Duo Piano Master Classes

A native of Penang, Malaysia, Sylvia Wang has presented solo and collaborative performances throughout the Americas, Europe, and the Far East. She has recorded for the Newport Classic label and Boston Records, and contemporary American music for Northeastern and CRI labels. She has been the winner and finalist in various competitions, including the Royal Overseas League Festival in London, an AVANTI award leading to a debut in London's Purcell Room, the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, and the J.S. Bach International Piano Competition. Recent activities include guest classes at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Hong Kong Baptist University, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, guest judging at the University of Michigan and the Peabody Conservatory and a six-city concert tour of China. She has also been a guest at the Chautauqua Institution, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the University of Western Australia in Perth. She acknowledges her debt to David Burge at the Eastman School of Music and Hamish Milne and Dennis Murdoch at the Royal Academy of Music, which she attended as an Associated Board scholar. In recognition of "distinction in the field", the Academy awarded her an honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Alvin Chow has appeared throughout North America and in Asia as an orchestral soloist and recitalist. In addition, he has performed extensively in duo-piano recitals with his wife, Angela Cheng, and his twin brother, Alan.

A native of Miami, Florida, he graduated summa cum laude and co-valedictorian at the University of Maryland, where he was a student of Nelita True. Chow received the Victor Herbert Prize in Piano upon graduation from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki, and held the Joseph Battista Memorial Scholarship at Indiana University as a student of Menahem Pressler.

Chow was the first Fulbright College Visiting Artist in Piano at the University of Arkansas during 1987-88. He later taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since 1999, he has been a member of the artist faculty at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he is currently chair of the Piano Department and the Ruth Strickland Gardner Professor of Music.

Chow has performed in major concert halls including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Orchestra Hall in Chicago; Weill and Steinway Halls in New York City; and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. 

He has presented as recitalist in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Detroit, and Miami, and has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Pan-Asia Symphony in Hong Kong, and the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg, among others.

Grand prize winner of the 18th Tokyo International Duo Piano Competition, the Liang-He duo has been acclaimed for its combined artistry and synchronicity. The members of the duo, Xiaomin Liang and Jue He, began playing together when they were students at Northwestern University. They later developed into a professional ensemble while living in Chicago. 

The duo has performed in festivals and concert series throughout Asia and North America and has frequently been featured on WFMT, Chicago's classical music radio station. The Liang-He duo successfully toured over 40 cities in China from 2012 to 2019, performing in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, receiving rave reviews and further accolades. Other accomplishments include winning third prize in the “Liszt 200 International Two-Piano Competition" and being named Chicagoland’s first “Young Steinway Artists.”

The Liang-He Duo is committed to developing a unique repertoire based on exploring the classics of two-piano literature, as well as creating new works through commissions. Both Xiaomin Liang and Jue He received their Doctorate degrees in piano performance from Northwestern University.

Xiaomin Liang

Born in Beijing, China, award-winning pianist Xiao-min Liang is known for her outstanding musicianship, extraordinary sensitivity and virtuosity. Praised by the New York Times for her vivid and exhilarating playing, Ms. Liang has performed in major concert venues such as Avery Fischer Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Chicago Symphony Center, the Grand National Theater and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Ms. Liang received top prizes at the China National Piano Competition, the Five Town Piano Competition in New York, the Douglaston Young Artist Competition in Long Island, and the Thaviu/Isaak Scholarship Competition and Concerto Competition at Northwestern University. As a winner of the Artist International Competition, Miss Liang made her debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie in 2000.

Ms. Liang began her studies at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. Since moving to the US, she has studied with Victoria Mushkatkol at Interlochen Arts Academy. She graduated from the Juilliard School, receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees where she was a full scholarship student studying with Jerome Lowenthal. Ms. Liang received her doctoral degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University, where her teachers included Ursula Oppens and Sylvia Wang. Miss Liang has served on the piano faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago since 2006.

Jue He

Jue He, a native of Shanghai, China, has been acclaimed for her combination of vigorous and eloquent performances. The Denver Post praised Ms. He for her “first-rate performance” in collaborating with the Aspen Festival Orchestra. She has performed and given lecture recitals both as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States. She is currently on the faculty at Benedictine University.

Dr. He started her studies in Shanghai Conservatory’s high school division. She graduated from University of Denver, receiving her bachelor’s degree as a full scholarship recipient. Later on, Dr. He received both her master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Piano Performance and Collaborative Arts from Northwestern University, graduating with top honors. Her teachers include Dr. Sylvia Wang and Dr. Elizabeth Buccheri.