< Back Previous Shuwei Liu Next WATCH VIDEO Shuwei Liu is a distinguished violin educator with a career spanning more than three decades in the United States. A graduate of the Violin Department at Shandong University of Arts in China, she brought her deep grounding in classical tradition to the U.S. in 1988 and has since guided generations of young musicians to excellence. Her students have earned top prizes in major competitions—especially in violin concertos—and many have continued their studies at leading institutions, including MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Stanford, and UC Berkeley. Among her notable protégés is acclaimed violin soloist Linus Zhang, whose artistry reflects her rigorous and inspiring mentorship. Beyond music, Shuwei has influenced more than 100 students who now thrive in medicine, healthcare, and high-tech fields. Dedicated to both musical mastery and personal growth, Shuwei Liu continues to shape exceptional musicians and well-rounded individuals.

< Back Previous David Dolan Next WATCH VIDEO David Dolan has devoted an important part of his international career as a concert pianist, researcher, and teacher to the revival of the art of classical improvisation. In his solo and chamber music performances, he incorporates extemporisation into the relevant concert repertoire in repeats, eingangs and cadenzas, as well as in preludes, fantasias, and extemporising on themes provided by the audience. David has performed worldwide in concert venues and festivals, such as the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London, Auditorium Châtelet and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Concertgebouw and Anton Philipzaal in Holland, the Jerusalem Theatre and Tel-Aviv Museum in Israel. He has made live recordings and broadcasts for several European radio and TV stations. Professor of Classical Improvisation and its various applications to solo and ensemble performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, David has been heading the Centre for Creative Performance & Classical Improvisation since 2005. He also teaches at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Since 2011, David has been running a programme of classical improvisation for performance at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Melbourne, based on annual intensive residencies. He is frequently invited to give master classes and workshops at several music institutions, such as the Juilliard School, the Royal College in London, the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow, the Chopin University in Warsaw, the New England Conservatory in Boston, the Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv Music Academies, Verbier Festival, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Auckland and Waikato Universities in New Zealand, Norwegian Music Academy in Oslo and the Paris and Geneva Conservatories. David is an associate fellow in music at Clare Hall, Cambridge University. Yehudi Menuhin’s response to David Dolan’s CD When Interpretation and Improvisation Get Together was: “David Dolan is giving new life to classical music.” Born in Israel, David Dolan studied piano with Prof. Sonia Valin and composition and improvisation with Prof. Haim Alexander at the Jerusalem Academy of Music in Jerusalem (B. Mus. and “Artist Diploma – Summa Cum Laude”). He then studied with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and with Claude Frank in New York. In 1977, he took part in Arthur Rubinstein’s class in Jerusalem. His PhD work examined parallels between emotional expression in speech and musical improvisation. Later research has focused on creativity, communication and expression in performance.

< Back Previous Amelie Jade Knapp Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 30, 2026 WATCH VIDEO Amelie Jade Knapp is at the beginning of her musical career. Despite her young age of 17, she has already achieved remarkable success, completed extensive training, and taken on numerous engagements. Her primary focus is her education as a harpist; she has been studying harp with Mag. Andrea Hampl since the age of five. In addition, she plays the recorder (studying with Mag. Thomas List) and the piano (studying with Mag. Hans Georg Kitzbichler). Her broad musicality is reflected in her success at numerous national and international competitions. She has won multiple first prizes, including at the International Harp Competition in Slovenia, and was awarded the title of Bundessiegerin 2024 at the prestigious Prima la Musica competition. Furthermore, she is the winner of the Goldene Note 2024 and the Virtuosos talent show in 2025, where she was also honored with the José Carreras Special Prize. Equally significant are her performances with various orchestras. Highlights include collaborations with Young Masters, Orchester Lyra, Camerata Carnuntum, Concerto Budapest, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the South Bohemian Philharmonic, and the Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen, performing both as a soloist and as a member of ensembles and orchestras. Through all her performances, Amelie Jade Knapp takes great joy in captivating her audience and sharing with them an essential part of her life through music.

< Back Previous Yvonne Pang Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall November 24, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Yvonne Pang is a senior at Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, CA. She toured Japan as a member of the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra and previously performed with the Berkeley Youth Orchestra. This year, Yvonne completes the ASTACAP examinations and is a first-prize winner of the North California Young Talents Competition.

< Back Julio Reyes Guitar Learn More Videos About Julio was born in Oakland, CA and started the guitar at the age of 5 with his father, a former musical diplomat in Paraguay, South America who studied with a student of Agustin Barrios. He gave his first recital at 12 and at 17 performed the "Concierto de Aranjuez" with Richard Buckley and the Oakland Symphony Orchestra. Julio has performed in Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. At 9 he started his studies on cello and eventually became a member of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra under the direction of Kent Nagano. After being principle cellist for 2 years, he became Maestro Nagano's Assistant Conductor. He has enjoyed being an educator for many years conducting youth orchestras in the US, Cuba, and Paraguay since the late 80's, giving lectures on the life and music of Agustin Barrios at conservatories of music, college music departments, and guitar societies here and abroad, teaching guitar, and teaching music at Holy Names High School in Oakland, CA for 3 years. Currently, he continues teaching guitar privately, gives lectures, recitals, and freelance conducts whenever possible. In addition to directing our Laureate Guitar ensemble this season, Julio is a three time winner in Progressive Musicians and Sound Espressivo events, Julio Reyes. In addition to his fabulous playing he is also an educator, composer and conductor Previous Next

