Faculty Pool Paul Alberts Eugene Barban Gwen Beamish Elaine Greenfield Franklin Larey Vai-Meng Lei Matthew Manwarren William Chapman Nyaho Deirdre O'Donohue Dmitry Rachmanov Willard Schultz Mark Sullivan Seta Tanyel Golda Vainberg-Tatz Janice Meyer-Thompson Esther Wang

Paul Alberts Paul Alberts has performed extensively in the United States and in Europe. His early studies were with Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff, pianist of the Curtis String Quartet and Philadelphia Orchestra. After a move to New York City, Alberts completed his undergraduate studies with Adele Marcus and received a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School where received a Master of Music degree as a student of Beveridge Webster. After graduate studies at Juilliard, he worked intensively with pianists Tana Bawden and Seymour Bernstein. In addition to giving concerts, directing the music program at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, in Greenwich Village, he maintains a private piano studio in New York City. His solo performances include: Carnegie Recital Hall Debut and two subsequent recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, several solo and chamber appearances at Steinway Hall in New York, American Church in Paris, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., National Public Radio, Harvard University, Ragusa-Ibla Grand Prize International Music Festival in Sicily, Maverick Festival, yearly performances at Friends of the Arts Beethoven Festival, Bosendorfer’s Great Artists in a Great Space Series at Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Kosciuszko Foundation and the Philadelphia Academy of Music. His CD of Piano Sonatas by Schubert and Mozart has been aired on National Public Radio WHYY's CD Discoveries and New York City's classical music station, WQXR. His second CD is an all-Chopin collection,  also on Giorno Poetry Systems label.  Recently, he performed under the baton of Mark Mangini playing Mozart’s K.271 Concerto in E-flat.  In early summer, 2007, he will perform solo recitals, chamber music and an orchestral appearance, as well as presenting a series of master classes in Berlin. Alberts has also performed in chamber concerts and as accompanist to such notable artists as: cellist, Christine Walevska and Paul Tobias, Metropolitan Opera baritone, Arthur Thompson, City Opera soloist, Marian Capriotti, in piano duos with the late Tana Bawden and violinist, James Greening Valenzuela. A recent review of his CD in "Clavier Magazine" described his playing as, "…Satisfying by the most critical standards. The playing is brilliant for the Schubert and romantic for the Mozart, and pianist Paul Alberts maintains a high level of creative imagination through both performances." "Someone who chooses such hallmark works for a first recording should have something new or deeply felt to say, and Alberts does. Pianistically solid, he conveys a subdued yet steady view of the whole and shows a delight in variety that serves him well through the sequences and 33- minute span of the Schubert. Nuances of tone color, resilient phrasing, and a reserve for long-range climaxes are evident from the start. The Andante reveals the full range of Alberts' imagination with lyric intensity." — Robert Dumm - Clavier Magazine "Appearing at the Phillips Collection Sunday, pianist Paul Alberts divided his time between Beethoven and Chopin showing a confident and intelligent stance in works of both composers." "(He) captured the rhythmic and melodic interest with ease. Alberts's robust reading served the work well." "Alberts brought a big tone and unrestricted tempos to the music. . . the exuberant nature of the large works was met in full." — Kate Rivers - Washington Post "He firmly demonstrated that he was able to sustain big, bold sound during the program. There was much to be admired in Alberts' treatment (Eroica Variations - Beethoven) including the thirteenth variation where the crushed grace notes glittered appropriately above Beethoven's bouncing chords. And the pianist managed the fiendish runs of the final variation with aplomb. . . Alberts produces a hail and hearty piano tone and clear to glittering sonorities." — Leslie Valdez - Philadelphia Inquirer ß Mr. Alberts is a Steinway Artist. He has been a faculty member of Adamant since 2004. Eugene Barban Eugene is a professor of Piano at Winthrop University, South Carolina, and director of the Walter Hautzig summer master class at Winthrop, now in its fifteenth year. He has given solo recitals throughout the U.S. and has appeared as guest soloist with orchestras in the Americas and Asia. As a chamber musician, Eugene performed for three years with the Aeolian Trio and has appeared as a guest artist with many other chamber groups. Last spring, he performed the Brahms G minor piano quartet with the Jacques Thibaud Trio from Berlin; with Matt Manwarren and two percussionists from Winthrop University, he performed the Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the South Carolina State Music Teacher's Conference this fall. Eugene is finishing a sabbatical leave and has been working on translating Le Piano by Marguerite Long from French into English. A native of Ohio, Eugene received his undergraduate degree from Capital University, his Master's degree from Ohio University and a DMA from the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. His