PianoTexas Young Artist Concerto Competition, Connecticut Bach Festival and Competition, University of Rochester Concerto Competition, and “IMKA” Internet Music Competition, Second Prize in Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Concerto Competition, as well as Silver Medal in the Manhattan International Music Competition.

Shiyu is currently a Doctor of Music piano candidate under the tutelage of Professor Arnaldo Cohen at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Her previous teachers include Alexander Shtarkman at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and Enrico Elisi and Vincent Lenti at Eastman School of Music. She has also performed in master classes taught by Yoheved Kaplinsky, Leon Fleisher, Fou Ts’ong, Dan Zhaoyi, and John Perry. Shiyu joined the Indiana University East music faculty in August 2022.

Shiyu’s interest goes beyond piano performance. She holds a double-major degree in music and business and certificate of a one-year program in Renaissance art history from University of Rochester. She published her first book Inside the Kaleidoscope on Amazon in 2020 and an article on Chopin’s E Minor Prelude in Music Space magazine in 2013.

Kyunghoon Kim

Pianist Kyunghoon Kim is Visiting Lecturer in Chamber and Collaborative Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

A native of South Korea, Dr. Kim made his debut at the age of 12 with Solideo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been featured as a piano soloist with numerous orchestras in South Korea, Vietnam, and the United States, including two appearances with the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra as a concerto competition winner. His performance of Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Maestro Arthur Fagen was praised as being “not only bombastic, but intensely musical, rich in nuances, introspective, lyrical” (Herald Times). His solo performing career involves prizes and awards from the Chautauqua Solo Piano Competition, Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition, Ben L. Gomez Piano Competition, NSAL (National Society of Arts and Letters) Instrumental Competition, Hanoi International Piano Competition, Haneol Music Competition, and Korea Piano Society Competition.

Kim is a sought-after collaborator, having experience with repertoire ranging from major violin duos and art songs to a variety of orchestral reductions. His collaborative activities also extend to ensemble performances, including piano trios and orchestral pieces. During his studies at Indiana University, he was selected as an orchestral pianist by violin professor Jorja Fleezanis to be part of the IU Chamber Orchestra’s concert tour to South Korea in 2015.

As an active teacher and scholar, Kim has participated in multiple MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) events, such as the Collegiate Chapters Symposium, where he presented his doctoral dissertation, “Strategies to deal with the challenges of the piano solo recital: Interviews with piano faculty members and university piano majors,” and his research on “Vertical and Horizontal Listening through Basso Continuo,” utilizing his specialties in Early Music. Recently he joined “Tunaweza Kimuziki (Through Music All is Possible),” a project that connects music educators in the US and students in Kenya, led by IU professor Kimberly Carballo.

Kim’s early education in music composition in his teenage years led him to his current activities as an arranger of classical, jazz, and pop songs for solo piano and four-hands piano settings. These arrangements are performed by him and his wife, pianist Elizabeth Yao, and uploaded to his YouTube channel. More than 2000 copies of his music have been sold on Musicnotes through his official partnership with them as a Signature Artist.

Kim earned his Doctor of Music in Piano Performance with double minors in Music Theory and Early Music (Harpsichord) at Indiana University, as a protégé of Professor Arnaldo Cohen, with whom he also completed his Master of Music degree. His studies in early keyboard were with renowned harpsichordist and fortepianist Elisabeth Wright. Kim earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Seoul National University, where he studied with Professor Hyoung-Joon Chang, and graduated as valedictorian of his class.

Steven Spooner

Steven Spooner is Professor of Piano at the Peabody Institute. His compelling performances have been hailed worldwide. “Such breadth and variety of difficult pieces made me wonder at first if this (recording) was a hoax,” noted one critic. “But, no….Steven Spooner is the real deal, a pianist of apparently limitless raw technique that’s almost note perfect.” (American Record Guide.) He has released more than 40 recordings, including a project of 16 CDs honoring his pianistic heroes called Dedications. At times he daringly reinvents the solo recital, allowing audiences to vote on the spot for one of five programs he has prepared. A major prize winner at 7 international competitions, he has studied at the Paris Conservatoire, Moscow and Tbilisi Conservatories, and Indiana University.

Spooner has served on the faculty of some of the most prestigious summer festivals, and is increasingly in demand for his masterclasses across the globe. He is Artistic Director of the Chicago International Competition and Festival. A dedicated and caring teacher of students from around the world, he has formed winners of multiple prizes at important competitions. Steven Spooner is a Steinway Artist. www.stevenspooner.com.

Arthur Greene

Arthur Greene was born in New York City and received degrees from Yale, Juilliard, and Stony Brook. He studied with Martin Canin. Until recent events, he has spent summers with his extended family in Ukraine.
Mr. Greene treasures the inheritance of our rich piano repertoire, which he considers among humanity’s greatest achievements, and he is grateful for the opportunity to bring it to life and to share it with as many people as possible.

Mr. Greene was top prize winner in major international competitions. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Utah, and National Symphonies, the Ukraine National Symphony, the Czech National Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, and many others. He has played recitals in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Moscow Rachmaninov Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Lisbon Sao Paulo Opera House, Hong Kong City Hall and concert houses in Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul, and all the major cities in Japan. He was an Artistic Ambassador to Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia for the United States Information Agency. Mr. Greene recorded the complete Etudes of Alexander Scriabin for Supraphon, and piano works of the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko for Toccata Classics. He has made many recordings together with his wife, the violinist Solomia Soroka, for Naxos and Toccata. He has performed the 10 Sonata Cycle of Alexander Scriabin in many important international venues, including multi-media presentations with Symbolist artworks. He has performed mazurkas with the Janusz Prusinowski Kompania, a Polish folk ensemble. He has been a faculty member of many summer festivals, including the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, Perugia MusicFest and Vivace Music Foundation.

Reviews include: “Incomparable master-pianist” (Upper Austria Krone News, 2019); “A profound musician” – The Washington Post; “A masterful pianist” – The New York Times; “Intoxicating appeal” – Mainichi Daily News, Japan; “A romantic splendor of sound-colors” – Ruhr Nachrichten; “Stellar Scriabinist” – American Record Guide.

Arthur Greene is a member of the piano faculty of the University of Michigan. There he has won the Harold Haugh Award for Excellence in Studio Teaching. He and his students presented a recital series of the complete solo works of Chopin in nine concerts. He is a frequent judge of piano competitions. His current and former students include prizewinners in international competitions, and his former students hold important teaching positions throughout the United States.

Michelle Cann

“A compelling, sparkling virtuoso” (Boston Music Intelligencer), 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 Florida Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, and the New Jersey Symphony 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, a debut with The Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival, 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. 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.

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