2020 Sejong Music Competition Judges
Violin
Final Round Judges:
Simin Ganatra |
Jason Horowitz |
Francesca DePasquale
First Round Judges::
Gregory Lee | Wen-Lei-Gu
Piano
Final Round Judges:
Yong-hi Moon | Christopher Guzman |
Anthony Padilla
First Round Judges:
Kate Boyd |
Sojung Lee Hong| Victor Cayres | Kay Kim | Grace Juang | Jeong Min Lee
Simin Ganatra is professor of music in violin and chair of the Strings Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is also first violinist of the Pacifica Quartet, the school's quartet-in-residence.
Ganatra has won wide recognition for her performances throughout the United States and abroad. She has performed numerous times in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebeouw in Amsterdam, and Carnegie's Zankel Hall. Collaborations include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Lynn Harrell, and Menahem Pressler, among others.
She is the recipient of several awards and prizes, including a Grammy for best chamber music performance, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, Coleman Chamber Music Competition, Pasadena Instrumental Competition, and Schubert Club Competition.
Originally from Los Angeles, Ganatra studied with Idell Low, Robert Lipsett, and Roland and Almita Vamos. She is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where she was concertmaster of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra and recipient of the Louis Kaufman Prize for outstanding performance in chamber music.
She was previously professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. She has many recordings on the Cedille Records label, including the complete string quartets of Felix Mendelssohn, Elliot Carter, and Dmitri Shostakovich. During the summer, she serves on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Violinist Jason Horowitz has been a member of the Boston Symphony since 2006, where he has worked with every major conductor of our time and participated in many international tours. As soloist, recitalist and chamber musician he has appeared across North America, Europe and Asia. A frequent guest soloist of the Boston Ballet, he performed the concerto of Peteris Vasks with choreography by Peter Martins, a series of Corelli violin sonatas, and most recently eighteen performances of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with choreography by Balanchine. Horowitz’s penetrating interpretations make him an “assured, eager advocate” (The Boston Globe) of composers of all eras. The Boston Herald described his playing as “eloquent, persuasive, and, of course, wonderfully adept.” The Boston Musical Intelligencer noted his “exquisitely self-controlled and lyrical ….subtle and delicate” approach to Debussy.
His many appearances in Boston’s renowned Jordan Hall have included solo recitals, concertos ranging from Bach to Schnittke, chamber music, and several world premieres,
including a “serene, limpid-toned performance” (The Boston Globe) of the violin concerto by Donald Sur.
Horowitz’s formative mentor was Philipp Naegele, one of the founders of the Marlboro Festival and a member of the Vegh Quartet. From the age of sixteen, he began working closely with the
legendary Louis Krasner, beginning with the Berg Concerto and eventually including the Schoenberg Concerto. Horowitz received New England Conservatory’s highest honor, the Artist
Diploma, in 1996, as a student of Masuko Ushioda. He continued studies in Germany with Christoph Poppen, joining the Munich Chamber Orchestra shortly thereafter, with whom he
toured Asia, the United States and all of Europe.
As guest concertmaster Horowitz has appeared with the BBC Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, the Hartford Symphony and the Rochester Symphony. From 2001 - 2005 he was
concertmaster at the Breckenridge Music Festival, where he also performed concertos by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mozart, and Berlioz’s Rêverie et Caprice.
Other solo engagements have included the Mendelssohn Concerto in the Czech Republic, the Menotti Concerto with the Charleston Symphony, and concertos of Barber, Mozart, Beethoven,
Bach, Chausson, and Brahms with orchestras in the Boston area.
An esteemed educator, Horowitz teaches orchestral repertoire to violin majors at New England Conservatory, and also created a class in orchestral interpretation centered on the Beethoven
Symphonies. He coaches the violins of the NEC orchestras and is a budding conductor. Mr. Horowitz is sought after as a private teacher as well.
