Who we are

American pianist Julian Martin has been a member of the College faculty since 1999 and the Pre-College since 2003. He won the Montevideo International Piano Competition in 1975 and has won important prizes in the Ravel-Casadesus (now Cleveland International), Gina Bachauer and Kapell, as well as the Collaborative Prize at the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He has toured North and South America, Europe and Asia, and has recorded with violinist Berl Senofsky and flutist Robert Willoughby. Martin presented new works by composers Richard Rodney Bennett, Stephen Albert, Mario Davidovsky and Edward Barnes. He has been a member of the jury for the international piano competitions in Montreal, Iowa and Jaén, and for Stars of the 21st Century in Saint Petersburg. Martin is a member of the original Gilmore Foundation (Kalamazoo) selection committee. He is founder and artistic director of the Gijón International Piano Festival (Asturias, Spain). He is a regular guest teacher at the Glenn Gould Professional School (Toronto), the Banff Centre, and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival. He has given master classes in Argentina, Colombia, England, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and Venezuela. He was a professor at Oberlin Conservatory (1982-87) and the Peabody Institute (1987-2002). Martin's primary studies were at the Peabody Conservatory with Leon Fleisher. She also studied with Guido Agosti in Italy and with Robert Casadesus and Nadia Boulanger in France.

Praised for her “exquisite sensitivity” and a “style full of class and elegance” by La Voz de Asturias (Asturias, Spain) and recognized as a “talented performer who does not fit the conventional mold” by Lucid Culture (New York), American pianist Amy E. Gustafson has performed in the United States and in Western and Eastern Europe. Her debut album, Reverie, consists of music by Claude Debussy and was released in June 2017.

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

Born into a family of musicians, her talent became evident at an early age and she received much of her early piano instruction from her grandmother. By age 15, she had won several competitions, including the MTNA 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 second prize in the International Piano Competition for Young Artists, second prize in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, and the Special Presentation Award and Alumni Award from Artists International Presentations, Inc.

Gustafson completed his studies at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. His main teachers include Julian Martin, Andre-Michel Schub, Anton Nel, Constance Keene and Miyoko Lotto, and he 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 his performing career, Gustafson is on the piano faculty at Millersville University. She is executive director and teacher of the Gijón International Piano Festival, in Spain, as well as director of the Palmetto International Piano Festival, in South Carolina. Previously, Dr. Gustafson directed the Boal Mansion Museum Concert Series in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, and the Stony Brook International Piano Festival in Stony Brook, New York.

Praised for her “exquisite sensitivity” and a “style full of class and elegance” by La Voz de Asturias (Asturias, Spain) and recognized as a “talented performer who does not fit the conventional mold” by Lucid Culture (New York), American pianist Amy E. Gustafson has performed in the United States and in Western and Eastern Europe. Her debut album, Reverie, consists of music by Claude Debussy and was released in June 2017.

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

Born into a family of musicians, her talent became evident at an early age and she received much of her early piano instruction from her grandmother. By age 15, she had won several competitions, including the MTNA 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 second prize in the International Piano Competition for Young Artists, second prize in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, and the Special Presentation Award and Alumni Award from Artists International Presentations, Inc.

Gustafson completed his studies at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. His main teachers include Julian Martin, Andre-Michel Schub, Anton Nel, Constance Keene and Miyoko Lotto, and he 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 his performing career, Gustafson is on the piano faculty at Millersville University. She is executive director and teacher of the Gijón International Piano Festival, in Spain, as well as director of the Palmetto International Piano Festival, in South Carolina. Previously, Dr. Gustafson directed the Boal Mansion Museum Concert Series in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, and the Stony Brook International Piano Festival in Stony Brook, New York.

James Giles frequently performs in important music centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. Recently, he has played in China, England, Russia and Bosnia. Last year he participated in the Nancy Music festival in France, the Cristofori Academy in Florence and the International Music Festival in Beijing. He has also given masterclasses at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and the Royal College of Music in London.

