Our distinguished jury members are as following
Dr. Sha Wang, Artistic Director
Dr. Soyoung Jung, Member of the Jury (pre-college) winner of the 2018 Pittsburgh International Piano Competition
A signed Yamaha Artist, tenured professor of piano, Dr. Sha Wang enjoys a career as an active concert pianist, a professor of music, a clinian and adjudicator, as well as a scholar in music theory. At the age 19, Ms. Wang was the winner of the 16th International Young Artist Piano Competition, Washington, D.C. Since then, she has advanced into competitions such as the Jose Iturbi International Music Competition, Hilton-Head International Piano Competition and the Honens International Piano Competition. She is the first prize winner at the Long Beach Mozart Festival Concerto Competition, the grand prize winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Competition, the 2nd prize winner of the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, and the alternate finalist at the Seattle International Piano Competition.
Dr. Wang has been invited to join the judging panel of The New York International Young Artist Competition in 2017. She will be performing at the Carnegie Hall in NYC as a guest artist for the event.
Dr. Wang has appeared on WFMT, Chicago, WQED, Pittsburgh, television stations in China and other parts of the world. She performed at the Kosciuszko Foundation Auditorium in NYC and was also the featured soloist at the Bank of America-Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center. She has been the guest soloist for the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and Pasadena Pops Orchestra and performed at venues such as the Descanso Gardens in La Cañada and the Richard Nixon’s Library and Museum in Yorba Linda. Her New York debut was at the Peter Norton Symphony Space in Manhattan. She has appeared on the stages of Aspen Music Festival and School, Interlochen Arts Academy, and other major summer festivals throughout the country. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with artists, such as pianist Lang Lang, violinist Kun Dong (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra), soprano Tamara Wilson (Houston Opera) and the members of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has performed for former U.S. President Ford, and has been a performing artist for the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Dr. Wang is also a passionate new music promoter. She has premiered compositions of most current composers. Her active participation in new music festivals, such as Music X and Grandin Music Festival, gave her the opportunities to work with composers such as Joel Hoffman, Martin Bresnick, Kaija Saariaho, and Michael Torke.
Dr. Wang is a frequent clinician and adjudicator for State and National competitions. She is also invited to give masterclasses at many institutions both in the United States and Asia.
Ms. Wang holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where she became the youngest doctoral graduate from the Conservatory. Her teachers include Karen Knecht, John Perry, Richard Fields, and Frank Weinstock. Wang has been on faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy as a vocal/opera coach and music theory teacher at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. She is currently a tenured associate professor in piano and theory at Geneva College.
Sha Wang is a Yamaha Artist.
Dr. Soyoung jung
The first prizewinner in the 2018 Inaugural Pittsburgh International Piano Competition (Young Artist), concert pianist Soyoung participated in a winner's concert held in late July at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City.
Soyoung is an active soloist and chamber musician performing primarily around North America and South Korea. Some of her other prizes include first prizes at the Yale National Music Competition and Keimyung University Piano Department Alumni Competition, as well as second and third prizes from several national competitions in Korea. As a Penn State Philharmonic Concerto Competition winner, she performed a movement from Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11) with the orchestra in February 2016. She was awarded an Honorable Mention at the Marian Garcia International Piano Competition in 2015.
Soyoung has performed in festivals at the Beethoven Institute and Ecole Normal International Music Festival in Paris. She has also been selected to perform in masterclasses with Logan Skelton, Mikhail Alexandrov, Choong-Mo Kang, and HaeSun Paik.
Jung completed her undergraduate studies at Keimyung University in Daegu, Korea. She received her master’s degree in piano performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where she studied with renowned pianist Brian Ganz. She is currently a doctoral candidate and teaching assistant at Penn State, studying with faculty member José Ramón Méndez.
Ms. Zhang is the CEO and faculty of Tianyou Arts Academy. Adjunicators of numerous national and international piano competitions, Ms. Zhang is the leading pedagogue in her field. Under her leadship, TAA has produced generations of young artists that have advanced in various competitions in China, Hongkong, U.S, and Europe. Her students have performed on the same stage with artists, such as Lang Lang, winning competitions such as the Geneva International Music Festival and Competition. Ms. Zhang will be adjundicating the Duet Division in the upcoming Pittsburgh International piano Competition.
Ms. Zhang was the top prize winner of the 2019 Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. She was a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liege, Belgium, under the direction of Prof. Jean Schils. Ms. Zhang has performed throughout Europe, China, and the U.S. Her Carnegie Hall debut in New York city was part of the Winners Concert of the latest Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. Ms. Zhang will serve as an adjundicator for the Duet Division in t he upcoming PIPC in 2020.
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