2018 Senior Division Finalists
Amanda Chan & Skyler Chan
As natives of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the siblings Amanda Chan (16 year old) and Skyler Chan (14 year old) were solo artists before they started to play as a duet in 2016. They study with Professor Alexander Braginsky (University of Minnesota Professor and Founder of the International Piano e-Competition) since the age of four years old.
In 2017, they were both 1st Prize Winners at the Bradshaw & Buono International Competition (where they played at Carnegie Hall). In the same year, they were National Finalists and West Central Division Winners at the Music Teachers National Association Senior Duet Competition. Recently, in July 2018, they won 2nd Place Duet at the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition for Young Artists.
As solo artists, Skyler and Amanda performed at numerous venues. In 2018, Skyler was the 2nd Place Winner at the Thursday Musical Young Artist Scholarship Competition. In 2016, Skyler impersonated an eleven year-old Mozart at Mozart 260! A Celebration of His Music at Hamline University. In 2015, Skyler was a finalist at the St. Paul Piano Teachers Association Concerto Competition. In the same year, Amanda won the Mozart Concerto Competition at the Minneapolis Music Teachers Forum, which led to her solo debut with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra. Amanda was the First place winner in the 2015 MTNA State competition. In 2016, Amanda won the Minnesota State Fair Talent Competition, performing before an audience of over 8000 people.
In 2017, they were both 1st Prize Winners at the Bradshaw & Buono International Competition (where they played at Carnegie Hall). In the same year, they were National Finalists and West Central Division Winners at the Music Teachers National Association Senior Duet Competition. Recently, in July 2018, they won 2nd Place Duet at the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition for Young Artists.
As solo artists, Skyler and Amanda performed at numerous venues. In 2018, Skyler was the 2nd Place Winner at the Thursday Musical Young Artist Scholarship Competition. In 2016, Skyler impersonated an eleven year-old Mozart at Mozart 260! A Celebration of His Music at Hamline University. In 2015, Skyler was a finalist at the St. Paul Piano Teachers Association Concerto Competition. In the same year, Amanda won the Mozart Concerto Competition at the Minneapolis Music Teachers Forum, which led to her solo debut with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra. Amanda was the First place winner in the 2015 MTNA State competition. In 2016, Amanda won the Minnesota State Fair Talent Competition, performing before an audience of over 8000 people.
Beatrice Hoang & Ben Hoang
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Beatrice Hoang, age 17, is a junior at Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Nachitoches, Louisiana. She started playing piano at the age of 5 and is currently a piano student of Dr. Saida Kafarova and Charles Jones. Beatrice's debut with an orchestra was at age 11 with the Austin Civic Orchestra in 2013 and was featured on KMFA Classically Austin radio program with host Dianne Donovan. In 2018, Beatrice performed the 3rd movement of Tchaikovsky Concerto No 1 with the Round Rock Symphony. Among her awards are the Gold medal at the 7th and 9th Chopin Youth Competition in Houston and the Jan Ekier award for the Best Performance Of The Most Difficult Piece at the 8th and 9th Chopin Youth Competition, 1st place at the International Keyboard Odyssiad and Festival, and 1st place at the Carmel Klavier Debut International Piano Competition. Beatrice was a national finalist at the 2015-2016 MTNA Junior Piano Performance Competition, as well as 1st place winner of the 2016 and 2018 TMTA Piano Performance competition. She has also seven times won first place at the Texas State University's Young Artist Piano Competition and has been awarded full-tuition scholarships to the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Texas State International Piano Festivals. At the 5th Texas State International Piano Festival, she was the youngest receiver of the special Emerging Artist Award. She has had master classes and lessons with Vadym Kholodenko, Julian Martin, Boris Slutsky, Enrico Elisi, Marina Lomazov, Joseph Rackers, Carol Leone, Sophia Gilmson, Kiyoshi Tamagawa and Karolina Syrovatkova. Besides piano, Beatrice is also competitive in the school math team. Her hobbies include solving Rubik's cubes and drawing.
