XIAO CHEN

Artistic Director and Founder

Chinese-born pianist Xiao Chen is actively engaged as both a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., China, and Europe, having performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Fischer Center for Performing Arts, and Shanghai Concert Hall. Her performances have been well received by many; New York Concert Review praised her that “she has a strong interest in communicating, and that urge is apparent in performances of expressiveness and purposefulness”, while Shanghai Youth Daily said “her energetic and breathtaking performance impressed the audience”.

Dr. Chen is currently on faculty at Mount Saint Mary’s University, having served as lecturer in Piano Performance at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2019. A dedicated pedagogue, Dr. Chen founded and directed the Los Angeles Young Virtuoso International Music Festival, with the objective of providing performance and educative opportunities for students from all over the world. Moreover, she is the music director of Irvine Conservatory of Music, a “Steinway Select School”, as well as the founder and artistic director of Irvine Conservatory International Music Competition.

Dr. Chen is the recipient of several prizes; awards include The American Prize, Frances Walton Competition, Carmel Music Society Piano Competition, The Muse International Competition, and Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition in China. As the winner of the Frances Walton Competition in 2017, she played a concert tour across Washington State, during which she gave recitals and was aired live on Classical KING FM 98.1. Furthermore, Dr. Chen has served as a jury member in many piano competitions, including the New West Symphony Piano Competition in Los Angeles, “Pearl River Keyserburg” International Piano Competition, MAP International Music Competition, and Hainan Airline Piano Competition. As a recording artist, Dr. Chen has recorded for Yamaha’s Disklavier Educational Network and the Scott Joplin Piano Works Archive.

Dr. Chen has been invited to perform in a number of music festivals, including the Morningside Bridge Summer Festival, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Pianofest Summer Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and Italy Perugia Music Fest. Over the years, she has worked with esteemed pianists and artists such as Gary Graffman, Seymour Lipkin, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Richard Goode, Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, Wu Han, Gloria Cheng, Ann Schein, Paul Schenly, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Joseph Lin, Neal Stulberg, Antonio Lysy, Movses Pogossian, and the Shanghai Quartet.

Additionally, Dr. Chen has participated as an educator on occasions. She has collaborated with Bard Conservatory US-China Music Institute and created a new piano course for young students in China. Dr. Chen has also been invited to present lectures and concerts as a recurring guest professor at UCLA and the Santa Monica College. Her role as an educator also extends to online course. She has published many online courses for piano performance practice which are distributed on major Chinese educational platforms. Dr. Chen’s students have been the prize winners in international competitions and performed in prestigious concert halls in the United States and Europe.

Dr. Chen attended Bard College as a double major, receiving her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance under Melvin Chen from the Bard College Conservatory of Music, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Language and Literature from Bard College. She furthered her studies at The Juilliard School in New York under Jerome Lowenthal, obtaining her Master of Music degree. Most recently, Dr. Chen received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from UCLA under the tutelage of Inna Faliks.

Dr. Chen released her new solo piano album “Kaleidoscope” with Sheva Collection in 2020, which is distributed on major platforms including Naxos, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify.

PEIJUN XU

Administration Director

June (Peijun) Xu, viola, was born in Shanghai, China, and started her musical education at the age of four studying violin with Yao Shimei (Shanghai Symphony Orchestra). After graduating from Shanghai Normal University and working for five years in the tourism industry, Peijun decided to study music full-time in the United States, earning a Master’s Degree in Music Education at Azusa Pacific University, California, under the guidance of Dr. John Burdett and Dr. Alex Russell. Peijun earned the first Artist Certificate in double instruments in APU’s history and received an Artist Certificate in Viola Performance in 2022.

Currently, Peijun is a DMA student and graduate assistant at the University of Florida, Gainesville, serving as Principal Viola of the UF Symphony Orchestra under the tutelage of Dr. Lauren Hodges, and won the Graduate Division of the University Concerto Competition in her first-semester study at UF.

