Competitors
Meet our fantastic young competitors!
TIMOTHY CHIANG
Australia
Timothy began his musical studies at the age of five, learning the piano with his mother, and the violin at the age of nine with Brian Blake. From an early age winning numerous prizes, he was awarded a music and academic scholarship to Scotch College (Melbourne) in 2000, where he then continued studying the piano with Mikhail Solovei, and the violin with Leonid Zeyde in 2002. Timothy has been awarded the LMusA, LRSM and FTCL (piano), and LMusA (violin). He made his orchestral debut at age fourteen playing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 in Melba Hall, Melbourne Conservatorium, and also performed Liszt's Piano Concerto No 1 in Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne. Timothy has been broadcast live on 3MBS 'Fine Music' 103.5 FM. He has won numerous prizes in competitions including second prize in the Salzburg 'Grand Prize Virtuoso' International Music Competition, third prize in the Rising Stars Grand Prix International Music Competition Berlin, and second prize in the Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award. He has also been a finalist in the Feurich International Piano Competition and in the Australian National Piano Award, and was a semi-finalist in the 4th Karlovac International Piano Competition. He currently studies with Mikhail Solovei.
SHAUN CHOO
Singapore
Shaun Choo was born in Singapore in 1991 and commenced piano at the age of 7. After attaining his Music Diploma at 14 under Ms. Lena Ching, he pursued his studies abroad at the University Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria, under the guidance of the late renowned pedagogue professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and professor Andreas Weber. An active performer, he has travelled across Europe and Asia, giving recitals in Austria, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, China, Singapore and South Korea, often appearing as soloist with orchestras such as the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Mozarteum Symphony Orchestra, Niederbayerische Philharmonie Passau, China Broadcast Symphony Orchestra, Daegu Philharmonic and Leipzig Academic Orchestra. Amongst the numerous venues his concerts have taken place at over the years, highlights include the National Concert Hall Beijing, Bregenzer Festspielhaus, Leipziger Gewandhaus, Theatre Wielki Warsaw and Chopin’s birthplace in Zelazowa Wola. Shaun has also been invited to several festivals including the Schwetzinger Festspiele, Duszniki Chopin Piano Festival and Klavierfrühling Deutschlandsberg, and has performed at the following international events – AEC Congress 2006, CommunicAsia 2007 Singapore, Rotary Club Congress Avignon, BCRT/BMBF 2008 Workshop Berlin and the özbf-Kongress Salzburg 2008.
A prize winner at several international piano competitions, he has clinched a total of 7 first prizes: 2006 Rotary Club Piano Competition Lindau, Germany, 2009 Grotrian Steinweg Piano Competition Beijing, China, 2010 ZF MusikPreis Friedrichshafen, Germany (March), 2010 Chopin Competition Budapest, Hungary (March), 2010 Chopin Competition Bagneres Di Bigorre, France (July), 2010 Chopin Concerto Competition Beijing, China (November), 2012 Chopin Competition Daegu, South Korea. He was awarded second place in the 21st "Flame" International Competition in Paris 2010 (April) and the 2009 Blüthner Golden Tone Award Piano Competition in Vienna. An avid composer, Shaun often performs his own works during his concerts. During his two-year military stint from March 2011-2013, he was commissioned by the Singapore army to compose the SAF Signal Formation Song. Shaun has conducted several masterclasses back home and abroad, and was Assistant Lecturer during the International Summer Academy Mozarteum 2015. He holds the title of Adjunct Professor in Chun University, Charlotte, North Carolina U.S.A. From 2017 onwards, Shaun will commence studies under renowned professor Jacques Rouvier and pianist Dang Thai Son.
EDUARD DIACHENKO
Russia
Eduard Dyachenko was born in 1996 in onetsk, Ukraine. Since the age of 4 he has been living in Moscow, Russia and studying music. In 2011 he enrolled in the Academic Music College at Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of Honoured Professor of Russian Federation Natalia Suslova. In 2015 he entered the class of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory class of Professor Stanislav Igolinsky, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation. In 2008 he won 1st Prize at the 3rd Yakov Flier Piano Competition in New Paltz (USA). For his outstanding achievement in the musical arts, Eduard was invited to the Summer School of the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) in 2012, and “Sunny New Paltz” (USA) in 2013. By the age of 20, Eduard had the honour of performing in the best concert halls in Moscow. In addition to peforming concerts, Eduard is also a composer. His work is touching upon different stylistic genres: romanticism, impressionism, neoclassicism, and jazz. He is the author of more than 30 opuses.
