WC News

Finalists for the fourth annual Weatherford College International Piano Competition will perform live in the Alkek Fine Arts Center on July 29 and 30. 

Contestants from all over the world submitted online entries including pianists from Canada, Poland, China, Korea and the United States. 

Preliminary rounds judges selected the top performers in two age divisions: Junior and Young Artist. 

“It has been an incredible time for me listening to all the wonderful participants, the levels are very high in both categories, especially the Young Artist Division,” said preliminary round judge Dr. Kyra Xuerong Zhao from the New England Conservatory. “Congratulations to all the finalists and best luck in the next round at Weatherford College.”  

Zhao was joined by Igor Resnianski from West Chester University and Andrew Brownell from the University of Texas at Austin to judge the preliminary round.  

Finalists to compete in the WC International Piano Competition are:  

• Junior Division
  • Eric Rudkevich (Texas)
  • Matthew Scott (Texas)
  • Frederick Chiu (California)
  • Kevin Ho (Texas)
  • Eugene Wang (Texas)
  • Hajun Chang (Canada)
  • Brian Lin (California)
  • Meining Wu (California)
  • Nikita Simonenko (Texas)
  • Theresa Tran (Texas)
  • Ellen Foreman (Texas)
  • Alternate - Oliwia Domagała (Poland)  

• Young Artist Division
  • Hyeseon Jin (Indiana University)
  • You Wu (Oberlin Conservatory)
  • Michael Lenahan (University of Texas at Austin)
  • Seonghun Jeong (Southern Methodist University)
  • He Chengzi Li (Cleveland Institute of Music)
  • Glara Lee (Cleveland Institute of Music)
  • Dailin Zeng (Eastman School of Music)
  • Quanzhou Yan (Texas Christian University) 
  • Chenyu Wang (Ohio State University)
  • Xinyue Yang (Eastman School of Music)
  • Tian Tang (Northwestern University)
  • Charlotte Tang (University of Toronto)
  • Alternate - Yi Liu (University of North Texas)
  • Alternate - Xu Peng (Rice University)
  • Alternate - Zeru Wang (University of Wisconsin-Madison)  

Final round judges are Carol Leone from Southern Methodist University, Jose Mendez from Northwestern University and Steven Spooner from the Peabody Institute.  

The Junior Division Final Round will begin at 8 a.m. Friday, July 29, followed by an award ceremony and masterclass at 3 p.m. The evening will conclude with a concert by Dr. Steven Spooner at 7 p.m. 

Competition will continue Saturday, July 30, with the Young Artist Division also beginning at 8 a.m. followed by an award ceremony and masterclass at 4:30 p.m.