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FACULTY

Antonio Pompa-Baldi

Italy 

🇮🇹

Head of Piano Department

Cleveland Institute of Music

World-renowned pianist & pedagogue

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Head of Piano Department at the

Cleveland Institute of Music

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Founder of

Todi International Music Masters 

Vice Director for Education at the

Lang Lang Hangzhou Art World

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Visiting Professor at the

China Conservatory of Music

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Steinway Artist

Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999 and embarked on a multifaceted career that continues to extend across five continents. A top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition of Paris, France, Antonio Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Pompa-Baldi studied with two important exponents of the great Neapolitan School:Annamaria Pennella, and Aldo Ciccolini. He also received guidance in masterclass settings from Paul Badura Skoda and Jörg Demus, among others.
Mr. Pompa-Baldi appears at the world’s major concert venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Milan’s Sala Verdi, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Shanghai’s Grand Theatre, and Paris’ Salle Pleyel, to name a few. He has collaborated with leading conductors including Hans Graf, Krzysztof Urbánski, James Conlon, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Theodore Kuchar, Benjamin Zander, Louis Lane, and Keith Lockhart. He has performed with ensembles and colleagues such as Takacs String Quartet, trumpeter Alison Balsom, cellist Sharon Robinson, violinists Ivan Zenaty and Ilya Kaler, and principals of the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Juilliard Quartet, among others.

With a concerto repertoire including more than 60 works, Mr. Pompa-Baldi recently performed cycles of all the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, the five Beethoven Piano Concertos, and both Brahms Concertos with various orchestras. He has played recitals in most major venues over the world. In 2019, he was a returning guest at the third edition of the Lang Lang International Piano Festival in Shenzhen, China, continued his honorary guest professorship at the Beijing China Conservatory, and was named honorary professor at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music.

Among the stops on his tours, he performed in Vienna (Austria), London (UK), Paris (France), New York (USA), Auckland (New Zealand), Jerusalem (Israel), Kiev (Ukraine), Cape Town (South Africa), and throughout China (Beijing Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou), as well as in Poland, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Spain, and many other places around the globe.

Mr. Pompa-Baldi has recorded well over 30 CDs to date, for various labels including Centaur Records, Harmonia Mundi, Steinway, TwoPianists, Azica, and Brilliant Classics. Among them, the complete piano and chamber music works of Grieg, the Josef Rheinberger Piano Sonatas, the complete Hummel Piano Sonatas, and CDs dedicated to Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Respighi, and Rachmaninoff.

For the Steinway label, Pompa-Baldi recorded songs by Francis Poulenc and Edith Piaf, arranged for solo piano, as well as a CD titled “Napoli”, which features new piano versions of famous Neapolitan songs, elaborated by Roberto Piana. Among his latest releases are his transcription for solo piano of the Respighi B minor Violin Sonata, and Suites by Debussy, Luca Moscardi and Barber for piano duo. Recorded with his wife, pianist Emanuela Friscioni, this latest album was published with the title “Suite Nothings” by the Steinway label.

Antonio Pompa-Baldi is a Steinway Artist since 2003. He is also a Steinway Recording Artist, as well as one of the most prominently featured artists in the Spirio recording catalogue. He is often invited to judge international piano competitions such as the Cleveland, Hilton Head, E-Competition (Minneapolis), BNDES Rio de Janeiro, Chopin USA (Miami) and Edward Grieg (Bergen), among many others. He serves as president of the jury and artistic advisor for the San Jose International Piano Competition since 2005.

Pompa-Baldi is on the Piano Faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he also serves as Head of the Piano Department. His students have been prizewinners in important competitions such as Marguerite Long, Hilton Head, Isang Yun, and Gina Bachauer. He is regularly invited to teach masterclasses in countless Universities, Music Schools, and Festivals in the US and all over the world.

In 2015, Pompa-Baldi founded the Todi International Music Masters festival, of which he is also Artistic Director and Faculty Member. This summer festival takes place every August in the beautiful Italian town of Todi. It features 15 concerts in 15 days, with internationally renown faculty members, and students from all over the world.

Antonio Pompa-Baldi serves as Vice Director for Education for the Lang Lang Art World organization in Hangzhou, China, and is on the advisory board of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation of New York.

