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2025 Teaching Artists – Solo & Collaborative Piano

Meet the Teaching Artists in Solo Piano & Collaborative Piano

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Jonathan Feldman

director, collaborative piano

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 1-8

Recognized worldwide as a leading chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Jonathan Feldman has performed on four continents with some of the world’s greatest instrumentalists, including Nathan Milstein, Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, James Galway, Sarah Chang, Joshua Bell, and Emmanuel Pahud. He also has performed with the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensembles and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He was a featured performer in a recent installment of Live from Lincoln Center with Gil Shaham. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he joined the Juilliard faculty in 1989 and chaired the school’s collaborative piano department for 25 years. A member of the collaborative piano faculty at New England Conservatory since 2011, he has given masterclasses throughout the United States and the Far East and has lectured at international festivals and competitions. Mr. Feldman was a guest artist at the Music Academy from 2001-02 and has been a teaching artist since 2003.

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Natasha Kislenko

collaborative piano

ABOUT
Alumni
2001
Residency
Festival weeks 1-8

Natasha Kislenko has performed extensively as a soloist and a collaborative pianist across Russia, Europe, Asia and the United States. She has appeared in recital and chamber music performances with numerous distinguished soloists, including Torleif Tedeen, James Buswell, Zvi Zeitlin, Theodore Kuchar, Tadeu Coelho, and Leone Buyse.

As a soloist, Ms. Kislenko has received top prizes in international piano competitions in Germany, Portugal, France, the Slovak Republic, and the United States. She made her solo recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1996, and most recently has appeared with Orquesta del Congreso Nacional in Paraguay, the Varna Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria, the Eskisehir Municipal symphony orchestra in Turkey, and the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Ms. Kislenko holds graduate degrees in piano from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) and the Stony Brook University, NY, where she completed her doctorate with Gilbert Kalish in 2004.

In 2007 Ms. Kislenko moved to Santa Barbara to assume a teaching position at UC Santa Barbara. Previously, she served on the faculties of California State University Fresno and Meadowmount School of Music (New York).

An alumna of the Music Academy (2001), Ms. Kislenko has been a member of the faculty since 2004.

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Margaret McDonald

collaborative piano

ABOUT
Alumni
2000, 2001, 2002
Residency
Festival weeks 1-8

Pianist Margaret McDonald, a native of Minnesota, is an Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder.  She joined the College of Music keyboard faculty in the fall of 2004. She helped to develop the College’s graduate degree program in Collaborative Piano and the undergraduate collaborative curriculum. Praised for her poetic style and versatility, Dr. McDonald enjoys a very active performing career and has partnered many distinguished artists including the Takács Quartet, Kathleen Winkler, Zuill Bailey, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc, Ben Kamins, David Shifrin, David Jolley, Ian Bousfield, Joseph Alessi, Steven Mead, and Velvet Brown.  She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Dr. McDonald received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of California – Santa Barbara.  Her principal teachers include Lydia Artymiw and Anne Epperson.  She received fellowships to study at both the Music Academy of the West and the Tanglewood Music Center where she worked closely with Dawn Upshaw, Robert Spano, and Osvaldo Golijov.

Dr. McDonald is active throughout the country giving master classes at institutions including The Juilliard School, Indiana University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Arizona State University, University of California - Santa Barbara, and Louisiana State University.  She has released recordings with Velvet Brown, tuba, Aaron Tindall, tuba, and Erika Eckert, viola for Potenza Records and Meridian Records.

Dr. McDonald has been a staff accompanist at the Meadowmount School for Strings in New York and an official accompanist at the Music Teachers National Association competition and the National Flute Association annual convention. McDonald is an alumna of the Music Academy of the West and has been a member of the Music Academy faculty since 2005.

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Jeremy Denk

solo piano

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 2, 5-7

Jeremy Denk is one of America’s foremost pianists. Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Denk returns frequently to Carnegie Hall and in recent seasons has appeared with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and The Cleveland Orchestra, as well as on tour with Academy of St Martin in the Fields and at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms.

