October & November 2025
Stretto 2025
We could not be more excited to witness our annual 11-day festival blossom into more than two months of global events with artists of all backgrounds demonstrating their passion for and the greatness of narrow keys via their artistry in performance.
We are actively promoting Athena, the first 88-key, weighted, 5.5-inch octave narrow-key electronic keyboard one-on-one and in-person in NYC, and to people all over the world.
Use the code STRETTO2025 for a discount to purchase Athena at narrowkeys.com/athena
We will add more photos of artists to the poster at right as we grow and progress this year.
We are receiving inquiries from artists about our 2026 festival and hope to hear from you, too!
Pier 57 Free Piano Lessons with Athena Keyboard
Celebrating Athena with the kids and all small-handed pianists!
We’re delighted to share and celebrate the groundbreaking Athena 5.5-inch octave electronic keyboard by offering free piano lessons to small-handed people at New York City’s Pier 57.
10 AM - 2 PM in the Oyster Classroom
2.30 PM - 6 PM in the Daffodil and Seahorse Classrooms
Overlooking the Hudson River with gorgeous views, high ceilings, and a vibe that makes you lose track of time, the location can’t be beat for relaxation and leisure.
There’s a great food court in the same building, and NYC’s beautiful Little Island next door for a scenic autumn walk and views of inter-borough bridges and the Statue of Liberty, weather-permitting.
If you want to make an appointment for a 30-minute, 45-minute or 60-minute lesson, email us at info.strettopianofestival@gmail.com
Or just walk in and you’re welcome to sit at the piano to learn scales, chords, and a piece or two, depending on your level.
Rank beginners welcome.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Johns Hopkins University Presents Eri Yoshimura
This recorded presentation at the Global Health Summit in July 2025 saw Eri Yoshimura perform on a Yamaha C7X with DS5.5 keyboard.
BIO
Eri Yoshimura, born in Osaka, Japan, earned a music education degree from Shinshu University before moving to Denton, Texas. There, she obtained Master’s and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from the University of North Texas under Dr. Pamela Mia Paul with a related field in Music and Medicine under Dr. Kris Chesky. Dr. Yoshimura has performed solo, chamber and four-hands recitals in USA (including Hawaii), Japan, Mexico, and Hungary (Franz Liszt International Festival). She and Hungarian pianist, Emöke Ujj, released their first album together, “Contemporary Piano Music for Four Hands”, which contains the works by four living composers. All compositions in this album were specifically composed for Emöke and Eri.
Dr. Yoshimura’s scholarly research has focused on understanding and preventing piano-related medical problems. Her research papers were published in the Medical Problems of Performing Artists journal 2006 and 2008 and in the MTNA E-journal 2009. Her dissertation focused on the possible application of an ergonomically modified keyboard (a narrower-sized keyboard) for reducing piano-related pain among small-handed pianists. In April 2006, she performed on the 15/16-sized keyboard in one of her doctoral degree recitals; this performance marked this keyboard’s concert premiere. She has presented her research in conferences at Aspen (PAMA), Chicago (NCKP), Serbia (EPTA) and England (RNCM). As a doctoral student at UNT, she won outstanding researcher scholarships for her work in music & medicine and was featured on the university homepage, magazines, and regional TV news reports and radio. She is currently using the 7/8-sized keyboard to teach her students at the Gray School in Dallas.
Sahoko Otsuka
PROGRAM
F. Chopin Waltz in Ab Major Opus 34 No.1 Valse Brillante
F. Schubert Impromptu in Bb Major Opus 142 No. 3
S. Prokofiev Piano Sonata No.1 in F minor Opus 1
BIO
Originally from Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Sahoko Otsuka began playing piano at the age of three and studying ballet at five. At 18, she entered the Faculty (School) of Medicine, where she also formed a piano trio with a classmate and performed at concert halls, hospitals, and other venues. She now works as a physician while continuing to enjoy music as a hobby, and is a member of the Narrow Key Piano Society. Welcome her for her festival debut on the KAWAI RX2 grand with 6.0-inch octave keyboard.
Square Music in the Pianodrome
Square Music in the Pianodrome
Square music, a dazzling quartet of pianists, return to Pianodrome by popular demand to celebrate the Fifth Annual International Stretto Piano Festival with us.
Doors 16:30 - Show commences at 17:00
Square Music
Square Music is a London-based Piano Quartet that performed with us both at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2024 and earlier this year. We are so excited to welcome them back to Pianodrome Granton in Edinburgh.
The Fifth Annual International Stretto Piano Festival
The Pianodrome in Granton, as you may not know, has two playable "stretto,” or narrow-key, pianos installed into the structure. These are pianos with narrower keys that have been donated to us by the global Stretto piano advocates, 'PASK' (Pianists for Alternatively Sized Keyboards), who campaign for pianos with narrower keys to be made widely available to increase the piano's accessibility to those with smaller hands. We are thrilled to welcome the excellent pianists of the Square Music quartet to show off these pianos in our piano amphitheatre as part of this year's Fifth Annual International Stretto Piano Festival.
Venue Info
The Granton Pianodrome is a DIY grassroots venue set in a warehouse on an Industrial estate shared with some van rental companies and used car sales. Ours is the most colourful unit at the end: You'll see a grand piano on top of a shipping container!
Toilets: please note that we simply have one compost toilet at this venue (made out of pianos) which may not be accessible for some guests. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and assure you that we are doing our best to remedy this issue.