Gabriel Kwok

Hong Kong

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Head of Keyboard Studies

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Renowned Hong Kong Piano Pedagogue
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Head of Keyboard Studies of
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Fellow of
the Royal Academy of Music, UK
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Visiting Professor at
leading Chinese conservatories

Professor Gabriel Kwok has been Head of Keyboard Studies at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts since 1989. A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, he is Visiting Professor at the Shenzhen Arts School, Xian Conservatory of Music, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Wuhan Conservatory of Music and China Conservatory of Music in China. He has given many masterclasses internationally including at the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music, Hannover Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Graz University of Music and Performing Arts, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute and Yale School of Music. He has served on the faculty of the Cliburn Piano Institute/Piano Texas (USA), Colburn Academy Festival (USA), Art of the Piano (USA), Chetham’s International Piano Summer School (UK), Music Fest Perugia (Italy), Coimbra World Piano Meeting (Portugal), Beijing International Music Festival and Academy (China), Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival (China), Kyungsung International Piano Academy (Korea), Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes (Israel) and PianoSolo – Internacional Masterclass (Argentina). 

Gabriel Kwok has been a jury member of many international competitions including the Rome, Vianna da Motta, Gina Bachauer, Hong Kong, China, Hilton Head, Minnesota Piano-e, Darmstadt Chopin, Rio de Janerio BNDES, James Mottram, China Shenzhen Piano Concerto, Geneva, Bayreuth-Weimar Liszt, Schubert and Aarhus International Piano Competitions.

He has collaborated with many distinguished artists in concerts, among whom were Pierre Amoyal, Alexander Ballie, Siegfried Behrend, Alan Civil, Eugene Fodor, Lu Siqing, Albert Markov, Yuri Mazurkevich, Clarence Myerscough, Roberta Peters, Qian Zhou, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Jenny Ren, Aaron Rosand, Nathaniel Rosen, Rohan de Saram, Hansjoerg Schellenberger, Denis Shapovalov, Jeffrey Solow, Leon Spierer, Richard Stolzman, Wang Jian and Xue Wei.

Gabriel Kwok is a Steinway Artist and Steinway Honorary Professor. He was the Music Director of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts / Radio Television Hong Kong ‘Beethoven 32 Piano Sonatas’ project. In 2014, he was awarded Medal of Honour from the Hong Kong Government for his contribution to piano education in Hong Kong.

George Li

USA

🇺🇸

Concert Pianist

Steinway Artist

World-Renowned Concert Pianist
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Second Prize Winner of
the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition

Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient
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Warner Classics Recording Artist
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Steinway Artist

Praised by The Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority, and brilliant virtuosity far beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation and performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, such as Dudamel, Gaffigan, Gergiev, Gimeno, Honeck, Orozco-Estrada, Petrenko, Robertson, Slatkin, Temirkanov, Tilson Thomas, Long Yu and Xian Zhang.

Li’s 2023-24 season began with a recital at the Grand Teton Music Festival followed by his debut with the Aula Simfonia in Jakarta, Indonesia and conductor Jahja Ling. He embarks on an extensive tour in China, including recital and concerto performances in Kunming, Beijing and Shanghai. In Europe, Li presents recital programs in Viersen, Baden, Elmau and Stuttgart, and he debuts with the Prague Philharmonia in Prague and Ljubljana. U.S. performances include engagements with the Cincinnati and Milwaukee symphonies, Florida Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Chicago Sinfonietta; and recitals across the country from California to Florida. A committed collaborator, Li returns to the ECHO series in El Cajon, California, with the Dover Quartet, and San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall with violinist Stella Chen.

Recent concerto highlights include performances with the Los Angeles, New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo, St. Petersburg and Buffalo philharmonics; the San Francisco, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dallas, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, Nashville, New Jersey, New World, North Carolina, Pacific, Valencia, Montreal and Baltimore symphonies; and the Philharmonia, DSO Berlin, Orchestra National de Lyon and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège in Belgium. His eight-concert tour of Germany with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra included performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich and Stuttgart Liederhalle. Collaboration with the Mariinsky Orchestra included performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music and Graffenegg Festival, and in various venues throughout Russia.

In recital, Li has previously performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Symphony Center in Chicago, the Mariinsky Theatre, Elbphilharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Poly Theater and Amici della Musica Firenze, as well as appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence Festival and Montreux Festival. An active chamber musician, Li has performed alongside Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Daniel Hope, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Kian Soltani.

