Dmitry Rachmanov

Rachmanov has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, London’s Barbican and South Bank Centres, at venues across Europe and Asia, and has collaborated as a soloist with the Ukraine National Symphony, and National Orchestra of Porto, among others.  He has recorded for Naxos, Parma, Master Musicians and Vista Vera labels. 

An active member of the American Liszt Society, Rachmanov is the president of the society’s Southern California chapter. He was the Artistic Director of the ALS 2016 Festival “Liszt and Russia,” hosted by CSUN. His summer festivals include Piano Sicily and InterHarmony in Italy, Corfu Piano Institute in Greece, Montecito in California, Adamant in Vermont; In the summer of 2019 he was a resident at the Brahmshouse in Baden-Baden, Germany. He has served as a Co-Director of the ChamberFest @ CSUN Festival.  

A proponent of Russian repertoire, Rachmanov gave the US premiere of Boris Pasternak’s Piano Sonata, broadcast by the NPR, and he is a founding member and President of the Scriabin Society of America. His April 2014 commemorative all-Scriabin program at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall was described as “a ‘poem of ecstasy’ in every sense: giant in conception, quantity, quality, execution, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity” by the New York Concert Review. His 2022 Cambria 2-CD album release “Alexander Scriabin, the 150th Anniversary Celebration,” was praised as a “distinguished recital[…]full of riveting performances” by Fanfare magazine, adding that “Rachmanov may be considered alongside the great Scriabin interpreters.” He is in the process of recording a video anthology of Alexander Scriabin’s piano works.  

Rachmanov is a recipient of numerous awards, among them “Jerome Richfield Memorial Scholar” at CSUN and receiving an “Outstanding CAPMT Member State Recognition Award” by California Association of Professional Music Teachers. He is a Steinway Artist. 

Learn more at dmitryrachmanov.com 

Bernadene Blaha

Blaha first came to international attention as a prizewinner in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition; the Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Masterplayers International Competition, Lugano, Switzerland; and the 11th Annual International Piano Competition in New York City. This latter award resulted in two highly acclaimed recital appearances at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Lincoln Center Library. Soon afterward, she was featured in the opening orchestra concert and a solo recital at the XXIX International Chopin Festival in Marianske Lazne, Czechoslovakia, followed by performances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and Disney Hall in Los Angeles. 

Blaha is a founding member of the piano trio Latitude 41, formed in 2009 with violinist Livia Sohn and cellist Luigi Piovano. Their debut CD of Schubert’s monumental “Trio in E flat Major” and “Notturno” was released in 2011 on the Eloquentia label to rave reviews. The group followed this success with a recording of the Saint-Saëns Trios and a CD featuring the Brahms Trios. Her discography also includes recordings for the CBC, Centaur, and Analekta labels. 

Also in demand as a teacher, adjudicator and clinician, Blaha has received the National Arts Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher Recognition Award. She has been invited to serve on the jury of the Gina Bachauer International Artist Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Competition, and the 2015 International E-Competition. 

Originally from Canada and currently residing in Los Angeles, Blaha has been a member of the Keyboard Faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music since 1993 where she is a Professor of Practice. 

Anton Nel

Highlights in the U.S. include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit Symphonies, as well as recitals coast to coast. Overseas he has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and major venues in China, Korea, Canada, and South Africa. Much sought after as a chamber musician, he regularly appears with some of the world’s finest instrumentalists and singers on four continents. A gifted and dedicated teacher, Nel is the Head of the Division of Keyboard Studies and holder of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin; beginning in September 2025 he will also join the faculty of the Glenn Gould School in Toronto.

During the summers he is on the artist-faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School and regularly teaches at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival and the Orford Music Academy in Quebec. He also performs as harpsichordist and fortepianist each season. His recordings include numerous solo CDs,  chamber music recordings (including the complete Beethoven and Brahms cello/piano works with Bion Tsang), and works for piano and orchestra by Franck, Fauré, Saint-Saens, and Edward Burlingame Hill. The Johannesburg-born Nel is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, where he studied with Adolph Hallis,  and the University of Cincinnati where he worked with Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. His website is antonnel.com. 

