2023 Judges

Final Round

Boris Slutsky

Jury Chair, Yale University

Consistently acclaimed for his exquisite tonal beauty and superb artistry, Boris Slutsky has appeared on nearly every continent as a soloist and recitalist, collaborating with eminent conductors and major orchestras in the United States, Europe, Canada, Israel, Latin America, and Asia. He has won first prizes in the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition, the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, and the William Kapell International Piano Competition, where he also received the Audience Prize and and the William Backhaus Award. Also an avid chamber musician, Slutsky’s almost three decades of chamber music collaborations include the critically acclaimed recording of Schumann’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Ilya Kaler (Naxos), as well as performances with many other renowned artists.

At the Yale School of Music, Slutsky is Professor of Piano, teaching a studio of graduate-level pianists. He has been featured in performance on Yale’s Horowitz Piano Series. Before coming to Yale, Slutsky was a faculty member at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, visiting faculty at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, and Visiting Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of Music. He has also served as a jury member of many international piano competitions and presented masterclasses throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. His students have won prizes at numerous prestigious international events.

Born in Moscow to a family of musicians, Slutsky received his early training at Moscow’s Gnessin School for Gifted Children as a student of Anna Kantor, and completed his formal studies at the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, studying with Nadia Reisenberg, Nina Svetlanova, John Browning, and Joseph Seiger. In addition, he has worked for many years with his mentor Alexander Eydeleman.

Sean Chen

Univesity of Missouri - Kansas City

A “thoughtful musician well beyond his years” (The Republic), pianist Sean Chen shares his “alluring, colorfully shaded renditions” (New York Times) and “genuinely sensitive” (LA Times) playing with audiences around the world in solo and chamber recitals, concerto performances, and masterclasses. After winning the 2013 American Pianists Awards, placing third at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and being named a 2015 Annenberg Fellow, Mr. Chen is now a Millsap Artist in Residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory.

Mr. Chen has performed with many prominent orchestras, including the Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Kansas City, San Diego, Knoxville, Hartford, Louisiana Philharmonic, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Pasadena, Phoenix, Santa Fe, and New West Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Chamber Orchestras of Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and South Bay. He has collaborated with such esteemed conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Michael Stern, Gerard Schwarz, Nicholas McGegan, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Marcelo Lehninger, and James Judd. Solo recitals have brought him to major venues worldwide, including Jordan Hall in Boston, Subculture in New York City, the American Art Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Salle Cortot in Paris.

Mr. Chen has served on the juries of notable piano competitions, including the American Pianists Awards, Thailand International Piano Competition, West Virginia International Piano Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, and Steinway competitions around the country. Given his natural inclination for teaching and approachable personality, Mr. Chen is particularly in demand for residencies that combine performances with master classes, school concerts, and artist conversations, which have brought him to such institutions as the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, University of British Columbia, University of Houston Moores School, Spotlight Awards at the Los Angeles Music Center, Young Artist World Piano Festival, and several Music Teachers’ Associations throughout the country.

Mr. Chen has been featured in both live and recorded performances on WQXR (New York), WFMT (Chicago), WGBH (Boston), WFYI (Indianapolis), KCUR (Kansas City), KPR (Kansas), NPR’s From the Top, and American Public Media’s Performance Today. Additional media coverage includes a profile featured on the cover of Clavier Companion in May 2015, recognition as “One to Watch” by International Piano Magazine in March 2014, and inclusion in WFMT’s “30 Under 30.”

His CD releases include the 2021 all-Ravel digital album on the Steinway & Sons label, featuring Sonatine and Le Tombeau de Couperin; La Valse, another solo recording on the Steinway label, featuring Mr. Chen's own arrangement of La Valse and hailed for “penetrating artistic intellect” (Audiophile Audition); a live recording from the Cliburn Competition released by harmonia mundi, praised for his “ravishing tone and cogently contoured lines” (Gramophone); an album of Michael Williams’s solo piano works on the Parma label; and an album of Flute, Oboe, and Piano repertoire titled KaleidosCoping with colleagues Michael Gordon and Celeste Johnson. Mr. Chen has also contributed to the catalog of Steinway’s new Spirio system.

A multifaceted musician, Mr. Chen also transcribes, composes, and improvises. He recently premiered his composition, Daydream No. 1 - Steps, commissioned as a gift for the retirement of American Pianists Association's President/CEO. His transcriptions of such orchestral works as Ravel’s La Valse, Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, and the Adagio from Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, have been received with glowing acclaim and enthusiasm, and his encore improvisations are lauded as “genuinely brilliant” (Dallas Morning News). His Prelude in F# was commissioned by fellow pianist Eric Zuber, and subsequently performed in New York. An advocate of new music, he has also collaborated with several composers and performed their works, including Lisa Bielawa, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Williams, Nicco Athens, Michael Gilbertson, and Reinaldo Moya.

Born in Florida, Mr. Chen grew up in the Los Angeles area of Oak Park, California. His impressive achievements before college include the NFAA ARTSweek, Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight, and 2006 Presidential Scholars awards. These honors combined with diligent schoolwork facilitated offers of acceptance by MIT, Harvard, and The Juilliard School. Choosing to study music, Mr. Chen earned his Bachelor and Master of Music from Juilliard, meanwhile garnering several awards, most notably the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. He received his Artist Diploma in 2014 at the Yale School of Music as a George W. Miles Fellow. His teachers include Hung-Kuan Chen, Edward Francis, Jerome Lowenthal, and Matti Raekallio.

Mr. Chen resides in the suburbs of Kansas City with his wife, Betty, a violinist in the Kansas City Symphony, and their daughters Ella and Maeve. When not at the piano, Mr. Chen enjoys tinkering with computers, and exploring math, science, and programming. Mr. Chen is a Steinway Artist and is managed by Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd.

Andrey Ponochevny

Southern Methodist University

Andrey Ponochevny’s career has encompassed the globe as a preeminent talent among performing artists today. Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer has written that, “His performance seized attention from first note to last.” Additionally, The Washington Post stated that his playing had “power and finesse that brought the audience to its feet in a long-standing ovation.” Ponochevny has received prizes at many international piano competitions including the Bronze Medal at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, First Prize at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland and First Prize at the Tomassoni International Piano Competition in Cologne. His other competition accolades include awards at international competitions in Prague, Warsaw, Dublin, Hong Kong, Riga and New Orleans. Among his numerous awards, he was twice named “Outstanding Artist in China” (2009 and 2011) in addition to having been given the positions of “Honorable Professor” of Jilin College of Arts (China) and “Visiting Professor” at Beihua University (China). In his hometown of Minsk (Belarus), he was awarded the title “Minskovite of the year” in 2002. In the concert hall, Ponochevny has garnered equal success having performed extensively in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. He has given solo recitals at major venues including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Philharmonie in Cologne, City Hall in Hong Kong, Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Salle Alfred Cortot in Paris, National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, Stadtcasino in Basel and the Harbin Opera House in China. Ponochevny’s appearances with orchestras include performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Des Moines Symphony, Irving Symphony, Plano Symphony, Belarusian State Chamber Orchestra, East Texas Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Nashua Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Wuhan Philharmonic, Tianjin Symphony, Xinjiang Philharmonic, Belarusian State Symphony and the Orquestra Filarmonica del Municipio de Guayaquil, among others.

His concerts have been broadcast on WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, WDR Cologne (Germany), Kultura Minsk (Belarus), SIRTVS Ljubljana (Slovenia), ROROR Bucharest (Romania), AUABC Adelaide (Australia), and DKDR Copenhagen (Denmark). Ponochevny has also performed at many prestigious festivals including the Ruhr Klavier Festival and International Ludwigsburg Festival (Germany), Serie de los Nuevos Virtuosos (Puerto Rico), Bravissimo Festival (Guatemala), International Keyboard Institute & Festival (New York City, NY), Changchun International Festival (China), Piano Texas (Fort Worth, TX), Music in the Mountains (Durango, CO) and Lanzhou International Piano Festival (China). In addition to his concert career, Mr. Ponochevny teaches at the University of Dallas since 2007 and, in addition, has begun his appointment as an Artist in Residency at SMU in August 2022. Andrey Ponochevny is a Yamaha Artist.

Preliminary Judges

Diego Caetona

Sam Houston State University

Brazilian-American pianist Diego Caetano was considered by the Italian newspaper La Stampa "a gifted pianist with a brilliant technique and musicality." He has been performing widely as soloist and chamber musician throughout the USA, Brazil, Chile, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, Yokohama's Philia Hall, Lisbon's Palácio da Foz, Rio de Janeiro's Sala Cecília Meireles, and London's Royal Albert Hall.

He has worked with conductors such as Michael Palmer, Paul Hostetter, Neil Thomson, Rodrigo de Carvalho, Guilherme Bernstein, Joaquim Jayme, Daniel Guedes, and others. He has been featured in recitals and concerto appearances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Louisiana International Piano Series, Durango's Conservatory Music of the Mountains, Bangkok's Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy, and Brasília's International Music Festival. An advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered works by composers Robert Spillman, Anne Guzzo, Marlos Nobre, Roger Goeb, and Guilherme Bernstein.

Diego Caetano maintains an active schedule as an educator. He has frequently served as a masterclass clinician and competition adjudicator in various universities and conservatories around the globe and has presented at various national and international conferences about pedagogical works by Brazilian composers, effective practicing techniques, and performance anxiety. His students have received prizes at national and international piano competitions. He is a member of Duo Lispector with Russian violinist Evgeny Zvonnikov and a member of Resch - Caetano Duo with German tenor Richard Resch. He has recently released the CD “French Connection: Violin Sonatas of the 20th Century” with violinist Evgeny Zvonnikov for the Italian-Japanese label DaVinci Classics.