Described by critics as “scintillating” and celebrated for her “rich, expressive playing” (MusicalAmerica), violinist Francesca dePasquale is the First Prize winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and recipient of the prestigious 2014-2016 career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. Earning her the 2015 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award, her self-titled debut album released in March of 2016 encompasses works that scope from Bach to a new commission from composer Paola Prestini for violin and electronics. For the album and accompanying recital tour, Francesca was praised for “sincerity, intensity” and “individual voice (Philadelphia Inquirer), and “immaculate and discreet phrasing” (Strad Magazine). Additionally, she was featured in Strings magazine and on SiriusXM, WNYC, WQXR, WRTI (Philadelphia), and WFMT (Chicago).
2020-2021 season highlights include a performance of works by William Grant Still by the violin faculty at Oberlin Conservatory as well as a return recital appearance for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society featuring On the Blue Shore of Silence, a multimedia suite for violin, piano, electronics, and visual art by composers Gity Razaz, Gloria Justen, Sayo Kosugi, and artist Johanna Andruchovici. Additional recent performance highlights include chamber music appearances for Noree Chamber Soloists’ Portsmouth Music Festival and Opera America series, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Friends of Chamber Music (Reading, PA) with the Aletheia Piano Trio, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, and Manhattan Chamber Players at the Timucua Arts Foundation, Sanibel Music Festival, Vancouver Chamber Music Society, and Valley Concert Society. Additionally, solo appearance highlights include Barber Concerto with the Riverside Philharmonic, Mendelssohn D minor Concerto with Noree Chamber Soloists, and Shostakovich Concerto no. 1 with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.
Since her debut as soloist at age 9 touring Spain with the Main Line Chamber Orchestra, Francesca has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Gustav Mahler Orchestra, the Bach Festival of Philadelphia, Colburn Orchestra, Galesburg Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, and Santa Cruz Symphony. As recitalist, she has collaborated with artists Meng-Chieh Liu, Natalie Zhu, John Root, and Reiko Uchida on series such as the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, National Sawdust, Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania, California Music Center, and the Perlman Music Program.
An active chamber musician, Francesca has performed with renowned artists Adrian Brendel, Paul Coletti, Thomas Cooley, Jennifer Frautschi, Kim Kashkashian, Nicholas Kitchen, Ronald Leonard, Robert Levin, Pavel Nersessian, Merry Peckham, Itzhak Perlman, Jeffrey Sykes, Roger Tapping, Richard Todd, Donald Weilerstein, and Helena Winkelman. Francesca is a member of the artist roster for Manhattan Chamber Players and Noree Chamber soloists, and performs frequently with Marinus Ensemble and Chameleon Arts Ensemble. Additionally, she has performed for the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove, Friends of Chamber Music (Reading, PA), An Appalachian Summer Festival’s
Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, Chesapeake Chamber Music, Heifetz International Music Institute, Music at Bunker Hill, 23Arts Initiative, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Music in the Vineyards, Olympic Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Colburn
Chamber Music Society, and the Perlman Music Program. Additionally, she has collaborated with dancers Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside for the Fall for
Dance Festival alongside composer Stefan Levin, as well as performed with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Brooklyn based orchestral collective The Knights, and A Far
Cry.
Francesca is the violinist of the Aletheia Piano Trio alongside pianist Fei-Fei and cellist Juliette Herlin. Formed in 2013 at the Juilliard School, the trio gave debut performances at the Rose Studio and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York and the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Aletheia Piano Trio has performed for Shenson Chamber Music Concerts (Washington, D.C.) PLAY the Classics at Bethel Woods (Bethel, NY), Friends of Chamber Music (Read ing, PA), Macon Concert Association at Wesleyan College (Macon, GA), Concerts in the Barn (Quilcene, WA), Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach (Palm Beach, FL), Saint Vincent College Concert Series (Latrobe, PA), Shandelee Music Festival (Livingston Manor, NY), and the Busan Maru International Music Festival (Busan, Korea), which included Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Gustav Mahler Orchestra and conductor Wilson Ng. Additionally, the trio has toured China in 2018 and 2019, performing at Poly Theatres throughout the country. Recent media highlights include several broadcasts on Performance Today of Haydn Trio No. 39 in G major, HOB XV/25 “Gypsy”, recorded live in performance for the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach.
