Shiyu Wang

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

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

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

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

Michelle Cann

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.

Enrico Elisi

Enrico Elisi

Enrico Elisi regularly performs to acclaim throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Hailed for his “mastery of elegance, refinement, and fantasy” (La Nueva España), his interpretations reveal “remarkable sensitivity, imagination, and polish” (Baltimore Sun).

A laureate of the Porto International Competition (Portugal) and the Venice Competition (Italy), he has performed recitals in France, Germany, Portugal, Slovak Republic, and Spain. In Italy, he has appeared in historical settings (La Fenice Theatre, Venice; Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; Bibiena Theatre, Mantua; Pavarotti Opera House, Modena; Teatro Comunale and Sala Bossi, Bologna; Sala dei Giganti, Padua; Sant’Anna dei Lombardi Church, Naples, as well as the Amalfi Cathedral). In addition, he has given recitals in several countries in Asia, including South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Recent engagements include recitals at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the New York Public and Morgan libraries, the Italian Embassy and National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Centro Cultural de España, in Lima, Peru.

Enrico Elisi has made numerous appearances as a soloist with the Florence Symphony (Italy); Orchestra Classica de Porto (Portugal); Bay Atlantic Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic, Williamsport Symphony, Pennsylvania Centre, Penn State Philharmonic, Penn’s Woods, UNLV Chamber, and Johns Hopkins Symphony orchestras (USA). He also debuted as soloist/conductor with the Green Valley Festival Chamber Orchestra, and in 2019, he performed Beethoven Concerto No. 4 with the Jakarta Sinfonietta (Indonesia).

Among Mr. Elisi’s T.V. broadcasts are the Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (Brahms Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra Clássica do Porto) and WPSU (USA). Other live and recorded performances appeared on radio stations such as Montebeni Classica FM (Italy), WCLV Cleveland, UNC, KCNV Nevada Public Radio, and KGCS (USA). In addition, the German radio, Via Classica, programmed a two-hour broadcast of Elisi’s live recital and subsequent interview from Hamburg.

A Yellowbarn Festival Artist-in-Residence, Elisi performed a recital and engaged the community by disseminating his work on ornamentations and articulations in selected works by Bach. He subsequently recorded selected Partitas and Preludes (the release of which is forthcoming). Previous recordings include an album dedicated to Mozart and Two Images by Paul Chihara, featured on Albany Records.

An avid chamber musician, Elisi has performed at the Taos and Ravinia Festivals, collaborated with the New Orford String Quartet, and principal players from the Baltimore, Chicago, and American Symphony Orchestras. Among the numerous partnerships, he also performed with Federico Agostini (former leader of I Musici).

During Sciarrino’s residence at the University of Toronto New Music Festival (2017), Elisi performed music by Sciarrino, Fedele, and Berio; he also premiered chamber music by Chihara at Weill Hall and Pastorale Reveries (his latest piano work) in Canada. Other commissions and premieres by living composers of diverse nationalities are testaments to Elisi’s passion for contemporary music.

A frequent guest at leading music festivals, Elisi appears in such settings as Cincinnati “Art of the Piano,” Interlochen Center for the Arts, Texas State University festivals, and the Chautauqua Institution (USA); Valencia International Performance Academy and Festival (Spain); Todi Music Masters, Associazione Umbria classica, Amalfi Coast Festival (Italy); Ameri-China Foundation and Sichuan International Piano Festival (China).

A sought-after pedagogue, Enrico Elisi was a featured artist-teacher at the Florida and Oklahoma Music Teachers Association State Conferences and performed for the American Liszt Society Festivals at Northwestern University and the University of Georgia (during the Lisztian bicentennial anniversary). Moreover, he presented hundreds of masterclasses, both in conjunction with his performing engagements, at Northwestern University, Boston University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, Temple University, the University of Michigan (USA); Taylor Academy, University of British Columbia, University of Western Ontario (Canada); National Conservatory of Lima (Peru); Royal Academy (Denmark); Accademia delle Marche (Italy); Taipei National University of the Arts (Taiwan); China Conservatory, Shanghai and Xinghai conservatories (China); Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong; Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Singapore; Jakarta Conservatory, Indonesia; Seoul National, Yonsei, Hanyang, Ewha Woman’s, as well as most other major universities in Korea.

