William Chiang – Piano
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Ana Gogava entered the prestigious Z. Paliashvili School in Tbilisi at the age of 8 under the guidance of Darejan Tsintsadze.
Ana’s performance was recognized at European Union of Music for Youth Competition (EMCY) in 2002. Many other prizewinning achievements were to follow most notably 1st Prize at the N.Gabunia national competition in Georgia, 1st Prize in the VIIth and IXth V. Krainev International Competitions in Ukraine and 1st Prize in the VIIth international N. Rubinstein Competition in Paris in 2007.
Ana Gogava has participated in master-classes given by artists such as Imogen Cooper, Vladimir Krainev and Michel Sogny, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Richard Goode and has received scholarships from the President of Georgia, Elizabeth Leonskaya and the Sogny Foundation. She has given recital and concerto performances not only in Georgia, but also in Spain, Russia, Azerbaijan, Austria as well as Holland, where in 2010 she won 1st Prize in the Enschede international competition for Young Pianists. In June 2015 she was awarded by Hortense Anda prize for the “ most talented young pianist” at Geza Anda International Piano competition. In 2015 and 2016, Ana was awarded by Help Musicians Trust, Martin Musical Trust and English Speaking Union ( ESU) to take a part at Piano Master Classes at Banff Centre in Canada. In 2017 and 2018, Ana participated at Oxford Philharmonic Piano Festival. In 2019, Ana won 1st Prize at the Birmingham International Piano competition.
Ana Gogava successfully completed her Bachelor’s, Master’s and Artist Diploma courses at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she studied with Professor Philip Jenkins.
A native of Boone, NC now located in New York City, Kasey Stokes is an emerging professional in piano instruction and performance. In 2021, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) with a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance, studying under the tutelage of Dr. Dror Biran. During her undergraduate studies, Kasey was selected to attend the Amalfi Coast Music Festival (2019) and Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival (2018). In addition to the performance competitions she placed in, Kasey participated in master classes led by renowned artists such as Logan Skelton, Inna Faliks, Marina Lomazov, Christopher Harding and Michael Lewin, among others.
Kasey was also an active member of the CCM MTNA collegiate chapter, serving as Co-President for two years. She was an avid participant at annual MTNA, OMTA and collegiate symposium conferences. Since graduating, she has continued to further her professional development and attend more conferences, workshops and master classes given by leading pedagogues from around the world.
At the age of 12, Kasey’s teaching journey started with beginners, progressing to the late intermediate level. She believes the most important goal in becoming a musician is finding one’s own self-expression through music. To guide a well-rounded musician, she works by building a strong background in ear-training and musicality, as well as exploring students’ interests in playing different genres (pop, musical theater, jazz) as well as in composition and improvisation. Kasey’s approach to teaching is student-centered, as she learns and adapts to students’ characters, skills, abilities and musical development in each lesson. In addition to teaching, Kasey currently works as the Brand Ambassador at Steinway Hall NYC.
Ryo Kaneko
Piano
Degrees: D.M.A. Indiana University (Present)
Bloomington, IN
Winner of the 2014 Miami Music Festival Piano Competition and the 2015 Jacob Flier International Piano Competition, Japanese pianist Ryo Kaneko is a rising star in the next generation of pianists. He has performed with conductors such as Vladimir Feltsman, Michael Rossi, Victoria Gau, and Bohuslav Rattay and has presented recitals on many prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center, New World Theater, Rosa Hart Theater, McKenna Theater, Manhattan’s Steinway Hall, and the Studley Theatre.
Kaneko’s performance has been consistently praised for his unrivaled, visceral energy. Times Herald-Record’s Mr. James F. Cotter vividly describes Mr. Kaneko’s performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s first piano concerto: “The final allegro takes the form of a scherzo, which Kaneko brought to a rousing climax that brought the audience to its feet with shouts of ‘Bravo.’”
Ryo received his undergraduate and Master’s degree at Rice University, where he studied with the internationally acclaimed artist Dr. Robert Roux. Currently, he is earning his Doctor of Music in Indiana University under the guidance of Professor Emile Naoumoff.