Francesca is a member of the violin faculty at Oberlin Conservatory of Music as well as violin faculty for the Juilliard School Pre-College Program. Additionally, she is a member of the violin faculty at the Heifetz International Music Institute and its Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. Previously, Francesca served as the Starling Fellow teaching assistant to Itzhak Perlman from 2013-2016 and teaching assistant to Catherine Cho from 2013-2018 at the Juilliard School, as well as Visiting Assistant Professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music during the Fall of 2018. A graduate of the Juilliard and Colburn Schools, Francesca studied with Itzhak Perlman, Catherine Cho, and Robert Lipsett. Previous teachers include Hirono Oka and William dePasquale, with additional mentorship from Norman Carol and Arnold Steinhardt. Francesca performs on a 1968 Sergio Peresson violin and a Jean “Grand” Adam bow. Please visit http://francescadepasquale.com for more information.
An outstanding violinist with virtuosic brilliance, Gregory Lee is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Oklahoma and Concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
Lee has performed with the Oklahoma Chamber Players, Holmberg String Quartet and is a regular member of the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble in Oklahoma City.
Before coming to Oklahoma, Lee taught at Tunghai University and National Taiwan Normal University. He has given numerous recitals around Taiwan and was frequently invited as a competition adjudicator.
The Australian-born violinist holds a degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay and Naoko Tanaka. Later, he received his master’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Michigan studying with Paul Kantor. His success in competitions include the Special Jury Commendation Award of Michael Hill International Violin Competition and winner of the Geelong Advertiser Instrumental Competition.
Lee has worked in Los Angeles where he played in several orchestras including Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Los Angeles Opera and has recorded for many Hollywood motion pictures scores at 20th Century Fox, Sony/MGM, Warner Bros, Paramount and Capital Records. He has given recitals and masterclasses at institutions including the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin, University of North Texas, Arizona State University, University of Kansas, Wichita State University and the University of Texas in Arlington. In Asia, he has performed, and guest taught at Renmin University in Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory and the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia. He has appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Sunday Live” radio show.
Many of Lee’s former students have not only been accepted to major conservatories around the US but also been successful musicians, including Richard Lin, 2018 winner of the Indianapolis
International Violin Competition.
During his summers, he has taught and performed at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, OU Summer Music Academy, Vietnam Connection Music Festival and Wyoming Seminary Performing Arts Institute.
Violinist Wen-Lei Gu has won international acclaim as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician with her passionate playing and profound musicianship. The Frankfurter Neue Presse praised her playing as “a musical sensation -- top-notch musicianship and technical perfection!” A winner of numerous prizes in national and international violin competitions, Ms. Gu was the gold medalist in China’s National Violin Competition and the Heida Hermanns International Competition, the silver medalist in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition. She made her international debut at age thirteen, performing the Saint–Saëns Violin Concerto in B minor in England with Yehudi Menuhin at the baton. Menuhin said of her playing: “sounds like a poem, looks like a painting.”
Ms. Gu has performed extensively as guest soloist with orchestras and as recitalist throughout the world, in distinguished venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Smetana Hall, La Sala Verdi, Beijing Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Possessing a wide range of repertoire, she has performed virtually all the major violin concertos, including the concertos of Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Elgar, Lalo, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Saint-Saens, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawki, etc. As a concerto soloist, Ms. Gu has collaborated with orchestras such as the Houston Symphony, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Beijing Central Orchestra, the Beijing Philharmonic, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, the Hongkong Pan Aisa Symphony Orchestra, the Fox Valley Symphony, the Green Bay Civic Orchestra, and the Elkhart Symphony. In addition, her solo recitals have been frequently featured live on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Midday Show and the Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen, and Chicago WFMT Radio’s Live from WFMT and the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series.
