Cary Adams has maintained a private practice of dentistry in Chicago for over 25 years. He studied piano privately with teachers from the music department at Elmhurst College, where he received undergraduate degrees in biology and psychology. After dental school, he began again to take lessons, this time from Emilio Del Rosario, who he continued with for over two decades. Over the years, Dr. Adams has given many recitals in the Chicago area, most recently at the Peoples Music School of Chicago.

Tim Adrianson has piano “roots” both in Classical and American Popular piano repertoire. Over the years, he has served as pianist for many community theater productions, and as an accompanist for numerous cabarets, opera productions and recitals. More recently, he has participated in several regional Amateur Piano Competitions, with an emphasis on presenting rarely-heard pieces, predominantly from the Early to Mid 20th century. He competed in the Van Cliburn Amateur Competition in 2007.

Monica Hart Alianello lives with her husband and two kids in Naperville, IL. She grew up in a musical family and studied piano and flute throughout her school days. For many years she has been a stay-at-home mom, but with her kids now grown and in college, Monica has recently gone back to working full-time as an administrative assistant in downtown Chicago.

Hassan Al-Mufti is an accomplished performer, teacher and composer who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Iraq in September of 2001. He found a new beginning in Buffalo, NY. Hassan studied piano at the Music and Ballet School of Baghdad and earned his BA in Music at the College of Fine Arts at Baghdad University. He also taught and performed in Amman, Jordan. Hassan now teaches at Community Music School of Buffalo.

Brad Arington has a J.D. from New York University, an M.D. from the University of Virginia and an A.B. in classical languages from Hampden-Sydney College. He is a healthcare attorney at McKesson in San Francisco. In NYC he studied with German Diez, a protégé of Claudio Arrau. In the Bay Area, he currently studies with Erna Gulabyan and has attended the Advanced Piano Class at Mission College led by Joseph Ordaz for several semesters, and played in numerous master classes. Most recently, he shared 3rd prize at the 2010 Washington International Piano Arts Council competition and won prizes for the best performances of works by Polish and contemporary composers.

Brent Arnold started playing the piano at age four. His teachers include Margaret Holzgrafe, Dr. Michael Campbell, and currently Alexander Djordjevic. He was a winner of the Illinois Collegiate MTNA Piano Competition, alternate at the East Central Division Collegiate MTNA Competition, and was winner of the Quincy Symphony and WIU Young Artist Competitions. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accountancy from UIUC, and is a CPA working for McDonald’s Corporation.

Sibylle Barrasso is an author of mystery novels, a pianist, and business consultant. She started playing the piano at age 9, but quit after a year due to a philosophical differences with her teacher (Schubert vs. Czerny). Then she fell in love with the piano all over again while writing a novel about Rachmaninoff’s 3rd piano concerto. She studies with Roberto Poli, and is a piano performance student at the Rivers School Conservatory.

Mark Bartlett received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Northwestern University, where he studied with Laurence Davis. Since then he has made his career in the financial services industry, for the last eleven years as a systems architect and financial systems analyst with State Street Corporation. Mark is currently Vice-President of the Boston Piano Amateurs Association, and is active in the Amateur Chamber Music Players organization. Mark was a member of Masterworks Chorale for 20 years and has sung with Assabet Valley Master Singers for the past three years. He lives in the Boston area with his wife Beth and two children, Chloe and Justin.

Leslie Blei, a long time resident of Long Island, New York began piano lessons at the age of 6. By the time she was in High School she attended The Juilliard Preparatory studying with Katharine Parker and Edgar Roberts. She continued studying with Mr. Roberts at New York University completing her Bachelor’s and Masters in piano and music education. Ms. Blei took time out to raise her two sons, Eugene and Andrew. She returned to Juilliard’s Evening Division while she was teaching for the New York City Department of Education. This was interrupted by a stroke in 2001. She has had 3 more strokes where she lost the use of her speech, right arm and left leg. Leslie worked her way back through rigorous physical therapy and the piano – one note at a time. She is here to prove that attitude paves the way to recovery. She dedicates this performance to her sons, especially Eugene who lost his life 1/31/11 – a hero in life; a hero in death.

