Executive Director
Dr. Sha Wang is a performing concert pianist, chamber musician, as well as a sought-after piano pedagogue. Dr. Wang has performed in concert series at Carnegie Hall, Peter Norton Symphony Space, and the Kosciuszko Foundation Auditorium in NYC; Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, Richard Nixon’s Library, Steinway Society of Southwestern PA, as well as other concert venues throughout the country. She has appeared on WQED FM Pittsburgh, WFMT 98.7 Chicago and other media outlets in Asia and Europe. She was also featured in a concert for the late U.S. President Gerald Ford. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with artists such as pianist Lang Lang, and chamber musicians from major orchestras worldwide.
She was the first prize winner at the 16th International Young Artist Piano Competition, Washington, D.C. and advanced into the Jose Iturbi International Music Competition, the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and the Honens International Piano Competition. She is also the winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Audition and the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition.
Dr. Wang is a frequent adjudicator for national and international music competitions, a clinician at State and National conferences and various masterclasses. Her students have won national and international music competitions as well as performing on the most prestigious stages worldwide. Dr. Wang is the executive director of the Pittsburgh International Performance Competition and Festival. Her current concertizing schedules include Carnegie Hall in New York and Mozarthaus & Museum in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Wang is a tenured professor and music department chair at Geneva College, PA.
Sha Wang is a Yamaha Artist.
Jury for Piano Solo
Dr. Cong Ji
Pianist Dr. Cong Ji is passionate about engaging her audiences with innovative programming and performances as a recital soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist. She performs regularly in major cities of Asia and the United States. Venues include Weill Hall at Carnegie, New York Steinway Hall, Elebash Recital Hall, Taipei National Recital Hall, and Music Halls of Universities and Conservatories in China. Among other prizes, she won the first prizes in the Pittsburgh International Piano Young Artist Competition and the MTNA Young Artist Competition (Colorado). Pre-pandemic, she was invited to perform concerts and conducted masterclasses at the Hong Kong Baptist University, Yanshan University College of Arts, Henan University College of Music, and music schools and concert venues in Beijing and Xi'an.
Mr. Edward Kuhn is Associate Professor of Music at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, where he teaches Applied Piano, Keyboard Strategies, and Piano Pedagogy. Mr. Kuhn is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, NCTM, from the Music Teachers National Association and is the MTNA Foundation chair for Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association. Mr. Kuhn is the sponsor /advisor for the Seton Hill University PMTA Student Chapter which is very active and visible in the Music Program and at the PMTA state conferences. In addition to his university course load, Edward Kuhn also teaches piano students in the Community Arts Program of Seton Hill University and is a frequent soloist and collaborative pianist for recitals and festivals. Mr. Kuhn earned a BA from Carlow College and a MFA from Carnegie-Mellon University with a Certificate in Piano Pedagogy. Mr. Kuhn studied piano with Mildred Alvine Gardner and Nelson B. Whitaker, and piano pedagogy with Hannah Wu Li. In June 2014, Mr. Kuhn was presented The Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association’s Teacher of the Year Award.
Jury for Piano Duet
Instrumental/Chamber
Mr. Robert Kabara At the very beginning of his artistic path Robert Kabara met two of the greatest Polish violin players: professor Eugenia Umińska and her successor professor Kaja Danczowska. A virtuoso artist, he holds a number of awards from prestigious international violin competitions: the Henryk Wieniawski In Poznań (1986), the Zino Francescatti In Marseilles and the Australia Bicentennial In Adelaide.
His repertoire embraces the entire range of classics and avant-garde. He has performed W. A. Mozart’s conducted by Maxim Vengerov, Krzysztof Penderecki’s 1st and 2ndViolin Concertos under the baton of the composer himself. He is equally as happy to turn toward American music, performing Leonard Bernstein’s and George Gershwin’s works.
Robert Kabara extended his instrumental range to include the viola, debuting as a soloist with Schubert’s Arpeggione and, on the main concert platform, in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra with Maxim Vengerov, taking the violin part. Lastly he has been performing Krzysztof Pederecki’s Viola Concerto, conducted by the Maestro himself, at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper and at the Moscow Conservatoire.
Over and above all this, his artistic biography includes some more dimensions of musical experience. He was a leader of Krystian Zimerman’s Polish Festival Orchestra. Lastly, Robert Kabara has been starting his own conducting activities with prominent Maestro Jerzy Maksymiuk as a mentor. With the beginning of this year he has debuted as a conductor with two performances: Sergei Prokofiev’s 1st Symphony „Classical” and 1st Violin Concerto (Alena Baeva starring), and Bela Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.
Robert Kabara stands at the very origin of the Sinfonietta Cracovia. In the earliest days, as leader and mentor of the orchestra, he shaped a first-class orchestra from a student ensemble and he has remained its artistic director to this day. As initiator and animator of musical events, he is the man behind the project: La Musica da Camera (rare instruments and rare pieces of chamber music), Grand Virtuoso (famous soloists as stars) and Pure Form (acoustic and audiophile symphonic series).
Robert Kabara is also the author of a vast discography comprising studio, TV and radio recordings. His recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for Dux was distinguished by the Fryderyk '98 award and his Penderecki album, featuring his performance of the composer’s 1st Violin Concerto, received the Diapason d’Or award.
In addition to leading a rich musical life, Robert Kabara makes time available to teach at the Music Academy of Cracow, where he completed his professorial dissertation last year.
Ms. Amy I-Yun Tu enjoys an active schedule as a soloist, chamber musician, and clinician while on faculty at Rutgers Community Arts since 2014. Her principal teachers include Dr. Bradley Garner, Bart Feller, and Lois Herbine. In solo and ensemble settings, Ms. Tu has performed at concert venues in the United States, Italy, Austria, Great Britain, Japan, and Taiwan and has recorded for Mark Records. In recent years, she collaborated with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, World Civic Orchestra, Eastern Wind Symphony, NOVUS NY, and Hub City Opera and Dance Company. She has been invited to present and perform at the Midwest Clinic (2015), International Trumpet Guild (ITC) conference (2017), National Flute Association Conventions in Orlando (2018), and Salt Lake City (2019).
As a sought-after pedagogue, Ms. Tu maintains a growing studio and mentors many prize-winning talents. She is an avid educator who strives to bring out the passion and potential of each student. Ms. Tu fosters a strong sense of community within her studio by administering monthly studio classes and creating engaging projects that enable students to build leadership skills and enhance their musical growth. Under Ms. Tu’s tutelage, students have successfully auditioned for major conservatories and regularly received top rankings in regional, state, and national honors ensembles. Her students have been featured as soloists with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, Bravura Youth Orchestra, Sinfonietta Nova, and NJSO Youth Orchestras. She currently serves as competition coordinator for the NFA High School Soloist Competition and adjudicates for the New York Flute Club and the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia. Amy Tu is a Verne Q. Powell Flutes Artist.