Hello! My name is Wade BigEagle. I am from White Bear First Nations in Saskatchewan, Canada. I was raised by my mother Joely BigEagle, she took me to many places to experience my culture while growing up. I have been to many pow-wows and ceremonies that made me appreciate who I am and understand where my people come from. While my mother was learning the ways of the Buffalo, I only helped out a bit at first, I was too focused on my own journey. It was only until years later I had realized that her and my father Lorne Kequahtooway needed help with their Buffalo workshops. It has now been over two years since I have started helping, I have had many good experiences and lessons learned. I am very excited to continue this path and share my knowledge with my community and to those who want to learn. I am very proud doing what I do and extremely grateful for my mother, it is only the beginning of the new journey I am on.

Canadian musician Susannah Zou is an active solo and chamber performing pianist. She began her musical journey at the age of six and became a regular competitor in festivals and competitions, winning numerous awards and scholarships. As a performer, Susannah has been described as sensitive and spirited. She has held solo recitals across Canada, as well as internationally in Italy, and the Netherlands. She was a national finalist in the Canadian Music Competition of 2023. In 2017, shemade her solo debut in the Crescendo International Music Competition where she claimed the first prize award and had the opportunity to perform at the Weill Concert Hall of Carnegie Hall.

She has attended the Holland International Music Sessions ,Orford Musique, the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, Tuckamore Music Festival, as well as the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival. Aside from solo piano, Susannah enjoys collaborating with instrumentalists frequently, and is the co-founding pianist of Duo Avenoir and Trio Hiraeth.

Susannah Zou has recently graduated from the University of Toronto and has completed her Bachelor’s degree in piano performance under the tutelage of Lydia Wong. She is the recipient of the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Centennial Scholarship for 2023.

Susannah Zou was generously supported by the George Brough Memorial Endowment.

Pianist Seolyeong Jeong has performed internationally both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Following her solo debut at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul at age thirteen, she has performed in various concert halls, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Morse Recital Hall, Stude Concert Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.

Seolyeong is a top prizewinner in international competitions, such as the American Virtuoso International Music Competition, the Young Texas Artists Music Competition, the Shepherd School Concerto Competition, the Connecticut Young Artist Competition, the New York Piano Festival & Competition.

Seolyeong graduated summa cum laude from Seoul National University and received a Master of Music and a Master of Musical Arts from Yale University. Seolyeong was the recipient of the Charles S. Miller Prize, awarded to “a gifted pianist who has done outstanding work during the first year of study at Yale School of Music” in 2016, and was one of the representing soloists at the Yale School of Music Commencement Concert in 2017. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts from Rice University in May 2024.

Seolyeong served as an Adjunct Faculty at The University of Tampa and Southeastern University and is an Affiliated Artist at MIT’s Music and Theater Arts.

Seolyeong Jeong was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

Sam embarked on his musical journey at the age of 7 and quickly fell in love with music. When he was 14, he made his solo debut in front of a large audience of more than 350 people. Over the years, he has won numerous international, national, and local competitions. Since 2021, he has been taking lessons with Colleen Athparia and has continued to excel in various music competitions. Praised by Ian Parker for having “world-class artistry,” he won first place in the
2023 Canada West Performing Arts Festival. Most recently, Sam was awarded the Rose Bowl and a $10,000 cash prize at the 2024 Calgary Performing Arts Festival. He also won first place in the 2023 Amadeus International Music Competition in Salzburg, Austria, and third place in the Vancouver International Music Competition in the 18-35 year-old category, making him the youngest to ever place in the top three. Later this summer, he will compete in the finals of the
Samson François International Competition in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. Sam will be pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on an almost full scholarship under the tutelage of Jon Nakamatsu and Garrick Ohlsson.

Sam Zefreh was generously supported by the Michael Davies Scholarship Endowment Fund.

