Ms. Akimoto's career began in Japan at age 10 when she won first prize in the NHK All-Japan Competition. At 13 as a last minute substitute she debuted with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra in the premier performance of Mozart's Concerto K. 415. With no piano score available she composed her own cadenza which stunned the audience. She quickly established herself as a gifted young pianist concertizing throughout Japan and on radio and television.

Ms. Akimoto subsequently came to the Juilliard School of Music to further her study. James Friskin, who became her fist teacher there, wrote of his experience at Miss Akimoto's entrance exam, “One in particular who stood out in my memory was a student from the Orient. I gave her the highest possible score which was unique in my entire teaching career.” In her first two years at Juilliard she was a winner in the school's concerto competition and took first prize in the International J.S. Bach Competition in Washington D.C. With the sudden passing of Friskin she resumed her studies with Sascha Gorodnitzsky. She further studied and performed under Guido Agosti of the Acadamia Chigiana, Siena, Italy. Concertizing increased during the next few years and by the time of her graduation she had a very active schedule in which she performed in the U.S., Japan and Europe. Her performances were endowed with passion and intensity and received with great enthusiasm wherever she appeared.

When the career of her daughter, Allison Eldredge, emerged internationally as one of today's most gifted cellists, a unique mother-daughter Duo was born. Their collaboration has thrilled audiences around the globe in numerous recitals, including those at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Moscow Conservatory Hall; Queen Elizabeth Hall in London; in Haifa, Israel; Casals Hall and Suntory Hall in Tokyo; Symphony Hall in Osaka; the Phillips Collection and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; Ravinia in Chicago; Royce Hall in Los Angeles; the Cleveland Museum of Art; San Francisco Symphony Hall; the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The Duo has recorded for Canyon Classics and Denon labels.

She was heard on radio and television including ABC's Good Morning America, WQXR Artist Showcase in New York, Cable channels 12 and 16, numerous appearances on NHK radio and television in Japan, and a concert broadcast from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Ms. Akimoto is a frequent guest at colleges and conservatories for Master Classes and individual coaching and has served as judge at various national and international competitions. Concerts from 2007-2009 included recitals at the Caramoor Festival in New York, Washington D.C., and a tour in Japan.

Her recent engagements include concerts and recordings in Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, the Orchestra of the Teatro Argentino in La Plata, Argentina as well as numerous appearances in the US and Europe. She has eight current and pending CD recordings with Naxos, New York Philomusica Records, Ruhr Festival and ECM.

Ya-Fei Chuang’s mastery of the most challenging solo repertoire is comple¬mented by extensive activities as a chamber musician and duo partner with Steven Isserlis, Kim Kashkashian, and Robert Levin. Her commitment to contemporary music includes world premieres of works by Stanley Walden and Thomas Oboe Lee and future projects with John Harbison.

Prizewinner at the Cologne International Piano Competition at age 18, Ya-Fei Chuang first performed on television in her native Taiwan at the age of eight and gave her first public recital at age nine. She won first prize at the nationally televised ‘Genius vs. Genius’ Competition at age ten and first prize at the National Competition (Taiwan) at age eleven. The following year she received unprecedented fellowships and scholarships from several prestigious foundations in Germany and Taiwan that enabled her to pursue studies at the Musikhochschule Freiburg and Cologne. She finished her studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston studying with Russell Sherman. Ya-Fei Chuang serves on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory and teaches two piano performance seminars at the New England Conservatory SCE. She also teaches master classes in the US, Europe and Asia, including Tanglewood and annually at the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

In June 2003, Ms. Golandsky and senior faculty members previously affiliated with the Taubman Institute formed the Golandsky Institute, which is the pre-eminent center for the study, advancement, and dissemination of the Taubman Approach. The Institute conducts an annual symposium and festival every July at Princeton University. More information on the Institute can be found at www.golandskyinstitute.org.

