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2010 Sejong Music Competition

Judges

Piano:  Kuang-Hao Huang | Ludmila Lazar | Daniel Schlosberg
Violin:  Karina Canellakis | Blaise Magniere | Janet Sung

 

Kuang-Hao Huang
piano

Kuang-Hao HuangPianist Kuang-Hao Huang has performed throughout the United States as well as in Europe and Asia. Mr. Huang is most often heard as a collaborator, regularly playing concerts and radio broadcasts with Chicago’s finest musicians, from instrumentalists of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to vocalists with the Lyric Opera. He has also performed with the Vermeer and Chicago String Quartets.

An advocate of new music, Mr. Huang gave the world premiere performances of solo works by Louis Andriessen and Chen Yi at Weill Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s Millennium Piano Book Project. He has also premiered numerous ensemble works, including pieces by Stacy Garrop, John Harbison, Daniel Kellogg, James Matheson, and Laura Schwendinger. Mr. Huang is a member of Fulcrum Point New Music Project. He has also been involved with the Chicago Chamber Musicians Composer Perspectives series since its inception in 2001 and has worked with many of the world’s foremost composers, including Pierre Boulez and John Corigliano.

Mr. Huang serves on the faculties of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, Concordia University-Chicago, and the Merit School of Music. As a member of the International Music Foundation’s Bootinsky Piano Trio, he presents educational outreach programs throughout the Chicago Public Schools. During the summer, he coordinates the piano program at Northwestern University’s National High School Music Institute.

Mr. Huang holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, and Northwestern University. His principal teachers include Leonard Hokanson, Howard Karp, Rita Sloan, and Sylvia Wang. Mr. Huang was a recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s Jacob K. Javits Fellowship.

A native of Whitewater, Wisconsin, Mr. Huang currently resides in Oak Park, Illinois. For more information, go to www.khpiano.net.

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Ludmila Lazar
piano

Ludmila LazarPianist and master teacher Ludmila Lazar is acknowledged internationally for her stylistic versatility and intense musicality. Acclaimed in Europe and the United States for her commitment to a diverse and challenging repertoire, Dr. Lazar's recitals and workshops reflect her involvement with multi-cultural music and authentic performance practice. Chicago critics describe Dr. Lazar's playing as "inspirational and informative."

Her students have been winners in local, regional, national, and international competitions. In recognition of her teaching, she received the Master Teacher Certificate from the Music Teachers National Association, and was awarded the title of Master Teacher by the American Musical Scholarship Association. She was also elected by the Roosevelt University community as "Outstanding Teacher of the Year."

A graduate of the Ljubljana Central Music School in Slovenia, she later advanced her studies with Rudolph Ganz at Chicago Musical College where she received a Master's degree, and at Northwestern University where she earned a D.M.

Dr. Lazar's notable achievements have secured her a place of recognition with the American Keyboard Artists and the Who's Who in the American Music World.

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Daniel Schlosberg
piano

Daniel SchlosbergDaniel Schlosberg has been described as an "expert pianist" (Boston Globe), and his performances have been praised for their "intellect and passion" (Washington Post). As a collaborative pianist, Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun wrote: "Daniel Schlosberg was a model accompanist, bringing out the remarkable richness of the piano writing." 

In recent seasons, he has given solo and chamber music recitals at a number of important venues and series, including Bargemusic (Brooklyn), Austrian Cultural Forum (New York City), Sundays Live (Los Angeles), Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago), Phillips Collection, and at the embassies of Romania, Israel, Austria and Germany in Washington, D.C. He appears frequently on radio stations nationwide. 

He is an avid proponent of new music has collaborated with Third Coast Percussion, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and pianist Amy Briggs. In 2009, he gave the US premiere of renowned composer Kaija Saariaho's "Calices" with violinist Austin Wulliman.

Another particular interest is song accompaniment, and he has a long standing duo with the baritone Ryan de Ryke. In 2007, Mr. Schlosberg curated and performed in a series of six concerts nationwide exploring the early chamber music and lieder of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and in 2010 he directed the "Baltimore Lieder Weekend" which explored in depth the songs of Hugo Wolf.