In Summer 2020, Peijun was awarded the apprenticeship position in viola for the MasterWorks Festival 2020 Program, where she studied with Lisa Boyko of the Cleveland Orchestra. She was also selected to perform the Dvorak Piano Quintet in a masterclass for Ken-David Masur (Music Director, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra). Peijun returned to the MasterWorks Festival in 2021 and 2022, serving as principal viola under the baton of Delta David Gier, Ken-David Masur, and Miriam Burns. In 2022 Peijun was awarded the Tavani Family Orchestra String Fellowship, a merit-based fellowship awarded annually to one exceptional festival string musician.

In Spring 2021, Peijun won First Prize for the Viola Section (age 25 and up) at the Charleston International Music Competition and was also the sole first-prize winner for the Viola Section (age 23 and up) at the King’s Peak International Music Competition.

Peijun is a co-founder and executive director of MAP-ICEC, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization named MARKER AND PIONEER International Culture Exchange Center. In this role, she organized the Los Angeles Young Virtuosos International Music Festival in 2018, the California International Music Festival & Music Education Conference, and Azusa Pacific University Faculty Trio China Tour in 2019. She also hosted the MAP International Music Competition in 2021 and 2022, which received over 1500 applications; 936 selected finalists represented over 70 countries, and the competition has rapidly become a leading global online music competition.

Since 2022, Peijun has served as a member-at-Large of the Board of Directors at the Claremont Symphony Orchestra, California, and a national committee member for both the American String Teachers Association Certificate Advancement Program and the ASTA Studio Teacher Committee. In November 2022, Peijun also won the Impact Award for her documentary film June’s Destined Path at the 3rd Los Angeles Asian Film Awards in Hollywood.

INNA FALIKS

INNA FALIKS is Head of Piano and Professor of Piano at UCLA. “Adventurous and passionate” ( The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks  has established herself as one of the most exciting, committed, communicative and poetic artists of her generation. Renowned for her versatility, Faliks is equally at home in the great concerti, standard solo repertoire, chamber music,  interdisciplinary projects and work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages, with numerous orchestras, in solo appearances, and with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Keith Lockhart. Critics praise her “signature blend of lithe grace and raw power“ (Lucid Culture), “courage to take risks, expressive intensity and technical perfection” (General Anzeiger, Bonn), “poetry and panoramic vision” (Washington Post), and “riveting passion, playfulness” (Baltimore Sun). Her lauded discography includes a recent all- Beethoven release, “Sound of Verse –  music of Boris Pasternak, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff” – both on MSR Classics,  and a Disklavier recital recording for Yamaha. Upcoming recordings include  “Polonaise-Fantasie, story of a pianist” theater-piano piece,  and her Music/Words new commissions CD.

Faliks’s distinguished career has taken her to numerous recitals and concerti in prestigious venues in the US, Europe and Asia. Winner of many competitions, including the ProMusicis International Award, she has been featured on radio and international television broadcasts, and has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paris’ Salle Cortot, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, LA’s Zipper Hall,  in Festival Internacional de Mexico, Portland Piano International,  Music in the Mountains, Verbier Festival,  Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, Fazioli Series in Italy, Tel Aviv Museum in Israel. She is consistently engaged as concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the US. Recent  highlights include a tour of China in all of its major halls, including Beijing CPA, Shanghai Oriental Arts Theater and Tianjin Grand Theater, many concerti including Rachmaninoff 2 with Greensboro Symphony Festival, Prokofiev 1 and 3 at Peninsula Festival, Clara Schumann Concerto at Wintergren Festival,  and numerous return engagements – at Minnesota Sinfonia, Newport Festival, Bargemusic, Broad Stage Santa Monica, and more.

 Faliks  is the founder and curator of Music/Words , a series that pairs together live performances with readings by established contemporary poets. The series has been heard and seen nation-wide for 8 seasons, live and on radio.

CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL

CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL conducts two orchestras in Southern California: the Azusa Pacific University (APU) Symphony and the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) Symphony Orchestra.  He is Associate Professor at APU’s College of Music and the Arts, head of the orchestral conducting area and Chair of the Music Performance Department.  The Los Angeles Times called him “a forcefully dramatic conductor with a strong technique”.   He received his bachelors degree from California State University and his masters degree in conducting from Indiana University.