< Back Previous Carolina Rodriguez Next Conductor Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 28, 2025 WATCH VIDEO Passionate about fostering creativity and collaboration, Carolina brings a unique blend of musical proficiency and artistic management to create impactful and harmonious performances. After earning a B.A. in Educational Sciences, Carolina completed piano performance degrees from Concordia and McGill University in Montreal and studied Dalcroze Eurhythmics at The Juilliard School in New York City. For over fifteen years, she performed as a piano soloist, in chambers and with orchestras. During this period, she also founded and managed the Tresonans Piano Trio. Carolina ventured as a cultural activist in 2016 when she launched ArteSana, a multimedia project focused on showcasing women whose lives healed through creative and artistic activities. A couple of years later, she was appointed as President of Concertando México, a philanthropic association providing music instruction to disadvantaged youth based on El Sistema in her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. In 2021, Carolina moved to Texas, where she completed a dual master’s program in Orchestra Conducting and Arts Leadership at the University of Houston. She will be conducting at Carnegie Hall for a second time this June. Carolina would like to serve and connect with others through music and the arts.

< Back Previous Jill Lawson Next WATCH VIDEO The very talented pianist Jill Lawson was born in Mexico in 1974. She grew up in Belgium and has both American and Portuguese nationality. She learned how to read music before she learned the alphabet. Today she speaks five languages fluently, but still prefers to communicate through music rather than through words. Her music provides her with a much richer vocabulary and it lies closer to her heart. Her life experiences in the last few years have helped to further enrich her range of interpretation abilities. She feels that her way of playing has become more natural, and because of this when performing, she feels almost at one with the public. During her career, Jill won several awards and distinctions. Second prize at the International Vianna da Motta Competition sent her career off to a flying start. She travelled all over the world performing at both large and small venues. Besides solo performances with international top orchestra,s she is also very fond of chamber music. Together with her brother, she forms the duo Lawson & Lawson and works with several singers on a regular basis. At the Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas in Castelo Branco she teaches piano and the course repertoire for singers. Jill’s piano education began when she was eight years old. She has studied, among other places, in Antwerp, and in Amsterdam with Jan Wijn and she completed her Masters in music at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore under Leon Fleisher and Ellen Mack. She has also attended several master classes with various master pianists, including Dimitri Bashkirov and Maria João Pires. Jill is planning an international comeback after a recent lull in activities during which she introduced more depth into her play. She has recorded the chamber music of Portuguese composer António Fragoso for Brilliant Classics and the complete sonatas for violin and piano of Hindemith will be released in December 2013 by Brilliant Classics.

< Back Previous Michael Chang Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 1, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Michael Chang is a 14-year-old composer and percussionist from California who began writing music and performing at age six. At seven, he premiered his first work, “School Song”, for voice, ukulele, and maracas. He began studying composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) in 2021. Recent premieres include “Forever Seeking” for viola, cello, and piano by SFCM faculty, “Ancient Mariner” by Mouthscape Choir, “Woodland Dance” by Lawson Middle School Concert Band, and the score for the animated short film Alma at the Los Angeles College of Music. Michael regularly performs on drums, marimba, and timpani and has appeared at Carnegie Hall (2023 Honors Performance Series), with the California All-State Symphonic Band, All-Northern Honor Band, and at Disneyland and Stanford University’s Jazz Showcase. He earned international recognition as “Season Top 1” in the Global Genius Music Competition 2022-2023, winning awards for marimba performance and his composition “Oboe Dance” for oboe, cello, vibraphone, and wood block. He studies percussion with Huei-Yuan Pan, piano with Dr. Christopher Koelzer, and composition with Dr. Mauricio Rodriguez at SFCM.

< Back Previous James Adler Next Composer/pianist Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 30, 2025 WATCH VIDEO James Adler is a pianist who “can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard” (Chicago Sun-Times) and a composer who writes “with uncommon imagination” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Mr. Adler made his orchestral performing debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has appeared in recital on the Orchestra’s Allied Arts Piano Series, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series. His appearances have brought him from Chicago's Grant Park, to London's Royal Albert Hall (broadcast by the BBC), to Thesseloniki, Greece, to New York's Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, and the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden. His extensive list of compositions is headed by Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem. Performed worldwide, recorded by AmorArtis Chorale and Orchestra, and published by Alfred Music, Memento mori features a “range of expression [that] is expansive” and is “a unique, well-crafted, emotionally rich piece” (American Record Guide). Other compositions Reflections upon a September morn (poetry by Walt Whitman); Monday's Child, performed at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Carols of Splendour, premiered at Carnegie Hall; It’s Gotta Be America, commissioned for the Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty; and Canticle For Peace, written for the opening of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Adler is also the composer of Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra (published by Alfred Music), the children’s “pOpera” Herbie and Carnie: A Dinosaga, the Classic Rag-time Suite for orchestra, numerous solo, chamber, and choral works, and the award-winning film score for The Hat Act. As performer and composer, Mr. Adler can be heard on recordings from Albany Records, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records. His album That Star in the Picture was recognized by the Global Music Awards as a Silver Medal Winner – Outstanding Achievement in the Composer; in August 2024, the album was a double award winner in the 2024 Intercontinental Music Awards Pangea Classical Category. He is a member of the Arts Department at Saint Peter's University, a National Arts Associate in the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, and an advisory board member of Sound Espressivo, which presents the “James Adler Audience Favorite Award” during their Laureates Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. James Adler is a recipient of the 2017 Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. www.adleroaksmusic.com Elegy Artist Management • www.elegyartistmanagement.com Worldwide: Price Attractions • www.priceattractions.com Photo Credit: Frank Gimpaya

