Yaoyue Huang

Artist Faculty

Yaoyue Huang is a pianist who celebrates new music and lesser performed modern works, explores experimental and creative projects that challenge convention, and aims to break away from common performance practice. Huang has worked with composer peers from Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, and the United States in premiering and commissioning their works. She was recently awarded the Prix Alberto Ginastera from the 14th International Piano Competition of Orléans, where she premiered a newly composed work that she commissioned for the André Chevillion-Yvone Bonnaud composition prize.  

Huang was invited as a guest artist for the Porto Pianofest in Portugal, Wave Elements Global Music Festival in Portland, Oregon, and Music for All Seasons Cincinnati. Huang has performed at venues worldwide, including Shenzhen Poly Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Xinghai Concert Hall, Ongaku-No-Tomo Hall in Tokyo, Nihon University, White Rock Theatre in the U.K., and Salle de l’Institut in France. Huang has performed with the Lima Symphony Orchestra, College-Conservatory of Music Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra. 

Huang was the first prize winner of the Lima Symphony Orchestra National Young Artist Competition, CCM Piano Concerto Competition, Tuesday Musical Scholarship Competition, Birmingham Young Artist Concerto Competition, and MSU College of Music Concerto Competition. She also won top prizes in the Japan International Duo Piano Competition and the Alexander & Buono International Piano Competition.

Huang is a co-artistic director of MusicXHabitatXArt, an interdisciplinary art and performance collective based in the U.K., China, and the United States. Huang’s mentors and teachers include Soyeon Kate Lee, Minsoo Sohn, Sandra Rivers, and Mei Xiao. Huang is a DMA candidate in Piano Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Yaoyue has worked with artist-teachers Ursula Oppens, Julian Martin, Emanual Krasovsky, Deborah Moriarty, Leif Ove Andsnes, Aviram Reichert, Frank Weinstock, and John Perry.

Scott Lowell Sherman

Artist Faculty

Scott Lowell Sherman is an American pianist, composer, and visual artist working in interdisciplinary project-based practices. He is co-artistic director of MusicXHabitatXArt, an experimental art and performance collective based in China, the United States, and the U.K. The collective was founded on the “habitat” created by marrying the visual and auditory: exploring archetypal symbolism through the digital, concrete, and subconscious. MHA’s mission is to further the appreciation of contemporary music, engaging audiences through these juxtapositions. Their ongoing digital works—based on the post-1900 piano repertoire—have been exhibited in Paris, China, Portland, Los Angeles, and The Jupiter Museum. Their ongoing project, Audible Light, is an immersive communal performance-installation set to premiere in Zürich in 2024. 

Sherman has performed in France, China, Japan, Israel, Spain, and the United States, and has lectured at Shantou University, Meilin Arts School, The College-Conservatory of Music, and The Evergreen State College.

Sherman’s current recording project features György Kurtág’s works for solo piano, to be jointly presented with an interdisciplinary art book that extends beyond the recorded medium and reflects the multidisciplinary practices of Kurtág. His project, The Pianist’s Eyes, explored the relationship between audience, music, and performer’s visage. The project Stillness presented Hans Otte’s Das Buch der Klänge as an installation of sonic architecture, exploring meditative stillness and ephemerality.

Sherman’s compositions premiered at the 14th and 15th Competition d’Orleans in France and Porto Pianofest Portugal, where he was guest artist, and in the United States. His influences are Asian literature, Buddhist philosophy, and Gagaku imperial court music. His two volumes of Preludes d’Interprétation, with homage to Ohana, will be completed in 2023. Ongoing compositions include his 10 Études Poétiques, begun in 2019.

Sherman’s mentors and teachers include Minsoo Sohn, Soyeon Kate Lee, Ran Dank, Ronald Cavaye, Sandra Rivers, Deborah Moriarty, and Catherine Rollin. He has worked with artist-teachers Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, Julian Martin, Emanual Krasovsky, Dmitri Bashkirov, Ursula Oppens, Jerome Lowenthal, Tatiana Zelickman, and Frederic Chiu. Sherman is a current DMA candidate at the College-Conservatory of Music in piano performance, where he also completed his Artist Diploma. He is a laureate of the Tel-Hai International Piano Masterclasses in Israel and the Bowdoin, Gijon, and Orford International Festivals.