Our distinguished jury members are as following

Dr. Sha Wang (director)



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 2^nd prize winner of the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, and the alternate finalist at the Seattle International Piano Competition.

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 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. She is currently a tenured associate professor in piano and theory at Geneva College.

Sha Wang is a Yamaha Artist.

Mr. Edward Kuhns, piano



Edward M. Kuhn, Jr. is Associate Professor of Music at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, where he teaches Applied Piano, Keyboard Strategies, and Piano Pedagogy. Mr. Kuhn is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, NCTM, from the Music Teachers National Association and is the MTNA Foundation chair for Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association. Mr. Kuhn is the sponsor /advisor for the Seton Hill University PMTA Student Chapter which is very active and visible in the Music Program and at the PMTA state conferences. In addition to his university course load, Edward Kuhn also teaches piano students in the Community Arts Program of Seton Hill University and is a frequent soloist and collaborative pianist for recitals and festivals. Mr. Kuhn earned a BA from Carlow College and a MFA from Carnegie-Mellon University with a Certificate in Piano Pedagogy. Mr. Kuhn studied piano with Mildred Alvine Gardner and Nelson B. Whitaker, and piano pedagogy with Hannah Wu Li. In June 2014, Mr. Kuhn was presented The Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association’s Teacher of the Year Award.

Ms. Akino Kondoh



Since her dramatic career change from economics to music four years ago, Akina Kondoh has been growing fast as a pianist. In 2018, she was awarded the third prize (tie) in Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. She also received a very competitive Outstanding Merit Fellowship for Continuing Doctoral Students from West Virginia University. Her joint solo recital in her hometown of Tokyo was successful in attracting new audiences.

Akina started lessons in piano at the age of 4, and has built up a solid and broad repertory of keyboard music, ranging from J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel to Takemitsu. Her teachers include Sonoko Hanai and Masashi Kitagawa. She also learned solfeggio and harmonic theory from an established composer, Mr. Hiroshi Yamaguchi.

She realized her passion and talent in music while having lessons with Dr. Steven Herbart Smith at Penn State University, and decided to change majors with his encouragement. Since then, Akina has participated in many music festivals including Arosa Music Academy, Summit Music Festival, InterHarmony International Piano Festival, and Ian Hobson International Piano Festival. She has been also active in performing solo, as well as collaborating with singers and other instrumentalists to broaden her repertory in Japan and the United States. In the later half of 2019, she will participate in International Keyboard Institute and Festival, and Gijon International Piano Festival, and perform in Carnegie Hall and Chatham University in Pittsburgh.

Akina completed a Master of Music in piano performance from Penn State University with Dr. Jose Ramon Mendez, and is currently studying toward DMA in piano performance with Dr. Ching-Wen Hsiao at West Virginia University. Before her career change, she obtained Bachelor in Law, Master in International Relations from the University of Tokyo, and Master in Economics from Essex University and worked as an international tax consultant at Deloitte in Japan. Her hobby is to learn languages, and she is fluent in Japanese, English, Chinese and French.

Mr. Nicholas Pappone (Strings) 



Lauded as a “first rate” violinist by Maestro Lorin Maazel, Nicholas Pappone makes a diverse career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher in New York City. Growing up as a professional child actor in Los Angeles, portraying the role of a prodigy violinist in a film inspired his interest in the instrument. Nicholas has performed with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Emerson String Quartet, the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Piano Trio, and the Zukerman Chamber Players. This includes collaborations with violists Paul Neubauer, Paul Coletti, Jethro Marks, and the cellist Paul Watkins. Nicholas has appeared as soloist with the Chelsea Symphony, Marina del Rey Symphony, the Pacific Palisades Symphony, New York Session Symphony, and the New Westchester Symphony. He also appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra as violinist and actor on the Musically Speaking Series in a unique collaboration with actor John De Lancie. Recent recital and chamber music highlights include the Kimmel Center Perelman Theater and Academy of Music, Philadelphia, the Boulder International Duo Competition, Rutgers University, Islip Arts Council, Bar Harbor Chamber Music Festival, WMP Concert Hall’s Strad for Lunch, Teatro Principal of Burgos, Spain, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the National Arts Centre of Ottawa, and Heliconian Hall in Toronto, Canada. In the summers, Nicholas is violin and chamber music faculty at the Summit Music Festival and Institute NY, International Academy of Music in Tuscany, Italy and the Burgos International Music Festival in Spain. Nicholas’s teachers and mentors include Patinka Kopec, Pinchas Zukerman, Rodney Friend, Lucie Robert, and Grigory Kalinovksy.



Ms. Qin Shi (harp)

Harpist Qin Shi is the Principle Harpist at China National Ballet. She has premiered harp concerto by Italian composer Nino Rota commissioned by CNB. Ms. Shi received her Master Degree and Artist Diploma from College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. She concertizes frequently throughout Asian and Europe. 



