Judges

Dr. Umida Avloni – Piano
Educator, Owner of Avloni Academy of Music

Education: Uzbekistan State Institute Arts and Culture (USSR)

Dr. Umida Avloni, a music educator, piano teacher, and musicologist, immigrated to the United States in 1993 from the former Soviet Union. She received a Doctorate from the Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture (USSR), where she served as the Vice- President of the Young Composers’ Association. She was also the Chair of the Department of Eastern music. In 1998, she opened the Avloni Academy of Music (AAM), a pre-college music school, which grew into a flourishing music center with five locations throughout the East and South Bay Areas, with over 600 students and a faculty of 40 instructors. She served as the Director of AAM for over 20 years. Dr. Avloni has served as adjudicator for numerous international competitions, such as the North China International Piano Competition, World Piano Pedagogy Competition, Elite Carnegie Hall Competition, US Open and US International Music Competitions.

Dr. Ilya Blinov – Piano
Concert Pianist and Educator

Education: Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory, Bowling Green State University, University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Dr. Ilya Blinov is an accomplished pianist and teacher. He began his teaching career in his native Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) in 1993, and since then he has taught at the University of Michigan, Bowling Green State University, Interlochen Arts Camp, and Susquehanna University. Over the years, Dr. Blinov has worked with students age 5 to 83. He sees teaching as the rewarding process of facilitating change and growth in students and strives to show them a direction, a road, a path to knowledge, and give them a chance to discover their strengths.
Dr. Blinov is a versatile solo recitalist, chamber musician, and an accompanist. He has presented recitals in his native Russia as well as in the United States and Western Europe. His performances include an appearance at the Shostakovich Festival in Rome and Venice, Italy, a recital at the Yamaha Center in Paris, France among others. He has also performed live on WGTE Public Radio in Ohio and WDET studio in Detroit, Michigan.
Throughout his career, Dr. Blinov has developed a format of a recital-demonstration, a performance devoted to music of a single composer using a PowerPoint presentation and a discussion of the composer’s life and compositional style. The audiences have warmly received his performances of Tchaikovsky and Mozart, Shostakovich and Stravinsky, Mussorgsky and Beethoven.

Dr. Sarah Chan – Piano
Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and Associate Professor of Keyboard Studies and Music Theory at CSU Stanislaus

Education: Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music

Dr. Sarah Chan has performed internationally across four continents, at venues including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Salle Cortot in Paris, Sala Ateneu in Bacău, Teatro Municipal de Las Condes in Santiago, Merkin Hall New York, Beifang Performing Arts Center and Ningxia Normal University Concert Hall in China. She has appeared as concerto soloist with MÁV Symphony Orchestra Budapest, the National “Mihail Jora” Philharmonic of Romania, Orquesta Sinfónica Universidad Mayor-Santiago (Chile), New York Concert Artists Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Enid Symphony Orchestra.
Sarah Chan has garnered awards in multi-dimensions of artistry, teaching, research/creative activity, and service.  Performance awards include The American Prize in Piano Performance, “Rising Artist” distinction of New York Concert Artists and Associates, and the PianoTexas International Festival Professional Prize. Teaching awards include the 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher Award, the 2022 California State University-Stanislaus Outstanding Professor Award, and the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Eastman School of Music.   Dr. Chan serves as Keyboard Coordinator and Associate Professor of Music (Keyboard Studies/Music Theory) at California State University-Stanislaus.  She has also served on the piano faculties and teaching staff of Stanford University, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and the Eastman School of Music.  International artist-teaching residencies and masterclasses extend across the U.S., Canada, France, Ukraine, China, Chile, and Ghana.  
Sarah Chan received her education in the U.S. and in France, training at the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.), Le Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (Paris Conservatory of Music), Peabody Conservatory of Music (M.M.), Manhattan School of Music (B.M.), University of Michigan, Columbia University, and La Sorbonne. 

Dr. Christine Choi – Violin
Artistic Director of Sora Music Society

Education: San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Boston University

Korean-American violinist Christine Choi enjoys a versatile career as both performer and educator. She made her concerto debut at the age of eleven and has appeared in concerts across the United States, Canada, Italy, and China, performing in major venues including Alice Tully Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and Jordan Hall. As a chamber musician, Dr. Choi has performed as a Guest Artist at Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley alongside members of the San Francisco Symphony and was awarded a Fellowship at the Madeline Island Music Festival. In 2015, she became an artist member of the Music for Food concert series in Boston and has also appeared at the Mannes Festival in New York, The Beethoven Research Center at Boston University, and BU’s Center for New Music in collaboration with composer Joan Tower. Her orchestral experience includes performances with the Banff Festival Orchestra, Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra, Cantata Singers, and the Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Symphonies.
Born in Los Angeles, Dr. Choi began violin lessons at age six and entered the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division at age eight. She earned her Bachelor of Music from SFCM as a recipient of the Ruth and Jo Blackmore Scholarship, and her Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music under Lucie Robert. She pursued a Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes College of Music before earning her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University under Bayla Keyes. Her chamber music mentors include members of the American, Juilliard, and Muir Quartets.
An experienced educator, Dr. Choi has served as a teaching assistant to Bayla Keyes at Boston University and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and as an orchestral coach at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her students have earned top prizes in local and national competitions and have performed at Carnegie Hall. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Sora Music Society, and maintains an active private studio in El Dorado Hills.

Richard Cionco – Piano
Professor of Music and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at CSU Sacramento