University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart (Germany)
SIRIUS 6.0 Concert with Athina Bardakou, Cornelia Felber, Simona Stefano, Yu Tashiro, Dani Zhogovska und Arthur Adams-Close (Bariton)
Works by J. S. Bach, Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss und Dora Pejačević
You can find the detailed programm here: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/veranstaltung/sirius-60-konzert
Artistic direction: Silvia Molan & Prof.in Ulrike Wohlwender
SIRIUS 6.0 Future Initiative of the HMDK Stuttgart: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/sirius-60
You can find the detailed programm here: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/veranstaltung/sirius-60-konzert
Booker T. Washington High School Celebrates the Stretto Piano
In partnership with Stretto Piano Concerts, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in the Dallas, Texas, will present their students performing on its Stretto piano, with a DS6.0 Keyboard.
Evolved in 1976, the premise of the school came from a realization that gifted young artists need highly specialized and rigorous training in the arts to be prepared for the intense competition they will meet in colleges, conservatories, and the professional arts world.
SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts
In partnership with Stretto Piano Events and stretto piano pioneer Dr. Carol Leone,
Dr. Catharine Lysinger will present a special concert featuring students of the Meadows School of Arts.
PROGRAM
Jie Zhou
Preludes, Op. 11, Nos. 11 and 14 - Scriabin
Claudia Shumeng Wang
Étude de concert, S. 144, No. 2 La leggierezza - Liszt
Kamilya Akhmetova
32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 80 - Beethoven
Olivia Chien-Jou Wang
Partita No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 826 – Bach
Jie Zhou, born in Chengdu, China, began piano studies at age four. She went to Utah State University for her undergraduate degree in piano, where she taught young students and assisted in music classes. Jie is now a first-year graduate student in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Southern Methodist University. When she’s not at the piano, you’ll probably find her hunting down the spiciest food in town or happily sipping on bubble tea.
Claudia Wang graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.M. in Piano Performance, where she studied with Dr. Carol Leone. and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, studying with Dr. Cathy Lysinger. She has been performing on the alternate-sized keyboard for over four years, which has greatly enhanced her playing and teaching. With six years of teaching experience, Claudia teaches both private and group piano lessons to students ranging from age five through adult. In additional to teaching, she has performed in solo and chamber settings, exploring a wide range of repertoire across musical styles.
Kamilya Akhmetova began piano studies at the age of seven in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, and later continued at the Republican Kazakh Specialized Music School named after Akhmet Zhubanov in Almaty. At eighteen, she debuted with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
She graduated with honors from the Kazakh National University of Arts, where she studied piano with Professor Sara Assabayeva and organ with Assistant Professor Saltanat Abilkhanova. Her international training includes the 5th European Organ Academy in Leipzig and a semester at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, Italy.
Kamilya has been recognized with Diplomas at the III Siberian International Chopin Piano Competition (2016), the XX Open Festival-Competition of Organ Music (2019), and the Baikal Toccata International Competition (2019), all in Russia.
She completed both a Master’s degree and Performer’s Diploma in Organ Performance at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, USA) with Stefan Engels and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Piano Performance and Pedagogy with Andrey Ponochevny.
Olivia Chien-Jou Wang was born in 2003 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. She graduated from the music program at Chien-Hwa Junior High School and completed the 7-Year Integrated Music Program at the National Tainan University of the Arts. In 2021, she was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, under Professor Albert Tiu, and graduated in 2025.
Chien-Jou has received numerous accolades, including first prize in the Taiwan selection round of the Japanese Classical Music Competition and third prize in the national finals held in Japan (where the first and second prizes were not awarded). She was invited to perform the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 with a local orchestra in Japan. In 2023, she was selected as a performance laureate in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition, which led to her performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18 with orchestra in March 2024. That same year, she received full tuition support from her chamber music lecturer to attend the “Music Chair” Chamber Music Festival in Canada, where she performed Smetana’s Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 15 with her trio partners.
Beyond classical music, Chien-Jou is also skilled in pop and Christian music improvisation. She arranged and recorded the graduation song for her junior high school and was invited in both 2023 and 2024 by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory to sing and play piano at the Senior Graduation Party Showcase.
She has studied with distinguished artists such as John Perry, Pascal Rogé, Boris Slutsky, Andreas Fröhlich, Christopher Hinterhuber, Alexander Schimpf, Armen Babakhanian, Anna Geniushene, Kathryn Stott, Yoshikazu Nagai, Marina Lomazov, Sara Tal, Victoria Mushkatkol, and Myong-Joo Lee.
Currently, Chien-Jou is pursuing her Master’s degree at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, under the guidance of Professors Carol Leone and Sara Daneshpour.
Erica Booker’s Studio
Erica Booker’s students Amy Huang and Samantha Stephens join for their Stretto Festival debut!
PROGRAM
Amy Huang
Frederic Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in Ab Major Opus 47
Claude Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau
DS 5.5-inch octave grand piano
Samantha Stephens
J S Bach- Partita No 1 in Bb, BWV 825
Praeludium
Allemande
Corrente
Sarabande
Menuet I
Menuet II
Gigue
Kawai GM12 with 6.0 keyboard
Amy Huang is 14 years old and is currently in year 9 at Ravenswood School for Girls. She began her musical journey at age five, when she started learning piano with her Suzuki teacher Christine Collins. After Mrs Collin’s retirement, Amy continued to learn with Erica Booker and achieved her AMusA diploma in 2023. As well as playing piano, Amy also enjoys playing violin, and received her AMusA diploma for violin this year. Amy represents her school in various performances and Eisteddfods and is a member of the school’s symphony orchestra, string ensemble and quartet. In addition to her musical interests, Amy also enjoys swimming, baking and cadets.