Kristi Hifzi
Piano
Degrees: M.M. Conservatorio
Giuseppe Tartini
Trieste, Italy
Kristi Hifzi is a professionally active concert pianist and a piano instructor located in Vienna, Austria.
Kristi obtained the certificate of excellence in her High School studies as well as maximum grade “cum Laude” in her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree for Piano Performance at Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Tartini” Trieste in Italy, where she studied with Professor and Pianist Teresa Trevisan. Currently Kristi lives in Vienna, Austria where she studies in the University of Music of the city of Vienna and studies Piano Performance under the tutelage of Markus Prause – a former student of Walter Fleischmann. She also studies Chamber Music with Denise Benda – a former student of P. Badura – Skoda, R. Buchbinder and M. Perahia.
Kristi is a laureate of around 20 prizes in several National and International competitions and her concert activity from 2015 – 2021 reaches the number of around 60 different performance events. She played in various important stages such as: Teatro “La Fenice”- Sala Apollinee – Venezia, Italy, Auditorium RAI FVG – Italy , Royal Palace of Albania, Albanian Radio Television, “Pianodrom” Festival- Tirane, Albania, Sala Tartini of Conservatory “Giuseppe Tartini” Italy, Grand Hall of the University of Art – Tirana, Albania etc.
Her participation in the masterclasses include: Antoniette van Zabbner (Austria – U. S. A.), Claus – Christian Schuster (Austria), Borislava Taneva (Bulgaria), Mihajlo Zurkovic (Serbia), Madalena Soveral (France), Maria Grazia Bellocchio (Italy), Zuzana Niederdorfer (Austria), Pierluigi Camicia (Italy), Ida Gamulin (Croatia) etc.
Recently, Kristi was accepted in the “Malta Classical Music Academy” to take lessons from some of the greatest piano masters in the world: Pavel Gililov, Michel Beroff, Dmitri Alexeev. In December 2021 Kristi makes her third debut at the most prestigious Festival of Classical Music in Albania – ”Pianodrom”, and she will make her first professional debut in Vienna.
Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Arpi Vardanyan graduated with the highest distinction from Tchaikovsky Specialized Secondary Music School in 2014.
In the same year, Arpi was accepted to the piano department of the Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas. From 2016 to 2021, Arpi transferred to the Academy of Music of Zagreb in Croatia, and she recently received a Master’s degree in piano performance from the Academy.
From 2017 till 2019, Arpi taught as a piano instructor at the music school “Muzički Atelje” in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2013, Arpi became a laureate of the international competition-festival “Renaissance” in Armenia, and since then, she is sponsored by the YerazArt Foundation located in Boston, USA. Arpi has performed as a soloist and chamber performer at worldwide concerts, festivals, and concert cycles including “Skladatelji-Obljetničari”, “Vivat Akademia”. Arpi has recently participated in Erasmus plus Traineeship program in Vienna, Austria.
Dr. Alison Chiang
Piano
Degree: D.M.A. Eastman School of Music
Rochester, NY
Alison Chiang (DMA, Eastman School of Music) boasts an international studio of over seventy students, both in-person and online. Renown especially for her expertise in virtual teaching, she continues to share her love of music with people of all ages and levels, and considers pedagogy to be vital for continuing traditions, community outreach, and individual growth.
Among her many awards and prizes, Alison has performed at Carnegie Hall as winner of the Eastman Piano Competition. She has garnered top prizes at the Lewisville International Piano Competition, the Wideman International Piano Competition, the Seattle Piano Competition, Thousands Islands International Competition, and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition, and has also appeared as a concerto soloist with the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Woman’s Orchestra, the Plano Symphony Orchestra, the Lewisville Lake Symphony Orchestra, and the Shreveport Symphony. Alison was one of the few recipients to receive the Cobos Piano Prize – not once but twice – during her studies at the Eastman School of Music, awarded to those with exceptional achievement in the study and performance of piano.
She owes her musical development to her extraordinary teachers, Natalya Antonova and Nelita True at Eastman, Pamela Mia Paul at University of North Texas, and Olga Radosavljevich at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition to piano and teaching, she enjoys making music and cat videos.