PHAM TRA MI HOANG
Vietnam
Hoang Pham Tra Mi was born in Moscow, Russia in 1997. She began playing piano at the age of 5 in Moscow with teachers Lev Ukrainskiy and Lubov Chistiakova. From 2009 -2012 Tra Mi was studying at the Vietnam National Academy of Music with Dr. Ta Quang Dong. In 2012 Tra Mi was accepted to the Central Music School (College) of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, there she became a student of People’s Artist and professor Yuri Slesarev. In 2014 after graduating with honor from the CMS Tra Mi received a state scholarship to pursue her music studies in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she is currently mastering her skills. Tra Mi’s teachers are internationally renowned pianists and professors, People’s Artists Yuri Slesarev and Tigran Alikhanov, and Honor Artist Irina Kirillova. She is actively performing as a soloist and a chamber musician. Tra Mi’s repertoire ranges from Baroque to Contemporary music.
SHIH-WEI HUANG
China-Taipei
Born in Taipei, pianist Shih-Wei Huang has been hailed by audiences and critics alike as an artist of poetic insight and communicative powers. Praised as “A true artist, a great talent, and a serious musician” by Tamás Vásáry, Ms. Huang completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the Curtis Institute and Master of Music degree at Yale University. She is a Meisterklasse candidate at Munich Musikhochshule. She has studied with Hung-Kuan Chen, Claude Frank, Konstantin Lifschitz, Matti Raekallio, Antti Sirrala, Rolf-Peter Wille and Daming Zhu. A recipient of many honors and prizes, Ms. Huang’s recent awards include the Steinway Young Artist 2014, the National Talent Bank 2012, the 52nd Sorantin International Competition for Piano 2011, and The Dorothy MacKenzie Artist Recognition Award in NY, 1st prize in international keyboard competition in New York, CHIMEI Artist Award, Young Star Series artist in Taiwan, second prize in the International Chopin Competition in Taipei, 3rd prize in the International Schmidbauer Competition, 1st prize in the International Mauro Paulo Monopoli Piano Competition etc. Ms. Huang performs as a soloist and as chamber musician throughout the world. She was the featured pianist for the National Symphony Orchestra’s chamber lecture recital music program in season 2014 and 2015. Ms. Huang has cooperated with the Voice Spring Symphony Orchestra, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her tour in Europe includes an invitation from conductor Tamas Vásáry with the Kodály Zoltán Orchestra in 2014, and she was the guest musician and at the opening concert in October 2015 for the IC Taiwan exhibition in Prague. In 2017 January, she founded the I.F. piano trio.
KONSTANTIN KHACHIKYAN
Russia
Konstantin Khachikyan was born in 1995 in Moscow. He graduated from Moscow Conservatory College and now is a student of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of Honoured artist of Russia, Professor Andre Pisarev. He has played in such halls as Myaskovsky, Rachmaninoff, Small and Grand halls of Moscow conservatory, Pushkin’s and Scryabin's museum, the Tretyakov gallery, the Grand Hall of the Urals Conservatory (Ekaterinburg), concert hall “Estonia” (Tallinn), and the Grand Hall of Astana Philarmonia. He also regularly gives recitals in the halls of the Moscow Philharmonia. In autumn 2013 he was a member of the “New Names” charity foundation delegation on its presentation in Charkiv and Tallinn playing as a soloist as well a chamber musician. In the summer 2015 gave a number of recitals in the “Casalmaggiore International Festival” (Italy). He participated in the master-classes of “Russian piano school 2016” in Tokyo. In February 2017 Konstantin gave a charity concert in the name of S.Lyapunov in the Russian Ambassador’s residence in Paris. He is a regular participant in the “New Talents Galaxy”, “Chopin Valses” projects, and the concerts of the special piano cathedral directed by Professor Dorensky and has been awarded with a Diploma for contribution to the preservation of the cultural heritage by the "Renaissance Francais" society. Konstantin is a prize winner of the following competitions: “New names” (Moscow, 2008), “Musical diamond” (Moscow, 2012, 1st Prize), G.Neuhaus Competition (Moscow, 2013, special prize), Chopin Competition (Estonia, 2014, 3rd prize), “Astana piano passion” (Kazakhstan, 2014, 2nd prize), M. Yudina Competition (Saint-Petersburg, 2015, 1st prize), Moscow International Chopin Competition (2016, 1st prize, and Mazurka prize).
