FACULTY & GUEST ARTISTS

Composer, performer, and educator currently chairing the Jazz Studies Department at the New England Conservatory in Boston. At NEC, Schaphorst teaches courses in jazz composition, arranging, theory and analysis as well as directing the NEC Jazz Orchestra.

A founding member of the Boston-based Jazz Composers Alliance, an organization in the tradition of jazz composer-directed ensembles dedicated to the promotion of new music in the jazz idiom. Created in 1989, the Ken Schaphorst Big Band has featured many of today’s most notable young performers, including John Medeski, Uri Caine, Brad Shepik, Drew Gress, Donny McCaslin and Seamus Blake. Schaphorst has released seven recordings as a leader.

Marian Hahn holds the Singapore Conservatory of Music Chair in Piano at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore where she has been on the piano faculty since 1987. As a liaison with the new Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, she has performed and given master classes in Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand and is in frequent demand as a competition juror and for master classes on campuses throughout the U.S.

Hahn’s solo career was launched in 1976 when she became a winner in the International Leventritt Competition. She made her Carnegie Recital Hall debut as a Concert Artists Guild winner and subsequently appeared in New York recitals at the Metropolitan Museum and Merkin Hall.

Nicolas Giusti joined Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2023 and is a professor of opera. In addition to teaching his opera studio, he serves as vocal coach for the course Audition Techniques. Before joining the Conservatory, Giusti was a full-time professor (piano and vocal coach) for 23 years in the Opera Department at Italian Ministero dell’Università in Matera, Fermo/Pesaro, and Pescara, Italy. He also has taught master classes in Italian opera at many American universities, including Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University, Westminster University, and New England Conservatory, as well as in Europe at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Accademia d’Arte Lirica di Osimo, and the Mario del Monaco Foundation.

Deborah Bradley-Kramer Ph.D, a graduate of New York University and the European Mozart Academy, was Lecturer in Music at Columbia University from 1999-2019, and was the Director of Music Performance at Columbia University from 1999-2013. She is Lecturer in Music at The Juilliard School, where she teaches courses in World and American Music. She is founder and pianist of The Moebius Ensemble, a group dedicated to championing American music and works of emerging composers in America and beyond, and SPEAK music, a collective of Columbia and Juilliard musicians and faculty who are dedicated to enlivening the world of classical music through innovative programming and interactive audience experiences.

American pianist Jonathan Bass appears frequently throughout the United States and around the world as soloist and chamber musician. A Steinway Artist, Bass made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall. New York Concert Review wrote, “A technical presence to be reckoned with…soaring with a feeling of lyrical discovery.” He is a regular presence at Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall in Boston, and at Tanglewood. His solo and chamber music recording have received high acclaim from Gramophone Magazine. Internationally, he has performed in China, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, and Russia. He has been featured on many radio programs throughout the United States, including National Public Radio’s ‘Performance Today’. Bass has performed as concerto solo soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and the North Carolina Symphony at the Appalachian Summer Festival.

Pianist Wayman Chin has performed widely throughout the United States, Asia, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, his concerts include performances at Princeton University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Jordan Hall in Boston, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco. In the Far East, Mr. Chin has appeared at Tsuen Wan Town Hall in Hong Kong, and in the Philippines, on the Sala Foundation concert series, at the residence of the US Ambassador in Manila and at Soochow University in Taipei.

Wayman Chin joined Longy’s faculty in 1994. From 2008-2020, he served as Dean of the Conservatory and for 13 years, also served as Chair of the Chamber Music Program. In 2007, he was awarded Longy’s George Seaman Award for Excellence in the Art of Teaching. In 2020, he was named Dean Emeritus.

Pianist Ashley Hsu is an accomplished solo and chamber musician. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Hsu is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she was a student of Gary Graffman and Meng-Chieh Liu.

Ms. Hsu holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Columbia University and previously studied at the Juilliard School. She enjoys exploring the connections among the arts, and has developed a concert series called In Conversation that bridges literature and music, creating a cohesive artistic and performance experience. Her two brothers are also pianists, and they frequently collaborate on music for two or three pianos. Ms. Hsu joined the Curtis faculty in 2018.

Bradford Gowen earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music where he studied piano with Cécile Genhart and composition with Samuel Adler. He later studied piano with Leon Fleisher and Dorothy Taubman.

