Emanacje International Music Festival

Shuheng Zhang, a proud Lang Lang International Foundation Young Scholar, has been passionate about music ever since he started piano lessons at almost 9 years old.

He has won top prizes in many competitions such as Thousand Islands International Chopin Competition, David Dubois Piano Competition, MTNA Michigan Competition, MMTA SAT Solo and Concerto Competitions, Albion College International Piano Festival, to name a few. A frequent participant inprestigious piano festivals, Shuheng was selected to attend Lang Lang International Foundation 2016 Allianz Junior Music Camp held in Poland, 2017 Gina Bachauer International Piano Festival at Salt Lake City, and 2017 Piano Summer at SUNY New Paltz with full scholarship. He was also the youngest finalists of the 2016 MostArts Festival Piano Competition where he performed as a soloist with the MostArts Festival Orchestra. Shuheng has performed in masterclasses given by renowned pianists such as Dag Achatz, Alan Chow, Paulina Dokovska, Sean Duggan, Douglas Humphreys, Lang Lang, Panayis Lyras, John O’Conor, Robert Shannon, Sasha Starcevich and Nelita True, among others , and been praised for his sensitivity, interpretation and musicianship. Shuheng is very grateful for all the individuals and organizations who have been involved in his development in music, especially, his current teacher Logan Skelton, former teacher Mary Siciliano, Tian Tian,with whom Shuheng takes lessons regularly, and The Tuesday Musicale of Detroit.

“I am incredibly excited and honor to join the Lang Lang International Music Foundation family as a young scholar. I attended 2016 Allianz Junior Music Camp, which was such an impactful and enjoyable experience for me. Through the camp, I got to know more about the foundation, its people and its mission. So I am really looking forward to join the Lang Lang Young Scholars Program. I am looking most forward to learning more about music through the mentorship of Lang Lang and other great musicians, meeting other young scholars, and sharing my craft of performing to the public, especially, the next generation. I am always excited to learn about music, whether it be how music is performed, or how it is made, or just simply why music sounds the way it does; it’s all very fascinating and meaningful to me. I also am looking forward to meeting other Young Scholars because I always love being with people who share the same passion of music as I do, which always inspires me to become a better musician. Finally, I deeply enjoy performing music for others. Even though the cliché of “music is the universal language” has been overused almost to the point of meaninglessness, I believe there are still many truths that lie behind the statement. Music is something that everyone can relate with and enjoy, no matter how negative their view on all other subjects of the world are, as I have yet to meet a single person who claims that they do not enjoy music of any sort. Because of this, I want to spread music as a way for all people to relate with each other, to reconcile their differences, and to bring some form of common understanding between all people, and I believe that the Lang Lang Young Scholars Program, with its Keys of Inspiration™ and Play It Forward.™, will be a huge step forth in completing that vision.”

Shuheng loves sharing his passion for music with the community; he has been frequently giving outreach performances at schools and senior living houses. A well-rounded student, Shuheng excels in all school academic subjects and is serving in the board of his school’s student government.

Aside from piano, Shuheng enjoys playing hockey, jogging, and reading.

youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ShuhengZhang

Carey Byron, age 13, has been studying the piano since the age of 4.

Since then, she has won top prizes at a number of local, state, and international competitions. In 2015, at the age of ten, she was the first prize winner of the Los Angeles Young Musicians International Competition, and received the second prize in the American Protégé International Competition, which led to her debut in Carnegie Hall. In 2016, she became the alternate winner of the Georgia MTNA competition. In both 2015 and 2016, she was awarded as the “Conference Recitalist” (first prize) in the Georgia Music Teachers Association’s three round auditions. In addition, she won first prize at the Romantic and Impressionistic Piano Competition held by the Atlanta Music Teachers Association. In 2016, she received the first prize in the Franz Liszt International Competition, where she also received a special prize for the “Best Performance of an Opera Paraphrase.” In 2017, she was a prize winner in the San Jose International Piano Competition and Glendale Piano Competition. In the same year, she won first place in the CAPMT Concerto Competition’s South Regional division, as well as the State Finals. She was the alternate winner in the California MTNA competition in 2017.

“When I first found out that I became a Young Scholar, my heart skipped a beat. It felt as if a thousand of Christmas lights were lighting up all over me! By being a Young Scholar, I would get more opportunities to share my feelings, stories, and ideas to a variety of audience through performances offered by the Lang Lang Foundation. The Foundation will offer me more training so I will become a better musician. It will be a thrill to interact with other musicians who share the same passion for music, and perform together! It will be such an honor to perform and participate in classes with Lang Lang, who has always been my inspiration. I am really looking forward to a new musical journey as a Young Scholar!”