Samantha Stephens is 17 years old and is in year 11 at Mount St Benedict College. Samantha began her musical journey at the age of two, attending Suzuki Early Childhood Music classes with Erica Booker. She started learning the piano, Suzuki method under the patient guidance of Gabrielle Donovan. Through Gabrielle’s teaching, Samantha developed a strong foundation in music, with a focus on listening, musical expression, discipline and most of all the love of music. Samantha remembers Gabrielle fondly as the teacher who taught her to play from the heart.
In 2023, Samantha began piano lessons with Erica Booker, who has played a pivotal role in developing her confidence, helping her refine her technique, deepen her understanding of music and develop her musical artistry. In 2024, she completed Suzuki level 9. In addition, to preparing for the Suzuki level 9 graduation, she was busy with the school musical “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” as the second pianist in the school musical orchestra.
Besides playing the piano, Samantha picked up the flute at primary school, playing in the school band, and completing the Grade 4 flute exams with honours. Early last year, Samantha began learning to play the violin recreationally, learning from Rhordan Stephens.
Samantha is currently working on Music 2 and will be playing piano for her High School Certificate next year. Between practice and studies, she enjoys playing netball, playing with her dog, and catching up with her friends.
Noriko Utsugi
Noriko Utsugi is a member of the Japan Narrow Key Piano Society, and is performing on a DS6.0 and ⅞ keyboards made for a Blüthner grand piano located in Piano Plaza Gunma, Takasaki City, Japan. She is a professional ophthalmologist and an accomplished amateur pianist.
PROGRAM
Works by Frederic Chopin
4 Mazurkas Op.33
No.1 G# minor
No.2 C major
No.3 D major
No.4 B minor
Polonaise Op.53 A♭ major “Heroic “
De Krachtcentrale Presents Katie Yao Morgan
KLASSIEK IN DE KRACHTCENTRALE
In collaboration with Tendens and Stretto Piano Festival.
On the first evening in the series, pianist Katie Yao Morgan performs Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Glinka on the Tendens piano with narrow keys.
Enjoy the Stretto Piano Events premiere of concerts from the Netherlands on a Tendens 7/8 digital grand!
PROGRAM
F. Schubert - 6 Moments Musicaux D 780 Opus 94 No. 1, 2, 3, 4
R. Schumann - Op. 4 Intermezzi No. 2 and No. 3
A. Scriabin - Poeme Nocturne Op. 61
M. Glinka - Nocturne in Eb Major
K. Yao Morgan - Butterfly Lovers
K. Yao Morgan - Market Havoc
BIO
Katie Yao Morgan (2000), of British and Chinese descent, began piano studies at age four. She attended the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Marcel Baudet and later studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Frank Peters, completing her Bachelor’s in Classical Piano (2022) and Master’s in Repetiteurship (2024). Her Master Research, ‘The Discriminatory Instrument’, outlines the limitations of the standardised piano keyboard and advocates for pianos with narrower keys was awarded the Frans Schreuderprijs for best Master’s Research across all conservatories in the Netherlands. Subsequently, her research was published in the EPTA Bulletin.
Katie has won numerous prizes, including 1st prize at the Amsterdam Regional finals of the Princess Christina Concours (2019) and the Grachtenfestival Conservatorium Concours (2024) with pianist Jorian van Nee. She has appeared at Het Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, and Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, and performed concertos by Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, and Ravel with orchestras across Europe.
As a chamber musician, she has played with Trio Pantoum (winners of the Intercollegiate Piano Trio Society Competition, 2018) and appeared on Dutch national TV show Podium Witteman multiple times. In 2025 her debut album “Echoes of the Orient” was released on Naxos World, featuring her own compositions inspired by the Chinese heritage.
Alongside her music career, Katie completed a BSc in Psychology (UvA, 2024) and an MSc in Crime and Forensic Science (UCL, 2025).
Kaduk Tendens
Tendens is a new member of the piano family — a supreme, portable concert instrument that surpasses the grand piano in playability, tone, and freedom. Its active soundboard gives a singing, open sound with unsurpassed clarity in any space, while its ultra-responsive action reveals every nuance of the pianist’s touch. Because it can travel, pianists can finally build a lasting personal connection with their own instrument — even with custom dimensions for comfort and health. For the first time, a concert instrument combines world-class quality with portability, opening the door to new artistic freedom and new listening experiences.
More about Tendens: https://www.tendens.live/
What is a Stretto Piano?
Stretto means narrow in Italian.
Pianos with various key widths have existed since keyboard instruments were first invented centuries ago. In the mid-to-late 19th century, however, cast iron piano frames were invented in order to keep up with the demands of larger performance halls. This innovation caused a significant increase of the octave span. Famous male, large-handed virtuosos, like Franz Liszt, started touring at this time and played the bigger instruments with ease. Prominent manufacturers standardized these powerful pianos of the late nineteenth century, mass-producing the conventional size we have today.
Since then, pianists with smaller hands have found this conventional size challenging to play, and have even experienced playing-related injuries in many cases. Many artists realized that one size does not fit all, especially for repertoire written by composers who had or have large hands.
Taeko Hirata
Pianist and educator Taeko Hirata joins the Festival in Kyoto, Japan!
Program:
Prokofiev: Four Pieces, Op. 4 – No. 4 “Suggestion Diabolique”
Chopin: Fantasy-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 (Polish National Edition, Ekier Urtext)
Liszt: Liebesträume
BIO
Taeko Hirata is a piano teacher based in Kyoto, Japan.