Education: University of Maryland, The Juilliard School

Pianist Richard Cionco — praised by Donal Henahan of the New York Times for his “sensitive pianism” has performed as soloist with orchestras, as chamber musican, and as a recitalist on three continents. 
A Steinway Artist, Mr. Cionco is a graduate of the University of Maryland and The Juilliard School.  Important chamber music performances include those at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento, and at the Orfeo Music Festival in Italy. 
He has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall and in recital in nearly every major U.S. city, and his performances of Liszt’s complete 12 Transcendental Etudes have brought him rave reviews.  Recently, he performed at New Mexico State University, the University of New Mexico, Kent State University, Florida State University, University of Alberta in Canada, Stetson University, Pensacola State University, the University of Florida, San Jose State University, the Chicago College of Performing Arts, the Great Music in Scarborough Series in New York, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Nevada Reno, Tulane University in New Orleans, in Anchorage, AK, and dozens more.  
Mr. Cionco has recorded solo and chamber music by Daniel Kingman for innova records and his first solo CD, Latin American Music for Solo Piano, on the Centaur Records label has received rave reviews, notably by the American Record Guide.  He served on the artist faculty of the Orfeo International Music Festival and Competition in Northern Italy for 15 years and for five years at the Samsø Piano Festival in Denmark.  He has also taught at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival in Germany and presently teaches and performs at Music and More Summerfest! in Bosnia.  He has given master classes, lectures, recitals and has served as adjudicator in China and Hong Kong and has performed in Japan, Taiwan, Canada, the Czech Republic, and more.  In 2012, he released a solo CD of Beethoven’s late piano music, and a CD of music by American composer, Sunny Knable — both on the Centaur label. 
Mr. Cionco was a Teaching Fellow for David Dubal at The Juilliard School for four years and is presently Professor of Piano at California State University, Sacramento where he teaches, performs, and composes.  He also enjoys running competitively and cooking, as well as hiking far and wide.

Dr. Richard Dowling – Piano
Concert Pianist

Education: University of Houston, Yale University, University of Texas – Austin

Hailed by The New York Times as “an especially impressive fine pianist,” Steinway Artist Richard Dowling appears regularly in solo recitals, music festivals, and as guest soloist in concerto engagements with symphony orchestras. Career highlights include performances in New York at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, The Metropolitan Club, The Metropolitan Museum, The Liederkranz Foundation, The Kosciuszko Foundation, The Museum of the City of New York, The New-York Historical Society, The Tenri Cultural Institute, St. Bartholomew’s Church, Trinity Church, The Union Club, The Harmonie Club, Christie’s, 54 Below, Bargemusic, Brooklyn Conservatory, Concordia College, and The 92nd Street Y.
Mr. Dowling has presented solo recitals in the Far East, South America, Australia, Africa, and Europe. He has appeared at numerous music festivals including the Newport Music Festival, Sun Valley Music Festival, Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, West Coast Ragtime Festival, Texas Music Festival, Northwest Bach Festival, El Paso Chopin Festival, Roswell Jazz Festival, Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival, Sitka Summer Music Festival, La Gesse Foundation Festival (France), Rag’n Boogie Festival (France), and the San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival (Mexico). The National Federation of Music Clubs of the United States honored him with a special award recognizing his outstanding performances of American music. Works of Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Gottschalk, Joplin, Ravel, ragtime, and early jazz figure prominently in his extensive repertoire which also includes more than thirty piano concertos.
On April 1, 2017 Mr. Dowling performed the complete piano works of Scott Joplin in two historic sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, exactly 100 years to the day that Joplin died in New York. He is the first pianist in the world to perform the complete cycle of Joplin’s 53 rags, marches, waltzes, and cakewalks in public –– nearly four hours of music, all from memory. Mr. Dowling has performed over 100 Joplin recitals across the United States in commemoration of the centennial of Joplin’s death and the sesquicentennial of his birth. His 3 CD set, The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2018. The late ragtime pianist Max Morath said, “Richard Dowling’s mastery of the Joplin rags invokes a tenderness that charms us and a technical command that inspires our admiration.”
Richard Dowling has received reviews that praise him as “a master of creating beautiful sounds with impeccable control of colors and textures,” as “a musician with something to say, the skill to say it and the magnetic power to make you want to listen,” and for giving “a superb recital that left the audience craving for more at the end.” He is also a versatile recording artist with over a dozen CDs of classical, chamber, ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In recognition of his dedication to French musical art and his fluency in the French language, Mr. Dowling was inducted as an Officier de Musique of the renowned Company of Musketeers of Armagnac, an historic French honor society. Mr. Dowling resides in New York City.
Website: www.parkerartists.com/Richard-Dowling.html

Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa – Piano
Lecturer, University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music

Education: The Juilliard School, Prague Academy of Music, University of Maryland College Park

Steinway Artist Natsuki Fukasawa has performed globally including Australia, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Israel, Switzerland, throughout Scandinavia and the U.S. She is a recipient of the Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year from the Danish Music Awards, and has been featured in Sacramento’s CapRadio program Women’s History Month. Fukasawa has appeared as a concerto soloist touring in Italy with California Youth Symphony with Maestro Leo Eylar as well as a guest soloist with many orchestras in Northern California and New Jersey. She has collaborated with many fine musicians on chamber music programs and recording projects. One such occasion celebrated the music of Sunny Knable with a concert at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall to mark the release of the album “Song of the Redwood-Tree”. She is also one of the artists in the recording of “We Had to Go”, which is about the story of Japanese Internment Camps told by Haruko Sakakibara. This past summer, she played in a trio concert which raised over 12,000 dollars to aid Pastor Igor Bilorus in Ukraine to help with children who have lost their fathers.
Fukasawa teaches at both University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music and at UC Davis, and serves on the artist faculty for the Talis Festival and Academy in Sarajevo. She enjoys nurturing young people in her own private studio, where her students’ accomplishments include appearances in the NPR show From the Top, winning top prizes in Chopin National Competition, MTAC Young Artist Guild, Philadelphia International Competition, and go on to pursue music in college. 
Fukasawa’s many teachers include her mother Takako Fukasawa, Mark Richman in Los Angeles, Tim Fredericksen in Denmark and Ferenc Rados in Hungary. She has received degrees from The Juilliard School, University of Maryland and Prague Academy of Music as a Fulbright Scholar. 
Fukasawa enjoys the outdoors, tap dancing, reading books, cooking and playing with her two kitties.

