USOMC » Judges » Photos & Bios

		UMIDA AVLONI Umida Avloni received her Master of Music degree from Tashkent State Conservatory and Ph.D. in Musicology from Uzbek Institute of Arts (USSR). As a member of the Governing Board of Tashkent Conservatory, Dr. Avloni has served as the Acting Head of the Musicology Department. She was also the Vice-President of the Young Composers Association of Soviet Union / Uzbek Division. Currently, Umida Avloni is the Director of the Lamorinda Academy of Music and Arts and the Avloni Academy of Music in San Jose.

		NADIA BLANK Nadia Blank holds a diploma in piano performance from the Leningrad State Conservatory (Russia) and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Southern California. In 1985, Dr. Blank placed second in the All-Russia Piano Competition, and in 1990 she was a prize-winner of the Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy. Her recent performances include Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto, Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 with San Francisco’s Opera orchestra and Pro-Arts Symphony Orchestra in Walnut Creek.

		ROBERT BOWMAN Robert Bowman has appeared as guest conductor with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and Paradise Symphony. He received a BA in music and MA in Orchestral Conducting from Stanford University as well as DMA in piano and harpsichord performance from the University of Southern California. Dr. Bowman has presented keyboard master classes and interactive workshops throughout California, Karlsruhe, Germany, Oregon, Hawaii, and Nevada.

		RICHARD CIONCO Richard Cionco has performed in nearly every major city in the United States. These performances have been with many orchestras including the Phoenix Symphony, the Oakland Civic Symphony, the Seijo Symphony of Tokyo, the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Czech State Chamber Orchestra, the North Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra and the California Youth Symphony. Mr. Cionco is a graduate of the University of Maryland and The Juilliard School of Music. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at California State University, Sacramento.

		VICKI FAWNS Ms. Vicki Fawns received a Master of Fine Arts in piano performance from Mills College, Oakland, California. Her teaching career spans more than 30 years and includes nine years as a faculty member at Chabot College and eight years at Ohlone College. She has served as adjudicator for the National Piano Guild Auditions, the Jr. Bach Festival, Eastbay Music Foundation, Stockton Bach Festival, and M.T.A.C. Certificate of Merit.

		NATSUKI FUKASAWA A recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, Natsuki is a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, the Prague Academy of Music, and recently earned her doctorate from the University of Maryland. Natsuki’s recent performance highlights include a tour of Italy performing Gershwin’s Concerto in F with Maestro Leo Eylar and the California Youth Symphony and Saint-Säens’ Carnival of the Animals with her husband Richard Cionco. Natsuki is on the piano faculty at the California State University Sacramento.

		MILES GRABER Miles Graber received his musical training at The Juilliard School of Music. He has performed with numerous solo artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Camilla Wicks, and Sarah Chang. He is principal pianist for the Bay Area chapter of the National Association of Composers USA. He is also on the faculties of the Crowden School in Berkeley and the San Domenico Conservatory in San Anselmo. He is currently a staff accompanist and chamber music coach in the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

		ERNA GULABYAN After completing her education at the Central Music School, she continued her musical training in Moscow Conservatory. After graduation, she was offered a position in the piano faculty of Yrevan Conservatory. Since 1982 she has been teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory. Ms. Gulabyan was invited to serve in the juries of numerous national and international competitions including Stravinsky International Piano Competition and Missouri International Piano Competition. She has been a trusted adjudicator for the USOMC for 15 years.

		JOHN HILLEBRANDT Dr. John Hillebrandt is the Principal Keyboardist for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. He is also a lecturer at California State University in Stanislaus. He has an M.M. and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from the University of Michigan. He has received first prize in the Florida West Coast Chopin Piano Competition. As a doctoral student he received a dissertation grant for the composition and performance of microtonal piano music, and won the University of Michigan’s concerto competition for which he composed and performed his First Piano Concerto.

		DORIAN HO Dorian Ho made her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall as Winner of the Thirteenth Annual Artists International Competition. She received her Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School of Music, Concert Diploma from the Vienna Academy of Music and Art and holds a Ph.D. in Piano Performance from New York University. Her concerto appearances include the Fine Arts Orchestra of Taiwan, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, the Kiev Symphony Orchestra and with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in a sold out concert at the Shanghai Grand Theater. Dorian is a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

		NICOLAS ISSACS Dr. Nicholas Isaacs is Music Director at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, and a faculty member at Santa Clara University. He received his D.M.A from Stanford University in piano performance, Master degree from St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, in History, and L.G.S.M. in Piano from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. He has also written program notes for the Stanford Lively Arts concert series, developed curriculum for the International Baccalaureate Diploma, the M.T.A.C. adult studies, Cal-Plan division and Santa Clara University’s music department.

