PAUL SCHENLY
USA
Chairman
Winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, pianist Paul Schenly has been a soloist with major United States orchestras, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and New York Philharmonic. Mr. Schenly appeared in the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center, and in acclaimed recitals at Carnegie Hall. He has performed with many of the world’s leading conductors including James Levine, Erich Leinsdorf, Christoph von Dohnányi, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Edo de Waart, Mstislav Rostropovich, Robert Shaw and Aaron Copland, Michael Tilson Thomas and Kiril Kondrashin.
Mr. Schenly is Professor and Artist in Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was chairman of the piano department for over 25 years. He has served on the juries of several national and international competitions and his students have won national and international prizes. Mr. Schenly also serves as the Artistic Director of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and is the Founder/Director of the summer festival “Pianofest in the Hamptons.”
KYUNG SOOK LEE
South Korea
Kyung Sook Lee has played with numerous distinguished artists including Christian Ferras, Pierre Fournier, Eudice Shapiro, Aaron Rosand, Julius Baker, Dmitri Yablonsky, Paul Tortolie and Alto Noras. She also performed with many international orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, L’orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ms. Lee also is a devoted and respected music educator. She was appointed as the first dean of the College of Music at the Korea National University of Arts when the conservatory was founded by the Korean Government in 1993. She was also dean of the College of Music, Yonsei University, as well as a director of the Seoul Arts Center.
Currently, she is a professor emeritus at the College of Music, Yonsei University, Musical Director of the chamber group “Curtis and Friends” and a member of the National Academy of Arts, the Republic of Korea.
DORIAN LELJAK
Serbia/Croatia
Dorian Leljak has won several international piano competitions, including the International Rachmaninov Competition in Belgrade and the Isidore Bajic Piano Memorial in Novi Sad, Serbia. He enjoys a successful career worldwide as a pianist and chamber musician, establishing collaborations with cellist Istvan Varga and pianist Ninoslav Zivkovic.
Dr. Leljak is Professor of Piano at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Artistic Director of the International Isidor Bajic Piano Competition, and President of the World Piano Teachers Association, among other appointments.
Dr. Leljak has given master classes and lectures around the world and is a member of the jury at many international piano competitions including the Top of the World Piano Competition Tromsø (Norway), Parnassos Competition (Monterrey, Mexico), Scriabin International Piano Competition in Grosseto (Italy), and EWON Cheonan Competition (South Korea).
ALEXANDER SCHIMPF
Germany
Alexander Schimpf was the first prize winner at the 2011 Cleveland International Piano Competition. Since then Mr. Schimpf’s career has gained momentum with regular appearances at important music centers around the world such as the Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New York, the Marinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, the Great Hall of “Alte Oper” in Frankfurt, and the Munich Philharmonic Hall.
He has performed in recital throughout Germany as well as in France (Auditorium du Louvre and Salle Cortot in Paris), Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, England, and Russia, and several times in South America. He made his debut appearance at Carnegie Hall in December 2011 and has been performing in the USA frequently since then; he was invited to play recitals in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Boston, Chicago, and Washington D.C., among others, and received engagements as soloist by numerous symphony orchestras throughout the country.
SEAN SCHULZE
USA/South Africa
Sean Schulze is on the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). He teaches applied piano to students at Case Western Reserve University, teaches piano pedagogy and piano literature to conservatory graduate and undergraduate students and serves as Chair of CIM’s nationally recognized Preparatory Piano Department.
A prize winner of several competitions, he has an active performance career, appearing as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the U.S., South Africa, Mexico, Ecuador, and Brazil.
Sean Schulze’s students continue to win prizes regularly in competitions throughout Ohio and the United States, including first prizes in the MTNA National Performance Competition. In 2008, Mr. Schulze founded and continues to direct Summer Sonata, an intensive two-week program of lessons and master classes for talented pianists aged 10-18, which takes place annually on the CIM campus.
LEI WENG
China
Lei Weng enjoys a successful career, having performed at many prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Steinway Hall in New York, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Beijing Concert Hall, Taichung National Symphony Hall and Kaohsiung Cultural Center in Taiwan, Banff Center in Canada, Campana Theater in Italy, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the TCU Cliburn Institute, and the Messiaen Festival.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Weng is the Keyboard Area Head and Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Colorado, where he teaches talented students from around the world. In 2014 he was recognized as UNC’s “College of Performing and Visual Arts Scholar of the Year.” He is frequently invited as guest professor by such prestigious conservatories in Asia as Central Conservatory of Music and China Conservatory in Beijing, and Taipei National University of Education and National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan.
Photo credits: Alexander Schimpf: © Pilvax Studio, Budapest