Recent guest conducting appearances include the MasterWorks Festival in Ohio and Indiana, the Orquestra Sinfônica Heliópolis in São Paulo, Brazil, the International Orchestra Festival and the Yellow River Symphony in Zhengzhou, China,.  He has also conducted orchestras at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, London’s Central Hall and the Glass Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein.  In 2017 and 2018, he was a judge in the final round of the Hong Kong International Music Festival.  Also in 2018, he presented lectures at the openings of two new theaters in China: the Florence Culture and Arts Exchange Center in Dalian and the Sound of the Phoenix Theater in Qingdao.

Russell has conducted numerous premieres, including the first U.S. performances of works by Tansy Davies, Brett Dean, Jonathan Harvey, Anders Hillborg, Tristan Keuris, Magnus Lindberg, Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho and Éric Tanguy.  Premiere highlights include conducting the U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Stockholm Diary for string orchestra with the APU Symphony Orchestra and the world and European premieres of the orchestral version of Michael Daugherty’s Lost Vegas. 

Russell’s musical interest also extends to performing rarely-heard older music including the U.S. or California premieres of many works from the early and mid-20th century.  An advocate for conducting American music abroad, he conducted the Australian and Brazilian premieres of Ives’ 2nd Symphony.   Russell conducted the world premiere of the Symphony in A composed in 1878 by Leopold Damrosch with the APU Symphony.  They recorded an all-Damrosch disc which was internationally released on the British record label Toccata Classics.

The “American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers” has awarded him their prestigious Award for Programming of Contemporary Music for youth orchestras on ten occasions.  Seven of those times, he was awarded first place in the United States.

Russell is a regular pre-concert lecturer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  For them, he has interviewed some of the most important classical musicians of our time including conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Jaap van Zweden, pianist Emanuel Ax, violinists Leila Josefowicz and Vadim Repin, and cellists Alisa Weilerstein and Li-Wei Qin.

JAMES LENT

Pianist Dr. JAMES LENT is Lecturer and Coordinator of Instrumental Collaborative Piano at UCLA in addition to serving as a coach and accompanist for vocal studies. James completed his DMA at the Yale School of Music under teachers Boris Berman, Claude Frank, and Peter Frankl. He made his Alabama Symphony debut to critical acclaim performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 on 24 hours’ notice to replace Andre Watts.

He has performed with the Vancouver Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Shanghai Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Utah Symphony and the Florida West Coast Symphony, among others, and as solo recitalist at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, for the National Chopin Foundation in Miami, at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he premiered a new work written for him by American composer Frederic Rzewski.

Mr. Lent has performed with the renowned Paris-based Ensemble Intercontemporain under the direction of Pierre Boulez in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, and his performances have been heard on National Public Radio.

His numerous awards include prizes in the New York Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the National Chopin Competition, the Washington International Piano Competition at the Kennedy Center, the Olga Koussevitsky Piano Competition in New York, and the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg National Young Artist Competition.He was a fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal.

James also teaches at AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) as collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and musical director. He has also served on the summer faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. 

JOEL CLIFFT

JOEL CLIFFT earned his doctoral degree from the University of Southern California while studying with Dr. Alan Smith and Bernadene Blaha. Dr. Clifft’s primary area of study was keyboard collaborative arts, with minor fields in solo piano, music theory, and composition. He graduated Pi Kappa Lambda and was chosen as the “Most Outstanding Graduate” at both the Master’s and Doctoral levels. Dr. Clifft attended USC on a full scholarship and in addition, was a recipient of the Gwendolyn Koldofsky scholarship. 

As an active collaborative pianist, Dr. Joel Clifft has performed in concert with many world-class musicians, including violinist Midori, erhu player, Ma Xiao Hui and clarinetist, Ken Grant. He has extensive international performance experience, appearing in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Brazil, Korea, China and Singapore. He also performed a solo and collaborative program at the United Nations in New York. 

Dr. Clifft is Director of Keyboard Studies at Azusa Pacific University, where he teaches piano, music theory, accompanying and ear training courses. He is also an adjunct faculty member at USC where he teaches collaborative piano. In addition, he has served as a judge for many competitions, including MTAC and MTNA, local, regional and state competitions.  

As a software developer, Dr. Clifft created Music Theory Pro, an iPhone app for music education. The app teaches Music Theory and Ear Training using cutting-edge technology. To date, the app has received more than 120,000 downloads. In 2013 Music Theory Pro was expanded to mac computers and iPads and a second app, Jazz Chords Pro, was released during the same year. A third app, Music Theory Professor, is expected to release later this year. 

