Class Piano

Class Piano Teaching Assistants for 2024-2025

Haniel Anugerah has always had a special interest in performing contemporary repertoire. Being a versatile pianist, he has appeared as a featured soloist in the Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble since 2021. He has also been a consistent performer in the Electroacoustic Music Studios @ Eastman (EMuSE) concert series, performing works by guest composers like João Pedro Oliveira and Kyong Mee Choi.

Born in Indonesia, Haniel is currently a second-year M.M. student at the Eastman School of Music under the guidance of Joseph Rackers and Marina Lomazov. He has gained both international and national acclaim, including his most recent winning of the Ricardo Viñes Prize and the Albert Roussel Prize at the 15th Concours International de Piano d’Orléans. In 2021, he was also awarded the Second Prize at the Heddy Killian Empire State Competition. He has performed in the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) High Scorers’ Concert several times for maintaining Distinction scores six years in a row (2013 – 2018). He later obtained his ABRSM Diploma in 2018.

Besides playing the piano, Haniel has played a Yamaha Electric Organ series called the Electone. His passion in performing the Electone has earned him public concerts and awards: the Judges’ Special Award at the Yamaha Electone Concours (2016) in Tokyo, the Silver Prize at the Asia-Pacific Electone Festival (2015) in Taipei, a solo performance at the Junior Original Concert (2014) in Singapore, and a solo performance at the Yamaha Electone Festival (2011) in Sapporo.

Haniel loves writing music for piano solo and instrumental duo/trio in his spare time. Back in the summer of 2021, he created a YouTube playlist of his own compositions inspired by art paintings like Café Terrace at Night, Waterlilies, and The Scream.

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Junhao Wang is currently pursuing a Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music under the mentorship of Prof. Alan Chow. He began playing the piano at the age of 7 in his home state of Utah. Some of his accomplishments from this time include Second Prize in the 2015-16 National MTNA Piano Competition, and Third Prize in the 2015 Seattle International Piano Competition. He would later move to Kansas to study with Dr. Jack Winerock in high school, where he would place Second at the 2018 Blüthner International Piano Competition, and Third at the 2018 Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition for Young Pianists.

He has had the privilege of performing with the Kansas City Symphony, Heritage Philharmonic, Midwest Chamber Ensemble, American West Symphony of Utah, and the Salt Lake Symphony. Also, as a prizewinner Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition, he was invited to perform in the 2018 Puerto Rico International Piano Festival.

For several years, Junhao played for local retirement communities on a regular basis. He also performed as a Piano Ambassador for the Mundi Project, a non-profit organization giving underprivileged youth the opportunity to learn music.

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Kimia Peykarzadeh, an Iranian pianist and educator who came to the US in 2022, is currently pursuing a DMA in Music Education and Piano Pedagogy. She earned her Master’s in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at CU Boulder, studying under Dr. David Korevaar and Dr. Alejandro Cremaschi. For the past eight years, Kimia has actively taught piano to students of varying ages and backgrounds, gaining recognition from respected educators such as Dr. Cremaschi and Dr. Pamela Pike. At CU, she has taught group piano courses to undergraduate students, including those majoring in music and non-music fields. Kimia has also presented at the MTNA conference and contributed an article to the MTNA E-Journal discussing challenges encountered by international music students in the US. Additionally, she has participated in masterclasses led by renowned musicians such as Robert Levin, Nicholas Carthy, and Delbar Hakimova. Kimia has received numerous scholarships, including the Roser Piano & Keyboard Scholarship, Trotsky Piano Scholarship, Corbridge Endowed Music Scholarship, and Grad School UF Scholarships from the University of Colorado Boulder.

