STUDENTS 2024
SESSION 1
JAIR ZACARIAS
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Jair Zacarias, of Trujillo, Peru, started formal studies at the National Conservatory of Lima at age 13, where he completed the Pre-College Program with Katia Palacios. In 2019, Jair received a full scholarship to attend Florida Gulf Coast University, where he completed a BM in Piano Performance with Dr. Michael Baron.
He is a prize winner of several competitions, including at the 2020 MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition in Florida, the I Parnassus of the Music International Competition, the Gray Perry Piano Competition, and at the Byrd Competition. In 2023, Jair received first prize at the Stecher and Horowitz Two-Piano Competition with his duet partner Arturo Fernandez. Jair is currently pursuing a Master of Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studies with Emile Naoumoff. In his free time, Jair enjoys cooking, soccer, and chess.
YANG (JACK) GAO
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New York-based pianist Yang (Jack) Gao is developing a promising career as a recitalist and orchestra soloist. In November 2023, he won the prestigious Naumburg International Piano Competition. He is also winner of the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition at Juilliard and a winner in the Steinway Piano Competition. He has performed recitals in China, the United States, and Canada. As a winner of The Juilliard School’s Concerto Competition, he performed John Corigliano’s Piano Concerto in Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra.
Born in China in 2003, he studied piano and composition at the Middle School attached to China Conservatory of Music, with teachers Tianhong Tan and Xin Xie. At age 17 he performed Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Symphonic Orchestra of China Conservatory. He is currently a student of Jerome Lowenthal at the Juilliard School. Outside of music he enjoys chess, board games, and reading novels.
NOAH KEYES
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Noah Keyes, of St. Petersburg, Florida, is winner of several competitions, including the Steinway Gulf Coast Piano Competition, Marcia P. Hoffman ‘Dare to Dream’ competition, and the John Leatherwood Concerto Competition. He has performed as both soloist and collaborator throughout the United States and Europe, including at Carnegie Hall. He made his Orchestral Debut in 2024 with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, performing Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
Noah has maintained an active teaching studio, and has presented with his university colleagues on the teachings of Dorothy Taubman at the 2023 MTNA conference in Reno, Nevada. In December 2023, he graduated with a BM in Piano Performance with Dr. Read Gainsford, and a certificate in Piano Pedagogy under Dr. Diana Dumlavwalla. Noah continues at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona, Spain under Professor Enrique Bagaría. Away from the piano, Noah enjoys learning languages, spending time in nature, being a devoted cat parent, and yodeling.
JACOB NYDEGGER
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Born in San Antonio, Texas, Jacob Nydegger released a debut album with Toccata Classics, to widespread acclaim, appearing on the Classical New Releases: Spotify Picks Playlist in 2018. He won 1st prize at the 2022 Petroff Piano Competition and the 2021 Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition, and top prizes in the 2021 William Knabe International Piano Competition and the 2019 Weatherford International Piano Competition.
Jacob has performed as a soloist with the Lüneburger Symphoniker, the Colorado College Festival Orchestra and the Heinrich-Schütz-Konservatorium Orchester, and has performed at London's Royal Albert Hall, Dresden Kulturpalast, and Dresden Frauenkirche. As chamber musician, he has shared the stage with David Ying of the Grammy-award winning Ying Quartet.
Jacob studies with Hinrich Alpers at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden. He holds BM and MM in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas, where he studied under the late Joseph Banowetz. Jacob plans a second recording with Toccata Classics, featuring the music of Dutch composer Leo Samama. Outside of music, he enjoys cooking, hiking, languages, and film.
ZHIYE LIN
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Hailed by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as a pianist who “breezed through the most technically difficult bits with impressive panache”, Zhiye Lin has appeared at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall, and Shanghai Oriental Art Center. Laureate of piano competitions in Tokyo, Spain, West Virginia, New York, Singapore, and Hawaii, he has appeared as soloist with Mercury Orchestra, West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, and Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.