Ms. Golandsky presents the Taubman Approach in its entirety in the 10-DVD set The Taubman Techniques. In conjunction with the Golandsky Institute, she has also further developed the Taubman Approach in the 3-DVD set, The Art of Rhythmic Expression, and the 2-DVD set, The Forgotten Lines: Lines that Support, Surround, and Intensify the Melody.

Ms. Golandsky has lectured and conducted master classes at some of the most prestigious music institutions in the United States, including the Eastman School of Music, Yale University, Harvard University, the Curtis Institute, and Oberlin Conservatory, as well as internationally.

After getting prizes at several international competitions, Jun Kanno has played with the Munich Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic. In chamber music setting, he plays regularly with the Vienna String Quartet and the Salzburger Solisten. In Paris where Jun Kanno lives, he has given many recitals at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Salle Gaveau.

Professor at the Juan Pedro Carrero Music School in Barcelona from 1996 to 2007, his pedagogy is also highly appreciated. Prestigious institutions such as Scuola di Musica di Fiesole Hartford University and Toho School of Music invite him regularly. Often invited as judge at international competitions (London, Porto, Messiaen-Paris), he holds master classes all over the world.

After playing the whole cycle of “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus” during the Messiaen year 2008, Jun Kanno is giving concerts dedicated to Joseph Haydn in important musical cities such as Salzburg, Paris and Tokyo this year.

Over the past twenty-five years, Phillip Kawin has developed a highly individualistic pedagogical approach that combines aesthetic and artistic influences from Artur and Karl-Ulrich Schnabel, from Alfred Cortot through studies with Cortot’s long-time associate Jules Gentil, Leschetitzky and other visionary musicians of the past. He champions the mastery of creative tone production and the advanced principles of sound pianism. His musicianship embodies an analytical, yet eclectic approach, while encompassing the intuitive aspects of music-making.

Phillip Kawin is in constant demand at national and international conferences and festivals. He has given his renowned lectures and insightful master classes at such institutions as the Moscow Conservatory, Rimsky-Korsakov (St. Petersburg) Conservatory, Van Cliburn Piano Institute, Beijing Central and Shanghai Conservatories, Seoul National University, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and others internationally. For the past twelve years, he has been in residence at the Piano Summer International Institute / Festival in SUNY New Paltz, New York. Recently he returned from Israel, where he replaced famed Russian pianist Nikolai Petrov on the faculty of the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes. He was also on the jury for the 6th International Tchaikovsky Competition For Young Musicians 2009 in Suwon, Korea. Since 2004 he has been an active presenter at the annual World Piano Pedagogy Conference each season .

Phillip Kawin has performed in recitals and as soloist with orchestras, as well as adjudicated throughout Europe, Russia, Asia, Australia, and the US. He performed the opening concert of the 2006 St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra season with the Beethoven C-minor piano concerto, which he also performed with the Korean Symphony Orchestra. As a regular guest of the International Academy of Music, Phillip Kawin has taught and performed six consecutive years in Italy and six times in St. Petersburg, Russia. He opened the first Burgos International Music Festival in Spain. He has also been the subject of numerous programs and interviews on TV, radio, in print and on-line.

He has recently released a critically acclaimed double CD of solo works by Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Prokofiev, which also includes an exclusive interview with radio talk show host and renowned author David Dubal on the Master Performers label. His five DVDs for Excellence in Music, Inc. recorded live at the World Piano Pedagogy Conferences, are available on www.pianovision.com. They include master classes and such original lecture titles as: Sound Principles and Principles of Sound, Cultivating Pianistic Command, and Assimilation: The Key To Unleashing A Student’s Potential.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Phillip Kawin began his piano studies at the age of seven. He was invited by Jules Gentil to study at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, where he graduated at the age of eighteen. He then continued his education in New York City, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Manhattan School of Music as a protege of Dora Zaslavsky Koch, a pupil of Harold Bauer and Wilhelm Backhaus.
He credits John Perry as being a major pianistic and profound artistic influence.

Phillip Kawin is a Steinway Artist.

