Engaging audiences with his charismatic and moving performances, pianist Aaron Kurz enjoys a burgeoning career. Aaron has soloed with numerous orchestras and across three continents, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Salle Cortot, and the Palace of Peace and Harmony in Astana, Kazakhstan. His performances have been lauded by the press, called both “nuanced musical journeys” (Belgium’s "Le Soir") and “a lesson in pianism” (England’s "Cambridge Independent"). Most recently, Aaron has just completed a tour of Asia, where he performed and taught at numerous venues across China and Indonesia.

Aaron’s playing has also garnered recognition in competitions, winning top prizes in the New York, Los Angeles, Virginia Waring, and World Piano Teachers Association International Piano Competitions, among others. Aaron holds recent degrees from SFCM (studying with Jon Nakamatsu and Jeremy Denk) and Yale (with Boris Berman), and he is now pursuing his DMA at the University of Texas with Anton Nel. He is also a teacher himself, maintaining a large group of private students in Austin. In his spare time, Aaron loves watching sports, reading, and spending time with his friends and fiancée, Vivian.

Aaron Kurz was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

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.

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.

Tianhao Wu is a Chinese pianist who earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Wu is currently immersed in his Doctoral studies in Music Art at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, under the tutelage of Santiago Rodriguez.

In the 2024 season, Mr. Wu won the Golden Award at the GOCAA New York International Music Competition in the Concerto Division by performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat major with the Four Seasons Orchestra. In September, he was selected as a finalist in the 10th Seattle International Piano Competition. Additionally, he won first prize at the Universal Artists Festival International Music Competition, which earned him the opportunity to be a featured soloist performing a concerto with the International Chamber Orchestra at the Universal Artists Festival at the New England Conservatory. Mr. Wu also secured first prizes at the WPTA Finland International Piano Competition, the Golden Classical Music Award Competition, the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition, and the Fourth Chinese National Piano Competition.

Mr. Wu participated in the Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival, the Euro Arts Academy, the Todi 1st International Music Festival, and the 2016 KAWAI Master Class and Music Festival.

Tianhao Wu was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.