James Gardner – Piano
Educator and Concert Pianist

Education: The Juilliard School

Juilliard-trained conductor, pianist and oboist James Arthur Gardner is a creative force in Bay Area music making. As a leading piano instructor in the Bay Area, many of Gardner’s students have gone on to win top prizes in important competitions. In addition to his responsibilities as director of the Pro Arte Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Gardner created a wonderful annual event for the keyboard, Pianomania! This eagerly awaited and unparalleled celebration of the instrument provided an introduction to many of the Bay Area’s most talented concert pianists. Gardner’s past dedication to young people is also evident in his annual “Kids Play the Darndest Things” program in which music prodigies and international, national and regional competition winners were brought together to perform works by the great classical composers.
Gardner’s musical training has been wide ranging. As a conductor, he was a finalist in the National Orchestral Association’s Conducting Competition at Carnegie Hall. Subsequently he became conductor of the Detroit Chamber Orchestra and Wind Symphony of Detroit before founding Pro Arte Symphony in 1993. In his early career Gardner performed as an oboist with the Juilliard Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet Orchestra. He has performed in many of the country’s finest concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Philharmonic Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and the Philadelphia Academy of Arts. His early musical training began at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, where he appeared as piano soloist at the age of 11. Soon after, he began to study oboe seriously and won numerous scholarships on his way to The Juilliard School, where he received much of his formal training. His distinguished piano, conducting and oboe instructors include Lilian Bauer Cox, Anthony Newman, Karl Schnabel, Dennis Davies, Jean Morel and William D. Revelli.

Dr. Dorian Ho – Piano
Continuing Education Faculty,
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Education: University of Southern California, The Juilliard School, Vienna Academy of Music, New York University

As the winner of the 13th Annual Artist International Competition, Dr. Ho made her New York solo debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. Dorian received a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School of Music, and a Concert Diploma from the Vienna, Academy of Music and Art. She earned her Ph.D. in piano performance from New York University. Her teachers include Martin Canin, Eugene List and Bruno Seidlhofer. She has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Fine Arts Orchestra of Taiwan, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Chamber Orchestra, State Chamber Orchestra of Kazakhstan, Kiev Symphony Orchestra, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in a sold-out concert. She has also performed at Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, Davies Symphony Hall, Herbst Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Hall, and the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall in Taiwan. She has recorded Robert Schumann‘s Piano Concerto with the Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic and the Dvorak Piano Quintet with the Stamic String Quartet of Czech Republic. Dr. Ho is currently a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory Music.

Dr. Scott Holden – Piano
Professor of Music,
Brigham Young University

Education: University of Michigan, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music

Scott Holden debuted in Carnegie Hall after winning first prize in the 1996 Leschetizky New York Debut Piano Competition. He has performed in over forty states, throughout Europe and in Asia. He has been broadcast on NPR, NBC, CBC, as well as numerous local networks. His enthusiastic support of contemporary music has led to a variety of premieres, including William Wallace’s Second Piano Concerto with Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony of which The Salt Lake Tribune wrote, “Mr. Holden secured the stage in a virtuosic performance…We were torn between examining every new note passing by our ears, and Holden’s pianistic acrobatics. It was a wonderful dilemma.” Recent concerts have brought him across the country ranging from Alaska to New York, as well as in China, Singapore, Vietnam, and Europe.
Holden returned to Carnegie Hall to play a solo recital in 2018, featuring multiple world premieres included on his newest solo CD “the Unknown Galaxy.” Fanfare praised the album: “he brings it off with excellence, mastering everything…. It’s safe to say that there is no other piano disc quite like this one.” His CD, Beyond Vernon Duke, was given the highest five-star rating stating: “Holden exhibits profoundly musical readings with obvious commitment and great attention to detail.” Holden has recorded for Parma, Bridge, Tantara and NAXOS Records. Recent concerto appearances include concerti by Beethoven, Gershwin and Tchaikovsky. Holden’s students have been top prizewinners in numerous competitions including Gina Bachauer, Emory Young Artists, PianoArts North American Competition, and many others. His students were top prize winners at the MTNA national competitions in 2021, 2023, and 2024 in multiple divisions. They are regularly accepted to the music programs in the country. He travels extensively to adjudicate and give master classes at festivals and pedagogy workshops.
Holden holds degrees from the University of Michigan (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), and The Manhattan School of Music (DMA). He studied for a year at The Liszt Academy in Budapest as a Fulbright Scholar. He is on the piano faculty of Brigham Young University where he directed the piano program for 14 years, and is a faculty member at Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard, where he has taught since 2017.

Dr. Hsiu-Jung (Sherry) Hou – Piano
Concert Pianist

Education: University of Michigan

Hsiu-Jung Hou leads a dynamic career as a soloist, chamber musician, and dedicated piano teacher. As a soloist, she has earned accolades in prestigious competitions, such as the National Taiwan Normal University Concerto Competition, the MTNA Michigan Performance Competition, and the Seattle International Competition. Her passion for music extends to participating in renowned festivals, where she has gained invaluable performance experience. Recent highlights include her lecture recital “The Theme of Childhood” at the University of Michigan, a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto with the Ann Arbor Symphony, and a guest recital at the Seattle International Competition.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Hsiu-Jung has performed at the International Music Conference in Beijing, the Salzburg International Summer Academy Recital, numerous chamber and duo concerts in Ann Arbor, and collaborative recitals in the Bay Area. She treasures the collaborative spirit of chamber music, finding joy in learning, inspiring, and creating music alongside fellow artists.
As a dedicated music teacher with nearly a decade of experience, Hsiu-Jung (Sherry) Hou fosters a warm, friendly, and professional environment that encourages students to thrive. Her teaching philosophy centers on the belief that every child is unique, with their own special qualities to bring to their musical journey. Hsiu-Jung delights in inspiring her students’ imaginations, unlocking their potential, and helping them discover the joy and love inherent in making music. Since 2019, she has been committed to providing professional and enjoyable piano lessons to students in the Bay Area, California.

Dr. Chih-Long Hu – Piano
Sandra G. Powell Endowed Professor of Piano and the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, University of Tennessee

Education: National Taiwan University, Taipei National University of the Arts, University of Michigan

Pianist Chih-Long Hu’s performance career was launched after receiving honors including the Taipei National Concert Hall Arising Star, the Chi-Mei Artist Award, and prizes from the Mauro Monopoli International Piano Competition in Italy, the Concurs International De Piano D’Escaldes-Engordany in Andorra, the Takamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, and San Jose International Piano Competition in California.
Hu performs extensively as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. His recent performance highlights include concerto performances of Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, solo and chamber recitals in China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Ireland, France, Canada, and throughout the U.S. Hu’s performances have been broadcast in “Performance Today” through NPR stations across the U.S. His CD albums “Formosa Caprices”, “Complete Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux”, and “Goldberg Variations” have received critical acclaim.
Recipient of the UT Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award and named “Teacher of the Year” by Tennessee Music Teachers Association, Knoxville Music Teachers Associations, and Appalachian Music Teachers Association, Hu is committed and passionate in teaching. He strives to cultivate and inspire curiosity in meaningful expressions and to help his students discover their individuality through music.   
Hu holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Michigan, a Master’s degree from Taipei National University of the Arts, and a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from National Taiwan University. Hu is a Steinway artist, and currently the Sandra G. Powell Endowed Professor of Piano and the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Eunhye Grace Hwang – Piano
Executive Director of Melodique Ensemble