Athena So began her musical journey at a young age as a classical pianist. Although she has extensive training through the Royal Conservatory of Music, Athena has always been fascinated in the art of storytelling through music. Through her experience as an accompanist and pit musician in various productions and cabarets throughout Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, Athena immediately discovered a strong passion for musical theatre.
As a recent graduate of York University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (Spec. Hon. Music) and Bachelor of Education programs, Athena has spent her post-secondary years exploring a career in music direction. Athena’s journey began as the rehearsal pianist and pit musician for Vanier College Productions, where she quickly became the first student music director at the theatre company, working on shows such as Next to Normal, Shrek the Musical, and My Favorite Year. Since then, Athena has workshopped new Canadians works such as Milo’s World, played at various cabarets around Toronto, both in-person and online, and music directed Youth Theatre companies including Bravo Academy and FLATO Markham Theatre.
Currently, Athena is a music director at The Second City, serving in both Second City TourCo (Understudy MD) and the Training Centre. Much of Athena’s influences revolve around contemporary musical theatre and classical music, but what truly drives her passion is collaborating with different art forms to collectively tell a story.
Amy Sauve has studied music since the age of 5. Her educational journey is lifelong, but began with years of private Classical piano and viola lessons, several symphony orchestras, 4 summers at Interlochen Arts Camp, a summer at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Russia, a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy, Music Teacher Certification for the State of Michigan, many workshops and conferences all over the country, and continues on by soaking up inspiration from her peers.
Ms. Sauve is an active performer. Although she is classically trained, much of her performance experience is in the pop, rock, and musical genres. Amy has performed at The White House twice, toured with Jazz legend Benny Carter, her band opened for Night Ranger and Survivor, she accompanied The Lion King tour workshop, performed with Opera diva Frederica von Stade, had an impromptu performance with Brandi, as well as performed Rhapsody in Blue with the U of M Orchestra. Amy is regularly hired to music direct main stage musicals and has MD’d more than 20 musicals. She is a contract pianist for Detroit-area events and productions, including Detroit Opera. She was ranked in the top 5 best Music Directors for Broadway World’s Regional Awards.
Amy Sauve has been a high school music teacher of voice, orchestra, theory, piano, and ensemble music for more than 15 years. Additionally, she has been the Music Director for Summer Stock theatre camp teaching first graders through high schoolers musical theatre songs from the beginning stages through performances. She is the music director for a large church with over 5000 parishioners where she cultivated a vibrant music program with over 50 musicians and bands at each service. She is a collaborative pianist and vocal coach at Oakland University.
Her ability to allow oneself to become fully immersed, body and spirit, into the music has encouraged hundreds, perhaps thousands of students over the years, elevating their mental state to discover the gift of music!
Christian Valdes
Piano
Degree: M.M. University of
Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX
Christian Valdés is a talented pianist from Cali, Colombia. He comes from a family of renowned Salsa musicians, which led him to be a very successful and active musician in the Latin Scene in America. by the age of 16 he was already performing and touring with numerous Salsa artists mainly from Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico, among this list Andy Montañez, Ismael Miranda, Tito Nieves, Rey Ruiz, and many more.
In 2011, the University of North Texas offered him a scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies, and since then, he has had the privilege of studying with different mentors and very well-known professionals such as Stefan Karlsson, Michael Palma and Sergio Pamies. He has performed and recorded with different internationally renowned artists such as Diego “El Cigala”, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres, Luis Conte, Karen Briggs, Brad Leali, Lynn Seaton, Rich DeRosa, among many others.
Christian has also been awarded several Downbeat awards in the category of best Latin Jazz Group with his own Sextet, and best soloist with some of his own compositions. Christian also did his Masters in Jazz Piano performance at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he is now part of the faculty in the jazz department.
Rosana Hurtado Klaus
Piano
Degree: M.M. Portland State University
Portland, OR
Rosana Hurtado Klaus is a passionate teacher and avid learner of music. She completed her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Pedagogy in 2021 at California State University Northridge where she studied privately under Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, studied Chamber Music with Dr. Ming Tsu, and was mentored in Pedagogy by Dr. Gayle Kowalchyk.
