2025 International Young Artists Competition Judges
SOHYUN AHN
With live performances broadcast by WFMT (Chicago’s Classical Radio Station), LCATV( Lake Champlain Access Television), EBS (Korean Educational Broadcast TV Station), pianist Sohyun Ahn was named the Best Performer of the Year by Eumak-Chunchu, South Korea’s leading classical music journal. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, at venues including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and Merkin Hall, An Die Musik in Baltimore, Bates Recital Hall at the University of Texas at Austin, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert at Chicago Cultural Center, Allegro Music Consultants Concert Series in Philadelphia, Dallas Mu Phi Epsilon Public Library Concert Series, and the Island Arts Center Concert Series in Vermont. Her performances include appearances with the Queensboro Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Baroque Orchestra, Royal Scottish Academy Orchestra, the Korean Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Tutti Orchestra, and the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been invited to perform at Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert in Chicago, the W. Kempff Beethoven Course in Positano Italy, and the Ferrara International Music Festival Concert Series. She was also a guest soloist at the concert honoring the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth at the Sejong Art Center in Korea. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with musicians of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York City Ballet and more.
Her recordings of the Bach Goldberg Variations (Sonoris) and Mozart Sonatas (Classic Art) earned critics’ attention. New York Concert Review wrote of her Bach, “balanced and rational”, and of her Mozart, “a perfectly balanced, crystalline performance.” She gave the complete Mozart Piano Sonata Concert Series at St. John’s in the Village,New York City in 2019.
A passionate advocate and educator of music, she has taught at the Concordia College in New York and Rutgers, New Jersey State University, the University of Texas at Austin, and was a director at the Geneva Conservatory of Music, NYC. She also gave master classes at University of Malaya, University of College Sedaya International, Universiti Punta Malaysia, Glovil Conservatory in Korea, and Trinity College Board in Malaysia. Sohyun also has served as an adjudicator for the New York Laureate International Music Competition, Westchester Musicians Guild Young Artists Auditions, Greater Princeton Steinway Society Scholarship Competition, and the Third Street Music School Program. She was a recipient of the Teachers’ Enrichment Grant by Music Teachers National Association.
Sohyun holds the Doctor of Musical Arts from Rutgers University, the Professional Studies Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and Masters of Music in Piano Performance with distinction from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Tokyo Geidai Academy. Her Bachelor of Music was from Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) where she received the president award. Since 2017 she has been dedicated to organizing concerts for Riverside Rehabilitation Center, New Jewish Home, Upper East Side Rehabilitation Center, Amsterdam Nursing Home, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Currently Sohyun is a classical music coordinator at the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in NYC and a faculty at the Bard College Conservatory Preparatory Division, University of Mount Saint Vincent and the Lucy Moses School at the Kaufman Music Center, NYC.
https://www.bard.edu/academics/faculty/details/?id=4539
FEI-FEI-DONG
Infusing “intoxicating grace” with “exceptional musicality” and “inconceivable virtuosity,” pianist Fei-Fei conjures a special and undeniable connectivity with her audiences that brings joy, passion, and deep understanding of the music (Badische Neueste Nachrichten). Her engaging and endearing personality shines through in each note, each word, and each expression—whether performing as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician on world stages, or as a community outreach advocate.
“Sporting a naturally gracious charm and stage presence,” Fei-Fei has “shared her musical passions unstintingly” around the globe (Peninsula Review). Recent projects include her role artist-in-residence with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic touring in Germany, a Carnegie Hall performance and tour of Spain with the New York Youth Symphony, a cross-disciplinary collaboration with Ballet Arkansas, a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at Lincoln Center with the Pegasus Symphony, a 19-city tour of China with her Aletheia Piano Trio (Fei-Fei is a founding member of the 10-year-old ensemble), and performances of lesser-represented repertoire, including concertos by Leroy Anderson, Florence Price, Clara Schumann, and Xiaogang Ye.
Additional concerto highlights include performances with the Fort Worth Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic, Spokane Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony, Austin Symphony, Denver Philharmonic, Anchorage Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Internationally, she has performed with Canada’s Calgary Philharmonic, Germany’s Rostock and Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestras, and in China with the Shenzhen Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and China National Symphony Orchestras.
Fei-Fei was featured prominently as a Cliburn finalist in the documentary film, Virtuosity, about the 2013 Cliburn Competition, which premiered on PBS in August 2015. Deeply committed to sharing her joy for music and connecting with communities, Fei-Fei frequently engages students and community audiences through school and outreach concerts and masterclasses.
Born in Shenzhen, Fei-Fei began piano lessons at the age of 5. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she studied with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, and is currently pursing Doctoral of Musical Arts degree with pianist Yefim Bronfman at Manhattan School of Music. Fei-Fei is also a member of the piano faculty at John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University and teaching associate to pianist Yefim Bronfman at Manhattan School of Music beginning in Fall 2023.