teachers have included Olga Conus, George Katz, and Loy Kohler. He has coached with Richard Goode, Walter Hautzig, Joseph Raieff and Adele Marcus. Eugene has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1997. Eugene taught for eight weeks in Kristiansand, Norway, this fall, and performed two concerts in Norway. In the spring of 2006 he will be performing in Illinois, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. Gwen Beamish Gwen is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, She previously taught at Conservatory Canada and the Royal Conservatory of Music. She also maintains a private studio in Sarnia, Ontario, teaching high school students and coaching piano teachers. Gwen has twice been president of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators' Association, and has served as an adjudicator from coast to coast in Canada, and in the U.S. She has judged competitions including Seattle Young Artists, Spokane Festival of the Arts, International Young Keyboard Artists, M.T.N.A. (USA), the Eckhardt-Grammatte and Contemporary Showcase. A native of Saskatchewan, Gwen's early teachers included Boris Berlin, Boris Roubakine and Alexander Uninsky. She received a master's degree in performance from the University of Michigan, studying with Theodore Lettvin and Eugene Bossart. Gwen received the Special Teacher award from the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association in 1991. In 2003 she was given an Honorary Licentiate by the National Conservatory. She was a faculty member at the Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies, where she helped form, and taught, the Gifted Youth program. She has also spent summers teaching, performing, and giving lecture recitals throughout Canada, including the Courtenay Youth Music Centre on Vancouver Island, Laurentian University in Sudbury, and Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Activities for 2004 include two weeks of judging advanced piano classes at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Calgary, Alberta. Gwen will also give Master Classes at the Athens Conservatory in Greece. Gwen continues to perform regularly in solo and chamber recitals, including an annual program of Canadian music at the University of Western Ontario. Gwen has been a member of the faculty of the Adamant Music School since 1988. Elaine Greenfield ELAINE GREENFIELD is a widely acclaimed pianist, noted for her sensitive musical imagination, compelling artistry, and effortless technique. In a distinguished career as soloist/lecture recitalist, and collaborative artist, Ms. Greenfield has performed nationwide, with noted appearances at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Washington DC's Phillips Collection, Boston's Gardner Museum, and innumerable concert venues coast to coast. A recent review in CLAVIER magazine, lauded Ms.Greenfield's 2004 CD release, "Debussy Preludes, Bks 1 & 2," Centaur Records, calling her performances "impeccable"..."how this music was meant to sound". CLASSICS TODAY praised her "sensitivity and control", "alluring pedal effects"...."meeting technical challenges with no effort". Ms.Greenfield has been broadcast over international radio & TV, including the BBC, NPR, WGBH, & WNYC. THE NEW YORK TIMES praised her "crystalline clarity, tonal warmth, graceful airiness, and rhythmically strong" playing, with "...a formidable technique...". Elaine invites you to read about her extensive background, activities, credits, & reviews, and to sample her 6 album discography on her Website www.elainegreenfield.com. Ms. Greenfield began her professional study at the Crane School of Music. Graduate study took her to Peabody Conservatory and N.Y., to work with teachers Julio Esteban, Lorin Hollander, Walter Hautzig, Leon Fleischer, Dorothy Taubman and Edwine Behre. An MTNA Master Teacher with national profile, Ms. Greenfield maintains a private studio in South Burlington, VT, where she resides; she is founder of Greenfield Piano Associates and was a founding performer of the Vt. Contemporary Music Ensemble. She serves as Artistic Director and Coordinator of Concert Events for St. Paul's Cathedral Arts, Burlington. Most recently, her collaboration with pianist Janice Meyer Thompson has resulted in two CD recordings, and recitals of The Transcontinental Piano Duo in Arizona, California, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Elaine has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1973. Franklin Larey - Program Coordinator for 2008 South African pianist Franklin Larey started his piano studies with Gideon Slingers at the age of sixteen. After finishing high school he continued his studies under Bruce Gardiner at the University of the Western Cape, from which he graduated with distinction. A Fulbright Scholarship took him to the University of Cincinnati where he studied with Frank Weinstock and Richard Fields. After spending ten years in the United States, and receiving his doctorate from Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, Franklin returned to South Africa in 1997 to teach piano at the University of Cape Town, where he was appointed Director of the South African College of Music in 2002. While in the USA he appeared regularly as a recitalist, soloist, and accompanist. Of his appearance with the San Jose Symphony, the San Jose Mercury News