Ben Hoang, age 15, is a sophomore at St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School in Austin, TX. He started playing piano at age 5 and is currently a piano student of Dr. Saida Kafarova and Sasha Malikov. Ben's first debut with an orchestra was at age 9 when he toured with the Austin Symphony Orchestra on their annual high school concerts playing the 3rd movement of Mendelssohn piano concerto No 1. At age 10, Ben performed the 3rd movement of Grieg piano concerto with the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra as the winner of the 2014 Marielle Ogletree Young Artist Concerto Competition. At age 11, Ben won the Pearl Amster Youth Concerto competition in Austin, TX to perform with the Austin Civic Orchestra and was featured on KMFA 89.9 Classical Music Austin radio broadcast. In the same year, Ben won the 2015 Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition and at 12, performed the complete Grieg concerto with the Houston symphony in 2016. Among his awards are 2018 MTNA National Finalist for junior piano performance, 1st place winner at 2017 TMTA performance Contest, 1st place winner at the 2016 San Jose International Piano competition, 2nd place winner at the 2017 Hartford International Chopin Competition, Gold medal at the 7th and 10th International Chopin Youth Competition in Houston, 1st place at 2016 Baylor/Waco Young Artist piano competition, 1st place at 2016 Austin Piano Festival piano competition, and frequent first-place winner of the Texas State University's Young Artist Piano competition and was awarded full tuition scholarship to the 7th,8th and 9th Texas State International Piano Festival. Ben has had master classes with Boris Slutsky, Joseph Rackers, Carol Leone, and Daria Robotkina. Besides piano, Ben is also competitive in the school math team. He enjoys playing tennis and computer games. |
Jessie Chan & Hollis Chan
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JengYee (Jessie) Chan is an Indian Hill High School student in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jessie began her lessons with Mrs. Luann Coleman Forell, of Germantown, TN, as a kindergarten student in 2010. She won the Tennessee Music Teacher Association (TMTA) Solo Piano Competition as a second grader, received Honorable Mention in fourth grade and won again in fifth grade. With her brother Hollis, she has won the TMTA Elementary and Junior Piano Duet Competitions in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Jessie and Hollis also won The Allison Nelson Piano Ensemble Competition at UT Martin in 2017 and recently were first prize ensemble winners at the 2018 ETSU International Piano Competition. Since relocating to Cincinnati in 2015, she has continued her piano study with Mrs. Forell via the internet. In addition to piano, Jessie likes swimming. She is a qualified Ohio Junior Olympic Swimmer and Ohio South West Regional Champion in several events. She is currently an Oboist with the Indian Hill High School Band and the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra.
HongKam (Hollis) Chan is an Indian Hill Middle School student in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hollis began his lessons with Mrs. Luann Coleman Forell, of Germantown, TN, as a kindergarten student in 2012. He placed second in the J. D. Kelly Piano Competition at Arkansas State University and Honorable Mention in the Tennessee Music Teacher Association (TMTA) Solo Piano Competition as a first grader in 2014. With his sister Jessie, he has won the TMTA Elementary and Junior Piano Duet Competitions in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Jessie and Hollis also won The Allison Nelson Piano Ensemble Competition at UT Martin in 2017 and recently were first prize ensemble winners at the 2018 ETSU International Piano Competition. Since relocating to Cincinnati in 2015, he has continued his piano study with Mrs. Forell via the internet. Studying briefly with Dr. Richard Van Dyke of Cincinnati, he won Ohio MTA Audition Festival Solo Piano High Honors, Ohio Buckeye Southwest District Solo Alternate of Elementary Piano Division and obtained First Class Honor with Distinction in the Royal Conservatory Music Level 7 Piano Examination in 2018. In addition to piano, Hollis enjoys swimming. He ranks in the top 8 in the Ohio Junior Olympic Swimming Championship and is Ohio South West Regional Champion in several events. He is also Indian Hill Middle School Orchestra violinist. |
Cory Wu & Katia Jacoby
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Cory Wu is 13 years old and attending 8th grade at Hyatts Middle School in Powell, OH. Cory started playing piano when he was about 5 years old and has studied with Ms. Kathleen Sadoff since 2012. He participated in various local, state and regional competitions and received 1st place in Steinway’s Piano Competition (Cincinnati, 2018); CMTA Achievement Awards (2018); Capital University Piano Day Competition (2018); OMTA Graves Competition for duets (2018); OFMC Marilyn Walter Young Musicians Award (2017); CEOMTA Buckeye Audition (2017). Cory was also a second place winner for OhioMTA Pre-Collegiate Buckeye Auditions (2017); OhioMTA/Graves Piano Competition (2016); 3rd place winner at OMTA Graves Competition for Solo (2018) and received honorable mention at CMTA Grave’s Competition (2017). He has been awarded the OAGC Susan Faulkner Arts Scholarship (2017); OFMC Summer Camp Award (2018) and OMTA Summer Scholarship (2018). Cory participated in Pianorama! and performed a solo duet in both 2015 and 2017. He also regularly performs at a local nursing home. Other than playing piano, Cory started studying violin when he was 9 years old and has been a member of Columbus Youth Symphony Orchestra for more than 3 years and also plays for his school orchestra. Cory participated in violin festivals, recitals, competitions, and won The Loft Violin Shop & CEOMTA Summer Music Study Scholarship in 2016. Cory loves math and also enjoys playing soccer and tennis.