Li is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist, with his debut recital album released in 2017 which was recorded live from the Mariinsky. His second recording for the label features Liszt solo works and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic and was released in 2019. His third album with the label, which will include solo pieces by Schumann, Ravel and Stravinsky, is scheduled to be released in the spring of 2024.

Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of 10, and in 2011 performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among Li’s many prizes, he was the recipient of the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, a recipient of the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the First Prize winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, continuing to work with Wha Kyung Byun. When not playing piano, Li is an avid reader and photographer, as well as a sports fanatic.

  • World renowned concert pianist
  • Second Prize Winner of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition
  • Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient
  • Warner Classics recording artist
  • Steinway Artist

Andrew Tyson

USA 

🇺🇸

Piano Faculty

Tianjin Juilliard School

International Renowned Concert Pianist
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First Prize at
the Géza Anda International Piano Competition in Zurich, Switzerland

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Piano Faculty at the Pre-College Division of The Tianjin Juilliard School

Hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “a real poet of the piano,” American pianist Andrew Tyson is emerging as a distinctive and important new musical voice. In summer 2015, he was awarded First Prize at the Géza Anda Competition in Zürich, as well as the Mozart and Audience Prizes. These victories have resulted in numerous performances throughout Europe under the auspices of the Géza Anda Foundation.

Tyson is also a laureate of the Leeds International Piano Competition where he won the new Terence Judd-Hallé Orchestra Prize, awarded by the orchestra and conductor Sir Mark Elder with whom he enjoys an ongoing relationship. With concerto performances taking him across North America, Europe and further afield, Tyson has performed with orchestras from the North Carolina Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall, to the Osaka Symphony, SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Musikkollegium Winterthur and the National Orchestra of Belgium.

Highlights this season include a return to the Hallé and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras as well as his debut with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra. Recital appearances include major cities across the US and Europe at venues such as Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts, New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Zürich Tonhalle. Following last season’s recitals in Shanghai, Vancouver, St Petersburg, Tokyo and a return to London’s Wigmore Hall, this season sees Tyson giving recitals in Taiwan for the first time as well as a tour in Switzerland.

No stranger to the festival scene, Tyson’s previous performances include Caramoor Centre for the Music and the Arts, the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Lucerne Piano Festival, the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the Musica Viva festival in Sydney for a mixture of solo and chamber performances. An active chamber musician, Tyson regularly appears in recital with violinist Benjamin Beilman; this season they join up again for performances in the USA.

Tyson’s three recital discs have been issued on the Alpha Classics label. His debut disc comprises the complete Chopin Preludes whilst his second album released in March 2017 features works by Scriabin and Ravel. His latest disc, Landscapes, released in September 2019, features works by Mompou, Albéniz, Scarlatti and Schubert and is described by Tyson as a programme which “synthesizes my love of Spanish music, my love of nature and my fascination with the coloristic aspects of piano playing.” The album title takes its name from Federico Mompou’s Paisajes, which are “landscapes of the mind as much as intimate, yet vivid depictions of Spain”.

As winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 2011, Tyson was awarded YCA’s Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and the John Browning Memorial Prize and following that he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant. After early studies with Thomas Otten he attended the Curtis Institute of Music where he worked with Claude Frank. Tyson later studied with Robert McDonald earning his Master’s degree and Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School, winning the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition and receiving the Arthur Rubinstein Prize in Piano.

  • Concert Pianist
  • First Prize at the Géza Anda International Piano Competition in Zurich, Switzerland
  • Piano Faculty at the Pre-College Division of The Tianjin Juilliard School

Xiaoqin Pan

China

🇨🇳

Piano Faculty


Central Conservatory of Music

Renowned concert pianist & collaborative pianist
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Executive Director of
DFESTIVAL
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Associate Professor of Piano of
the Central Conservatory of Music

Xiaoqin Pan began studying piano at an early age and was admitted to the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music with excellent grades in 1999. In 2003, he was a finalist in the “Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition” in Taipei. In 2005, he won the Gold Prize in the Youth Professional Category at China’s “HAIZIMAN” Cup Oriental Youth Piano Competition and was invited to participate in the piano summer camp at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. In 2006, he won the Silver Prize at the 3rd “Almaty International Piano Competition” in Kazakhstan. In June 2007, as an outstanding student representative of the Central Conservatory of Music Piano Department, he participated in the Juilliard International Master Class – an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China. He received high praise from Yoheved Kaplinsky, the head of Juilliard’s Piano Department, and was retained to work at the Central Conservatory that same year.

