Michael Groner, Piano (Irvine, CA)
Michael Groner, 16, a classical pianist, studies piano with Régulo Martínez-Antón, chamber music with Rina Dokshitsky, and music theory with Kathy Sawada, at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, in Los Angeles, CA. As a soloist, he has been awarded a performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York and has also received prizes from competitions, such as the Glendale Piano Competition and the MTAC Scholarship Competition. Earlier this year, he was chosen as a semifinalist for the Music Center’s 2019 Spotlight competition in the Classical Instrumental division. He is currently a part of the Ed & Marie Edelman Chamber Music Institute at the Colburn School, as a member of a piano quartet. As a chamber musician, he has performed multiple times on Sundays Live at the Bing Theatre at LACMA, as well as Zipper Hall at the Colburn School. Most recently, he participated in a chamber music concert at the Mark Taper Auditorium for Los Angeles Public Library’s LA Made Series. Michael has participated in solo piano masterclasses with Fabio Bidini, Lucinda Carver, and Peter Takács, in addition to chamber masterclasses with Wu Han and Scott St. John.
Judy Hu, Marimba (Guangzhou, Guangdong, China)
Judy Hu has an enthusiasm for music and started playing the piano, drums, guitar,and singing from an early age. At age 9, Judy was the youngest student to play with Xinghai Conservatory’s Percussion Ensemble and the International Percussion Philharmonic “IPP”. She won her first competition as a drummer at Shenzhen Drummer’s Festival in 2015. Judy joined Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra and gave concert tours in Europe, Australia, Asia. In 2018, She won Marimba and Timpani specialties at the “IPEA” International Percussion Competition in Shanghai. She was also accepted to The Juilliard School’s Summer Percussion Seminar. Judy is still in High School and hopes to follow a percussion soloist career.
Solène Le Van, Soprano (Anaheim, CA)
Hailed as “a vocal phenomenon” (Kim Josephson, Metropolitan Opera) as well as “a true artist” ( Cynthia Munzer, Metropolitan Opera ) , 21-year-old French-American soprano Solène Le Van has been invited to perform nationally and internationally, notably at Carnegie Hall and the Vianden Festival (Luxembourg) under the patronage of the US embassy. Her solo orchestra appearances include Handel’s “Dixit Dominus”, Bernstein’s “Glitter and be Gay”, and Barber’s “Knoxville” as a two-time winner of the Princeton Concerto Competition. She has sung premieres with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra, Maria in “West Side Story” with the RCM Orchestra, Handel’s “Messiah” with conductor John Butt at the American Handel Society, and “La Musica” in “L’Orfeo” staged by English National Opera director Tom Guthrie. Le Van recorded her debut album of rare mélodies . She has received top awards from the David W. Scott Memorial Competition, the Davis Weiss Scholarship, the AADGT Competition, the YMF Concerto Competition, the Ernst Bacon Memorial Prize, the French Embassy in New York, and Opera Buffs (Career Grant). Le Van studies with Jon Fredric West. She received first class honors for dual study in voice and violin from the Royal College of Music. At fifteen, she was accepted into Princeton. www.solenelevan.net
Keith Williams, Cello (Los Angeles, CA)
Keith grew up as a boy soprano, singing in a children’s chorus regularly performing cantatas with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. After a devastating voice change, Keith stopped singing, and pursued the cello. Inspired by his formative years with the BSO, he won competitions, held the principal chair in youth and collegiate orchestras, and discovered an insatiable love for chamber music. His vocal training is gone, but he sings through the cello, having earned his Bachelor’s in Music from The Juilliard School studying with Timothy Eddy, and currently continuing his cellistic quests with Ralph Kirshbaum at USC’s Thornton School of Music.
Dominik Yoder, Piano (Los Angeles, CA)
Dominik begin studying piano at the age of three. He has been awarded the Gold Medal in the 2018 Kosciuszko Foundation Competition for Young Pianists in Washington, D.C. He is also a winner of the Culver City Parness Competition and will perform with the Culver City Symphony Orchestra in the 2018-2019 season. Dominik received First Prize in the 2017 MTAC State and CAPMT State Competitions and the 2017 Parness Concerto Competition, Honorable Mention in the 2015 San Jose International Piano Competition and a Special Prize from the jury, Second Prize in the 2014 MTAC Pasadena Music Competition, First Prize at the 2013 CAPMT State Level Honors Auditions, the 2012 Long Beach Mozart Festival, the 2012 Southern California Junior Bach Festival (Gold Medal), the 2009 SYMF Competition, the 2009 CAPMT Sonata Competition, the 2010 CAPMT Honors Auditions, and the 2011 CAPMT State competition. He has also been a prizewinner of the Glendale Piano Competition and Cypress Piano Competition.
Dominik has performed in Żelazowa Wola, birthplace of Frederic Chopin, and for Polish radio and television. He has also given concerts in the United States, Germany, and Puerto Rico. Dominik enjoys surfing and rock climbing. He studies with Róża Kostrzewska Yoder.