Education: Ewha Womans University, Manhattan School of Music

Eunhye Grace Hwang is a pianist, chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and choir conductor, and the Co-founder and Executive Director of Melodique Ensemble, a San Francisco Bay Area–based ensemble of professional performers and composers. She maintains an active performance and collaborative schedule and is also involved as a choir director and collaborative pianist for several community and church choirs.
Hwang’s performances have left lasting impressions in the United States. John Forconi, department chair at the Manhattan School of Music, praised her recital: “Pianist Eunhye Grace Hwang presented a most difficult program with ease and great style. Her fine technique served her well throughout, along with her excellent sense of projection and style. What was most impressive throughout this recital is her passionate temperament and personality.” She has performed and accompanied numerous concerts and recitals at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Greenfield Hall, and Charles Myers Recital Hall in New York, and has appeared in chamber music master classes led by Robert Mann, Jean Barr, James Dunham, and others.
A committed collaborator and educator, Hwang previously served as a collaborative pianist at the Manhattan School of Music and its Pre-College Division, and was a faculty member at Busan Arts Middle School, Busan Arts High School, and PUNIEL Arts High School. She was a winner and performer at the MSM Chamber Music Festival and the Balsam Chamber Competition, and has been awarded in multiple competitions in Korea, including the grand prize and winners’ concert at the Korean Piano Duo Association Competition. She earned a Master of Music (MM) degree and Professional Studies (PS) program certificates in music performance with a scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music, and holds a Bachelor of Music (BM) degree from Ewha Womans University.

Dr. Fantee Jones – Piano
Artistic Director, USOMC 
Concert Pianist and Pre-College Faculty, 
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Education: The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, Eastman School of Music

Taiwanese-American pianist Fantee Jones, of Roseville, California, gave her first solo recital at the age of seven, and her concerto debut at age ten performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488. Most recently, she was the 1st prize winner and awarded the “Best Execution of a Classical Piece” in the Città di San Donà di Piave International Piano Competition and 5th prize winner of the 2022 XII Darmstadt International Chopin Piano Competition in Germany. She has received top prizes in the Gina Bachauer Young Artists, Lagny-sur-Marne, Los Angeles International Piano Competitions and a winner of the PianoTexas International Young Artists Concerto Competition. Upon winning the Piano Texas Concerto Competition, she performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Lio Kuokman.
Miss Jones made her first Carnegie Weill Hall appearance in May 2005 and has also performed at Benaroya Hall and Lied Center of Kansas in the United States, National Recital Hall in Taiwan, Sendai City Cultural Center in Japan, Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, Temppeliaukion Kirkko “Rock Church” in Finland and Verbrugghen Hall in Australia, as well as on Cunard and Princess Cruise Lines.
Fantee began studying with her mother at age three. She received her Bachelor of Music and the Roy M. Rubinstein Prize from Manhattan School of Music, and her Master of Music from The Juilliard School. She was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize along with a Master of Musical Arts from Yale School of Music, under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music in Piano Performance and Literature and a minor in Piano Pedagogy in May 2022, where she studied with Alexander Kobrin and served as a Teaching Assistant to Alexander Kobrin and Vincent Lenti. 
Miss Jones is currently on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Pre-College division) and Legato Music School in San Jose and maintains a private piano studio in the Sacramento area. In addition to her performance and teaching career, she also serves as the Artistic Director of the United States Open Music Competition (USOMC), a non-profit organization that has supported youth musicians in Northern California for over 30 years. For more information, please visit www.fanteejones.com.

Philip Jung – Piano
Founder and Director of Keytone Academy

Education: The Juilliard School, Tel Aviv University

Philip Jung is an internationally recognized pianist and educator whose artistry bridges performance and pedagogy with a steadfast commitment to musical excellence. A graduate of The Juilliard School (B.M.) and Tel Aviv University (M.M., Magna Cum Laude), he studied under world-renowned pedagogues Prof. Arie Vardi, Prof. Matti Raekallio, and John McCarthy, whose mentorship profoundly shaped his artistic voice.
A four-time recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States Scholarship, and First Prize winner of the Tel Aviv University Interschool Competition, Philip has earned distinction for his technical mastery, interpretive depth, and poetic sensitivity. His performances reflect an artistry that fuses intellectual rigor with emotional nuance, qualities that have defined his presence on international stages.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Philip has appeared at prestigious venues including Herbst Theatre and the Wattis Room at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, and has been featured as a distinguished soloist on the Jerusalem Radio  Station through Tel Aviv University. His concerto collaborations with the California Youth Symphony and Peninsula Symphony further underscore his expressive range and musical versatility.
Beyond performance, Philip is the Founder and Director of Keytone Academy in Mountain View, California, where he devotes his expertise to cultivating the next generation of musicians. He is developing a forward-thinking curriculum that merges technical precision, artistic expression, and intellectual engagement, uniquely tailored to each student’s strengths. His students have garnered top honors in national and international competitions and have performed at esteemed venues including Carnegie Hall.
With an artistry rooted in integrity and a vision that inspires, Philip Jung stands as a driving force in mentoring the young and shaping the future of classical music.

Angela Lee – Cello
Cellist, The Lee Trio & Ensemble SF Chamber Music Faculty, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Education: The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music

Cellist Angela Lee is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music. Since making her Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, she has concertized throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. She is a founding member of The Lee Trio, which has commissioned and premiered works of numerous living composers. In its third decade, The Lee Trio recently released a new album, Midsummer Night Magic, to critical acclaim and continues to perform and teach master classes worldwide. Using music to foster peace and goodwill, Ms. Lee has made humanitarian trips to the Republic of the Philippines and the former Yugoslavia. While on a U.N.-sanctioned tour of six war-torn cities throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, she performed for NATO troops and displaced civilians. 
As a member of Ensemble SF since 2022, she continues to delve into a vast array of chamber music, allowing this multi-faceted art form to inspire and connect with others in unconventional settings. 
In addition to coaching chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she serves on the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Alumni Association Leadership Council and on the Board of Directors of The Resonance Project, which promotes empathy through live music. Her Neapolitan cello is made by Nicolo Gagliano from 1762.

