Piano Faculty

A recipient of top prizes in the 1976 Leventritt and the 1978 Leeds International Competitions, she graduated from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and studied with Gary Graffman for twelve years.  Artymiw is the Distinguished McKnight Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota where she has taught since 1989. She was also awarded the Dean’s Medal for Outstanding Professor in 2000. Please visit her website: www.lydiaartymiw.com for more information.



Jean Barr, Piano - Jean Barr is Professor of Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music at the Eastman School of Music. The first keyboard artist in the United States to be awarded a doctoral degree in accompanying, she studied at the University of Southern California with Gwendolyn Koldofsky and at Northwestern University with Gui Mombaerts. At the outset of her career she was accompanist for the master classes of Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, William Primrose and Martial Singher.

As a collaborative pianist, Jean Barr has performed in the United States and abroad with such distinguished artists as Carmen Balthrop, James Dunham, Gerald Fischbach, Pierre Fournier, Thomas Hampson, Donald McInnes, Eduard Melkus, Igor Ozim, François Rabbath, Gabor Rejto, Mstislav Rostropovich, Eudice Shapiro, Ivan Straus, Andor Toth, Zvi Zeitlin and others. She also is much in demand as a guest lecturer and master teacher, and she has given classes in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the People’s Republic of China, Poland, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States.

Considered by many to be a pioneer in her field, Jean Barr has sought to engender a broad appreciation of the collaborative arts. In recent years she organized significant chamber music concerts for the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy and subsequently for national conventions of the Music Teachers National Association. She also was the first chair of MTNA’s Collaborative Performance Advisory Committee. Most recently, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy created a Committee on Collaborative Performance, chaired by Dr. Barr.

Prior to joining the Eastman faculty to establish graduate degrees in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music, Jean Barr taught at the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University and, in the summers, at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. She also was on the summer faculty of the International Workshops for many years.

In 1994 Jean Barr received the Eastman School of Music’s prestigious Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was the recipient of the University of Rochester’s Susan B. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Her most recent honor is the Music Teachers National Association 2008 Achievement Award.



Fan-Ya Lin, Piano - Special Guest Artist - Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1989, Fan-Ya began her piano study at age four. Fan-Ya attended Dun-Hua Elementary School (studied with Shu-Fen Zheng and Mei-Fu Chen), The Junior High Division of The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, and The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University (studied with Gwhyneth Chen). With great love and passion for music, it is Fan-Ya's ultimate goal to become a concert pianist.

Fan-Ya has been selected as top prize winners of numerous piano competitions, including the first place winner of the 2012 Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the second place winner, teacher’s favorite award recipient, and president’s award recipient of the 2011 Seattle International Piano Competition, the first place winner of the 2011 Grand Junction Young Artist Concerto Competition, the first place winner of the 2011 Aurora Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition, the second place winner in the piano duet category of the 2010 New York International Piano Competition, the first place winner of 2010 Music Teacher National Association Steinway Young Artists National Piano Competition, the first place winner of the 2010 Music Teacher National Association Southwest Division Competition, the first place winner of the 2009 Music Teacher National Association State Competition in Utah, the first place winner of the 2009 Snowy Range Piano Competition, the third place winner of the 2009 Beethoven Club International Piano Competition, and the first place winner of the 2009 Utah Music Teacher Association Concerto Competition.

Fan-Ya also attended many music festivals such as 2010 Esterhazy Classical Music Festival, 2009 Music@Menlo, 2009 Aspen Music Festival, 2008 Paris International Music Session, and 2005 Bowdoin Music Festival. Furthermore, she played in the piano masterclasses given by renowned pianists such as Ivo Pogorelich, Dr. Boris Berman, Tamas Vasary, Dr. Nelita True, Dr. Boris Slutsky, Wu Han, and Lydia Artymiw. In the summer of 2010, Fan-Ya studied at Indiana University with Menahem Pressler as a visiting student.

In addition, Fan-Ya has been selected as one of the 2011 "National Concert Hall Rising Stars" in Taiwan after the first and the final round of the competition. As the winner of this competition, Fan-Ya will be giving a solo recital at the National Concert Hall in Taiwan on June 9, 2012, as well as performing for the conductor of National Symphony Orchestra Maestro Shao-Chai Lu in person for future concerto and chamber music performance opportunities with the NSO and its members.

Fan-Ya Lin is currently an Edna Ione Hall Scholarship student at Weber State University, studying with Dr. Yu-Jane Yang.