Cathryn Lai works in New Product Development as a Senior Principal Product Manager at WMS Gaming. She has an MBA degree in Strategic Management from DePaul University and a MM in Piano Performance from University of Houston where she studied with renowned pianist Abbey Simon. Cathryn completed her undergraduate studies at Oberlin Conservatory receiving a double degree in Audio Technology and Piano Performance. She has performed as a soloist with the South Carolina Philharmonic Symphony, Charlotte Repertory Orchestra, Woodlands Symphony (TX), and the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra. Cathryn lives in Chicago, IL with her husband and new baby.

Judy Chen is a native of St. Louis, MO where she studied piano with Patricia Stewart and then Jane Allen. After receiving a B.S. in chemistry at Stanford University while studying with Frederick Weldy, she obtained an M.D from Washington University School of Medicine while receiving instruction from Laura Schindler. After residency at Stanford University and fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Boston, she currently resides in the Chicago area with her husband and two sons.

Gorden Cheng is a systems architect, currently living in San Diego, California. He attended the University of Texas at Dallas and graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science while concurrently studying piano privately. Cheng frequently performs in concerts and recitals in San Diego and Los Angeles to critical acclaim. For work, he manages and designs global systems infrastructure for the Active Network. Besides music and computers, Gorden enjoys exercising, partying, and watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Judy Darst holds a degree in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado where she affiliated with Sigma Alpha Iota music honorary. She began to teach after her son Seth was born, and taught and adjudicated as a member of M.T.N.A. and the National Guild of Piano Teachers. She was active in Ladies Music Club while living in Seattle and has performed with the Minneapolis Youth Orchestra, Greeley Philharmonic (Carnival of the Animals with Seth) and the Bainbridge Island Orchestra. Since moving to Bend, Oregon she started a Piano Group. She is an accomplished Equestrian and loves Line Dancing!

William Davis II began piano study when he was 6 ½ years old. He studied until he was 21, winning the Louisville Orchestra student piano audition as well as the Kentucky Women’s club piano competition while in high school, and was accompanist for his college (Princeton) glee club. He attended law school and practiced law from 1974 until he retired in 2006, at which time he resumed piano study.

Noah C. DeGarmo works primarily as an Emergency Medicine Physician, but his primary passion has always been piano. He has studied with Iris Graffman Wenglin, Xak Bjerken, and Alan Chow. He has played in master classes with Leon Fleischer and Tong-Il Han. Concerto performances include Mozart No. 20, Beethoven No. 3, Rhapsody in Blue, performed in Boston and Japan at the International Music Festival in Kumamoto.

Carl DiCasoli is a biostatistician and has a PhD and Masters in Statistics from NC State University. He was third at the Boston International Competition (2011), second at the Paris Concours International des Grands Amateurs (2008), and first at the New England Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition (2001). He has performed the Beethoven Concerto #3 with NEC Honours Orchestra in Boston’s Jordan Hall (2001), and Tchaikovsky Concerto #1 with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra (1997).

Paul Doerrfeld is the office manager for a family-run manufacturing company in Algonquin, Illinois. He received a degree in piano performance from DePaul University in the 80’s as a student of Mary Sauer. Paul has participated in Amateur Piano competitions in Chicago, Boston, Texas and Paris, France to maintain friendships with other amateur piano enthusiasts and for a challenge to continue practicing and performing.

Paul Feltovich earned two college degrees in music, a Bachelor’s of Music-Business from Hardin-Simmons University, as well as a Master of Arts from Texas Tech University. Paul also completed a teaching certificate in Music Education from the University of Houston (2003). Paul studied with Mr. John D. Hendrickson. Paul’s long-term goals span many different roads. One includes forming his own jazz-fusion group, completing an Associates Degree in Radiography, and of course keep on performing and learning on the piano.

Robert Finley studied the piano at Trinity College of Music in London and gained the ARCM diploma. He was a finalist in the Chopin, WIPAC and Colorado competitions. He played recitals in France, England, Germany, Israel, Poland, Hungary and Argentina, and concertos with orchestras in England and Fort Worth Texas. He is the President of the Boston Piano Amateurs Association. He will play the Liszt 1st Concerto with the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra in April.