Melinda Lee-Masur – Piano
Pianist, The Lee Trio and Piano Faculty,
Stanford University

Education: Harvard University, Hannover Hochschule für Musik

Lauded for her “impeccable technique and artistic interpretation” [The Columbian], pianist Melinda Lee Masur has performed on all three stages of Carnegie Hall, at London’s Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, the Berliner Philharmonie, at the Ravinia Festival, Festival Les Muséiques Basel and in Boston’s Symphony Hall. She has given recitals in cities from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Toronto and New York, to London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris, Kiev and Leipzig. Masur has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Shenzhen Symphony and Macao Youth Symphony. 
An avid chamber musician, Masur has performed with such artists as Augustin Hadelich, Alban Gerhardt, Fanny Clamagirand, Adrian Brendel, Thomas Quasthoff. She is pianist and founding member of The Lee Trio, praised worldwide for its “gripping immediacy and freshness” and “rich palette of tone colours” [The Strad]. The Trio has given world, American and European premieres of piano trios by composers including Edmund Finnis, Uljas Pulkkis, Nathaniel Stookey, Philip Lasser, Jane Antonia Cornish, Nicky Sohn, & Sylvie Bodorova and garnered awards such as the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin. The Trio has recorded for the Delos and innova labels and their most recent album release, Midsummer Night Magic, was met with critical and audience acclaim. 
Together with her husband, Ken-David Masur, she serves as Artistic Director of the Chelsea Music Festival, an annual summer music festival in New York City praised by The New York Times as a “gem of a series” and frequently featured amongst its Best Classical picks of the season. The Festival is known for its thematic programming of works ranging from baroque to contemporary to jazz, and combining the performing, visual, and culinary arts. 
A graduate of Harvard University and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, Germany, Masur is passionate about educating the next generation of musicians. Masur has served on the faculty at the University of Chicago and Boston University, and given masterclasses at colleges & universities such as the Lewis & Clark College, University of Utah’s School of Music, Gordon College, Biola University, Wheaton College, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s School of Music, and the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy in Romania. Masur is the Director of Piano Chamber Music and Co-Director of the Young Artists Piano Program at the BU Tanglewood Institute and is honored to join the piano faculty at Stanford in the Fall of 2025. Melinda Lee Masur is a Steinway Artist.

Dr. Hanzheng Li – Piano
Concert Pianist and Educator

Education: Shanghai Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory

Dr. Hanzheng Li is a Bay Area–based pianist recognized for vivid solo and chamber performances across Europe, North America, and China, with appearances at Carnegie Weill Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Kresge Auditorium, and Jordan Hall. She trained at the New England Conservatory, earning her DMA degree in Collaborative Piano, dual master’s degrees with honors in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano, a graduate diploma, and a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Starting the musical journey at four and a half, she won First Prize at the Golden Key National Keyboard Competition at eight and later earned accolades at the Gulangyu National, KAWAI National, and International Keyboard Odyssiad competitions. Her teachers are Chenbin Wu, Weiming Li, Denghui Huang, Minduo Li, Yun Sun, Victor Rosenbaum, Vivian Weilerstein, Pei-Shan Lee, Jonathan Feldman, and Cameron Stowe.
An avid collaborator, Li has been a fellow or full-scholarship recipient at the Bowdoin, Toronto, SongFest, Cremona, and Beijing international music festivals. With nearly twenty years of teaching, her students span all levels and have won top prizes at competitions such as the United States Open Music Competition and the San Francisco International Piano Competition. She was a teaching fellow at the US-China Music Festival and Workshop, and served as a teaching assistant in NEC’s Piano, Collaborative Piano, and Theory Departments, working with both undergraduate and graduate students. She also completed a concentration in Music-in-Education and is deeply committed to community engagement. Her community involvement includes serving as Secretary and Council Member of the Boston Chinese Musicians Association and a fellow in NEC’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program.

Chinese-born pianist Chen Liang is a recording artist for KNS Classical in Spain and a performing artist for Chengdu City Concert Hall in China. He has played with Chong Qing Philharmonic in China, the Greece Symphony Orchestra in New York and Lynn Philharmonic in Florida. Chen is the winner of the Clara Schumann International Piano Competition, the Manhattan International Music Competition, the Lira International Piano Competition, the Big Arts Classical Music Scholarship Competition, and the Lynn Concerto Competition. He also won top prizes in many other competitions including “ArsClassica” International Piano Competition in Italy, Piano Texas Music Festival Concerto Competition and the Chautauqua Music Festival Piano Competition.
Currently, Chen serves as Vice President of South King County Music Teachers’ Association in Seattle and Artistic Board for the Seattle International Piano Competition. He is also on the piano faculty at the Chopin Academy of Music. Chen performs as a Collaborative Pianist for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Choral Company. Before
moving to Seattle, Chen was a former Piano Faculty at Eastman Community Music School in New York and an Adjunct Lecturer at the State University of New York at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo). Back in China, Chen co-founded the “Beyond Clouds” summer piano festival in Chengdu and has been serving as the Artistic Director since 2018. Chen holds his degrees from Lynn University Conservatory of Music (BM) with Dr. Roberta Rust and the Eastman School of Music (MM, DMA), with Ms. Natalya Antonova.

Pei-Chun Liao – Piano
Concert Pianist, Associate Professor of Piano, University of Taipei

Education: Taipei National University of Arts, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Hochschule für Musik Freiburg

Pei-Chun Liao is an accomplished concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She started her musical studies at the age of three. After Liao graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts, she moved to Europe and continued her studies in the UK at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Malcolm Wilson and Philip Martin. At the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany, she studied with Professor Vitali Berzon and graduated with the highest award, Auszeichnung in Solistenexamen Diploma.
Liao has performed at Manchester Peel Hall, Mozarteum Wiener Saal, Salle Cortot, Rachmaninoff Hall and Barber Institute. As a soloist, Liao has performed with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, the Taipei Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Hunan Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with internationally renowned musicians including Reinhold Friedrich, Peter Donohoe, Benjamin Frith and Benny Kim, among many others.
Liao is a prizewinner at numerous competitions, including 3rd prize at the Taipei Chopin international Competition, the Taiwan Young Artist Competition and she was selected as “Young Star of National Concert Hall” in Taiwan, Beryl Chempin Beethoven Prize, Birmingham Conservatoire Piano Prize, Birmingham Symphony Hall Recital Prize and the Ludlow Philharmonic Concerto Prize. She received 2nd Prize at the 7th Mauro Paolo Monopoli International Piano Competition in Italy.
Active in international music festivals, Liao has been a guest artist at Baylor University, Ball State University, Sacramento State University, and others. She was also invited to perform at the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe’s Regent Hall recital and participate in their Beethoven project. Liao is currently a full-time Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Taipei, where she teaches piano and frequently gives lectures, master classes, and serves as a judge in competitions such as the Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition and Kawai Asia Piano Competition.

