The Lied Center for Performing Arts will host the fifth annual Lied Center Piano Academy July 17-21, led by Paul Barnes, Marguerite Scribante Professor of Piano and artistic director of the academy.

The academy is designed for students entering grades 9 through their first year of college and is tailored to serious intermediate and advanced students interested in gaining professional-level instruction and guidance to raise their performance level and understanding of piano music. Tuition for The Academy is $315 per participant (includes all processing fees). Need-based Scholarships for the tuition are available.

“The 2023 Lied Center Piano Academy offers a unique opportunity to high school piano students to interact with inspiring faculty and meet other pianists their age in an atmosphere of exploration,” Barnes said. “Come and join us as we seek beauty and explore music’s unique ability to participate in that search. I’m thrilled to introduce my dear friend, master teacher and profoundly gifted pianist Dr. Solungga Liu. I’m so excited for the LCPA fellows to interact with her and all the other wonderful faculty, including Tom Larson, David von Kampen and Rebekah Stiles.”

The featured academy artist is Liu, who is a champion of early 20th century American music, under-represented works of standard repertoire and known as an uncanny interpreter of new music.

Liu enjoys an active career across five continents as a recitalist and concert soloist in the United States, Canada, Australia, Romania, Brazil, Greece, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. At the invitation of the Brazilian Government in 2022, Liu gave a series of recitals in Brasilia, the capital, for the public, as well as for the Cabinet of Brazil and the Supreme Labor Court. In the spring of 2024, she will perform the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with the physicians and researchers of the National Institute of Health’s Philharmonia in Washington, D.C.

Liu is professor of piano and piano area coordinator at the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University. She is also a sought-after artist teacher at major international conservatories and competitions, including Eastman School of Music, the Atlantic Music Festival, Sicily International Piano Festival and Competition, the Thailand International Mozart Competition and the Corfu International Piano Festival in Greece.

Glenn Korff School of Music doctoral piano student Rebekah Stiles will also serve as a Lied Center Piano Academy instructor. She holds bachelor’s degrees in piano performance and Bible from Cairn University, and a master of music degree in piano performance from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Also teaching sessions on improvisation and composition, respectively, will be Tom Larson, assistant professor of composition, and David von Kampen, lecturer, from Emerging Media and Digital Arts.

Barnes has been part of the academy since its inception.

“The artistic collaboration that I have enjoyed with the Lied Center for Performing Arts has been a professional highlight of my 25 years at the Glenn Korff School of Music,” Barnes said. “I have been passionately dedicated to inspiring young pianists in reaching their full human and musical potential, and the LCPA fulfills that aspiration perfectly.”

To ensure a productive and positive experience, the academy will cap enrollment at 16 students.

Classes take place daily from approximately 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with plenty of breaks and fun evening excursions on Tuesday and Thursday that are optional. Some classes may be small groups and others all together.

Registration information and additional information on the instructors are available here. Registration is due by May 15. Space is limited.

The Lied Center Piano Academy is supported by the Lied Center for Performing Arts, Glenn Korff School of Music, the Piano Circle and the Anabeth Hormel Cox Lied Center Performance Fund.