Each year selected Storrs Scholarship recipients--college level pianists with traditional classical training--present a recital for members of the Musical Club and the general public. Come to hear these piano stars of the future.

 

In 2016, Yuanyuan Liu came to Connecticut to start her master’s studies in piano performance at the University of Hartford with Professor Paul Rutman. She has performed the Hammerklavier recital and chamber music recitals with other music students at Berkman and had her solo piano recital in December 2017. In April 2019, she held her graduation recital at Millard auditorium. In the summer, Yuanyuan held performances at the 2019 Connecticut Virtuosi Summer institute as well as in Wuhan and Yueyang, China. Currently Yuanyuan is enrolled as a doctoral student at the Hartt School of Music.

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Tongqing Liu is a first-year DMA student from the University of Hartford, currently studying with Dr. David Westfall. He received a bachelor's degree in piano performance at Central China Normal University and got a master's degree at The University of Hartford. He won the 6th Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia International piano competition in 2017. He has successfully presented three solo recitals, and serves as a piano accompanist at the Hartt school.

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Sophiko Simsive received a master’s degree at Yale University, studying with Boris Berman. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the Manhattan School of Music, with Dr. Solomon Mikowsky. Sophiko leads an active performing life in New York as well as in Europe, preparing for international competitions and attending cultural events in New York City. In December she had her debut at the National Sawdust, performing with soprano, inspiration of many twentieth century composers, Lucy Shelton. She is also in pursuit of forming a chamber ensemble that will offer audiences a new concert-going experience, more engaging and memorable. Sophiko is passionate about helping a privately-funded cat shelter in Tbilisi. It is her childhood dream to open one herself one day.

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Yoshino Toi is a recent graduate of The Hartt School, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance under the direction of Professor David Westfall. At The Hartt School, she was on a full scholarship as a member of Performance 20/20, Hartt’s Honors Chamber Music Program. She was also a winner of the Paranov Concerto Competition and has performed with The Hartt Orchestra and The Hartt Wind Ensemble. She currently works as a collaborative pianist and a teacher. In the past, she has attended festivals such as the Frost Chopin Academy, Brevard Music Center, Music Academy International, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She has received awards in multiple competitions including the Brevard Music Center Piano Competition, the Scholarship Competition by the Musical Club of Hartford, the Audrey Thayer Competition, and the Renee B. Fisher Piano Competition with the Best Performance of a Commissioned Work. She was recently featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase as well. A native of Japan, Yoshino has studied at the Hartt Community Division since moving to the U.S. in 2010. Her former teachers include, Malgosia Lis, Atsuko Imamura and Emily Lin.

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Morgan Lee began studying piano at age 4. In 2014, she graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, where she studied privately with Linda Jiorle-Nagy. In 2016, she graduated from Mannes College of Music with a Master of Music in piano performance, where she studied with Yuri Kim. She has participated in various music festivals in the US and abroad, including the Mannes Beethoven Institute, the International Keyboard Institute and Festival, the International Academy of Music, the Puigcerdà Music Festival, Brevard Music Institute, and Eastern Music Festival, and has performed recitals in New York City, Italy, Spain, France, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Yoshino currently serves as Music Director at Second Congregational Church of Coventry and is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Connecticut under the tutelage of Angelina Gadeliya.

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Ho-Man Cheung was born in Hong Kong in 1999. He began his piano studies with Ming Fei Liu when he was 8 and gave his debut solo recital in Nanjing, China at the age of 11. He has performed in numerous major cities including New York, Hartford, Eureka, Buckingham, Linz, Koszeg, Sofia, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Recently, he performed as a soloist with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. Cheung is currently a junior piano major student at The Hartt School studying with Professor David Westfall.

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Chenyu Wang is currently pursuing Diploma Degree at The Hartt School, University of Hartford under the guidance of Paul Rutman. Before studying at Hartt School, he earned his master’s degree at the University of South Carolina, studying with Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers. Mr. Wang had the privilege of working with many internationally renowned artists including Tong-il Han, Bruce Brubaker, Thomas Schumacher, and Carol Leone, among others.