Dr. Zih-Yun Lin – Piano
Concert Pianist and Educator

Education: New York University, Louisiana State University

Taiwanese pianist Zih-Yun Lin holds degrees from New York University and Louisiana State University, where she completed her master’s and doctoral studies in Piano Performance under full assistantship. Her principal teachers include Pei-Chuan Lin, Joanna Ting, Alexander Kobrin, Gregory Sioles, and Henry Kramer. Bellini News described her Schumann playing as “remarkably clear, with knowledgeable pedaling and a surprising, pearly touch.”
Dr. Lin has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Taiwan, the United States, France, and Italy. Her collaborations include performances with Christopher Lowry, principal violist of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra; Satoshi Okamoto, bassist of the New York Philharmonic; members of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra; and Marc Ramírez, principal bassist of The Sun Symphony Orchestra. She also recorded the album Milestones with Lowry.
A founding member of a piano trio with clarinetist Chadwick Thomas and cellist Caio Diniz, the ensemble won the Jonathan McCall Award at the NOLA Chamber Music Competition and appeared at Loyola University. Dr. Lin is also the winner of the Master Players Festival Concerto Competition and a third-prize recipient of the LSU Concerto Competition.
She has taught at New York University, the United Methodist School of Music Excellence, and the Columbus Music Conservatory, and has served as a collaborative pianist for Louisiana State University, the International Society of Bassists, Louisiana BassFest, and NATS. She is currently active in Taiwan as a performer, educator, and collaborative artist.

Dr. Lingwen Luo – Piano
Concert Pianist and Educator

Education: Wuhan Conservatory, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Missouri – Kansas City

Dr. Lingwen (Laura) Luo is a Bay Area–based pianist, educator, and adjudicator dedicated to artistic excellence and the advancement of music education. She has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and China, appearing at major venues such as the Musikverein Concert Hall in Vienna, where she was featured in the “Dandelion” Chinese New Year Concert. She is also a top-prize winner in several international competitions, including the Liszt Memorial Hong Kong International Piano Open Competition.
Dr. Luo earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where she was awarded a full scholarship and assistantship. She holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University Bloomington, where she received the Artistic Excellence Award, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music in China, following her studies at the Conservatory’s affiliated high school. Her principal teachers include Robert Weirich, Alon Goldstein, Evelyne Brancart, Karen Shaw, and Xiaofeng Zheng.
As a devoted educator with more than fifteen years of teaching experience, Dr. Luo has guided students to top prizes in international, national, and regional competitions. She previously served on the piano faculty of the UMKC Community Music and Dance Academy and as a graduate teaching assistant at the UMKC Conservatory, mentoring both undergraduate and pre-college musicians. In 2018, she was nominated for the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Superior Graduate Assistant Award in recognition of her excellence in teaching and service. She also serves as an adjudicator for the International Association of Professional Music Teachers (IAPMT).
Now based in California, Dr. Luo is committed to providing highly individualized instruction that emphasizes technical fluency, musical understanding, and expressive depth. Her students have distinguished themselves in competitions such as the Paris International Music Competition, King’s Peak International Music Competition, and London International Music Competition.

Diane Maltester – Clarinet
Professional Clarinetist & Professor of Clarinet, CSU EastBay and Diablo Valley College

Education: California State University – Hayward

.Diane Maltester, MA in music performance, is the acting principal clarinetist of the Oakland Symphony and principal clarinetist in the Bay Phil, the Vallejo Symphonies, the Walnut Creek Festival Opera, and the Oakland Ballet. She is the clarinet professor for CSU East Bay, Diablo Valley College, and professor emeritus from Los Medanos College.
Maltester also performs numerous solo and chamber recitals in the Bay Area and is a member of the Clarinet Fusion Ensemble which performed at the International ClarinetFest 2022 and 2024.
She has a renowned private clarinet studio and is a former Northern Woodwind Chairperson for the Music Teachers’ Association of California and former conductor of the Diablo Wind Symphony.
She can be heard on the recently released Wild Swans CD, which can be streamed, and features works by Bay Area composer, Nancy Bachmann.

Dr. Tyler Ramos – Piano
Faculty at University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
and Punahou School

Education: University of Hawai’i, University of Arizona, Eastman School of Music

Dr. Tyler Ramos enjoys a multi-faceted career as a pianist, organist, and cellist. His accolades include top prizes at the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Competition, American Prize competition, Lois Trester Piano Competition, and American Virtuoso competition. He has also served as an adjudicator for the Music Teachers National Association competition, the Osaka International Music Competition, and the Orbifold Global Music Festival and Competition.
As an Educator, Dr. Ramos holds two full-time teaching positions at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and the Punahou School where he teaches applied piano, group piano, music theory, and aural skills. His students range from kindergarten to music majors to adult amateurs. His presentations have most notably been featured on the “From the Artist Bench” series through the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. 
In addition to his work as a performer and educator, Dr. Ramos is passionate about community service. He is a Director and Treasurer of the Hawai’i Music Teachers Association, which serves the community of Hawai’i at large by putting both competitive and non-competitive performance opportunities for pre-college students throughout the state.
Dr. Ramos holds degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (Bachelor of music ‘17), the University of Arizona (Master of Music ‘19), and the Eastman School of Music (Doctor of Musical Arts, Music Theory Minor, and Arts Leadership Certificate ‘23). His major teachers have been Dr. Thomas Yee, Dr. John Milbauer, and Natalya Antonova. He has participated in festivals such as the Colburn Festival, Banff Music Festival, and Chautauqua Music Festival where he also studied with Nelita True, Marietta Orlov, Jon Nakamatsu, Boris Slutsky, Sara Davis Buechner, and others.