< Back Previous John DiSanto Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 1, 2024 WATCH VIDEO John DiSanto is a versatile multi-woodwind performer based in New Jersey. He holds degrees from the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts and New Jersey City University, earning a Master’s in multiple woodwind performance. He performs on all members of the saxophone, clarinet, and flute families, as well as bassoon. An active freelance artist in the New York area, John currently plays reed 3 on Broadway’s Disney’s Aladdin. He has held reed 2 on The Prom and Caroline or Change, and has performed as a substitute on over 30 Broadway productions. Other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include Kid Victory (reed 2), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (reed 2), and Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular (reed 6). John is a longtime member of the Swingadelic Big Band, appearing on their recent album Bluesville, and has recorded with Charlie Rosen’s 8-Bit Big Band, as well as Broadway and Off-Broadway cast recordings. Orchestral appearances include the New Jersey Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Queens Symphony, and New Jersey Festival Orchestra. He has also performed with the Ron Aprea Big Band featuring Lew Tabackin at Birdland Jazz Club. John resides in New Jersey with his wife, Wendy, and daughter, Charlotte.

< Back Previous Charis Dimaras Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 30, 2026 WATCH VIDEO Equally at home as solo recitalist, chamber music collaborator and orchestra soloist, Greek concert pianist & conductor, Charis Dimaras, has appeared in many of the world’s leading venues (among them at Athens’ MEGARON Concert Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ European Union Parliament, London’s South Bank Center, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, St. Petersburg’s Yusupov Palace, Beijing’s Egg, and New York City’s Kaufman & Lincoln Centers and Carnegie Hall) and in music festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Turkey, Russia, Brazil, India and China. A veteran master-instructor, Dr. Dimaras currently serves as Professor of Piano and Collaborative Studies and as Keyboard Area Coordinator at Ithaca College and is the 2022 recipient of the institution’s most coveted teaching honor, its Teaching Excellence Award. In addition, Dr. Dimaras has long been sought after as a guest clinician for solo piano, chamber music, and vocal coaching master classes and as an adjudicator of competitions nationally and internationally. Finally, since 2024, he has served as resident piano faculty for the annual piano program of the Chautauqua Summer Music Institute. He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in piano performance from London’s Royal College of Music and New York’s Juilliard School & Manhattan School of Music, respectively, and a master's in orchestral conducting from Bard College. He has also pursued advanced German Literature studies at the University of Athens.

< Back Previous Marin Vitas Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 1, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Marin Vitas (Split, 1989) holds a Master’s degree in solo singing from the University of Mostar, studying under N. Manuilenko and A. Pljevljak-Krehić. In 2016 he made his operatic debut in the comic opera Turia i Plamenko by B. Erceg. He subsequently appeared as a soloist in the choreo-drama concert Naracija i Opera, directed by I. L. Lema, and in the musical spectacle Mozart u vrtu, conceived and conducted by I. Tatarević. In Split, under maestro E. Mihajlović, he performed the role of Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. He completed his graduate studies with a performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at St. Paul’s Church in Cambridge, England. In 2019, as part of the concert series “Vinko Lesić” in Split, he earned distinction and was awarded a special prize—a masterclass with renowned Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić. Throughout his studies Vitas regularly attended masterclasses and vocal seminars with esteemed pedagogues including Fiorenza Cedolins, Nelli Manuilenko, José van Dam, Radmila Bakočević, Egon Mihajlović, Daniela Schillaci, Renata Pokupić, among others. He continued his postgraduate development at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of Renata Pokupić, with whom he performed in 2020 alongside the Croatian Baroque Ensemble (HRBA) at the Croatian House in Split. At the Academy he appeared in several projects as a soloist, including the opera Animal Farm (Snowball) under the baton of Mladen Tarbuk and directed by Krešimir Dolenčić, staged on the occasion of the Academy’s centennial and awarded the Rector’s Prize. Most recently, in autumn 2023, he performed J. S. Bach’s cantata Wiederstehe doch der Sünde with the Mostar Chamber Ensemble in the cathedrals of Mostar and Sarajevo. He continues his artistic development in Zagreb under the guidance of Željka and Neda Martić.