Dr. Clifft has also developed a passion for studio singing. In recent months he has provided vocals for Universal Pictures, The Paramount Group, and Dreamworks.

MARGARITA ROVENSKAYA

Pianist and avid chamber musician MARGARITA ROVENSKAYA has performed extensively in the US and abroad, with solo and chamber recitals in venues such as Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall. Winner of the Mary Smart International Concerto Competition, Westminster Piano Concerto Competition, Connecticut Young Artist Competition, and American Fine Arts Festival, Ms. Rovenskaya is based in New York City. She is Co-Adjunct faculty at Rutgers University, served as Adjunct Piano Instructor at New York University, and is currently piano faculty at several studios and schools in NYC. 

Born in Ukraine, Margarita Rovenskaya began studying the piano at the age of six in Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Oberlin Conservatory in May 2012, her Masters in Piano Studies at New York University in May 2014, and is currently earning her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Rutgers University. Her teachers include Efrem Briskin, Peter Takacs, Eteri Andjaparidze, and Vladimir Valjarevic.

Ms. Rovenskaya especially enjoys chamber music, and has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists, including recitals with concertmaster of Russian orchestra Moscow Virtuosi, Alexey Lundin. In summer of 2013, she also performed in Vermont as part of the six-week Manchester Music Festival chamber series. In the summer of 2015, Margarita was Visiting Artist and Piano Fellow at the Heifetz Institute, where she coached and performed the chamber music of quintets and trios, as well as with her duo partner, cellist Kevin Mills. Ms. Rovenskaya has performed several trios in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie hall as a winner of the Chamber Music Prize at the American Festival of Fine Arts. Her performances also include premieres of new music, such as the US premier of Frank Ticheli’s Clarinet Concerto, where she was the orchestral pianist, and Christopher Dietz’s premiere of Sonoromoro for chamber orchestra, piano and percussion. Ms. Rovenskaya’s piano quartet, Desdemona Quartet, is currently collaborating with composers Peter Kramer, Cassandra Venaglia, and Kat Vokes for commissioned piano quartets. 

Ms. Rovenskaya’s solo performances include international venues at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival in Germany, the International Academy of Music at Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in Italy, as well as festivals such as the Summit Music Festival, PianoSummer at New Paltz, Beethoven Institute at Mannes, and Round Top Festival Institute. In the summer of 2014, she ran the international Summit Music Festival as General Manager, where she also performed both solo and chamber music.

YINFEI WANG

Pianist YINFEI WANG made his first public appearance at the age of seven in the Shanghai Concert Hall. Since then, he has performed throughout China, Singapore, Spain, Australia and the United States. He has been a prizewinner of many national and international piano competitions, including Washington International Piano Competition, Gershwin International Piano Competition, Five Towns Piano Comeptition in New York, Jacob Flier Piano Competition, Shande Ding Piano Competition in Shanghai, Chopin Piano Competition in Connecticut and many others. As a soloist, Mr. Wang has performed with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, the MSM Symphony Orchestra, with conductors Vladimir Feltsman, Phillipe Entremont, among others.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Wang has performed in many music festivals and concert series, including The Perlman Music Program, PianoSummer at New Paltz, Summer Concerts at NEC in Boston, Walnut Hill Music Festival, the Concerts on the Slope series in New York, and many others. He has collaborated withmusicians such as Thomas Hill, Nai-Yuan Hu, Nicholas Kitchen, Kenneth Radnofsky and Cong Wu. His recordings could be foundin the Shanghai Conservatory of Music: Seventieth Anniversary Gala Album.

Mr. Wang received his Bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, his Master’s degree and Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music. He is currently in the Doctoral Program at Manhattan School of Music. His Principle teachers include Phillip Kawin, Yanxin Chen, Christopher Zhong and Chongfang Zhang.

TONG WANG

TONG WANG currently serves as a piano lecturer in Wuhan Conservatory of Music in China. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Manhattan School of Music and Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. She is the prize winner of numerous international piano competitions, including the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Helen Cohn award for outstanding chamber musician, and the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition. She is also a full scholarship and grant recipient at Fontainebleau Music Festival and International Keyboard festival. Ms. Wang made her orchestral debut with Sussex Concert Orchestra in 2010. She has played recitals in the USA, UK, Spain, France and major cities in China. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Manhattan School of Music and Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Her teachers include Solomon Mikowsky, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Matti Raekallio and James Giles. 