The pianos she owns are a standard-size Kawai and a DIAPASON 170E with keys slightly larger than 6.0 inches—approximately 6.1 inches.
Linda Gould
We are thrilled to have Linda Gould, a pioneer of stretto pianos, pianist, and entrepreneur join us with a video concert featuring her adventurous programming and performing, her sister, Susan, her troupe of Jazz pros, and stretto festival pianist Eliana Yi who performed at Linda’s live concert with her in 2024.
Program
Linda Gould
March Past from the Canadiana Suite by Oscar Peterson
Eliana Yi
Suicide in an Airplane by Leo Ornstein
Linda and Susan Gould
Innamorata by PDQ Bach
Concerto in Jazz by Donald Phillips
Linda Gould
March Past from Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite
with Bob Brown on drums, Don Cox on bass, Dave Paulson on the big keys, and Linda Gould on Narrow Keys
Linda Gould is a performer, music educator, and advocate for narrow key pianos. She serves as the CEO of Narrow Key Pianos, where she recently led the development of Athena, a narrow key digital piano featuring a 5.5-inch octave. Under her direction, Narrow Key Pianos has distributed over 300 instruments worldwide in 2025, nearly tripling the number of narrow key pianos available to performers and educators.
More information about Athena can be found at narrowkeypianos.com
Please see Eliana Yi’s festival page where her concert will be linked to read her bio.
Notes about the program from Linda:
1. Eliana Yi playing Suicide in an Airplane at our music room last year. She explains it and plays it beautifully on my Yamaha fitted with D.S. 5.5 keys.
2. Linda and Susan Gould playing Innamorata by PDQ Bach. A tongue-in-cheek performance of the first movement of this work. Innamorata was a duet that PDQ Bach wrote to get close to a girl he wanted to get to know better. Lots of arm crossing, etc. Sue and I play it on two pianos in the fashion of two sisters poking at each other musically. Sue is on a Yamaha concert grand with regular or BIG keys, as I now call them, and I am on my Yamaha grand with D.S. 5.5 keys. We also have a bit of preamble in the video.
3. Linda and Susan Gould on the same two pianos (Susan has a reach of a 10th on regular keys) playing Concerto in Jazz by Donald Phillips. a delightful, little-known American piece written for Piano and Concert band. Sue plays the orchestra part on her piano. There is a preamble story to this piece, too. How I was passed over by the band in high school because my hands were too small to play the piece. Five years later, my large-handed sister got to play it with the high school band. I was envious! Now, finally, I get to play it too!
4. Linda Gould playing March Past from Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite. Performed at our Canada Day party this year. Linda plays the Athena 5.5 digital piano with Bob Brown on drums, Don Cox on bass, and Dave Paulson on the Big keys.
David Soo & Students
David Soo and his students, Tyler Zhou, Alexander Cui, and Nicholas Jiang, and Isaac Shi, delight us from Australia!
PROGRAM
Alexander Cui
'Andante' from Sonata in C, K545 by Mozart
Toccata by Bacewicz
Isaac Shi
Creole Dance by Ginastera
Nicholas Jiang
Rondo in C major by Beethoven
October by Tchaikovsky
Tyler Zhou
Grande Waltz Brillante in E-flat major by Chopin
Souvenir d’Andalouisie by Gottschalk
Paganini Variations by Berkovitch
David Soo
Automne, by Chaminade
Notturno by De Falla
BIO
David Soo is an Australian concert pianist who has performed extensively throughout Australia, Asia, and in Europe as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. David has had the privilege of performing before several distinguished dignitaries such as the late Her Majesty the Queen, the Mayor of the City of London Corporation, and the Honourable Alexander Downer AC, and the Honourable George Brandis QC as High Commissioners to the United Kingdom. David has performed in significant concert halls and venues including Australia House, the Barbican Concert Hall, St-Martins-in-the Field, the Old Bailey, Goodenough College, Haikou Town Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the Melbourne Recital Centre, and the ABC Studios in Adelaide and Melbourne. David has also performed sold-out recitals at the Bloomsbury and Chobham Festivals, and his performances can be heard on ABC Classic FM, New Zealand Classic FM, Fine Music Australia Network stations, and FMITE Spanish Radio. David studied piano with Glenn Riddle and Joan Havill. David has recently completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne.
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Alexander Cui is a Year 5 student at Bentleigh West Primary School, studying piano under Dr David Soo. He has received prizes in various competitions and aspires to become a professional musician. Alexander enjoys performing in duets and also participates in the Melbourne Youth Orchestra (MYO) program. His favourite composers are from the Romantic period. He made his recital debut earlier this year at the Diamond Creek Concert Series and is looking forward to sharing his music with a wider audience.
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Tyler Zhou was born in Melbourne and studies piano with Dr David Soo. Tyler has received prizes in various competitions in Australia and beyond. He recently made his recital debut at St Paul’s Cathedral (Melbourne), and he has also performed in Singapore (Esplanade concert hall), and in Poland. Tyler also plays the violin and is a member of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra’s Ensemble program. He is an avid reader and loves listening to classical music.
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Nicholas Jiang is a Year 5 student at St Margaret's Berwick. He studies piano with Dr David Soo. Nicholas also plays double bass and is an avid composer. He is a member of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra and the Whitehorse Symphony Orchestra. As a composer, his many interests range from Bach to the Sydney-based pianist and composer Dr Kirill Monorosi. As a pianist, he has received prizes in competitions, including winning the Wimmera and Warrnambool eisteddfods. Nicholas's dream is to become a pianist performing and conducting his own concerto.
