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.

Equally at home as a soloist, collaborator, presenter, and educator, James Palmer is a dynamic pianist based in Houston, Texas. James is sought after across the United States for solo recitals, chamber performances, and lecture-recitals. Recent appearances have included the Piano on the Rocks Festival in Sedona, AZ, the America Viola Society Conference in Los Angeles, CA, and numerous solo recitals and performances in the Houston area.  A passionate performer of new music, James is frequently in-demand for premieres and collaborations with living composers.  James sits on the board of the Scriabin Society of America (SSA).

James is a doctoral candidate at Rice University in Houston, TX, where he studied with Dr. Robert Roux.  He previously studied with Menahem Pressler and Emile Naoumoff at Indiana University and with Sandrine Erdely-Sayo as a precollege student. James maintains a private piano studio and recently taught the Summer Piano Intensive for high school students at the AFA Texas Summer Festival in Houston.  James has been a prizewinner and finalist in numerous international competitions and created the YouTube series What is a Piano Prelude (2022-23) and Scriabin Preludes Project (2019-2020).  

James Palmer was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

Pianist In-Ae Ha won 3rd Prize at the 28th Epinal International Piano Competition, the 28th Janáček International Music Competition, and was Finalist at the Wideman International Piano Competition. She began her musical studies at the age of four in Kentucky and was recognized for her talent when she appeared on the NPR’s classical music program “From the Top” at the age of 10. After returning to Korea, In-Ae made her debut at Kumho Art Hall in the Prodigy Concert Series at the age of 14 and won first place at the International Piano Competition of Korea. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Korean National University of Arts studying with pianists Dae-jin Kim and Minsoo Sohn. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral Degree under the tutelage of pianist Arthur Greene while being appointed as Graduate Student Instructor, which provides funding for tuition during the full length of the program. In Spring of 2024, In-Ae has been invited to participate as a fellow at the Gilmore Festival, and will perform solo recitals at the Detroit Steinway Gallery, JCC Art Hall in Seoul, and for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series produced by Classical Music Chicago. 
 

In-Ae Ha was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award. 

Ido Akov (1993) completed his bachelor's degree in piano performance at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance under Ron Regev and Allan Sternfeld.

Akov has won awards at the "Piano Forever", "Haim Kalmi" and "Young Artist" competitions in Israel, and has subsequently performed with the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Kfar Saba Soloists, and more.

Akov is a America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship recipient for 4 consecutive years, as well as an alumni of the Jerusalem Music Center's David Goldman program for outstanding young musicians. Through this program he was invited to play in master classes with Murray Perahia, Andras Schiff, Richard Goode, Steven Kovacevich, and others.

Akov is especially active as a composer and performer of contemporary music: he is an alumni of the Meitar Ensemble’s Tedarim program, and plays regularly with the Israel Contemporary Players. As a composer, Akov’s works have been performed by the Musica Nova, Modalius, Meitar and Moran Singers ensembles, as well as the Great Gehenna Choir.

Akov released a debut album of original piano works: “The triangle becomes a line”, through Kame’a music in 2020.

Ido Akov was generously supported by the Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship for the Arts.

Hai Lun Yu has received prizes in numerous competitions such as the Pacific International Youth Piano Competition, Horowitz Piano International Competition, Canadian Music Competition Nationals and Richmond Music Festival Concerto Challenge. In 2016, she was the youngest participant and an honorary laureate of the 10th International Chopin Piano Competition for 
Young Pianists. As such, she was given the opportunity to perform at the Polish Embassy in Moscow. Hai Lun has also won 1st prize at the Rotary Jugendmusikpreis in Lindau, 3rd prize in the 21 and younger category at the Young Pianist of the North Competition in Newcastle and 1st prize at the Grotrian-Steinweg Piano Competition. She was also one of the youngest participants at the X International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Astana and at the Aarhus International Competition in Denmark. Hai Lun performed her first piano concerto when she was five and has given many solo recitals thus far, one of which was on the Bodensee in Southern Germany. She regularly presents solo and charity concerts in her hometown of Vancouver as well. 