wrote, "When Franklin Larey turned to soft poetry, time stood still, and the audience held its breath for an eternity. His slow movement was sheer ecstasy--clear, measured, lyrical." Franklin Larey has won several awards, including first prize at the 1991 Young Chang International Piano Competition, and third prize at the 1996 New Orleans International Piano Competition. In 1993 he established the IXOPO DUO with Mary Jo Roth, and the two have performed together throughout the United States. They won first prize at the Graves Duo Piano Competition, were finalists at the prestigious 1996 Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition, and were featured in the PBS television documentary, Two Pianos - One Passion. Currently the Ixopo partnership is between Larey and South African pianist Francois du Toit, and their performances have received rave reviews in the SA press. Since his return home Franklin Larey has been hailed as one of South Africa's leading pianists, and he has appeared as a recitalist and chamber musician at numerous venues and arts festivals, and as soloist with a number of orchestras. He maintains an international performance schedule. Most recently, Franklin Larey was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Researcher Award and spent six months in residence at his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati in 2003. During this time he worked closely with pianist Frank Weinstock, and also with Claude Frank, and Andre Watts; he made his Kennedy Centre debut in April 2003. In June of the same year the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music honored Larey with its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Vai-Meng Lei Vai-Meng Lei was born in Macau, China. She has earned the Master degree from the University of Texas at Austin and obtained the Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her principle teachers include Nancy Garrett and Kenneth Drake, and William Heiles on the harpsichord. She has worked closely with James Lyke and the late Amanda Vick Lethco in piano pedagogy. She studied accompanying and coaching with Jean Barr and David Garvey. As a performer, Dr. Lei has performed in Australia, southeast Asia, Europe and America. She was featured as the soloist for the debut concert of the Sydney Contemporary Orchestra in Australia and with the Philharmonische Mozart Kapel of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In her career, she has been active in serving as an adjudicator and in giving workshops internationally in various aspects of piano teaching. Dr. Lei has been on the faculty of the Baptist University in Hong Kong, the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia, and the Monmouth University in New Jersey. She has been a member of the faculty pool at the Adamant Music School since 1999. Presently, Dr. Lei is residing in Solon, Ohio with her husband and two children. Matthew Manwarren Originally from El Paso, Texas, pianist Matthew Manwarren began piano study at the age of five with his mother. From age seven until eighteen, he studied piano with Mary Lou Wade and Claude Herndon of El Paso. Under pianist William Westney, Dr. Manwarren earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Texas Tech University, where he was recipient of the prestigious Eva Browning Piano Scholarship. He earned his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory as a piano student of Frank Weinstock and Elizabeth Pridonoff and organ student of David Mulbury. In 1996, Dr. Manwarren was awarded a Teacher Enrichment Grant from the Music Teachers National Association for the purpose of studying at the French Piano Institute in Paris, where he had the opportunity to coach with Dominique Merlet, Pascal Devoyon, and Noel Lee. Dr. Manwarren has also coached with Virginia Hutchings of Atlanta and Walter Hautzig of New York City. Dr. Manwarren is in demand as a performer, teacher, master class presenter, lecturer and adjudicator. His students have taken top prizes in many competitions. Recent performances include recitals on the Sundays at the Loft series in New York (Behre Piano Associates), the Ivories on the Border series in El Paso, Belmont Camerata series in Nashville, the Callenwolde Piano Series in Atlanta, the guest artist series at Presbyterian College, and at the University of Cape Town. In 2004, he presented a performance of Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with Winthrop University faculty members Eugene Barban and Michael Williams. In 2006, Dr. Manwarren was awarded a Fulbright Teaching Grant through the Council for the International Exchange of Musicians, where he had the opportunity of serving as artist-in-residence at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Manwarren currently serves as Professor of Piano at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. From 2005-2006, he held a similar position at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. For thirteen years, Dr. Manwarren served on the faculty at Erskine College, where he chaired the Department of Music and was awarded the Harriet Pressly Smith Caldwell Professorship in Music. During the summers, he serves on the faculty at the Adamant Music School in Vermont, a prestigious summer program for advanced-level pianists from all over the world. Dr. Manwarren is a past-president of the South Carolina Music