The Dawn Trio, which he founded in 2010, was winner at the Chamber Music Competition of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He earned his BM at the Cleveland Institute of Music and his MM degree at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of HaeSun Paik and Hung-Kuan Chen. Currently, he is completing the Artist Diploma at the Peabody Institute with Richard Goode. Outside of music, he enjoys badminton, dancing, and hiking.
MIN JOO YI
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From Bellevue, Washington, Min Joo Yi is currently pursuing her DMA with Professor Yong-Hi Moon at Peabody Conservatory, with a graduate assistantship in accompanying. She also received her MM and Graduate Performance Diploma degrees at Peabody. She received her bachelors degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, along with a music performance certificate at Princeton University. Her teachers have included Francine Kay, Duane Hulbert, and Michi North. Min Joo was recipient of the 2022 Sarah Stuhlman Zierler Prize, the Caswell and Constance Caplan Peabody Career Development Grant, and the Princeton University Scheide Scholarship. She has also been recognized at numerous competitions, including at the Verona International Piano Competition, Miami Chopin National Piano Competition, Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition, and the 2011 Schimmel USASU International Piano Competition.
Beyond music, her biology research has been published in the journals Frontiers in Microbiology and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, Tetris, and learning to play the organ and harpsichord.
AZALEA KELLEY
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Born and raised in New York City, Azalea Kelley is a senior at West Virginia University, where she studies with Dr. Lucy Mauro. Winner of the Chopin Foundation of the United States Scholarship Program in Miami, Florida, she also won First Prize at the Texas International Chopin Competition in 2022 and Grand Prize in the Chopin with a View International Piano Competition in Chicago. As a student of Dr. Hui-Ting Yang at Troy University, Azalea won First Prize in the Gulf Coast Steinway Society Competition, First Prize at the International Young Artist Piano Competition; her performance of the commissioned Chinese piece was broadcast during Lunar New Year on WQXR-FM in New York on Robert Sherman’s “Young Artists Showcase.”
Azalea has appeared at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Klavierhaus in Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn College, and Steinway Hall. Azalea studied the piano with Dr. Emily White at the Kaufman Music Center and the Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Performing Arts, where she was also an avid student of ballet. Outside music, she enjoys singing, songwriting, creative writing, and graphic design.
KYRA LOMBARD
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A native of upstate New York, Kyra Lombard is currently in her fourth year studying with Peter Takács at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She recently gave a solo recital as part of the de Blasiis Music Series at The Hyde Collection; her collaborative engagements include recitals at the Schroon Lake Music Festival and performances alongside pianists David Fung and Sun-A Park at the Lake George Music Festival. In December of 2023, Kyra was selected to participate in an Oberlin-Como masterclass with William Grant Naboré. As a prize winner of the Rosewood Fanning Piano Competition, she performed Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor with the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra.
Kyra won first place in both the Tuesday Musical Scholarship Competition and the Ithaca College Piano Competition; she also won the Gold Prize in the December Musicale Music Festival and was featured as a WMHT Classical Student Musician of the Month. Kyra enjoys working in large ensembles at Oberlin, such as the Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Oberlin Orchestra, as well as in chamber ensembles and in collaboration with singers. Outside music, she enjoys church, hiking, reading, and traveling.
ANA HOWLAND
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Ana Howland, originally from Seattle, Washington, is currently pursuing a BM in piano performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Born into a musical family, Ana began taking lessons and performing at the age of two, gave her first solo recital at age nine, and first soloed in a piano concerto with orchestra at age thirteen with Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1. She has won awards and special recognition in numerous competitions, including the Seattle International Piano Festival, Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside, Russian Chamber Music Foundation, Chopin Festival Northwest, and the Seattle Young Artists Music Festival.
As chamber musician, she has done numerous chamber performances across the U.S., most recently with Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No.2 and the Cello Sonatas of Shostakovich and Debussy. Outside of piano, Ana has a deep interest in neuroscience; she interned as a research assistant at a neurology lab at Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital. Having grown up in the beautiful PNW, she is also an avid runner and is always up for an outdoor adventure.
