NEWS
The first Piano Connections Festival, a collaborative event between the University of Iowa SOM and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil, was held in Natal from September 11-15th. Dr. William Menefield, Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at UIowa, joined Ksenia, and UI students Neil Krzeski, Peter Bowen Liu, Craig Jordan, and Ana Yam to travel to Brazil to participate in this week long event of performances, concerts, masterclasses, and community outreach programs. A highlight of the week was the attendance of May Baptista, the Consul General at the United States Consulate in Recife, Brazil.
The closing night event was a performance of People United Should Never be Defeated (1979) by Frederic Rzewski (1938-2021). This multimedia presentation was a concert presented by 12 pianists performing this monumental work. The performance can be viewed in its entirety here.
The Director of the UFRN Piano Department is Joana Holonda, a Masters Graduate of UIowa and a former Nosikova Studio member.
In February, Ksenia traveled for a performaing and teaching tour in Southeast Asia. The first stop was be at Mahidol University in Baqngkok, where she was hosted by her former student Korak Lertpibulchai. Ms. Lertpibulchai is presently Chair of the piano department at Mahidol. Then on to Manila for a recital and masterclass at Manila Pianos in cooperation with the University of the Phillipines’ College of Music. After Manila she traveled to Singapore’s Steinway Gallery for more masterclasses. Finally, the tour concluded at UCSI University’s Institute of Music in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Studio member, Peter Liu, DMA candidate recently was a Prize Winner at Music International Grand Prix, held at Merkin Hall in New York.
This season's edition of the continuing series, Key Change, will have Piano Revolutionaries, Rachmaninoff and His Contemporaries as its theme. The Key Change series features UI distinguished piano faculty and their students, as well as guest artists from across Iowa. Each concert will be played twice: Once in the Concert Hall of the UI School of Music's Voxman Building in Iowa City, and once at the Opus Cafe in Cedar Rapids. The series is presented in partnership with Orchestra Iowa. The schedule can be found here.
Huge Congratulations to Ann DuHamel, a former studio member, who was recently selected to receive a prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Musicians. Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s arts and culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982. The McKnight Artist Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently, the foundation contributes about $2.8 million annually to its statewide fellowships.
studio news
Peter Liu (DMA Candidate) has been hired as Adjunct Instructor of Piano at the University of Northwestern (St. Paul, MN) beginning this Fall.
On March 27th, Henrique Rabelo (DMA Candidate) played a masterful performance of the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 by Tchaikovsky with the UI Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the 2024 UI Concerto and Aria Competition.
Feiyang Li won the Third Prize at the International Prof. Dichler-Competition (2023) in Vienna, Austria.
Special Mention for Anthony Capparelli for being selected as a Repetiteur at the International Opera Academy in Ghent, Belgium.
Mariya Akhadjanova, following a national search, was hired by the UI School of Music as a staff collaborative pianist. Mariya is a DMA candidate.
Shu-Min (Alice) Chang (DMA, 2022) was hired by the UI School of Music as an Audio/Video coordinator. Alice studied piano performance with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova.
Ming Hu was hired by the Eastman Community Music School (Rochester, NY) as a Piano Instructor and Accompanist. Ming is a DMA candidate.
Gustavo do Carmo (DMA, 2021) was appointed as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Music (Piano and Theory) at the Kansas Wesleyan University. Gustavo studied piano performance with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova and piano pedagogy with Dr. Alan Huckleberry.
Bogyeong Lee (DMA, 2022) released to critical acclaim her debut CD recording “A Story of Life-Piano Works of Émile Naumoff” on MSR Classics recording label in November 2022.
Alexa Sowers (BM, 2016) was hired by Houston Grand Opera as an assistant music director and pianist of Opera To-Go! which is a part of Houston Grand Opera's Community and Learning program. Her duties will include coaching the Opera to Go! cast in both rehearsals and performance spaces, organizing all music rehearsals, and serving as tour pianist for the show Katie: The Strongest of the Strong, which is a newly commissioned work by composer Faye Chiao.
Congratulations to Mariya Akhadjanova! In October 2021, she performed at Carnegie Hall, New York, as a winner of the 2021 “Golden Classical Music Awards" International Competition and in May 2022 at Merkin Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, in New York City as a finalist and a winner of the second prize of the Music International Grand Prix 2022.