Class Piano Teaching Assistants for 2022-2023

Anduo Chen is a DMA student in piano performance major at Eastman School of Music
where she studies with Dr. Marina Lomazov. Born in a musical family, Chen started to
learn the piano at a very young age. Chen’s former teachers include Dr. Nelita True, Dr.
Thomas Lymenstull, Dr. Xun Pan and Prof. Xian Wang. She was a student at Affiliated
Elementary, and Affiliated Middle School of Wuhan Conservatory of Music. In 2012, she
began her professional training and earned a scholarship at Interlochen Arts Academy
with Dr. Thomas Lymenstull. Chen began her professional career as a piano performance
major student at Eastman School of Music where she achieved her Bachelor of Music
degree and Master of Music degree in piano performance.

During the years in Interlochen and Eastman, Chen actively participated in various
concert performances and masterclasses. She also won the Liszt Memorial Prize Hong
Kong International Piano Open Competition, and the Singapore International Youth
Piano Competition. In July 2018, Chen successively held a piano solo concert at BaoLi
Theater, in Huizhou, Guangdong. In July 2019, she held the “Anduo Chen Piano Solo
Concert” in Huizhou City’s Cultural Exchange Center, and was well received by
audiences as well as the co-sponsor Huizhou Broadcasting and Television Bureau. During
the same month, Chen was sponsored by the Ace International Cultural Exchange Inc. to
hold a piano solo concert in Shenzhen city. In July 2021, She was invited by the
XiangYang Music and Education Association to hold a solo recital and masterclasses. In
2021, Chen received the title of 2021 GOCAA Professional Artist.

Chen has recently received the extraordinary teacher’s award in the 8th GOCAA
International Piano Competition. Her students have been accepted to several
world-known music institutions including Harbin Conservatory of Music and Interlochen
Arts Academy. Chen’s students have also received national awards including NPPA
National Winners, and GOCAA International Piano Competition first prize in the youth
division. In July 2022, Chen was invited as the guest performers and associates at
Southeastern Piano Festival. She was one of the young jury judges of the Arthur Fraser
International Piano Competition. Chen is currently the teaching assistant for class piano
at Eastman School of Music.

Ke’er (Coco) Wang was born in Mianyang, China. She began her musical study at the age of 5.  In 2005, Ke’er entered Affiliated High School of Sichuan Conservatory and had various teachers on her path of piano study including Dr. Chenggang Yang and Dr. Jingyuan Zhang from Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Prof. Jun Yang from Central Conservatory of Music. Ke’er studied with Dr. Washington Garcia at Texas State University when she first came to U.S and received her bachelor’s degree under Dr. Joseph Rackers at University of South Carolina.  She received her master’s degree in Piano Performance and Literature under Dr. Marina Lomazov at the Eastman School of Music. She is now pursuing her Doctoral degree in Piano performance and Literature under both Dr.Marina Lomazov and Dr. Joseph Rackers at the Eastman School of Music.

Ke’er had her public debut at age 16 years old at Concert Hall of Sichuan Chengdu, China. Since then, she earned various prizes at different competitions throughout the world, such as the first prize of National Dance, Vocal, and Instrumental Competition in Beijing; first prize in the 4th ZhongXin International Piano Competition in Singapore, second prize in the 2014 Rose Petroff Competition in the U.S and first prize in the 2016 Concerto & Aria Competition at USC.

Besides being awarded in competitions frequently, Ke’er was also invited by the governor of Xishuangbanna to take part in one of the largest music festivals in South China, for New Year 1376 in Dai Calendar.  During this event, a joint recital at the main college in Xishuangbanna was performed by Ke’er and Dr. Washington Garcia as guest artist of the festival.  She was also selected as soloist to perform with University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Williamsburg Symphonic Orchestra and Virtuosi Brunenses Orchestra, Italy.

While pursuing her piano study in the U.S, Ke’er received multiple scholarships both from universities and individuals. Ke’er was given annual scholarship by the Rose Petroff Foundation, Adele H. & Theodore D. Woolsey Endowment music scholarship.  Ke’er has achieved high academic achievement as well as she was honored the 2015 Presser Scholar and grant recipient by the Presser Music Foundation.

In the summer of 2016, Ke’er and Zehao Bai together created the Miaomiao Piano Festival in Wuhai, China to be the best piano festival for pre-college young pianists of the area. She is Teaching Assistant of Class Piano Program and Studio Assistant of Dr. Marina Lomazov and Dr. Joseph Rackers’ studio.