Ms. Gu's performance highlights have included performing at the Bach Festival at Carnegie Hall commemorating the 250th Anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death, appearing at the Kennedy Center for the Millennium Concert Series, performing Wieniawski Concerto No. 2 with the Houston Symphony to an audience of five thousand, and guest soloist with the China Beijing Philharmonic on their critically acclaimed concert tour of Europe, with pianist Yundi Li performing the Yellow River Piano Concerto and Ms. Gu performing the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto. Her most recent recording of the Complete Brahms Violin Sonatas with pianist Catherine Kautsky was released by Centaur Records in 2019. Phil’s Classical Reviews described the recording as showing “a remarkable rapport, a deft sense of phrasing, and a keen awareness of subtle, almost imperceptible, changes in rhythm and moods, plus unfailingly beautiful tones that serve Brahms’ three sonatas to perfection.”
Wen-Lei Gu received her Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the Juilliard School, a Master of Music from the Mannes College of Music, and a Doctor of Music degree with a major in violin performance and a minor in music theory from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she received the prestigious Presser Award for outstanding achievement in music. Her teachers include Miriam Fried, Ida Kavafian, Sally Thomas, Dorothy Delay, and Yaoji Lin. She is currently a professor of music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Ms. Gu regularly serves as a judge for music competitions, including the Chicago Symphony Young Artists Competition, the Madison Symphony Bolz Young Artist Competition, and the Hong Kong International Music Competition.
Accomplished pianist and teacher Yong Hi Moon made her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 10 as winner of the National Korean Broadcasting Competition. Ms. Moon has won top prizes in the Elena-Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli, Italy, the Vienna da Motta Competition in Lisbon, Portugal, and also received the Chopin Prize from the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland.
Ms. Moon performs extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the US as recitalist and soloist, having appeared with the Korean National Symphony and the Osaka, Seoul, and Tokyo Philharmonics.
To celebrate Mozart’s bicentennial year in 1991, she participated in a cycle of the composer’s complete piano concerti with the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1997, Ms. Moon undertook the complete solo piano works of Schubert, performing them in six recitals in both Korea and the US. The summer of 2000 marked her first extensive concert tour of Korea, which included solo recitals in five cities.
In addition, she performed with all the major orchestras in Korea and participates regularly in such summer festivals as Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Art of piano in Cincinnati among others.
Ms. Moon is in high demand as a guest master class teacher and adjudicator. In 1993, she released a popular teaching video in Korea entitled Artistic Piano Playing. In addition, she is a frequent visitor to Beijing where she regularly gives master classes at the China Conservatory as well as the Middle School of the Central Conservatory.
She has served on the juries of the CCC Toronto International Piano Competition, Senigallia International Piano Competition in Italy, Gilmore International Piano Competition, Gina Bachauer International Competition, the Virginia Waring International as well as numerous MTNA competitions throughout the US. She has also served as a screening judge in the William Kapell and the Hilton Head International Competition. In March of 2014, she chaired the jury at Seoul International Piano Competition.
Ms. Moon was a professor of piano at Michigan State University School of Music for fifteen years, and currently she is a professor of piano at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
Ms. Moon studied at the Vienna Academy, graduating with the highest honors. She continued her studies in London before pursuing an Artist Diploma at Indiana University in Bloomington. Her major teachers include Dieter Weber, Maria Curcio, György Sebok, Leon Fleisher, Wilhelm Kempff and Fou T’song, who have always been inspirations in her work.
Pianist Christopher Guzman is a multiple prizewinner in many international competitions, including the Walter M. Naumburg Competition, the Seoul International Music Competition and the Isang Yun Competition of South Korea. Recently, Mr. Guzman garnered the grand prize and several special prizes at the 10th Concours International de Piano d’Orléans of Orléans, France. As a result, he regularly travels to France to perform in Paris and throughout the Loire Valley. His CD of German and Austrian music from the past one hundred years, Vienne et après, is available on the Tessitures label. His CD of music of Paul Reale on the Naxos Label, “Chopin’s Ghosts,” was included in Fanfare magazine’s Top Five releases of 2018. He has subsequently recorded two more CDs of Reale’s music to much critical acclaim.
Mr. Guzman’s career has brought him to such venues as Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and others. He performs regularly with some of the world’s most exciting soloists including Ilya Gringolts, Antoine Tamestit, David Fray, and Jeremy Denk, among others. He continually performs with members of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He appears regularly on the New York Philharmonic’s chamber music series “Philharmonic Ensembles.”