Dr. Elisi is currently on the piano faculty at the University of Toronto. Previous teaching positions spanning nearly two decades include the Eastman School, Hanyang University, the Pennsylvania State University, and UNLV. His current and former students are prizewinners in competitions (Cleveland and Paderewski among many), hold full-time teaching posts in the U.S. and abroad, and performed with the Cleveland Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Symphony, as well as other orchestras.

As an adjudicator, he has been on the jury of several competitions: the Ameri-China Foundation Competition (China); the Stepping Stone, CMC finals, RCM’s Glenn Gould School Concerto, Fred Pattison Award, Toronto-Calgary-Vancouver Steinway, (Canada); the Peabody Yale Gordon, Iowa, Julia Crane, Fite Young Artist, SMU Concerto and Dallas International, as well as the Nevada, Maryland, Virginia, and Texas State Music Teachers Associations’ (USA); the Pacific Rim competition (Australia and New Zealand). Finally, he chaired Osimo’s Nuova Coppa Pianisti (2013) and Palma d’Oro (2021) in Italy.

Dr. Elisi holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Before immigrating to the United States in 1996, he graduated from the Conservatory of Florence and the International Piano Academy of Imola. His primary teachers include Leon Fleisher (with whom, at his invitation, he felt honored to share the stage at the 2007 World Piano Pedagogy Conference), Lazar Berman, Alexander Lonquich, Boris Petrushansky, Franco Scala, and Giuseppe Fricelli.

Born in Italy, Enrico Elisi became a citizen of the United States of America in 2012 and is a Steinway Artist.

For more information: www.enricoelisipiano.com.

Washington García

Washington García

Ecuadorian-American pianist Washington García Eljuri began his musical studies at the age of 6. Among his teachers have been Genoveva Granja, Toshko Stoyanov, Ann Schein, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Julian Martin. Dr. García holds a bachelor of music from the National Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated at the age of 25 as the youngest Latin American to have received a doctoral degree in piano performance from that prestigious university. He is the recipient of the “Condecoración Dr. Vicente Rocafuerte”, the highest Cultural Achievement Award given by the Ecuadorian National Assembly to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in the arts. This award is equivalent to the Presidential Medal of Freedom or Congressional Gold Medal in the United States.

The success of his first public performance at the age of 6 led Dr. Garcia to perform at the most important cultural centers in Ecuador. He was awarded first prizes at the Guillermo Wright-Vallarino National Piano Competition held in Quito, the Elizabeth Davis Memorial Piano Competition and the 19th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington D.C., the 2004 Baltimore Music Club Piano Competition, and the Harrison Winter Piano Competition. As the winner of the Harrison Winter at the Peabody Institute, Dr. García was selected to perform with the Peabody Concert Orchestra. He was also a top prizewinner at the Yale Gordon Piano Competition and the Russell Wonderlic Piano Competition.

From a very early age, Dr. García became a seasoned veteran of the concert platform, performing extensively throughout his native country. Since his debut with the Ecuadorian National Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15, he has been an active recitalist, soloist, and lecturer in prestigious venues in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Japan, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. In the United States, he has offered solo recitals and master classes in almost 30 states.

