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Bio: John Solomons, Associate Professor of Piano at University of Texas at Arlington, has appeared with great success as soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Europe, and South America, performing in concert with the Emerson String Quartet, Cliburn winner Fabio Bidini, and under the direction of American conductor Gunther Schuller. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Solomons began his piano studies at age four, and continued his studies in the U.S. with noted Brazilian pianist Luiz de Moura Castro from the age of eleven. Other primary teachers include Steven de Groote and Hartt School founder Moshe Paranov. Solomons holds degrees from Texas Christian University, the Hartt School of Music, and the University of North Texas where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree under Adam Wodnicki. Grand prize winner of the 13th Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition, John Solomons was praised by Gyorgy Sandor as “an exceptionally gifted artist, whose musical and pianistic achievements are of the highest order”. Additional winnings include 1st prize in the Stewart Grant Competition, 3rd prize in the American Music Scholarship Association World Piano Competition, and the Catalan Composers Prize at the Xavier Montsalvatge International Piano Competition in Girona, Spain. His interest in 20th century music has led to premiers of works by contemporary composers William Albright, James Sellars, Carlos Guinovart, Lloyd Taliaferro, Rufus Brown and George Chave. An active adjudicator, Solomons has served on numerous juries including the Chamber Music Foundation of New England’s International Chamber Music Competition and the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International piano Competition, among others. Solomons has taught and performed solo and collaborative recitals at the Curs Internacional in Girona, Spain; the Festival de Inverno in Vale Veneto, Brazil; and in 2005 was sponsored by the Arnaldo Schwimmer Foundation in a series of recitals and masterclasses throughout Bolivia. Recently listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Solomons has recorded on the Centaur and Evolutionary Music Records labels.

Bio: Born in Mexico City, pianist Astrid Morales is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at Arizona State University with Robert Hamilton. Astrid holds master’s degrees in Piano Performance, Piano Pedagogy and a Performer’s Diploma in Piano from Southern Methodist University, where she studied with Joaquín Achúcarro. In 2012, she graduated from the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City where she studied with Héctor Rojas. Winner of the 2022 Puerto Rico Center for Collaborative Piano - Professional Division, Astrid has been awarded several prizes and scholarships including the Actos de Confianza Grant from the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures 2021, the 2014 General Concerto Competition at the Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, TX, the 2011 Youth Mexican Prize, Grand Prix to Exceptional Talents and Best Interpretation of Mexican Music at the Second National Piano Competition “Petrof – Symphony – Pearl River”, among many others. In 2021, she was recognized as a Kawai Medallion Educator. Astrid has had an intensive soloist career and has performed with well-known orchestras and conductors such as: Mexico State Symphony Orchestra (Enrique Bátiz, Virgilio Valle and Gabriela Díaz Alatriste), Querétaro Philharmonic (José Guadalupe Flores), Meadows Symphony Orchestra (Paul Phillips), Nuevo León University Symphony (Eduardo Diazmuñoz), Mexico City Philharmonic (José Areán), National Polytechnic Institute Symphony Orchestra (Alfredo Ibarra and Enrique Barrios), Aguascalientes Symphony (Stephano Mazzoleni), Women’s Orchestra of Arizona (Livia Gho), among many others. In addition, she has performed recitals in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, United States, Canada, Holland, Germany and Italy. As an advocate of Latin American music and an active performer of Mexican music, she recorded her first CD “Rimero Musical” with music of the Mexican composer Ladislao Juárez and collaborated in “El Oficio Mío” with Armando Rosas. As an active collaborative pianist, Morales was appointed as a faculty member at the North Texas Low Brass Camp and was the pianist for Portland Opera To Go 2022 program and tour. Morales has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Andrés Díaz, Santiago Cañón, Matt Albert, among many others. In 2018 and 2019, she also served as Fellow Pianist at the NorCal Music Festival. Astrid Morales serves on the piano faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington. She has also served as Faculty Associate at Arizona State University. Morales has appeared in several TV shows, newspapers and radio interviews in Mexico, Italy, The Netherlands, and United States. Astrid serves as an active member of the Binational Cultural Forum of Mexican Artists and is an active committee member at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. In addition, she is the 4th Vice President of the Arizona State Music Teachers Association.

Bio: Dazheng Zhu has been teaching piano lessons at all levels at the University of Texas At Arlington Music department since 2001. Ms. Zhu has taught courses in Music Theory I, II and III, Ear Training levels I – IV, Elements of Music, Music Appreciation, and Class Piano levels 1-4. Additionally, Ms. Zhu has been a music adjunct faculty at Tarrant County College since 2001 where she teaches all levels in Piano, Class Piano, Music Appreciation, Theory, and Ear Training in College levels 1-3. Ms. Zhu holds a B.A. in Music and Piano Performance from The University of Texas at Arlington with Dr. David Stokan, and a M. M. degree from Texas Christian University in Piano Pedagogy where she studied with Dr. Tamas Ungar and Ms. Leeann Kirkham. She also studied private lessons and many Master Classes with Professors Joseph Bloch and Rudolph Firkusny (both from The Julliard School) in Shanghai Music Conservatory 1982-1985. Moreover, Ms. Zhu is a very active private piano teacher in DFW area. Most of her students have won Superior plus ratings at AMTA piano contests, festivals and UTA contests, and several students have advanced to competitions at the state level. From the years of 2002 to present, many of Ms. Zhu’s students have won first place in district piano contests and have also won top places in the Fort Worth piano solo contest. Ms. Zhu has given numerous piano recitals in China, New York, Tai Wan -China and the DFW area. Her many honors and awards include Winner of UTA Concerto Competition, Outstanding Musician and International Leadership Award. She has also judged many piano competitions and contests in the DFW area. Ms. Zhu has been serving as the Chairman of the Outstanding Musicianship Awards of Arlington Music Teacher Association since 2006. She is a member of the TMTA, AMTA, FWMTA, and the Sigma Alpha Iota Music Club.