Mr. Guzman’s performances showcase a broad range of styles, from the Baroque era to the avant-garde. He continues to collaborate with many of the nation’s preeminent new music ensembles; his performances have included world premieres by Donald Martino, Nico Muhly, and Paul Schoenfield. The New York Times hailed his performance of Christopher Theofanidis’s Statues as “coiled” and “explosive.” In addition to wide experience performing new music, Mr. Guzman present the complete Bach Partitas in recital on tour across Asia and the United States in 2021.
Born in Texas, Christopher Guzman began studying piano at age nine and violoncello two years later. He worked primarily with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School, Anton Nel at the University of Texas at Austin, and the late Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory. He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit christopherguzmanpiano.com.
ANTHONY PADILLA is a professor of piano and chamber music at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. An American pianist of Filipino-Chinese ancestry, Padilla receives public and critical acclaim for performances of “enormous freshness, vitality, and poetry” (Chicago Tribune). Since his debut with the Seattle Symphony in 1983, he has become a popular guest artist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Highlights include solo and collaborative appearances at the Ravinia, Chautauqua, Schleswig-Holstein, Saarburg, Vianden, Cascade, Bay View, Portland Piano International and San Luis Obispo Mozart Festivals. After his New York debut recital, the New York Concert Review called him “a strong-willed, steel-fingered tornado: he plays the piano with absolute authority and gives new meaning to the idea of ‘interpretation’ to the extent that the U.S. Patent Office might well grant him a number. Nobody could copy him.”
A protégé of the legendary pianist Jorge Bolet at the Curtis Institute of Music, he completed his graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he served as teaching assistant to Jeffrey Kahane and Natalya Antonova. Awarded the prestigious Beethoven Fellowship by the American Pianists Association and top prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, he is also a laureate of the Naumburg, Bachauer, Kapell, and Cleveland International Piano Competitions. He is a founding member of the Arcos Piano Trio, recipients of an Artistic Excellence grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for commissioning, premiering, and recording new chamber works by Latin American composers Roberto Sierra and Miguel del Aguila.
A nationally certified member of the Music Teachers National Association, he is a popular adjudicator and presenter, and his students regularly earn top prizes at state, national and international competitions. His lecture-recitals and seminars on the Great Pianists, Piano Transcriptions, Piano Trios, Humor in Classical Music, Piano Teaching in the 21st Century, and the Piano Works of Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt have stirred much interest at the MTNA National Conference, summer programs, and state and regional conferences. His recordings include the premiere of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Statements: Second Sonata for Piano featured on an album of African-American composers, chamber works by American women and Latin American composers with the Arcos Piano Trio, and original piano transcriptions for extended range piano to be released soon.
An active soloist and chamber musician, American pianist Kate Boyd has performed solo recitals at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Schubert’s birth house in Vienna, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Musikhalle Hamburg, in addition to many places throughout the US, Europe and Canada. As a faculty member at Butler University, she has appeared as a soloist with each of the University’s large ensembles in performances ranging from Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
A passionate advocate for the music of our time, Boyd has performed many world premieres, including James Woodward’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble. Her first solo CD, Music for the End of Winter (Ravello), consists of previously-unrecorded works for solo piano by composers Daniel Koontz, Michael Schelle, Frank Felice, Howard Frazin and John Halle. Her second solo CD, consisting of works by John Cage (Navona), was met with critical acclaim and has received more than 100,000 digital downloads and streams to date.
With violinist April Johnson and cellist Peter Seidenberg, Boyd is a founding member of the NewYork-based Oracle Trio, a piano trio that performs works from the eighteenth century to the present. The Oracle Trio has been a featured ensemble for COLLECTANEA, a multimedia dance and music event, was a featured conferenceartist for the Indiana Music Teachers Association, and has performed on concert series in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York, and elsewhere. In addition,Oracle has commissioned works from Daniel Koontz and Douglas McConnell, and champions works by contemporary American composers including Marc Mellits,David MacDonald and Samuel Adler.