Teachers Association. Matthew has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1998. William Chapman Nyaho William Chapman Nyaho, a Ghanaian American and resident of Seattle, studied at St. Peter's College, Oxford University (UK), where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Honour School of Music. He continued his piano studies at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, the Eastman School of Music where he graduated with his Master of Music degree, and at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Chapman Nyaho is the recipient of prizes from international piano competitions. Following four years as a North Carolina Visiting Artist, Chapman Nyaho taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and was the recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award and held the Heymann Endowed Professorship. He was also the recipient of the Acadiana Arts Council Distinguished Artist Award. Chapman Nyaho has also served as Visiting Professor of Music at Colby College and Willamette University. His summer teaching appointments include Interlochen Summer Arts Camp and Adamant Music School. As a regular guest clinician, Chapman Nyaho gives lecture-recitals and workshops advocating music by composers of the African heritage. He has compiled and edited a five-volume graded anthology Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora published by Oxford University Press (2007-2008). A first of its kind, this is intended to expanded the performing repertoire of students and concert pianists, and also be a supplement to college keyboard literature courses. He has served on national committees for the Music Teachers’ National Association, College Music Society and the National Endowment for the Arts and been a juror for competitions in the North America and Europe and Africa. Chapman Nyaho’s performances have taken him to Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and North America including Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center. He performs as soloist with various orchestras, including the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Chapman Nyaho has been featured on radio and television broadcasts in Ghana, Switzerland, and on Performance Today on NPR. He also developed and hosted The Bach Show for classical radio station KRVS in Louisiana. As duo pianist with the Nyaho/Garcia Duo they have released a critically acclaimed CD Aaron Copland: Music For Two Pianos on the Centaur Label. Chapman Nyaho’s solo CD SENKU: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent, a ground-breaking compilation of music of the African Diaspora was recently choreographed by Tony Award winning Garth Fagan. The CD was named one of the “Best of the Year” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which called it “altogether enthralling….this music deserves a regular place on concert programs.” Gramophone Magazine said, “Nyaho’s gripping performances kept my ears glued to this disc… Let’s hope the pianist continues to explore –and record – more such commanding repertoire.” Dr. Maya Angelou wrote that it holds “moments of discovery so delicious that the listeners will be made to laugh out loud and to compliment not just Dr. Chapman Nyaho, but themselves at their good fortune in finding these composers and this pianist.” Deirdre O'Donohue Dr. Deirdre O'Donohue is a member of the piano faculty in the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at New York University and is also on the college and preparatory faculties of Manhattan School of Music. She has performed solo and chamber recitals in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada and the United States. Active as an adjudicator in the United States and Canada, she has also given numerous masterclasses and lecture/demonstrations at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Poona Music Society in Poona, India, the Rotterdam Conservatory, the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, and at various other institutions throughout the United States and Canada. In 1998 and 1999, the Gijon Conservatory in Asturias, Spain, invited Dr. O'Donohue to give intensive week-long courses in piano technique and interpretation. She has received the Sparrendam Medal for performance in the Netherlands, and the Roger Phelps Award from New York University for her dissertation, entitled "The Concept of Unity and Uniqueness in the Multi-Movement Works of Beethoven." Recent engagements have included masterclasses at New York University and Queen's College; a lecture/demonstration for the NY Associated Music Teachers' League; the adjudications of the Royal Irish Academy of Music's week-long Piano Festival (March 2000) and the National Feis Ceoil (March 2002) in Dublin, Ireland; solo recitals in Connecticut, Vermont, and at Plymouth State College in New Hampshire; performances of Stravinsky's Concerto for Two Pianos with Rosemary Caviglia in New York and Vermont; and in 2002 she was the Convention Clinician for the South Carolina MTA. Deirdre O'Donohue is Past-President of the New York State Music Teacher's Association and is the Chairperson of the NYSMTA Empire State Performance Competition. In the summers of 1999 and 2000, Dr. O'Donohue taught piano and chamber music at the Columbia University's High School Chamber Music, Strings and Piano Program. Since the summer of 