Rosana first began studying classical piano at the age of five, under her grandmother Rosemary Carswell. She spent her formative years competing all over the California San Fernando Valley, participating in National Piano Guild Auditions, completing Certificate of Merit Evaluations, and later moving onto Panel Auditions. After graduating from high school, Rosana studied at Moorpark Community College with Mona Wu DeCesare where she was invited to perform Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in 2015. Once Rosana’s studies were completed at MCC, she transferred to CSUN.
After completing her B.M. in Piano Pedagogy, Rosana moved to Portland, Oregon where she currently resides as she completes her Master of Music in Collaborative Piano. At PSU, Rosana serves as Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Collaborative Piano Area under Dr. Chuck Dillard. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, Rosana plays for vocal studios, accompanies juries, serves as the pianist for the Advanced Treble Choir, plays with instrumentalists such as string and wind players, and is positioned as opera rehearsal pianist, most recently for the PSU opera production of The Merry Wives of Windsor (2022.) Rosana hopes to pursue a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree shortly after completing her Master’s. She will continue teaching and performing as she moves through life.
Thomas Crouch
Piano
Degree: D.M.A. James Madison
University (present)
Harrisonburg, VA
Thomas Crouch grew up in Virginia and started piano lessons at 8 years old. When he was 14, he moved to Portland, Oregon and studied with internationally renowned pianist Lena Vozheiko-Wheaton, former professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Under her tutelage he placed 3rd nationally for MTNA high school division, received honorable mention in the 2007 national Modern Music Festival and received the Young Artist Achievement award for the state of Washington.
Thomas attended University of Puget Sound where he studied under Dr. Tanya Stambuk and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. While at UPS Thomas placed first alternate in the 2010 MTNA young artist solo division. He performed for numerous masterclasses and participated in premiering several works for the 2011 National Composers Symposium hosted by University of Puget Sound. With cellist Christina Wu, the duo took top prize in the Beatrice Hermann young artist competition and were asked to perform for masterclasses held by the Tokyo String Quartet and composer Daron Hagen.
As a soloist Thomas has been invited to perform for Seattle’s Northwest Artist series hosted by Steinway and at the Perugia International Music Festival. As a pedagogue, Thomas taught for University of Puget Sound’s Community Music department. Thomas was a founding teacher of Musicologie in Westerville (OH), where he was the lead piano teacher, created a chamber music program for young children, and helped develop the daily activities for the school’s “Musicologie Jr.” program.
Thomas recently earned his Master of Music in Piano Performance and is currently pursuing his doctorate degree at James Madison University in Virginia.
An “artist of the sound,” Julián is more than just a pianist. His skillful versatility includes a wide-range of styles, from the classical tradition to Jazz idioms, and Colombian & African musical idiosyncrasy. His experimentation with different musical ideas inspired by the Great Masters of music history, have led him to the joy of musical expression through composition. This addition to his musical skills lets him fully explore musical thoughts with all options at hand, making each performance a truly personal expression through music.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Julián began his music and keyboard studies at the tender age of four, with one of Colombia’s most important composers and pedagogues, Jaime Torres Donneys, and his wife, Esperanza Valbuena.
Julián earned his Master’s in Piano at the University of Southern Mississippi after which he worked as a Jazz Piano, Big Band conductor, and collaborative pianist in both USM and William Carey University. Julián earned his Bachelor’s in Piano from the Universidad Juan N. Corpas in Bogotá, Colombia. Today, Julián is building its new Jazz department working as a teacher, consultant and educator.
An important part of his musical awareness and on-going pursuit of his craft has been participating in numerous masterclasses at national and international piano festivals, in addition to interacting with many renowned musicians of diverse genres and disciplines such as Blanca Uribe, Bill Summers, Chick Corea, Don Preston, Edoardo Torbianelli, and Lang Lang.
One of his most important projects is Sandujazz, an original Latin Fusion ensemble. The ensemble has released 3 studio albums and has just completed work on a fourth production, following their second tour in the Southern US.