Chuck Freilich studied piano for twenty years with Marion Gershon in the Community Music program at Roosevelt University. He has recently begun playing some chamber music and music for two pianos. He currently serves as the Director of Repriorment and Lifelong Engagement for Mather LifeWays in Evanston, Illinois, and he has also worked in the past at Columbia College, Shimer College, and DePaul University.

Beth Hammer played French horn and piano in her youth. French horn was her primary interest, and she quit playing piano in high school. At the University of Illinois she played horn in the Champaign-Urbana Symphony in addition to university ensembles while obtaining a biology degree. Now living near Madison, WI she works in the biotechnology field. 6 years ago she began studying piano again. Her goal is to be playing and studying piano or some instrument until the age of 100!

Mark Hensley holds undergraduate degrees in molecular biology and in piano, and wrote his undergraduate thesis on the Chopin/Godowsky etudes. Since earning his master’s in molecular biology in 2010, he has taught at community colleges in Oklahoma and Colorado. Mark is a PhD matriculate in the epidemiology program at the U of Washington, and is delighted to have met many serious amateur pianists in the Seattle community.

Andrew Celentano started playing the violin at 11 and continued playing at MIT in the orchestra under David Epstein. But Andrew’s real passion was the piano. Self taught, he played for years composing his own material and playing Bach and Beethoven. An entrepreneur at heart, he sold his company SkyWorld Interactive, to his employees 3 years ago and now works in the Content Strategy space.

For over forty years, Ron Jordan has been highly regarded in the Toronto area as an accompanist and organist, and has lately returned to performance in piano. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. Now retired from financial consulting, Ron spends much of his time assisting charities and non-profits in fund-raising performances and recordings, while finding the odd moment to write his own music.

Thomas Yu has performed in many prestigious venues including Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Cortot and Glenn Gould Studio. He has won several prizes including the 2010 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, the 2009 Bösendorfer International Piano Competition for Amateurs, as well as the 2006 Concours des Grand Amateurs. He continues to follow his musical passion around the world while maintaining a full-time career as a periodontist.

Dina Kassymova As a child, Dina was sure that music was her pursuit. She attended music school, and then to Music College, simultaneously getting philology degree at the University. Her plan was to continue to the conservatory but instead worked in Public Relations and started a family. She has not played for ten years. Three years ago, she bought a piano and started playing again. That is when she realized that music still remains her dream.

Jane Gibson King Born in Long Beach, California, Jane Gibson King holds a master’s degree from Brigham Young University. Between 1978-80, Mrs. King appeared as soloist with the Utah Symphony, BYU Philharmonic, and Music Academy of the West Orchestra. Teachers include Robert Smith, Jerome Lowenthal, and Steven De Groote. A mother of four children, Mrs. King is caregiver and advocate for her youngest son, Michael, who has autism. In 2010, after nearly 30 years, Mrs. King resumed piano studies with Eugene Watanabe. In 2011, she was a finalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs and received the press jury award.

Jason Klein was born in Chicago in 1972. He began studying classical piano at the age of five with a private teacher and continued with lessons through his senior year of high school. In college he studied as a non-major with a faculty member at the University of Illinois-Urbana. Jason is currently a CPA and the CFO of HSA Commercial, a local real estate development and management company.

Wen-Yee Ho Born and raised in Hong Kong, Wen-Yee Ho has just retired from a long career of teaching French at Harvard University and Tufts University, now in Boston. She holds a BA in music from UCLA and three degrees in French, including a Doctorate from the l’Universite de Haute Bretagne, France. More recently, in July of 2011 she received a Best Performance of a Polish Composer Award in the Washington International Piano Competition. In October she received a Gold Medal and the Best Performance Award for a Work by Liszt at the Seattle International Piano Competition. Her teachers include Happy Ore, Leo Smit, F. Aguessy and Max Levinson.

Namhyung Lee is Korean and holds a Ph.D. in physics from Tufts University, MA. She began playing the piano at age 5, and as a child won many prizes for numerous competitions. She stopped taking piano lessons at 14, but continued to play on her own. Her favorite composers are Chopin, Beethoven, and Schubert. She currently lives in Louisiana with her husband and two daughters, and composes music on her own.