In 2019-2020, until the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of all performances, Denk toured Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier Book 1 extensively, and was to have performances culminate with Lincoln Center in New York and the Barbican in London. He returned to Carnegie Hall to perform Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and made his solo debut at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. He also made his solo recital debut at the Boulez Saal in Berlin performing works by Bach, Ligeti, Berg, and Schumann, and returned to the Piano aux Jacobins Festival in France, as well as London’s Wigmore Hall. Further performances abroad included his debut with the Bournemouth Symphony, his returns to the City of Birmingham Symphony and the Piano Espoo Festival in Finland, and recitals of the complete Ives Violin Sonatas with Stefan Jackiw.

Highlights of the previous season included a three-week recital tour, culminating in Denk’s return to Carnegie Hall; play-directing Mozart Concerti on an extensive tour with Academy of St Martin in the Fields; and a nationwide trio tour with Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. He also performed and curated a series of Mozart Violin Sonatas (‘Denk & Friends’) at Carnegie Hall.

Denk is also known for his original and insightful writing on music, which Alex Ross praises for its “arresting sensitivity and wit.” He wrote the libretto for a comic opera presented by Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances, and the Aspen Festival, and his writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New Republic, The Guardian, and on the front page of the New York Times Book Review. One of his New Yorker contributions, “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” forms the basis of a book for future publication by Random House in the US, and Macmillan in the UK.

Denk’s recording of the Goldberg Variations for Nonesuch Records reached No. 1 on the Billboard Classical Charts. His recording of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111 paired with Ligeti’s Études was named one of the best discs of the year by the New Yorker, NPR, and the Washington Post, and his account of the Beethoven sonata was selected by BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library as the best available version recorded on modern piano. Denk has a long-standing attachment to the music of American visionary Charles Ives, and his recording of Ives’s two piano sonatas also featured in many “best of the year” lists. His recording c.1300-c.2000 was released in 2018 with music ranging from Guillaume de Machaut, Gilles Binchois and Carlo Gesualdo, to Stockhausen, Ligeti and Glass.

Jeremy Denk graduated from Oberlin College, Indiana University, and The Juilliard School. He lives in New York City, and his website and blog are at jeremydenk.com.

Mr. Denk has been a Music Academy of the West faculty artist since 2015.

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Conor Hanick

Head of Solo Piano

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 1-8

Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master.” (New York Times) Hanick’s playing, “a revelation of clarity and bite,” reminds the Times’ Anthony Tommasini of a “young Peter Serkin.” His performance of John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes was, according to the Times’ critic David Allan, “the best instrumental concert I have seen all year”; praise echoed by the Boston Globe, which named the performance “Best Solo Recital” of 2019.

Hanick has recently been presented by The Gilmore Festival, the New York Philharmonic, Caramoor, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Park Avenue Armory, and performed with the Seattle Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. A fierce advocate for the music of today, and “the soloist of choice for such thorny works” (NYT), Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces and collaborated with composers both emerging and iconic; among them, Hanick has worked with Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, Steve Reich, and Charles Wuorinen, in addition to the leading composers of his generation, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Matthew Aucoin, and Christopher Cerrone.

In the 2022-23 season, Hanick premieres a new piano concerto by composer Samuel Carl Adams with the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen; appears with soprano Julia Bullock at the Aix en Provence Festival in Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi; and presented in recital by the Library of Congress, Hancher Auditorium, Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, the 92nd Street Y, and elsewhere. He is a founding member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), a group of artists focused on developing discipline-colliding work. With that group, Hanick served as co-artistic director of the Ojai Festival in 2022 and present work the Spoleto Festival, Carolina Performing Arts, Saint John the Devine, and LaMaMa Theater.

Since 2014 Hanick has been a teaching artist at the Music Academy. He has given lectures and masterclasses in Asia, Europe, and throughout the US, including Northwestern University, the New England Conservatory, UCLA, The University of Washington, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of Iowa. He is a member of the piano and chamber music faculty of The Juilliard School, Mannes College, and the Peabody Institute of Music. A Yamaha Artist, Hanick a graduate of Northwestern University and the Juilliard School, and lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, son, and Westies.

