Dr. José Ramón MéndezDr. José Ramón MéndezHailed by “the Spanish pianist of his generation” by Hoja del Lunes de Madrid, José Ramón Méndez completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in piano performance under Solomon Mikowsky and completed his doctorate with Byron Janis and Miyoko Lotto. A prizewinner of many competitions, including the Hilton Head Island International Piano Competition and the Pilar Bayona, he has concertized extensively in his native Spain, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Méndez frequently conducts master classes in Spain and the United States.
Dr. Amy E. GustafsonAmerican pianist Amy Gustafson has concertized extensively in the United States and in Europe. After completing her Bachelors degree under the tutelage of Constance Keene and her Masters degree with Miyoko N. Lotto, she went on to earn her doctorate under renowned pianist Anton Nel. Recently a second prize winner in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, Gustafson also received a Special Presentation Award from Artists International, which culminated in her New York City debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
Miyoko Nakaya LottoBorn in Hokkaido, Japan, Miyoko Nakaya Lotto began piano lessons at the age of 3 and enrolled in the Preparatory Division of the Toho School of Music at age 5 as a student of Aiko Iguchi. At age 17, she captured third prize on the prestigious Mainichi-NHK Music Competition and toured throughout Japan as a prize winner.
Miyoko Nakaya studied with the legendary piano pedagogue Sascha Gorodnitzki and became his assistant at the age of 21. Professor Lotto has received awards from the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition, the Concert Artist Guild, Young Concert Artist Competition, Sterling Staff Competition in Dallas, Texas; and F. Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy.
Professor Lotto has performed in more than 40 states across the U.S. - at age 26, her New York City debut was presented at Alice Tully Hall. She has given numerous master classes throughout Japan and the U.S. and has served as juror on the panels of several international competitions.
Professor Lotto has been a member of the NYU Artist Piano Faculty since 1993.
Jerry Wong has concertized throughout the United States, Europe and Asia in such prestigious settings as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City, National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Shriver Hall in Baltimore, Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, National Concert Hall of Taipei and Opera City Hall in Tokyo. Recent engagements have included appearances with the Kent State University Orchestra, Suburban Symphony, Stow Symphony Orchestra, Humboldt Symphony Orchestra and the Miami String Quartet at Kent/Blossom Music, as well as recitals and masterclasses in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. His many prizes and awards include the Ibla Grand Prize Competition in Italy, Prix-Ville de Fontainebleau in France (which was personally presented to him by Philippe Entremont), Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition and Grace Welsh Competition.
Critics have enthusiastically praised Mr. Wong's solo and concerto performances. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Martin Bernheimer described his playing as "eloquent and elegant…(with) passion and introspection…sensitivity and a finely honed sense of style". The Orange County Register compared him to "a young Murray Perahia," and described his playing "as a performance which turned the concert into an unforgettable event." His performances and interviews have been featured on National Public Radio, Finnish National Radio, Radio Video Mediterranean, Nippon Television and the Living & Travel Section of msnbc.com.
Mr. Wong is a graduate of Indiana University, Peabody Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, where he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. His major teachers have included Menahem Pressler, Ann Schein, Sara Davis Buechner and Byron Janis. Frequently sought after for lectures, masterclasses and as adjudicator, he has taught courses at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, and is a former faculty member of Humboldt State University and Ithaca College. He presently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Piano at Kent State University in Ohio. During the summers, he is co-director of the Piano Institute at Kent State and a member of the Kent/Blossom Music faculty.
Rosa Villar Córdova was born in Lima. She started her musical studies with the pianist Elena Ichikawa at the National Conservatory of Music in Peru, making her debut with the National Orchestra at the age of twelve.
After she moved to the United States she studied with Susan Starr at Florida International University and Nina Svetlanova at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
The Spanish-Peruvian pianist has been an award recipient in many competitions such as the Bradshaw and Buono International Competition, National Society of Arts and Letters (Florida Chapter), Central Florida Symphony, the NYU Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, and Tutte le Corde (Music after 1950) among others in the United States. Also, she has been a first prizewinner in National competitions in Perú such as the National Concerto Competition and the Southern Perú Corporation Music Award. She has won scholarships to participate in Music Festivals such as Marguess International in Switzerland, the International Institute for Young Musicians in Kansas City, and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.
She has given many solo and chamber music performances in America and Europe. Her Orchestra appearances include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra in Perú, The Lima Philharmonic, The Trujillo Symphony Orchestra, and the Florida International University Symphony Orchestra. She has also been invited to perform as a soloist and as a chamber musician in master classes and lessons given by world-renowned artists such as Vladimir Feldsman, Mischa Dichter, John Perry, Arthur Pizarro, Glenn Dicterow, Daniel Epstein, Ursula Oppens, Donald Berman, Seymour Bernstein, and Isaac Stern.
In 2002 she moved to Italy and studied with the French pianist Marylene Mouquet and the Italian pianist Sergio Perticaroli. In 2003 she was awarded a grant by the province of Rome for a music project. She returned to New York in 2005 and received two scholarships to continue her studies in piano performance from the Marion and Eubie Blake scholarship award and the Steinhardt department at NYU. Last May she obtained her Master's degree from New York University where she was an adjunct faculty member for two years. She is currently studying piano with professor Miyoko Lotto.
A native of South Korea, Jiyea Yun began playing the piano at the young age of six. While residing in Korea, she received numerous prizes in competitions such as the Samick piano competition and the Suri piano competition. After her pre-college study at the Yewon Arts School in Korea, her family moved to Austin, Texas where she enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin as a scholarship student of Nancy Garrett and Jose Ramon Mendez. Among her many achievements, she performed with the Austin Civic Orchestra as a prize winner of the Pearl Amster Concerto competition.
In the summer of 2006 and 2007, she participated and performed at the International Millennium Piano Festival in Gijon, Spain. She has had the privilege to work in masterclasses and lessons with Julian Martin, Boris Slutsky, Sara Davis Buechner, Blanca Uribe, Robert MacDonald, Marc Durand, Dominique Weber, Anton Nel, Cho-Liang Lin and Phillip Bush. In 2007, she moved to New York to further her piano studies with Dr. Jose Ramon Mendez. She is currently a junior, pursuing her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance and a scholarship recipient at New York University.