2001, she has been on the Faculty of the Adamant Music School in Adamant, Vermont, and, since the summer of 2003 she has been the Coordinator for the Menahem Pressler Masterclasses at Adamant. Dr. O'Donohue holds degrees from New York University, The Hochschule für Music und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Dmitry Rachmanov Russian-born pianist Dmitry Rachmanov has garnered much acclaim for his powerful performances which combine probing intellect with passionate insight. Critics for major publications have called his performances "dazzling, thrilling, soulful, and deeply moving." Rachmanov has appeared at international festivals including the St. German-en-Laye's Juillet Musical and Moulin d'Andé in France, Soesterberg in Holland, Terra Magica in Croatia, Banff in Canada, Prussia Cove in England, and Spoleto USA, Bard and International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York. His recitals, chamber engagements and orchestral appearances have brought him to venues such as London's Barbican Centre, the Kennedy Center and the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, Chicago's Cultural Center, San Francisco's Old First Concerts, New York's Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and the 92nd Street Y, and to numerous countries from Canada to Jamaica, England to Slovenia. The pianist's repertoire ranges from Bach to Bartók and from the German Romantics to the Russian twentieth century avant-garde. Rachmanov's interest in original performance practice brought him to the Massachusetts' Frederick Historic Piano Collection where he has made regular appearances performing on original fortepianos. His all-Beethoven CD, released by Omniclassic in 1998, received critical acclaim, and he has been heard live on NPR, WNYC-FM and WQXR-FM in New York and WFMT-FM in Chicago. An avid proponent of the Russian repertoire, Rachmanov performed the Shostakovich First Piano Concerto at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Scriabin Concerto with the Porto National Orchestra in Portugal, and the Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds at Chicago's Rudolph Ganz Hall. His 1989 US premiere of Boris Pasternak's Sonata was broadcast nationwide by National Public Radio, and his 1998 recital at Merkin Concert Hall entitled "The Art of the 19th Century Russian Character Piece," was noted by the New York Times for the "considerable color and focus" he brought to the individual works and he was praised as a "suave and gifted pianist." A founding member of the Scriabin Society of America, Rachmanov gave a four-recital series which included all ten Scriabin piano sonatas to celebrate the composer's 120th anniversary in 1992. His January 2005 San Francisco recital was acclaimed for "depth of concept, keen intelligence," with Rachmaninoff's Corelli Variations described as "sensational". Rachmanov's awards include honors at the Senigallia, E. Pozolli and Maryland Piano Competitions, first prize at the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, a Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the George Schick Award for Outstanding Musicianship presented by Manhattan School of Music. In 1995 he was a recipient of a grant from ArtsLink, enabling him to return to his native Russia for a series of successful performances. Rachmanov began his studies at Moscow's Gnesins School of Music and has earned undergraduate and graduate diplomas from The Juilliard School and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music, all on full scholarship. Among his teachers are Ada Traub, Nadia Reisenberg and Arkady Aronov, and he has coached with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Yvonne Lefébure, Claude Frank, John Browning and Menahem Pressler. He has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and most recently at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He has also taught at the Amati Festival in New York. Rachmanov's research projects include a two-part article on the recorded legacy of Chopin's F Minor Ballade, Op. 52, which was published by International Piano magazine in the January/February and March/April 2005 issues. Dmitry has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1993. Willard Schultz Willard is Chair of Piano, Academy of Music Northwest and maintains a private studio in Seattle. He is Professor of Piano Emeritus at the University of Calgary, where he developed the Masters Degree programs in Performance and Performance-Pedagogy. For more than twenty summers he taught and performed in the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts. From 1988 to 1990 he was Honorary Head, now Honorary Dean of Piano, Wuhan Conservatory of Music, People's Republic of China. For four summers since 1990, he has participated in the South Bohemia Music Festival in the Czech Republic. He has been active as presenter in the MTNA and EPTA. He is known throughout Canada and the Northwestern United States as a teacher, performer, accompanist and festival adjudicator and will be judging the National Piano Competitions in the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers 2005 Convention in Calgary. Willard has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1993. Mark Sullivan Dr. Mark Sullivan operates a highly successful independent piano studio in Southern California, where he is recognized as one of the region's leading teachers and adjudicators. He holds an MM degree from the Indiana University School of Music and a DMA from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he received top performance, academic and teaching awards from the School of Music and was honored as the Outstanding Doctoral Graduate of his class. Menahem Pressler was his principal teacher. He has also coached with Aldo Ciccolini, Stephen Bishop Kovacevich and Stewart Gordon, and worked for two years with Rosalyn Tureck in the area of Bach interpretation. As a student, Mark earned awards in many competitions, including the MTNA Collegiate Artist Auditions and the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition. He also received first place in the Virginia Beach Symphony Concerto Competition and in concerto competitions at I.U. and U.S.C. After receiving his DMA, Mark briefly served on the piano faculty at U.S.C., before making the decision to devote himself full-time to the development of Sullivan Music Studio. At the invitation of Menahem Pressler, he has taught masterclass and private lessons at Indiana University. In the summer of 2002, he traveled to Tokyo, Japan where he conducted two weeks of student evaluations, master classes and lectures for the Piano Teachers' Music Guild. Since 1991, Mark has authored numerous reviews and articles for American Music Teacher and Piano and Keyboard, where he served as a contributing editor from 1995 until 2000. Mark Sullivan joined the Adamant faculty in 2000. Seta Tanyel Acclaimed as much for her distinguished performances of the core repertoire as for her consistent championing of the works of lesser-known composers, Seta Tanyel's artistry and pianism have exited much attention from audiences around the world. Born in Istanbul, of Armenian parentage, Seta Tanyel studied at the Vienna Hochschule of Music with Dieter Weber and Bruno Seidlhofer before continuing her studies in London with Louis Kentner. She was a major prize- winner at the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna in 1973 and at the inaugural Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Israel in 1974. She has toured extensively in Europe, Russia, the Middle and Far East and North and South America, performing with orchestras including the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, the Vienna Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. In addition to her busy performing schedule, she has given masterclasses and has also taught from 1986 to 1989 at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. With a discography encompassing works by Bax, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Babadjanian/Harutiunian, Franck, Grieg, Khatchaturian, MacDowell, Moszkowski, Poulenc, Scharwenka, Schostakowitch, Schubert and Schumann, Seta Tanyel has received countless critical accolades for her 21 recordings on the Chandos, Collins Classics and Hyperion labels. Her first recital CD of Beethoven and Brahms variations was hailed in America as "the most stunning debut disc heard to date," while she has won particular plaudits for her series of the piano works of Xaver Scharwenka and Moritz Moszkowski. "Few pianists have worn their virtuosity and musicianship with such enviable lightness. Seta Tanyel's performances are beyond praise in her invaluable Scharwenka series," declared Gramophone of the former, while the same magazine went on to describe the Moszkowski cycle as an "enchanted odyssey…her performances are of the most engaging insouciance and dexterity…time and again Tanyel's ease and civility make even the slenderest glycerine and rose-water offering delectable. A pianist with an unerring sense of keyboard graciousness, weaving her way through every intricacy with nonchalant expertise." "This is exhilarating music performed with considerable sparkle and joie de vivre by Tanyel. With breathtakingly tender sounds, waves of sonority and breathing virtuosity, Seta Tanyel rises magnificently to the wonderful climaxes." (CD Review) Her most recent recording, of Edward MacDowell's piano concertos in Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series, was described by the American magazine Fanfare as "a distinguished addition to the catalogue…a winner. Strongly recommended". Seta has been a member of the faculty of the Adamant Music School since 2004. Golda Vainberg-Tatz "Fascinating interpreter" (Tagblat, Germany) "Artist of depth and virtuosity" (The Times Argus, USA) As a student at the Ciurlionis School for Gifted Children, Golda Vainberg-Tatz was first prize winner of the Lithuanian State Competition at the age of eight and made her debut recitals in the major cities of Russia. Her prizes and awards include the Young Keyboard Artists at the University of Michigan, the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, the Frinna Awerbuch Competition in New York, the prestigious Maurice Clairmont contest in Israel, the Palm Beach Invitational International Piano Competition, and the Prix du Disque from the French Piano Institute in Paris. Golda continued her studies at Israel's Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University and at The Juilliard School in New York under full scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Golda performed extensively in her native Lithuania with the National Symphony, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and