Anastasiya Naplekova
Ukrainian-born pianist Anastasiya Naplekova has a unique voice in the world of music, performing with effortless virtuosity (Cincinnati Enquirer) and delivering the most challenging works of the piano repertoire with strongly personal performance (The Miami Herald). Winner of the Rudolf Firkusny International Piano Competition in Prague, she has recently received her doctoral degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Miami, Frost School of Music, studying under the distinguished tutorage of Professor Santiago Rodriguez. |
Among Ms. Naplekova’s achievements include prizes at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the 6th International Ignacy Paderewski Piano Competition, the International Piano Competition in memory of Vladimir Horowitz, the Wideman Piano Competition, the International Piano Competition Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem (Morocco), and most recently the Olga Kern International Piano Competition (Albuquerque, NM). She has performed solo recitals in Ukraine, Russia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, USA and has been a soloist with multiple orchestras, including the Frost Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leon Fleisher as the opening performance for the 2012 Festival Miami concert series.
Ms. Naplekova received her BM and MM in piano performance from Kharkov State University of Arts studying under Professor Nataliya Melnikova. She continued her study at the University of Florida with Professors Boaz Sharon and Kevin Sharpe, where she received her second MM in piano performance. Ms. Naplekova is also the recipient of special grants from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine. |
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Michael Karshis
Michael Karshis is a student of Tanya Schwartzman. He loves to perform on the piano and seeks every opportunity to perform. His artistic personality attracted creators of the popular show “From the Top”, who featured him in several episodes. He looks at piano competitions as a part of his overall musical experience. He is a first place winner of New England Piano Teachers Association, first prize winner of Steinway Society of Massachusetts and a third place winner at the III Paderewski International Piano Competition, where he was one of the youngest pianists. He has also performed in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as a winner of the International Young Artist Piano Competition for 2018. |
Jentao Yu
Jentao Yu earned a Master of Piano Performance degree from Manhattan School of Music under pianist Jeffrey Cohen, Yu received piano master classes from pianist Martha Argerich, Stephen Hough, Nelita True, Jeffrey Swann, Arkady Aronov. He is currently a candidate of Doctoral of Musical Art degree in Boston University under pianist Roberto Plano. |
As a First Price winner of 2018 Concert Artists International Virtuoso Competition, Yu had been invited to give concerts in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Beijing National performing center, Taipei National Concert Hall. Yu has toured cities including New York, Boston, Milan, Beijing, Taipei, Macau. He was also invited to give solo concerts in Italy Bardonecchia music Festival, New York Summit Festival, Manhattan School of Music Festival, France Music Alp Festival. As a guest artist, he was invited to give solo concerts in Milan, Italy by Fazioli Pianoforti. In 2014, he was invited to give lectures and master classes in JiangXi Province, China. |
Nansong Huang
Born in China, 1993, Nansong started playing the piano when he was four years old. At the age of ten, he was accepted to The Middle School Attached to The Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In 2009, he moved to the United States and was admitted to the pre-college division of Juilliard School of Music. He earned his B.A. from the renowned Columbia-Juilliard Exchange program with degrees in Political Science and Music, and he recently graduated with a Master of Music degree at Yale School of music. Nansong will start pursuing his Doctor of Musical Art degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy in Northwestern University in the fall of 2018. |
In recent years, he had won top prizes in many piano competitions, including 1st prize in Minnesota International E-Competition Juniors (2008), 1st prize of the 5th International Piano Competition “Dedication to Franz Liszt" in Moscow(2008),1st prize and the best performance of Tchaikovsky piece award in the 6th International Tchaikovsky Competition for young musicians, South Korea(2009), Special Jury Prize and Special Audience Prize for performance in the 4th Sendai International Music Competition, Japan (2010), 2nd prize in piano competition at Virtuoso & Belcanto Music festival (2017), Etc.
In addition, He collaborated successfully with more than 20 orchestras around the world including Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian Symphony Orchestra, and many others. He is also an avid chamber musician, and has performed chamber music in many prominent venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Peter Jay Sharp Hall, etc., with works ranging from Franz Schubert to Leonard Bernstein. |