Pui Wang (Leo) Choi is currently a first year M.M. 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 (HKAPA) junior music program. 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 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. He has also attended a number of music festivals with the likes of Mozarteum, where he studied with Prof. Robert Levin and Prof. Jacques Rouvier. He has attended the Oberlin-Como masterclasses taught by Maestro Robert Spano, Prof. Thai Son Dang, and Prof. Stanislav Ioudenitch as well.

Steven Dong is a first-year graduate student for the M.M. program 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 Mr. John 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. More recently, Steven won prizes in the Kuleshov International Piano Competition, Thousand Island International Piano Competition and MTNA Texas Young Artists Competition during his undergraduate studies, which he also completed at Eastman with Professor Chow.

In his free time, Steven enjoys playing chess and basketball, watching sports, and hanging out with friends. He looks forward to being a Class Piano Teaching Assistant at Eastman and getting to meet and teach new students.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yun Chih Hsu, was praised as “One of the most potential young pianists” as well as “The mature performance and stage charm is beyond her age”. “Her control over pianissimo is astonishing. She has and absolutely precocious sense of duration and keyboard geography ” (Drimitry Bashkirov), award wining-pianist Yun Chih Hsu performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, North America and Asia, at venue such as Taiwan National Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, Barcelona Palau de la Música Catalana. Hsu was the youngest first prize winner of the 12th Taipei International Chopin Piano Competition, the semi-finalist of the 11th International Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and the Medalist of the 63rd Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Spain. After wining the 12th Taipei Chopin Piano Competition, she was invited to give concert in the great Braunschweig International Music Festival and Grotrian Steinway in Germany, and Kulturkontakt Eppan in Italy. In 2011, Yun Chih won the IMA music award in JAPAN and she was invited to perform in the IMA Rising Star Concert. In 2014, she was the first prize winner of the Norman Piano Competition and Bachauer Piano Scholarship Competition in United State, and was invited to perform in the “From the Top Radio Station” in Jordan Hall, at New England Conservatory, Massachusetts. In 2015, Yun Chih was awarded the Juilliard Commencement Award with honor and was accepted to the JuilliardSchool music division with full scholarship, in the same year, she was the winner of the Young Artist Concert Competition and was honor to be invited to perform with Forth Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas, United State. 2016, Hsu was awarded as outstanding artist and performed in the Prize winner concert of Salzburg Music Festival and Leipzig International Felix Barthody Mendelssohn Music Festival. In 2017, was honor to be the winner of the Music Star Concert in Taiwan. 2019, Hsu was honored to be the finalist of Bachauer Scholarship Competition. In 2020, Hsu was invited by to be the endorser of the Rising Music Star in Taiwan.

Born into a family of musicians, Zehao Bai began his piano study at the age of three and made his debut concert at the age of fourteen. Zehao continued studying piano under the tutelage of Dr. Marina Lomazov and Dr. Joseph Rackers and received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. He is now pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music.

Zehao was featured as the rising keyboard artist of the Rising Artist series at Lander University, the Rising Star soloist at Texas State International Piano Festival, and many more. Additionally, Zehao and his chamber music partner, Ke’er Wang performed as part of the Piano Extravaganza of the Southeastern Piano Festival and on the innovative classical music experience, Concert Truck. In 2021, Zehao was invited to be part of the young jury for the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition.

Zehao won multiple prizes from competitions such as the National Society of Arts and Letters National Competition of Piano, Thousand Island International Piano Competition; Long Island International Piano Competition; MTNA National Piano Competition. In addition to winning competition prizes, Zehao was invited to perform with symphony orchestras including the Virtuosi Brunenses Symphony Orchestra, Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, and Texas State Symphony Orchestra.

On top of performance activities, Zehao enjoys teaching and communicating to other pianists. He now serves as Teaching Assistant for class piano at the Eastman School and hold a position at the Knaack School of Musical Artistry where he has experience with students with ADHD, autism etc.

At the summer of 2016, Zehao and Ke’er Wang together created the Miaomiao Piano Festival in Wuhai, China to be the best piano festival for pre-college young pianists of the Inner Mongolia area.

As a self-proclaimed technology and car enthusiast, Zehao enjoys working on his car and electronics when he is not working at his piano.