His repertoire is eclectic, both in piano music and chamber music, from the great classics to contemporary music. He has commissioned and premiered works by William Bolcom, C. Curtis-Smith, Stephen Hough, Lowell Liebermann, Ned Rorem, Augusta Read Thomas, Earl Wild and James Wintle. Many of these new works appear on his recent recording "American Virtuoso" with Albany Records. A recording of works by Schumann and Prokofiev is available from the Master Musicians record company and a recent recording of works by Schubert.

His recital in Paris at the Salle Cortot in 2004 was described as "a true revelation, as a result of his artistry and his choice of program." After a recital at the Sibelius Academy, critics commented "Giles is a technically refined and elegant pianist." One London critic described his 2003 Wigmore Hall recital as "one of the most inspired piano recitals I have heard in a long time" and added that Giles "demonstrated astonishing intelligence in everything he played; it was an unforgettable recital."
He has performed with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic at Glinka Hall, the Jupiter Symphony in New York, the London Soloists at Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Kharkiv Philharmonic in Ukraine, and with the New York Opera Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. After his debut at the Alice Tully, famed critic Harris Goldsmith wrote: "Giles has a very distinct playing personality. That was gorgeous piano – direct without quirks."

Born in North Carolina, Giles studied with Byron Janis at the Manhattan School of Music, Jerome Lowenthal at Juilliard, Nelita True at the Eastman School of Music, and Robert Shannon at Oberlin College. She received a scholarship from the Clarisse B. Kampel Foundation and also a Fulbright scholarship to study in Italy with legendary pianist Lazar Berman.

He also received a scholarship and the Christel Award from the American Pianists Association and today serves on the administrative board of the APA. He has won awards at the New Orleans International Piano Competition, the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, and the MTNA competition. As a student, he won the prestigious William Petschek Scholarship at Juilliard and the Rudolf Serkin Award for Exceptional Students at Oberlin College.
He has published articles in Piano and Keyboard magazine and has presented recitals and lectures at the Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, and Phi Kappa Lambda. He frequently participates as a jury in international competitions.
Giles is currently director of the piano program at Northwestern University. He offers master classes and lectures throughout his country and has given summer classes at Bowdoin, Brevard, ARIA, and the Schlern Festival in Italy. He has also been a visiting professor at the Sibelius Academy, the Shanghai Conservatory and Indiana University.

Since winning the gold medal at the first Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Douglas Humpherys’ concert career has spanned four decades across four continents. During recent years, he has concertized in many of the major cities of Asia. A frequent guest artist in Beijing, he has performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts, the Beijing Concert Hall, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall. He has presented concerts and lecture-recitals throughout the Chinese conservatory and university system, including the Central, Shanghai, China, Wuhan, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Cheng-Du, Xian, Dalian, and Xiamen Conservatories, as well as Beijing, Tsinghua, Renmin Universities, and the Shenzhen School of the Arts. In 2002 he made his Korean debut in Seoul at the Kumho Art Hall, and during a 2007 tour of Taiwan, he performed in the cities of Taipei, Tainan, and Kaohsiung.

Currently listed on the Artists Roster of Steinway and Sons, Mr. Humpherys often performs in Europe, with solo concerts in Moscow, Novgorod, Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Venice, and Dublin, with additional engagements in Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, and Serbia. He has performed throughout the United States and Canada at numerous universities and festivals. Recently, he was a guest artist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed on the DiMenna Center Piano Series in New York City. In 2008 and 2012, he concertized and taught in Argentina with Teachers del Norte-Pianists del Sur, a project sponsored in part by the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires.

Mr. Humpherys completed graduate degrees at the Juilliard School (MM) and the Eastman School of Music (DMA), where he served for twenty years as Chair of the Piano Department, and is currently Professor of Piano.