Dr. García’s international debut took place in Santiago, Chile, where he performed for former President Patricio Aylwin at the Claudio Arrau International Piano Seminar. Subsequently, he was chosen from a large field of contestants from 33 countries by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. to receive one of two $25,000 grants awarded to pianists in its Fellowships of the Americas Program. As a result, he came to the United States to begin intensive piano studies with Professor Julian Martin at the Peabody Institute. Under the auspices of the Fellowships of the Americas Program he was invited to play at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the Organization of American States, the World Bank, the Inter-American Bank, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Department of State and the Mexican Cultural Center in Washington D.C., among others. He was also invited to perform at the National Library and Archives in Ottawa, Canada, where he performed on Glenn Gould’s piano. Dr. Garcia has performed in Ecuador with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra and the Loja Symphony Orchestra. Other engagements as guest soloist include concerto performances with the Green Valley Chamber Orchestra in Las Vegas and the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra in Maryland. He also toured Italy with the Texas State University Chamber Orchestra, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and most recently he was featured as guest soloist with the Austin Symphony in Texas, the Springfield Symphony in Massachusetts and the Omaha Symphony, under the batons of maestros Peter Bay, Kevin Rhodes and Thomas Wilkins, respectively. Garcia has performed and recorded for Radio Television Hong Kong, Opus Classical Radio in Mexico City, WFMT in Chicago, TV Spain, Rogers Broadcasting Company in Canada, and worldwide broadcasts through Univision. He has also been featured in several journals and magazines including the Austin and Texas Monthly, Time Out Jakarta, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, The Washington Post, and several others in Asia, North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East.

In addition to awards granted by the Peabody Institute and the Ecuadorian government, including the prize “Monseñor Leonidas Proaño” and the award “Al Mérito Laboral,” Dr. García received sponsorship by United Airlines. He was also named a Presser Scholar and grant recipient by the Presser Music Foundation. Additionally, he was awarded the Texas State Quarterly Team Award in recognition of outstanding service and the Friends of Fine Arts Awards for Scholarly/Creative Activities and Service. Dr. Garcia was a recipient of a full scholarship by the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in addition to scholarships by The Lloyds Bank, The Zaldumbide Rosales Foundation and the British Embassy in Ecuador.

Dr. García served on the faculty of the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University and Texas State University, where he was a Professor of Piano, coordinator of the Keyboard Area, and the Assistant Director of the School of Music. Dr. García is currently the Dean of the School of Music at Stetson University in Florida. Prior to his appointment at Stetson, Dr. Garcia was the founding Director of the School of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he held the Robert M. Spire Professorship as a full Professor of Piano.

Washington García became a Steinway Artist in 2014 and a citizen of the United States on March 2013. He lives with his wife Valeria and sons Mateo and Nico in Lake Mary, Florida.

Gila Goldstein

Gila Goldstein

Pianist Gila Goldstein is known as a versatile musician and has captivated audiences around the world with her unique artistry and soulful interpretations. Ms. Goldstein has performed as a solo artist and collaborative pianist throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Korea, the Philippines, Europe and Israel.

Her most notable performances included the Berliner Symphoniker, Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and Orquesta Da Camera in Mexico City as well as recitals and concerts at Lincoln Center and Merkin Hall in New York City, Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, Beijing Concert Hall in China, Seoul National University in Korea, the Purcell Room at the South Bank Center in London, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Musée de Louvre and Cité des Arts in Paris, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Old First Church in San Francisco, Gardner Museum and Tsai Performing Center in Boston, Dame Myra Hess concert series, Ravinia’s “Rising Stars” Series and Symphony Hall in Chicago, ”Great Performances“ series in St. Louis, Israel’s Henry Crown Hall in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Museum, among others. A Board member of the American Liszt Society (ALS) and the Founder-President of its New York Chapter since 1992, she has been a frequent guest performer at the ALS annual festivals around the United States and Canada. She also performed at festivals such as La Jolla, Yellow Barn, Sonus, Summit, Colburn, OpusFest, Jewish Music Festivals in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and London and the Israel Festival.

