Steinway Artist, Dr. Lei Weng enjoys a successful international career as an accomplished pianist, a dedicated teacher, and a sought-after adjudicator and clinician.

Hailed as “a colorist of exemplary control” by the New York Concert Review for his sold- out Carnegie Hall debut, he has performed at many prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Steinway Hall in New York, Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Chicago Culture Center, China’s National Center for Performing Arts, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall and Kaohsiung Cultural Center, Banff Center in Canada, Peterskirche in Vienna, Basilica di San Pietro in Italy, London’s Royal College of Music, Singapore National University, and major universities and conservatories throughout China. He has been invited to perform and teach at such music festivals as Tanglewood
Music Festival, TCU Cliburn Institute, Messiaen Festival, Music Fest Perugia (Italy), Vianden Festival (Luxemburg), and Breckenridge Music Festival.

As a frequent concerto soloist, he has appeared with such conductors as Gerhardt Zimmerman, Steven Smith, Uri Segal, Robert Olson, Geoffrey Simon, Lingfen Wu, Yang Yang, Glen Cortese, Wes Kenney, and with more than thirty orchestras across the U.S., Europe and Asia, including the Symphony Orchestras of Fort Worth, Fort Collins, Beijing, Tianjin, Gimhae (Korea), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Alicante (Spain), as well as China National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Breckinridge Music Festival Orchestra. As an avid chamber music performer, he has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley in Sarasota Music Festival, with the Associate
Concertmaster of Chicago Symphony Orchestra Stephanie Jeong and Cleveland Institute of Music Cavani Quartet cellist Siyan Li in Rocky Ridge Music Festival, and with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Nathan Olson and the Naumburg First Prize Winner cellist David Requiro in the Breckenridge Music Festival. He has also studied and worked closely with musicians such as Emmanuel Ax, Jerome Lowenthal, James Tocco, Co-Liang Lin, Pamela Frank, Dawn Upshaw and Lucy Shelton.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Weng is the Keyboard Area Head at the University of Northern Colorado , where he was the recipient of the “College of Performing and Visual Arts Scholar of the Year”. He has been frequently invited as guest professor by major conservatories in Asia, such as China Central Conservatory and Shanghai Conservatory, and Taiwan National Normal University. His students have won top prizes in numerous national and international competitions, and have been admitted into such top schools as Julliard, Eastman, Peabody, Cleveland, New England, Cincinnati, Oberlin, and
Manhattan. Weng is the also Founder and Director of the Colorado International Piano Academy and Colorado Piano Festival , two intensive summer piano programs that take place annually on the UNC Campus. Dr. Weng has been invited to serve on jury panels of many national and international piano competitions around the world, including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, International Rachmaninoff Piano Competition in Moscow (2020), Hong Kong International Music Competition, “Nuova Coppa Pianisti” International Piano Competition, China National Piano Competition,
Mexico “Parnassus” National Piano Competition, and MTNA Competitions. He is the
Chairman of the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation Keyboard Scholarships.

“Pianist Jinha Park demonstrated ample dexterity, velocity, and accuracy in Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F Minor.” – San Antonio Express-News

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Jinha Park stands today on the brink of a significant career as a concert pianist, shaped by a journey spanning three decades and enriched by a mosaic of global experiences. From the bustling streets of Seoul to the cultural landscapes of Baltimore and Paris, her transformative path has been marked by relentless dedication and diverse encounters.

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Commencing her piano studies at the tender age of six, Dr. Park made her public debut at fourteen with the Sunha Arts Orchestra. Her arts-based education commenced at Seoul National University in South Korea and culminated at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory in the U.S. Guided by teachers including Marina Lomazov, Marian Hahn, Philippe Entremont, and others, she also studied under the tutelage of renowned pianists such as Yong-Hi Moon, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jerome Lowenthal, Ann Schein, John Perry, and Leon Fleisher.

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A laureate of competitions, Dr. Park’s journey has been adorned with victories in the Vienna Allegro Vivo International Chamber Music Competition, Burgos International Music Competition, Baltimore Music Competition, and the Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA) competition. Noteworthy engagements include performances with the Virtuoso Brunesis Orchestra (Italy), Vienna CMS Chamber Orchestra, Festival Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), National Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, Oltenia Symphony Orchestra (Romania), Alicante Symphony Orchestra (Spain), Romanian Timisoara Orchestra (Romania), and performances across Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Korea, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and major cities in the United States.

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Dr. Park has contributed her discerning expertise as a jury member at international competitions, including the International Youth Competition’ A Step Towards Mastery’ in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the ICA International Piano Competition in Hanoi, Vietnam, the Virginia Queen Piano Competition in the U.S., the New York Musicians Club in the Seoul International Piano Competition, the Sunhwa Piano Competition in Seoul, and the OMTA (Oregon Music Teachers Association) Classical Music Competition in Portland. Additionally, she has lent her discerning insights to the Kirov International Music Competition in Washington, D.C., and the Northern Virginia Music Teachers’ Association Concerto Competition.