 

Peter Mack, Piano - Irish pianist Peter Mack has been thrilling audiences in Seattle since he settled here in 1985. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia and the former Soviet Union. He is the winner of the New Orleans, Young Keyboard Artists and Pacific International Piano Competitions. His prize in the Sherman-Clay competition included a Steinway grand piano. Peter Mack is well known for his extensive repertoire, having performed twenty-five concertos with orchestras. A choral scholar at Trinity College Dublin, he went on to obtain a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Washington. His primary teachers were Frank Heneghan and Bela Siki. Dr. Mack is equally in demand as a performer, conference clinician and master teacher. Pupils of Peter Mack are frequent winners of local, national and international competitions. A professor of piano performance at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Peter Mack is a Steinway Artist. "Mack is one of those lucky ones, born with a completely balanced set of talents. He has perfect piano hands, his technique is all but infallible, he has boundless temperament, style and taste, and above all, he communicates directly.... In all capacities he is indefatigable...." --Los Angeles Times

 

Ralph van der Beek, Piano - New Zealand born Artist-Teacher Ralph van der Beek is an Associate Professor of Piano at Weber State University (WSU), where he teaches piano literature, music theory and ear-training. Prior to his appointment at WSU, Dr. van der Beek served as Assistant Professor of Piano at Utah State University (USU), during which he directed the nationally recognized USU Youth Conservatory. His piano students have won major prizes in state, regional and national competitions and have performed with leading symphonies in the western United States. Dr. van der Beek graduated with piano performance degrees from Utah State University (B.M) and Indiana University (M.M), culminating in a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California. He has performed in the United States and Europe featuring both solo and duo piano repertoire. He is a sought-after teacher, adjudicator, and lecturer, and he has presented in many conferences including the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, the International French Music Conference, the Utah Symphony Guild and the Gina Bachauer Foundation. Ralph is married to Rebecca Bigelow and they have six children.

 

Yu-Jane Yang, Piano - Dr. Yu-Jane Yang is a Presidential Distinguished Professor, Director of Keyboard Studies, and Director of the Piano Preparatory Program at Weber State University in Utah. She was the State President of Utah Music Teachers Association in 2002-2004. Dr. Yang holds a BA degree from National Taiwan Normal University and two Masters degrees from University of Illinois. She received her Ph.D. degree with the highest honor from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She served as the faculty collaborative pianist for the American String Workshop at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) from 1992 to 1996, and for the Classical Music Festival in Austria in 1995, 1999, and 2010. In addition to performing with numerous instrumentalists and vocalists, Yu-Jane is the pianist of the Wasatch Piano Trio, Weber State University Faculty Piano Trio, and Formosan Violin-Piano Duo, and has performed extensively in concert tours to Asia, Europe, Canada, and the United States.

Recognized as a leading educator in the field of Piano Pedagogy in the U.S., Dr. Yang was one of the three national winners of the distinguished D. H. Baldwin Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in Piano in 1991, and was selected and listed on "Who's Who Among America's Teachers" in 1996, 2002, 2005, and 2007. Furthermore, Dr. Yang has been invited to give presentations in many prestigious conferences and conventions in the U.S., including National Conference of Piano Pedagogy, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, World Piano Pedagogy Conference, National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum, and Music Teachers National Association.

In demand as a clinician and master class teacher both nationally and internationally, Dr. Yang has given numerous piano workshops and piano master classes in the U.S., Taiwan, Singapore, and China. She appears frequently as an adjudicator for piano competitions, including the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition preliminary auditions held in Salt Lake City in 1997, 2006, and 2008. In addition, she has written many articles on various topics of piano teaching published in leading journals of Piano Pedagogy in the U.S. such as the American Music Teachers and the Keyboard Companion.Dr. Yang’s piano students have been top prize winners in the collegiate and precollege divisions in many state, national, as well as international level piano competitions, including the national first place winner of the 2010 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Steinway Young Artist (Collegiate) Piano Competition (and becoming the first Chinese-American college piano professor to have a national first place winner student in the 43 year history of this competition), as well as winners of the Seattle International Piano Competition, New York International Piano Competition, International Beethoven Sonata Piano Competition, International Festival for Creative Pianists Competition, Grand Junction Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition, Aurora Symphony Concerto Competition, Coeur d'Alene Symphony's Young Artist Competition, Snowy Range Piano Competition, and first place winners of the Utah Music Teachers Association State Concerto Competitions in both the Collegiate and High School Piano Divisions. Yu-Jane’s Pedagogy students at Weber State University have also won state and national recognitions for their outstanding teaching, including six times winners for the UMTA Collegiate Student Teacher of the Year award in the last ten years, as well as the National Winner of the 2009 Music Teachers National Association Studio Teacher Fellowship Award. In the last eighteen years, she has also served as the Chapter Advisor for the nationally renowned WSU MTNA Student Chapter, the Treblemakers, who is the four-time national winner (1997, 2003, 2005, and 2008) of the MTNA Student Chapter of the Year awards. The WSU MTNA Student Chapter was also selected to present at the 2009 as well as the 2013 MTNA National Conference. In 2008, Dr. Yang was awarded the Music Teachers National Association “Benjamin Whitten Collegiate Chapter Advisor of the Year” at the MTNA National Conference in Denver, Colorado. In 2010 Dr. Yang was selected as the Endowed Scholar/Artist of the Telitha E. Linquist College of Arts & Humanities at Weber State University, and received the 2010 Utah Music Teachers Association Legacy Award for her exceptional teaching, outstanding professional achievements, and superior service to the music profession and to the university. In 2011, Dr. Yang was named a Presidential Distinguished Professor at Weber State University, and given the honor as a 2011 Music Teacher National Association Foundation Fellow for demonstrating the highest quality of teaching, scholarship, research and service to the community. Most recently, Yu-Jane was awarded the distinctive honor as the 2012 John Hinckley Fellow at Weber State University for her exceptional teaching, scholarship, and service.