February 2024 Artists
Paulina Delgadillo
Paulina Delgadillo has been dedicated to the harp since discovering the instrument at eleven years old. As a young artist, she competed in various competitions across Texas, winning 1st place at the Dallas Harp Society competition in 2013, as well as performing as part of various Texas Music Educators Association All-State ensembles from 2014 through 2017. Paulina recently graduated from the University of North Texas under the instruction of Dr. Jaymee Haefner, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree while also minoring in Computer Science and Spanish. As a student at UNT, she performed with their prestigious ensembles, including the award-winning harp ensemble, the Harpbeats, where her arrangements of “Danzon No. 2” by Arturo Marquez and “La Bamba” were featured in concert. She had the honor of performing in masterclasses for reputed harpists such as Emily Levin, Grace Bauson, Lynne Aspnes, and Maria Luisa Rayan during her time there, and was also a part of a flute and harp duo that performed for the Lewisville Lake Symphony Chamber Series. Recently, Paulina was a finalist of the International Lyon and Healy Awards in 2022, as well as a finalist for the Anne Adams Awards in 2020 and the UNT Concerto Competition in 2020 and 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the University of Southern California under the tutelage of JoAnn Turovsky. When not playing music, you can find Paulina crocheting or completing a crafty DIY project. |
Charlie Lin
Charlie Lin began his musical studies at the age of six in Dallas, TX. He holds a BA in violin performance and biology from Northwestern University and a M.M. from the Thornton School of Music at USC. Lin is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Violin Performance from USC. Primary teachers have included Glenn Dicterow, Gerardo Ribeiro, Jan Sloman, and Orit Bedar. Most recently, Charlie Lin has performed in Japan as Principal Second Violinist with the Pacific Music Festival orchestra under the baton of Ken-David Masur and Lahav Shani as well as with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) under the baton of Jaime Martin. Currently, Lin plays with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra (LBSO), and has recently accepted a position with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. |
Ariel Liu
Ariel Liu is an aspiring Taiwanese solo pianist, chamber musician, and music educator based in the Los Angeles area. Notably, she claimed first prize at the 2021 US Golden State International Piano Competition, first prize at the 2020 Chopin Northwest Piano Competition, and recently appeared as a soloist with the Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra. Currently pursuing a Doctorate degree at the University of Southern California under the tutelage of Antoinette Perry, Ariel is also a dedicated teacher assistant at Westside Music Conservatory and a piano instructor at Fried music. |
Valerie Narumi
Valerie Narumi is a pianist, composer/improviser, and educator based in Los Angeles. She holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Antoinette Perry. Her prior teachers include Grace Fong and Tao Chang (piano), Ron Anderson and Narong Prangcharoen (composition), and Richard Grayson and Ron Kobayashi (improvisation). As a composer, Valerie has been the recipient of top prizes from the Music Teachers National Association Composition Competition, the Robert Avalon International Competition, and the Carol Klose-Hal Leonard Composition Competition. She has performed with the Pacific Symphony as a soloist, played in master classes for Nelita True, Max Levinson, and Oxana Yablonskaya, and has attended summer festivals such as the New Orleans Piano Institute and the Courchevel International Music Academy in Japan. An avid teacher with a passion for bringing classical music to the community and exploring creative ways to engage with music, she has served since 2020 as the Composer-in-Residence at the Institute for Arts in Medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine where she teaches and works with cancer patients to create their own musical compositions. As founder of Medicinal Music Makers, a student organization at USC that brings music to the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center community, she has been committed to bringing music to the patients, their families, and staff of the hospital since 2017 and hopes that she can make a positive impact on many through the power of music. |
Tzu-Jung Peng
Pianist Tzu-Jung Peng has performed in Taiwan, Italy, China, and the United States. Peng finished the Bachelor of Music program at the University of Taipei and earned his Master’s degree in music at Indiana University Bloomington Jacobs School of Music, where he worked with Pei-Chun Liao and Arnaldo Cohen. Peng then studied the Artist Certificate program at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville under the tutelage of Dr. Chih-Long Hu, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, studying with Maestro Jeffrey Kahane. Peng is also a graduate teaching assistant in keyboard studies at the University of Southern California, teaching in both private and group settings. Peng is one of the semi-finalists in the 21st International Piano Competition ‘Mauro Paolo Monopoli Prize’ in Barletta, Italy. He is also the prize winner of the concerto competition of the University of Taipei, the Memphis International competition, and the Knoxville Piano Festival and Competition. Peng won the first prize of the University of Tennessee - Knoxville piano concerto competition and performed Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with the UTSO appearing as a soloist. Peng has been involved in all kinds of chamber music and educational settings. He has been participating in many master classes and private lessons, working with instructors such as Jean-Marc Luisada, Gwhyneth Chen, Eugen Indjic, Andrew Brownell, James Giles, Deborah Moriarty, Arthur Greene, Boris Berman, Meng-Chieh Liu, and Harlem Quartet. |
The Sparks Sisters
The Sparks Sisters (Melody and Violet Sparks) are two biological sisters who perform a multitude of genres, including classical, inspirational, pop, and swing era music. Performing together from a very young age, they are no strangers to the stage and spent many of their childhood days performing at churches, weddings, festivals, events, assisted living facilities, and charity events. They both graduated from Azusa Pacific University (APU) with Bachelor of Music degrees, and Melody completed her M.M. in Vocal Arts at University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Violet is expected to graduate from APU with her M.M. degree in Choral Conducting in May 2023. The Sparks Sisters are currently working with 5-time Grammy-nominated music producer Billy Smiley to write and record original music in Nashville. TN. Their first original single “Flower,” inspired by the "Flower Duet" from the opera Lakmé, has nearly 50,000 plays on Spotify and has been the launchpad for their classical crossover style. Since then, they have released 8 other singles on all streaming platforms and plan to release a full album of original music in the summer of 2024 |
Yu-Chen (Janet) Yang
Yu-Chen (Janet) Yang is a 22 year-old Taiwanese violist. She believes the most important thing is to let the music touch people’s hearts and to express the emotions that one wants to share with people. Yu-Chen currently studies with Professor Yura Lee at USC Thornton School of Music where she will earn a master degree of music in viola performance. Prior to attending USC Thornton School of Music, she studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Professor Dimitri Murrath and earned her bachelor degree. During her studies, she has participated in Taipei Music Academy Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Allegro Vivo Festival in Austria and International Mendelsohn Music Festival in Germany. She has studied chamber music with members of Guarneri and Telegraph String Quartets. Yu-Chen has also received instruction from Katherine Murdock, Hsin-Yun Huang, Wen-ting Kang, Paul Coletti, Che-Yen Chen, Ivo-Jan van der Werff, Jessica Bodner, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Mai Motobuchi, Nobuko Imai, Ayane Kozasa, Hartmut Rohde among others. |