Katia Jacoby is 12 years old and is a 7th grade student at New Albany Middle School in New Albany, Ohio. Katia has been studying piano for 7 years and has won numerous merits and awards. Katia’s piano instructor is Kathleen Sadoff. Her 1st place awards include: the 2014 Justine Hackman Young Jewish Artists Competition, the 2014 New Albany Arts Council Music Competition Elementary Division, the 2015 Columbus Music Teachers Association Elementary Piano Competition, the Junior Division Elizabeth Gerber Award of the 2017 OFMC piano competition, the 2018 Justine Hackman Young Jewish Artists Competition. In addition to piano, Katia competes in ballroom dance and tennis. |
Sylvie Wilson & Kristina Rana
Sylvie Wilson, a senior at Athens High School, has ten years of piano experience, five of which were spent with Katherine Fisher. Kristina Rana, a sophomore also at AHS, has been taking lessons from Dr. Christopher Fisher for eight years and has ten years of experience. Through their mutual love for piano as well as swimming, the two became close friends. Kristina and Sylvie hoped to funnel their competitive spirits and enthusiasm for piano into a duet competition, and have been playing together regularly since this past spring. They have enjoyed learning a variety of repertoire. This is their first ensemble experience together.
2018 Young Artist Division Finalists
San Sung Aum & Seunghun Jeong
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Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, San Sung Aum has been playing piano since age six. She is an active soloist and chamber musician. She studied at Yewon Arts School, Seoul Arts High School, and Seoul National University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree with HyungBae Kim. She also earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the Eastman School of Music with Enrico Elisi. She is currently pursuing a DMA in Piano Performance at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music with Professor Awadagin Pratt. She is the recipient of several scholarships at Yewon Arts School, Seoul Arts High School, Seoul National University, Eastman School of Music and College Conservatory of Music. Aum has been featured in international music festivals including the CCM Prague international Piano institute, Seoul National University International Piano Academy twice, as well as the IKIF Music Camp in New York, the Amalfi Coast Festival, in Italy, the Hanover Music festival, in Germany, Chautauqua Piano festival and Aspen Music Festival. She has also performed in master classes with world-renewed pianists. A Korean pianist, she has won numerous national competitions in South Korea including the Brahms Music Competition, San Sung also won 1st prizes at Haneol Music, Edu classic Music, and American Protege competitions.
Seunghun Jeong, born in Gwangju, South Korea, began his piano studies at the age of five. Upon his graduation in 2012 from Daedong Highschool, Mr. Jeong enrolled at Konkuk University, completing requirements for his bachelor of music and bachelor of music education degrees in 2013, where he studied with Professor Minjung Lee and Sangjin Shin. After finishing his bachelor’s degree, he received his master of music degree in 2014 from Konkuk University. Also, he studied with Professor Awadagin Pratt during his master’s degree until 2015. Since 2015, he has been studying with Professor Dror Biran at College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati where he received his master of music degree in 2016, and continues his doctoral studies. Recently, he won the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition in 2017 and he was selected as a Seoul Young Artist in 2017 which he’s got sponsored by government of Seoul, South Korea. Prior to his studies in the US, Mr. Jeong has received numerous prizes and awards in his native Korea, including Grand Prix at the Asia International Piano Competition, First Prize at the Seoul Music Competition, Second Prize at the Duo Competition. Mr. Jeong has had an abundance of performing experiences and has given many recitals as a soloist and a chamber musician throughout several venues in South Korea, China, Europe and the United States. |
Pei-Chen Chen & Yoonjee (Jessica) Lee
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Founded in 2017, LeeChen Piano Duo has recently won First Prize in the 2018 International Grand Prize Virtuoso Music Competition, third Prize in the 2018 United States International Duo Piano Competition, and was a finalist in the 2017 Chiang Mai Ginastera International Music Festival. Based in Toronto, LeeChen Piano Duo was founded by pianists Pei-Chen Chen and Yoonjee (Jessica) Lee.