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Beyond the spotlight, Dr. Park’s commitment to education and artistic leadership shines through. She has served as the Director of the Music Fest Perugia in Seoul and on the faculty of the Music Fest Perugia in Italy, Summit Music Festival, Montecito International Music Festival, Triumph International Music Festival, Portland Classical Festival, Ouachita International Keyboard Music Festival, Washington International Piano Festival, and Costa Rica International Music Festival.

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Her teaching roles include positions at the University of Maryland University College, August State University, Sookmyung Women’s University, Sunhwa Arts Performing Arts High School, and Kirov Academy of Washington, D.C. Currently, Dr. Park holds the position of Associate Director at the Colorado International Piano Academy and Festival, Chair of the YMIC Virtuoso International Music Competition (U.S.), and U.S. Associate Director of the Amigdala International Music Competition (Italy). Her role as Department Manager and Piano Faculty at Levine Music adds a harmonious note to her illustrious career.

As one of the laureates of the 1992 National Piano Competition of China under the instruction of Prof. Yang Jun, Chang-xin Guan was invited to give performances representing China in the 1993 Tokyo International Young Artist Festival. His success led to a nation-wide concert tour, including appearances with orchestra and multi-disciplinary collaborations.

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Born into a musical family in Guangzhou, Chang-xin Guan began studying piano, ear training, and music theory from his mother. His early teachers also included Chen Hua-yi, Zhao Bi-shan, Wu Zheng-wen, Pan Xing-hua, and Ying Shi-zhen. Mr. Guan studied at the Guangzhou Xing-hai Conservatory of Music, and later was selected to study in Beijing at the Central Conservatory of Music where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees of Art in piano performance under the instruction of Prof. Li Hui-li and Prof. Yang Jun.

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Moving to the United States for further study, Mr. Guan entered the Music School of Texas Christian University with scholarship and served as Departmental Artistic Assistant. He studied with Dr. Tamás Ungár, a renowned professor and the Executive Director of PianoTexas International Academy & Festival where Mr. Guan served as Staff Accompanist of the Concerto Competition. After winning the 8th Martin Memorial Piano Competition, Mr. Guan earned another master's degree in piano performance.

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Not only is Mr. Guan a gifted soloist, he is also an enthusiastic chamber musician. As an experienced instructor, Mr. Guan has been invited to teach and perform at different music institutions and give master classes and lectures both in China and the U.S. Mr. Guan is currently a piano lecturer and Foreign Exchange Coordinator at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing

“An amazing pianist.” -The Houston Chronicle

Brendan Kinsella presented the concert ‘Lisztomania’ on a date that could be daunting, October
22nd, 2011, the actual 200th birth anniversary of Franz Liszt, but you will hear that it didn’t seem to
faze him at all. In fact, he attacked one of Liszt’s more famous transcriptions [Beethoven’s Fifth
Symphony, op. 67] with the passion and energy that Liszt required.” -Bill Baker, host of Syracuse
Public Radio’s “Concert Hall”.

Described as a “sensitive musician with an ear for color” by the Cincinnati Enquirer, pianist
Brendan Kinsella’s recent concert engagements have taken him to New York, Chicago, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New Orleans, Holland, Italy, and other cities throughout the
United States, Europe, and Asia. He earned his Bachelor (with honors) and Master of Music degrees
at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a pupil of Frank Weinstock (with
additional coaching from James Tocco and Kenneth Griffiths) and in 2008 received his Doctor of
Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City as a student of Robert Weirich. In
master classes, he has performed for artists such as Christopher Elton, Susan Graham, Martin Katz,
Ani Kavafian, Anne-Akiko Meyers, Frederic Rzewski, Andre-Michel Schub, Peter Serkin, David
Shifrin, Midori, and the Takacs Quartet. He completed his training as a Solo Piano Fellow at the
Music Academy of the West, working under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal, Professor of Piano
at the Juilliard School. In 2010, he debuted as a soloist in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and was a featured concerto soloist at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago.

A dedicated teacher, Kinsella presently serves as Professor of Piano at the University of Texas - Rio
Grande Valley, where he teaches applied piano, chamber music, piano pedagogy, and piano literature to an international class of gifted young musicians. Members of his select studio regularly participate in national and international summer festivals, perform in master classes for distinguished concert artists (such as Jerome Lowenthal, David Korevaar, Kevin Kenner, and Sean Chen), present their
scholarly research at professional conferences, and gain admittance to prestigious MM and DMA
programs nationwide (the Peabody Institute, The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of
Music, the University of Michigan, Temple University, and the University of Texas-Austin, to name a
few. As the founder of the South Texas Collegiate MTNA Chapter, students in his piano pedagogy
symposium gained national prominence as the recipients of the 2022 “Collegiate Chapter of the
Year” Award by Music Teachers National Association, the highest honor in their discipline. Before
joining the faculty at UTRGV, he was a member of the piano area at Missouri Western State
University and held graduate assistantships in piano and collaborative piano at CCM and UMKC.

