ARTIST FACULTY
Antoinette Perry
Professor at USC Thornton School of Music, Los Angeles
Artist-faculty Emeritus at the Aspen Music Festival and School
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Canadian Concert and Collaborative Pianist based in Vienna, Master's degrees from MdW (Vienna), HEM Geneva, and University of Montreal
Audrey Axinn
Professor at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes School of Music, New York City
Andrew J. Yang
Professor at Tónskóli Sigursveins and Tónskólinn í Reykjavík, Founder & Artistic Director
Andrew J. Yang
Founder & Artistic Director
Andrew J. Yang has an international performance career across the Europe, North America, and Asia. Deemed by The San Francisco Examiner as "a prodigy, [running] the emotional gamut from brooding introspection to manic exuberance” and by Ruth Slenczynska, legendary pianist and student of Rachmaninoff, as “a gifted musician and serious artist”, Yang has performed at venues such as Mozarthaus in Vienna, Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Musiikkitalo in Helsinki, Judaica Foundation in Krakow, and the Hoheikan in Sapporo. Yang was awarded the top prize at the 30th International FLAME Piano Competition in Paris, France, and has also received awards from numerous competitions including the International Heida Hermanns Piano Competition and the Metropolitan International Piano Competition in New York City. In 2018, Yang was awarded a "White Rose" Medal of Honor for musical excellence from President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö. Born and raised in California, Yang has resided in Iceland since 2021. He spent three years teaching at Tónlistarskóli Vesturbyggðar and is currently based in the Reykjavík area where he is on the piano faculty at Tónlistarskólinn í Reykjavík and Tónskóli Sigursveins. Yang also creates rock, R&B, and indie music and plays guitar and violin.
Antoinette Perry
Professor at USC Thornton School of Music
Artist-faculty Emeritus at the Aspen Music Festival
Le Dauphine Libéré has lauded Antoinette Perry’s “irreproachable technique” and “a musical comprehension which could only belong to one of the Greats.” The LA Times has praised her “exceptional artistry” her “superb Schubert in every respect”. Perry, born into a family of professional musicians, gave her first public performance at the age of four. Since then, she has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Germany, France, England, and China. She has been heard often on NPR and the Bravo! Channel, and has recorded for the Crystal, Harmonie, Pacific Rainbow, Pacific Serenades, Excelsior, and Navona/PARMA labels. Her first solo album, “Beethoven Bookends,” was released under the Navona LIVE/PARMA label in 2021. Artist-faculty Emeritus at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Ms. Perry performed in over 100 concerts there during her 25-year tenure. Other festivals include Bravo!International, Lansum International, Zhengzhou International, Saarburg International, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Chamber Music Sedona, Ojai Festival, Taipei International, 20th Century Unlimited in Santa Fe, and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, among others. As a young artist she was one of only two women representing the United States (seven women world-wide) in the 6th Van Cliburn International Competition (1981). Perry served on the UCLA piano faculty for 12 years before joining the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in 1996, where she currently teaches. The California Association of Professional Music Teachers awarded her their 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Audrey Axinn
Professor at The Juilliard School, Mannes, and MSM
Director of Academy of Fortepiano Performance
Audrey Axinn’s performances have been hailed by the Washington Post and others as “truly admirable” and “Axinn is an artist…her touch is magical and the fluidity of her playing exceptional.” Pianist and fortepianist Axinn has enjoyed a long performing career on both modern Steinway-type pianos and historical pianos. A specialist in ornamenting the music of Mozart and Beethoven, Dr. Axinn is committed to deep exploration of the nuances of Classical and early-Romantic composers’ unique musical vocabularies. An exceptional collaborative performer, Dr. Axinn has collaborated with luminary partners including Monica Huggett, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Eugene Fodor, Daniel Heifetz, Fred Sherry, Cynthia Roberts and Dave Eggar. Dr. Axinn is on The Juilliard School’s faculty teaching chamber music and elective fortepiano, performance practice and pedagogy courses. She teaches collaborative piano and multiple elective courses at Mannes College of Music and recently taught in the music history department at Manhattan School of Music. Dr. Axinn is co-Director of the Academy of Fortepiano Performance in upstate New York, the largest summer workshop dedicated to fortepiano instruction. Dr. Axinn earned a Masters and D.M.A degree from The Juilliard School She also earned degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and Manhattan School of Music. She was awarded a Fulbright grant to study fortepiano at Sweelinck Conservatorium in The Netherlands.
Carl Zhang
Canadian Concert & Collaborative Pianist based in Vienna
Canadian pianist, Carl Zhang, has garnered top prizes in various esteemed competitions, including the Concours de Musique du Canada, Concours de musique Sorel-Tracy, Concours de musique de Sherbrooke, Concours Clermont-Pépin, and the Concours Gustav Mahler. His excellence in both academics and performance has been recognized through numerous grants and scholarships, including the Bourse d’excellence Denise Angers, Bourse de la Haute école de musique de Genève, and the prestigious Bourse MITACS, which provided him the opportunity to journey to Vienna. Zhang received two Master’s degrees in piano performance at two prestigious institutions: University of Montreal and the Geneva Haute École de Musique. In 2018, he was accepted into the PhD program at the University of Montreal, with a dedicated focus on exploring the music of the revered Viennese composer, Franz Schubert. However, the world had unexpected plans in store. During an exchange year at the University of Performing Arts in Vienna, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Carl's plans to return to Canada. Faced with uncertainties and unable to return home, he made the decision to stay in the vibrant Austrian capital, Vienna. Since then, Vienna has become the artistic hub of Carl Zhang's multifaceted career and life, where he performs in concerts, collaborates with various singers, teaches piano, coaches aspiring vocalists, and accompanies instrumentalists.
