Special Guest
Dr. Juiling Hsu currently serves as Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Piano Studies at the University of Central Florida, School of Performing Arts-Music in Orlando, Florida. An internationally recognized pianist, chamber performer and pedagogue, Dr. Hsu extensively performs recitals and teaches master classes in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as judges international/U.S. piano competitions and presents at teachers’ conferences. She has been invited to teach in Beijing, Guangzhou and Ürümqi, China, and in international summer music festivals such as Vianden, Saarburg, and InterHarmony. In the fall of 2015, she was one of the first artists to be invited to perform at the magnificent historical Sala Ignacio Cervantes Concert Hall in Havana. She also performed and taught master classes in Denmark at the Danish National Academy of Music and theOdeon Music and Theatre Hall.
Dr. Hsu has been hailed for “a formidable mastery of piano technique”, “beautiful singing tones and gorgeous colors”, “outstanding and technically adroit of solo performance”, and “level of performance to be very highly accomplished”. A versatile pianist with a wide variety of repertoire from classical to contemporary styles, she is not only an accomplished soloist but also a highly sought-after collaborative artist. She performs in recitals extensively and has performed with many renowned musicians worldwide, including Julian Bliss (British clarinet soloist), Øystein Baadsvik (Norwegian tuba soloist), Carsten Svanberg (Danish trombone soloist), Michel Debost (French flutist), Kenneth Tse (Chinese-American saxophone soloist), Robert Sullivan (trumpeter – Northwestern University), Hui Liu (tenor – Shenyang Conservatory of Music, China), principle players from New York Philharmonic (Joseph Alessi – trombone, Philip Meyers – former horn, Stanley Drucker – retired clarinetist), and more.
At the University of Central Florida (UCF), Professor Hsu teaches graduate and undergraduate piano students applied lessons and all piano courses. She has initiated UCF Piano Day and brought international-known artists to campus for piano events, and also initiated UCF All-Steinway Summer Piano Camp for pre-college pianists. She specializes in retraining injured pianists and her teaching focus on injury prevention, health and well-being for pianists, and mind-body connections for increased artistry and creativity. More than 19 years of research and practice of injury-preventive piano technique,12 years of yoga & fitness training, and 2 years of study of the Alexander Technique.
Juiling Hsu (許韻玲), a native of Taiwan, earned a diploma and bachelor in piano, and received her master’s and doctorate degrees of music in piano performance from The Ohio State University. At Ohio State she was privileged to have been the last pupil of the legendary American pianist Earl Wild and the French-Canadian pianist André Laplante (silver medalist of Tchaikovsky Piano Competition). Hsu received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a distinguished doctoral dissertation on the transcriptions of Earl Wild for solo piano of Gershwin songs. Mr. Wild praised her as “an extremely talented pianist as well as a very meticulous and thorough musician.” At OSU, she held one graduate fellowship and three graduate teaching assistantships and was nominated for the award of Excellence in Teaching. She has also coached by other renowned pianists like Malcolm Bilson, Robert Levin, and Veronica Jochum.
Jeremy Russo was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and studied with Dr. Andrew Smith, Associate Professor of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While attending UNLV to pursue his Bachelor of Music Performance degree, he was the winner of the UNLV Concerto Competition and performed the Elgar Cello Concerto with the UNLV Symphony. He then earned his Master of Music Performance degree from California State University, Fullerton while studying with cellist Bongshin Ko.
During his studies he has traveled extensively around the world to music festivals such as the Schlern International Music Festival in Italy, Jeju Music Festival in Jeju Island, Korea, various chamber music concert tours in Seoul, Korea, Spain, Germany, Summit Music Festival in New York, Summer String Fest at the Kaufman Center in New York City, Credo Chamber Music Festival in Ohio, and Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas. Jeremy also had the opportunity to perform chamber music with cellist Matt Haimovitz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Jeremy currently teaches and performs in Las Vegas and is co-founder of the Las Vegas Cello Festival.
Juan Pablo Contreras (b. 1987, Guadalajara, Mexico) is a Latin GRAMMY®-nominated composer who combines Western classical and Mexican folk music in a single soundscape. His works have been performed by 30 major orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Slovakia, Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela. Contreras is celebrated as the first Mexican composer to sign a record deal with Universal Music, serve as Sound Investment Composer with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and win the BMI William Schuman Prize.
In the 2021-22 season, his award-winning work “Mariachitlán” will debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall, with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA. Contreras will also premiere a new orchestral work co-commissioned by Las Vegas Philharmonic, California Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic, and Richmond Symphony, in partnership with New Music USA’s Amplifying Voices Program.
Contreras has received commissions from the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, The Riverside Choir, Carlos Prieto, and the Onix Ensamble. He has won awards including the Presser Music Award, the Jalisco Orchestral Composition Prize, the Brian Israel Prize, the Pi Kappa Lambda Award, the Arturo Márquez Composition Contest, the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the Dutch Harp Composition Contest, the Nicolas Flagello Award, and the Young Artist Fellowship of Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and the Arts.
He holds degrees in composition from the University of Southern California (DMA), the Manhattan School of Music (MM), and the California Institute of the Arts (BFA).
Kevin Mills is a cellist from Orange County, California who studied under Darrett Adkins at both The Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory receiving his Masters in Cello Performance and Artist Diploma respectively. Kevin received his Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from California State University of Fullerton and has toured, taught, and performed nation-wide and abroad in Denmark, Korea, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Hungary.