SUNGPIL KIM
USA
Award-winning pianist Edwin (Sungpil) Kim performs as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist across the US and in his native South Korea. Praised by International Piano Magazine for performances infused with “magic in atmosphere, individuality and poise,” his repertoire encompasses timeless masterpieces of the piano literature along with innovative new composiJons. In 2016, Mr. Kim performed the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 by W. A. Mozart with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and also performed the Triple Concerto of Beethoven with the renowned violinist Herbert Greenberg and the cellist Amanda Forsyth of the Zukerman Trio. As a recitalist, he has given recitals as part of The Yamaha Rising Artist Series, at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts and the Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, Korea. In the US, he has been featured on WWFM in the New York City metropolitan area and WBJC in Baltimore. Mr. Kim was awarded the first prize at the 2011 Jefferson Symphony International Young Artists Competition in Colorado and the 2009 South Orange Symphony Orchestra Artist Competition. He received the third prize at the 2009 Manchester International Concerto Competition for Young Pianists in Manchester, UK. He was also the prize winner at the 2010 Isang Yun International Music Competition in Tongyeong, Korea. Mr. Kim earned the Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied with renowned artist-teacher Yong Hi Moon. Previously, he studied for four years with the eminent pianist Martin Canin at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division in New York. Today, along with his international appearances, Mr. Kim is completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Peabody, in the studio of Brian Ganz.
TUOMAS KYYHKYNEN
Finland
Tuomas Kyyhkynen started playing piano at the age of four under the instruction of his mother. He finished his studies in Sibelius Academy with professor Erik T. Tawaststjerna. He has also been taught by among others Dmitri Bashkirov, Bella Davidovich, Pavel Gililov, Karl-Heinz Kammerling, Angela Hewitt, Leon Fleisher and Andras Schiff. He is the first Finnish pianist ever to be accepted to the prestigious Lake Como Piano Academy in Dongo, Italy. At the age of eleven Tuomas made his debut as a soloist with an orchestra performing the D-major concerto by Joseph Haydn with Tapiola Sinfonietta. Among other prizes he has received nationally are the second prize and a special prize donated by Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE in the national piano competition "Jyvaskylan pianokilpailu" in 2004. Also by the age of 11 he had made a professional CD recording and performed in various festivals in Finland and as a soloist of many Finnish orchestras, including debut with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Okko Kamu in 2005. He has also performed across Europe as well as in Brazil, China, Japan, Hong Kong and in the USA, often with great critical acclaim. Mr. Kyyhkynen has also appeared many times in Finnish National Radio and TV Broadcasts on YLE as well as on Belgian Radio Channel RTBF, Norwegian TV NRK, Danish Radio DR, BBC Radio 3 and Chinese TV Channel CCTV. Mr Kyyhkynen has received numerous awards in international competitions such as the London International Piano Competition in 2009, Maria Canals Piano Competition in 2011 and more recently First Prize in Nordic Piano Competition in 2013, among others. Mr. Tuomas Kyyhkynen has also participated in conducting master class by Prof. Jorma Panula.
TETIANA SHAFRAN
Ukraine
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1989, Tetiana Shafran started playing piano at the age of 3. Graduated from the Lysenko Special Music School and the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine with A. Vasin (2012) and OYPA with prof. Oxana Yablonskaya (2015). Currently she is studying at the Jerusalem Academy of Music (Israel) in the class of Prof. Oxana Yablonskaya (USA). Tetiana is the prize-winner of about 17 International piano competitions. Among those prizes are: Among those prizes are: 1st prize at the 9th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth (Poland, Shafarnija, 2001), 3rd prize at the 18th Valencia International Piano Competition of Jose Iturbi (Spain, Valencia, 2013), 2nd prize at the 18th International Piano Competition “Mauro Paolo Monopoli Prize” (Italy, Barletta, 2015), 1st Prize at the Emil Gilels International Piano competition (Odessa, Ukraine, 2015), 1st prize at the Carl Filtsch International Piano Competition (Sibiu, Romania, 2016), and 1st prize at the Antonio Napolitano International Piano Competition (Italy, Salerno, 2017). Tetiana has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.
