CSUF Keyboard Studies

Join us for an unforgettable afternoon of pianistic brilliance! 🎹✨ We are thrilled to welcome 2009 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Haochen Zhang to Meng Concert Hall as part of the CSUF Virtuoso Piano Series.

🗓️ Saturday, February 28, 2026
🕒 3:00 PM
📍 Meng Concert Hall, CSUF School of Music

Don't miss this rare opportunity to experience one of today's leading virtuosos live. Grab your tickets at https://cpac.fullerton.edu/EventAvailability?EventId=2402! 🎟️

Experience an unforgettable afternoon of American piano music with Mackenzie Melemed!

📅 Sunday, November 9, 2025 3:00 PM
📍 Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton
🎟️ Tickets: $10, $8 Titan Price

From Copland’s “Buckaroo Holiday” to Florence Price, Amy Beach, and Gottschalk, “Keys Across America” celebrates the rich tapestry of American sound and spirit. 🇺🇸✨

🎹 Mark your calendars! The legendary pianist Sergei Babayan makes his highly anticipated return to Orange County at CSUF Meng Concert Hall on Sunday, February 16 at 3:00 PM.

A Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist known for his meditative focus and rare stillness at the keyboard, Babayan’s artistry has been compared to the precision of Japanese calligraphy. His performances have graced the world’s most prestigious venues, from Carnegie Hall to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Don’t miss this extraordinary afternoon of music-making by one of today’s leading pianists! 🎼
Tickets available in bio.

𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒉𝒏
𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘰𝘴𝘰 𝘗𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

PROGRAM
Franz Liszt: Consolations, S.172
Franz Liszt: Transcendental Études, S.139

SHORT BIO
Minsoo Sohn is a Korean American pianist known for his
musical intelligence and masterful virtuosity. Described by the New York Times as “a genuine artist, with a thoughtful and poetic interpretation” and the Boston Globe as “born to play the piano,” Sohn continues to expand his reputation as one of the foremost pianists of his day. Sohn has toured extensively
throughout North and South America, Europe, Israel and Korea and has appeared in important venues and festivals.

Sohn is particularly noted for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and the New York Times praised his Honens-label recording of the work as a “beautifully articulated, radiant interpretation,” placing it one of the top classical recordings of 2011. His recordings also received critical acclaim
by New Yorker Magazine, Plain Dealer, Gramophone, Calgary Herald and Toronto Star among others.

𝑬𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒐 𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒊 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒂𝒏
𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘰𝘴𝘰 𝘗𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

PROGRAM (duo piano)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata for Two Pianos, K. 448
Robert Schumann: Studien für den Pedal-Flügel (6 Pieces in Canonic Form) (1845)
Arrangement for two pianos by Claude Debussy (1891)
Johannes Brahms: From 21 Hungarian Dances, Book 1 (1868)
Gabriel Fauré: Dolly (1894-6) Astor Piazzolla: Liebertango (1974)
Darius Milhaud: Scaramouche, Suite pour Deux Pianos (1937)

SHORT BIO
- Mengyang Pan -
Chinese born British pianist Mengyang Pan began her piano
studies in China, eventually becoming a junior student at the
Central Conservatory of Music Beijing. Having been offered a
full scholarship, she accepted an invitation to study at the
Purcell School in the UK before completing her musical
education at the Royal College of Music, London.

- Enrico Elisi -
Enrico Elisi, a laureate of the Oporto International
Competition (Portugal) and the Premio Venezia (Italy), has
earned international recognition for his performances across
four continents.

𝑬𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒐 𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒊
𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘰𝘴𝘰 𝘗𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31, No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109
Frédéric Chopin: Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45
Frédéric Chopin: Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 60
Ottorino Respighi: From Sei pezzi per pianoforte (Six Piano Pieces), P. 44
Franz Liszt: Ungarische Rhapsodie (Hungarian Rhapsody) in A Minor, No.13, S. 244

SHORT BIO
Enrico Elisi, a laureate of the Oporto International Competition (Portugal) and the Premio Venezia (Italy), has
earned international recognition for his performances across four continents.