Sharon Madison is a native of Chicago. Her first piano teacher was her father, a musician and educator in Chicago Public Schools. As a youth she attended the Cosmopolitan School of Music and American Conservatory of Music, going on to earn a bachelors degree in Music from Hampton University and a masters in Educational Psychology from Wayne State University. Ms. Madison also attended DePaul University, where she earned her Teacher Certification in Early Childhood Development. She taught music for many years in grades K-12 before retiring. She has studied advanced piano at Chicago Musical College and Sherwood Community Music School. She has performed at numerous recitals and is a member of the Adult Amateur Chamber Ensemble at Sherwood, coached by Gerald Rizzer.

Serge Mallet, French citizen, born 22.01.1968 in Tübingen (Germany), currently purchasing manager at BASF – The Chemical Company in Ludwigshafen, Germany, started piano at the age of 6 then studied at the conservatory of the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris, France, then at the conservatory of Reims, France, parallel to management studies at Reims High business school (Degree: MBA in 1989). Other activities include theater, swimming and jogging. According to his father, Camille Saint-Saens was related to his Norman great father’s family.

Art Manwelyan Born in St.Petersburg, Russia, Art immigrated to the US in 1989 with his wife and three children, and now lives in Massachusetts. An avid piano competitor, he has participated in several piano amateur competitions (Fort Worth, TX , Paris, Washington, DC). He took part in all six Boston Piano Amateurs Association (BPAA) competitions as a competitor, and later as a board member/organizer. He performs regularly at piano soirees and solo recitals.

Canadian pianist Thomas Maurice is currently the Deputy Program Manager (Government Contracts) for a large IT company in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been a prize-winner in several amateur competitions, including the Bosendorfer International Piano Competition for Amateurs in Vienna, Austria, and many others. Mr. Maurice also holds many technology certifications from Microsoft, Novell and Cisco. He and his partner also open their doors as a registered ‘Safe House’ for lost or abused feline friends.

Neil McKelvie, Emeritus Professor (Organic Chemistry), was born in England Dec. 9, 1930. He has no academic musical training, only extensive private teaching. 44 years after coming to the US in 1954, he again had lessons; from Seymour Bernstein; and recently also from Mara Waldman. He gave recitals each spring for the CCNY Music Department for 13 years. and has played in many concerts, such as Steinway’s “Soireé des Grandes Amateurs”, for the Meyerbeer Society (transcriptions by Liszt, Thalberg, and Alkan), and for the Leschetizky Society. He has been in a number of previous amateur piano competitions, getting a total of six prizes, e.g. Best Program and/or Best Performance of a Romantic piece. He is also a chess master, at one time no. 19 in the US.

Anne Miller began piano lessons at age 4. She studied privately with Leonard Shure while at Harvard, and currently studies with Ya-Fei Chuang in Boston where she resides. She has attended master classes with Rony Rogoff, Patricia Zander, Leonard Shure, Ya-Fei Chuang and Jon Bass, among others. She is an M.D. anesthesiologist, and is just now becoming acquainted with the various amateur organizations and competitions. She has revived her piano studies after many years of dormancy,and has recently played house recitals with cellist Zarina Irkaeva, as well as recitals through New England Conservatory Continuing Education.

Melinda Morse was raised in rural Arkansas where her love of music was inspired by diverse influences such as church and school musical organizations. She received a B.A. from Hendrix College in 1974 and a M.M from M.S.U. in 1978. 34 years in teaching have brought her to California. Here, her interests include her daughter, her boyfriend, running, teaching science, playing occasional recitals and studying with Roy Bogas whenever busy schedules allow.

Ali Mushtaq started to play piano at age 12, initially inspired by a recording of Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata. He studied seriously in High School, and was accepted into the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. After a year at Oberlin, however, he decided to pursue a career outside music. He is now an Independent Statistical Contractor in the DC area, studying piano on his free time.

Michelle Khong was born in Saigon, Vietnam and came to America at the age of 16. She holds BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering and designs computer chips for Micron Inc. Michelle started studying piano in Vietnam, but for financial reasons stopped studying piano after moving here. After graduation, she resumed studying piano as a hobby. Although her profession is engineering, piano is her passion and she hopes to continue playing for a long time.

