Shou Ping Chiu (USA/China)

A graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Shou Ping Chiu is well–known in China as the resident piano soloist of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and for frequent recitals in major cities and on radio and television. In 1978, he established himself as one of his generation’s best pianists by winning the Excellence Award in the Young Vocal and Instrumental Music Competition in Shanghai. In 1980, Mr. Chiu left for Australia where he completed his postgraduate studies at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, studying with the Michaelangeli pupil Stephen McIntyre. He later studied with world leading musicians Ronald Stevenson and Constance Keene. Mr. Chiu has performed recitals at the Aberdeen Arts Festival, with the British Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Australia, and was a guest soloist with the Connecticut Chamber Orchestra. His recital in William Patterson College’s Visiting Artist Series in New Jersey was broadcast on Public Television. In 1992 he performed with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for the Mozart bicentenary celebrations, and later joined with Constance Keene to perform double concertos at the Silver Bay Music Festival, NY, and in China. He maintains close ties with his alma mater, periodically teaching the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and performing in its 80th anniversary celebration concert in 2007. In 2011 he was among a roster of world renowned musicians invited to teach master classes and lessons at the inaugural Shanghai International Piano Festival. Mr. Chiu has taught both undergraduate and postgraduate piano major students at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in New York, as well as privately for over 20 years. He has adjudicated various piano competitions such as the International Young Artist Competition of Washington, and those by the Piano Teachers Congress of New York, the New Jersey Teachers Association, Cecilian Music Club, the Leschetizky Association, and National League of Performing Arts Inc.

Stephan Möller (Austria/Germany)

Stephan Möller first gained prominence as a prizewinner at the 1985 International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Since then his busy concert schedule has taken him to Japan, China, North and South America as well as all over Europe. Performing all the standard repertoire, Stephan Möller has concentrated especially on the interpretation of the Viennese Classics, in particular Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, as well as on Franz Liszt’s paraphrases of Wagner opera scenes and his transcriptions of Beethoven Symphonies. Among his CD recordings, there are such rarities as Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge” and the complete piano works by Richard Wagner. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Stephan Möller studied piano and conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. From 1983 to 1989 he assisted Herbert von Karajan and other world-renowned conductors at the Salzburg Festival. In 1990, he took up an appointment at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is president of the Vienna International Pianists Association and their festival, the “VIP Academy.”

Elizabeth Moore (USA)

Elizabeth Moore, an active pianist and conductor, has performed across the United States. Currently, she teaches choir, piano lab, and AP Music Theory in the Central Regional School District; she is also on the staff of The Westminster Conservatory in Princeton. She has a particular interest in commissioning and performing choral and solo piano music of contemporary North American composers. She also has an extensive background performing art song, opera, and musical theater. She made her New York debut in William Mayer’s A Death in the Family in the New York Opera Festival and made her Off-Broadway debut in The Boomer Boys. Beth has worked worked as a conductor, pianist, composer, arranger, musical director, vocal coach, choir director, and church musician. Under her direction, recent engagements of the Central Regional choirs include performances at The White House, Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, The National Christmas Tree, NJMEA Winter Conference, and St. John the Divine. She has worked with a variety of organizations such as The Rutgers Children’s Choir, NJ All Shore Chorus, Mid America Productions, and Plays in the Park. She recently published a book of beginning pentatonic piano pieces. She also regularly presents lectures, master classes, publishes articles, and has run reading sessions and workshops regionally. Beth holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying and Coaching, with distinction, from Westminster Choir College. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in Music Education from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She studied chamber music, opera, and piano at The Aspen Music Festival and School and has additional studies in choral conducting from Westminster. She has been honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Central Regional and has also been selected as a quarterfinalist for a Grammy Music Educator Award. Prior to her position at Central, she was on the piano faculty of The Westminster Conservatory.

Vyacheslav Gryaznov (USA)

Vyacheslav Gryznov graduated with honors from the Central Music School of the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Professor Manana Kandelaki and the Moscow Conservatory (class of Professor Yuri Slesarev). He continued at the Moscow Conservatory as a post-graduate student, and recently is on the teaching faculty of the Moscow Conservatory’s Piano Department.

