Guest Artists Spencer Myer | Ji-Hyang Gwak | Sunghwan Kim | Ryan Behan
Festival Director Caroline Hong
Lauded for “superb playing” and “poised, alert musicianship” by the Boston Globe, and labeled “definitely a man to watch” by London’s The Independent, American pianist SPENCER MYER is one of the most respected and sought-after artists on today’s concert stage.
Spencer Myer’s orchestral, recital and chamber music performances have been heard throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Boise, Dayton, Rhode Island, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Baton Rouge, Indianapolis, Knoxville, New Haven, Omaha, Phoenix, Santa Fe and Tucson Symphony Orchestras, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Mexico’s Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with, among others, conductors Michael Christie, Leslie B. Dunner, Arthur Fagen, Robert Franz, Bernhard Gueller, Jacques Lacombe, Jahja Ling, Timothy Muffitt, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kevin Rhodes, Lucas Richman, Steven Smith, Thomas Wilkins and Victor Yampolsky. His 2005 recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerti of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, followed by six return orchestra and recital tours.
Spencer Myer’s recital appearances have been presented in New York City’s Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y and Steinway Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and London’s Wigmore Hall, while many of his performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago). An in-demand chamber musician, he has appeared numerous summers at the Lev Aronson Legacy Festival in Dallas with cellists Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Amit Peled and Brian Thornton, and has enjoyed a recurring partnership for over a decade with the Miami String Quartet at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival. Other artistic partners have included clarinetist David Shifrin, sopranos Nicole Cabell, Martha Guth and Erin Wall, the Jupiter and Pacifica String Quartets and the Dorian Wind Quintet.
Spencer Myer’s career was launched with three important prizes: First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa, the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the Gold Medal from the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He is also a laureate of the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland and 2005 Busoni International Piano Competitions. He enjoys an esteemed reputation as a vocal collaborator since winning the 2000 Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition. Mr. Myer was a member of Astral Artists’performance roster from 2003-2010.
RYAN BEHAN, assistant professor of piano and director of Keyboard Studies at the University of Indianapolis, has performed throughout the US, in Europe and China, with radio broadcasts on ORF (Austria), BBC, and NPR. Recent performance highlights include concerto soloist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Franz Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage, recital appearances with the Indianapolis Quartet, and with sopranos Sumi Jo at the Mozarteum, and Jolana Slavíková at the Salzburg Festival.
Dr. Behan is co-director of the Franz Liszt International Piano Festival and Competition (OH), president of the Indianapolis Chapter of the American Liszt Society, and with a strong profile throughout the Midwest he has concertized with members of the Indianapolis Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, and Dayton Philharmonic, is an active competition adjudicator, and he continues to present master classes throughout the US and abroad. Since 2012 he has served on the collaborative faculty of the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria where he has taught piano students participating in the Lied classes of Wolfgang Holzmair, and worked alongside many of the great artists and teachers of our time: including opera singers Grace Bumbry, Wolfgang Brendel, and Hedwig Fassbender; violinists Zakhar Bron and Michael Frischenschlager; cellists Umberto Clerici, and the late Heinrich Schiff at Attersee.
Through a holistic approach to teaching, rooted in establishing a healthy, natural technique with musical interpretation informed by one’s own inner voice, he seeks professional and personal fulfillment for his students by helping them to be who they are and be that well. He holds degrees from Bowling Green State University, the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, and The Ohio State University, was a student of Jerome Rose, Imre Rohmann, Vedrana Subotic, Caroline Hong, and also studied with Leslie Howard at the International Keyboard Institute in NYC and James Tocco in Cincinnati.
A prizewinner of numerous competitions, pianist JI-HYANG GWAK has garnered international praise for her versatility, energy, and technical mastery. As a performing solo artist, chamber musician, and pedagogue, she made appearances across the United States, in Czech, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Korea.
Gwak is the top prize winner of the Sicily International Piano Competition, Seattle International Piano Competition, Franz Liszt International Piano Competition – Ohio, High Point University Piano Competition, and the Michigan MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition. She also won awards in the Lyon International Music Competition in France, the 39th Joongang Music Concours, the Korea-Germany Brahms Associations Concours, and was a semi-finalist at the Concours Musical International de Montréal, Seoul International Piano Competition, the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, and the Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition. Gwak is the recipient of The MFMC Rosamond P. Haeberle Memorial Piano Award and the Doreen Wessel Taylor Piano Award. She was selected to participate in summer festivals, including the CCM Prague Festival in Czech, the Sicily Piano Festival in Italy, UFIPF (University of Florida International Piano Festival) in Gainesville, and PianoTexas in Fort Worth.
She has performed in concerts and recitals at various venues: Yamaha Salon in New York, Salle Molière in France, Palffy Palace in Prague, PepsiCo Recital Hall in Fort Worth, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Chiostro di Campitelli al Teatro di Marcello, Sala Sciabica, Palazzo Spadaro, and Museo Diocesano in Italy, Mozart Hall, Sejong Chamber Hall, and Jungam Art Hall in Korea, Hill Auditorium, Kerrytown Concert House, The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center in Michigan, Coastal Carolina University, University of Florida, University of Indianapolis, Concordia College in Minnesota, and Ohio State University, among many others. Gwak made her orchestral debut at 15 with the Bucheon Chamber Orchestra at Jancheon Art Hall in Seoul. In 2014, she was the winner of the Eastman School of Music Concerto Competition, allowing her to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Eastman Philharmonia under the baton of Maestro Neil Varon in the historical concert venue, 2400 seats Kodak Hall, Rochester. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra at Hill Auditorium and the Dexter Community Orchestra at Dexter Center for the Performing Arts. Gwak has performed in masterclasses and had lessons with world-renowned artists, including Philippe Bianconi, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Vadim Monastyrski, Yoshikazu Nagai, Elisabeth Pridonoff, Gustavo Romero, Jacques Rouvier, Peter Serkin, Daniel Shapiro, Sasha Starcevich, and Asaf Zohar.