Dr. Jeffrey Sykes – Piano
Lecturer in Piano and Vocal Coaching, University of California – Berkeley

Education: UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin-Madison

With a career spanning performance, education, and artistic direction, pianist Jeffrey Sykes brings a visionary approach to fostering meaningful connections between performers and audiences. He has earned a reputation for his captivating interpretations and profound musical insight, particularly as a collaborative pianist in chamber and vocal music. His work with some of the world’s finest musicians has graced stages across the United States and internationally, reflecting his commitment to creating engaging musical dialogue.
A passionate educator, he is known for his ability to connect deeply with students, bringing the energy and insight he exhibits on stage into the studio and classroom. Through his work with university piano and voice students at the University of California, Berkeley and California State University–East Bay, he blends technical rigor with a deep understanding of musical expression, drawing on his extensive performance experience to prepare students for a lifetime of engagement with the arts. As artistic director of the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society and the Cactus Pear Music Festival, Sykes designs seasons that bridge tradition and innovation, inviting audiences to experience the intimate, transformative power of chamber music. His work has been lauded for thoughtful programming that creates profound shared experiences between performers and listeners. Sykes’s 17 years as music director of Opera for the Young underscore his commitment to engaging diverse communities with the beauty of classical music.
Sykes earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a recipient of the prestigious Javits Fellowship from the US Department of Education, focusing on solo piano performance, musicology, and historical performance practice. A Fulbright Scholar, he pursued advanced studies in piano, chamber music, and Lied accompaniment in Austria and Germany. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his honors thesis received the university’s top prize for senior research.

Dr. Dale Tsang – Piano
Concert Pianist – New Music Specialist

Education: University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Rice University

Dale Tsang earned her BM in piano performance from the University of Southern California (studying with John Perry), her MM from the University of Michigan (studying with Dickran Atamian), and her DMA from Rice University (studying with John Perry). A winner of numerous competitions and an active solo and chamber musician, Dale frequently performs locally and in Europe and Asia. As a core member of the Ensemble for These Times, she championed 20th and 21st century music and collaborated in many commissions, premieres and international performances. Her collaborative work on E4TT recordings resulted in a 2016 Silver Medal and a 2018 Gold Medal from the Global Music Awards. She continues to enthusiastically disseminate the music of living composers. Dale is a faculty member at Laney College and teaches an inspiring assortment of adult students. She has also served as a judge for numerous organization’s competitions, including CCPAS Sturm-Page Competition, Etude Club of Berkeley, MTAC Contra Costa Branch’s Sonata competition, East Bay Music Festival Competition, United States Open Music Competition (USOMC), the Dorothy Van Waynen Competition, Ross McKee Piano Competition, San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s concerto competition, and the MTAC State Panel Finals.

Jack Van Geem – Percussion
Percussion Faculty, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Former Principal Percussionist and Assistant Timpanist with the San Francisco Symphony

Education: California State University – Hayward, Hochschule für Musik Koln

Jack Van Geem retired as Principal Percussionist and Assistant Timpanist with the San Francisco Symphony in 2012, a position he held for 32 years.  He has performed and recorded with the symphony as a mallet soloist, solo timpanist, snare drum soloist and featured solo percussionist. Before joining the Symphony in 1981, he performed for five years with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. He studied in Germany with Cristoph Caskel on a Hertz Fellowship and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from California State University Hayward, where he also taught. In addition to his work with the San Francisco Symphony, Van Geem has recorded and performed chamber music, music soundtracks and marimba and xylophone music. He recently finished recording a CD of marimba duets with Nancy Zeltsman and premiered Island Music, a work written especially for them by Michael Tilson Thomas.
Van Geem has taught at San Francisco Conservatory since 1991 and at The Colburn School in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2015. He has also taught at nearly every ZMF event from 2001 – 2020 where he also served as Vice President.

Dr. Shi-Hwa Wang – Violin
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor and the Director of String Studies, Weber State University

Education: Soochow University, University of Illinois

Shi-Hwa Wang’s outstanding reputation as a violinist has earned him the post of concertmaster of several professional orchestras including the Taipei Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, the Ballet West and Utah Chamber Orchestras in Salt Lake City, and the Classical Music Festival Orchestra in Eisenstadt, Austria. An avid chamber musician, he is the founding member of the Formosan Violin-Piano Duo, the Wasatch Piano Trio, Browning String Quartet, and the Kismarton String Quartet.
“five stars: This recital holds revelations as well as ravishing delights, all superbly performed….the violin, and Shi-Hwa Wang marries expressive weight with technical polish perfectly….” (Fanfare Magazine)
As an educator Dr. Wang is selected as the Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor at Weber State University. He has a keen sense of teaching which allows his students to achieve their very best. His pupils have constantly been prize winners of state and national competitions. He has had seven national finalists in the Music Teachers National Association national competition, 24 first-place state strings competition winners in Utah and 38 WSU Concerto Night competition winners. Many have gone on to graduate programs of the top music universities in the country or become accomplished teachers after graduation from WSU.
Dr. Wang has served as a clinician, adjudicator, and master class teacher, both nationally and internationally. He has taught violin in the summer programs at the University of Michigan, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Illinois, the International Workshops in Europe, Classical Music Festival in Austria, Interharmony International Music Festival, Sewanee Music Festival, and the Banff International Youth Orchestra Festival in Canada. He taught violin at the Haydn Conservatory of Music in Austria as a visiting professor and toured many European countries as a solo recitalist. He is the director of the annual WSU ASTA Stringfest for string players of all ages and the executive director of the Sid & Mary Foulger International Summer Music Festival. He was on the planning committee for the ASTA National Conference in 2003. He has been Utah ASTA president and received the “Utah Educator of the Year” and “Outstanding Teaching Award.”