Steven Spooner

“A pianist in the tradition that many believe died with the likes of Horowitz, Arrau, Bolet, Cziffra, and Wild. His talent, to my ears, is easily the equal of most major pianists of today and far superior to a large number of those “most exciting and dynamic pianists of their generation” (Fanfare). Spooner has been engaged at many of the world’s most prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Great Hall of the Liszt Academy (Budapest), Salle Cortot (Paris), and Shanghai Concert Hall, among many others as soloist with orchestra and recitalist.  

Spooner is a prizewinner at all seven international piano competitions he entered and top prizewinner at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and First Prize and recipient of the Niekamp Career Grant as most outstanding pianist in French music at the Paris Conservatory. In 2008, he was awarded the Ivory Classics Foundation Prize that enabled him to study Liszt with the legendary virtuoso, Earl Wild. Steven has released more than 30 recordings on Naxos, A Life of Music, and other record labels including a monumental project of 16 albums honoring his heroes called Dedications 

Spooner is Professor of Piano at the Peabody Institute, and previously at the Juilliard School (Pre-college). He has studied at the Tbilisi Conservatory, Moscow Conservatory, and Indiana University. He has served on the faculty of many of the most prestigious summer festivals and is increasingly in demand for his insightful masterclasses at leading conservatories across the globe. He is Artistic Director of the Chicago International Competition and Festival and often serves on juries of international competitions. Spooner a Steinway Artist. Further info: www.stevenspooner.com. 

Michelle Cann

Recent engagements include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her honors include the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award. In 2024, she was named the inaugural Christel De Haan Artistic Partner of the American Pianists Association, responsible for artistic oversight of the American Pianists Awards.  

Highlights of Cann’s 2024-25 season include appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. She performs solo and collaborative recitals on prominent series such as the 92ndStreet Y, New York; Duke University; the Royal Conservatory of Music; and Shriver Hall Concert Series. She also performs a recital as the headline artist at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association.  

Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. Her acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in 2023.  

Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies. She is also on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.  

Listen now to Michelle Cann’s solo album Revival, Music of Price and Bonds, at curtis.edu/revival. 

Follow Michelle Cann on Instagram: @michelleacann 

Ray Briggs, PhD

Ray Briggs holds a PhD and a MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MM in Music Performance: Woodwind Doubling from the University of Redlands, and a BM in Music Education from the University of Memphis. His areas of specialization include Jazz Studies, African-American Music, and Arab Music. He has worked with a number of reputable musicians including Jeff Clayton, Benny Green, and Rufus Reid. Currently, he is Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at CSU Long Beach and coordinator of the Instrumental and Vocal Jazz Workshop supported through CSU Summer Arts.

Andrew Frane, PhD

His published research addresses various topics, including statistical methodology and the perception of rhythms in music. He is especially interested in how music, and other emotive auditory information, is cogni8vely and emo8onally experienced. In addi8on to his scientific work, Dr. Frane has also composed and produced music for film and audiobook soundtracks.

Adán Fernández, DMA

His music has been recently premiered by the Choral Arts Initiative and published by MusicSpoke. He is also published under GIA and regularly writes on topics of Latin American music. Dr. Fernandez earned his DMA from USC in Sacred Music and is under Seven Eight Artists management.

Hye Jin Park

Hye Jin Park is currently an Artist Diploma candidate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where she studies under the guidance of Fabio Bidini. She envisions music as a powerful channel for empathy and connection, striving to communicate the composers’ intentions with sincerity.

