Jury
Bao Hui-Qiao
Hui-Qiao Bao, a well-known Chinese pianist.
She has been a juror for many piano competitions in China as well as many international piano competitions, including the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel, (1989) Bucharest Music Festival in Rumania (2004), Jaen International Piano Competition in Spain (2007), The fourth Tbilisi International Piano Competition in Georgia (2009),The Seventh Seoul International Music Competition in South Korea (2011), The Leeds International Piano Competition in England (2012), and the Isangyun Competition in South Korea (2013).
She is a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in China and chairman of the China International Piano Competition.
Alexander Korsantia
Alexander Korsantia is a professor at New England Conservatory in Boston.
Dubbed “a major artist” by the Miami Herald and a “quiet maverick” by the Daily Telegraph, pianist Alexander Korsantia has been praised for the “clarity of his technique, richly varied tone and dynamic phrasing” (Baltimore Sun), and a “piano technique where difficulties simply do not exist” (Calgary Sun).
Ever since winning Gold Medal at the Artur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the First Prize at the Sidney International Piano Competition, Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned artists such as Vadim Repin, Christoph Eschenbach, Gianandrea Noseda, Valery Gergiev, Paavo Järvi, Dan Ettinger and Carlos Prieto with such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Kirov Orchestra, RAI Orchestra in Turin, The City of Birmingham Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and the Far Cry.
Ian Parker
Canadian pianist/conductor Ian Parker has appeared with top Canadian orchestras including the symphonies of Toronto, Quebec, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Orchestre Métropolitain, and the Calgary Philharmonic. In the U.S., orchestral highlights include the San Francisco, Cincinnati, National, Santa Barbara, Richmond, and Honolulu symphonies as well as the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, to name just a few.
Mr. Parker’s recordings include a CD with the London Symphony conducted by Michael Francis featuring three piano concertos: Ravel Concerto in G, Stravinsky Capriccio, and Gershwin Concerto in F, released by ATMA Classique, and an all-fantasy solo CD including fantasies of Chopin, Schumann, and Beethoven on Azica Records.
First Prize winner at the 2001 CBC National Radio Competition, Ian Parker has also won the Grand Prize at the Corpus Christie International Competition and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition.
Baichao Lan
Baichao Lan is a graduate of The Juilliard School in New York. His debut album (Baichao Lan: Schumann and Prokofiev) released by the China Record Corporation has won him acclaims from around the world. He is an artist of the New Juilliard Ensemble at Lincoln Center and a member of the Shanghai Musician Association.
He has won over 20 national and international piano competitions, including First Prize and the Best Rachmaninov Prize in the 2020 Paderewski International Piano Competition in the USA, Fourth Prize in the Kerikeri International Piano Competition in New Zealand, Fourth Prize and Animato Association Special Prize in the Senior Group at the 2017 XI Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kyiv, Ukraine, First Place award at the 2016 Young Musician Piano Competition in New York.
He has been invited to give performances throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. His performances and interview have been broadcasted by Radio New Zealand.
Han Xiang Xu
Han Xiang Xu, also named David, is an active Chinese Canadian concert pianist, educator, and jury member in multiple competitions. David enjoys finding new possibilities and collaborating with other art forms from such as ballet, painting, and Taichi. As a martial art practitioner, this heavily influenced him. His MMus dissertation was on Taichi principals and piano performance techniques. For the past few years, Xu has studied many other martial arts styles and even received his certificate as a professional instructor for Functional Range Conditioning. To further his research on the subject, he is currently taking his second master's degree in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music in London. David is also writing his book on this topic, hoping to help more pianists to have a more fluid technique and be injury-free.
Zhen Chen
Award-winning pianist / composer Zhen Chen has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at prominent venues in the United States, Europe, and China. His live performances and recordings have been broadcast by Chicago’s WFMT, Princeton’s WPRB, WCNY Classic FM, and China Central Television.
Mr. Chen has worked with violinists Maxim Vengerov and Cho-Liang Lin as well as Musicians from the New York Philharmonic and The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in concert and recording engagements. His album Brahms: The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, in collaboration with former Met Orchestra concertmaster Elmira Darvarova (Solo Musica / Sony Music), has been acclaimed by listeners and critics worldwide.
Zhen Chen received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music and master’s degrees in both piano performance and collaborative piano under Arkady Aronov and Heasook Rhee at Manhattan School of Music.
Jingze Sarah Gao
Pianist Jingze Sarah Gao has earned critical acclaim as a solo pianist and chamber musician, as
well as an orchestral pianist. In recent years, she has actively performed recitals and chamber
music concerts throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. At the New England Conservatory, she is
in frequent demand as an orchestral pianist working with renowned conductors such as Ken-
David Masur, Hugh Wolff, and Jeffrey Kahane.