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Isaac Shi, a Year 5 student, is an oboist and pianist studying piano with Dr David Soo. Isaac received an A+ last year for his Grade 7 piano exam and received a Kawai Digital Piano. He won second prize in last year’s Universal Music Examination piano competition. Isaac is a member of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra and the Knox Wind Symphony.
Brenna Wee and Friends
This year, Bridges Collective presents From Shadows to Sunlight: French Journeys
Bridges Collective is excited to be part of the 5th Stretto International Piano Festival. The core mission at Bridges Collective is the belief that music and music-making is a universal human experience. We believe that everyone, regardless of differences of culture, nationality, income or size should be able to participate in listening to and making music. When we learnt of stretto pianos, we could not think of a more worthy cause to champion: Pianos with narrower keys that make it possible for people with smaller hands to be able to perform the music they love without their physical limitations being a handicap.
Artistic Director Brenna Wee, on a Bernstein piano with DS5.5® (5.5-inch octave) keyboard, will be joined by cellist Diana Wuli and flautist Simone Maurer.
Please join us for an evocative afternoon of French music, tracing a path from mystery to radiance. Debussy’s Estampes opens with shimmering soundscapes of rain, distant lands, and fleeting colour. Poulenc’s Cello Sonata follows, witty yet poignant, revealing both humour and vulnerability. The concert closes with Debussy’s youthful Piano Trio in G major—a luminous work brimming with lyrical warmth and unguarded joy.
More details on Bridges Collective:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bridgescollective
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/BridgesCollective
Program
Simone Maurer, Flute
Diana Wuli, Cello
Brenna Wee, Piano
Claude Debussy: Estampes
I. Pagodes
II. La soirée dans Granade
III. Jardins sou le pluie
Francis Poulenc – Cello Sonata, FP 143
I. Allegro – Tempo di Marcia
II. Cavatine
Claude Debussy: Piano Trio in G major, L 5
I. Andantino con moto allegro
II. Scherzo: Moderato con allegro
III. Andante espressivo
IV. Finale: Appassionato
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Brenna Wee is a highly regarded pianist, collaborative artist and educator. She holds two Master’s degrees from the University of Melbourne, with specialisations in Collaborative Pianism and Piano Pedagogy. A versatile pianist, she also studied Jazz Piano performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Scholarships from both the Singapore and Australian governments funded her musical studies and her Graduate Diploma in Education.
Having grown up in South-East Asia and lived in many countries, Brenna founded Bridges Collective, a fine art ensemble which facilitates cross-cultural interaction through music-making. As Artistic Director of the ensemble, she was awarded multiple grants and awards from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Victorian Multicultural Commission and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in recognition of the ensemble’s valuable work in bridging cultures. These awards have enabled Brenna to take the ensemble on musical exchanges to Canberra, Melbourne, Singapore and West Malaysia where the ensemble has a well-established artist residency and composition workshop program.
Brenna continues to share the joy of music-making in her work, both in performance and education. She currently holds a position as an accompanist at Monash University, as Deputy Head of Keyboard at Haileybury College and is engaged in regular visits to Singapore and Malaysia as a pianist, associate artist and educator. She is excited to be part of the Stretto Festival and believes that the availability of alternate-sized keyboards will facilitate future generations of young and established pianists with smaller handspans to engage in music-making with ease and confidence.
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As a contemporary international artist, Diana Wuli has performed in concerts throughout the USA, UK, Europe, Australia, and Asia. She has also performed with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, New Zealand Opera and Ballet Orchestra, and International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico.
Diana has been the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes and awards, including the Donovan Johnson Travelling Scholarship (AUS), Thornton Foundation Award (UK), Eva Heinitz Cello Award (USA), and Janos Starker Scholar (USA). Her studies have taken her across three continents: Double Degree in Music and Commerce (BMus/BComm) at University of Melbourne (AUS), Masters in Music (MMus) at Royal Northern College of Music (UK), and Performers Diploma (PDip) and Doctor of Music (DM) from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (USA).
In addition to performing, Diana is also a passionate educator. She has held faculty positions at Vincennes University (USA) as Adjunct Professor in Applied Strings and Director of VU String Ensemble, and has also given workshops and masterclasses as guest lecturer at Miami University, Indiana University, University of South Dakota, and Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. Diana continues to collaborate with string pedagogues and music educators to research and develop new string teaching methods. She is currently a Board Director with the Victorian Music Teachers’ Association (VMTA).
As an avid believer in the purpose and power of music, Diana is actively involved in creating and collaborating in music projects with the mission of bringing music and music education into underserved communities around the globe. She is the Founder and Director of Melbourne String Academy (MSA), a music organisation which launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring community outreach projects such as Virtual Cello Camp 2020 (VCC2020), and Virtual Music Connect (VMC). MSA was recently the recipient of awards and grants from Creative Victoria and Monash City Council.
Diana currently performs on a rare Australian made cello by W.H. Dow (1917).
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Simone Maurer is a classical flautist, tertiary educator, and music psychology researcher based in Melbourne/Naarm. Artistically, she embraces a wide range of musical styles and collaborations, performing as both a soloist and chamber musician. She frequently works with local and international composers to commission, develop, and premiere new repertoire for the flute.
As a chamber musician, Simone performs in a variety of small ensemble settings. Most recently, she was invited to the American National Flute Association Convention in Atlanta, where she directed and performed an all-Australian music program with the Australian Flute Ensemble. Later this year, she will embark on a major creative project to record the complete works for flute—both solo and chamber—by acclaimed American composer Lowell Liebermann.
