Art of Piano: Participant Showcases 2

Jiwang Yoo is a South Korean pianist currently studying at the Juilliard School under Hung-Kuan Chen. He previously studied with Minsoo Sohn and Jinsang Lee at the Korea National University of Arts and the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, where he was also a recipient of the KT&G Scholarship.

Jiwang has performed at major venues in South Korea, including Kumho Art Hall, Win Art Hall, and the Seoul Arts Center Recital Hall, as well as at the Museo Frédéric Chopin y George Sand in Valldemossa, Spain. A first prize winner in several national competitions, he has appeared as a soloist with the Seoul Orchestra and the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also participated in masterclasses with Miroslav Kultyshev, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Hee-Yeon Choi, and Arthur Greene.

Jiwang Yoo was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Wang Shu (Ada) is an 18-year-old female from China. She is currently studying piano performance at the Eastman School of Music in the United States. She is a student of the famous pianist Professor Joseph Rackers. She won the second place in the gold medal of the Asia-Pacific Finals of the Mendelssohn International Piano Competition (2022-2023) and the champion of the Steinway International Youth Piano Competition in China (2021-2023). She has held many solo concerts, including a solo performance at the Bechstein Concert Hall. - Participated in international stages such as the Vienna International Youth Music Festival and the China-Austria Cultural Exchange Concert. - Selected for the Huanglong Music Festival Master Class and received guidance from international pianist Bruce Brubaker.

Shu Wang was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.
 

Maxim Heijmerink, born in 2000 in Amsterdam, is a Dutch pianist and composer who has performed in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall and the Concertgebouw. Since 2020 he has been a member of the Van Gogh Trio. Maxim has won two first prizes at the Princess Christina Competition, the Classic Young Masters Award and the first prize at the Orbetello International Piano Competition in Italy. In collaboration with the Rotterdam Youth Orchestra (RYO) he performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Rotterdam and Berlin. He also wrote a composition for orchestra, piano and choir, which was performed in a charity initiative for an audience of 25,000 people in Ahoy. Internationally, Maxim toured the United States and Canada in 2019 and performed for the Dutch community in Zurich at the Zurich University of the Arts. Maxim completed his master's degree in New York with Jerome Rose. He has attended masterclasses with leading musicians including Dmitry Bashkirov, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jerome Lowenthal and Boris Berman. Maxim is currently studying in the Meisterklasse in Leipzig with Professor Markus Tomas.

Maxim Heijmerink was generously supported by the Maria Francisca Josepha Brouwer Fund for Dutch Artists.
 

As a veteran of the concert stage having presented solo recitals in numerous cities in China, France, Italy, Germany and the US, Yanyan has emerged as one of the most promising young pianists in China. After admitted into the Colburn School, she continued her piano study with Professor Fabio Bidini. Yanyan has won many prizes including the First prize of the International Piano-e-Competition and the Second Prize of the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, Singapore International Piano Competition (Junior) and Beijing Chopin International Competition. She has performed with many orchestras such as the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and the Saltzburg Soloists Orchestra. She has also been fortunate to have taken masterclasses with celebrated pianists such as Gary Graffman, Arie Vardi and Sa Chen.

Yanyan Bao was generously supported by the Boris Roubakine Memorial Endowment.
 

Chinese-Canadian pianist Linda Ruan is passionate about sharing the potential of music to overcome boundaries across cultures. Since being introduced to the drums at the age of four and then the piano at age seven, music has remained a stabilizing force in her childhood from Tokyo, Shanghai to Vancouver. Her unconventional path from a young age broadened her horizons and cultivated a fascination for diverse cultures. Her curiosity guided her beyond her solo piano studies, expanding to pedagogy and community engagement, fortepiano, conducting and chamber music projects.

Linda is a top prize winner in international piano competitions including the ARD International Music Competition 2021. She has performed in venues across the world, from Carnegie’s Weill Hall and Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio to a recital tour in China spanning Guangzhou to Shanghai.

Linda received her Bachelor of Music with Honours and Master of Music degrees from The Glenn Gould School, The Juilliard School, and the Tianjin Juilliard School respectively. Her past teachers include James Anagnoson Hung-Kuan Chen, Corey Hamm, Xiao Li, Li Wang, and Xiaohan Wang.
Currently, she is studying at the UBC School of Music with Dr. Corey Hamm.

Linda Ruan was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.