Bio: A native of Adelaide, South Australia, Kate Stevens has formed a career of repute as a collaborative pianist. Equally at home in chamber music, art song, opera, and solo performance, Ms. Stevens has worked with distinguished artists in all genres, including Dawn Upshaw, Peter Sellars, Robert Spano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and John Adams. She has appeared with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, Mostly Mozart and Vienna Festivals, and at the Barbican Theatre. Living for many years in New York City, she performed at all major venues and served on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music. Currently a resident of Fort Worth, Ms. Stevens continues to collaborate with artists of distinction. Recent engagements include performances with Julien Beaudiment, Jonathan Beyer, Clifton Evans, Jake Fridkis, Ava Pine, John Solomons, and Martha Walvoord. Her lasting collaboration with Ms. Pine has included numerous recitals across Texas and they appeared again recently with Jonathan Beyer for The Cliburn. Ms. Stevens is regularly featured as a guest artist at the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University, and as of the Fall of 2023, has joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington as Collaborative Pianist in residence and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Piano.

Bio: Praised by the American Record Guide for her tasteful, appropriately shaded, colored, and intellectually engaging performances, Jamila Javadova-Spitzberg is an internationally renowned organist, keyboardist, and educator. Her concert venues span the United States, countries of the former USSR, and Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland, and England. In April 2018, Javadova-Spitzberg performed a solo program at the Washington National Cathedral. This was the only performance by a female organist in the 2017-2018 concert series at the nation's Cathedral. Acclaimed musician's performance of the G minor organ concerto by French composer F. Poulenc with the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra on November 29, 2024, received accolades and recognition from her fellow musicians and music critics. Javadova-Spitzberg's performance repertoire encompasses works from the Baroque to the Twentieth Century. She is passionate about discovering and exploring European historical instruments, playing recitals, and recording. Javadova-Spitzberg has released two CDs featuring piano, orchestral, and ballet works by the eminent and leading Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev, as well as Johann Ernst Eberlin's "IX Toccata e Fughe per L'Organo." These recordings, made on the magnificent Marcussen & Søn organ at St. Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and the Johann Nepomuk Holzhey organ in Marchtal Abbey, Germany, hold significant cultural and historical value. Keen on promoting the organ works of Azerbaijani composers, Javadova-Spitzberg has also released video films containing organ works of Azerbaijani composers, recorded in the Elandstraat Church in Den Haag, The Netherlands. As a result of a one-year-long fellowship at the Leopold Mozart Center in Augsburg, Germany, Javadova-Spitzberg received training in historical fortepiano (hammerklavier) performance practice. In 2022, she was privileged to perform on the original Walter fortepiano (1782) of W.A. Mozart in Salzburg, Austria. Inspired by this instrument, she acquired a copy of the 1805 Walter fortepiano, built for her by Paul McNulty, a maker of world-famous fortepianos in Divišov, Czech Republic. Using the performance-practice value of her fortepiano, Javadova-Spitzberg frequently performs and promotes works of women composers from the 18th and early 19th centuries, such as Lebrun, Franziska (1756–1791), and Aurenhammer, Josephina Barbara (1758-1820). Among other notable historical instruments played by Javadova-Spitzberg are the Hagerbeer/Schnitger organ at Grote Sint-Laurenskerk in Alkmaar and Grote of St. Michielskerk in Zwolle, as well as the C. Muller organ at St. Bavo in Haarlem and the A. Hinsz organ at Bovenkerk in Kampen. Javadova-Spitzberg enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with her students in her private studio, academic institutions (UNT, UT Dallas, Baku Music Academy), and concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, NYC. She has given numerous organ performance masterclasses at the Baku Music Academy, Azerbaijan, and encourages her students to become active members of the organists' community in the region, performing at various events organized by the American Guild of Organists and church services. Javadova-Spitzberg holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas, USA, majoring in Organ Performance with a minor in music theory. Under the supervision of Dr. Lenora McCroskey, she defended her doctoral thesis dedicated to the Dutch Baroque composer A. van Noordt and his "Tabulatuurboeck van Psalmen en Fantasyen" of 1659. During 1997-2000, while studying with the renowned organ Professor Jacques van Oortmerssen at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Javadova-Spitzberg extensively worked on developing Baroque performance practice skills. She received a Master of Music (MM) degree from the Azerbaijan State Conservatory, double majoring in music theory and organ performance under Dr. T. Yagubova. Additionally, she received the Licentiate Diploma from the Royal Schools of Music of the UK. She mastered her performance skills with renowned organ music experts such as Jean Boyer, Michel Bouvard, Naji Hakim of France, Andrea Marcon of Italy, Hans-Ola Ericsson, and Hans Davidsson of Sweden. In 2017, Javadova-Spitzberg founded and became the Executive Director of the Azerbaijan-American Music Foundation (AAMF), a non-profit organization dedicated to building "classical music bridges" between her country of origin, Azerbaijan, and the USA. The organization publishes classical works of Azerbaijani composers in the USA and holds music competitions and concerts in collaboration between American and Azerbaijani musicians. In recognition of her efforts in the field and the advancement of Azerbaijani Classical Music in the USA and worldwide, Javadova-Spitzberg was awarded the "Tarraggi" Medal, a state award of the Azerbaijan Republic, in 2022 by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan, for her contributions in the sphere of science, culture, literature, arts, and public service.