Beyond the stage, Simone is active as a researcher in music psychology, performance studies, and music education. A Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst, she investigates embodied cognition and the body language of musicians in performance. She applies this expertise in her teaching, coaching musicians, actors, and dancers to develop their physical awareness and stage presence.
Simone is a tutor and lecturer at the University of Melbourne, teaching music psychology, aural musicianship, and stagecraft. She also lectures in performing arts at Federation University and in flute at Central Queensland University. A sought-after masterclass teacher and workshop presenter, she is regularly invited to speak and perform at festivals and conferences around the world.
Musical Arts Center of San Antonio
Enjoy the students of Musical Arts Center of San Antonio performing on Hailun uprights with DS keyboards!
Harmony of the Angels by Friedrich Burgmüller
Preludio by Mareo Ishiketa
from Sonatina, Op. 55 No. 1 by Friedrich Kuhlau
II. Vivace
Sabrina Cruz
Student of Alexis Barton
Legacy Teacher: Kazumi Yoshizawa
Album des enfantes, Op. 123 No. 10 “Tarantella” by Cécile Chaminade
Timothy Wiradarma
Student of Alexis Barton
Legacy Teacher: Ellen Pavliska
Waltz in A Minor, Op. Posth. by Frédéric Chopin
Positively Swinging by Christopher Norton
Gyatri Mondal
Student of Peter Steigerwald
Legacy Teacher: Dorothy Halstead
The Cascades by Scott Joplin
Sonata No. 5 in G Major, K. 283 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Presto
Nebai Guerra
Student of Peter Steigerwald
Legacy Teacher: Dr. Xiaoke Cheng
Nocturne in A-flat Major, Op. 32 No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin
Alexis Barton
MACSA Faculty
Peacherine Rag by Scott Joplin
Gargi Mondal
Student of Peter Steigerwald
Legacy Teacher: Dorothy Halstead
Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff
I. Moderato
Michelle Liu
Student of Peter Steigerwald
Accompanied by Peter Steigerwald, MACSA Faculty
Alexis Barton
MACSA Faculty
Peter Steigerwald
MACSA Faculty
Sophia Weidemann
Sophia Weidemann performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations on an August Förster 6.5 concert grand piano, with a lecture demonstration on the August Förster 6.0 Upright Piano now in the showroom
Carol Leone
Carol Leone presents “Narrow Keys: A Game Changer for Pianists”
Lecture Demonstration: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/veranstaltung/narrow-keys-game-changer-pianists
BIO
American pianist and university professor Carol Leone is active as a soloist and chamber musician, appearing throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. A successful recording artist, Leone can be heard on MSR Classics, Gasparo, Crystal, and Augusta Read Thomas labels. Her recording, “Change of Keys” on MSR Classics garnered two 2016 Silver Global Awards. Of this recording, Fanfare magazine stated, “Leone plays with drive and sparkle, and with plenty of wit.” Dallas Morning News wrote of her Mozart playing, “luminous tone… she took us into another, quite magical world.” Dr. Leone is Chair of Piano Studies and Professor of Piano at SMU Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas. Leone studied with legendary Polish pianist Mieczysław Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she received the Performance Certificate. She was a student of Guido Agosti in Rome after earning the coveted Honors Diploma at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. She ultimately earned her doctorate from the UNT College of Music. Leone was successful in several national piano competitions, including being awarded first prize in the National Beethoven Sonata Piano competition.
At SMU, she has performed frequently as concerto soloist with the SMU Meadows Symphony Orchestra and as part of a faculty piano trio with violinist Aaron Boyd and cellist Andres Diaz. She has also performed regularly with the Grammy-nominated contemporary music ensemble Voices of Change. Over the course of her 40-year career as a university piano professor, Dr. Leone has taught a diverse group of talented students. Many have achieved notable success, becoming recording artists, esteemed university professors, and influential leaders within the profession. Leone has recently served as a guest teacher or lecturer at The Juilliard School, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, Trinity Laban Conservatory in London, Shanghai Normal University, and several Italian conservatories. She has served on the music faculty of summer festivals in Moscow, Vienna, South Korea, the Czech Republic, and Italy, and is regularly on the summer piano faculty of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. A leading advocate and presenter of pianos with narrower keyboards, Dr. Leone has energized a worldwide movement to transform pianists' artistry and wellness. She was a co-founder of the global movement Pianists for Alternative Sized Keyboards and of the annual International Stretto Piano Festival and currently serves on the board of directors for the DS Standard Foundation.
Camila De Oliveira
Pianist and teacher Camila De Oliveira, from Auckland, will join the Festival once again with an exciting program!
PROGRAM
Fantastic Rhythms: A Dance Odyssey and includes:
Joaquín Turina – Danzas Fantásticas, Op. 22
Alberto Ginastera – Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2
Frédéric Chopin – Three Waltzes, Op. 34
Sandra Lynch – Dance Fantastique
Gillian Bibby – Diablo Dances with a Demented Cuckoo
BIO
The Brazilian pianist Camila De Oliveira began her musical studies at the age of 6. She completed her bachelor's degree in piano performance after attending the Faculdade de Artes Alcântara Machado, Brazil. In 2019 Camila received her postgraduate diploma in Music with a specialisation in piano performance at the University of Auckland under Dr Rae de Lisle, and in 2021 she completed her master's degree in Piano Performance also at the University of Auckland. Camila is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland.