Dr. Yu-Jane Yang – Piano
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor and the Director of Keyboard Studies, Weber State University

Education: University of Illinois, University of Michigan

Dr. Yu-Jane Yang is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor and the Director of Keyboard Studies at Weber State University. Dr. Yang is the national recipient of the prestigious Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Teacher of the Year award in 2020, inducted to the Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in New York (2021), recognized with the Steinway Top Teacher Award (2022), and named an MTNA Foundation Fellow (2011). Furthermore, Dr. Yang received the esteemed 2023 Utah Governor’s Mansion Artist Award presented by Governor Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox in Sep, 2023.
Much in demand as a presenter, performer, and master class teacher, Yu-Jane has given numerous piano workshops, master classes, and concert performances in Austria, Poland, Norway, Spain, Italy, Germany, Singapore, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Canada, and the United States. Dr. Yang was the featured 2022 MTNA National Conference masterclass teacher for the Intermediate Piano Master Class. Dr. Yang and Dr. Shi-Hwa Wang were the featured national conference concert artists performing as the Formosan Violin-Piano Duo at the jam-packed Opening Session Concert of the 2023 MTNA National Conference. She also appears frequently as an adjudicator for piano competitions nationally and internationally, including judging the MTNA Competition National Finals, MTNA Division Competitions, the California and Nevada state solo and concerto competitions, International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington D.C., and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition preliminary auditions.
Dr. Yang’s students have been top prizewinners in both collegiate and pre-college divisions in numerous state, national and international piano competitions, including the national first place winner of the 2010 MTNA Steinway Young Artist Collegiate Piano Competition and the 2020 Gilmore Young Artist Award national winner. Yu-Jane’s students at Weber State University have received piano scholarships for graduate studies from world-renowned music schools such as the Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan, Peabody Institute, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Dr. Yuhan Yeh – Piano
Concert Pianist

Education: Peabody Conservatory, University of Southern California

A native of Taiwan, Yuhan Yeh began her formal piano studies at the age of five. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Piano Performance from the USC Thornton School of Music. She earned her Master of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Her principal teachers include Bernadene Blaha, Boris Slutsky, Rolf-Peter Wille, and Grace Chung.
Yeh has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and ensembles in the United States and internationally. She performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Andrés Cárdenes as the first-prize winner of the USC Thornton Concerto Competition, and was also the Gardner Memorial Award recipient at the 68th Wideman International Piano Competition.
Demonstrating her versatility, Yeh performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C major, K. 467 as both soloist and conductor with the USC string ensemble. She also appeared as a soloist with the Texas Round Top Festival Orchestra, performing Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals under Emilio Colón in a Young Persons’ Concert.
In 2025, Yeh was invited by the Cadence Collective Foundation to join their summer concert tour, Music Around the World: The French Chapter, with performances at Horowitz Hall in Shanghai, Steinway Hall in Hangzhou, and the Xi’an Conservatory of Music.
Her recent honors include Silver Medals at the International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival Competition and the James Ramos International Piano Competition. She has also received prizes at the Seattle International Piano Competition and the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition.
In addition to her performance career, Yeh serves as a board member of Nova Music Production, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating performance opportunities and supporting music education through initiatives such as the New Stage Music Festival and community outreach programs.

Dr. Emery Yu-Pang Yu – Piano
Concert Pianist and Educator

Education: Taipei National University of the Arts, Indiana University

Taiwanese pianist Emery Yu-Pang Yu, praised by piano maker Paolo Fazioli as a pianist of artistic insight and excellent touch, is one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation and is highly regarded as an artist of depth, sensitivity, and virtuosic aptitude. “[Emery’s] pianism was remarkably genuine, the fingers floating with ease and clarity up and down and across the keyboard… sublime expositions, sublimely offered….” — Herald-Times Online
As an internationally recognized artist, Emery has been invited to play solo concerts and concertos in such places as the Fazioli Concert Hall and Verdi Theatre in Italy; Carnegie Hall in New York; Rexxam Hall in Kagawa, Japan; Auer Hall in Indiana; and at the Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, collaborating with conductors Fusao Kujima, Marzio Conti, Amy Chang, and Yen-Cheng Yu. As a recording artist, Emery released his first CD album in 2022 under the Orpheus Classical label. This album is available through digital distribution as well as traditional physical distribution worldwide.
Having earned his Doctoral Degree and served as a Piano Instructor at Indiana University, Emery continues his performance and teaching career in the United States, while also remaining committed to the development of classical music in Taiwan. He regularly conducts masterclasses, gives lectures, and serves as a competition judge for music programs in Taiwan. Emery was the first signed artist with the Taiwan Arts Education Senior High School Alliance and was appointed as the Artistic Talent Ambassador in 2021 for the Auden Technology Corporation Educational Association in Taiwan, which aims to bring classical music closer to the public and encourage local students to pursue their musical aspirations.

Dr. Shichao Zhang – Piano
Director of Keyboard Division,
Eastern Illinois University

Education: Eastman School of Music

Pianist Shichao Zhang holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature, with a minor in Chamber Music and Accompanying, from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he also earned his Bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude, 2012) and Master’s degree (2014). He studied under the tutelage of Professor Douglas Humpherys and Professor Jean Barr, where he played an important role as a teacher in various capacities, which led to his recognition with the 2013 2014 Eastman Teaching Assistant Prize. Zhang’s achievement was recognized by the Pi Kappa Lambda, a National Music Honor Society. Originally from China, Zhang began his musical education in Beijing under Madam Yafen Zhu and Ms. Chen Zhang.
Zhang has won numerous prizes in competitions including the Hong Kong (Asia) Piano Open Competition, the Eastman School of Music Concerto Competition, the New York MTNA Steinway Young Artist Competition, the 2011 Jefferson Symphony International Young Artists Competition, the Iowa International Piano Competition and the Metropolitan International Piano Competition. He has performed widely across China, United States, and Europe with solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and concerto performances. His expertise extends to adjudicating various competitions, including the 3rd Macau-Asia Pacific Youth Piano Competition, the 18th Hong Kong (Asia) Piano Open Competition, the Prime Golden Bell Music Award of China, the Jiangxi Preliminary of the 3rd Kyoto International Music Competition.
Dr. Zhang joined the faculty at Eastern Illinois University in 2023. Previously he was on the faculty at the Bienen School of Music at the Northwestern University, and was a Visiting Professor at the Helongjiang University of Technology in China. He has been a full-time Visiting Artist-in-Residence at the Music Department of Skidmore College. 
Beyond teaching and performing, Dr. Zhang proudly serves as the Festival Manager of the Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival in Italy, and the Festival Coordinator of the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain.