To glimpse some of the rising stars, still in their teens, in the next generation of world-class pianists, this week’s piano festival by the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation will be the perfect venue. The three-day event (June 26-28) will feature outstanding pianists as well as students who will be performing, along with master classes led by guest artists and educators.
Guest artists and educators include Jonathan Mamora, whore recently took the prizes from the Maria Canals, Olga Kern, and Scottish International Piano Competitions; Hyojin Shin, who competed in last year’s Bachauer competition and won a prize before going on to take first prize and the audience prize at the Lyon International Piano Competition, and Douglas Humpherys, Bachauer’s first gold medalist who serves as the foundation’s artistic director and is professor of piano at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Mamora and Shin will perform evening concerts on June 26 and 27, respectively, at 7:30 p.m., in the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts.
Master classes for the nine students will be held at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on June 26 and 27. The final day (June 28) will highlight two concerts (3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), with festival students performing. All of the events will be held at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts in downtown Salt Lake City. Tickets are available for each of the three concerts and a festival pass can be purchased to cover all three. For more information, see the Bachauer website.
The nine students (see below for biographies), ranging in age from 15 to 18, auditioned to participate in the festival and represent Kansas, California, New York, and Utah and include three from Canada. “This is an exceptionally strong and ambitious group,” Humpherys said in an interview with The Utah Review. “We ask for a recording of 30 minutes demonstrating two different styles and suddenly they were sending whole programs with complete sonatas with some including work from the 20th century. There is a lot of high-level repertoire.”
The master classes are open to the public. Humpherys, who will lead three of the master classes, explained that one thing he likes to do is engage the students in a bit of conversation so they can feel comfortable in not just playing but also speaking about music. “After 45 years of teaching college students, I still am intrigued about the many different ways in how talented musicians respond intellectually to music.” Each festival student will perform in two master classes, before joining together in the festival students concerts.
Mamora (June 26, 7:30 p.m.) will offer a concert featuring Rachmaninoff’s monumental two sonatas and the Ligeti-inspired Five Études by David Önaç, which, incidentally, were selected in 2023 as the set work for the Scottish International Piano Competition. Önaç composed the pieces when he was 20 while he was still a master’s degree student and they were premiered in 2007.
An Indonesian-American and a native of southern California, Mamora has served as a church pianist and organist—the result of having been enrolled in piano lessons by his parents for the purpose of becoming a church musician. He has performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and he is a prize-winner of numerous piano competitions, most recently winning first prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition, Concurs Internacional de Música Maria Canals Barcelona, Olga Kern International Piano Competition, AntwerPiano International Competition, Dallas International Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, American Virtuoso International Music Competition, “Sviatoslav Richter” International Piano Competition, Chautauqua Piano Competition, and Eastman Piano Concerto Competition. He made his concerto debut at the age of 13 with the La Sierra University Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and he has since performed with such orchestras as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Simfònica Sant Cugat, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya, Eastman Philharmonia, Waring Festival Orchestra, Coachella Valley Symphony, La Sierra University Wind Ensemble, and the Loma Linda University Church Orchestra. He was recently a featured artist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates of the Desert.
He serves as the music director and organist of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs, New York and is pursuing his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester.
Shin’s program (June 27, 7:30 p.m.) will feature works by Beethoven and Scriabin, along with Chopin’s 24 Préludes.
South Korean pianist Shin has performed worldwide in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Israel, the United States, Morocco, and South Korea, on four continents. Since her orchestral debut at the age of 11 with the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Shin has appeared as a soloist with the Bazzini Consort Orchestra, the Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yale Philharmonia, and the Miami Chamber Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, among others.
Her international accomplishments began with winning second prize at the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition in 2022. In the following year, Shin won first prize and the Best Performance prize for an Ibero-American composition at the Teresa Carreño Master International Piano Competition, third prize at the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Competition, and Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition. In 2024, She was awarded first prize and the Audience Prize at the Lyon International Piano Competition and the Sascha Gorodnitzki Discretionary Prize at the Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition. Shin was also a recipient of the Evelyn Bonar Storrs Piano Scholarship in 2022 and 2023.
