KAREN WALWYN

Dr. Karen Walwyn, the first African-American female Steinway Artist as a concert pianist/composer, is an Albany recording artist and a Florence Price scholar. Noted as the first pianist to record the Florence Price Concerto in E Minor for piano, Walwyn has continued to perform, record, and present research on Florence Price as she began her work on composers of color with her first two recordings from Albany Records. Additionally, Walwyn made her compositional debut at the Kennedy Center where she performed “Reflections on 9/11” for solo piano. She later recorded it at Albany Records, receiving rave reviews from the American Record Guide and Fanfare Magazine. Walwyn received her B.M. and M.M. from the University of Miami under Dr. J.B. Floyd where she studied with Professors Rosalie Gregory and Susan Starr, and completed her education with her D.M.A. from the University of Michigan under Dr. Arthur Greene.

Walwyn performs as a solo artist and as a guest artist with symphony orchestras across the continent and abroad. She has recorded and produced five albums and has been a guest artist with the New Black Music Repertory Ensemble and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in 2021, where she premiered the newly released recording of Price’s authentic score of Concerto in One Movement in E Minor. Walwyn was featured in the Emmy–nominated documentaryThe Caged Bird: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price, NPR’s Classical Breakdown with Jonathan Banther on Florence Price, and PBS’s Now Hear Thiswith Scot Yoo on the subject of Florence Price. Walwyn’s most recent album release, Florence B. Price, was selected as a top five pick by Fanfare Magazine’s critic James Harrington.

CATHARINE LYSINGER

Catharine Lysinger is professor of practice at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, where she teaches applied piano and is head of the piano pedagogy area. 

She is a prizewinner in national and international piano competitions, including First Prize in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Young Artist Competition and First Prize in the Wideman International Piano Competition. Lysinger is a frequent guest of festivals nationally and internationally. Recent invitations to perform, give master classes and present lectures have come from the Brancaleoni Festival (Italy), the Vienna International Piano Academy (Austria), the May Festival at the Tianjin Conservatory and East China Normal University in Shanghai (China), and the National Conservatory in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), co-hosted by Estudio Diná and Stephen F. Austin University.

Lysinger has performed with orchestras including the Filarmónica de Jalisco (Guadalajara, Mexico), the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Civic Symphony and the Clear Lake Orchestra, and frequently collaborates as soloist with the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and the Meadows Wind Ensemble. Performances include the Prokofiev Concerto No. 1, Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds, Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos, Mozart Concerto in D minor, Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Lysinger is also an active soloist and collaborator in chamber music concerts with SMU colleagues. With duo-piano partner Dr. Alex McDonald she has performed the Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with percussionists of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other works for two pianos.

Lysinger was nominated for the SMU Provost’s Teaching Recognition Award, which honors faculty who demonstrate a commitment to excellence and a consummate dedication to teaching.  She was also named Pre-Collegiate Teacher of the Year by her colleagues in the Texas Music Teachers Association. Many of her university and pre-college students have been awarded first prize in numerous competitions, including the MTNA-Texas Junior, Senior and Young Artist Piano Competitions, the Plano Symphony Young Artist Competition and the Lewisville Lake Competition. Graduates of her studio have been accepted to major universities and conservatories nationwide including The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory and Indiana University, to name a few.

Lysinger is a frequent adjudicator, recently serving on the screening jury for the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and sitting on the jury for the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition. As a lecturer, she has frequently presented on various topics related to teaching to national and state MTAs. Lysinger is the founding director of the SMU Institute for Young Pianists (SMU IYP), a summer festival that attracts the best and brightest young pianists in the region and from across the U.S. and abroad. 

She earned a D.M.A. in piano performance at the University of Houston with Professor Nancy Weems and undertook additional studies with Horacio Gutiérrez, Gabriel Chodos (Aspen Music Festival) and Evelyne Brancart (Aspen Music Festival).

