Class Piano Teaching Assistants for 2008-2009
Olga Krayterman is a Master of Music degree candidate at the Eastman School, where she also completed her BM in spring 2008 with High Distinction. Olga has competed and performed extensively in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she was awarded the first prize at the Concours International de Piano du Moulin d’Andé in 2006, in the Stravinsky Competition in 2004, and in the Southeastern Summer Piano Festival Concerto Competition in 2003. She made her orchestral debut with the South Carolina Philharmonic under Maestro Nicholas Smith, performing Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto in 2003. Ms. Krayterman has also participated in several international music festivals, such as the Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Académie Internationale du Moulin D’Andé. Her principal instructors have included Professor Natalya Antonova and Ms. Terry Moran.
Jacob Ertl, B.M. Oberlin Conservatory of Music, has performed across the country and abroad, including Maryland, Maine, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and in Alberta and Ontario, Canada. He has performed with the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and the Fox Valley Symphony, as well as giving solo recitals on Chicago radio “Live from WFMT” series, and WPR's “Live from the Elvehjem” series. Mr. Ertl has performed at the summer festivals of Banff, Bowdoin, Aria, Heifetz, Niagara, and the TCU/Van Cliburn Institute.
Mayumi Matzen was born in Kyoto, Japan, where her earliest musical training began at the age of five. Ms. Matzen holds a bachelor’s degree from the Kyoto City University of the Arts, and a master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Douglas Humpherys. She currently is pursuing a doctorate in Piano Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music. She is in frequent demand as a solo recitalist as well as a collaborative pianist. Her most notable recent collaborations include performances with Patrick Addinall, principal trumpet of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and Toshio Kaigawa, former principal oboist with the Kyoto City Symphony Orchestra.
Seung hae Jung is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate for the Performance and Literature in Piano from Eastman; she received her Master of Arts in performance from Eastman and Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Yonsei University in Korea. With extensive teaching experience at both the collegiate and preparatory levels, she has also won numerous competitions including First Prize at hankook ilbo Piano Competition (Seoul, Korea) and the silver medal in the Samick Piano Competition. She is very positive and friendly, and loves to have an enjoyable learning experience that the students will enjoy and learn the art of piano.
Liu Liu is a native of China, is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Piano Performance and a Master of Music in Music Education at the Eastman. Ms. Liu has won numerous prizes in Chinese competitions. Currently, she is a member of the piano faculty at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and is also a piano teaching assistant at Eastman, where she teaches group piano lessons.
Tabitha Boxerman is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University, where she completed her B.A. in Piano Performance summa cum laude. She is the recipient of many scholarships and awards, including the prestigious Presser Foundation Award, the Sarah Verna Cox Coffey Endowed Music Scholarship, and the TWU Outstanding Undergraduate Performer Award. Each summer since 2005 she has received scholarships to attend the Chautauqua Institution Music Festival and Summer School. Upon graduating from TWU, Ms. Boxerman joined the staff of TWU Community Music as an instructor and accompanist. She also performed solo and collaborative recitals throughout North Texas. She is pursuing an M.M. in Performance and Literature at Eastman and is a student of Rebecca Penneys.
Paul Tuntland Sánchez (1982) has performed in solo recital throughout North America and Europe, and in such festivals as the Barcelona Festival of Song and the Festival Internacional de Piano Reynosa, Mexico. Paul graduated summa cum laude from Texas Christian University in 2005, with honors, from the studio of Tamás Ungár. At TCU he became the first freshman in the history of the university to win the School of Music’s Piano Concerto Competition, and received the prestigious Presser Scholar award during his final year at TCU. He received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2005 and earned his Master of Spanish Music degree with Ms. Alicia de Larrocha at the Academia Granados-Marshall in Barcelona, Spain, in 2007. Sanchez is the founder and executive director of the annual Dakota Sky International Piano Festival in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, now in its second year. He is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree with Mr. Douglas Humpherys at the Eastman School of Music.