Since beginning his career, he has successfully planned and organized numerous academically significant concerts: the 2013 “Schumann Art Song Concert,” the 2014 “Gounod Art Song Concert,” the 2015 “Ralph Vaughan Williams Works Concert” (China premiere), and in 2017, the “Mozart Special Concert,” “Eternal Classics 1 – Baroque Works Concert,” “Eternal Classics 2 – Bach Cantata Concert,” and “Eternal Classics 3 – Handel Chamber Music Concert.” That same year, he published an article titled “How to Make Recitative More Beautiful – Thoughts on Teaching Recitative” in the Central Conservatory of Music Journal, which was later included in the Central Conservatory of Music’s 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up Academic Collection Series in 2019.

In 2019, he won the Best Piano Accompanist Award at the first Yellow River Voice Vocal Competition. Many of his students have won gold, silver, and bronze prizes in various national opera performances and art song competitions at higher arts institutions, the “Fuji Cup” International Music Competition, and the Singapore International Music and Arts Festival.

Ruoyu Huang

China

🇨🇳

Piano Faculty

Central Conservatory of Music

Internationally Renowned Pianist
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Associate Professor of Piano at
the Central Conservatory of Music
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Artistic Director of
DFESTIVAL

Ruoyu Huang is a piano faculty member at the Central Conservatory of Music. He pursued his Bachelor of Music degree at The Curtis Institute of Music in the United States and later earned both his Master of Music and Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. The pinnacle of his education was studying under Maestro Sergei Babayan. In 2021, he released his recording album titled The Piano Art of Russian School, the first CD in China to be released with a focus on the Russian piano school, as it is centered around the thematic approach to this style.

With an artistic approach inspired by the musical styles of late 19th and early 20th-century Golden Age artists like Rachmaninoff, Cortot, Hoffman, Rosenthal, and Horowitz, Mr. Huang is noted for his authentic interpretation and colorful, imaginative performances. In 2022, he released another album titled Exploration of Piano Art in the Romantic Golden Age. In this CD, he deliberately interprets several works through a performance style and aesthetic that fully embraces the golden age, challenging contemporary piano performance norms. The album investigates the concept of respecting the original compositions versus their underlying spirit.

Huang has been invited to perform at prestigious venues such as the Mariinsky Theater, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Jordan Hall in Boston, and the China National Theater. He has also performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in the U.S., and several major orchestras in China. In 2018, he represented China as an artist, performing in Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Russia as part of the One Belt One Road initiative.

Besides his work as a pianist, Ruoyu Huang is also a composer with over 80 art songs that blend classical and Chinese pop music styles. He studied composition under Eric Sessler and Noam Sivan at The Curtis Institute of Music. In 2023, he released his album Serious Crossover, featuring his compositions. His works have also been featured on China Central Television.

Rizzo Chung

Hong Kong

🇭🇰

Principal

Hong Kong GMC Music

Hong Kong Renowned Piano Pedagogue
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Principal of
GMC Music
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Artistic Director of
GMC Festival
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Founder & Director of
GMC Foundation

Rizzo Chung, principal of the notable music school GMC Music and founder and director of the GMC Foundation in Hong Kong, has over 20 years of experience in music education. She is passionately devoted to nurturing young musicians in their teenage years for a music career. Subsequently, she founded the GMC Foundation Scholarship to encourage young musicians to strive for more opportunities to broaden their horizons on the international stage.

Ms. Chung holds a Bachelor (Honours) of Music from Kingston University, UK, and a Licentiate Diploma from the ABRSM and Trinity College of London in both piano performance and piano pedagogy. Throughout her career, she has dedicated herself to studying and exploring piano pedagogical methods from various schools. As a result, many of her students are prize winners of local and international competitions, the most notable of which was the Steinway and Sons National (China) Youth Piano Competition First Prize and the Special Prize for three consecutive editions; gold medalists of several editions in Japan International Chopin Piano Competition; Grand Prix of Piara Piano Competition Hamamatsu Japan; the winners of Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians and Professional Youth Group in Shenzhen Piano Open Competition; also a winner of Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany; George Enescu International Competition in Romania.

Besides, her students are regularly invited to participate in top professional international competitions and festivals, such as the 2nd Van Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition in Dallas and the E-Competition Junior in Minnesota, Hilton Head International Piano Competition in the US, and the Aarhus International Piano Competition in Demark. Students have successfully advanced to the semifinals.