Camila won many prizes in piano competitions, such as the 20th ArtLivre Piano Competition, 8th Piano Competition Maestro Rodrigo Tavares, 24th "Paulo Giovanini" Piano Competition, 7th National Piano Competition Maestro Spartaco Rossi, 1st Piracicaba International Piano Concerto Competition. In 2020 she not only was the recipient of the Ada Kathleen and Barbara Ellen Watson Scholarship, but she also won the Llewelyn Jones Prize in Music for Piano at the University of Auckland for the second consecutive year.
She has played with many orchestras, such as the Symphonic Orchestra of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, Bachiana SESI-SP Foundation Orchestra, São Pedro Theatro Orchestra, and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
For four years, Camila was the principal pianist of the Academic Choir of the OSESP, Symphonic Orchestra of São Paulo State.
Furthermore, she has maintained an intense career as a collaborative pianist and piano teacher.
Glenn Riddle and Studio
Glenn Riddle and his students at the University of Melbourne will perform on the 165 cm Bernstein (Samick) with DS5.5 keyboard! Students to perform include Caitlin Au, Chloe Au, Jasmine Lai, Ben Fu, and Jayden Wayne!
Program
Jasmine Lai
2:30- Szymanowski, Etude Op.4 No 1
6:58- Bacewicz, Sonata No.2 mvt 1
Caitlin Au
15:50- Poulenc, Caprice Italien from Napoli Suite
21:43- Chopin, Etude Op 10 No 5 (‘Black Key’)
23:40- Grainger, Shepherd’s Hey
Chloe Au
27:23-Paganini/Liszt, Etude no.2 in E♭major
33:04 Tchaikovsky/Pletnev, Intermezzo from ‘Nutcracker’ Suite
Glenn Riddle
39:43- Grainger, Nightingale and Two Sisters
45:16- Grainger, Blithe Bells
51:09- Grainger, Sussex Mummers Christmas Carol
Ben Fu
55:20- Rachmaninoff, Moment Musical Op 16 No. 1 in B♭minor
1:03:13- Rachmaninoff, Moment Musical Op 16 No. 3 B minor
Jayden Wayne
1:10:00 Schumann: Drei Fantasiestücke (Three fantasy Pieces) Op 111 No.2
BIO
Glenn Riddle
Australian pianist Glenn Riddle is Senior Lecturer in Keyboard at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Research Associate at the University of Waikato New Zealand, Visiting Professor at the Nanjing University of the Arts, China, AMEB Federal Examiner, and Senior Music Critic for Classic Melbourne. He has recorded for Tall Poppies, Move Records, Hal Leonard Publishing and ABC Classics, and continues to perform both locally and internationally as concerto soloist, chamber musician and in solo recitals. One of Australia’s most distinguished piano pedagogues, he has edited 12 volumes of piano music for the AMEB, and is regularly invited to present recitals, masterclasses and pedagogy workshops throughout China, the South-East Asia region, in Australia and New Zealand. He has been on international competition juries in the USA, Greece, Israel, Thailand, China, New Zealand and Indonesia. His own students have won numerous prizes in international competitions performing with such prestigious ensembles as the Russian National Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Les Solistes de Neuchâtel (Geneva), the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Maroc, the Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, the Jakarta Concert Orchestra, the Academia di Perugia Orchestra in Italy, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Polish International String Quartet.
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20-year-old Ben Fu is a 2nd year student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, studying piano with Glenn Riddle. He has won both the Preston Symphony Concerto Competition and the Boroondara Concerto Competition and made his concerto debut in 2022 performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Preston Symphony Orchestra. Other awards include winning the Ballarat Celebrating Chopin Competition, the PolMusicA National Music Competition, the Ann and Chris Krans Award, the Margaret Green Scholarship and the Reg Lewis Scholarship. At MCM, in addition to a prestigious Entrance Scholarship, Ben has also been awarded the Pearis Roger, Frederick Harlock and Grace Funston Scholarships. Ben is a keen chamber music player, and recitalist, and he frequently records for 3MBS radio.
In 2023, Ben was invited to perform in the ‘Showcase series’ in Sydney International Piano Competition, performing Ravel’s Scarbo from Gaspard de la Nuit. Ben has also been invited to perform in the Lunchtime Concert Series at St. Peter’s Cathedral, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Diamond Creek Uniting Church.
In 2024 Ben was invited to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor with both the Whitehorse Orchestra and the Maroondah Symphony Orchestra. -
18-year-old Jasmine Lai is a multi-awarded young composer-pianist. She studies piano with Glenn Riddle and is currently a first-year student in Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She has recently been awarded scholarships from the Theme and Variations Foundation and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Entrance Grant.
In 2021, Jasmine won 1st Prize in the Sydney Eisteddfod Junior Pianoforte Scholarship, one of Australia’s most prestigious awards for young musicians. In 2024 and 2025, she was the winner of Young Bach Scholar Award from Baroque Competition in Melbourne Recital Centre. Other awards include the 2021 Margaret Green Junior Pianoforte Scholarship, the 2022 Phyllis MacDonald Piano Scholarship, as well as the Musical Society of Victoria’s Des Stevenson, Eda Schurmann, and Nehama Patkin Memorial Awards. Internationally she has won the Grand Prix Award in the 2023 New York Glory International Piano Competition, as well as 1st prizes in the 2023 International Piano Competition Online, the 2022 WPTA Singapore International Piano Competition, the 2022 WPTA Spain International Piano Competition, the 2023 Ad Libitum Piano Competition, the 2022 Orbetello International Piano Competition, the 2023 Bach Pianist Competition, and the 2023 Lancaster International Piano Competition. She has performed piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann with the Camerata Orchestra and the Preston Symphony Orchestra and in 2023 was the winner of the Preston Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. Recently she won the Prodigy prize from ArsClassica International Junior Competition and as a result will give a solo recital in Rome in December 2025.
