An artist that “leaves no question about his riveting presentation and technical finesse" (Seattle Times), Canadian pianist Kevin Ahfat is acclaimed to be “poised to become one of the young heirs of the classical piano realm" (Vanguard Seattle).  Possessing “a balanced mix of expressiveness and virtuosity" (Musical America), he “summons plenty of thunderpower in the big moments, but clearly values musicianship over mere showmanship" (American Record Guide).

Named one of CBC Music’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30 in 2018, Kevin continues performances and recordings as the newest core member of the three-time Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble, one of Canada’s preeminent chamber ensembles and foremost cultural forces.  Their latest releases on Chandos Records have been nominated for a 2022 Juno Award, 2022 OPUS Klassik Award, as well as being named one of the “Top 10 classical musical albums of 2020" by The Boston Globe and one of WQXR’s “Best Classical Albums of 2020".

Kevin has had the privilege of sharing the stage with renowned artists across many genres, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Stefan Jackiw, Sonia Rodriguez, and SO Percussion, and recently with the Esprit Orchestra and Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, L’Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, and Seattle, Bellevue & Oakville Symphonies.  Festival appearances include Music@Menlo, Seattle, Rockport, Fall for Dance North, and Kyoto Festivals.  He has been broadcast on CBC and on WFMT’s Dame Myra Hess Series and contributed to Yamaha Canada’s recent Dear Glenn AI Project.

A two-time winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, Kevin completed studies at Juilliard with Joseph Kalichstein and Stephen Hough, and was in-residence as a Rebanks Fellow at the Royal Conservatory.  Kevin is Artistic Director of OPUS Chamber Music, Toronto’s newest premier hub for chamber music.
 

Praised for her “intelligent and creative sensibility” (Kevin Kenner) and “spectacular technique” (South Florida Classical Review), Jiana Peng is a versatile pianist who brings a distinctive voice to both traditional and lesser-known repertoire. She recently premiered a solo piano transcription of Szymanowski’s ballet Harnasie at the Frost Chopin Festival in Miami, receiving acclaim from both critics and audiences. Her debut album, featuring Chopin’s 24 Preludes, was released in 2022.

Jiana won First Prize at the 2020 International Chopin Piano Competition (Corpus Christi) and Second Prize at the 2022 Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition (Washington, D.C.). She has appeared as a soloist with the National Philharmonic, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Alicante, performing under conductors such as Grzegorz Nowak, Piotr Gajewski, Raphael Jimenez, Carl Topilow, Kimbo Ishii-Eto, and Uri Segal.

Recent highlights include collaborations with legendary pianist Maria João Pires at the “Days of Wisdom” festival in Spain, the Belgais Center for Arts in Portugal, and the Gilmore International Piano Festival’s Partitura Residency. Jiana was also featured in concert series presented by the Chopin Foundation of the U.S., Fryderyk Chopin Society of Texas, and Culture &Art Foundation in New York. Her performances have taken her to renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Severance Hall, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and Chopin’s Manor in Duszniki, Poland.

Jiana earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. She also holds Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and completed the Artist Diploma and Oberlin-Como Fellowship at the Oberlin Conservatory. Her mentors include Kevin Kenner, HaeSun Paik, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and Stanislav Ioudenitch. Jiana is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute of Ohio, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting Chopin’s cultural legacy.
 

Peter Yide Shi, born in 2002, started his journey with piano at the age of five. When he was nine, he started his professional music study with Professor Chang at Central Conservatory of Primary School in Beijing. He started studying with renowned pianist Ming-Chieh Liu from 2017. He was then accepted into New England Conservatory in the year of 2021, and was awarded with The Presidential Distinction Awards upon enrollment. He has graduated from New England Conservatory for Bachelor Degree in the year of 2025.

He has appeared at many festivals and venues, including the Oxford Philharmonic Piano Festival, the PYPA Festival in Philadelphia, the Miami International Piano Festival, the East Carolina Piano Festival, Salle Cortot in Paris, Jacqueline du Pre Music Hall in Oxford, the Field Concert Hall in Philadelphia, the Adolfo and Marisela Cotilla Gallery in Miami, the AOVA Concert Hall in Philadelphia, and the Jordan Hall of New England Conservatory in Boston.

He is also a winner of multiple prestigious piano competitions, including 2nd prize in the National Xinghai Piano Competition, 3rd prize in the National Pearl River Kayserburg Piano Competition Amateur Group Three in Guangzhou, 5th prize in the National CCTV Piano and Violin Competition in Beijing, and 2nd prize in the International Philadelphia Piano Competition Group A in Philadelphia.
 

Born in Hangzhou, raised in Beijing and New York, Xiaoya Wan finished her Bachelor Degree at Juilliard under the guidance of Professor Julian Martin and Hung-Kuan Chen, and continued her first year Masters at Juilliard in 2024. Currently, she transferred to and is pursuing her Master Degree at IU Jacobs School of Music as an Associate Instructor in Piano, studying with Professor Chi-Ho Han. She has also been a contracted pianist supported by Kayserburg since 2020.

Xiaoya recently won the first prize of 2025 NSAL Piano Competition in the United States. In the past years, Xiaoya was awarded 1st prize in the 2023 International Artists Competition in Vienna, Austria. 1st prize of 2016 Shanghai International Piano Competition, 1st prize at the 2014 Imola International Piano Competition in Italy, and the prize-winner at the Campillos International Piano Competition in Spain in 2018, the 2017 Grotrian International Piano Competition in Germany, and the Ettlingen International Piano Competition in 2016. She has also reached the Semi-finals of the 62nd Busoni Piano Competition in 2019. Additionally, she was awarded the fellowship of PianoTexas Festival and Aspen Music Festival in 2023.

Some of her notable performances include performing with conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, she played Mozart Piano Concerto in E-flat major, K. 449 with the Orchestra da Camera di Imola. Since 2014, Xiaoya has performed with five orchestras, including Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and The National Youth Orchestra of China (NYO-China).

Xiaoya is part of a piano quintet: 65th Street Ensemble, since 2022. They performed at Carnegie’s Weill Hall (2023), Alice Tully Hall (2024), and Paul Hall at Juilliard School (2022, 2023). They had their chamber recitals on April 20th, 2024 and October 7th, 2023, at The Foundry in West Stockbridge, MA, USA, sponsored by tsmit limited inc.

As a soloist, she had recitals in China, USA and Europe including the Alice Tully Hall, Beijing Concert Hall, St. Petersburg Concert Hall, Bolzano Concert Hall, Van Cliburn Concert Hall, Opéra national de Lorraine, Nancy, Minnesota Orchestra Hall, and New York Steinway Hall.