During his student days he studied with Nelita True, Martin Canin, and Robert Smith. In high demand as a teacher, he has been appointed to visiting residencies or professorships at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Yonsei University in Seoul, and the University of Michigan. His students have won numerous honors in competitions, including prizes at the Honens, Cleveland, Virginia Waring, Hilton Head, Washington DC, Poulenc, UNISA, and Sussex (UK) International Piano Competitions; the Osaka, Pacific, Seattle, San Jose, and Wideman Competitions, as well as five national first-prize winners of MTNA Competitions. In 2016, Professor Humpherys received Eastman’s Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2021 he was inducted into the Steinway and Sons National Teachers Hall of Fame.

He has taught hundreds of master classes at universities and conservatories including the Central Music School of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, most of the major conservatories in China, the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, the Korean National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He frequently teaches and concertizes at Summer Piano Festivals, most recently including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Beijing International Piano Festival, the Shanghai International Piano Festival and Institute, the Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain, the Wallace International Piano Festival in New Zealand, the Philadelphia Young Pianists Academy, the

Washington DC International Piano Festival, the Interlochen Piano Festival, the Miami Music Festival, the Seattle Piano Institute, the Atlantic Music Festival, the North Coast International Piano Festival in California, and the Northern Lights Music Festival.

Mr. Humpherys became the Artistic Director of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 2013, and has also adjudicated the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Rachmaninoff International Young Artists’ Piano Competition in Novgorod, Russia, the Ricardo Viñes International Piano Competition in Spain, the 1st Korea International Competition for Young Artists, the PTNA National Piano Competition in Tokyo, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures. In addition to regular guest appearances with virtually every orchestra in Canada, she has performed with the symphonies of Saint Louis, Houston, Indianapolis, Colorado, Utah, San Diego, and Jacksonville, as well as the philharmonic orchestras of Buffalo, Louisiana, Rhode Island, London, Israel, and Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Recent performances include a debut with the Fort Worth Symphony, performing Rachmaninoff’s “Variations on a Theme of Paganini,” under the baton of Robert Spano, and a return to the Vancouver Symphony, performing Ravel’s Concerto in G with Otto Tausk. Next season will include the Boulder Philharmonic, Newfoundland Symphony, Okanagan Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, Saguenay Symphony, and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.

As a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician, Cheng has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., New York’s 92nd Street Y, and Wigmore Hall in London. A member of the Zukerman Trio and Chamber Players, she has also appeared at Vienna’s Musikverein, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, and the Sydney Opera House. Festival appearances include Verbier, Edinburgh, Miyazaki, Stars of the White Nights in St. Petersburg, and the George Enescu Festival in Romania.

Cheng also appears regularly on concert series throughout the United States and Canada and has collaborated with the Takács, Colorado, and Vogler quartets. North American festival performances include Banff, Chautauqua, Colorado, Great Lakes Chamber Music, Vancouver, Toronto, and the Festival International de Lanaudière in Quebec.

She is regularly invited to give master classes at schools throughout North America and in Asia and has appeared at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Taichung University in Taiwan, Indiana University, University of Michigan and the University of Texas. She has also served on the jury of many competitions, including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Esther Honens International Piano Competition, Montreal International Piano Competition, and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, among others.

Cheng was awarded the Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition and was the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. She has also been honored with the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

A native of Hong Kong, Cheng studied extensively with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University and with Sascha Gorodnitzki at The Juilliard School. She is currently on the artist faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she was honored with the 2011-12 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Robert McDonald has performed throughout the world as a soloist in piano recitals and accompanying musicians such as Isaac Stern and many others. He has appeared with the San Francisco, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Omaha symphonies, and with the Curtis Institute of Music. He is currently a piano teacher at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches regularly at the Glenn Gould Professional School in Toronto. His discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Vox, Bridge, Musical Heritage Society and CRI. He won the gold medal at the Busoni International Competition, as well as important prizes at the William Kapell International Competition and the Washington International Competition. He graduated magna cum laude from Lawrence University of Wisconsin, completing his studies at the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School.

Jean Saulnier has an active career as a concert pianist, chamber musician and teacher.
Over the years, he has developed extensive experience in both solo and chamber music repertoire. His eloquent speech, musicality and the collaborative spirit he brings to every performance make him a highly coveted collaborator with top musicians in Canada and abroad.