Dr. Amalia Rinehart
Piano
Degree: D.M.A. Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY
Amalia Rinehart is a pianist and piano teacher with multiple years of experience teaching students of all ages and levels. Ms. Rinehart is a recent graduate with a doctorate degree in piano performance at Stony Brook University. Amalia earned her Master of Music degree from Stony Brook, and her Bachelor’s in music (theory and history) from Columbia University, from which she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Amalia has performed all over the US and Canada, at festivals such as the Beethoven Institute at Mannes School of Music (NY), Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival (WA), Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival (ME) as a Kaplan Fellow, Sarasota Music Festival (FL), Domaine Forget in Quebec, and as a fellow at the Kneisel Hall Festival in Maine.
Born in Chisinau, Moldova, Larisa Soboleva began her piano studies at the age of five with Larisa Kalinovskaya. In 1998, she continued to study at the Republican Lyceum “Ciprian Porumbescu” under the distinguished pedagogue and pianist Lia Oxinoit. In 2003, Mrs. Soboleva was accepted into the National Academy of Music, and Fine Arts in Chisinau, where she studied Dr. Inna Hatipova and Sergei Covalenco. In 2008, Mrs. Soboleva received a full scholarship and assistantship from Rowan University to study with Professor Veda Zuponcic. She was awarded the full scholarship and assistantship from the University of Miami in 2012, where she completed her doctorate studies under Santiago Rodriguez and Naoko Takao.
During her years of study, Ms. Soboleva has won prizes in National and International Competitions in Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, and the USA. She has performed with the National Orchestra of the Teleradio Moldova, with National Chamber Orchestra, and with the orchestra of Rowan University. Ms. Soboleva has recorded a number of compositions written by composers of Moldova in 2006 and 2013, including works by Vladimir Rotaru, Vladimir Beleaev, and Ghenadie Ciobanu.
She successfully combines performance activities with piano teaching. Her essay
on the pedagogical subject “Leaning Away from the Piano à la Gieseking” won the Clavier Companion Collegiate Writing Contest and has been published in the Clavier Companion, 2013. Larisa was one of the first Piano Faculty of the Rowan Prep (NJ) founded in 2009, a Piano Faculty at the Superior Academy of Music (FL), Frost School of Music Preparatory Program (FL), Music Authority (MI), School for the Arts (MI), and Art of Musique (MI).
William Chiang
Piano
Degree: D.M.A. University of
Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
William Chiang received his Master of Music degree and Performer Certificate for outstanding accomplishment in recital from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in May 2021, where he studied with André Watts. He also completed his undergraduate degree at IU studying with Evelyne Brancart.
At age four, William began learning piano with Olga Radosavljevich at the Cleveland Institute of Music and was a recipient of the Olga Radosavljevich Scholarship. He continued pre-college piano studies with Pamela Mia Paul at the University of North Texas. At age 15, he won Grand Prize in the 2012 Plano Symphony Orchestra’s Collin County Young Artists Competition and made his orchestral debut performing Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto with the Plano Symphony under Hector Guzman. In 2013, he performed Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Lewisville Lake Symphony under Adron Ming as the Grand Prize Winner of the Vernell Gregg Young Artists Competition.
William has received 1st Prize at the 2013 International Chopin Youth Competition in Houston and prizes at the Juanita Miller Concerto Competition, Blount-Slawson Young Artist Competition, International Keyboard Odyssiad, Hellam Young Artists’ Competition, Robert Beardsley Piano Prize Competition, and William Knabe International Piano Competition. In 2014, he was designated a Texas Young Master in the Arts by the Texas state government’s Commission on the Arts.
During his time at IU, William served as an Associate Instructor in Piano, teaching secondary piano lessons and group piano classes for music and non-music majors. He is now a Keyboard Studies Teaching Assistant at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he is pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of Bernadene Blaha.
Julia Roer grew up in a household surrounded by music and musicians, as both her parents are college music professors. Julia lived in the Philippines, where her parents taught, until she returned to the USA for college. She studied at Maranatha Baptist University, and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Piano Pedagogy in May of 2021. Julia participated in MBU’s collegiate chapter of MTNA and is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music for Piano. During a college internship teaching piano, Julia discovered her love for working with students of all ages and backgrounds, and found joy in communicating her love for music with her students.
Along with teaching, Julia enjoys playing piano and cello at her church, hiking backcountry trails with her husband, and making music with her two sisters, who are also musicians!