Born in Gangneung, South Korea, Shin began her piano lessons at the age of four with her mother. Currently, Shin is pursuing an Artist Diploma in Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
FESTIVAL STUDENTS
Eddison Chen, 15, is a ninth grader at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas, who started playing piano at the age of four. He was selected as a competitor in the 2025 National Chopin Competition. In 2024, he made his debut with the Kansas City Symphony, performing Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor and was a quarterfinalist in the 2023 Van Cliburn Junior Competition, a participant in the 2023 Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, and has received top prizes in numerous major competitions, including third prize in the 2022 MTNA National Piano Competition Junior Division and an Honorable Mention in the University of Minnesota School of Music’s e-Piano Junior Competition.
From Calgary, Charlotte Giraudeau, 16, began her music studies at the age of five. In 2023, she achieved top prizes in the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition (USA), the Beecham International Piano Competition (UK), and the Steinway Piano Competition Canada. She is the first prize winner of the 2024 Aloha and IPPA International Piano Competitions. In 2025, she won the third-prize in the Canadian Chopin Competition. She was awarded first place in the 2023 and 2024 Lancaster International Piano and Chamber Music Festival with her chamber group. Charlotte made her first public debut in the 2024 Canada’s Rising Stars 20th Anniversary Concert in Canmore, Alberta. In addition to her piano studies, she organizes the Capriccio International Young Artists and regularly organizes young artist concerts for Calgary’s senior communities. She is also a member of the Back to Bach Foundation. Aside from her music activities, she enjoys reading, biking, and skiing in the Rocky Mountains.
Auston Li, 18, currently studies piano at the Juilliard Pre-College Division with Ernest Barretta and has made appearances as a soloist under the baton of acclaimed conductors Adam Glaser and Nell Flanders, most recently performing Clara Wieck-Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center. He has been invited to perform recitals around the United States. An alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music, where he began his studies at age 8. he was recognized as the youngest winner in the history of the school’s Pre-College Symphony Piano Concerto Competition. In 2018, Auston had the honor of performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 at the Riverside Church in collaboration with MSM’s Symphony Orchestra as part of the school’s Centennial Season, later broadcast on the WQXR network’s Young Artists Showcase.
Li is the winner of the Juilliard Piano Concerto Competition, a Finalist for NPR Music’s From the Top Program, and a Finalist in the Young Artists Concerto Competition of Long Island. Beyond performance, Auston has a commitment to expanding accessibility in music education, working on outreach projects to bring classical music education and piano training to the next generation.
Brian Lin, 18, a senior at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, California, began his studies at age 6. Lin is the top prize winner of several international competitions, such as the Chicago and Weatherford. In 2024 and this year, he was selected as a National YoungArts winner for Classical Music/Piano, won the Celia Mendez Young Pianists Beethoven Competition, was honored as the state winner of the 2023 MTAC in the solo 16-18 group, and was awarded his third fellowship from the National US Chopin Foundation (2022 – 2025). In addition, he was chosen as one of the twenty participants in the 2023 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition. In the near future, he will perform solo recitals in his current five-year tenure with the prestigious Young Artist Guild of the Music Teachers’ Association of California. (2024 – 2029) He performed a joint solo fundraising concert with Armen Babakhanian to raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Brian loves sharing music with his family and community, regularly performing at facilities for children with special needs and for the elderly at Fremont Hills Assisted Living Community. Additionally, he has performed at Con Speranza’s charity concert, raising funds for St. Jude Research Hospital.
Ryan Lu, 16, started playing the piano at age 5 and is a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation and has been selected as a finalist of NPR’s From the Top. His most recent accomplishments include being admitted to Morningside Music Bridge, winner of National YoungArts award for Classical Music (piano), National Chopin Foundation Scholarship Recipient, National Finalist of the MTNA Junior Piano Performance Competition after winning First prize in the Eastern Division (2021-2022 and 2023-2024); three-time MTNA New Jersey State winner (2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2023-2024), semifinalist of 11th Bosendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition, admitted to Ettlingen International Piano competition, First place winner of the David D. Dubois Piano Competition (2024), First Place of J.Y. Park Foundation Piano Competition (2024), First place winner of Thomas Hulbert International Piano competition (2024), First place winner of Spotlight International Piano Competition (2024), First place winner in NJMTA Young Musicians Competition for eight consecutive years (2017-2024); Grand Prix of XIII Chopin International Piano Competition Hartford, CT; First place of 2020 Tristate Steinway Piano Competition, 2019 Steinway Junior Competition, Gold prize winner in the 2020 VIVO International Music Competition, and the Second prize in the 2021 Chicago International Music Competition (professional category). Ryan is also a two-time Frost Chopin Academy Scholarship recipient (2023 and 2024) and has been part of the NYYS Chamber Music Program for two years.