She studied under Professor Jinwoo Chung till 1969, and continued studies at Indiana University on a full scholarship with Robert Hamilton, George Sebok, and Menahem Pressler. She studied chamber music with distinguished cellist Janos Starker, and the violinists Joseph Gingold and Franco Gulli. In New York she has worked with Ms. Adele Marcus, as well as Leonard Rose, Leon Fleisher, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Beaux Arts Trios. She has studied with Maria Curcio in London.

She received her bachelors and masters degrees from Indiana University and her doctor of Piano Pedagogy degree from Columbia University.

In 1969, Ms. Kim won the Young Artist Competition, held by the Indianapolis Symphony. Since then, she has been playing solo and chamber music concerts in Canada , Italy , Southeast Asia, and the United States . She has performed extensively in New York City in Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, and Queens Colden Center.

In 1990, she gave her formal debut concert at Carnegie Recital Hall as the first concert for Carnegie Hall's Centennial Celebration Series. She also gave her formal San Francisco debut at Herbst Theater.

She has been a professor and Associate Director of London Piano Festival for the period of 1993 through 1997. Currently she is a professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Kyungwon University. She serves as the President of Korean National Piano Teachers Association. She is now working as a pianist, teacher, author and lecturer.

In 1989 she immigrated to USA , where effective piano pedagogy became prime focus of her scientific recearch. Dr. Levant developed her own approach to piano pedagogy, which became a foundation for her book "The Anatomy of Musicality". The book is highly acclaimed by leading university professors, and reviewed on NPR and in american music magazines. Dr. Levant teaches big private studio, judges competitions,gives lectures and presentations at the national and international conferences. Among her recent presentations are WPPC in Dallas , Steinway Hall , New York ; UCLA, California ; St. Petersburg, Russia; European Piano Teachers Association, Serbia. She has her own seminar for piano teachers,entitled "Seven Stars Piano Playing". Recently Dr. Levant completed a new book for children with step-by-step description of teaching technique and musicality. In 2006/2007 Dr. Levant 's name was included in NHR's Outstanding American Teachers.

His orchestral appearances include performances with the Russian National Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the Südwestrundfunk Orchestra. He has played in numerous festivals, including the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, the Berliner Festwochen, the International Sommeracademy Mozarteum in Austria , the Verbier Festival in Switzerland , and the Argerich-Beppu Music Festival in Japan . He has won prizes in more than a dozen international competitions, including Busoni in Italy and Guardian in Ireland . He is also a recipient of the esteemed Pro Europa prize awarded by the European Foundation for Culture. Active as a chamber musician, Margulis has performed recitals with, among others, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, the soloists of the Moscow Virtuosi, members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Moscow String Quartet. He also concertizes with Martha Argerich on two pianos in Germany, Japan, and the USA.

Margulis is a third generation pianist and teacher and gives master classes in the USA , Europe, and Asia . Born in St. Petersburg , Russia , Jura Margulis was raised in Germany , where he studied with his father, Dr. Vitaly Margulis, at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg . He was also a student at the prestigious Fondazione per il Pianoforte in Cadenabbia at Lake Como in Italy . He moved to the United States to study with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore , and made the US his home. Margulis is the inaugural holder of the "Emily J. McAllister Endowed Professorship in Piano" at the J.W. Fulbright College of the University of Arkansas , Fayetteville .

As a music educator Nehama assists both teachers and children to further their musical expertise in both the Suzuki and traditional methods through lecturing, teaching and master classes throughout the world. She trained as a dancer for over 20 years and also worked as a dance accompanist with both the Australian Ballet School and The Australian Ballet Company. This resulted in her composing music for several children’s ballets as well as “Arena” for The Australian Ballet Company.

Nehama has also been a teacher and director of a Yamaha Music School. Currently Nehama is Director of Suzuki Piano Teacher Training in Victoria. Her own students, known as Young Musicians of Excellence are often invited to perform for corporate events and have participated in several Festivals including the Melbourne International Festival, Castlemaine and Port Fairy Festivals. Recently they gave a recital in the beautiful regional Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria.