MARKO STUPAREVIC

Pianist Dr. MARKO STUPAREVIC has appeared in over 500 concerts and festivals over the USA, Israel, France, Serbia, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Slovakia as a solo performer and chamber musician.

Winning prizes in Dimitar Nenov, Petar Konjovic, American Protege, Nikolai Rubinstein and other international piano competitions resulted in many notable solo recitals in the USA and Europe, including Carnegie Weill Hall and many other important venues.

Dr. Stuparevic has performed as soloist with Connecticut Valley Symphony Orchestra, Razgrad Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of the Army House of Serbia, National Symphony of Bulgaria and Foot in the Door Ensemble.

As a member of Prometheus Duo with saxophonist Joseph Abad, Dr. Stuparevic performed more than 50 concerts since its founding in 2016, performing in the USA, Iceland and Serbia, premiering new music and traditional chamber repertoire. The Duo was granted artist-in residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in 2016 and 2017, and was featured on the Parma Records CD “Spectra Vol.2” and NPR station.

Vast chamber music and collaborative experience includes performances as a part of 20/20 Honors Chamber Music Program, Vagus Trio, 016 ensemble, Elements Ensemble, and collaborations with the world renewed musicians such as double-bassist Robert Black (Bang on the Can All-Stars), soprano Maureen O’Flynn (Metropolitan Opera primadona), Martha Graham principal dancer Miki Orihara, and many other established artists.

Dr. Stuparevic is Head of the Piano Department at Silver Music in New York City, piano faculty at JCC Thurnauer School of Music, piano and chamber music faculty at Luzerne Music Center and Art Ahimsa Music Festival.

Dr. Stuparevic earned his doctoral degree (DMA) at the Hartt School of Music studying with the celebrated american pianist Dr. Paul Rutman. Former principal teachers include Anne Koscielny, Phillip Kawin and Jokut Mihailovic. Over the years, in the masterclasses Dr. Stuparevic has worked with such renowned pianists as Garrick Ohlsson, Roswitha Gediga, Arbo Valdma, Viktor Derevianko, Tijana Humo Rajevac, Lions Gate Trio, Patrick Zygmanowski, Matei Varga, Aleksandar Sandorov and many others.

KEVIN GAN

Chinese Canadian pianist Kevin NAN GAN is active as a solo pianist, teacher, and music scholar. He received his master degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied under the tutelage of Julian Martin. He taught at music department at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies for three years. He is currently enrolled in the DMA program at Arizona State University, where he is also working as a teaching assistant. He received many prizes in competitions, including Kiwanis Piano Competition, the Ontario Music Festival Piano Competition, Knigge Competition and McGill University Concerto Competition. He was invited to perform in orchestral, solo and chamber concerts in Canada, The United States, France, Spain, Austria and China. As a scholarship recipient, he attended numerous music festivals including Centre d’Arts Orford , Mozarteum Summer Music Academy, International Gijon Piano Festival, Music Alp and Valencia International Festival. His solo album Loeschorn’s Etudes Op.67 is just released in 2018.

Kevin has great interest in period keyboard instrument. Since 2010, he took fortepiano lessons and from renowned fortepianist Tom Beghin and Audrey Axinn. Since 2017, he has been studying harpsichord with Kimberly Marshall.

He is also active as a music scholar. He has been invited to give lectures across China. His essay on Chinese instrument will be published in the journal Chinese Literature and Culture. In addition, he has signed the contract to translate A Handbook to Chopin’s Works by George Jonson from English to Chinese.

He served as jury member in the 2015 Hong Kong International Piano Invitation Competition.

YIN XIONG

Cellist YIN XIONG was appointed by Music Director David Robertson to the cello section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2016/2017 season. Yin was awarded notable prestigious prizes from an early age, including the 4th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians as well as top prizes at the 4th and 5th National Cello Competition of China. She won the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts concerto competition for an unprecedented consecutive five years. As a soloist, Yin made her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at age 17 under conductor Edo de Waart. She has also collaborated with conductors János Fürst, François-Xavier Roth, and Alexander Shelley.