He has served as a staff accompanist for two prominent music festivals: the Perlman Music Program (Shelter Island, NY and Sarasota, Fl.), and for the vocal program of the Steans Institute at Ravinia. In the summer of 2000, Mr. Schlosberg held the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship in Piano at Tanglewood. The same summer, he took part in a special collaboration with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Jacob's Pillow Festival in performances of solo Debussy. Other appearances of note include at Weill and Zankel Halls, and with the Notre Dame Chamber Players.

Mr. Schlosberg grew up in Los Angeles, and studied at the Peabody Conservatory with Ann Schein and at Stony Brook University with Gilbert Kalish. He also took supplementary courses in song accompaniment as a full-scholarship student at the Britten Pears Institute (Aldebugh) and the Franz Schubert Institut (Baden). He also holds a B.A. in History from Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated with highest honors.

He is currently Artist-in-Residence in the Music Department at the University of Notre Dame.

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Karina Canellakis
violin

Karina CanellakisKarina Canellakis has been hailed for the passion and depth of emotion she brings to her performances, whether as soloist, chamber musician, or conductor. She has been praised for her "big, lustrous tone…power and expressiveness" (Philadelphia Inquirer), "grace and intensity…stunning lyricism and ability to focus music" (Hartford Courant), as "exceptionally imaginative" (Beverly Hills Outlook, Los Angeles), and for her "thrilling music-making" (New York Sun).

In the 2010 season, Ms. Canellakis' performances included a National US Tour with Musicians from Marlboro, her return as soloist with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Michoacan, and her return as soloist in a series of four concerts with the Hartford Symphony, for which she received praise from critics. This coming season she will make her debut as soloist with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and return as soloist and conductor in Mexico.

In 2005-2006, Ms. Canellakis played regularly in the Berlin Philharmonic for two years as a member of the Karajan Academy, and performed on tour with the orchestra in Europe, Asia, and the United States, under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle. She has performed in the Marlboro Festival, BargeMusic, Music From Angel Fire, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Taos, Aspen, Verbier, St.Barths, Zermatt, Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and Isaac Stern's International Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters in Israel. She has performed in prestigious venues such as the Philharmonie in Berlin, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kennedy Center.

Ms. Canellakis began playing as soloist with orchestra at the age of 12 and has since appeared with orchestras including the Hartford Symphony, Cincinatti Chamber Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Michoacan, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, Westmoreland Symphony, and the Curtis Chamber Orchestra on tour in Japan. She has performed as recitalist in Europe and the U.S. Her performances have been aired on CBC Radio-Canada, NPR, and New York’s WQXR. She was Concertmaster of the 2004 New York String Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, and has won top prizes in numerous competitions, including the Stulberg String Competition and National Society of Arts & Letters Violin Competition. In 2009 she won a position in the First Violin Section of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  Since 2008, she has also been performing frequently in the Chicago Symphony as a regular extra violinist, and has performed on tour with the orchestra under the directions of Pierre Boulez and Bernard Haitink.

Ms. Canellakis has a Bachelors Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo, and was Concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. She subsequently studied with Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes at the Juilliard School. Chamber music collaborations and coaches include Mitsuko Uchida, Pamela Frank, Joseph Silverstein, Arnold Steinhardt, David Soyer, Michael Tree, Steven Tenenbom, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn.

Ms. Canellakis’ talent as a conductor has caught the attention of many, including Sir Simon Rattle, who described her as “an extraordinarily sophisticated and curious musician.” In 2007, she received the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship, a full tuition scholarship to study conducting at the Juilliard School.

Ms. Canellakis is on faculty at Midwest Young Artists in Illinois, as orchestral conductor and intensive string quartet coach.