Pei-Chen Chen made her debut at the age of fifteen with the Hsin-Tien Symphony Orchestra, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5. Born in Taiwan, Pei-Chen has received numerous awards and scholarships throughout North America and Asia, including a full DMA scholarship from the University of Toronto where she is currently pursuing her degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy under the tutelage of Midori Koga. Korea-born Yoonjee (Jessica) Lee was awarded Third Place in the national round of the 2015 Canadian Music Competition. She completed her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia and Master's of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Toronto in 2017. Yoonjee has studied with Edward Parker, Mark Anderson, James Parker, and Midori Koga. |
Teodora Owen & Laura Silva
Teodora Tonea Owen, originally from Romania, attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, United Kingdom, for her undergraduate studies prior to attending the Piano Performance and Pedagogy graduate program at Ohio University’s School of Music as a Graduate Assistant under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fisher. At the Royal Conservatoire, Tonea Owen studied piano performance under concert pianist Jonathan Plowright, as well as participating in masterclasses with renowned performers such as Pascal Roge, Joseph Seiger, Fali Pavri and Graeme McNaught. Tonea Owen was also the recipient of the Erasmus Exchange Scholarship, which allowed her to study under Adriano Ambrossini at the Conservatorio Dall’Abbaco in Verona, Italy. Highlighted performances include: recitals in the United States, Italy, Sweden, Romania and across the United Kingdom. Tonea Owen has also appeared as a soloist with the State Philharmonic in Oradea, Romania, the Ohio University Symphony Orchestra and annual collaborations with the Geneva International Choir and Orchestra. During her time at Ohio University, she performed regularly as a solo pianist as well as collaboratively with instrumentalists and singers. Masterclass appearances include visiting artists Rasa Vitkauskaite, Laura Melton, Eric Zuber and Dymitri Rachmanov. Tonea Owen has a successful private piano studio and is an up-and-coming collaborative pianist, composer and arranger.
Laura Silva is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, where she developed her musical interests of teaching, solo repertoire, chamber music, orchestral and choral music, and accompanying. Laura is currently a second year piano performance and pedagogy graduate student of Dr. Christopher Fisher at the Ohio University School of Music. She holds degrees from the Juan Jose Landaeta Conservatory, Central University of Venezuela (Bachelor in Social Psychology) and a Master of Music from the Simon Bolivar University. She has studied piano with Carlos Urbaneja, Elizabeth Guerrero and Abraham Abreu; harpsichord with Rubén Guzmán and Bruno Procopio. She has participated in harpsichord master classes with Jacques Ogg, Ketil Haugsand and Alessandro Santoro, and piano master classes with Rachel Kudo, Michael Chertock, Vadym Kholodenko, Manuel Laufer, Edith Peña, Kristiina Junttu, Laura Mikkola, Michel Beroff, Prisca Benoit, Roger Muraro, Gabriela Montero, Carlos Duarte, Walter Blankenheim, Frank Fernández and Judith Jaimes. As pianist of the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra, a regular guest for other orchestras from "El Sistema" and collaborative pianist for the main choirs of Schola Cantorum of Venezuela Foundation, Laura has had the opportunity to participate in important festivals and concerts in Europe, Asia and the United States, under the baton of leading conductors including the Grammy Award winning artist, Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She enjoys duo and duet repertoire for piano. In 2004 she participated with Gabriela Nuñez at El Piano Venezolano Competition, winning National Prize of piano four hands. The next year they released their first album “Cuatro manos al compás venezolano.” She also has performed at two pianos with Marinés Rodríguez and several orchestras in Caracas. As part of her teaching at Mozarteum Caracas Music School, she created an innovative project of Piano Ensembles in 2014. This offers the opportunity to young pianists to perform master pieces of orchestral repertoire with percussion as an ensemble. Also, it is a place for assistant piano teachers to get training of conducting rehearsals and concerts of this kind. Laura has adapted music for one to four pianos, one or more pianists by piano, at different levels of proficiency. She directed a documentary that was presented on Venezuelan National TV in 2016, and it is available on YouTube and Vimeo. Currently she continues working on the Piano Ensembles at the Athens Community School of Music, along with the MTNA Collegiate Chapter of Ohio University. The project has been presented in four Conferences in the US between 2017 and 2018. Two of her elementary level arrangements have been inspired and published by Piano Safari in 2018. Laura holds a graduate teaching assistantship at OU School of Music as a piano group instructor for music-major college students, and a collaborative pianist of University Singers and Choral Union. She is also a private piano instructor at ACMS, and a collaborative pianist for college and graduate students.
