Johnandrew Slominski is the recipient of the Ecole Normale Scholarship, awarding him a full-tuition scholarship to study at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris for the 2008-09 academic year. Johnandrew is studying with Rebecca Penneys at Eastman School of Music, and at just 21 years of age, will be graduating with two masters degrees, in piano and theory. His mature performance of Franck's Prelude, Choral et Fugue at the Salle Cortot left a lasting impression on the audience.

2006 Project Award

Congratulations to Constantine Finehouse and Chih-long Hu, winners of the 2006 Project Award. The $10,000 award will be shared between them to fund their exciting projects.

Constantine is currently recording the complete works of William Bolcom, the Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Constantine will use the Project Award funds to organize live concerts of Bolcom's works, and to promote these important new recordings on the Naxos label.

Chih-long is tapping into his creative talents by composing and recording a new work, Formosa: 24 Caprices for solo piano. This piece, co-written with Taiwanese composer Chien-Nien Chen, will be released by Amillita Entertaining Group.

Both projects are expected to take place during the 2007 calendar year. Please refer back to this webpage for news and updates on these projects.

2006 Ecole Normale Scholarships

Congratulations also to Esther Chang and Alexandra Gorlin-Crenshaw for receiving a one-year full tuition scholarship to the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. Following their participation in the 2006 Paris Piano Program and their performances at the Salle Cortot, they were selected for this valuable scholarship, sending them to Paris for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Alexandra is currently a senior at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, studying with Jean-Louis Haguenauer. Esther is a sophomore at the University of California, Irvine, studying with Nina Scolnik. We look forward to hearing a full report from them of their year abroad.