Born 1980 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kinsella began playing the piano at age 11 and made his concerto
debut at 15. A live recording of his performance of Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques at the Midwest
Clinic is commercially available from the MarkRecords label, and his recording of Narong
Prangcharoen’s chamber music was released on Albany records in 2012 to favorable reviews. His
recent and upcoming engagements include performances of concerti by Ravel, Bach, Beethoven, and
Grieg; speaking engagements at the MTNA National Conference, the National Conference for
Keyboard Pedagogy, and the TMTA State Conference; and nationwide performances of Bach’s
Goldberg Variations.

Dr. Joe McAllister joined the music faculty at the University of Northern Colorado in 2022, where he serves as opera coach and instructor of the collaborative piano studio. He teaches vocal coaching for pianists and singers, chamber music literature for keyboard, and has taught the aural skills sequence. He also oversees the work of the piano area's Graduate Assistants, who play a critial role in the school of music.

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As opera coach at UNC, he has worked on productions of Puccini's Suor Angelica, Amy Beach's Cabildo, Philip Glass's In the Penal Colony, and Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. During his doctoral studies, Dr. McAllister assisted with the preparation of Bernstein's Candide, Mark Adamo's Little Women, Weber's Der Freischütz, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte, and Britten's Albert Herring.
 
Dr. McAllister had his conducting debut in the fall of 2023, conducting performances of Philip Glass's In the Penal Colony and Amy Beach's Cabildo, the latter of which was UNC Opera Theatre's first production of an opera by a female composer. He has also conducted selections from William Walton's Façade: an entertainment as part of UNC's Poudre River Chamber Players series.

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He is an active performer in the northern Colorado region, and has appeared as pianist in the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, the UNC Symphony Orchestra, the Greeley Chamber Orchestra, and the Colorado Dance Theatre Orchestra. He has performed with members of the Colorado Symphony and frequently collaborates with his colleagues and students in UNC's School of Music. He is also the rehearsal pianist and coach for the Greeley Chamber Chorale. 

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Joe has found a deep source of inspiration from nature, and exercises this interest through a love of hiking. He has completed the 491-mile Colorado Trail, the 96-mile West Highland Way in Scotland, the 64-mile Ocean to Lake trail in South Florida, and the 177-mile Der Westweg in the Black Forest of Germany. Since moving to Colorado, he has climbed Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, and Colorado's tallest mountain, Mount Elbert. A native of South Florida, he has also enjoyed much canoe camping throughout the Florida Everglades and Florida Bay. 

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Prior to his appointment at UNC, Joe served as instructor of piano at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colorado as well as staff pianist at Florida Atlantic University and Metropolitan State University of Denver. Joe received his undergraduate degree in piano performance from the Boston Conservatory, his graduate degree in piano performance from Florida Atlantic University, and earned his Doctor of Arts degree in collaborative piano from the University of Northern Colorado. His primary mentors were Harold Brown, Max Levinson, Dr. Heather Coltman, Dr. Edward Turgeon, and Dr. Willem van Schalkwyk. During his doctoral studies, he undertook studies of piano pedagogy with Dr. Justin Krawitz, and taught several sections of class piano each semester. A fervent enthusiast of the composer Olivier Messiaen, Dr. McAllister wrote his dissertation on the song cycle Chants de terre et de ciel for soprano and piano. 

Colorado-based pianist Ivana Munćan is active as both a pedagogue and performer.

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As a pedagogue, Ivana has presented lectures and frequently adjudicates for local music teacher associations and festivals across Colorado. Her article titled "Bite-Sized Bits of Modernism: Incorporating Modern Works into Students’ Repertoire" was featured in the July 2019 issue of the Colorado State Music Teachers Association Newsletter.

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Since 2015, Ivana has taught a diverse range of classes, including individual piano lessons, class piano, chamber music, and classes in music theory and history across northern Colorado, including institutions such as the Aims Community College, University of Northern Colorado, and Front Range Community College.

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As an active performer, Ivana has recently appeared as a chamber musician at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City, Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall, and UNC’s Campus Commons Performance Hall (including the premiere of Dr. Paul Elwood’s The Flowering Sweetness of the Stars for violin and piano). She has also performed as a guest artist at Chadron State College in Nebraska, as a soloist at the Association Philomuses in Paris, France, and as a guest artist at the Utrecht Conservatory in The Netherlands. Ivana frequently collaborates with faculty from Aims Community College and the University of Northern Colorado on various performance projects.