Since 2012 Vyacheslav has been conducting master classes as a visiting professor of piano at Kurashiki Sakuyo University(Japan) and at International music festivals in France, Italy and Austria. In 2016 he accepted Yale University’s invitation to fulfill the Artist Diploma program under tutelage the Yale School of Music’s Professor Boris Berman. Mr.Gryaznov is a member of the Moscow Philharmonic Society (Russia) and an Artist-in-Residence with The Drozdoff Society (the United States).

Gryaznov’s 2016-2017 performances include the Berliner Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall as winner of the 2016 New York Concert Artists Debut Audition; San Jose, California; four performances with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra; multiple engagements for The Drozdoff Society’s Impromptu! Classical Music Recital series in New York City as well as engagements in Russia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Austria, and France. He will also record a CD on the Steinway & Sons label.

Vyacheslav Gryaznov is the author of more than 30 concert arrangements and transcriptions. His works have been performed by Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Ghindin, Nikita Mndoyants, Tomoharu Ushida, the Messiaen-Quartet, the Moscow State Chamber Choir, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, and by many other musicians and collectives. They are heard in concert halls all over the world, and are chosen for prestigious international music contests like the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Gregory Gelman (USA)

Gregory Gelman received his professional training in art of violin, viola and cello performance at Juilliard School of Music and Novosibirsk State Conservatory of Music. Among his teachers were David Oistrakh, Alexander Uriev, Tossy Spivakovsky, Paul Doctor, Valery Shevchenko, and others. Maestro Gelman teaching record includes faculty positions at Odessa Music College (USSR), Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Greenwich House Music School and Woodbridge Academy of Music (USA), where he is also teaching guitar and woodwind instruments. He is a first-prize winner of Artist International Competition in New York and other competitions. Among his students are winners of International and National music competitions and festivals.

Marianne Lauffer (USA)

Marianne Lauffer holds a BM and MM in piano performance from Indiana University, studying with Karen Shaw. She did post graduate work at The Juilliard School as a student of Irwin Freundlich, Jacob Lateiner, and German Diez. Ms. Lauffer was the featured pianist with the American Repertory Ballet Company at McCarter Theater in Princeton, the State Theater, and George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, and in New York City in a premier performance of Pas de dux to the music of John Field. Ms. Lauffer is the assistant director of faculty and extensions and director of the summer music camp program at Westminster Conservatory. She served as state president of the New Jersey Music Teachers Association from 2000 to 2002 and frequently adjudicates for many state music festivals and competitions sponsored by NJMTA, Music Educators Association, Piano Teacher’s Forum, Shore Music Educators Association, and the Teen Arts Festival. Ms. Lauffer resides in Ewing Township where she maintains a private piano studio.

Fei Ju Lin-Bradeen (USA/Taiwan)

Pianist and composer, Fei Ju Bradeen, was born in Taiwan. She started her professional musical training at the age of 7 and was selected for the department of music prodigy education in Taiwan. Throughout her early life in music education, she earned numerous awards and honors from many different competitions. At the age of 17, she published her first Orchestral piece, consisting of which launched her career as the youngest Record Company composer and pianist. Fei Ju is highly praised for her sensitivity and unique music interpretation with her performances in the Asian music community.
In 1990, Fei Ju came to the USA, as a scholarship student, where she enrolled in Berklee College of Music, and later, Manhattan School of Music for the graduate program. She was also an assistant teacher in Manhattan School of Music. Fei Ju moved to Long Island after she finished her advanced studies.
Fei Ju is currently involved in training young concert pianist and is an outstanding music educator in the Long Island area. Her students not only earned top scores in NYSSMA but are also frequent first prize winners in numerous music competitions,( Golden key music festival, Crescendo international Music competition. American Protege music competition and the Bradshaw & Buono international piano competition). Holding their performances as the winners at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, United Nation, Ehrbar Hall in Vienna, Bösendorfer Hall at Mozarthaus, Vienna. In the summer of 2018, her students are invited to Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg will be performing in Beethoven Haus and Schloss Ramersdof in Germany. Fei Ju is currently serving as head director of the Music Department at Premier Art School, Long Island, New York.

