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Neil Krzeski

Neil Krzeski is a versatile pianist and collaborator based in Iowa City. He recently completed his doctoral coursework at the University of Iowa under the guidance of Ksenia Nosikova, where he also contributed to the Center for New Music Ensemble. Krzeski has had success in several competitions including first place in the National Federation of Music Clubs Student/Collegiate Biennial Competition, second place and Glenn Gould Memorial Award in the “Bach with a View” International Young Artists Competition, and first place in the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association Badger Collegiate Performance Competition.

Krzeski’s musical endeavors have taken him around the globe, with recent highlights including performances in Brazil as part of the Festival de Piano de Natal. This week-long festival culminated in a collaborative performance of Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! which featured pianists from across the Americas. Krzeski, also an accomplished jazz musician, has been mentored by Bill Carrothers and William Menefield and has performed throughout the Midwest, most recently alongside Michele Weir at the Solon Vocal Jazz Festival. He received his master’s degree from Northwestern University, studying with José Ramón Mendez, and graduated magna cum laude from Lawrence University under the tutelage of Michael Mizrahi. Krzeski serves as the principal keyboardist of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra.

Cynthia Yeh

Cynthia Yeh joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as principal percussionist in June 2007. She previously served as principal percussionist for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2007.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Ms. Yeh received a Bachelor of Music performance degree from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Music performance degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, where she studied with Alan Abel.

As an active soloist, Ms Yeh performed with the Chicago Symphony, the National Orchestra of Mexico, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Illinois Philharmonic. Ms Yeh has been featured Chicago’s WFMT program Live from Levin Studio. She performs regularly with the CSO’s MusicNOW ensemble as well as various chamber ensembles throughout Chicago. Ms Yeh has served on the faculty of the National Youth Orchestra-USA, Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival as well as the Chosen Vale Percussion Seminar. Cynthia has also given master classes and clinics all over the United States and Canada, including the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, University of Toronto, Northwestern University, New World Symphony, University of Michigan, Indiana University, Peabody Conservatory and New York University.
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William Harvey

Concertmaster of Mexico’s premier orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, and violin faculty at the Universidad Panamericana, violinist, conductor, and composer William Harvey has appeared as violin soloist at Carnegie Hall with the New York Youth Symphony and has performed concerti with orchestras in Argentina, the Philippines, Mexico, and USA. His recording of the violin concerto by Hector Infanzón received two nominations to the Latin Grammys in 2021.
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Derek Wang

With musicianship of “pure poetry” (Seen and Heard International) and “enviable idiomatic rigor” (The Wall Street Journal), pianist Derek Wang is drawing increasing acclaim in wide-ranging appearances as soloist, collaborator, and communicator. A proponent of the music of Franz Liszt, Derek was awarded second prize at the 12th International Liszt Competition (Liszt Utrecht) in the Netherlands in 2022, which followed on the heels of first prize at the inaugural New York Liszt Competition in 2021. Deeply experienced in contemporary music, Derek held a three-summer-long fellowship position as pianist of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at the Aspen Music Festival under conductors Donald Crockett and Timothy Weiss, performing a total of over fifty works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Derek holds degrees from Juilliard and from the Yale School of Music. His principal teachers have included Stephen Hough, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Matti Raekallio, and Boris Slutsky. He continues his studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany in the studio of Arie Vardi. For more information and the latest concert schedule, please visit www.derek-wang.com.
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