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Meet Our 2024 Solo Piano & Collaborative Piano Fellows: 2025 Coming Soon

Solo Piano

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Po Han Chiu

Solo Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
25
Birthplace
Pingtung, Taiwan
School
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Compeers
Adam Feild and Erik Torkells; Laurie Siegel and Joseph Nosofsky
Scholarship
Ann Jackson Family Foundation Scholarship

Po Han recently earned his master’s degree at the Yale School of Music, studying with Boris Slutsky, and will pursue an Artist Diploma starting in the fall at Indiana University Jacobs School of music. He was a semi-finalist in the 2022 International Paderewski Piano Competition in Los Angeles. He has performed solo recitals at Yale and teaches undergraduate lessons there.

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Henry From

Solo Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
20
Birthplace
Portland, Oregon
School
The Royal Conservatory of Music: Glenn Gould School
Compeers
Danner Schefler and Sheila Wald
Scholarship
Karl Kramer Foundation Scholarship

Henry is earning his bachelor’s degree from The Royal Conservatory of Music as a student of John O’Conor. He won the Tabor Foundation Award at the Verbier Festival Academy and the Orford Music Award from Orford Musique. He has been featured alongside the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Royal Conservatory Orchestra. Henry has also performed as member of the Morningside Trio and Savyon Trio.

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Iskandar Mamadaliev

Solo Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
22
Birthplace
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
School
Oberlin College Conservatory of Music
Compeers
Maurice Singer and Hyon Chough
Scholarship
Ronit Amir Lowenthal Endowed Scholarship

Iskandar is currently earning his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin University, studying with Stanislav Ioudenitch. He is the winner of the 2023 Peter Takács Beethoven Prize in Piano, as well as the 2017 Ann & Charles Eisemann International Young Artists Competition. He has performed with the National Uzbek Symphony Orchestra.

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Sol Park

Solo Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
24
Birthplace
Incheon, South Korea
School
Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana
Compeers
Adam Feild and Erik Torkells; Laurie Siegel and Joseph Nosofsky
Scholarship
Mary A. Kana Endowed Scholarship

Sol is earning her graduate diploma at Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana as a student of Alexander Kobrin. In 2022, she was a winner in the Young Artist Piano Performance Competition and placed second in the Stecher and Horowitz Two-Piano Competition, both held by the Music Teachers National Association. She placed first in the 2018 Topeka Symphony Young Artist Competition. Sol has attended Pianofest in the Hamptons and participated in several masterclass taught by renowned artists such as Music Academy Faculty Emeritus Jerome Lowenthal. Other notable performances have been with the TIMM Ensemble, Heritage Philharmonic and Busan Neo Philharmonic Orchestra (at eleven years old!).

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Kevin Takeda

Solo Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
25
Birthplace
Tokyo, Japan
School
New England Conservatory
Compeers
Debra Puth
Scholarship
Helen Sperry Lea Foundation Scholarship

Kevin recently earned his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in the studio of Wha Kyung Byun. He also studied with Matti Raekallio and Orli Shaham at The Juilliard School. In 2021, he was a finalist in the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artists Audition.

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Alice Zhang

Solo Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
20
Birthplace
Cleveland, Ohio
School
Cleveland Institute of Music
Compeers
Ellen Barger and Tony Helf; Clive Chang and Chad Tendler
Scholarship
Clive Chang and Chad Tendler Scholarship

Alice is currently earning her bachelor’s degree at The Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Antonio Pompa-Baldi. She was a finalist in the 2023 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, and won 2nd prize in the 2021 Chopin Avenue International Piano Competition. She has performed as the principal keyboardist in the 2023 season at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has also performed with the Schwob Philharmonic.

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Collaborative Piano

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Ming-Li Liu

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
30
Birthplace
Keelung City, Taiwan
School
University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory
Compeers
Debbie Goodwin
Scholarship
Milo W. Bekins Foundation Scholarship

Ming-Li is currently earning her degree in piano performance at University of Cincinnatti’s Conservatory of Music, studying with Daniel Shapiro and Ran Dank. She won the 2019 Wideman International Piano Competition, as well as the Special Award at the 2023 CCM Concerto Competition. She has performed as a soloist in CCM’s Orchestra Series and is the Collaborative Piano Coordinator at Ascent Music Festival.