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Ivana served as a graduate teaching assistant at both the University of South Florida and the University of Northern Colorado, where she taught private and group piano lessons and collaborated across various instrumental and vocal departments at both institutions. Her leadership roles as vice president and president of UNC’s MTNA Collegiate Chapter during her doctoral studies emphasized her dedication to fostering music communities. Ivana’s doctoral studies culminated in writing a dissertation on Luciano Berio’s Six Encores pour piano, which offers performers and teachers various analytical procedures and technical exercises crafted to aid in expediting their mastery of the Encores and piano repertoire dealing with similar challenges.

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Her degrees include a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance, Chamber Music, and Piano Pedagogy from the University of South Florida, and a Doctor of Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Northern Colorado. Her primary mentors include Vera Hofman-Momčilović, Dr. Dorian Leljak, Dr. Svetozar Ivanov, Dr. Lei Weng, and Dr. Justin Krawitz.

Zhang Wei, a professor in the Piano Department at the China Conservatory of Music, is a doctoral supervisor and has served as the director of the Piano Department. He is a member of the China Musicians Association and a council member of the China Piano Association.

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His performances have taken place both domestically and internationally, with concerts held in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Macau, Singapore, Seoul (South Korea), Vietnam, Australia, Italy, and Moscow, receiving acclaim.

Since 1994, Zhang Wei has been teaching at the China Conservatory of Music. In 2001, he participated in the establishment of the Piano Department. As a teacher, he has trained numerous piano talents, and his students have achieved excellent results in various piano competitions both nationally and internationally.

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As an invited expert in teacher training for the Artistic Grading Center of the China Conservatory of Music, Zhang Wei has conducted dozens of teacher training lectures nationwide. He has also been invited to events such as the Lianchuan DMZ International Music Festival in South Korea, the Wassenberg Piano Summer Camp in Germany, the Sicily International Piano Art Festival in Italy, and the Beijing International Music Master Class Art Festival.

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Zhang Wei has also served as a judge for numerous piano competitions both in China and internationally. Some of these include the CCTV Second and Third National Piano and Violin Competitions, the Fifth National Youth Piano Competition, the First National Music Conservatory Piano Competition, the "Yamaha Cup" Academy Award of the Nine Major Music Colleges, the China "Steinway" Competition Grand Finals, the Asia Piano Open Competition, the Zhujiang Caesarburg International Youth Piano Competition, the "Huanglong Music Season" National Youth Piano Competition (Chairman of the Jury), the Hummingbird International Music Festival Piano Competition in the United States (Chairman of the Jury), the Pittsburgh International Youth Arts Festival in the United States (China Region Chairman), the 11th China Music Golden Bell Awards Piano Competition, and the 15th Khachaturian International Piano Competition, among others.

Yun Guo is an Associate Professor of Piano Performance at the Affiliated High School of the China Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the Chinese Musicians’ Association and a committee member of the Piano Pedagogy Department at the Beijing Musicians’ Association. In 2013, Professor Guo was recognized as an outstanding teacher in Beijing. Born into a musical family, Yun Guo began studying piano with her grandmother, a professional pianist. Guo received her bachelor's degree from the Shanghai Conservatory, studying under Qiulin Zhang, Junwei Zhang, and Zhijue Chao. She was awarded a national scholarship to study at Moscow State Pedagogical University under Dr. Elena Krasovskaya and Naum Shtarkman, a judge of the Tchaikovsky International Competition. Guo received her master's degree with the honor of "Outstanding Graduate Student."

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As an active pianist, Guo has performed numerous solo and chamber concerts across Asia and Europe. She has played at venues such as the "House of Architecture" Concert Hall in Moscow, Birmingham Conservatoire, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Concert Hall of the Seoul Traditional Culture and Music Academy in South Korea, the Overseas Chinese Art Center in Bangkok, Beijing Concert Hall, China Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory, Shenyang Conservatory, Gulangyu Concert Hall in Xiamen, and the Affiliated High School of China Conservatory of Music. Guo has also appeared on TV shows as an educator and performer, including CCTV, Fujian TV, and Xiamen TV.

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Guo has been invited to serve on the juries of several celebrated piano competitions, including the International Chopin Piano Competition for Young Pianists (China Division), Oberlin International Pianist (China Division), International Chinese Art Festival Piano Competition (Singapore, Taiwan, Austria), 2019 Hummingbird International Piano Competition at Eastman School of Music, the 2nd Youth Piano Competition of the Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music, the 8th Steinway Piano Competition (Beijing Area), the 15th National Xinghai Cup Piano Competition (Final Round), the 6th Cadenza Piano Competition, and the Beijing Educational Collegiate Skills Competition Piano Competition (2013-2019). Guo was also appointed to the Admissions Committee for Keyboard Performance Major at Peking University.