ADAM KENT
Adam Kent has performed in recital, as soloist with orchestra, and in chamber music throughout the United States, Spain, Switzerland, and South America. A winner of the American Pianists Association Fellowship and Simone Belsky Music Awards, Dr. Kent also received top prizes in the Thomas Richner, the Juilliard Concerto, and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competitions and is a recipient of the Arthur Rubinstein Prize and the Harold Bauer Award. Dr. Kent made his New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1989 and has been featured on radio stations WQXR, WNYC, and WFUV. Chamber music has been an important part of Dr. Kent’s concert life, most recently with the Damocles Trio, which he co-founded in 1996 with violinist Airi Yoshioka and cellist Sibylle Johner.
The group has performed both in the United States and abroad, appearing locally at Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and BargeMusic. The ensemble’s recording of Joaquin Turina’s complete piano trios and quartet with Emerson Quartet violist Lawrence Dutton and a 2-cd set of trios from Brazil are available on Claves Records. Spanish music has been a specialty of Dr. Kent’s, whose endeavors on behalf of this repertory have been supported by the Spanish Ministry for Education and Culture, the Spanish Consulate, the Foundation for Iberian Music at the CUNY Graduate Center, Instituto Cervantes, and the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU. Dr. Kent has offered numerous programs of Spanish and Latin-American piano and chamber music as well as bi-lingual lecture/recitals throughout the US and Spain and has served as Director of Cultural Outreach for the Burgos International Music Festival since 2006.
A performance of Book I of Albéniz’s Iberia suite was praised in the Indianapolis Star as “Albénizian to the core…his suave legato touch wedded to a tone with an Old World patina about it,” and Excelsior of Mexico City enthused about a recent all-Spanish recital, “Adam Kent brought not only magnificent technical ability to the music, but managed to go beyond the printed page, delving into the essence of what the composer sought to express.”
His critically acclaimed recording of the complete solo piano music of Ernesto Halffter is available on Bridge Records, and his writings on the music of Spain have appeared in Music in Art and Clavier magazines. Dr. Kent received a D.M.A. from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal and served as an adjunct professor. He holds B.M. and M.M. degrees from Manhattan School of Music, where he worked with Solomon Mikowsky. Dr. Kent is currently on the Piano Faculties of Brooklyn College and New Jersey City University. He is widely requested as an adjudicator in numerous piano competitions, and his students have been prizewinners in the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, the Brooklyn College Concerto, the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin, and the New York International Piano Competitions, among others.
Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty since 1984.
https://www.msmnyc.edu/faculty/adam-kent/
NATALIE ZHU
Known for captivating interpretations of a wide repertoire, Natalie Zhu is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Musical Fund Society Career Advancement Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, and Astral Artists Award. The Philadelphia Inquirer heralded Ms. Zhu in recital as a display of “emotional and pianistic pyrotechnics.” Selections from her live performances are frequently broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.”
Ms. Zhu has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has appeared as soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Haddonfield Symphony, The Curtis Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Riverside Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Philharmonic National Repertory Orchestra. Ms. Zhu was frequently requested by The Philadelphia Orchestra as the orchestral pianist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Ms. Zhu made her European debut in 1994 at the Festival de Sully et d’Orleans in France She has also given solo recitals at Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Hall in New York City, Seattle Chamber Music Society, New York’s Steinway Hall and Merkin Hall, Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Series in Fresno, Portland Piano Festival in Oregon, Munich’s Herkulessaal in Germany, and Beijing Concert Hall in China. She has performed with the Vermeer, Miami, and Daedalus Quartets, and collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Dover, Orion, Mendelssohn, and Ying Quartets, the Beaux Arts Trio, and Time for Three. Ms. Zhu began touring with renowned violinist Hilary Hahn in 1997. Ms. Zhu and Ms. Hahn have maintained a partnership with tours around the world, including a hugely successful Carnegie Hall recital debut. Ms. Zhu and Ms. Hahn released a CD for the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2005, as well as Suzuki Violin Books 1-3 in 2020.
As an active chamber musician, she has appeared in Marlboro Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis-On-Tour, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Maestro Foundation Concert Series, Skaneateles Festival, Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Crested Butte Chamber Music Festival, The Friends of Chamber Music Reading Concert Series, and Brooklyn Library Chamber Music Series. Ms. Zhu has been the artistic director of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island since 2009.