Dr. Caetano received the top prizes in more than fifty national and international piano competitions, including Città di Massa Concorso per Giovani Musicisti, Bonn Prize International Music Competition, Bucharest Pro Piano International Piano Competition, International Piano Competition HR Princess Lalla Meryem, MTNA Young Artist - Steinway & Sons, "Arnaldo Estrella" Piano Competition, and many more. He has also won special awards including Best Interpreter of Brazilian Composers, Best Interpreter of Spanish Composers, and Prix d'Excellence in Performance.

Dr. Caetano graduated with a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a Master of Music degree from the University of Wyoming, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil). Caetano has studied under the guidance of Dr. David Korevaar, Bob Spillman, Dr. Theresa Bogard, Dr. Maria Helena Jayme, and Lílian Carneiro de Mendonça. He also studied with Dr. Nadezhda Eismont at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, in Russia.

He is the co-founder and Artistic Director at Ávila International Music Festival in Ávila (Spain).He was the President of the World Piano Teachers Association - Texas Chapter from 2016-2021. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Piano at Sam Houston State University, and a Shigeru Kawai Artist.

Amy Gustafson

Gijon International Piano Festival

Praised for her “exquisite sensitivity” and a “style filled with class and elegance” by La Voz de Asturias (Asturias, Spain) and recognized as a “talented player who doesn’t fit the cookie-cutter mold” by Lucid Culture (New York City), American pianist Amy E. Gustafson has performed across the United States and in both Western and Eastern Europe. Her debut album, Reverie, consists of music by Claude Debussy and was released in June 2017.

Recent performances include replacing legendary pianist Abbey Simon in Los Angeles at LACMA’s series, Sundays Live, an appearance with the Sofia Sinfionetta in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a concert tour in Dallas, Texas with her piano duo, Duo Azul. Other recent engagements have taken her to Spain, China, and Canada, and she has also performed New York City venues, such as Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Trinity Church Wall Street, the Tenri Cultural Institute, CAMI Hall and the Kosciuszko Foundation.

Born into a musical family, her talent was evident at an early age, and she received much of her beginning piano instruction from her grandmother. By the age of 15, she had won several local competitions, including MTNA’s Baldwin Competition, and her success led her to move to New York City to continue her studies.

Since then, Gustafson has won numerous awards, including the second prize in the International Young Artists Piano Competition, second prize in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, and the Special Presentation Award and the Alumni Award from Artists International Presentations, Inc.

Gustafson completed her studies at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. Her major teachers have included Julian Martin, Andre-Michel Schub, Anton Nel, Constance Keene, and Miyoko Lotto, and she has benefited from the advice of many renowned pedagogues, including Solomon Mikowsky, Arie Vardi, Veda Kaplinsky, Robert McDonald, Paul Badura-Skoda, Marc Durand, Martin Canin, Leslie Howard, and Luiz de Moura Castro.

In addition to her performing career, Gustafson is on the piano faculty at Millersville University and is Director and Faculty of the Gijón International Piano Festival in Gijón, Spain, as well as Director of the Palmetto International Piano Festival in South Carolina. Previously, Dr. Gustafson directed The Stony Brook International Piano Festival in Stony Brook, New York.

Amy E. Gustafson is a Yamaha Artist.

Hye-Jung Hong

Missouri State University

Since giving her debut at the Palace of Arts in Seoul, Korea, Hye-Jung Hong has performed in recitals in Germany, Holland, Italy, China, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan and Canada. In the U.S., she has appeared as concerto soloist with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and has given numerous solo and collaborative concerts. She has performed at the Missouri Music Teachers Association State Conference, and has appeared on concert series in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Recent performances include a guest concert at the 19th Kota Kinabalu Music Festival in Malaysia; recitals at Tainan National University of the Arts and National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan; a guest recital at Sangmyung University in Korea; recitals at Liaoning Normal University and Qingdao University in China; a duo performance on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial concert series in Chicago; guest recitals at Pittsburg State University, Spelman College, University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University.

Dr. Hong has received critical praise for the artistry of her performances. Her playing has been described as “full of energy and electricity that stimulates the Korean musical world.” (Piano Eum-Ak) The German newspaper Die Rheinpfalz praised the “musicality, crystal clearness and elegance” of her performances. She has recorded on the Navona Records label.

Dr. Hong’s principal teachers include Julian Martin, Dominique Weber, Daewook Lee and Yonghee Moon. A dedicated teacher, her students have won top prizes in many competitions including the Kuleshov International Piano Competition, Charles R. Hall Young Artist Competition, Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, Lee Piano Competition, Starr Young Artist Competition, and Federation of Music Clubs State Competition. She received her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. Currently she is Associate Professor of Piano at Missouri State University.

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