JOO HYEON PARK
Korea
Joo Hyeon Park graduated from Yale University School of Music under Hung-Kuan Chen and Claude
Frank. He is currently pursuing Konzertexamen at the Musikhochschule Hannover under the guidance of Arie Vardi. He is a prizewinner of numerous competitions including the International Foundation Animato Competition, Rolf und Ingeborg Rütgers Private Foundation Award, Concours Clara Haskil with Critics Prize, Concours International de Piano de l’Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc and Concours Long-Thibaud in France. Recently he received the 2nd and Audience Prize at the BNDES Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His performances has taken him around many renowned concert halls and festivals including Teatro Salieri, Sommerakademie Salzburg, Eric Satie Festival, Salzburger Schlosskonzerte Mirabell, Bodensee Musikfestival, Yale Vista Chambermusic Concert, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Stravinski Auditorium, Salle Gaveau, Théâtre National Mohammed V, Theatro Municipal, Theatre des Champs-Elysees and the Kennedy Center. Mr. Park has appeared as a soloist with the Göttinger Symphony, Akademisches Orchester Leipzig, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de chamber de Paris, Brazilian Symphony and Universität Mozarteum Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Wolfgang Westphal, Horst Förster, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Michael Hofstetter, Olivier Holt, Fawzi Haimor, Roberto Tibiriçá and Sir André Previn.
JIUMING SHEN
China
Jiuming Shen started playing piano at the age of five. He graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music with a Bachelor degree in 2013. He received his Artist Diploma from the Colburn School in 2015 and he is currently pursuing his Masters degree at the Juilliard School. He has been a laureate of several international competitions during the past few years, including 3rd prize at the San Jose International Piano Competition.
SHANDEE TERUYA
USA
WITHDRAWN
Shandee Teruya, born and raised in Honolulu Hawaii, an internationally recognized pianist at the age of 19. As one of today’s most engaging young musician, Shandee has already had a performance at Carnegie Hall, Weil Hall. She is in demand for a wide variety of masterclasses, playing with some of the world’s leading instrumentalists, as well as appearing on major international competitions and performances. Her recent achievements include appearance at Carnegie Hall’s Weil Hall, as a winner of the American Fine Arts Romantic Competition and performance of Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra, twice, in Russia. She has also performed Mozart Concerto No.17 first movement, with the Hawaii Festival Orchestra. Shandee has won numerous awards from the Aloha International Piano Competition, Morning Music Club Scholarship Competition, Hawaii Music Teacher’s Association Competition, Kamuela Concerto Competition, Hawaii Mozart, American Fine Arts Concerto Competition, American Fine Arts Russian Competition, and Music Teacher’s National Association Competition. In 2013, She traveled to Washington D.C. to compete as a finalist in the World’s Pianist Invitational, winning second alternate. In 2017, she was a semi-finalist in the Spotlight Competition. Shandee Teruya is currently a student at the Colburn School, where she studies with teacher Dr.Ory Shihor.
MAN CHUNG NICHOLAS YOUNG
Australia
Born in Sydney and currently based in Melbourne, Nicholas Young has regularly concertised throughout Australia and Europe, appearing as soloist with the Vienna International, West Australian, Queensland, Adelaide and Willoughby Symphony Orchestras. An avid supporter of new music, he has given national or world premieres of several works including Calogero Panvino’s 'Sonata 101' (2010), Huck Hodge’s 'Omen, unscroll a canon war! (Hommage à Nancarrow)' (2010) and Hakan Ulus’ 'Gumu’ah' (2015) and 'Alaq' (2015). Nicholas’ past national accolades include Keyboard Winner of the 2011 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards, Second Prize of the 2012 Australian National Piano Award, and Winner of the 2016 Allison/Henderson Sydney Eisteddfod and Michael Kieran Harvey Piano Scholarships. During his overseas studies, supported by the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, Nicholas received First Prize and Best Beethoven Performance of the 2015 ‘Grand Prize Virtuoso’ International Music Competition (London), Third Prize of the 15th Rome International Piano Competition, and Honourable Mentions at the 7th International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition (Vienna) and 1st International Cochran Piano Competition.