Cara Johnson is pursuing her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Literature under the tutelage of Ms. Rebecca Penneys. She was awarded several scholarships to attend Eastman, including the Howard Hanson Scholarship, Elizabeth, Florence and M. Gertrude Deavenport Scholarships, as well as the George Eastman Grant. Cara holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Eastman School of Music, where she graduated Magna cum Laude in 2007.
In 2001, she was the state winner of the Music Teachers National Association Piano Competition, and in 2003, she won the Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artists Concerto Competition with her performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Cara has studied at several notable summer music programs and competitions held at institutions including Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, and Jan Deyl Conservatory in Prague, Czech Republic. She has performed in Masterclasses taught by Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Peter Takacs, Pamela Mia-Paul, and Douglas Humpherys. In 2003 – 2005, she attended the Chautauqua Music Festival where she was a semi-finalist each year in Chautauqua’s International Piano Competition. Cara avidly performs in chamber and collaborative ensembles with other professional artists as well. Recently, Cara and her trio-mates were accepted to compete in the Final Round of the Coleman Chamber Music Association Competition in April of 2007 in Pasadena, California.Sun Min Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. Since coming to the United States, he has been a prizewinner in numerous national and international competitions such as the Empire State Competition, the ODU Classical Period Piano Competition, the Competition of the Society for American Musicians, the Buono & Bradshaw International Piano Competition, the MTNA Young Artist Competition, the Crescendo Music Awards Competition, the Lee Biennial Piano Competition, and the Maria Canals International Piano Competition.
He has also appeared as a soloist, and chamber musician in various venues such as the Katzen Arts Center (Washington DC), Canton Arts Center (Ohio), Kumho Recital Hall, Kumchung Cultural Center, Ulsan Cultural Center of Arts, and Iwon Cultural Arts Center (South Korea), Baroque Hall (Czech Republic), Rolston Recital Hall (Canada), and Ecole Redaelli (Beligum).
He has participated in music festivals such as Prague International Piano Masterclass, Mastercourse à Braine-Alleud in Belgium, International Keyboard Festival at Banff Center, Beijing International Music Festival & Academy, and the Brevard Music Center. His summer study teachers include Jerome Lowenthal, Thomas Schumacher, Pavlina Dokovska, Eugene Pridonoff, Elizabeth Pridonoff, Diane Andersen, Robert Roux, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, and Marc Durand.
He holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a French minor from the Eastman School of music, and is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Nelita True.
Toni James, at the age of 11, was accepted to the Junior School of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama to study with Philip Jenkins (Head of Keyboard Studies). She was selected to represent the RSAMD in the junior Intercollegiate Beethoven Competition in London, aged 15 and in 2001, was a gold medallist in her class at the Moray Piano festival in Scotland. Toni was a finalist in the televised BBC Young Musician of the Year piano class, and was winner of the Regional Final Prize for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Toni has performed throughout the UK, United States and Scandinavia also participating in master classes with numerous renowned pianists such as Steven Kovacevich, Andre Watts, Malcolm Bilson and Roy Howatt. In 2004 as part of the series of Scottish International Piano Competition workshops, Toni performed the world premiere of the commissioned audience piece – “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (Rory Boyle). In March 2005 in the International Emmanuel Durlet Prize for Piano in Antwerp Belgium, Toni reached the Semi Final as the youngest competitor in the competition. Prizes awarded at the RSAMD include the Bach Prize for Piano, Memorial Mozart Competition and Governor’s Senior Recital Competition. Toni was also awarded 3rd prize in the Scottish International Piano Academy Competition. In 2006 aged 20 Toni received a B. Mus Performance with 1st class honours. Toni was the first Scottish Pianist to achieve this level of award from the RSAMD. Following this Toni obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Music (2007) before gaining a position to study for the Master of Music Performance at the Eastman School of Music Rochester New York under Professor Barry Snyder. She is supported by scholarships from Eastman and prestigious scholarships in her own country including the Caird Travelling Scholarship.