KEVIN WANG

COUNTRY – Canada

AGE – 17

HOST FAMILY – Jan and Bill Raisch

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Kevin began his piano studies at age eight in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is currently studying with Lang-Ning Liu at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy in Toronto under scholarship. He has played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Conductor Maziar Heidari in Meridian Hall. In 2022, he was the winner of the OMNI Music Competition (age group 15-17) in Montreal and was a finalist at the Kaufman International Youth Music Competition in New York where he was awarded the Best Performance of a Romantic Piece. He was also the youngest competitor and semifinalist of the Concours OSM (Montreal) in 2022.

Kevin has attended master classes with many distinguished musicians including Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu, James Anagnoson, and Anton Nel. He was awarded first prize at the IMFC Competition and North York Music Festival in 2021. He was also the Grand Trophy winner of the CCC Toronto International Music Festival in 2019 and received third prize in the Steinway Toronto Competition in Division Ill (ages 15-18) in 2018. He has also won numerous prizes in the Peel Music Festival, OYMI, and Kiwanis music festivals.

ROUND I

Marc Hyland

Handel

Chopin

ROUND II

Janáček

Repertoire

Prélude blanc

Keyboard Suite No. 2 in F Major, HWV 427

Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54

1.X.1905 Sonata in E-flat minor

Beethoven Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101

ROUND III

Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Keyi Wang

COUNTRY – People’s Republic of China

AGE – 15

HOST FAMILY – Dede Bethke

Keyi Wang was born in Hainan, China. She started playing the piano at four and a half, playing her first solo recital at eight. She has been studying with Hung-Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone at the Pre-College Division at The Juilliard School since 2017.

In 2015, Keyi won two prestigious competitions in China: The Pearl-River Kayserburg and the Steinway International Competition. In 2017, Miss Wang moved to New York City, and in 2018 she garnered first prize in the Princeton Steinway Youth Piano Competition, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the 2019 Steinway Junior Competition, and the JuilliardBachauer Scholarship Competition. She was chosen as the winner of the 2022 Juilliard Liszt Competition and will be making her concerto debut with the Pre-College Orchestra early in 2023. In 2018, Keyi participated in the Shanghai Conservatory’s International Piano Festival, receiving a solo recital opportunity. In the summer she attended the Aspen Music Festival performing in Harris Hall and participated in master classes given by Arie Vardi and Yoheved Kaplinsky.

Keyi has received recital opportunities at Juilliard for the past two years and was nominated into the Artemisia Foundation, receiving a prize for outstanding artistry, the Lang Lang International Music Foundation in 2020 as a new scholar, and became the 2022 scholarship recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States.

Keyi is in 9th grade and was honored to participate in her school’s Global Concert in the Stern Auditorium (2018). She made her Carnegie debut in Zankel Hall in 2020. She has also performed in the series Sessions in the Vault in Chelsea Market and the Stella Series. Outside of piano, Keyi enjoys diverse interests, studying French and self-learning German and Russian. As a certified history nerd, she enjoys writing historical fiction, and also enjoys fishing and photography.

ROUND I

Repertoire

Bach Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 851/WTC I

Liszt Transcendental Etude No. 5 in B-flat Major, Feux Follets, S.139

Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Kapustin 8 Concert Etudes: No. 8, Pastoral, in F Major, Op. 40

ROUND II

Couperin Piėces de clavecin, Book 4: 21st Ordre in E minor, III. La Couperin

Beethoven Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13

Prokofiev Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28

ROUND III

Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18