An avid chamber and orchestral musician, Yin was strongly influenced by her parents, themselves both professional cellists. As a member of the Academy String Quartet, she served as a representative of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and gave concerts regularly in Asia and Europe.  As part of the Hong Kong based cello ensemble, Cellistra, Yin presented concerts and community engagement activities throughout Asia.  She was the founding cellist of the Hsin Trio, with whom she gave the American debut of the Toshio Hosokawa’s Piano Trio, was featured in the Juilliard Open Studio, and gave concerts across the United States and China.

As an orchestral musician, Yin received her first job at the age of 20, joining the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, at the same time performing regularly with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Yin has also served as the principal cellist of the Hong Kong Academy Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, and was co-principal of the Juilliard Orchestra. She was the principal cellist of the Pacific Music Festival from 2006-2009 where she had the privilege to work with conductors Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Christoph Eschenbach and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Yin was a fellowship student at the Aspen Music Festival and School where she was part of the Finckel–Wu Han Chamber Music Studio Program. Other festivals include the Kronberg Academy in Germany, Kneisel Hall, Banff Chamber Music Residency, and the Taos School of Music.

As a dedicated music educator and advocator, Yin served as a faculty member of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Macau Youth Orchestra. She was also a teaching assistant for Professor Darrett Adkins at the Oberlin Conservatory.

Born in Shanghai, China, Yin attended the Shanghai Conservatory, and attended the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on a full scholarship to study with Professor Ray Wang. She holds a Professional Diploma With Distinction from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and an Artist Diploma from the Oberlin Conservatory. She recently graduated from the accelerated Bachelor and Master of Music degree program at the Juilliard School where she studied with Darrett Adkins and Joel Krosnick. Besides playing the cello, Yin also enjoys playing the baroque cello and viola da gamba. She took secondary lessons with Catharina Meints at the Oberlin Conservatory and Phoebe Carrai at the Juilliard School. 

XENIA DEVIATKINA-LOH

Superb playing and a moving interpretation”  Limelight magazine. 

Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh has performed as soloist and recitalist in various venues across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, and China. The venues she performed at include the Horncastle Arena, Sydney Opera House, Shanghai Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, Boston Court Performing Arts Centre, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Dr. Deviatkina-Loh also frequently performs with major ensembles and concert series around LA, including the Dilijan Chamber Music Series, MEC (Monday Evening Concerts), Cracow Duo, and Synchromy. She was part of “Inside the Gearbox: John Adams @ 70”, and recently, she presented Kaija Saariaho’s Frises in a conference at UCSB hosted by AWMAT (Alliance of Women in Media Arts and Technology). As of 2021, she is a member of ECHOI — MEC’s ensemble-in-residence.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh was the 2009 winner of the Gisborne International Music Competition. She has been frequently aired live on 3MBS FM, ABC radio, Radio New Zealand, Shanghai People’s Radio Station Classical 94.7, KUSC, and Classical KING FM. Furthermore, she has been a fellow at the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Atlantic Music Festival, SICPP (Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice), and NMFS (New Music for Strings). In addition, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh has partaken in  tours spanning both regional NSW in Australia and regional Washington State in the US.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh completed her Bachelor of Music Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Professor Alice Waten. She furthered her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Professor György Pauk, achieving her Master of Arts degree. In 2020, she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles under the guidance of Professors Movses Pogossian, Guillaume Sutre, and Varty Manouelian. Between 2016 and 2019, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh was a Teaching Fellow for the String Department within the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Dr. Deviatkina-Loh was supported by the Tait Memorial Trust – The Thornton Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, Woolf Mernick, and Margot MacGibbon during her studies in London. During her studies in Los Angeles, she was supported by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fund, Friends of Strings Award, Greenschlpoon, and the Edna and Yu Shan Han Foundation.

In 2019, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh released her debut album under SHEVA Contemporary. It includes works by Édith de Chizy, David Paterson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Sculthorpe, Rodion Shchedrin, and Eugène Ysaÿe. She is also featured on Yalil Guerra’s 2020 album Renacimiento, performing “La Magia de Tus Ojos”.