Born in Montreal, Canada, Sabrina started learning piano and went on an international student exchange program in the United States two years later receiving a certificate of achievement for “having demonstrated exceptional ability in the concepts of music”, and made her debut in Carnegie Hall when she was seven years old. She won first prizes at the Crescendo International Competition and in the Junior Category at the McGill Concerto Competition in 2010, and won 2nd prize at the Canadian Music Competition in 2012.

She spent her pre-college years at the Montreal Conservatoire de Musique and the Phil & Eli Taylor Performance Academy. Festivals she has attended include the Philadelphia International Music Festival, Orford Academy, Amalfi and Vivace music festivals, studying with Ronan O’Hara, Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Slutsky, Hee-sung Joo and many other professors. Other artists she has played for include Alice Sara Ott, Hugh Sung, David Louie and the violinist Ray Chen.

In 2023, she traveled to London on an exchange program at the Royal College of Music, studying with Dmitri Alexeev.

She is now pursuing her undergraduate studies with Olga Kern at the Manhattan School of Music.

Sabrina Chen was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

Described as a “phenomenal talent” by the Atlanta Audio Club, Peruvian pianist Priscila Navarro is the first prize winner of several international competitions, including the Liszt-Garritson International Competition in Baltimore, Maryland, Beethoven Sonata Competition in Tennessee, Chopin International Competition of Texas, Artist Series of Sarasota, Florida, Imola City Awards, Italy, and the Heida Hermanns International Music Competition in Connecticut. Priscila made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in 2013 and returned there in 2022 for further concerts. She received a Special Bach prize from Martha Argerich at the International City of Vigo Competition in Spain, being one of five finalists from over 400 participants. Her performances have been streamed on BBC public radio as well as the Medici TV channel.  Besides her busy performance career, Priscila is a passionate pedagogue and has been on the jury at several international competitions, including the Chopin International Competition for Latin American pianists, the Heida Hermanns International Competition, and the Parnassus International Competition. She is also the artistic director and founder of the Parnassus Music Society. In 2022, she received the Christa-Marshall Bach foundation prize at the Leipzig Bach competition. Priscila joined the roster of Astral Artists as a winner of the 2022 competition. 

Priscila Navarro was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Oscar moved to the US in 2016 and received his Bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, and his Masters degree from New England Conservatory of Music. His mentors include Profs. Matti Raekallio, Alexander Korsantia, Dang Thai Son, Malcolm Bilson. He has also worked with renowned artists and pedagogues including Stephen Hough, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, John Perry, Nikolai Demidenko, Ingrid Fliter.

His awards include the Special Prize for a Work of Chopin at the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, Melbourne Recital Centre Bach Competition, Thailand International Piano Competition, and Hanoi International Piano Competition. He is a recipient of scholarships from the Australian Music Foundation and the Ian Potter Foundation. 

He has performed in Australia, Taiwan, USA, Canada, the UK, Poland, and across South-East Asia, notably at the Taichung National Theatre (Taiwan), Australia House (London, UK) and Melbourne Recital Centre. He has devoted time to performing and recording on historical pianos of the 19th century, presenting recitals at the 2023 Boston Early Music Festival, participating in the 2nd International Chopin Competition for Period Instruments, and recording an album of selected works on an original 1849 Broadwood piano. He has also recorded various works with the Mason & Hamlin piano company. 
 

Oscar Jiang was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

Born in Zhengzhou, 22-year-old pianist Zhuoya Zhu(Kevin) has performed in Beijing, Tianjin, Zhangjiajie, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Rome, San
Francisco, Rochester, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Wilmington, and many other cities and has played solo concerts in many places. He began to learn the
piano at the age of eight, initiated by teacher Limu Zhang and then studied with pianist, educator and Professor Yuan Wu of the Central Conservatory of Musicfor three years. Since the end of 2012, he has studied with Chinese-American pianist, composer,educator and professor Yigiang Sun for almost seven years. Until 2019, at the age of 17, he was admitted to nine famous and prestigious music colleges, including Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, etc. These multiple conservatories also gave him very high scholarships at the same time. He eventually chose to attend the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and re-enrolled in 2023 for a graduate degree after his impressive and successful graduation recital. He is studying in the studio of professor Meng-Chieh Liu in New England Conservatory.