Laura Silva is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, where she developed her musical interests of teaching, solo repertoire, chamber music, orchestral and choral music, and accompanying. Laura is currently a second year piano performance and pedagogy graduate student of Dr. Christopher Fisher at the Ohio University School of Music. She holds degrees from the Juan Jose Landaeta Conservatory, Central University of Venezuela (Bachelor in Social Psychology) and a Master of Music from the Simon Bolivar University. She has studied piano with Carlos Urbaneja, Elizabeth Guerrero and Abraham Abreu; harpsichord with Rubén Guzmán and Bruno Procopio. She has participated in harpsichord master classes with Jacques Ogg, Ketil Haugsand and Alessandro Santoro, and piano master classes with Rachel Kudo, Michael Chertock, Vadym Kholodenko, Manuel Laufer, Edith Peña, Kristiina Junttu, Laura Mikkola, Michel Beroff, Prisca Benoit, Roger Muraro, Gabriela Montero, Carlos Duarte, Walter Blankenheim, Frank Fernández and Judith Jaimes. As pianist of the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra, a regular guest for other orchestras from "El Sistema" and collaborative pianist for the main choirs of Schola Cantorum of Venezuela Foundation, Laura has had the opportunity to participate in important festivals and concerts in Europe, Asia and the United States, under the baton of leading conductors including the Grammy Award winning artist, Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She enjoys duo and duet repertoire for piano. In 2004 she participated with Gabriela Nuñez at El Piano Venezolano Competition, winning National Prize of piano four hands. The next year they released their first album “Cuatro manos al compás venezolano.” She also has performed at two pianos with Marinés Rodríguez and several orchestras in Caracas. As part of her teaching at Mozarteum Caracas Music School, she created an innovative project of Piano Ensembles in 2014. This offers the opportunity to young pianists to perform master pieces of orchestral repertoire with percussion as an ensemble. Also, it is a place for assistant piano teachers to get training of conducting rehearsals and concerts of this kind. Laura has adapted music for one to four pianos, one or more pianists by piano, at different levels of proficiency. She directed a documentary that was presented on Venezuelan National TV in 2016, and it is available on YouTube and Vimeo. Currently she continues working on the Piano Ensembles at the Athens Community School of Music, along with the MTNA Collegiate Chapter of Ohio University. The project has been presented in four Conferences in the US between 2017 and 2018. Two of her elementary level arrangements have been inspired and published by Piano Safari in 2018. Laura holds a graduate teaching assistantship at OU School of Music as a piano group instructor for music-major college students, and a collaborative pianist of University Singers and Choral Union. She is also a private piano instructor at ACMS, and a collaborative pianist for college and graduate students.
Hsing-Yi Tsai & Yiwen Zhang
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Hsing-Yi Tsai, a native of Taiwan, is currently in the second year of her DMA program at West Virginia University, serving as a graduate teaching assistant and studying piano with Dr. Peter Amstutz. She previously earned both Artist Diploma and Master of Music in piano performance at Campbellsville University. In January, Hsing-Yi represented West Virginia in the nine-state MTNA Eastern Division Competition and was named the Alternate Winner. A week later, she was also chosen as a winner in WVU’s Young Artist concerto competition.