Chao Tang (China)

Pianist Chao Tang received his early professional training in Shanghai. He came to the United States to complete a Master of Music degree with distinction and Clark Scholarship at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, studying with Dr. James Goldsworthy. By recommendation of the Dean of Westminster Choir College he also studied at Princeton University. After leaving New Jersey, Mr.Tang completed his Artist Diploma at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with Professor Emile Naoumoff, former student of the legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger. Tang won a number of competitions both in China and the United States, including first prize at the 2011 Changjiang Competition in Shanghai, Princeton Festival Piano Competition in 2013, and the 2014 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. Since 2015, Tang becomes piano faculty at Tongji University Arts and Media College, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music Adult Education Department. He continues his work on translating the legendary pianist Alfred Cortot editions of the music of Frédéric Chopin into Chinese, published by Shanghai Education Publishing House.

Marina Strakovsky (USA)

Marina Strakovsky received her M.A. degree in Piano and Conducting from St. Petersburg State University of Culture and the Arts and a B.A. “with distinction” in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the N. Rimsky-Korsakov State College of Music in Pskov. She studied under Alisa Chirkova (student of S. Savshinski) and Karina Astanovskaya (student of I.Braudo) and has performed in solo and ensemble concerts throughout the former Soviet Union, Austria, and the Unites States. Marina is a committed educator. Before moving to the United States in 1989, she taught piano at the St. Petersburg School of Music and she currently maintains a successful piano studio in Rumson, New Jersey, USA. She is frequently invited as an adjudicator for the auditions and competitions held by NJSMEA, NJMEA, NGPTA, and other professional institutions. Marina also maintains a strong interest in musicological research. She is the co-author of the album From the Cradle of Classical Music. Since 2008 Ms. Strakovsky has served as the President of the historic Cecilian Music Club of Freehold, the second oldest music club in the United States.

George Borisov (USA)

George Borisov received his professional training in Piano Performance and Chamber Ensembles from S.Rachmaninov State Conservatory in Rostov City (B.M, M.M.), M.Glinka State Conservatory in Novosibirsk (D.M.A.), and completed his Ph.D. in Musicology in the All-Russia Institute of Musicology in Moscow (Russia). Significant contribution to his professional formation were made by celebrated musicians Anna Baron and Ludmilla Korabelnikova. He is Professor Honoris Causa of the Krasnodar State Institute of Culture (Russia). His performance experience includes piano solo and collaborative recitals in the Soviet Union, Austria, France, Norway, Romania, and the United States. Dr. Borisov had been a jury member of International and National piano competitions, including the Rome International Piano Competition (Italy), the Chopin International Piano Competition (CT, USA), the Rosario Marciano International Piano Competition (Austria), the Western Australian Pianists Competition (Australia), and the NJMTA, NJMEA, NGPT, and SMEA piano competitions and festivals (USA). He has conducted master classes in the US and abroad. He is a founder of the Golden Key Music Festival, Piano Composition Competition, and Alberti Piano Competition (USA, Russia, Indonesia, China).

Layla Haas (Germany)

Layla Haas (Germany) has received her professional training from the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. She completed her master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Significant impact on her professional development had work with prominent violinists Saschko Gawriloff, Dalibor Karvay. Zakhar Bron, Tatiana Berkul, Marat Bisengaliew, and Robert Kanetti Among Ms. Haas professional honors are First prizes at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Japan, the International “Giovani Talenti” Competition in Italy, and the Grand Prix at the International Competition “Astana Violin” in Kazakhstan. She has been intensively performing in the countries of the European Union and the USA. Ms.Haas professional positions include 2nd principal violin in the Berlin Residence Orchestra and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra. She is a member of the chamber ensembles “Chamber of lights” and the “The Saxophone Connections” (violin, cello, and saxophone). The trio’s recent CD was released in May 2022.

Anna Leyerer (Austria)

Anna Leyerer-Pavlova is a concert pianist living in Vienna, Austria. She pursued and completed her graduate degree at the Saratov State Conservatory L. V. Sobinov under Prof. L. I. Shugom. After a short stint as lecturer at the Saratov State Conservatory she moved to Austria to continue her piano performance studies with Prof. Oleg Marshev at the Anton Bruckner University where she graduated with distinction in 2016. Anna also holds a Master of Arts degree in Pedagogy from the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, which she finished under the tutelage of Prof. Michael Korstick in 2019. Her artistic formation was also influenced greatly in masterclasses foremost by Prof. Michael Korstick and Albert Mamriev as well as such renowned musicians as A. Greene, Ch. Hinterhuber, E. Kupie, W. Nabore, N. Petrow, S. Pochekin, N. Trull and M. Voskresensky. www.anna-pavlova.com