He was the winner of the first Kennedy Center/Rockefeller Foundation International Competition for Excellence in the Performance of American Music (1978). After winning that prize he made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall playing music by American composers plus works by Beethoven and Chopin, and recorded an album of American music, Exultation, for New World Records. That album that was re-released as a CD with an expanded amount of music (#NW304). Following his second New York recital, at the 92nd Street Y, his playing of music by Mozart, Beethoven, and American composers was described in the New York Times as “just about ideal in all respects.”

Dubbed by Gramophone as “…a superb, confident technician and an intelligent stylist, who doesn’t have to prove anything…”, American pianist Chad R. Bowles has performed hundreds of solo recitals across the United States, in Canada, and Europe. Commanding an unusually vast repertoire and an effortless technique, his performances of the standard as well as forgotten repertoire have brought him great respect and admiration from both critics and the public alike. His deep understanding of both well-loved masterpieces and overlooked gems allows him to create programs that surprise and move his listeners, drawing them into the experience of classical music in a way that feels fresh and personal. His commitment to expanding the reach of classical music extends beyond traditional performances, as he frequently gives benefit recitals and interactive concerts designed to engage new audiences and reignite passion for lesser-known works.

Fellenberg has performed in recital at numerous colleges and universities, where he frequently gives lectures or masterclasses, including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, Syracuse University, University of Massachusetts, Jersey City University, New York University, City University of New York, Scranton University and at notable concert venues, including Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Jordan Hall, Museum of Modern Art, 92nd Street Y, Cleveland Museum of Art, the Old State House (MA), Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, and internationally in Mexico, Ecuador, Italy, China, and South Korea.

Emily Siar joined the Conservatory in 2021 as an assistant professor of voice. She teaches applied voice for musical theater and vocal performance as well as the two-semester undergraduate vocal pedagogy curriculum, and Cabaret and Culture, a repertoire course she designed. A skilled vocal pedagogue and diagnostician, Siar is dedicated to guiding each young artist in her studio to develop a sustainable, flexible vocal technique. Her teaching is rooted in a deep and continual study of anatomy and physiology, body mapping, voice repertoire and style, voice science, and acoustics, mindfulness, and psychology.

Dr. Linda Apple Monson, International Steinway Artist, serves as the Director of the Dewberry School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University. A Distinguished Service Professor, Monson was awarded the John Toups Presidential Medal for Excellence in Teaching at George Mason University’s 2018 Spring Commencement Ceremony. The Toups Presidential Medal is presented to “a faculty member whose teaching exemplifies Mason’s commitment to ongoing innovation and excellence in delivering a transformative learning experience to our students.”

Linda Apple Monson has recently been inducted into the Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in New York City on October 4, 2023. The Steinway & Sons Music Teacher Hall of Fame is a prestigious designation “recognizing the work of North America’s most committed and passionate piano educators.”

Lance Wiseman has garnered an international reputation as an ambassador of the piano music with performances in Greece, Switzerland, Berlin, London, France, Russia, Hong Kong, China, United States, among many others.

Neue Zuricher Zeitung (Zurich) noted this American pianist’s “sensitivity to express even the dreamily poetical”, Der Tagespiegel (Berlin) commented on his “considerable technical brilliance”, and the Athens Voice commented, “(he) Translates the composers’ hidden treasures”, Gazet Van Antwerpen noted his “brilliant virtuosity and flair,” Vincent Persichetti commented, “You know how to project the composer’s meaning.” “(You) will contribute significantly to the music of our times.”

An award-winning pianist with performance degrees from California and Arizona, Dr. Hulbert also studied piano as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the Vienna State Music Academy (Hochschule für Musik) in Austria with Professor Walter Fleischmann. Completing his education with a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from the University of Maryland, Dr. Hulbert combined his background in piano performance and pedagogy with investigative research to pen a ground-breaking dissertation on historical piano teaching practices during the time of Beethoven. He has been invited to speak on his findings and on other piano-related topics at MTNA and MTAC meetings in Maryland, California, and Florida; and at music events at universities in Maryland, Virginia, Texas, California, and China. Currently the President of the Non-Profit Thomas F. Hulbert Music Institute.