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Immanuel Mykyta-Chomsky

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
23
Birthplace
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
School
Oberlin College Conservatory of Music
Compeers
Dawn and Brian Seymour
Scholarship
Christopher Carroll Endowed Scholarship

Immanuel completed his bachelor’s degree at Oberlin Conservatory studying with Peter Takacs. He has performed with the Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, Bang on a Can Long Play Festival, the Oberlin Arts & Sciences Orchestra, and the Prague Summer Nights Festival.

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Itsuki Nagamine

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
28
Birthplace
Tokyo, Japan
School
Indiana University
Compeers
Nadia Skidanov
Scholarship
Deanne Gillette Violich Endowed Scholarship

Itsuki is earning a doctorate from Indiana University in the studio of Futaba Niekawa. There, she is an Associate Instructor in the Chamber and Collaborative Music Department. She has participated in the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, Montecito International Music Festival, and Musicfest Perugia. She also studied in the 2022 Castleman Quartet Program.

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Noah Sonderling

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
28
Birthplace
Panorama City, California
Position
New World Symphony
Compeers
Dot and Rick Nelson
Scholarship
Johanne de Castle Endowed Scholarship

Noah is a piano fellow with New World Symphony and studies with Anton Nel. Awards include second place in the 2022 Sidney Wright Accompanying Competition, and first place in the 2018 Indiana University Concerto Competition. He has also appeared with the National Repertory Orchestra.

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Yoshino Toi

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
26
Birthplace
Tama City, Tokyo, Japan
School
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Compeers
Nadia Skidanov
Scholarship
Dodie Little Scholarship

Yoshino recently completed her Performer’s Diploma in Collaborative Piano as a Graduate Assistant at the Jacobs School of Music, studying with Dr. Futaba Niekawa, Dr. Charles Prestinari, and Anne Epperson. She has previously studied with Norman Krieger, Dr. David Westfall, and Malgosia Lis. She will begin her Doctoral studies at the New England Conservatory in the fall.

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Timothy Wong

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2024
Age
26
Birthplace
Hong Kong
School
University of Southern California
Compeers
Marilyn Zellet; Linda and Bob Van Buren
Scholarship
Sima Mannick Endowed Scholarship

Timothy is currently earning his doctorate at the University of Southern California, studying with Margo Garrett, Jean Barr, and Alan Smith. He is the winner of both the 2018 Osaka International Music Competition and the 2017 Hong Kong Youth Music Open Competition. He has performed solo in concerts organized by the The University of Hong Kong and at Britain’s Loughborough Emmanuel Church.

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Yifang Xu

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
24
Birthplace
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
School
Cleveland Institute of Music
Compeers
Margaret Briggs
Scholarship
Karl Kramer Foundation Scholarship

Yifang is earning her graduate diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Anita Pontremoli. She was collaborative pianist for the 2022 Art Song Festival. Other performances include the 2023 Intensive Duo Concert and Cleveland Cello Society Scholarship Winner's Recital. She currently collaborates with the Beaumont School Chorus.

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Ya-Ting Yang

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
32
Birthplace
Tainan, Taiwan
School
University of Colorado, Boulder
Compeers
Caryl Crahan
Scholarship
Peter Simeth Endowed Scholarship

Ya-Ting is currently earning her doctorate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she is also a teaching assistant. She studies with Margaret McDonald and Alexandra Nguyen. Some of her recent performances include Brahms “Sonata for cello and piano no.1 in F major,” and Clarke’s “Sonata for viola and piano.”

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Jiwoo Yun

Collaborative Piano

ABOUT
Fellow
2024
Age
27
Birthplace
Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
School
The Juilliard School
Compeers
Marilyn Zellet; Linda and Bob Van Buren
Scholarship
Mercedes H. Eichholz Endowed Scholarship

Jiwoo is currently earning her degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Jonathan Feldman. She won 1st prize in the chamber music category in the 2020 online edition of the International Music Competition, as well as Best Duo Ensemble and Audience Favorite at the 1st Vietnam International Music Competition for Violin and Chamber Music in 2019. She has performed as part of a duo at Juilliard and is a member of the piano duo “Comme Toi.”

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