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Pui Wang (Leo) Choi has recently graduated from the Master of Music program at the Eastman School of Music, studying under the tutelage of Prof. Alexander Kobrin. A native of Hong Kong, Leo began playing the piano at the age of five and later at eight joined the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts junior music program, studying with Ms. Ling Hui and Ms. Tak Poon. In 2018, he was admitted into Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying with Prof. Angela Cheng. As a performer, he has presented concerts in the United States and Hong Kong, including the PianoTexas festival, Oberlin’s Danenberg Honors Recital, Barber Piano Concerto with Oberlin Orchestra, Sacred Heart Concert series, Children’s Corner Debussy Mini Piano Marathon in Hong Kong Cultural Centre, as well as other public recitals held by HKAPA. He has won numerous competitions, including the Senior Concerto Competition, John Elvin Junior Prize Competition in Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Sixth Asian Youth Music Competition. In addition, he is an awardee of the Bernard van Zuiden Music Fund. He has also attended several music festivals with the likes of Mozarteum and PianoTexas, where he studied with Prof. Fabio Bidini, Akiko Ebi, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Vanessa Latarche, Robert Levin, Jacques Rouvier, and Mikhail Voskresensky. He has attended the Oberlin-Como masterclasses taught by Maestro Robert Spano, Prof. Thai Son Dang, and Prof. Stanislav Ioudenitch. He will continue his study at Eastman as a doctoral student in the upcoming fall.

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Xinyi Zeng, born in Sichuan, China, began her study of piano performance at the age of 3. In May 2022, she completed her Bachelor Degree of Music under Dr. Marina Lomazov’s studio from Eastman School of Music with distinction. After that, she completed her Master Degree of Music in Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in May 2024. The piano instructors of her master degree study in IU include Professor Roberto Plano and Professor Sofya Gulyak.

Xinyi won several prizes in a variety of international piano competitions. Her recent prizes include: First Prize of Section 1 Category F and Second Prize of Section 2 of 2022 9th International Piano Competition “Città di San Donà di Piave,” First Prize of Advanced 2 Group of 2022 Birmingham International Music Competition, First Prize of Advance Pianist Group of 2022 London Classical Music Competition, Second Prize of Category E of 2023 3rd Franz Liszt Center International Piano Competition.

Besides of piano performance, Xinyi also devotes herself in piano teaching with great passion. She started teaching private piano lessons since her middle school. During the years of master study in IU Jacobs School, she continued piano teaching of both private piano lessons and class piano as a teaching assistant with full scholarship.

In August 2024, Xinyi will begin her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance in the studios of both Dr. Marina Lomazov and Dr. Joseph Rackers in the Eastman School of Music.

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Xinyue (Scarlett) Zheng is a pianist from Nanjing, China. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at Eastman School of Music in the studio of Prof. Alexander Kobrin. In her four years of college, she studied at ESM with Prof. Kobrin as well. During high school, she was a student of Susan Starr. She won the first prize of the 8th Nice Cote d’ Azur International Young Artists Competition. She won the 2nd prize in the 2017 International Young Artists Piano Competition. In the same year, she won the 3rd prize and Audience Choice Award in 2017 MostArts Festival Competition and collaborated with MostArts Festival Orchestra on a successful performance of Mozart Piano Concerto in d minor, k.466. Beside competitions, she actively participates in music festivals including Lancaster International Piano festival, Vivace International Music Festival and Chautauqua Music Festival and so on. As a concert pianist, she has successfully held solo recitals at many places including Nanjing Nanyi Concert Hall,Nanjing Muyin Concert Hall, Xiamen Wuyuan Concert Hall and the Concert Hall of Women ,Children Activity Center of Jiangsu Province and Hatch Hall at Eastman School of Music. Besides her passion for playing as a concert pianist, she is highly interested in teaching. During four years of college, she spent her summer break teaching piano back in her hometown, China, and she is very confident about her experience and ability in teaching.

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Steven Dong is a first year doctoral student at the Eastman School of Music studying under Professor Alan Chow. He started piano lessons at the age of six and quickly discovered his passion for music.

Born in Michigan, Steven moved to Texas and studied piano there during his high school years with John and Nancy Weems. He won several notable prizes at the Juanita Miller Concerto Competition, Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, and South Texas Piano Competition, and made his debut with the Houston Symphony at the age of 16. While earning his BM and MM from Eastman, Steven won prizes in the Kuleshov International Piano Competition, Thousand Island International Piano Competition and MTNA Texas Young Artists Competition. He also won the Eastman School Concerto Competition and performed Beethoven’s 2nd Piano Concerto with the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. 