Moreover, her four students are selected as the Young Scholars of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation in the US from 2017 to 2025 respectively.

Ms. Chung is also dedicated to training musical pedagogues and scholars. Throughout her career, her students have been accepted to notable music institutions around the world, including the Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Obelin Conservatory of Music, Clevland Institute of Music, and Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Besides individual contact with her students, Ms Chung regularly hosts pedagogical training programs and workshops, sharing her teaching experience with other teachers on topics such as ABRSM exam repertoire preparation and analysis and workshops on preparations for overseas competitions. She set up an online concert platform for classical music with no borders, “Soireé Musique”, for young musicians to share their music with audiences worldwide.

  • Hong Kong Renowned Piano Pedagogue
  • Principal of GMC Music
  • Artistic director of GMC Festival
  • Founder & Director of GMC Foundation

Junhui Chen

China

🇨🇳

Concert Pianist

Internationally Renowned Concert Pianist
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Second Prize Winner of
the Prix Ravel Competition in France
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Main Stage participant of
the Chopin International Piano Competition

Doctoral Student at
Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Chinese pianist Junhui Chen continues to enthrall audiences with his exceptional artistry and musicianship. He has captivated audiences worldwide as a soloist and collaborated with orchestras across the world, including Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Les Virtuoses Chamber Orchestra, Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, Xiamen Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, and Shanghai Music Middle School Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in renowned music festivals such as the International Music Festival of Paris, the Perugia Music Festival, Orford Music Academy, Fontainebleau School, and the Shanghai Piano Festival.

As an active chamber musician, Junhui Chen has played in the Beijing International Music Festival and has been praised by the Strad magazine on his rendition of Beethoven Violin Sonata Op.47, ‘…played a blinder, in a performance powerful, dramatic and compelling.’

A winner of numerous International Competitions. Junhui was a recipient of prizes including Special prize in the Sicily International Piano Competition in Italy, Second Prize in Amadeus International Piano Competition in Italy, Third prize and Audience Prize in the Thymis International Piano Competition in Greece, Deuxième Prix in the Ravel Music Competition in France, Second Prize in the third Marbella International Music Competition in Spain, Bach Special Prize winner in the inaugural Olga Kern International Piano Competition in 2016, Second prize and the Best master class performance prize and 4 years of full scholarship given by the Eastman School of Music in the Eastman Young Artist International Piano Competition, Second prize in the Louisiana International Piano Competition (Adult group) as the youngest participant.

He has performed in Venues such as the China National Center of Performing Arts and Poly Theatre in Beijing, Poly Theatre in Beijing, Shanghai Concert Hall in Shanghai, and Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall in Shanghai, Kodak Hall in Rochester, USA, Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall in Poland, Fontainebleau Palace and Salle Cortot in Paris, France, and Vietnam National Concert Hall in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Born in Fuzhou, Fujian, Junhui Chen attended Shanghai Music Middle School affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory where he studied with Zhengxiao Que and Zhe Tang. He holds an artist diploma from Ecole Normale de Music de Paris with très bien et les felicitations du jury, a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, a bachelor’s degree, and an improvisation certificate from the Curtis Institute of Music under esteemed mentors such as Robert McDonald, Gary Graffman, Dang Thai Son, Jerome Lowenthal, and Pascal Rogé. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, under the guidance of doctoral supervisor Zhe Tang

  • Internationally renowned concert pianist
  • Second Prize Winner of the Prix Ravel Competition in France
  • Main Stage participant of the Chopin International piano Competition
  • Second Prize Winner of the Prix Ravel Competition, France
  • Doctoral student at Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Qitu Feng

China

🇨🇳

Renowned Piano Pedagogue

Renowned Piano Pedagogue
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Music Critic
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Guest Faculty of
DFESTIVAL

Director and Founder of
Beijing Yingrui Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
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Board Member of
the Austrian Society for Music and Music Education (Beijing)

Qitu Feng graduated from the China Conservatory of Music, studying under Professor Zhu Di, a pianist based in America. He is the Artistic Director and founder of Beijing Yingrui Cultural Development Co., Ltd., and a board member of the Austrian Society for Music and Music Education (Beijing).