As well as having a Master of Music degree, Nehama has been honored with an OAM (Order of Australia Medal). She is included in the “Who’s Who of Australian Women” and was appointed an Australia Day Ambassador.by The Australia Day Council in 2008 She represents Victoria on the APPC (Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference) Council and is vice-president of the Victorian Music Teachers Association. She also represents Australia on the Board of the International Suzuki Asoociation (ISA).

Nehama also produces and directs orchestral concerts known as the Patma Music Family Concerts and for this was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2003 to research these with major symphony orchestras in North America. 2009 marks the fifth year of these successful concerts at Federation Square, Melbourne.

Nehama is delighted to be presenting at WPPC fore the third time and looks forward to meeting up with both new and old friends.

JANICE MEYER THOMPSON is Professor of Piano at Arizona State University where she teaches studio piano, directs the graduate piano pedagogy program, and is founding director of the Piano Prep/Conservatory Program. She has performed extensively internationally as a chamber musician and also enjoys a national reputation as a leader in the field of piano teacher training.

ELAINE GREENFIELD is an acclaimed artist teacher from Burlington, Vermont, who has performed nationwide with noted appearances at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Phillips Collection and Boston’s Gardner Museum. A recent CLAVIER review lauded Ms. Greenfield's 2004 CD release, "Debussy Preludes, Bks 1 & 2," Centaur Records, calling her performances "impeccable"..."how this music was meant to sound.”

She received a master’s degree in the honors program at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she studied piano performance with master teacher John Perry. A successful studio piano teacher for over twenty years, Ms. Sicsic was also active in the development of piano pedagogy courses that she taught at Rice University and at Frostburg State University in Maryland. Ms. Sicsic has performed in the U.S. and Canada as soloist, chamber musician, and as part of a duo piano team with her husband Henri-Paul Sicsic. She is in demand as an organist, a collaborative artist and as a dynamic clinician who gives workshops on piano teaching and the Alexander Technique.

A graduate of the Vancouver School of the Alexander Technique, Ms. Sicsic was recently elected to the head council of CANSTAT, Canada’s Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.

Nancy is currently teaching courses in the Alexander Technique and applied piano as a member of the Graduate Music Faculty at the University of Toronto.

Sicsic taught at Rice University from 1986 to 1992 as the associate of eminent artist-teacher John Perry. He was a member of the piano faculty at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver for thirteen years. His strong commitment to teaching and ability to enrich and inspire young talents is legendary. His students have distinguished themselves at the national and international levels, earning prestigious Fulbright and Canada Council grants and winning top prizes and awards at major competitions. His teachers include Juliette Audibert-Lambert (herself a student of Gabriel Fauré and of Alfred Cortot ), Pierre Sancan (professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and recipient of the First Grand Prix de Rome of Composition), and renowned pianist and master teacher John Perry.

At the Conservatoire de Nice, France, Sicsic was awarded a first prize with honours in piano, a first prize in chamber music, and a conducting diploma. As a pianist, he also received a first prize at the Grand Prix de la Ville de Nice Competition and top prize at the Royaume de la Musique National Radio Competition in France. A concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, pianist Henri-Paul Sicsic has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Pasadena Philharmonic, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, the Abbotsford Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, among others. His performances have been aired in New York City on WQXR radio, on the National French program “France Musique” in other major centers in the U.S. and on the C.B.C. in Canada.

Sicsic joined the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto July 2007. He is a proponent of the Alexander Technique and also studies Tai Chi Chuan. He enjoys French cuisine and is an avid marathon runner.

Benjamin continues to perform his Piano Show, where beautiful classical music is presented in a contemporary, theatrical way. He is the author of The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in the USA. In 1987, he was Editor-In-Chief of Piano Life magazine, and Founder and Artistic Director of the International Piano Summer Festival held in a 17th Century castle in Zemono, Slovenia.

Benjamin has been a prizewinner in several international piano competitions. For his performance of Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E Flat Major, he received the highest national honor in his native Slovenia.