Dr. Rixiang Huang

Praised by the New York Concert Review as "in a word, superb,” pianist Rixiang Huang has inspired glowing acclaim from audiences and critics alike for his superb artistry and passionate, charismatic performances on four continents. Since winning the first prize at the 12th Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford and Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition in 2021, Huang has rapidly established for himself an international reputation. His newest CD album, Endless Passion, released in April 2022, has already earned accolades from audiences and critics; Steinway Artist Rorianne Schrade remarked that his Debussy "reflect[ed] a special sensitivity, grace, and delicate tonal shading" and his Bartók "may be one of this listener’s most enjoyable Bartók Sonata performances to date" (New York Concert Review).

Winner of an impressive array of prizes, Huang was a top prizewinner of the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, Dallas International Piano Competition, New York International Artists Piano Competition, International Piano Competition La Palma d'Oro in Italy, along with the WPTA International Piano Competition.

Highlights of the 2022-23 season include a five-city solo recital tour in China; solo recital at University of Southern California; solo recital at UWG School of the Arts in Georgia; and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3 Performance with USC Thornton Orchestra. Huang joins the artist faculty at International Concerto Festival in Portugal; Interharmony Music Festival in Italy; the Montecito Music Festival in California; Concordia University Irvine Summer Chamber Music Camp in 2023. An immersive and versatile soloist, Huang has performed extensively all over the world in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center, Universität Mozarteum – Solitär in Austria; Santander Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Spain; Hamamatsu ACT Concert Hall in Japan; National Center for the Performing Arts and Beijing Concert Hall in China. His performances have been broadcast by WQXR-FM, KUSC, KDFC, Classic FM, Cleveland WCLV 104.9, Sarasota WSMR 89.1 & 103.9, and Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española. Mr. Huang is represented by Get Classical Music Management.

As an active soloist, Huang has appeared with leading orchestras wolrdwide including Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London; China National Symphony Orchestra; Indonesia National Symphony Orchestra; Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in New York; Eastern Music Festival Orchestra in North Carolina as well as USC Thornton Symphony. He has also appeared as a guest artist with acclaimed string quartet Cuarteto Quiroga and was selected to participate in the Advanced Piano Trio Program by the acclaimed Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.

In addition, Huang has been a featured artist at Salzburg Summer Academy Mozarteum, Orford Music Academy (Canada), Bowdoin International Music Festival (ME), Chautauqua Music Festival (NY), Art of the Piano at the University of Cincinnati (OH), Piano Texas (TX), and Pianofest in the Hamptons (NY). He has performed alongside preeminent conductors such as Carl, St. Clair, Jac Van Steen, Joel Smirnoff, Earl Lee, Eric Garcia, and has performed in master classes with Sergei Babayan, Stephen Hough, Arie Vardi, Veda Kaplinsky, Dimitry Alexeev, Pavel Gililov, among others.

Huang is the Founder and CEO of Empire Music Academy in California; he is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Pacific Stars International Piano Competition & Festival. His students have won prizes at numerous international, national, and local competitions such as Los Angeles Liszt International Piano Competition, Seattle International Piano Competition, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, WPTA International Piano Competition, International New Star Piano Competition, Bay Area Piano Competition, American Protégé, American Fine Arts Festival(AFAF), Satori Piano Competition, and many other MTAC Branch Competitions.

Huang has also been frequently invited to adjudicate piano competitions such as the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Piano Competition, the Music Teachers' Association of California Piano Competition, Paderewski International Piano Competition, Pacific Stars International Piano Competition, International New Star Piano Competition, SYMF, Satori Piano Competition. Huang is a member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC), and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT).

Huang received Doctoral of Musical Arts at the USC Thornton School of Music where he served as Studio Teaching Assistant, studying with prestigious conductor and pianist, Jeffrey Kahane. Huang received a Master of Music in Piano Performance at The Juilliard School, studying with legendary pianists, Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio. Previously, he worked with world-renowned pianists, Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Paul Schenly at The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was awarded the Arthur Loesser Memorial Prize for outstanding achievement in piano performance. For more information on Huang’s concert schedule, please visit: http://www.rixianghuangpianist.com/

Founder & CEO, Empire Music Academy
Founder and Artistic Director, Pacific Stars International Piano Competition & Festival

D.M.A. Piano Performance, USC Thornton School of Music, M.M. Piano Performance, The Juilliard School,B.M. Piano Performance, Cleveland Institute of Music

Dr. Igor Lipinski

Polish-born pianist Igor Lipinski made his orchestra debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on NPR’s Performance Today playing Paderewski’s Piano Concerto under the baton of JoAnn Falletta. As an orchestra soloist, he has appeared with Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra, Lakes Area Music Festival Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and Paderewski Symphony Orchestra at Chicago’s Symphony Center.

He maintains an active concert career in the U.S. including a live broadcast recital at Chicago’s premiere classical music station 98.7 WFMT and “33 Variations,” an award-winning theater play based on Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

Highlights of recent concert seasons include recitals at the San Francisco International Piano Festival, College of Charleston International Piano Series in Charleston, South Carolina, WNYC’s Greene Space in New York City, Teatro Jordão at the European Piano Teachers Conference in Guimarães, Portugal, and Mozarthaus Museum’s Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna, Austria.

At age 12, Lipinski won the Grand Prix and the First Prize at the Paderewski Competition for Young Pianists in Tuchów, Poland. At 17, he played the role of a pianist in Kazimierz Braun’s theatre play "Paderewski's Children" at the University at Buffalo. A year later, he graduated from the Paderewski Music High School in Tarnów, Poland where he studied piano with Jaroslaw Iwaneczko.

Lipinski earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Musical Arts and Master of Music in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester where he studied piano under the tutelage of Douglas Humpherys. As a teaching assistant of Vincent Lenti and Tony Caramia, he received Eastman’s Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Lipinski continued his graduate studies at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music earning his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Alan Chow. Upon graduation from Northwestern, Lipinski joined the piano faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as the Lecturer of Piano where he received the KMTA Teacher of the Year award. In Fall 2017, Lipinski joined the piano faculty at the University of Oklahoma as an Assistant Professor of Piano and has been promoted to an Associate Professor of Piano in 2023.

Lipinski’s students have won multiple awards including the University of Oklahoma Concerto Competition and the Oklahoma MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition. Lipinski has been an adjudicator for many national piano competitions including Dallas International Piano Competition, Texas Music Teachers Association State Conference in Houston, and the Young Artist Piano Competition Finals of the 2020 MTNA National Conference in Chicago where he was also selected to present a conference session entitled “Reimagining The Piano Recital: Creative Ideas To Engage Your Audience.”

Lipinski’s research interests focus on the history of recital programming featured in his DMA dissertation “From Liszt to Victor Borge: A Legacy of Unique Piano Performances.” Recognized for his own creative programming, Lipinski unified two of his lifelong passions, classical music and magic, in a unique recital program Piano Illusions. Originally developed for his honors senior thesis at Eastman, Lipinski collaborated on the program with Teller of Las Vegas duo Penn & Teller and won the WQXR Classical Comedy Contest at Caroline’s on Broadway. In light of his success in New York, Lipinski presented “Piano Illusions” at renowned concert series and festivals including Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation in Salt Lake City and Musica del Cuore Concert Series in Hong Kong.

Passionate recording artist, Lipinski has released several albums under his own concept record label Vanishing Records including Alchemy, Ravel, Masterpieces, and Liszt, all available on Spotify and Apple Music. His latest release features an album of piano music by Czech composer Leoš Janáček.