Dr. Amy (I-Yun) Tu (woodwinds)

As a sought-after pedagogue, Ms. Tu maintains a growing studio and mentors many prize-winning talents. She is an avid educator who strives to bring out the passion and potential of each student. Ms. Tu fosters a strong sense of community within her studio by administering monthly studio classes and creating engaging projects that enable students to build leadership skills and enhance their musical growth. Under Ms. Tu’s tutelage, students have successfully auditioned for major conservatories and regularly received top rankings in regional, state, and national honors ensembles. Her students have been featured as soloists with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, Bravura Youth Orchestra, Sinfonietta Nova, and NJSO Youth Orchestras. She currently serves as competition coordinator for the NFA High School Soloist Competition and adjudicates for the New York Flute Club and the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia. Amy Tu is a Verne Q. Powell Flutes Artist.

Mr. & Mrs. Zhenhua Dong (Hua & Wei Piano Duo)



With gratitude and awe for Classical music, Piano Duo HUA & WEI has been established since 2015 by the excellent Chinese pianists couple Zhenhua Dong and Wei Zhang, who have attained the master degree of piano duo with honors at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in Austria. Under the instructing by Israeli Pianists, Prof.Gil Garburg and his wife Sivan Silver Garburg, with tacit understanding and implicit trust in each other, this Chinese couple have made ceaseless endeavor to gain extensive repertoire in piano four hands and two pianos. 

Since 2016, Piano Duo HUA & WEI has appeared frequently in numerous International Competitions. They won the 3rd Prize in the four-hands section of the 26th Roma International Piano Competition in November 2016 in Italy. Later they won the 2nd Prize (1st Prize vacant) in the Chamber Music Section of the 20th International Music Competition "Pietro Argento"; the 2nd Prize in the 4 hands Category of the 5th International Piano Competition “ISCHIA”; the 2nd Prize in the 4 hands Category of the 6th International Piano Competition “Città di San Donà di Piave” in Italy; and the Golden Award in the Chamber Music Section of the 10th International Music Competition and Festival “SVIRÉL” in Solkan Slovenien. Their fascinating performance is highly appraised among jury and audience. 

Piano Duo HUA & WEI has been invited to give their Duo-recital by Tosca Music Salon in Beijing in August 2017; then the “Presperious Silkroad and Chinese Seasons” Symphony Concert in October 2017 in Shanghai Symphony Hall, which was organized by Shanghai Conservatory of Music. At the concert they premiered the contemporary piece Concerto for two Pianos and Orchester “Das Unwetter” from Ailin Huang with Shanghai Symphony Orchester conducted by Liang Zhang. The Concert was recorded and published by SMPH & SLAV (Shanghai Music Publishing House and Shanghai literature and art audio-visual electronic publishing house). In November 2017 in the Portrait Concert of the Lithuanian composer Onuté Narbutaité they played her “VIJOKLIS” for two pianos, which was absolutely acclaimed by the composer. In 2018 they have been invited by the piano department of the Tianjian Conservatory of Music to give their recital, seminar and master-class; in 2019 in the “Beidaihe Piano Art Week” for the duo recital. They premiered Concerto for two Pianos and Orchester “Starry Night” at 2019 Shanghai International composition Workshop Symphony Concert. 

Piano Duo HUA & WEI have played so far several concerts in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and that in Europe like Italy and Austria. Their repertoires include both of piano four-hands and two pianos from W.A.Mozart, F.Schubert, J.Brahms, F.Chopin, C.Saint-Saëns, G.Fauré, C.Debussy, B.Smetana, A.Dvořák, A.Arensky, S.Rachmaninov, D.Shostakovich, I.Stravinsky, P.Hindemith, Rimsky-Korsakov etc, as well as Chinese works and contemporary music pieces. 

Since her dramatic career change from economics to music four years ago, Akina Kondoh has been growing fast as a pianist. In 2018, she was awarded the third prize (tie) in Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. She also received a very competitive Outstanding Merit Fellowship for Continuing Doctoral Students from West Virginia University. Her joint solo recital in her hometown of Tokyo was successful in attracting new audiences.

Akina started lessons in piano at the age of 4, and has built up a solid and broad repertory of keyboard music, ranging from J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel to Takemitsu. Her teachers include Sonoko Hanai and Masashi Kitagawa. She also learned solfeggio and harmonic theory from an established composer, Mr. Hiroshi Yamaguchi.

She realized her passion and talent in music while having lessons with Dr. Steven Herbart Smith at Penn State University, and decided to change majors with his encouragement. Since then, Akina has participated in many music festivals including Arosa Music Academy, Summit Music Festival, InterHarmony International Piano Festival, and Ian Hobson International Piano Festival. She has been also active in performing solo, as well as collaborating with singers and other instrumentalists to broaden her repertory in Japan and the United States. In the later half of 2019, she will participate in International Keyboard Institute and Festival, and Gijon International Piano Festival, and perform in Carnegie Hall and Chatham University in Pittsburgh.

Since her dramatic career change from economics to music four years ago, Akina Kondoh has been growing fast as a pianist. In 2018, she was awarded the third prize (tie) in Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. She also received a very competitive Outstanding Merit Fellowship for Continuing Doctoral Students from West Virginia University. Her joint solo recital in her hometown of Tokyo was successful in attracting new audiences.