Jackson Yi-Shun Leung
Title: Visiting Adjunct Professor of Piano
Office: Memorial Hall
Tel: 513-556-4041
Email: jackson.leung@uc.edu
Jackson Leung is Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and Director of the Chamber Orchestra at Wright State University. He is the recipient of the 2010 Robert J. Kegerreis Distinguished Professor of Teaching Award at WSU and the 2011 Southwest Ohio Council for Higher Education Award for Excellence in Teaching. In addition to attaining the L.R.S.M. performance diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Dr. Leung received his degrees in piano performance from Hong Kong Baptist University, Temple University, and the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. Leung was the first-prize winner in the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the second-prize winner in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition, the "Albert Roussel" Prize at the École Normale de Musique, Paris, the "Excellence in Piano Teaching" Award at the Carmel Debut International Piano Competition in Indiana, the "Conductor of Exceptional Merit" Award at the International Repertoire Workshop for Orchestral Conductors in the Czech Republic, as well as the Outstanding Conductor Award at the Advanced Conducting Academy in Romania.
As a pianist, Jackson Leung has performed in France, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, and throughout the United States and Canada. With his wife, Dr. Benita Tse-Leung, Leung had performed duo recitals and made concerto appearances throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Japan, Canada, Bermuda, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, and numerous other cities in mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Tienjin, etc.). In Hong Kong, he has performed in all the major venues including Hong Kong Cultural Center Concert Hall and Theatre, City Hall Concert Hall and Theatre, Yuen Long Theater Auditorium, and the Governor's House. The Leung-Tse duo was awarded first prize in the Teacher Duo Division at the Ohio Music Teachers Association Graves Competition in Columbus in 1996 and 1998. Their CD, entitled Danzas, was released in the summer of 2001. As a teacher he has produced student winners at numerous state, regional, national, and international competitions, including The Stravinsky Awards International Competition, Bartók-Kabalevsky International Competition, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra among others.
As a conductor, Leung has been featured as guest conductor with ensembles including the Pan Asia Symphony (Hong Kong), Hrádec Králove Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), the Macao Orchestra, the Westsächsisches Symphonieorchester (Germany), and Bourgas State Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria). He has led Wright State University Orchestras in performances throughout the Miami Valley, including performances at the Schuster Performing Arts Center, Dayton Arts Institute, Corbett Auditorium at CCM, and at numerous Ohio Music Education Association Professional Conferences.
A sought-after adjudicator, Leung has judged numerous competitions including the World Piano Pedagogy Conference Competition, Music Teachers National Association Regional Auditions, World Piano International Competition in Cincinnati, Chamber Music Yellow Springs, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Macau-Asia Pacific Piano Competition, Hong Kong Music Festival, and Macao Youth Music Competition among others. Jackson Leung has written articles for various music journals and periodicals including The Instrumentalist, Clavier, Keyboard Companion, American Music Teachers, The Pianist, and Triad. He has also presented papers and workshops at international, nationals, and regional conferences including the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, College Music Society National and Regional Conferences, and the OMEA Conference.
Elaine S Leung-Wolf
Title: Adjunct Instructor of Keyboard Studies
Office: 307 Memorial Hall
Tel: 513-520-8212
Email: elaineshukuan.leung@uc.edu
Elaine Leung-Wolf, adjunct assistant professor, has been a member of the CCM keyboard faculty since 2010. Teachers have included Frank Weinstock, Dorothy Taubman, Hans Graf (Mozarteum), and Josef Raeiff. Based upon her studies with Dorothy Taubman, Elaine specializes in the retraining and development of healthy piano technique with students of all ages. She has conducted presentations about technique and wellness for the International Institute for Young Musicians held at CCM and was the keynote speaker for the Southwest Ohio Music Teachers Association 1999 Fall Conference.
Prof. Leung-Wolf's DMA Document, Women, Music and the Salon Tradition: Its Cultural and Historical Significance in Parisian Musical Society, is listed in Women in Music: A Research and Information Guide, 2nd ed. (2010) by Karin Pendle and Melinda Boyd (New York: Routledge); it is also listed in Chamber Music: A Research and Information Guide, 2nd ed. (2002) by John. H. Baron (New York: Routledge) and has served as a reference source for many academic papers and publications including French Music Since Berlioz, (2006) Richard Langham Smith and Caroline Potter, eds.