WEI-YUN CHANG
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Wei-Yun Chang, a native of Taiwan, is a passionate solo and chamber musician. She recently appeared as a soloist with Coeur d’Alene Symphony as the winner of the Orchestra’s National Young Artist’s Competition and IU Ad Hoc Orchestra. Chang received First Prize at the 2024 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Collegiate Competition, and the Special Prize for the Best Performance of a Chopin Etude at the 2016 San Jose International Piano Competition.
Chang attended summer festivals including the Music Academy of the West as a solo piano fellow, Chautauqua Piano Program, Orford Musique Academy. Chang is pursuing her doctorate under the tutelage of Evelyne Brancart at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she completed both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in piano performance. She enjoys cooking and jigsaw puzzles in her free time.
ANNE LIU
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Anne Liu, a Young Steinway Artist, has appeared in recital at Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Italy’s Lake Como Summer Festival, and China's Ningbo Grand Theater. Anne was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, receiving honors at the White House. She has appeared on Minnesota Public Radio’s “From the Top”, and was recognized in various international competitions, including the Bosendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Young Artist Piano Competition, and the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. She made her concerto debut at the age of 12, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the San Diego Great Orchestra, and was featured as soloist with the South Coast Symphony, Southern California Philharmonic, La Jolla Symphony, and the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra.
She earned her bachelor's degree through the Columbia-Juilliard Joint Program, and is currently pursuing her Master's Degree at the New England Conservatory with Alessio Bax. In her free time, Anne enjoys drawing, singing, hiking, reading, and photography.
SESSION 2
JACK DAUNER
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Eighteen-year-old pianist and composer Jack Dauner was born in Switzerland to American and German parents. He studies at the Joseph Haydn Private University in Eisenstadt, Austria with Stanislaw Tichonow for piano, and Tibor Nemeth for composition. He minors in singing with Sonja Lutz, and accompaniment with Chariklia Apostolu.
Jack has appeared at Bösendorfer Salon of the Vienna Musikverein, Haydnsaal, and Salle Paderewski; he has won first prizes in Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, and Ukraine. Jack has participated in the Yehudi Menuhin–Live Music Now project, teaching piano to refugees.
In 2020, Jack composed and produced, together with his mother Kristin Hurst (libretto and direction), his first major original work, “Toadette the Frog Opera,” which first saw the stage in London in 2022. In 2023, it was performed to great acclaim at the KLANGfrühling Festival in Schlaining Castle, Austria. In his free time, Jack enjoys nature, photography, hiking, biking, and cooking.
QUANZHOU YAN
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After completing his Bachelor's degree from Rostov State Rachmaninoff Conservatory in Russia with Rimma Skolohodova, Quanzhou Yan continued with an MM degree from Texas Christian University, with a full scholarship mentored by Dr. Tamás Ungár. Mr. Yan was accepted into the Artist Diploma program at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel-Aviv, where he is currently studying with Professor Arie Vardi. Concurrently, he is working on his DMA dissertation.
Mr. Yan has been awarded top awards in several competitions, including the Bakhchiyeva Piano Competition, the 10th “A Step Towards Mastery” International Piano Competition, and the Semper Music International Competition in Italy. As a collaborative pianist, Quanzhou has performed with many vocalists, instrumentalists, ensembles, and choirs. He holds a graduate assistantship in accompanying at the TCU School of Music and was honored with the Solomon Award in Accompanying. Outside of music, he enjoys hiking, running, reading, and cooking.
BON-HWI KIM
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Korean pianist Bon-Hwi Kim, born in 2001, has won prizes in numerous competitions including the Hong Kong Open International Music Competition, Yewon Music Competition, TBC Music Competition, Ehwa Kyunghyang Music Competition, and CCM Piano Competition. He has given concerts at LG Young Artists Chamber Music Concert at Lincoln Center, Seoul International Music Festival, and more.