Pianist Yiwen Zhang’s joy is contagious. She uses her youthful spirit to make her audiences feel young, connecting people from different ages, backgrounds and cultures to the power of music. Yiwen’s belief in creating a community stretches from concert performances to volunteer work in nursing homes. She also participated in various summer festivals. In 2015, she was in the Orford Music Festival in Canada. In 2016, she participated in the Perugia Festival in Italy, and was the soloist for the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.2. In 2017, she traveled to Vienna, and studied at European Music Institute Vienna. Recently, she is one of the winners of the 2018 Young Artist Concerto Competition, and performed the First Movement of the Grieg Concerto with the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra. Yiwen is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Music Degree at West Virginia Universtiy with Dr. Peter Amstutz. She studied with Ms. Jung-Ja Kim at Boston Conservatory at Berklee for her master degree in piano performance and with Mr. Benjamin Pasternack at Peabody Conservatory of Music of |
Eric Tran & Nathan Cheung
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For over a decade, Eric Tran and Nathan Cheung have performed four-hands originals, transcriptions, and classics alike with a focus on bringing humor and joy to the classical music world. Happy Dog Duo has been performing four-hands and two-piano repertoire together since they were in middle school. They won both the 1st Prize and the Abild American Music Award at the 2017 Ellis Duo-Piano Competition, hosted by the National Federation of Music Clubs. Recently, Happy Dog Duo was awarded the 1st Prize in the inaugural MTNA-Stecher and Horowitz Two Piano Competition 2018. They have also won a record-setting 13 gold medals in piano duo events at the United States Open Music Competition and have performed with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Diablo Symphony Orchestra, Vallejo Symphony, and the Pittsburg Piano Festival Orchestra. As part of the internationally-acclaimed, award-winning Pawn: The Musical, they toured in Korea, China, Canada, and New York. Happy Dog has also made multiple appearances at the Aspen Music Festival. They perform extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area - their hometown - and they were the first piano duo ever to perform in Bing Concert Hall as well as in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts. The name Happy Dog comes from their eponymously-titled 30-second compositional "masterpiece," Happy Dog. Neither Nathan nor Eric owns any dogs.
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Elizabeth Jackson & Darian Payne
Elizabeth Jackson is a second year graduate piano performance and pedagogy student of Dr. Christopher Fisher at the Ohio University School of Music. She is a cum laude graduate of Bellarmine University, earning the Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in piano pedagogy and accompanying. During her studies at Bellarmine, Elizabeth accompanied voice and instrumental recitals, choirs, and vocal master classes, in addition to serving as the collaborative pianist for various instrumental ensembles. She also gained valuable teaching experience through her work as a substitute piano instructor for Bellarmine University's collegiate piano classes and for the Boaz Performance Academy. Elizabeth thoroughly enjoys her current position as a student instructor through the Athens Community Music School. Prior to coming to Athens, she was a piano instructor for the Bellarmine University Preparatory Music Program where she taught private and group lessons and was instrumental in launching the Musical Moments program. Throughout the 2016-2017 academic year, she served as the staff accompanist for the Bellarmine University Music Department, with performance credits ranging from accompanying private voice lessons and recitals to being the pit orchestra keyboardist for opera and musical theater productions. Elizabeth also has extensive experience in performing piano duo and four-hand repertoire. She currently holds a graduate assistantship at the Ohio University School of Music where she teaches class piano and accompanies the Singing Men of Ohio. Most recently, Elizabeth participated in the 2018 Classical Music Festival Piano Seminar held in Eisenstadt, Austria where she will learn alongside piano teachers and observers from around the world. Elizabeth recently accepted the Director of Music position at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. She will begin this position after graduating in May and plans to open a piano academy through the church and school.
Darian Payne recently graduated with her Master's degree in Piano Performance & Pedagogy at Ohio University where she held a graduate teaching assistantship. While there, she taught in the group piano program and served as an accompanist to a large women's choir. Darian graduated magna cum laude from Bellarmine University where she received her Bachelor's degree in Piano Pedagogy, Accompanying, and Arts Administration. She greatly enjoys performing piano duo and piano four-hand literature. An active freelance musician, she often performs both piano and viola for weddings and other events. Darian is a member of MTNA (Music Teacher's National Association) and recently served as the Vice President of the Ohio University chapter. She currently is a piano teacher at the Academy of Music at St. Gabriel.