Gwak holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance, summa cum laude, from Seoul National University and a Master of Music in piano performance and literature from Eastman School of Music. Her teacher includes Kyungrok Park, Jinson Kim, Prof. Hie-Yon Choi, and Prof. Natalya Antonova. She earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and recently completed her Specialist degree in 2022 at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Prof. Christopher Harding, with the Earl V. Moore Award, the School of Music · Theatre & Dance department's top graduation honor.
She is deeply passionate about sharing the joy of classical music and is especially interested in promoting classical music in the digital age, which led her to give performances in community venues and schools to seek new audiences.
From the fall of 2023, Gwak will join the University of Dayton faculty to nurture the next generation of young musicians. Besides her teaching position, she currently is a Board member of the American Liszt Society (ALS) and a Secretary of the Ohio Chapter of ALS.
Originally from South Korea, SUNGHWAN KIM completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at The Ohio State University, where he was honored with the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Associate Award. Kim is also a recipient of full scholarships for his double master's degrees in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music He also graduated summa cum laude from his undergraduate studies at Chugye University for the Arts in Korea. Kim studied music composition at Hanyang University and served as a pianist in the Republic of Korea Air Force Band. Throughout his career, Kim has garnered acclaim through numerous competitions, including the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, American Protégé International Concerto Competition, Charleston International Music Competition, and Korea-Germany Brahms Association Competition.
One of his standout achievements was winning the DMA Concerto Competition, which led to a memorable performance of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Ohio State Symphony Orchestra at Mershon Auditorium. This performance was further celebrated as it was broadcasted via WOSU Classical 101FM Radio.
Sunghwan Kim has performed in prestigious venues, such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ohio Theatre, Davidson Theater, and Sejong Chamber Hall. As a versatile pianist, he has collaborated with renowned ensembles including the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Westerville Symphony, and BalletMet.
Kim has been frequently invited as a guest artist in many states such as Texas, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Since 2016, he has been working as a pianist and organist of the acclaimed brass ensemble, Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass touring nationally and internationally for approximately 20 weeks each year and recording many CDs under Summit Records. Currently residing in Columbus, Ohio, he is an organist at Indianola Presbyterian Church and adjunct professor at Global Piania Conservatory of Music in South Korea teaching music theory and piano masterclass online.
Liszt Festival Director
CAROLINE HONG, professor of piano, and director of the Franz Liszt (U.S.) International Piano Festival and Competition (hosted by The Ohio State University School of Music), received her training from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (BM, scholarship student, performance honors), The Juilliard School (MM), and Indiana University (DM) where she also served as an associate instructor for theory and secondary piano. She has served on faculty for the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Piano Festival, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Summer Piano Academy, Vianden International Festival and School (Luxembourg), Longwood University, and was the first female faculty member at the Piano at Peabody Roads Scholar summer program (2005). Her strong teaching record is evidenced by her students winning competitions and faculty positions. She has served as a jury member for Mid Atlantic Artists USArtists International, Aarhus International Piano Competition (Denmark), Pianale International Piano Academy and Competition, Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition, Bartok-Kabalevsky International Piano Competition (U.S.), Princeton Symphony Orchestra International Piano Competition, and International Young Artists Concerto (of which she is currently on the Jury Alumni Board). She has appeared as soloist with the Utah Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Indiana University Philharmonic, West Texas Symphony, as well as Chicago Civic Orchestra, among others. Her teachers include Martin Canin, Jerome Lowenthal, Sergei Babayan, Dmitrii Paperno, Ann Schein, Karen Shaw, M. Deitzer and Fernando Laires; and Claude Frank, John Browning, Leon Fleisher, Gyorgy Sebok, and Menahem Pressler as master class teachers. Her first teacher, with whom she began study of piano at age two, was her mother.
Hailed for her “expressive and powerful playing,” “formidable technique,” as well as her “keen sense of lyricism and the classical style,” Caroline Hong continues to flourish in her career as an internationally active soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, master class teacher, lecturer, adjudicator and recording artist. Pulitzer Prize and Academy award-winning composer John Corigliano referred to her as “one of the greatest pianists I have ever heard” after a performance of his Etude Fantasy (1976). Critics wrote that it was “breathtaking” and “hard to imagine a better performance.” Favorably reviewed by American Record Guide, she has recorded for Mark Records and Fleur de Son, further establishing herself as an eloquent interpreter of contemporary piano music. As a chamber musician, she has performed with many fine artist groups including the Vermeer String Quartet and the Dorian Wind Quintet and toured extensively with the late Charles Wetherbee as Duo Viardot under management with Great Lakes Performing Artists Associates. Currently, Hong is listed on the artist roster of Price Attractions.
Caroline Hong made her debut at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall as a winner of the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition. She is a Distinguished Performer of the Palm Beach International Piano Competition, Winner of the Society of American Musicians, the Bach Festival of Southern California, Chicago Civic Orchestra Soloist Competition, and semifinalist in UNISA International Piano Competition and Concert Artists Guild. She was a contestant at numerous other international competitions including the Van Cliburn International Audition, Robert Casadesus, William Kapell, and American Pianists Association. She been featured in Symphony Center under the baton of the late Michael Morgan and numerous radio broadcasts worldwide including at the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy, Robert Sherman’s “Young Artists Showcase” (New York Times Radio), and South Afrikaans radio. She is a Steinway Artist, a 2022–2023 recipient of the Steinway Top Teacher Award, serves as president of the American Liszt Society Ohio Chapter, and is on the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society. Dr. Hong holds the Reinberger Chair at the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.