Besides piano solo performance, Jasmine is active as a composer and has had works performed by Australian Youth Orchestra, Queensland Youth Orchestra, Adelaide Youth Orchestra and Melbourne Youth Orchestra. She was the youngest Australian composer who received the 2024 ABC Composer Commissioning Fund and has her new composition “Liminality” performed by Ensemble Liaison. The recording will be digitally released and aired by the ABC.
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13-year-old Chloe Au started learning piano with Yuko Ikeda at Suzuki Music when she was 5. She now studies piano with Glenn Riddle at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and is on an academic scholarship at Lauriston Girls' School. Chloe completed her AMusA exam with Distinction at the age of 10, and in 2024, she achieved a Distinction in her LMusA exam, her examiner commenting that her playing was “nothing short of a world-class display of transcendental pianism and musicianship,” exhibiting “outstanding artistic authority.” As a result, she was recently invited to perform for the AMEB Graduation Ceremony at Hawthorn Arts Centre.
In 2025, Chloe was awarded First Prize in the prestigious Little Lev Vlassenko National Piano Competition held in Brisbane. In 2024, Chloe also won First Prize in the Bernstein National Piano Competition. She has won numerous prizes at the Boroondara, Ringwood, Latrobe Valley, Monash, and Royal South Street Eisteddfods in Australia, as well as the VMTA Geoffrey McFerran Award, and the VMTA Kault Prize for Most Outstanding Diploma student. In 2025 Chloe has been invited to give solo recitals for St Paul’s Cathedral, Austral Salon, Scots’ Church Music Matinees and also for 3MBS. Recently Chloe was also a finalist in the MRC Baroque Competition.
Chloe also enjoys playing the violin, singing in the school choir, and playing chamber music with her friends, and is an active member of the Melbourne String Ensemble Chamber Music program. Her favourite pastimes are reading and skiing. In 2025, Chloe has performed in Kobe, Japan as well as in Szafarnia in Poland. In April 2025 Chloe performed in Hanoi, Vietnam winning 6 First prizes in the Vietnam International Piano Competition.
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10-year-old Caitlin Au has been playing piano since she was three and a half, starting her musical journey with Yuko Ikeda at Suzuki Music. She now studies with Prof. Glenn Riddle at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and is a proud recipient of both academic and music scholarships at Lauriston Girls’ School.
Her dedication to music has earned her many impressive achievements, including a High Distinction result in her Certificate of Performance exam in 2023. 2025 has been a busy year for Caitlin. She was recently awarded First Prize in the prestigious Australian National Junior Piano Competition for Children, ‘the little Lev’, held in Brisbane. Caitlin was also awarded Distinction in the Szafarnia International Junior Chopin Competition held in Poland, and won 3rd prize at the Vietnam International Chopin Piano Competition and Festival in Hanoi. Caitlin has also won multiple prizes at the Boroondara, Ringwood, Royal South Street and Monash Eisteddfods in Australia. In January 2025, Caitlin was also invited to perform in Kobe, Japan.
Alongside piano, Caitlin enjoys playing the violin and is a member of the Melbourne String Ensemble’s chamber program (MSE Chamber). Outside of music, she has a keen interest in science and art, and in her free time, she loves reading and coding.
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12-year-old pianist and harpist Jayden Wayne is a Year 6 student at Scotch College, Melbourne.
Jayden began piano studies at age five and was awarded his AMusA diploma in 2023. He now continues to refine his artistry under the guidance of renowned pedagogue Glenn Riddle, and achieved his LMusA diploma in 2025.
Jayden is highly accomplished on both piano and harp, and has earned more than 50 First-Place awards in eisteddfods across Australia and international competitions in the past 3 years. Recent successes include First Prizes at 2025 Vietnam International Piano Competition & Festival, 2025 Musical Society of Victoria’s prestigious Des Stephenson Award, 2025 Sydney Eisteddfod Kawai Junior Piano Scholarship finalist, 2025 Royal South Street Jess Crowe Memorial Award, 2025 Ringwood Eisteddfod Open Piano First Prize.
In 2024 Jayden made his concerto debut performing Kabalevsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Scotch College Symphony Orchestra and in September 2025 he has been invited to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major K 415 with the Preston Symphony Orchestra.
Beyond solo performance, Jayden is a passionate ensemble musician, participating in his school’s orchestra, chamber groups and choir. He also enjoys composition and arranging, often inspired by video games soundtracks.
Jayden is not only a passionate musician but also an avid reader and sports enthusiast. He loves swimming, running, table tennis and fencing.
John Virag at Brooklyn’s Pearl Diver Studios
An Evening with John Virag and his band
Live at Pearl Diver Sound Studios
68 Jay Street, DUMBO Brooklyn
Saturday, September 20
7:30pm (Doors Open at 7pm)
JOHN VIRAG is an accomplished and revered Singer/Songwriter and Producer out of New York City. His style is refreshingly unique, yet yields a hint of many of the legends of the seventies and eighties. He currently boasts three album releases and is in the process of recording his fourth. Virag plays multiple instruments including piano, trumpet, bass, and percussion. While his style is categorized as Pop/Rock, he successfully crosses over to other styles such as Jazz, World, and R&B. John has studied under and played with notable names in the music business such as Jim McNeely, Dr. George Butler, and Wynton Marsalis. He has a Master's Degree in Music Composition from NYU, where he participated in the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy over s summer semester. He also worked at Columbia Records and Elektra Entertainment.