He has appeared as a soloist with Prime Philharmonic Orchestra, TBC Daegu Philharmonic Orchestra, and CCM Philharmonia and Chamber Orchestra. He has participated in numerous international piano festivals and studied with Alexander Kobrin, Marina Lomazov, Joseph Rackers, Richard Goode, Michelle Cann, Lilya Zilberstein, Pascal Nemirovski, and George Lee.
He has been described by one critic Peter Perret as an "accurate and powerful, thoughtful and emotional" player when he won the Eastern Music Festival Concerto Competition in 2021 by playing the Grieg piano concerto. He is currently studying with Awadagin Pratt and Yoshikazu Nagai at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
CHRIS YAO
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Chris Yao is currently a third year undergraduate student at the Eastman School of Music and studies with Dr. Marina Lomazov. His competition accolades include the top prize in the Celia Méndez Beethoven Competition as well as being named a semi-finalist in the West Virginia International Piano Competition. His previous summer engagements have included Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music@Menlo, and Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival.
He has played in masterclasses with distinguished artists including Richard Goode, Julian Jacobsen, Horacio Gutierrez, Awadagin Pratt, Inna Faliks, and Hong Xu. Chris is also an avid chamber musician and has been invited to perform in Eastman's Honors Chamber Recital on two separate occasions. Outside of piano, Chris enjoys playing basketball, crocheting, and cooking.
JESSE HUBBS
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Jesse Hubbs is a seventeen-year-old classical pianist. He was introduced to the piano when he was five years old and began playing it as his primary instrument at the age of nine. Jesse studies piano at The Juilliard School Pre-College in New York under the tutelage of Orli Shaham.
He has been featured in major media outlets including CBS, NBC, NPR, and Newsday. His appearance on NBC-NY’s Beck’s Best Kids was recognized at the time as the most successful debut of a social media program for the channel. Jesse is a “From the Top Fellow” and has performed at various events for the Sphinx Organization. He was a featured soloist at the 2024 Juilliard Celebration: A Benefit for Scholarship and will make his debut with the Little Orchestra Society in April 2024.
In addition to piano, Jesse also plays the cello. He was a member of his school’s chamber orchestra for three years, and in 2021 was accepted into the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, composing, chess, and photography.
RYAN WALKER
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Ryan Walker is a senior at WVU completing his BM in piano performance, studying with Lucy Mauro. During his time at WVU, Ryan has been the recipient of many awards and scholarships, including the 2023 Young Artist concerto competition and performing with the WVU Symphony Orchestra, performing in Merkin Hall in NYC as a finalist in the Music International Grand Prix, receiving a full scholarship for the Piano Summer festival at SUNY New Paltz under the direction of Vladimir Feltsman. He attended the Edward Auer Piano Workshops at Indiana University, and won first place in the 2022 Mountain State Piano Competition and the 2019 Gertrude Brown Piano Competition. While in high school, Ryan was accepted into an exchange program and lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During that time, he lived with piano professor Vedrana Stojic, and was able to have an immersive cultural experience with many opportunities to study and perform. In his free time, Ryan enjoys camping, drawing, and hiking.
HYOJIN SHIN
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South Korean pianist Hyojin Shin has appeared as a soloist in South Korea, Italy, Israel, the United States, Netherlands, Austria, and Morocco. Since her orchestral debut at the age of 12 with the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Shin was soloist with the Bazzini Consort Orchestra, Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, and Miami Chamber Orchestra. She won second prize at the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition in 2022; last year, she won the first prize and the best performance prize of Ibero-American composition at the Teresa Carreño Master International Piano Competition, the Woolsey Concerto Competition, and third prize at Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Competition.
Shin earned her BM from Seoul National University with Aviram Reichert. Under the tutelage of Boris Slutsky, Shin received an MM degree and a MMMA degree at the Yale School of Music where she was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize. Shin is currently pursuing an AD at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Yoshikazu Nagai. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, board games, and walking in nature.