Natalie Zhu began her piano studies with Xiao-Cheng Liu at the age of six in her native China and made her first public appearance at age nine in Beijing. At eleven she emigrated with her family to Los Angeles, and studied with Robert Turner and Li Ming-Qiang. By age fifteen she was enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music where she received the prestigious Rachmaninoff Award and studied with Gary Graffman. She received both a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music where she studied with the late Claude Frank. Ms. Zhu lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband and daughter.
https://www.pcmsconcerts.org/artist/natalie-zhu-piano/
NAOMI YOUNGSTEIN
A native of Westchester County, NY , NAOMI YOUNGSTEIN is a member since 1987 of the first violin section of the New Jersey Symphony, and serves as the Assistant Personnel Manager. She attended the Manhattan School of Music’s pre-college division and later received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance from the School. She attended the National Repertory Orchestra Festival in Colorado, and served as assistant concertmaster there for one summer. Currently, through the Symphony’s Coach-in-Residence program, she is a mentor teacher in the Chatham, NJ, public schools. In addition, under the auspices of the New Jersey Symphony’s Academy program, she founded and serves as leader of the String Ensemble, and as a violin coach for the Academy Youth Orchestra. In 2012 she was awarded the Samuel Antek award for her contributions to the NJSO’s educational mission. Naomi has taught at the Thurnauer School of Music in Tenafly, at Rutgers Prep School, and has led sectionals for the Manhattan School of Music, the New Jersey Youth Symphony and the NJ All State Orchestra. She has given workshops for the Sparta, Egg Harbor Township, Piscataway, Passaic, Chatham, Newark, and New Brunswick
School Districts, and for the Wharton Institute of Music. For ten yearsshe was a chamber music coach at the ASTA NJ Chamber MusicInstitute, and judges the National and NJ ASTA Certificate AdvancementProgram. She teaches violin privately at her home studio.
MURRAY COLOSIMO
Canadian conductor, concert clarinetist and music educator Murray Colosimo received his formal musical training at the Manhattan School of Music and New York University. He has served as Principal Orchestra Conductor at Juilliard for the Music Advancement Program and as Music Director of the Bergen Sinfonia. Mr. Colosimo has conducted some of the world's greatest artists appearing at Alice Tully Hall and NJPAC, and has served as Music Director of the Wayne Chamber Orchestra, Ridgewood Symphony and Director of Orchestras at the Hartwick College Music Festival. As concert clarinetist, Mr. Colosimo received critical acclaim for a series of solo and chamber music recitals in NYC and has commissioned and recorded new works for solo clarinet. A distinguished music educator, Mr. Colosimo held faculty positions at Seton Hall University, William Paterson University, Montclair University and served as Music Supervisor/Director of Orchestras in Ridgewood (NJ) where a newly built campus center (Colosimo Center) was dedicated in his honor. Mr. Colosimo's outstanding career as a music educator spans virtually every area of music and age level.
MARTA REILLY
Described by the New York Times as ‘artful’, Dr. Marta Bedkowska-Reilly debuted in New York City performing Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo with the Chelsea Symphony. Her main influences were her teachers and mentors, Marcy Rosen, Natalia Gutman and Rocco Filippini.
An active chamber music performer, Marta has appeared in all major concert venues in New York City, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Barge Music and Symphony Space. She also performed in Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland, playing with, among others, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia Festival Orchestra, the United Europe Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra dell' Accademia del Teatro alla Scala. She has been invited to numerous festivals, including the Pontino Musica, Catania International Music Festival, Lake District Music Festival, Zeist Muziekdagen, Summit Music Festival, as well as for the United Nations’ Consular Corp.
Marta was a Fulbright scholar, sponsored by the United States Department of State, at Mannes School of Music where she received a Professional Studies Diploma. She obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Cello Performance at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York where she was an Enhanced Chancellor Fellow. She focused her research on the post-tonal analysis and performance of Witold Lutosławski’s music. Prior to studying in the United States, she spent two years in Italy obtaining post-master degrees from Italian conservatories, such as Accademia Walter Stauffer di Cremona, Accademia Internazionale della Musica di Milano (now Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado) and Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. She completed her Master of Arts degree with distinction at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Marta has studied chamber music under Jacob Latainer, Ursula Oppens and Rolf Schulte, as well as with members of Chilingirian, Juilliard, Mendelssohn, Manhattan and Orion String Quartets.
Marta is currently on the music faculty of Alliance University (formerly Nyack College) School of Music and Manhattanville College Music Department. She has also served on the faculties of the Rudolf Steiner School, Hunter College and Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. She plays a 1937 cello made in Mirecourt by George Apparut. She resides in Manhasset, NY with her husband and their two sons.
SOYEON YOO
Pianist Soyeon Park Yoo is a performer, educator and adjudicator. She has performed in the United States, Canada and South Korea as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed concertos with the Hope College Symphonette, Orchestra of St. Vincent and the Good Samaritan Symphony Orchestra. She has also presented performances at Northwestern University, Bradley University, Hope College, Gustavus Adolphus College, Aspen Music Festival and Las Vegas Music Festival. She has presented at ISMTA conference on “Comprehensive Approaches to Teaching Harmonization” in 2014. Dr. Yoo received degrees in music from the Juilliard School, the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. With a passion for teaching, Soyeon Yoo taught private lessons in the Northwestern University Music Academy and keyboard skills classes in Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts and Hope College. She joined the John J. Cali School of Music Extension Division program in 2016 and the following year was appointed as an adjunct professor at the Cali School of Music.