		MILICA JELACA JOVANOVICH Dr. Milica Jelaca Jovanovich won First Prize at the 23rd Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition in Virginia in 2003. She earned her Master of Music Degree and Artist Diploma at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow and a Doctorate in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan. She has appeared as soloist with the RTV Belgrade Symphonic Orchestra, "Stanislav Binièki" Symphonic Orchestra and "Josip Slavenski" Baroque Orchestra. She is currently Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Keyboard Area at Western Washington University.

		CHRISTYNA KOZEL Born into a family of musicians, Christyna Kozel is a graduate of the the Musik-Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany. She was one of the directors in Germany where she initiated and managed a Mozart Festival in the original ambience of the Residenz in Salzburg. She has been a member of The Crowden School faculty in Berkeley since 2002 and served as the President for the California Music Teachers' Association, Alameda County branch from 2005-2007.

		VICTORIA NEVE Victoria Neve received her B.M. from Illinois Wesleyan University, M.M. and D.M.A. from the University of Kansas. Her doctoral dissertation, excerpts of which have been published in Piano Quarterly, is entitled Virtuoso Aspects of Mozart’s Independent Piano Variations, a study of the development of piano virtuosity in improvisatory forms in the late 18th century. Since 1975, Dr. Neve has been on the Music Faculty at San Francisco State University, where she holds a Full Professorship. Dr. Neve is Founder and Director of the San Francisco Young Pianists’ Competition, which has held annual competitions and concerts since 1983.

		PAUL MIHALY Dr. Paul Mihaly has performed with the San Francisco, Thousand Oaks and Santa Rosa Symphonies. Recently he toured South Korea and Lebanon, presenting recitals and master classes at Seoul National Theater, Seoul University, the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Southern California.

		LORNA PETERS Lorna Peters received her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Lawrence University. At SUNY-Stony Brook she completed an MM in piano and a DMA in harpsichord. Dr. Peters is a Fulbright Scholar and furthered her studies in Salzburg, Austria. From 1993 to 1995 Ms. Peters was visiting assistant professor of music at Lawrence University. She is currently associate professor of piano, harpsichord, chamber music, and music theory at California State University, Sacramento, and maintains a private studio of aspiring pianists and harpsichordists.

		LINO RIVERA Dr. Rivera has performed with the Annapolis Symphony, the Oakland Civic Orchestra, and the Sacramento Symphony. Internationally, he has performed with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. Dr Rivera received a Master's degree from the University of Hawaii and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland. He is an Assistant Professor at St. Mary's College in Moraga and has also taught at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, and at California State University, Sacramento (1994-2001).

		STEPHEN THOMAS Steven Thomas has received grants from such organizations as the American-Scandinavian Foundation of New York City and the University of Michigan for his research and performance of the complete piano works of Carl Nielsen. Dr. Thomas holds degrees in piano performance from Brigham Young University, Yale University, and the University of Michigan. Since 2001, he has served as chairman of the Department of Music at California State University in Stanislaus.

		LARRY WARKENTIN Larry Warkentin is professor emeritus at Fresno Pacific University where he taught piano performance and music composition for forty years before his retirement in 2002. He has also taught courses in music theory and composition at California State University, Fresno. His “Academic Variations for Piano” was awarded First Prize in the M.T.A.C. State competition. Dr. Warkentin holds a DMA degree from the University of Southern California. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and each year for the past decade he has received an award from ASCAP for his work in classical music.

		BETTY WOO Betty Woo received a D.M.A. from Stanford University and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she received the MacFarren Gold Medal. As a champion of contemporary music, Dr. Woo has given many premiere performances of works by composers of the 20th and 21st century such as Andrew Imbrie, Daniel Kingman, Donald Martino and Richard Swift. Dr. Betty Woo is on the faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of California at Berkeley and Holy Names University in Oakland.

		TIAN-EN YU Tian-En Yu entered the Music Conservatory of Shanghai at the age of twelve. In 1989, she received the Artist’s Diploma at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Ms. Yu taught at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View. She is currently a member of the music faculty at Santa Clara University and has also given numerous solo and ensemble performances in the Bay Area.