NAOMI WONG
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Toronto-born pianist Naomi Wong is recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s Developing Artist Grant, and made her concerto debut in 2017 with the North York Concert Orchestra. She has collaborated with the University of Toronto Campus Philharmonic Orchestra, York Symphony Orchestra, and the Kindred Spirits Orchestra. As the winner of the 2023 Betty Dickinson Competition at the Texas State International Piano Festival, she will present solo recitals at Steinway Hall in New York City, the Blanco Performing Arts Series, and the Austin Steinway Gallery this season.
Naomi enjoys presenting outreach concerts at hospitals, retirement centers, and long-term care homes. During the pandemic, she worked with the Creative Connection Initiative and Freiheit Care Inc. to use music to connect isolated individuals in homes throughout Canada.
Naomi began studies at age six, and is pursuing her MM degree at the Peabody Institute. She is greatly indebted to her current teacher, HieYon Choi, as well as her former teachers: Steven Philcox and Enrico Elisi at the University of Toronto, Ken Marple at the University Settlement Music & Arts School, and Rachel Yu. In her free time, Naomi enjoys reading, hiking, poetry, puzzles, and hand crafts.
BRIANNA TANG
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Brianna Tang has played with orchestras in the United States and in Italy, and counts Adrian Brendel, Colin Carr, and Leandro Silvera, and Alexandre Moutouzkine as influences. She participated in several distinguished festivals, including Orford Musique, the Art of Piano, and the IKIF New York. Brianna graduated summa cum laude from Stony Brook University where she studied with Dr. Pablo Lavandera and Gilbert Kalish.
As the winner of the 2018 Stony Brook University Undergraduate Concerto Competition, she performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. She was part of the Royal Academy of Music Chamber Ensemble that premiered a new children’s opera, “Daylighting”, by Louise Drewett. Brianna has just finished her Master of Arts degree with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Rustem Hayroudinoff. She is currently pursuing her DMA at Stony Brook University with Gilbert Kalish. In her free time, she enjoys singing, painting and lifeguarding.
ELISA RUMICI
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Elisa Rumici is an Italian pianist, researcher and music educator based in Switzerland. She regularly performs in Italy and Europe and has given recitals at Milan Expo, Fazioli showroom in Milan, the Italian Institute of Culture of Stuttgart, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Vittoria in Turin, and Gare du Nord in Basel. As a soloist, she has performed Mozart Concerto k271 in Vicenza, Moncalieri and in Crema, Schumann’s Concerto in Sacile, the Triple Concerto by Beethoven with Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, and City Life by Steve Reich in Basel.
Elisa has premiered and recorded the Concertino for Piano and Orchestra da Camera by the L. Donorà, and “Oceano” by the Italian composer F. Marino; she has also recorded “A musical journey”, released by Rhein records, and the soundtrack to "Foibe, il dramma dei deportati e scomparsi”. Elisa has won twenty-five first prizes; she is currently studying with Filippo Gamba at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel and pursuing a doctorate in artistic research at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, swimming, and hiking.
BO ZHANG
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Bo Zhang has been hailed as a pianist with superb technique, unique creativity and artistic understanding. He is the first prize winner of both the 2017 Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition-Valldemossa in Spain and the 2017 Lang Lang Shenzhen Futian International Piano Competition for Young Pianists, and the second prize winner of the 2018 Rachmaninoff International Competition for Young Pianists in Moscow.
Born in Zhejiang, China, Bo Zhang began his piano studies at the age of 5 and gave his first public performance the following year. He studied at the Beijing and Shanghai conservatories with renowned pianists and educators, including Dan Shao, Hongbo Quan, and Zhe Tang.
He has been studying at The Juilliard School since 2019 in the studios of Matti Raekallio, Emanuel Ax, and Shai Wosner. Bo won the School’s Kovner Fellowship and the piano concerto competition in 2023. Bo enjoys reading philosophy in his free time.