At the age of ten, Carey was one of the prodigies selected by the Atlanta Steinway Society and, at the age of eleven, was the youngest performer featured in the Atlanta’s Young Artist series at the Emory Chamber Music Society. She has performed solo as well as chamber music recitals in the Zipper, Thayer, and Warner concert halls, to name a few. Carey had her orchestral debut in Italy with the Brunesis Virtuosi Orchestra under Maestro Uri Segal at the age of 12. She has participated in summer festivals in the Colburn School and Oberlin College, and has also performed in master classes for Dae-Jin Kim, John O’Conor, Steven Spooner, Yoshikazu Nagai, Angela Cheng, Boris Slutsky, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi. In 2017, she performed alongside withthe world-renowned concert pianist, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, in the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Carey is currently a student of Ory Shihor at the Colburn Music Academy. She aspires to become an inspiration to the new generation in classical music.

Carey Byron’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_coRCaCOVY6SgcHNJFOJA

Carey Byron’s public FaceBook:

https://www.facebook.com/CareyByronPianist/

Kimberly Han – a pianist and violinist from Chicago, Illinois. She started piano lessons when she was five and a half years old, and has been studying with Brenda Huang for 9 years. She is also taking regular masterclasses with Alexander Korsantia from New England Conservatory.

“To me, classical music is timeless; it has the ability to transcend any age, and express emotions through generations of people. Being selected as a 2016-2018 Young Scholar by the Lang Lang International Music Foundation allows me to explore this belief not only through many performance opportunities, but also through interacting with fellow musicians and young scholars, like myself. In these coming two years, I am definitely looking forward to joining the Lang Lang Young Scholars family, learning from Maestro Lang Lang for sure, and most importantly, just being able to share and give my love for music to others.

Becoming a 2016-2018 Young Scholar is an indescribable feeling. It was amazing, but realizing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has made me really think about the teachers, friends, symphony orchestras, and performances in my life. Everything, and everyone in these years has helped me become who I am today. For that I am extremely grateful. And I’m looking forward to what’s coming next.”

A freshman of Lake Forest High School, Kimberly is a frequent award-winner in many music events – East Central Division / Illinois State Winner of 2016 MTNA Junior Competition, Walgreens National Concerto Competition Winner (2015 20th MYA Senior Division Overall & Piano Category; 2014 19th Open Junior Division Piano and 2013 18th MYA Junior Division Piano), Winner of 2015 Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Youth Audition in March 2015, and Winner of CSO “Carnival of the Animals” Audition in January 2015, Piano Winner of 2014 11th DePaul Concerto Festival, First Place winner of 2013 15th Chopin Youth Piano Competition, along with many more.

As a solo pianist and chamber musician, Kimberly has performed in L’Auditori of Barcelona, Spain, Chicago Symphony Center, Preston Bradley Hall of Chicago Cultural Center, DePaul Concert Hall, Bennett-Gordon Hall of Ravinia Festival, and Pick-Staiger Concert Hall of Northwestern University.

Kimberly had her concert debut with Oistrach Symphony Orchestra performing Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor in February 2014, under Maestro Mini Zikri. In March 2015, Kimberly performed Saint-Saens “Carnival of Animals” as solo pianist with Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) during guest conductor, Vladimir Kulenovic’s debut conducting the CSO. She has been invited to perform “Nights in the Garden of Spain” as a soloist with the CSO again under Maestro Scott Speck in April 2016. In 2015-2016 season, Kimberly will perform George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra and Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, 1st movement with Midwest Young Artists (MYA) Symphony Orchestra both in February 2016, under Maestro Dr. Allan Dennis. Other concerts include Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor with Lake Forest Civic Orchestra under Maestro Robert Nordling in May 2016, Franz Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major with The New North Shore Chamber Orchestra under Maestro Anatol Lysenka in November 2016, and solo concert with Highland Park Strings under Maestro Larry Block also in the fall of 2016.

Kimberly was featured as a pre-college young pianist on WFMT 98.7FM “Introductions” in January (as soloist) and August (as duo) 2015. She will be featured again in May 2016 as the 2015 CSO Youth Audition winner and a 2016-2018 Lang Lang Young Scholar. She was also selected by Lang Lang International Music Foundation to participate in the second Allianz Junior Music Camp in Barcelona, Spain in November 2014. In September 2015, The North Shore Journal featured Kimberly as a young musician in the “Standout Student” column.

In her free time, Kimberly loves playing violin with the MYA Symphony Orchestra / her chamber ensemble Trio Fiammata / school symphony orchestra, reading and traveling around the world with her family. To give back to the community, Kimberly also performs extensively in the retirement centers across the Chicagoland, and teaches violin to kids from unprivileged districts as a participant in MYA Young Music Scholar program.

Kimberly would like to thank her inspirational teachers Brenda Huang and Alexander Korsantia, for coaching her discipline, dedication and love for classical music; The Lang Lang International Music Foundation, Allianz, Dr. Allan Dennis, Robert Bassill, and the MYA staff for providing her the great opportunity to grow as a young musician; her parents and all of her friends for their continuous support and encouragement.

website: http://kimiehan.wix.com/kimie-han