Over decades of teaching, he has successfully guided students into professional institutions and helped them achieve excellent results in various domestic and international piano competitions, including: The Middle School Affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music, Piano Department of China Conservatory of Music, Piano Department of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Piano Department of Tianjin Conservatory of Music, Piano Department of Nanjing University of the Arts, and Piano Department of the Middle School Affiliated to Shenyang Conservatory of Music. His students have won awards in competitions such as: The 10th Steinway Piano Competition, the 2nd China Music “Little Golden Bell” Piano Competition, the 6th and 7th Asian Youth Music Competition Finals, the 19th and 27th “Santa Cecilia” International Piano Competition (Portugal), the 6th Youth Pianist Competition (Japan), the “2019-2023” Haydn International Piano Competition (Austria), the 4th and 5th SAE National Youth Piano Competition and 2nd Bonn International Piano Competition Finals (Germany), “2024 6th Magnolia International Music Festival Piano Competition,” and “2024 8th Huabiao International Piano Open Competition.” He has also been repeatedly recognized as an “Outstanding Instructor,” “Excellent Teacher,” received the “Outstanding Educator Award” and “Honorary Teacher Award,” and served as a judge in many of these competitions.

His articles have been published in “Piano Art” magazine, “Music Weekly,” and the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA). He has interviewed artists including Chen Sa, Bruce Liu, George Li, and Gonggi Kim, and collaborated with composer Li Yanbing and pianists Huang Ruoyu and Duan Zhaoxu to publish “100 Selected Graded Piano Competition Pieces for Youth.”

  • Renowned Piano Pedagogue
  • Music Critic
  • Guest Faculty of DFESTIVAL
  • Director and Founder of the Beijing Yingrui Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
  • Board Member of the Austrian Society for Music and Music Education (Beijing)

Hin-Sing Au

Hong Kong

🇭🇰

Concert Pianist

Concert Pianist (USA based)
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Co-Founder & Operations Director of
DFESTIVAL

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Founder of
Hong Kong Fantasia International Music Management Ltd.

Artistic Director of
Hong Kong Fantasia Music Space
————
Doctoral Student at
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, USA

Born in Hong Kong in 2001, Au Hin Sing emerged as a promising talent when selected for the Young Pianist Program at Hong Kong GMC Music in 2016 under Principal Chung Chit Man. During this period, he established his presence through numerous solo and duo performances at prominent venues including the Tsuen Wan Town Hall. His artistic journey gained momentum in 2019 with a sold-out solo recital at the Chinese Christian Church Concert Hall. That same year marked his acceptance into the Cleveland Institute of Music with distinguished scholarship recognition. There, he completed a rigorous five-year dual degree program under Antonio Pompa-Baldi, an illustrious pianist whose accolades include first prize at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition, victory at the 1999 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Au’s dedication culminated in the completion of his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in 2024. Following this achievement, Au embarked on doctoral studies at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a full scholarship under legendary Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen, a juror of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and Chopin International Competition, and gold medalist of the 1972 Busoni International Piano Competition. While pursuing his Doctor of Music in Piano Performance with double minors in Music Education and Arts Administration, Au serves as a Piano Instructor at the institution teaching private students and group piano classes.

Praised by legendary Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires for his “exquisite artistry and nuanced performance,” Au has established an international career spanning performances across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore. In 2024, his artistic excellence was highlighted through a victory at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Concerto Competition, culminating in a performance with the school’s orchestra under renowned French conductor Mélisse Brunet. That same year, he served as a featured artist in the RPPF Satellite Concert Series, where he presented an acclaimed recital at the historic First United Church of Middlebury. His competition achievements include a bronze medal at the 19th Asian International Chopin Piano Competition, first prizes at both the Vanke Meisha Music Academy Steinway Youth Piano Competition and the 8th Shenzhen Piano Open Competition (Concerto Division), and second prize at the New Orleans International Piano Festival Concerto Competition.

In 2022, Au participated in the festival organized by Rebecca Penneys at the Eastman School of Music and performed with the TIMM Orchestra at the Todi International Music Festival in Italy. The following year brought acclaim with his selection as a finalist in both the Singapore International Piano Competition and the James Mottram International Piano Competition. His masterful interpretation of Bach’s works earned him the Golden Hand Award and Best Bach Performance Prize at the 2023 Carlos Seixas International Piano Competition, alongside Special Mention at the WPTA International Piano Competition and the Gold Prize at the Euterpe Music Awards. His artistic journey continued with a featured performance at the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain at the historic Church of San Juan Bautista.

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*The faculty members listed above are presented in no particular order.

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