Gila Goldstein has been a sought-after pedagogue for nearly two decades and has given numerous master classes in the USA, China and Korea. She is currently a member of the piano faculty at Longy School of Music in Boston as well as at Brown University, where she serves as the director of piano studies. Previous teaching positions included Boston University, BU Tanglewood Institute and New York University. A champion of the music of Israel’s leading composer Paul Ben-Haim for over two decades as a performer and recording artist, Ms. Goldstein has recorded two volumes of his entire piano and chamber works on the Centaur label. She obtained her music degrees in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Prof. Nina Svetlanova and the Tel-Aviv University’s School of Music, where her teacher was Prof. Victor Derevianko. Both her teachers were disciples of the legendary pianist and pedagogue Heinrich Neuhaus.

Please visit her web site, www.gilagoldstein.com & http://www.facebook.com/gilagoldsteinpianist

Christopher Guzman

Christopher Guzman

Pianist Christopher Guzman enjoys an international performing career, showcasing a broad range of styles from the Baroque era to the avant-garde. Since winning top prizes in international competitions such as the Walter M. Naumburg Competition (USA), the Seoul International Music Competition (S. Korea) and the Isang Yun Competition (S. Korea), Mr. Guzman has performed across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. As a result of winning the top prize at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans in Orléans, France, he has toured France extensively, giving performances and teaching masterclasses.

Mr. Guzman has appeared in concert in major international venues as Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Buenos Aires’s CCK, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and others. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the classical music world’s most exciting soloists, including Ilya Gringolts, Antoine Tamestit, David Fray, and Jeremy Denk, among others. He continually performs with members of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He appears regularly on the New York Philharmonic’s chamber music series “Philharmonic Ensembles,” and recently performed with musicians of the Chicago Symphony at their home in Orchestra Hall.

While Mr. Guzman has won multiple international prizes for his performances of traditional repertoire, much of his career has been centered on music written after 1900; his performances have included world premieres by Donald Martino, Nico Muhly, and Paul Schoenfield. The New York Times hailed his performance of Christopher Theofanidis’s Statues as “coiled” and “explosive.” His CD of German and Austrian music from the past one hundred years, Vienne et après, is available on the Tessitures label; his CD of music of Paul Reale on the Naxos Label, “Chopin’s Ghosts,” was included in Fanfare magazine’s Top Five releases of 2018. He has subsequently recorded two additional albums of Reale’s music, including chamber music and concerti, to much critical acclaim. In the spring of 2022, Mr. Guzman will research works of Mexican composer Carlos Chávez and release a video recording of his representative works for piano.

Born in Texas, Christopher Guzman began studying piano at age nine and violoncello two years later. He worked primarily with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School, Anton Nel at the University of Texas at Austin, and the late Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory. In addition to performing, he is also Professor of Piano at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit christopherguzmanpiano.com.

 

 

Hye-Jung Hong

Hye-Jung Hong

Since giving her debut at the Palace of Arts in Seoul, Korea, Hye-Jung Hong has performed in recitals in Germany, Holland, Italy, China, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan and Canada. In the U.S., she has appeared as concerto soloist with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and has given numerous solo and collaborative concerts. She has performed at the Missouri Music Teachers Association State Conference, and has appeared on concert series in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Recent performances include a guest concert at the 19th Kota Kinabalu Music Festival in Malaysia; recitals at Tainan National University of the Arts and National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan; a guest recital at Sangmyung University in Korea; recitals at Liaoning Normal University and Qingdao University in China; a duo performance on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial concert series in Chicago; guest recitals at Pittsburg State University, Spelman College, University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University.

Dr. Hong has received critical praise for the artistry of her performances. Her playing has been described as “full of energy and electricity that stimulates the Korean musical world.” (Piano Eum-Ak) The German newspaper Die Rheinpfalz praised the “musicality, crystal clearness and elegance” of her performances. She has recorded on the Navona Records label.

Dr. Hong’s principal teachers include Julian Martin, Dominique Weber, Daewook Lee and Yonghee Moon. A dedicated teacher, her students have won top prizes in many competitions including the Kuleshov International Piano Competition, Charles R. Hall Young Artist Competition, Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, Lee Piano Competition, Starr Young Artist Competition, and Federation of Music Clubs State Competition. She received her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. Currently she is Associate Professor of Piano at Missouri State University.

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