Hai Lun has had the opportunity to appear alongside many conductors and orchestras in Canada, Italy, Poland and Germany. She has also attended the masterclasses of Wojciech Świtała, Mikhail Voskresensky, and Andrej Jasiński, among others, and is currently studying with Professor Bernd Goetzke at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

Hai Lun (Helen) Yu was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

An enquiring and innovative artist, pianist Élisabeth Pion leads an imaginative career as a soloist and artistic collaborator. Recent highlights: the release of her first recording with ATMA Classique, her debut with the Orchestre Métropolitain & Kensho Watanabe, as well as obtaining the Bita Cattelan Award at the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 & the 3rd prize of the 2023 Rio Piano Festival, playing with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira & Roberto Tibiriçá. Her second recording, a collaboration with Arion Orchestre Baroque, will be released in June 2024.

Élisabeth is a regular guest artist of many orchestras, such as the Toledo Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, and the Orchestre Classique de Montréal.

Élisabeth has appeared as a recitalist in several major venues, including Wigmore Hall, as well as Weill Recital Hall. She can often be heard on CBC/Radio-Classique and BBC Radio 3.

Élisabeth is an alumna of the Imogen Cooper Trust and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She is the 2022 recipient of the Choquette-Symcox Prize from the Fondation Jeunesses Musicales Canada. 

Élisabeth continues her artistic development with Benedetto Lupo, and benefits from the mentorship of Gabriela Montero.

Her strong interests in literature, writing, composition, repertoire research and Tai Chi nurture her musical practice.

Élisabeth Pion was generously supported by the Repsol Emerging Artists Award.

Pianist Eden Chen has appeared in concert halls worldwide, “enthralling audiences with fluid performances and fingers that dance upon, rather than play, the piano” (Leeds International Piano Competition Festival). Under Hung-Kuan Chen, Eden earned both Master and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, graduating with Juilliard’s largest Commencement prize. In the highlight of his 2024-2025, Eden presents a program on the transmutation of Baroque elements into Russian romanticism in a 9-city solo recital tour of China, with notable stops in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. His past performance highlights include concerts at Wigmore Hall, Pritzker Pavilion, and both Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, including the Grammy Salute to Classical concert. Eden is the founder and executive director of Goldfinch, a nonprofit featured by The Violin Channel for bringing healthcare benefits to classical musicians. 

Eden Chen was generously supported by the Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for Musicians.

Dakota Perez was born in Dallas, Texas but has lived in Calgary for most of his life. Most recently, he was selected as a winner of the 2024 RBC Concerto Competition, and performed the first movement of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.He made his orchestral debut with the Calgary Civic Symphony in 2021 as a winner of the
Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition, performing the first movement of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 1. For two years (2021-22 and 2023-24), Dakota has been in the Calgary Pro Musica Dick Matthew’s Young Artists Development Program.

Dakota has studied with Katrina Thompson-Fost, Dr. Karen Gerelus, Dr. Lana Henchell, and was a student in the Academy for Young Artists at the Mount Royal University Conservatory. He received his ARCT in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music at the age of 16. He recently graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of
Music in Piano Performance in the studio of Dr. Jani Parsons and will begin a Master of Music in Piano Performance in the Fall, studying with HieYon Choi at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. During his time in Calgary, he has found value in teaching music theory and most of all, his collaborative work and the opportunities and community that it provides.

Dakota Perez was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

BoKun Liu is a pianist from Vancouver, Canada. He is currently studying under Jerome Lowenthal and Soyeon Kate Lee at the Juilliard School in New York.

BoKun Liu debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York at 11 years old. He has since won various international competitions and festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. He has
been awarded more than 17 first international prizes including the D - Competition (Russia), Frederic Chopin (Romania), Great Masters (Spain) and Oakridge Park (Canada) International
piano competitions. In 2022, BoKun was named one of “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” by CBC Music. He has been awarded the “Canadian Young Artist Standard of Excellence” Award by Steinway and Sons.

BoKun Liu has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Gary Graffman, Jonathan Biss, Antonio Pompa - Baldi, Alexander Kobrin, and others.

BoKun is an active member of the community. He co-founded a Vancouver based non-profit that helps the homeless. BoKun is a Gluck performance fellow at Juilliard, and performs in hospitals, senior centers, and schools.

BoKun (Brayden) Liu was generously supported by the Michael Davies Scholarship Endowment Fund.