Permanent Director of the Ivy League International Education Association (IIEA), Senior Teacher in Teacher Training at the Royal Academy of Music (ABRSM) in the UK, Teacher and Composer at the Continuing Education School of the Central Conservatory of Music, Founder and President of iPiano Music School, Member of the World Association of Chinese Female Composers, and Member of the International Federation of Female Musicians (IAWM). Master's degree in Composition from the Central Conservatory of Music. teach "Practical Composition" and "Analysis of Forms and Works" at the Central Conservatory of Music. Since serving as a teacher trainer at the Royal Conservatory of Music in the UK, trained nearly a thousand teachers to participate in the teaching practice of piano and music theory. She was invited to host lectures in multiple cities at home and abroad, helping teachers and students improve teaching methods and processes.

Composer, playwright, independent music critic, PhD in composition from the Central Conservatory of Music, resident composer of the Asian Philharmonic Orchestra, Asia Pacific Operations Director of the German Times Music Publishing House, special researcher and resident composer of the Romanian Eurasian Art Research Association, founder and artistic director of the Yuyin Workshop (Beijing) Visual and Listening Art Development Base, and visiting professor of composition at the former School of Film and Television Arts, Communication University of China. Member of the Chinese Musicians Association, Member of the Chinese Drama Literature Society, and Director of the Chinese Music Critics Society. He has written "This" Root "is Not Bad" and "Cultural Same Origin, Musical Distinction"; Music albums "Emerging" and "Ningpei Runrong".

A native of Puerto Rico, Jose Ramos Santana is one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation and an acknowledged master of Spanish music.

He is the recipient of the 2020 Issac Albeniz Medal awarded by the Fundaćion Issac Albeniz in Camprodon Spain. Mr. Ramos Santana is also the founder and artistic director of the Puerto Rico International Piano Festival. Recent performance and masterclasses include the 2018 summer festival Maestros del Norte y Pianistas del Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

First prize, National Winner MTNA Collegiate Artist Piano Competition; First Prize Baltimore Chamber Music Award. Solo appearances with Alabama Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, Lake Placid Chamber Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Tucson Symphony and the University of Maryland Orchestra. Summer chamber music festivals include Picolo Spoleto Festival, Charleston, Lake Placid Summer Chamber Festival, International Bellapais Music Festival in North Cyprus and the Kredi Arts Festival at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul; other performances include the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and Terrace Theater, the Barns at Wolf Trap, Constitution Hall, Phillips Collection, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Museums, the Cosmos Club, the German, Austrian, Australian, French, Finnish, and Turkish embassies, Baltimore Museum of Art, the Chautauqua Institute.

Carreras is the director and theater director of the Novaria Carreras Music Festival, graduated from the Central University of Barcelona. Over the past twenty years of his artistic career, he has portrayed and played many male protagonists in famous operas on different stages around the world. He has played the leading role in the entire performance of world-renowned operas such as "Tosca," "The Bohemian," "Carmen," "The Bard," "La Traviata," and "The Magic Flute."

In addition to world-renowned classic operas, he is also famous for his traditional Spanish rap dramas that comprehensively showcase the performing arts of speaking, singing, acting, and dancing.

Received the 2020 Most Influential Celebrity Award, Academic Committee Member of the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts in the United States, Chief soprano and Executive Artistic Director of Novaria Opera House, Catalonia Music Palace, World Heritage Site, Spain, Judges for the finals of the Overseas Region of China's Voice of China, PhD in Vocal Music from Leipzig University of Drama and Music in Germany, Visiting Professor at North Central University

Renowned by Western media as the "Chinese Nightingale Conquering the Western Opera World", she has collaborated with film and music master Jean Hisaishi, vocal tycoon Domingo, Kabaye, and other masters. Having traveled all over the world, she played the female lead in more than a dozen classic operas such as "The Camellia Woman," "The Magic Flute," "Turandot," and "Carmen."

Dr. Bruning, an Iowa native, has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Holland. She holds degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Drake University and University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music where her major teachers included Dr. Chiu-Ling Lin, Eugene Pridonoff, and Frank Weinstock. In demand as an instructor and adjudicator, she often conducts master classes and has adjudicated numerous competitions including the 2008 Elizabeth R. Davis Piano Competition and the 2007 International Young Artist's Piano Competition in Washington, DC.