Based in Salt Lake City, Samuel Lu, 17, began piano at three with his parents, both piano professors at the University of Utah. His concertizing experience began rather early: in 2019, he gave a solo recital in Hong Kong at the closing ceremony of the first Helen Taylor International Piano Competition held abroad. he was the first prize winner of the 2022 MTNA National Junior Solo Piano Competition, sponsored by Kawai America. In 2023, he won Third Prize at the MTNA National Weekley and Arganbright Piano Duet Competition, and the First Prize at the 2023 Enkor International Music Competition. In 2024, he was an MTNA Senior Solo National Finalist and National YoungArts Winner in the Classical Music: Piano category. In addition, he received the Best Scriabin Prize at the 2024 Spotlight International Piano Competition for his interpretation of Scriabin Sonata Op. 53, No. 5 in F-sharp Major.
In 2025, Samuel Lu was a second-time recipient of the National YoungArts Award in Classical Music: Piano. He was also recognized as a distinguished Steinway Young Artist in 2025. His orchestral debut was with the Salt Lake Symphony and Chorale, playing Mozart Concerto in F Major, K449. He would also later play Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Major.
Raditya Muljadi, 15, is a tenth grader at Our Lady of Victory HS (Colorado) and has won first prize in international piano competitions, including Cleveland International Piano Institute Competition, Keyboard Odyssiad Festival, Chicago Music Competitions, Steinway, Paderewski and Tkaczeski, Carmel, Rubato, US International Duo Piano Competition, The Seattle International Competition (Bach Festival), Los Angeles Liszt Competition, J. Earl Lee Competition (South Dakota), and Broomfield Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. He was a semi-finalist of Singapore and Kaufman International Competition, and recently the 2025 Bosendorfer/Yamaha International Piano Competition in Phoenix, Arizona, where he received a Jury Discretionary Award for Outstanding Talent. He has represented Colorado numerous times to compete in the MTNA Central West division. Recently Raditya participated in the Nashville International Piano Competition.
At 9, Muljadi gave his first solo recital in Indonesia, and was featured multiple times as soloist with National Repertory Orchestra (Breckenridge Music Festival) and the Broomfield Symphony Orchestra in Colorado. He is a board member of Colorado non-profit organization The Musicians United for Change. He received an organ scholarship from the American Guild of Organists (Denver Rocky Mountain Chapter) in 2023, and recently from the Chopin Foundation of America and Young Arts in Florida.
Born in Montreal, Phillip Shi, 17, started piano at the age of six and currently takes advanced musical training at the Montreal Conservatory of Music. He was a laureate of the 2025 XVI Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, CT (silver medal), a semi-finalist (also the youngest candidate) at the 2024 Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition in the UK. He won the 2nd prize at the 2023 Canada Music Competition. He has won two first prizes at the Lanaudière Classical Music Festival and Competition (concerto category in 2023 and solo competition in 2025).
In April 2024, he performed Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Sinfonia de Montreal under the baton of Maestro Louis Lavigueur. He has also been invited to perform in Carnegie Hall twice at young age (in 2019 and 2020), following his outstanding performance in the Crescendo International Music Competition.
Angelina Zhou, 16, started at the age of four. She is currently studying in the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. In 2022, she performed her first solo recital, she became the First Steinway Cup winner, she was the First Prize winner in the London International Music Competition, and the First Place Winner in Royal Sound Keyboard Competition in Montreal. In May of 2023, she competed in the Outstanding Young Musicians International Music Festival (OYMI) and became a contract award winner. So far, she has been a participant of four music festivals: the Frost Chopin Academy in Miami (2023) where she was chosen to perform, Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina (2023) where she received a full-tuition scholarship, Vancouver Chopin Academy in Vancouver (2024) where she was one out of five selected participants to perform, and the Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival in Tianjin (2024) where she was graciously given the highest-possible scholarship for her age category. She also plays cello and is a composer.