Throughout her career, Ms. Park has achieved numerous awards. She was a prize winner at the Amigdala International Competition, the Orbetello Competition in Italy, the ICA International Competition in Vietnam, and the YMIC Competition. She has been featured at Third@First as part of the Colburn School showcase. Her orchestral collaborations include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Teleradio-Moldova (2016), the Vienna CMS Chamber Orchestra (2016), the Romania Oltenia Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Banatul Timisoara Orchestra (2014). In the United States, she has performed with the Colburn Orchestra and made her debut with the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra.

At the Colburn School, Ms. Park has participated in significant projects such as “Recovered Voices,” “Discovering Debussy,” and the opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” under the baton of Maestro James Conlon, further enriching her performance experience.

Ms. Park’s dedication to her craft and her passion for connecting with audiences through music continue to shape her as a distinguished artist in the classical music world.

Since 2023, she has been appointed to teach Piano Sight-reading Skills at the Colburn Academy.

Gina Luciani

Flutist Gina Luciani has a diverse career in music that includes recording for top film and television soundtracks and main stage live performances. Most recently, Gina performed at the Academy Awards with Beyoncé (“Be Alive” from King Richard) and Billie Eilish (Oscar Winning Best Original Song “No Time To Die”). She has also performed and recorded alongside legendary artists such as Ariana Grande, Steve Lacy, Carrie Underwood, Billy Idol, Julia Michaels, Chance The Rapper, Guns N’ Roses, DMX, Hanson, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Kid Cudi, Josh Groban, Michael Giacchino, Pentatonix, Pete Townshend (The Who), Ty Dolla $ign, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Wu-Tang Clan at Coachella. She was the featured flute soloist on “Land Down Under” with Colin Hay of Men At Work for ABC’s nationally televised Greatest Hits. Gina has been a regular member of the Game Awards Orchestra for the live show since 2018.

As a flute soloist, Gina has recorded on many projects including the Oscar-nominated score for Minari and Emmy-nominated scores for Planet Earth II and Chef’s Table. She was also the flute soloist on M3GAN, Arcane, Cobra Kai, Hellraiser, Locke & Key, Windfall, and League of Legends. Some of her other credits include Only Murders In The Building, Lady And The Tramp, The Simpsons, The Nun, Straight Outta Compton, Kimi, The Voice, and Under the Silver Lake.

In addition to her session work, Gina has performed as a soloist with the Colburn Chamber Music Society, Colburn Contemporary Players, Utah Valley Symphony, Long Beach Mozart Festival and the Salt Lake Symphony. Recently, she was a guest artist for the Grand Performances Concert Series, San Diego Guitar Festival, the National Flute Association Convention, and the “Sundays Live Series” at LACMA which was broadcast on KUSC. She performs with many ensembles throughout Southern California including the San Diego Symphony, The Echo Society, the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, The Long Beach Opera, and the American Contemporary Ballet.

Gina has released two albums. Her debut flute album (2016) features works by Rhenè Baton, Georges Bizet, Eugène Bozza, Ian Clarke, Benjamin Godard, Georges Hüe, Lowell Liebermann and Astor Piazzolla. The album includes flute classics, original arrangements, and rare flute works. Her second album, Hyperion, features works for flute and harp.

Gina received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Flute Performance from the Colburn Conservatory of Music and her Master of Music Degree from the University of Southern California, both under the instruction of Jim Walker. She travels to top schools and universities throughout the country including Berklee School of Music, FIDM, OCSA, Texas A&M, UCLA, UC Irvine, University of North Carolina School of The Arts, USC, Fortissima, as well as the NPR radio program, From The Top. Her masterclasses and recitals are highly sought after, as well as lectures on Music Technology, Branding, Social Media, Entrepreneurship, and Networking.

She is on the Alumni Advisory Council for USC’s Thornton School of Music and has served on the Board of Governors for the University while being nominated to the Executive Committee as the Co-Chair for Student Outreach. Gina is an Avid Artist and was the face of Avid’s “I Am Avid” campaign and is also a Global Ambassador and International Artist for Trevor James Flutes.