Keyboard

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.