In addition, He also has been taught and guided by many prestigious and well-known pianists and professors in various music festivals, competitions, and master classes: including Hung-Kuan Chen, Jerome Lowenthal, Alexander Korsantia, Boris Slutsky, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Douglas Humpherys, John Perry,
J, Marc Silverman, Robert Shannon, Jerome Rose, Eduardo Delgado, and many other piano masters.

He has also won many piano competitions, including but not limited to the Gold medal of the 2013 Oushen Cup International Youth Piano Competition; Champion of the 4th China International Youth Piano Competition in 2014; In 2015, he won the gold medal of Henan TV Piano Competition and became the
contracted pianist of the TV station; The third prize in the Steinway International Piano Competition in 2016; Gold Medal of Huanglong International Music Festival in 2017 and 2018; Gold Medal of the 2018 Liszt International Piano Competition in China. He was also one of the two winners of the 2021 Artcial International Piano Competition and Festival. At the same time, he was also invited to give a solo concert at the festival.

He has participated in many famous music festivals, including the Aspen music festival, Artial music festival in San Francisco, the Vivace music festival in Wilmington, the Todi music festival in Italy, etc. He just received the full scholarship in Banff center arts festival in 2024. At these festivals, He received a lot of acclaim and many accolades. Jerome Lowenthal, the former chair of the piano department at the Juilliard School, described his playing as a very balanced and convincing performance; Pianist Yakov Kasman describes his performance as "very impressive, with the power to move people."

Zhuoya (Kevin) Zhu was generously supported by the Artemisia Foundation Artist Award.

Winner of the 2023 inaugural Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition, pianist Jonathan Mak first made his orchestra debut at the age of four. Since then, he has been a guest soloist with numerous orchestras, most notably the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Jonathan’s recent accomplishments include the First Prize at the 2024 San Antonio Tuesday Musical Club Young Artists Competition, the Grand Prize at the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition with Trio Menil, and the Third Prize in the 2022 OSM Competition. Named as one of CBC’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, Jonathan is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts-Michael Measures award and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award, along with the 2023 Walter Prystawski Prize. He has been invited to perform at various festivals including the Bravo! Vail Festival in Colorado, the Festival of the Sound in Ontario, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Edinburgh International Festival. 

Currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker, Mr. Jonathan also holds degrees from the Yale School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Jonathan Mak was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

New York based Pianist, John Hahn has performed as a soloist in United States, Europe, and South America. His main performances on stage were in Steinway Hall(NY), Weill Hall(NY), Instituto Superior de Musica (Veracruz), Tlaqna Hall in Xalapa, Brevnov Monastery and Bertramka (Czech).

As a young artist, he has won multiple accolades from various competitions including Five Towns Piano Competition, The Prague International Piano Festival Competition, MSM Concerto Competition, and the Esperanza Cruz International Piano Competition. John has also been the recipient of the Hansoree Scholarship, Maria von Gelder Scholarship and the Vera Blacker Piano Scholarship. John has also participated in masterclasses with renown pedagogues/pianists, including Ivan Moravec, Tamas Vasary, Claudio Mendez, Phillipe Entremont, and Jorge Frederico Osorio. The major piano professors that John has worked with are Oxana Yablonskaya, Zenon Fishbein, and the late Phillip Kawin.

Recently, John performed as a soloist, performing Beethoven Piano Concerto no.5 with the Bergen Symphony and Asia Sinfonia. As for future plans this year, John is currently preparing for a solo album release with a record label based in Spain.

John Hahn was generously supported by the Artemisia Foundation Artist Award.