In addition to her work with Oracle, Boyd regularly collaborates with musicians and artists from various disciplines. In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, she performed a work by composer Elaine Agnew with the Orbit Dance Centre dance troupe, as well as Bach’s C Minor Partita in live performances with the dance program at Butler University. She has performed dozens of chamber music works, including a televised performance of George Crumb’s Music for a Summer Evening, for two pianos and two percussion; and John Corigliano’s Chiaroscuro, for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart.
As an educator, Boyd is also active as a conference clinician. She has presented lectures and workshops at state, regional, and international conferences, including the International John Cage Conference in Malaysia, the European Piano Teachers Association Conference in Germany, the College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference, and various state conferences. She is in demand as an adjudicator,and has judged for many events, including the ISSMA state competition, the MTNA Southern Division Competitions, and Stickley Piano Competition. Boyd has also served on the national Fulbright screening committee for piano applicants. She regularly gives masterclasses to students through teacher organizations and universities, and has worked with students of all ages.
Boyd has received numerous awards and prizes, including the 2019 Teacher of the Year award fromthe Indiana Music Teachers Association and the 2017 Outstanding Professor of the Year award from Butler University. She has also received a Creative RenewalFellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and an Indiana Arts Commission Grant. Other awards and prizes include a Fulbright scholarshipand fellowships at the Tanglewood Center, Blossom Music Center, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and Prussia Cove (England).
Boyd received her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory, under the tutelage of Russian pianist Sedmara Rutstein; her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University, where she studied with renowned pianist and pedagogue Gilbert Kalish; and a Diploma from the Hannover (Germany) Academy of Music,where she studied with Israeli master teacher Arie Vardi. She also studied with Estonian pianist Arbo Valdma at the Cologne (Germany) Academy of Music, under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant. In addition to her major teachers, she received extensive coachings and attended residential masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Peter Serkin, Gyorgy Sebok, John Perry, Reinbert DeLeeuw, and Ronald Copes, among others.
Kate Boyd is Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at Butler University, where she was recently promoted to the rank of full professor. In the summers, she serves as the head of the piano faculty of the internationally-renowned Interlochen Arts Camp in northern Michigan. Formerly, she was on the faculty of Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio, and for ten summers taught at Kinhaven Music School, in Weston, Vermont.
Pianist Sojung Lee Hong has performed widely as soloist and chamber music performer at notable music halls and universities in the United States, Asia, and South America. Her passion to speak to a variety of audience through music has led her to organize and perform at a great number of chamber music concerts over the years, especially for the Korean- American community in the Chicago area. As an insightful artist-teacher, she has also presented lecture-recitals at the international and regional conferences of the College Music Society. Her CD albums, “Whispers from Heaven” and “Tranquility” released by Judson Artists Group have been enjoyed by those who seek spiritual peace. Also, her longtime interest in Korean-themed music has reached fruition in a soon-to-be-released CD album, “From East To West: Twenty-four Piano Solos Based on Korean Folk Songs.”
She received the President’s Award at graduation from Seoul National University (BM and MM) and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. Currently, as Professor of Music at Judson University (Elgin, IL), she teaches applied lessons, piano literature and pedagogy and serves as Director of Performance Certificate Program. Her steadfast contribution to the community was recognized by the Northwest Chicago Chapter of YWCA, by which she was honored as the recipient of the Margaret Hillis Award for the Arts.
Brazilian pianist Victor Cayres has earned praise for concerts with the Sine Nomine string quartet and as soloist with Boston Pops, Orchestre des Jeunes de Fribourg in Switzerland, and Brno Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. He has been a guest artist at Banff Center for the Arts in Canada, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Claflin University, Western Washington University, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory and State University for Arts and Culture. He has recorded for Albany, Centaur, Navona, and Parma Records, and frequently performs in Brazil, Europe, and in the United States, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Preston Bradley Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall. His concerts have been broadcast live at Brazil’s TV Cultura channel, Boston’s WGBH 99.5 All Classical, and Chicago’s WFMT Fine Arts Radio. Mr. Cayres currently serves as Associate Director for Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Piano Program, as well as Instructor of Piano and Keyboard Area Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University, and on the piano faculty at New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Continuing Education. For more information, please visit:
www.victorcayres.com
As an active chamber musician, pianist Kay Kim enjoys concertizing domestically and internationally each season. She performed in recitals with the members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Paris Opera Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Musicians, the recipients of Stradivari Society Award, as well as with the faculties of the Juilliard School, Northwestern University and Indiana University among others. She has been one of the pianists of Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s conductor’s rehearsals for over a decade working with many distinguished conductors including Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Mafred Hoeneck and Stéphane Denève and performed in CSO’s subscription concerts conceived by Pierre Boulez.