Praised for his “mastery of elegance, refinement, and fantasy” (La Nueva España) and “remarkable sensitivity,
imagination, and polish” (Baltimore Sun), he has given recitals throughout Europe at venues such as the Bemberg
Museum in Toulouse (France), Centro del Carmen in Valencia (Spain), Dante Society in Bonn, Wolfsburg Castle, and
Kiel Universität’s Bach-Saal (Germany), Cyril and Methodius Foundation in Piestany (Slovakia).

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍

Pianist Ning An is a rare pianist who has been hailed as a musician who “combines a flawless technique and mastery of the instrument with an expressive power that is fueled by profound and insightful understanding.” (New York Concert Review) His top prizes from the Queen Elizabeth, Cleveland, and William Kapell Piano Competitions led to performances at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Salle Verdi (Milan), and to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. He has been invited to perform at numerous festivals, including the International Chopin Festival in Duszinski, Poland, the Gina Bachauer Piano Festival in Salt Lake City, New Hampshire's Monadnock Music Festival, the Bourglinster Festival in Luxembourg, and the Interlaken Music Festival in Switzerland. A passionate chamber musician as well as soloist, Mr. An has performed with distinguished groups such as the Ysaye, Daedalus, and Takacs Quartets as well as instrumentalists James Ehnes, Paul Neubauer, and Andres Diaz.

𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄

Bill Cunliffe, a graduate of Duke University and the Eastman School of Music, is a jazz pianist, composer and Grammy Award-winning arranger. The 1989 winner of the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, he performs around the world as a leader and sideman and as a soloist with symphony orchestra.
Cunliffe was awarded a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “West Side Story Medley,” on the album “Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson” (Resonance Records, 2009).
After working with Buddy Rich and Frank Sinatra, he performed with many jazz greats, including James Moody,Benny Golson, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Art Blakey and Pharaoh Sanders. He also toured with the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Clayton Brothers Quintet, vocalists Marlena Shaw and Natalie Cole, and in duo with flutist Holly Hofmann for over ten years.

𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒

Alison Edwards, Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy, has performed nationally and internationally as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and China. She has been featured concerto soloist with Los Angeles and Orange County-based orchestras and has collaborated with some of the southland’s leading musicians. As leader of the well-established Piano Pedagogy Program at Cal State Fullerton, Edwards has mentored numerous students in piano pedagogy and teaching practicum in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. With degrees in piano performance from the University of Southern California and Cal State Fullerton, Alison’s principal teachers have been Earle Voorhies, Daniel Po***ck and Dr. Stewart Gordon, while her pedagogy studies have been with Dr. Martha Baker- Jordan and Dr. Marienne Uszler. Currently, Edwards serves as Piano and Organ Area Coordinator in the School of Music, where she has been a full-time faculty member since 2007.

𝐌𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐆-𝐉𝐎𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐄

Pianist Myong-Joo Lee began her solo career at the age of fourteen with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and since then made her successful New York debut at the Carnegie Recital Hall and performed throughout U.S., Asia and Europe.
Dr. Lee also has been a prize winner of several national and international competitions including Pro Piano Artist Series Competition in New York, Cleveland International Competition, Guild International Piano Competition, among many others.

Dr. Lee has been an active teacher for both pre-college and college students have consistently won top prizes at prestigious competitions including Cooper International Piano Competition, Hilton Head International Piano Competition, From the Top Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, Mondavi Young Artist National Competition and MTNA National Piano Competition to name a few. Ms. Lee received BM, MM from Indiana University and DMA from USC Thornton School of Music where later joined as a member of the piano faculty. In addition, she has served previously on the piano faculty of Colburn Music Academy at The Colburn School and University of Puget Sound.
Dr. Lee is currently a piano faculty member at California State University, Fullerton.

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐒𝐎𝐍

Professor of Music at California State University, Fullerton, pianist Dr. Rob Watson has performed solo in China, Japan, England, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, and the United States. He has also appeared in chamber music performances with the St. Petersburg String Quartet, and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, and faculty of the Milan (Italy) Conservatory.

Awarded a $50,000. grant by Cal State Fullerton, he developed and now coordinates the Performance Science Centre Lab helping music faculty and students to grow as performers and teachers by applying principles of the psychology of performance, anatomy and physiology of movement, and musicians’ health and wellness. He has lectured and given presentations at international and national conferences in Asia and the United States on these topics, as well.

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