Eugene Phillips Jr. Since graduating from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with a chemistry degree, Eugene Phillips, Jr. has been an active church musician. While living in Iowa, Eugene formed a gospel group in 1999 called The Living Testimony Chorale, which stayed together until 2005. Now residing in Bloomington, Illinois with his wife Rachel and two children, Eric and Réjene, Eugene serves as organist at the Evangelical Free Church and musician for Mount Moriah Church.

Vincent Phillips has been practicing anesthesia in Dayton,Ohio for the past 17 years. He is currently the chairman of the department of anesthesia at Good Samaritan Hospital. When he is not working or playing the piano he likes to swim and travel. He is the father of two daughters and one granddaughter who also likes to play the piano.

Rich Rhee was born in Chicago, IL and started playing the piano at age seven. He studied with Emilio del Rosario at the Music Center of the North Shore during which time he performed competitively. Rich went on to pursue medicine, and after a long break from the piano, he recently started playing again. Rich currently is a practicing radiologist in San Diego. He recently performed in Benaroya Hall at the Seattle International Piano Festival 2011.

Karl van Richards is a consummate artiste gifted in music, dance and theater. An extraordinarily talented pianist, arranger, composer, conductor and choreographer, he has captured the hearts of audiences with his virtuosic performances, endearing personality and beautiful smile. As a pianist he made his debut at age 17 playing the Grieg Piano Concerto after having won the Victoria M. Griffith Concerto Competition. Since then, he has appeared as a soloist and in orchestral performances in such venerable places as Leopoldskron Castle and in esteemed halls and theaters in his native Jamaica, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, The United States and Austria.

David Robin is an actuary and software developer with AonHewitt Consulting. He studied piano with Saul Dorfman from age 11 to 16, but then didn’t play much until about three years ago. His musical activities have consisted mostly of going to concerts, listening to Teaching Company lectures by Robert Greenberg, giving pre-concert lectures, and turning pages for the likes of Christoph Eschenbach, Menahem Pressler, Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock, and the late conductor Erich Kunzel.

Abel Sanchez-Aguilera Born in Spain, he studied piano at the Royal Conservatory in Madrid until 2000, and subsequently with Ya-Fei Chuang in Boston. He has given recitals in several countries in Europe and America. In 2011 he was awarded First Prize in the 6th Boston International Piano Competition and in the competition “Musik der Extraklasse” (Salzburg, Austria). Abel obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in 2006, and currently performs research on blood stem cells and leukemia.

Ron Setiawan, a tax accountant with Motorola, was born and raised in Indonesia and moved to the U.S. in 1991. Five years ago, at the age of forty, after reading a lot about the amateur piano competitions, he decided to take piano lessons. It was a challenge to find a piano teacher who was willing to teach an adult beginner. Finally, he found Dr. Mikhail Yanovitsky who was willing to help him in this wonderful piano adventure. In addition to playing the piano, he is also an accomplished professional photographer who has won international awards for his work.

Michael Slavin attended Juilliard School of Music preparatory division in childhood. During that time he gave many piano recitals (two at Town Hall in NYC). He performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D major (First movement) at Lincoln Center, with the Little Orchestra Society, and also performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music after winning a piano concerto competition. He has recently recorded three CDs, including the Chopin Scherzi (self-recorded).

Stephen Stouder Graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, Stephen began his musical studies on Violin. He switched to cello and started piano lessons at the age of 10. He was a member of orchestras including William & Mary College Community Orchestra where he was Principal Cellist. He performed on the piano playing concertos with the orchestras he belonged to growing up.

Una Stroda, a native of Latvia came to the US in 2004 to pursue her graduate and postgraduate studies in theology. Her education includes BA in Piano Performance and Accompaniment from Latvia Academy of Music, BA in Theology from University of Latvia, MA in Ecumenical Studies from University of Geneva, Switzerland, and MA in Theology from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago. Currently she is an ABD doctoral candidate and a teaching assistant at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Max W. Sung is a physician in practice for the past three decades. Prior to his medical career, Max had spent a year abroad on a German Exchange Academic Fellowship studying piano with Helmut Roloff at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Berlin, Germany. His return to piano performance was stimulated several years ago by a chance meeting with Pedro Carbone, from whom he took lessons for a year.