PRISCILA NAVARRO

Peruvian pianist Priscila Navarro performs solo recitals, chamber works, and a large selection of concerti with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. Her talent has been widely recognized and she has been awarded the first prize at several international competitions, including the Liszt-Garritson International Competition in Baltimore, Maryland, Beethoven Sonata Competition in Tennessee, Chopin International Competition of Texas, Artist Series of Sarasota, Imola City Awards, Italy, and the Heida Hermanns International Music Competition. 

Priscila made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in 2013 and will return there twice in 2022. She received a Special Bach prize at the International City of Vigo Competition in Spain, where she was one of five finalists from over 400 participating pianists, with a jury presided by Martha Argerich. As a chamber musician, Priscila regularly performs with a wide variety of musicians. She performed in several cities in Peru with violist Jodi Levitz, viola professor at the University of Miami. Priscila forms a piano duet with Dr. Michael Baron. Their first album is set to release in December with the MSR Classics label, with a Carnegie Hall premiere concert in March 2022.

Priscila made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in 2013 and will return there twice in 2022. She received a Special Bach prize at the International City of Vigo Competition in Spain, where she was one of five finalists from over 400 participating pianists, with a jury presided by Martha Argerich. As a chamber musician, Priscila regularly performs with a wide variety of musicians. She performed in several cities in Peru with violist Jodi Levitz, viola professor at the University of Miami. Priscila forms a piano duet with Dr. Michael Baron. Their first album is set to release in December with the MSR Classics label, with a Carnegie Hall premiere concert in March 2022.

Priscila holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the Frost School of Music, where she also completed Masters and Artist Diploma degrees as a student of Santiago Rodriguez and Kevin Kenner. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida Gulf Coast University where she studied with Dr. Michael Baron. She began her music studies at the age of 9, in the National Conservatory of Peru with Professor Lydia Hung.

Besides her busy performance career, Priscila is a passionate pedagogue and has been on the jury at several international competitions, including the Chopin International Competition for Latin American pianists, and the Heida Hermanns International Competition. Priscila is the current artistic director for the Parnassus Music Society.Last year, they hosted the first International Piano Competition Parnassus Music, an event born of her initiative to showcase and promote talented Latin American pianists. As a winner of the 2023 auditions, Priscila joined the roster of Astral Artists. This 2024 Priscila joined the faculty at the prestigious piano department of the University of Kansas. 

XITING YANG

Founder and Artistic Director

Xiting Yang is a pianist who fundamentally values expressivity and communication in performance. As an active concert performer, Yang regularly plays a wide variety of music as both soloist and collaborator. She has performed Gala Concerts in Candas, Spain which were praised by La Nueva Espana, singling out her exciting concert of “strength and momentum,” and describing it as a “masterful performance that delighted a big audience.” Other engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall in New York; Steinway Series in Tampa, Florida; Music at Midday Series in New Orleans, Louisiana; One Voice Music Series in Grosse Pointe, Michigan; Tutunov Series in Ashland, Oregon; Resonance Series in Seattle, Washington; Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, Illinois; Gibson Centre Concert Series in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Yang is a frequent adjudicator of competitions including the Seattle International Piano Competition, Claudette Sorel International Piano Competition and the Oakland University Piano Competition. 

Aside from her work as a performer and educator, Yang has created an ongoing online video series of piano interviews with prominent pianists and keyboardists, BACKSTAGE: The Life Behind the Music, which has been recognized for its excellence and contribution to the music field. She holds a BM from Indiana University, MM from Rice University, and DMA from the University of Michigan. Her primary teachers include Edward Auer, Robert Roux and Logan Skelton. 

A devoted teacher, Dr. Yang has worked with many successful piano students, helping them over time to find their unique artistic voices. She frequently appears as an invited guest artist at prominent music festivals such as the Palmetto International Piano Festival and Yunnan International Piano Arts Festival as well as serving as Artist Faculty at the Montecito International Music Festival and Atlantic Music Festival. Dr. Yang has served as Visiting Faculty at Loyola University New Orleans and State University of New York Fredonia. She currently holds the position of Teaching Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. 

TOMOKO KASHIWAGI

Pianist Tomoko Kashiwagi finds immense joy in playing the diverse repertoire she encounters as a performer and as an educator. Kashiwagi completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees and the Performer Diploma in Piano Performance at Indiana University.  It did not take long for Kashiwagi to realize the importance of chamber music and ensemble playing as a musician and that she genuinely enjoys interacting with other musicians.  Kashiwagi is the first recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Texas at Austin where she studied with Prof. Anne Epperson.

Equally at ease performing with both instrumentalists and vocalists, her repertoire spans from Baroque to modern, including non-traditional styles and newly commissioned works. She has performed extensively across the United States and internationally in Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Panama, and Canada. Prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Central Conservatory in Beijing, and Guildhall School in London are just a few of the places that have hosted her performances.

As a staff pianist for six summers at the renowned Meadowmount School of Music, she collaborated with talented string students from around the world. In addition, she spent several summers as a pianist at the Interlochen Intensive Institute for double reed players. Her expertise and artistry have led to frequent invitations to serve as the official pianist for conferences, competitions, and festivals across the United States, including the 2014 Menuhin International Violin Competition and the 2019 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference.

Joining the faculty at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville in 2012, she currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano, along with the Emily J. McAllister Endowed Chair. Her passion for lifelong learning and community engagement drives her commitment to musical excellence. This dedication also inspired the creation of Chamber Music of the Ozarks, an organization dedicated to bringing people together through the transformative power of chamber music.

LOGAN SKELTON

Logan Skelton is a much sought-after pianist, teacher and composer whose work has received international critical acclaim. As a performer, Skelton has concertized widely in the United States, Europe and Asia and has been featured on many public radio and television stations including NPR’s Audiophile Audition, Performance Today, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition, as well as on radio in China and national television in Romania. He has recorded numerous discs for Centaur, Albany, Crystal, Blue Griffin, Equilibrium, Supertrain, and Naxos Records, the latter two consisting of collaborations with fellow composer-pianist William Bolcom.

Skelton is a frequent juror for international piano competitions and regularly appears in such festival settings as Gina Bachauer, Amalfi Coast, Gijón, Eastman, Tunghai, Chautauqua Institution, American Romanian, Eastern, New Orleans, Poland International, Indiana University, Hilton Head Island, and the Prague International Piano Masterclasses. He is a popular presenter at music teacher organizations including numerous appearances at MTNA national conventions and EPTA World Piano Conferences, as well as serving as Convention Artist for state conventions in New York, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, North Carolina, Wyoming, Indiana, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Iowa. Moreover, he has given countless performances and masterclasses at colleges and conservatories throughout the world. His Centaur Records compact disc, of all 20th century American solo piano music, is titled American Grab Bag: Piano Music of Our Time. American Record Guide described this as a “fascinating recording,” commenting on Skelton’s “superb, wonderfully subtle and elegant playing … Bravo!”

As a composer, Skelton has a special affinity for art song, having written nearly two hundred songs, including numerous song cycles, many of which have been recorded commercially and performed internationally. Critics have noted the close fusion of text and music in Skelton’s songs, how words are “… illuminated with brilliance and deep emotional power” (American Record Guide). In Fanfare magazine reviews, Skelton as a composer of song has been singled out for his ability to “… plumb the depths of emotion … these are exquisitely crafted art songs in the American tradition … we are in the hands of someone who lives and breathes song.” His works are published by Muse Press. He has creatively reimagined various piano works of Liszt, Mozart, Bartók, and contributed substantially to the Gershwin complete editions of various piano works, as well as two piano arrangements of An American in Paris and numerous Gershwin songs.