Ms. Gao received her piano training under the guidance of Gabriel Chodos at the New England
Conservatory, and Yoshikazu Nagai and Garrick Ohlsson at the San Fransisco Conservatory with
the position of being the assistant of the Piano Department. She was a top prize winner in
numerous national and international piano competitions. She also has been invited to WUSF
Live Radio for interview and performances as their resident young artist. As a music educator,
Ms. Gao co-founded the Practice Queens Online Music Education Program in San Francisco in
2019.
Mingyi Gao
Dr. Mingyi Gao is a pointed judge of WPTA IPC Competition. She has performed in venues throughout China, Europe and North America. Her students are winners of national and international competitions.
Dr. Gao is winner of Jiangsu Piano Competition, Gulangyu Piano Competition, NTDTV International Piano Competition. She has participated and performed in Shanghai International Piano Festival, Prague International Music Festival, Eastman “Music for All” program, the Chautauqua International Music Festival with orchestra and the tribute to legendary Vladimir Horowitz Concert.
Dr. Gao received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Art degrees from Eastman School of Music. Dr. Gao is a member of MTAC, SYMF and previous chair of Orange County West Southern California Jr. Bach Festival. Her CD recordings include repertoires of Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert and Bartok, etc.
Changhee Lee
Dr. Changhee Lee is a musician who is passionate about integrating theory, musicianship skills, and performance. With formal training in piano performance, he has taught courses in these areas at McGill University, the Université de Montréal (D. Mus.) and the Eastman School of Music (M.M., B.M.). He wrote his doctoral thesis on keyboard improvisation pedagogy for classically trained pianists, and as an active improviser, he has improvised silent film accompaniments and was featured in an improvisation masterclass sponsored by the Montreal International Piano Competition in 2017. As an arranger and composer of pedagogical pieces, he has been published by Hal Leonard and has had his works performed in six continents. He has also performed extensively as a collaborative pianist at the New York Summer Music Festival.
Jinmei Huang
Huang Jinmei is an award-winning concert pianist, music educator. She obtained her Master degree of Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music, Bachelor degree of Piano Performance in China Conservatory of Music. She is the founder of Vancouver Royal School of music. She also served as music director of Peking University Opera Academy, Special Music Lecturer of North American public schools and judges of International Music Competition. Her students received top awards in music competitions throughout the world. In 2014, she won the title of “Steinway Educator”.
Hanbo Ma
Establishing herself as one of today's promising emerging artists, pianist Hanbo Ma has made appearances in solo recitals and with orchestras throughout North America. Dr. Ma has has gain international recognition by performing at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and Severence Hall, as well as winning international competitions including the San Jose International Piano Competition, the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, St. Andrews International Competition and was chosen as the only recipient of Cobbs Piano Prize by Eastman School of Music in 2015. Her career highlights also includes an All-Liszt recital tour in 2017 at Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., Liszt Memorial Museum in Budapest and Hungarian Culture Center in London. Last season, Dr. Ma was invited to judge the fist Golden Gate International Competition, as well as a tour of lecture recitals, solo recitals and master classes at Wuhan Conservatory, Biola University, University of Tennessee Knoxville and East Tennessee State University on French and Russian music.
Dr. Ma holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music and and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California, where she also studied composition with National medal of art recipient Morten Lauridsen and orchestral conducting with Maestro Larry Livingston. Dr. Ma is a Steinway Educational Partner.
Long Ma
Long Ma is the founder of the Las Vegas Piano Music School and director of the Las Vegas Piano Competition. Mr. Ma graduated from the Eastman School of Music and received a Master of Music in Piano
Performance and Literature. He was on the jury of the Silver State Competition and the Musicianship Exam sponsored
by the Las Vegas Music Teachers Association. Member of the Music Teacher National Association. Mr. Ma taught a large number of outstanding students and won top awards at major competition including MTNA Competition, Steinway Competition, Bushell Competition, AADGT International Young Musicians Festival, and was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Han Wang
Pianist Han Wang is in demand on the world's stages as an outstanding pianist who has been invited to play at the American Liszt Festival in Los Angeles; played as artist guest at Pennsylvania International Music Festival; made her debut at the Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center; made a series of performances with orchestra at the Kauffman Center and Lied Center; as well as competed at the 8th Netherlands International Franz Liszt Piano Competition. Han received high recognition from the media and music critics such as Utrecht news, New York Epoch Times news, Washington Kennedy Center news, Oriental Morning newspaper, China Xinhua net, Musical Instrument magazine, Music Space magazine, Music Life newspaper. Hong Kong “RTHK-4” broadcasting station and Kansas Public Radio Station had an interview with her and invited her to perform live. Han was prize winner in numerous international piano competitions such as the Washington D.C International Young Artist Piano competition; Hartford Chopin International Piano Competition; San Jose International Piano Competition; the Netherland International Franz Liszt Competition Asia Pacific Division; “SEILER” International Piano Competition, etc. Dr. Wang has earned the Artist Diploma degree from University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign and hold the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance, literature and pedagogy from University of Kansas.