ALEXANDER YAU
Australia
Alexander is an active pianist and chamber musician, who performed across Australia, as well as Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai. He has appeared as soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Kuring-gai Philiharmonic Orchestra, SBS Youth Orchestra, New South Wales Youth Orchestra and Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, the latter performing Brahms’s 2nd Piano Concerto last year with Eduardo Diazmunoz. He was the 3rd prize winner at the 2015 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, a semi-finalist in the KeriKeri International Piano Competition, and recipient of the Theme and Variations Foundation Award and Emerging Artists Series. He has done recording broadcasts with the 2MBS and a CD recording with ABC classic Fm with clarinetist Deborah de Graaff, also featuring his own compositions. He has also given performances at the International Mendelssohn Akademie in Leipzig, Canberra International Music Festival, as well as the European Chamber Music summer school, performing in various venues in Verona including the Villa Mosconi Bertani. His teachers include Elizabeth Powell and Daniel Herscovitch, also worked with Stephen Hough, Eleanor Wong, Pavel Gililov and Arie Vardi. His 2017-18 future engagements include recitals in various regions in Australia.
MICHAŁ SZYMANOWSKI
Poland
One of the most promising Polish pianists of the young generation, Michał Karol Szymanowski was born in 1988 into a musical family. He graduated with honours from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he studied piano with Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and symphonic-operatic conducting under Zygmunt Rychert. He honed his skills with Eldar Nebolsin at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. At present he continues his piano education as a doctoral student and at the same time works as an assistant lecturer at his alma mater and at the Academy of Music in Łódź. Michał has won top awards in a number of national and international piano competitions, including the MozARTè International Piano Competition in Aachen (2016), the International Chopin Piano Competition in Daegu, Korea (2015), the Zarębski International Music Competition in Warsaw (2012), the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Piano Competition in Katowice (2011), the Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz (2010), the International Competition in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Kiev (2007), and the Polish National Chopin Piano Competitions in Warsaw (2008, 2015). In 2015 he was the highest placed quarter-finalist in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Michał has given performances in Poland and other European countries (including Germany, England, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium and Switzerland) as well as on other continents (in the United States, Japan, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela). Of particular note, he has also performed in the Palace of Nations in Geneva, the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican (a concert for Pope Benedict XVI), at Warsaw’s Belvedere Palace for Polish President Bronisław Komorowski, numerous philharmonic halls throughout the world as well as major festivals in Poland and abroad, among them Oficina de Música de Curitiba, Festival Internacional de piano Chopiniana in Buenos Aires, Festival Europeo de Solistas in Caracas, Festival Pianistico di Roma, the Long Lake Festival in Lugano, and the “Chopin and His Europe” Festival in Warsaw, where he brilliantly performed piano concertos by Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Józef Wieniawski. Michał has performed under such eminent conductors as Alfredo Rugeles, Medardo Caisabanda, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antoni Wit, Marek Pijarowski and Michał Dworzyński with, among others, the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Cláudio Santoro National Theatre in Brasilia, the Warsaw, Cracow, Wrocław and Szczecin Philharmonic orchestras, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra and the Capella Bydgostiensis Chamber Orchestra.
YANG SONG
China
Song Yang, born in Beijing, began learning the piano at age five and the organ at age ten. She entered the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music at the age of seven where she completed her double major in piano and organ, and has been the only student to undertake this study. At fifteen she won a full scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music studying piano performance. She is currently continuing her double performance studies in piano and organ at the Vienna University of Music and the Performing Arts (MDW) under Dr Michael Stephanides and professors Martin Haselboeck and Jasminka Stancul. She has also had tuition under Mikhail Jurowski, Alim Shakh, Johannes Wildner, Gary Graffman, Seymour Lipkin and Arie Vardi. Song Yang is in demand as a piano soloist because of her wide ranging repertoire of piano concertos (Bach, Bartok, Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Schumann, Tchaikovsky) and has performed with orchestras in Europe (Concentus 21, St. Blasien, Moravian Philharmonic, West Bohemian, Vastra, MDW Kammer, MDW Pro Arte) and Asia (Thailand, China). She has appeared at Carnegie Weill, the Beijing Concert Hall, Beijing Poly Theater and Thailand Philharmonic Hall including Chinese television. She has won many major prizes at national and international piano competitions, many acknowledging her as the youngest contestant. Some are: 1st Prize American Protégé International Competition 2008, 1st Prize New York Julia Crane International Piano Competition 2008, 1st Prize Louisiana International Piano Competition 2007. 2nd Prize New York Chopin International Piano Competition 2009, 2nd Prize Thailand International Piano Competition, 2nd Prize Beijing International Concerto Competition 2006. Excellent Young Artist Special Prize, American Protégé International Competition 2009.