Born in Kanazawa, Japan, Toshimitsu Takagi came to the US in 1994 after receiving an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. Currently, he is working at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He took private piano lessons for 16 years starting at age 4. After moving to NYC for his current job 3 years ago, he resumed taking lessons. His teacher, Ms. Asami Tamura, encouraged him to apply for CAPC.
Majestic Tam

Martin Tangora is a retired mathematician. He had his first private lessons after graduating from Caltech. His principal teacher was Mademoiselle Andree Bonneville, in Paris. While in Paris he gave two solo recitals at the Fondation des Etats-Unis. Later, in England, he competed in amateur competitive musical festivals, at such places as Leamington Spa, Mid-Somerset (Bath), Brighton, Bournemouth, and Oxford. He lives in a historic house in Chicago with his wife and his Steinway grand.

Utako Tanigawa, born in Japan, started playing the piano at the age of three. After coming to the U.S., she earned a PhD in Information Systems and has held executive positions in major corporations. Her three year struggle to overcome a life threatening illness has had a major impact on her life, during which her love of music returned to provide a tangible lifeline. Music and additional academic studies continue to support her recovery.

Yoko Taruki is a kindergarten teacher who started playing piano at age four, but stopped in high school. After receiving a MS in the USA, she has worked in the field of social science. In 2002 she started piano practice again, and attended the summer programs at Mannes College in NYC and at Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. In 2009 she was a finalist of the International piano amateur competition at Osaka. In 2011 she participated in the competition at Texas.
Edward Tomashevskiy

Janet Underhill With an undergraduate degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago, and a masters in music education and minor in piano performance from Roosevelt University, Chicago, I taught classroom music for 31 years. In retirement I am enjoying a return to piano studies.

Italian born pianist Victoria Vesell began keyboard studied with her mother at the age of 4 in the United States. She won the Griffith Foundation Award, six scholarships, New Jersey Music Education Competition, Boston University Concerto Competition, Celebrate Series Prize, and Stobee Piano Competition. Graduated from Boston University, her New York Debut was in Alice Tully Hall in 1976, Boston debut 1984, Two Merkin Hall Concerto and premiered works by Vittonio Rietei. Married, living in New York City, continues to perform, and studies with Yuri Kim.

John Vineyard John has been an avid amateur at the piano and harpsichord since early childhood. He studied piano with Miriam Kartch at the Mannes College in New York and Emil Danenberg and Joseph Manes at Oberlin College. He has participated in piano competitions in New York, Boston, Berlin, and Washington DC and has performed locally in Ithaca, New York on numerous occasions.

Paul Wang started learning piano at a young age, and attended the Conservatorium High School in Sydney, Australia. Since coming to Chicago for postdoctoral work in biological sciences at the University of Chicago, he has continued with solo performances, as well as playing in various chamber music ensembles, collaborating with other pianists, string players and singers.

Graeme Wilkinson first studied music and the piano seriously while completing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French Literature at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. In the course of his career with Air Canada, he went on to obtain an Associateship Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto, a Bachelor of Music from the University of Quebec at Montreal, and a Graduate Diploma in Music from Concordia University, Montreal. Graeme has participated in numerous International amateur piano competitions and academies, and currently studies in Montreal with Lauretta Altman, an original student of Rudolph Ganz of the Roosevelt University School of Music in Chicago.

Nathan Wollman began playing piano under the direction of his mother at the age of four. Nathan began formal study of the piano with the late Lewis Hamvas during his junior and senior years of high school. Nathan earned a scholarship to study piano at Augustana College, where he was a student of Dr. Rick Andrews. During college he won the 1994 SDMTA Collegiate Piano Competition and the 1997 South Dakota MTNA Young Chang Collegiate Artist Piano Competition. Nathan continued studying piano with Tatyana Stepanova in Illinois, and during 2005-2006 with Kristijan Civljak of DePaul University in Chicago. He recorded recent compositions for composers with Accessible Contemporary Music, and performed in “Spring into Summer Classical Concert” fundraiser at the Lake View Presbyterian Church in addition to Accessible Contemporary Music’s “Music for Flute, Cello and Piano” concert at Katerina’s in Chicago.

Daniel Judd