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Blaise Magniere
violin

Blaise MagniereFrench violinist Blaise Magniere is Assistant Professor, Richard O. Ryan Endowed Chair in violin at Northern Illinois University. He is a highly acclaimed chamber musician, active both in the U.S and abroad. As the first violinist of the Avalon String Quartet, he was the top prizewinner of the Munich ARD Competition and Grand Prize winner at the Concert Artists Guild Competition. He has appeared at venues such as Wigmore Hall, the Schneider Series at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia Festival, Mostly Mozart, La Jolla Festival and the Caramoor Festival. Blaise Magniere has also collaborated with artists such as Gilbert Kalish, Peter Wiley, the Juilliard Quartet and members of the Emerson String Quartet. His performances and conversation have been heard on BBC, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia) and France-Musique. He has recorded for the New Tangent, Albany and Channel Classics labels, and earned the 2002 Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award. 

Blaise Magniere studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England during his high school years. He worked with Mauricio Fuks at McGill University in Canada before arriving in the US to join Donald Weilerstein’s studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music. As an assistant to the Juilliard String Quartet, he coached chamber music at the Juilliard School. He was on faculty at Indiana University South Bend before arriving at Northern Illinois University.

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Janet Sung
violin

Janet SungViolinist Janet Sung enjoys an acclaimed international career as a virtuoso soloist, praised for her exquisite tone and impassioned, bravura performances.

Janet Sung has been guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, as well as the orchestras of Adrian, Boise, Bozeman, Corpus Christi, Delaware, Dubuque, Fargo-Moorhead, Hartford, Owensboro, Richmond (IN), Springfield (Massachusetts & Ohio), Traverse City, Wheeling and Wyoming.  Abroad, she has been heard with South Korea’s Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany’s Stelzen Festival Orchestra and Russia’s Omsk Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphonic Orchestra of Bashkortostan. Her solo performances have frequently been aired on radio and television, nationally and internationally, including multiple broadcasts of her performance of Korngold’s Violin Concerto on NPR’s “Performance Today.” Acclaimed for her compelling performances of traditional works from Bach to Berg, she also reveals her repertoire’s diversity by presenting works of the 20th and 21st century and regularly touring with fiddler Mark O’Connor’s American String Celebration.  In 2009, she performed the world premiere of Kenneth Fuchs’ American Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra.

As a recitalist, Janet Sung has been presented in major cities such as Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Louisville, New York City and Pittsburgh, as well as in Odense, Denmark, Lausanne, Switzerland and Queenstown, New Zealand. She is a frequently heard soloist at distinguished music festivals, including: Aspen Music Festival, Britt Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival and Switzerland's Lucerne Festival.  An equally passionate chamber musician, Ms. Sung is also a regular guest at numerous festivals and with the American Chamber Players, touring nationally.

Janet Sung was chosen by Leonard Slatkin as the recipient of the Passamaneck Award, for which she performed at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Music Hall for the Y Music Society Concert Series. A winner of the Aspen Music Festival's Nakamichi Violin Competition, she has also been awarded other top prizes and grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, National Federation of Music Clubs Competition and Cho Chang Tsung Foundation.

Born in New York City, Janet Sung began violin studies at the age of seven.  At age nine, she made her orchestral debut, performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  The following year, she began a decade of private studies with renowned violinist, Josef Gingold, a period that overlapped with her attendance at Harvard University, from which she graduated with honors with a double degree in anthropology and music.  Subsequently, Ms. Sung was invited to study on full scholarship with the esteemed teacher, Dorothy DeLay, at The Juilliard School.  She also studied extensively with Masao Kawasaki, David Cerone, Eugene Phillips and the Juilliard String Quartet.

Highly sought after as an artist-teacher, she has conducted masterclasses at conservatories throughout the country, including the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, Harvard University and The Juilliard School. She has also served as faculty at The Juilliard School (initially as the Starling/DeLay Institute Fellow), State University of New York at Fredonia, and the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp. During the 2003-2004 season, Ms. Sung returned to Harvard University as the Clifton Visiting Artist for the "Learning from Performers" program, whose previous guests included Isaac Stern, James Galway, Mark Morris and Quincy Jones.  In 2010, she was appointed Associate Professor of Violin at the DePaul University School of Music in Chicago.  

Janet Sung plays a c.1600 Maggini violin crafted in Brescia, Italy.

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