the Vilnius String Quartet, as well as with the late violinist Raimundas Katilius. She also performed and recorded with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. As a recitalist, she has appeared in Washington DC, Salt Lake City, Saint Louis, Palm Beach, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and at Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Kosciuszko Foundation and Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York City. Golda has also performed and recorded on radio and TV throughout Europe, Israel and the United States, including live broadcasts on Jerusalem's Kol Israel, Lithuanian television, the "Dame Myra Hess" series in Chicago, and WQXR in New York City, among others. Her CD of works by Robert Schumann has been acclaimed by Fanfare, American Record Guide and Le Monde de Musique. Golda has studied with Mindru Katz, Emanuel Krasovsky in Tel Aviv, and Bella Davidovich, Nina Svetlanova and Jeffrey Swann in New York. She serves on the faculties of the Special Music School and Lucy Moses School, and the associated faculties of the Manhattan School and Adamant School in Vermont. Golda has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1996. Janice Meyer Thompson Janice Meyer Thompson, pianist, has enjoyed a diverse career as a soloist, collaborative artist, lecture-recitalist, and master teacher on three continents. Chamber music and duo piano performances have taken her across North America, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Russia. As pianist with The Kent Camerata, Ms. Thompson recently toured China, presenting recitals and master classes in the premier conservatories of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. Her collaboration with Vermont pianist Elaine Greenfield has resulted in recent recitals of The Transcontinental Duo in Arizona, California, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts. As a lecture-recitalist and master class teacher, Ms. Thompson is a frequent presentor at national and international music conferences and festivals and has been a member of the Adamant Music School (Adamant, Vermont) summer artist faculty since 1990. Jan Thompson is recorded on compact disc in performances with The Kent Camerata (Kent Camerata Favorites), with singers Mary Sue Hyatt and Jane Dressler (Song Upon Song, TimeGrabber Digital) with bassoonist David DeBolt (A Musical Painting Comes to Life, Crystal CD 841), and with Transcontinental Duo partner Elaine Greenfield, (Piano 4-Hands). Dr. Thompson is nationally recognized for her leadership in the field of piano pedagogy and for her academic accomplishments as Professor of Piano at the Arizona State University School of Music in Tempe. She is founding director of the ASU Piano Prep and Conservatory Programs and coordinator of piano pedagogy offerings at ASU. Her published articles have appeared in American Music Teacher, Clavier, Keyboard Companion, and in the Proceedings of the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. Ms. Thompson holds the Doctor of Music degree in Performance-Chamber Music from Northwestern University, where her principal teachers were Gui Mombaerts and Donald Isaak. She has coached with Murray Periah, John Browning, Phyllis Curtin, Phyllis Rappeport, and Bela Nagy. Jan has been a member of the Adamant Music School faculty since 1990. "Pianist Jan Thompson possessed....beautiful sound, easy versatility of style, and remarkable sensitivity to phrasing and nuance" (Chicago Sun Times) "...Jan Meyer Thompson is the excellent pianist in the Cherubini and Chabrier numbers...showing stylistic versatility as well as technical mastery." (Robert McColley, Fanfare ) "Meyer was in complete melodic control and handled her thematic share with deep and convincing emotional involvement." (Dmitri Drobatschewsky, The Arizona Republic) Esther Wang Esther Wang, pianist, is an active soloist and collaborator throughout the United States and has appeared on numerous concert series, including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago and the A. Mozart Fest Series in Austin, TX. The San Jose Mercury News has called Wang "a forceful, take-charge kind of artist with personality...spirited and vital," and the Double Reed journal called her a "magnificent accompanist" after the 1999 International Double Reed Conference. Wang received the Bachelor of Music at Baylor University, where she studied with Roger Keyes. She continued her studies with Frank Weinstock at the University of Cincinnati, earning the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. She also studied privately with renowned pianist Lilian Kalliar and attended the Tanglewood, Kneisel Hall, and Taos Chamber Music summer festivals. Wang is an enthusiastic teacher and adjudicator. She has served on faculties at St. Olaf College, The University of Texas at Austin, University of WI-Oshkosh, University of WI-Platteville, Baylor University, Northeast MO State University, Northern Kentucky University, Lutheran Summer Music, the New England Music Camp, and Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT. She performs and lectures on J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier as a member of The Bach Four and has recorded solo and chamber works by Jan Radzynski on the Centaur label. She is on the faculties of Gustavus Adolphus College and the Interlochen Arts Summer Camp.