A devoted teacher himself, Skelton has been repeatedly honored by the University of Michigan, including the Harold Haugh Award for excellence in studio teaching, and the Arthur F. Thurnau named professorship, among the highest honors given to faculty members at the university. Skelton’s own piano students and former students have competed and won awards in many national and international competitions including Hilton Head, American Pianist Awards, San Antonio, Leeds, Montreal, Honens, Cincinnati World, Hastings, Washington, Astral Artists, Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofieff, Fischoff, Jacob Flier, Iowa, Frinna Awerbuch, Naumburg, Kappell, National and International Chopin, Eastman, Crescendo, Dallas, Missouri Southern, Los Angeles Liszt, Wideman, Concorso Internazionale di Esecuzione Musicale, Schimmel, Liszt-Garrison, Grieg Festival, Del Rosario, Beethoven Sonata, Ithaca, Piano Arts, Heida Hermanns, Dubois, Schmidbauer, Peabody Mason, Janáček, Seattle, Kingsville, New York, Oberlin, Idyllwild, as well as numerous Music Teachers National Association national competitions. His former students hold positions of prominence in music schools and conservatories throughout the world. He has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music, Missouri State University, and is currently Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Piano and Director of Doctoral Studies in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan.

STPHEN E. CALDWELL

Dr. Stephen Caldwell is a nationally recognized conducting pedagogue and scholar, in constant demand as a lecturer, conductor, and composer. At Arkansas, he conducts the nationally renowned Schola Cantorum, teaches the undergraduate sequence in conducting technique, graduate conducting lessons, and the graduate sequence in Choral History and Literature. Since his arrival in 2012, he has twice been awarded the Associated Student Government’s “Top 10 Most Outstanding Faculty Award,” he has received “The Golden Tusk” from the Division of Student affairs for “making life better for students on campus,” he is a 5-time Outstanding Mentor, he was the inaugural recipient of the Paul Cronan Award for Excellence in Teaching and was named one of the “Top 10 Artistic People to Watch” in Northwest Arkansas. In 2019 and again in 2021 he was elected Chair of the Campus Faculty.

Under his direction and leadership, the Schola Cantorum has become one of the leading collegiate choirs in America, demonstrating consistent excellence across more than a decade of performances, appearing twice at conferences of NCCO (2017, 2021), twice at SWACDA (2016, 2020), and twice at ArkCDA (2015, 2024). They were recognized with multiple awards from The American Prize (2020 and 2023) and have toured internationally to sold out concerts in the Republic of Serbia, Belgium, Germany, and Puerto Rico, all while collecting more than a million views across social media platforms.

Dr. Caldwell has become the nation’s leading scholar on the choral music of Florence Price, having lectured on her music across the country, published articles and scholarly performing editions of her works, and led world premiere recordings of her music. Wander-Thirst: The Choral Music of Florence Price was released in 2023 by Dr. Caldwell and Schola Cantorum to great acclaim, and represents seminal recordings of this great American composer. Highlights of the album were broadcast on Jazz at Lincoln Center, NPR and affiliates, and received thousands of streams across Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

A leading conducting pedagogue, Dr. Caldwell has conducted more than 40 works with orchestra and has prepared choirs for performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Delaware Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Artosphere Festival Orchestra. He has presented interest sessions on conducting technique at numerous regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Collegiate Choral Organization and was an ACDA International Conducting Exchange Fellow in Kenya. He began his career as a public-school teacher in Colorado and continues his work with junior high and high school students by leading workshops with area choral programs and adjudicating choral festivals at all levels. He has conducted District, Region and All-State choirs across the country.

His original, multi award-winning compositions and arrangements are performed throughout the world. His published works are available from NoteNova, Santa Barbara Music Press, and EC Shirmer. His multiple award-winning extended work, Pre-Existing Condition, premiered in 2018 and went on to numerous performances by collegiate and professional ensembles, including a performance at Carnegie Hall in April of 2023.

Dr. Caldwell holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado, two Master of Music Degrees from Temple University, a French language certificate from the University of Paris Sorbonne, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University.