He has received numerous awards in national and international competitions, including the William Kapell International Competition, Prix d'Europe and the Leschetizsky Competition.

Saulnier has played in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. He has been a guest soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester Métropolitain, the Rochester Philharmonic, and I Musici de Montréal. He has also participated in major Canadian music festivals and on CBC radio.

He has recorded chamber music repertoire for the Pelléas, Atma, Analekta and Doberman-Yppan label together with the cellist Yegor Dyachkov and the clarinetist André Moisan.
Unexpectedly, Saulnier discovered a particular Pleyel from 1848 that led him to participate in extensive research on the interpretation of Chopin's works. A recital recording on this piano has been praised by critics for its refinement and originality.

Saulnier studied with Marc Durand, Leon Fleisher and André Laplante. His doctorate at the University of Montreal obtained the Academic Gold Medal.
For the last twenty years he has been a professor at the Montreal University of Music. He is also a guest lecturer at Orford Arts Center and teaches master classes at numerous educational institutions.
He frequently participates as a jury in national and international competitions.

Logan Skelton es un pianista, profesor y compositor muy en demanda y ha recibido el reconocimiento internacional por sus logros numerosos. Como interprete, Skelton ha dado conciertos en todo los Estados Unidos, Europa y Asia y ha aparecido en muchas emisoras nacionales de radio y television, incluyendo NPR's Audiophile Audition, Performance Today, All Things Considered, y Morning Edition, asi como la radio China y la television Rumana. He grabado varios discos para Centaur, Albany, Crystal, Blue Griffin, y una grabacion especial para Naxos, actuando con el compositor William Bolcolm a dos pianos. Un invitado frequente en varios festivales por todo el mundo, Skelton ha formado parte del profesorado de los siguentes: el Gina Bachauer, Amalfi, Eastman, Tunghai, Chautauqua, American Romanian, Eastern, Nueva Orleans, Polania Internacional, Universidad de Indiana, la Isla de Hilton Head, y clases magistrales en Praga. También presente conferencias en encuentros de profesores de piano, incluyendo MTNA y EPTA y actuando como artista invitado para conferencias locales como Nueva York, Ilinois, Michigan, Loisiana, Carolina del Norte, Wyoming y Iowa. Ha dado clases y recitales en universidades y conservatorios por todo E.E.U.U., Corea, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Italia, Rumania, Serbia, Polania, y la Republia Checa. Es miembro del jurado de muchos concursos internacionales. Su disco, de música contemporanea Americana, lleva el titulo “American Grab Bag: La Múscia de nuestros tiempos.” La guia Americana de grabaciones ha declarado que sus interpretaciones son “excelentes, maravillosamente sutiles, elegantes…Bravo!”

Los profesores de Skelton han sido John Murphy, Rebecca Penneys, Lillian Freundlich y Artur Balsam. Sus propios alumnos han ganado premios en concursos nacionales e internacionales incluyendo Hilton Head, San Antonio, Cincinati, Washington, Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev, Fischoff, Jacob Flier, Iowa, Frinna Awerbach, Eastman, Crescendo, Dallas Chamber, Missouri Southern, Los Angeles Liszt, Wideman, Concorso Internazionale di Esecuzione Musicale, Schimmel, Liszt-Garrison, Grieg Festival, Del Rosario, Beethoven Sonata, Ithaca, Piano Arts, Heida Hermanns, Dubois, Schmidbauer, Peabody Mason, Janacek, Seattle, Kingsville, New York, Oberlin, Idyllwild y los concursos de MTNA. Muchos de sus alumnos son profesores en escuelas de música y conservatories por todo el mundo. Recientemente, ha recibido el premio “Harold Haugh” por excelencia en impartir clase de piano en la Universidad de Michigan. Ha servido en el profesorado de Manhattan School of Music y la Universidad del Estado de Missouri,y ahora es profesor de piano y director de los estudios doctorales en la Universidad de Michigan.