She also maintains a private piano studio and has served as chair and faculty member of the CCM Preparatory Piano Department, the Advanced Piano Summer Institute at CCM, and vice-president of SWOMTA as director of student activities.
Education
BM and MM, The Julliard School, New York, NY.
DMA, CCM, 1997.
Awadagin K.A. Pratt
Title: Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence
Office: Emery Hall
Tel: 513-556-2063
Email: awadagin.pratt@uc.edu
Web: http://www.awadagin.com
Born in Pittsburgh, Awadagin Pratt began studying piano at the age of six. Three years later, having moved to Normal, Illinois with his family, he also began studying violin. At the age of 16 he entered the University of Illinois where he studied piano, violin and conducting. He subsequently enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of Music where he became the first student in the school's history to receive diplomas in three performance areas – piano, violin and conducting. In recognition of this achievement and for his work in the field of classical music, Pratt recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins.
In 1992 Pratt won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and two years later was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Since then, he has played numerous recitals throughout the US including performances at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. His many orchestral performances include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, National, Detroit and New Jersey symphonies among many others. Summer festival engagements include Ravinia, Blossom, Wolftrap, Caramoor and Aspen, the Hollywood Bowl and the Mostly Mozart Festival in Tokyo.
As a conductor, Pratt participated in the American Symphony Orchestra League and Conductor's Guild workshops and the National Conducting Institute, where he worked closely with Leonard Slatkin and conducted the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. He has also conducted the Toledo, New Mexico, Vancouver WA, Winston-Salem, Santa Fe and Prince George County symphonies, the Northwest Sinfonietta, the Concertante di Chicago and several orchestras in Japan.
A great favorite on college and university performing arts series and a strong advocate of music education, Pratt participates in numerous residency and outreach activities wherever he appears; these activities may include master classes, children's recitals, play/talk demonstrations and question/answer sessions for students of all ages.
Pratt has been the subject of numerous articles in the national press, including Newsweek, People Magazine and New York Newsday. He was named one of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow in Ebony Magazine's special 50th anniversary issue and has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday Morning and Weekend Edition. On television, Pratt has performed on the Today Show, Good Morning America and Sesame Street, been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and was one of the featured soloists on PBS's Live from the Kennedy Center - A Salute to Slava. In November 2009, Pratt was one of four artists selected to perform at a White House classical music event that included student workshops hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama and performed in concert for guests including President Obama. He has performed two other times at the White House, both at the invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton.
Pratt’s recordings for Angel/EMI include A Long Way From Normal, an all Beethoven Sonata CD, Live From South Africa, Transformations and an all Bach disc with the St. Lawrence String Quartet. His most recent recordings are the Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano with Zuill Bailey for Telarc and a recording of the music of Judith Lang Zaimont with the Harlem Quartet for Navona Records.
Pratt is currently Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at CCM. He was recently named the Artistic Director of the Cincinnati World Piano Competition and is also the Artistic Director of the Art of the Piano Festival at CCM.
Education
Performance Certificate and Graduate Performance Diploma, The Peabody Institute.
James V. Tocco
Title: Eminent Scholar in Chamber Music
Office: 426 Memorial Hall
Tel: 513-556-6963
Email: james.tocco@uc.edu
James Tocco has a worldwide career as a soloist with orchestra, recitalist, chamber music performer and pedagogue. His repertoire of over fifty works with orchestra includes virtually the entire standard piano concerto repertoire, as well as more rarely performed works such as the Symphonie Concertante of Szymanowski, the Kammerkonzert of Alban Berg and The Age of Anxiety of Leonard Bernstein. Hailed in solo recitals for his interpretations of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt, as well as composers of the 20th century, he is one of the few pianists in the world to regularly program the keyboard works of Handel.
In 1973, Tocco won the International ARD Competition in Munich and appeared in 1975 at the Vienna Festival. Since then he has toured the globe with performances in the U.S., Canada, most of the countries of Europe and South America, the Soviet Union, Japan, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East. Solo appearances with the major orchestras of the world have been given in Berlin, Munich, London, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as festival participation in Salzburg, Vienna, Lockenhaus, Holland, Schleswig-Holstein, Wolf Trap, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Santa Fe and the Hollywood Bowl. His Pro Arte releases include the world premiere recording of Bernstein's complete solo piano music and the first recorded performance of the piano solo version of the Suite from Copland's Rodeo.
He recorded the complete four piano sonatas of Edward MacDowell for Gasparo. ECM Records released his live performance of Erwin Schulhof's Cinq Etudes de Jazz and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi released his recording of the complete Bach-Liszt organ transcriptions as well as a second disc of Bach-inspired piano compositions by Franck, Liszt and Busoni.
Andrew C Villemez
Title: Adjunct Instructor of Piano
Email: villemaw@mail.uc.edu
Praised as a quintessential well-rounded musician, Andy Villemez is an active performer, composer, and educator currently based in Cincinnati, OH. His performances and compositions display a wide range of styles and musical understanding. As a composer and arranger, his works have amazing variety in style, affect, and level. Recently, He has been commissioned to write works by several concert pianists, Cincinnati Public Radio, and the Tri-state Piano Competition. His most notable pieces come from a set of preludes for solo piano based on everything from contemporary R&B to everyday emotions. Entitled Book of Odes, pianists both young and professional have performed these pieces in major cities across the United States and Canada.
In addition to composing and performing, Villemez has a strong passion for music education. His presentations, classes, and clinics continue to cover a wide range of topics including curriculum development for undergraduate music majors, constructivism in music teaching, and how to foster artistic integrity at an early age. His most recent clinic is entitled, "Brownie Points and Grand Larceny: How To Arrange and Compose for Your Students."
Villemez also maintains a studio through the CCM Preperatory Division. When Andy is not at the front of a classroom or near a piano, you can find him reading, cooking, hiking, or visiting with family and friends.
Education
BM, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2010.
MM, CCM, 2012.
Dror Biran
Title: Visiting Adjunct Professor of Piano
Tel: 513-556-4041
Email: dror.biran@uc.edu
Dror Biran’s playing has been described in Die Bleed as “powerful, but also beautiful sensitive, brilliant but full of artistry, seductively lyrical but intensely dramatic at the climaxes”. The Plain Dealer added “his fortissimos crashed and roared, but next to them came pianissimos that whispered seductively…he has technique to burn and uses it effectively…” The WCF Currier described Biran’s playing as “although not a flashy performer, was mesmerizing in the intensity and emotionalism of his playing. His fingering in the fast passages was breathtaking, and the loving care he gave to the sweetly lyrical passages was riveting.”
His superb tonal control combined with interesting phrasing and voicing has won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audience.
Born in Israel, Biran is a top prize winner of several national and international piano competitions. He is a graduate of the Givataim Conservatory where he studied with Mrs. Lily Dorfman and the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University where he studied with Prof. Arie Vardi. Dr. Biran received his Doctoral degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Mr. Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro.
Dror Biran won top prizes at the M.K Ciurlionis International Piano Competition (1995), and the Cleveland International Piano Competition (1997) where he also received a special prize for the best performance of works by Chopin. His honors include the first prize at the “Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition” in Zaragoza, Spain (1998), first prize at the Israeli Rubin Academy Piano Competition (1998), and the Rafi Goralnik prize for pianists, in the Aviv Competition 2000. Biran has been a recipient of multiple the scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for distinguished musicians.
Biran has performed widely as a soloist with major orchestras including the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played under the batons of Etinger, Rodan, Gueller, Gacia Asensio, Mester, Lane and others. His concert tours have taken him to the United States, Eastern and Western Europe, Israel and South Africa.
As a chamber musician Biran has appeared on a regular basis with different music ensembles such as Carmel and Aviv String Quartets, he has also performed with members of The Cleveland Orchestra in different venues. His concerts have been broadcast by WUOL, WCLV, WQXR, The Voice of Music – Israel, Classic FM South Africa among others. Dr. Biran can be heard on the JMC (Jerusalem Music Centre) labels featuring ballades by Brahms and Chopin.
Biran taught at Youngstown State University and Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Biran serves as Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Louisville School of Music and serves as an adjunct piano faculty at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