Ms. Kim was heard on WFMT radio broadcasts performing in the company’s 40th Anniversary Celebration as well as First Monday Series by Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, the Rush Hour Concert series, Impromptu and Jewel Box Series and has presented recitals and performances in major venues such as Bennett Gordon Hall Series at Ravinia Festival, Kennedy Center’s Conservatory Project, Carnegie Weill Hall and the Grant Park Music Festival. She also has appeared in CBS Early Show performing with violinist Itzhak Perlman. As a former member of a musical ambassador group Trio Chicago and Friends, Ms. Kim traveled to over 20 countries presenting a comprehensive array of American music since 2006. Her chamber music performances can be heard in recordings on Summit Records and MSR Classics as well as a number of independent productions.
Ms. Kim teaches accompanying at Northeastern Illinois University. Her previous teaching and staff pianist positions include the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, the Jacob School of Music at Indiana University and the Juilliard School during the academic year and The Perlman Music Program, Music in the Marche in Italy and Alessi Seminar during the summer.
A native of South Korea, Ms. Kim attended Seoul National University for her undergraduate study and University of Michigan for her graduate degrees. She holds a doctoral degree in piano performance from Northwestern University.
Grace Juang received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from University of Maryland. Her research examined music by Robert and Clara Schumann. She holds a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from National Taiwan Normal University. Under the guidance of Alan Chow and Larissa Dedova, Grace has performed in several solo and chamber recitals throughout Chicago, Washington D.C., and Taiwan. She won the 22nd International Young Artists Piano Competition in Washington D.C. Her major Pedagogy mentors include Marcia Bosits and Elvina Pearce. Her teaching experience includes teaching at Taipei First Girls' High School, and working with piano students of all ages and levels. Dr. Juang currently is on the piano faculty of Northwestern University's Music Academy and Music Institute of Chicago. She is a dedicated and passionate teacher, and teaches students through positive instruction and encouragement. Her ultimate goal is to help every student learn and appreciate music for their entire lives. Besides teaching, Grace enjoys biking, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Jeong Min Lee received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Seoul National University. She continued her professional education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earning an Artist Diploma, and then gained a second Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University. She completed her academic training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. Her doctoral project focused on developing performing and teaching strategies for small-handed pianists.
As a devoted teacher, she has taught at Huree University (Ulaanbaater, Mongolia), Yanbian University of Science and Technology and Yanbian International Academy (China), University of Wisconsin-Madison (Piano Pioneers), and the Music Academy of Chicago. Currently, she serves as a faculty member at DePaul University (CMD) and Music Institute of Chicago. With her extensive background in both classroom and private teaching, she has designed unique programs and individualized instruction for students of all age levels, from beginning to advanced.
Dr. Lee has performed extensively as a pianist and chamber musician throughout the United States, and in Canada, China, and South Korea. Among the honors she has received are the Kato Perlman Scholarship Award, which allowed her to perform in many recitals with the Perlman Trio at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2011-2013), and the William Harrison Barnes Scholarship Award from Northwestern University (2005-2007) which permitted her to gain significant collaborative experience as a performer. Dr. Lee was also the winner of the UW-Madison Beethoven Sonata Competition, and the UW-Madison Piano Concerto Competition, the latter of which led to an appearance as soloist in the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with the University Orchestra.
Jeong Min, as a member of Klesis Chamber Ensemble, continues her commitment to enriching the arts in the local community-at-large by offering numerous concerts at many Chicagoland venues and churches.