Outside of performing, Steven enjoys teaching and educating students. He will be returning for his 3rd year of teaching piano at Eastman and beginning his first year as an instructor at the Eastman Community Music School in 2024.

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Yunling Zhang was born in Shanghai, China. In 2006, she entered the Music Primary School affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studied with Professor Wu Zi-Jie. In 2009, she entered the Music Middle School affiliated to
Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studied with Professor Yang Yun-Lin. In 2015, Yunling received full scholarship and began studies in the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, under the tutelage of Professor
Boris Slutsky. After receiving her BM degree, she continues her MM studies with Mr. Slutsky at Yale School of Music.
Yunling made her concerto debut in 2015, playing Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2019, she also performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 with Peabody Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, Yunling held recitals in China, Europe, Canada, and the US, appearing on stage in Beijing, Shanghai, HongKong, Xiamen, Wuhan, Baltimore, Bydgoszcz, New Haven, Calgary, and other cities around the world.

Yunling is the winner of many piano competitions, such as the First Prize winner of the Harrison L. Winter Concerto Competition, the First Prize winner of the 5th HongKong Asia Youth Piano Competition, the Second Prize winner
of the Zhou Guangren Young Pianist Award, and the Second Prize of the 5th Gu Lang Yu National Piano Competition, etc. She also won the Mastroianni Award of the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in 2018. As an avid chamber music
performer, Yunling and her Piano Trio “Alchemie” studied with Professor Yu Yin-Jia, and performed in various cities. She obtained First Prize in the 3rd Chamber Music Competition of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, First Prize in
the Chamber Music Competition of the Morningside Music Bridge, Fifth Prize in the 2014 Alice & Eleanor Schoenfeld International String Competition (Chamber Division). As a student, she has received masterclasses from Gar
Graffman, András Schiff, Murray Perahia, Alexander Korsantia, John Perry, Vladimir Tropp, Fou Ts’ong, Gabriel Kwok, etc.

Graduating from Yale School of Music in 2022, Yunling is currently pursuing her Doctorate degree (DMA) in Eastman School of Music, under the guidance of Professor Marina Lomazov.

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Hailed by Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as “The future giant among the piano soloists”, Chinese pianist Xu Guo has appeared in concerts in major cities of China, USA, Netherland, Thailand, Croatia, Poland, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, etc., including performances at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Weil Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Prince Mahidol Hall in Bangkok, Concert hall of the Katowice Miasto Ogrodów, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, etc. Current season will take her to the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Xinghai Concert Hall, Bay Opera in Shenzhen, National Center for Performing Art in Beijing, and concerto tour “Echos of Bach” with China National Center for Performing Art Orchestra, in collaboration with pianist Sa Chen and conductor Jiajing Lai; Concerto performance of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.3 with Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in Bangkok.

As a soloist, her performance had appeared in Holland National Radio — NPO 4 Classical Chanel, and her album “Xu Guo and Yutong Sun – Hear HER Voice” released by QQ Music was awarded as “the best of Classical – Romantic Period Album” of 2022. Her performance of Mozart Piano Concerto in d minor was claimed by the Bangkok Post as “…sublime reading…with a freshness and scrupulous attention to detail…followed in the tradition of Mitsuko Uchida in sensibility and taste…Xu’s relish of Mozart’s ingenious writing shined through as her fingers rippled upward…”.

Xu is a prize winner of many international piano competitions, among her recent awards are:

  • the 1st Prize of The V Thailand International Piano Competition, with two special prizes “Best Romance Prize” and “Audience Prize” in 2018;
  • The 1st Prize of the 6th Karlovac International Piano Competition, along with the Audience Award in 2019;
  • The 1st Prize of New York International Artist Piano Competition in 2021;
  • The Absolute Award at the 3rd WPTA Finland International Piano Competition in 2021;
  • The 3rd Prize at the 2nd “Sviatoslav Richter” International Piano Competition in 2021.

Currently, Xu is a DMA (Doctor of Music Art) candidate at Eastman School of Music under the guidance of Alexander Kobrin. She earned her Bachelor and Master Degrees at New England Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Meng-Chieh Liu, HaeSun Paik, and Dang Thai Son. Previously, Xu was admitted to The Music School Attached to the Central Conservatory of Music and studied under Hua Chang.