Denison University International Piano Competition

San Sung Aum

Denison University

San Sung Aum, a talented pianist from Seoul, South Korea, has had an extensive career as both a soloist and chamber musician, performing on international stages. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University, followed by a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Throughout her career, Aum has performed at esteemed venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Sejong Art Center, in addition to various locations across Europe. Her exceptional talent has earned her top prizes in competitions like the Florestano Rossomandi International Competition, the U.S. International Duo Piano Competition, and American Protégé.

Aum has also participated in renowned international music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, International Keyboard Institute and Festival, Amalfi Coast Festival, and Chautauqua Piano Festival, performing both solo and in chamber music ensembles. Currently, she holds the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at Denison University, where she continues to inspire and educate the next generation of musicians.

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Dror Brian

Cincinanti College-Conservatory of Music

Winner of top prizes at the M.K Čiurlionis International Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Piano among others, Israeli-American pianist Dror Biran has been described by The Cleveland Plain Dealer as “his fortissimos crashed and roared, but next to them came pianissimos that whispered seductively…he has technique to burn and uses it effectively.” Biran’s superb tonal control combined with interesting phrasing and voicing has won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences.

Biran has performed widely as a soloist with major orchestras including the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played under the batons of Etinger, Rodan, Gueller, Gacia Asensio, Mester, Lane and others. His concert tours have taken him to the United States, Israel and South Africa, South Korea and China along with Eastern and Western Europe.

As an avid chamber musician, Biran has appeared on a regular basis with different music ensembles such as Carmel, Amernet and Aviv String Quartets.  He premiered works by Grawemyer and Rome Award winners such as York Höler and Sebastian Currier. His concerts have been broadcasted by WUOL, WCLV, WQXR, The Voice of Music – Israel and Classic FM South Africa, among others. Biran can be heard on the JMC (Jerusalem Music Centre) and Centaur labels

A recipient of multiple scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for distinguished musicians, Biran began his piano studies with Ms. Lily Dorfman, and mentored by Arie Vardi, Paul Schenly, Daniel Shapiro and Lee Luvisi. He graduated from Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University and the Cleveland Institute of Music where he received his doctorate degree in piano performance.

Biran taught at the University of Louisville, Youngstown State University and Case Western Reserve University. Currently, he serves as Professor of Piano at the College-Conservatory of Music University of Cincinnati.

Hana Chu

Denison University

An acclaimed soloist and collaborative pianist, Dr. Hana Chu has brought her artistry to audiences around the world, with performances spanning North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Widely respected for her expressive and insightful interpretations, she is known for her versatility in solo, chamber, and contemporary repertoire

Dr. Chu has premiered major works, including Michael Torke’s Blue Pacific (Ecstatic Records) and HyeKyung Lee’s Gallop. As a passionate advocate for new music, she regularly collaborates with living composers and performed extensively with the New Juilliard Ensemble under Joel Sachs. Her international engagements include performances and masterclasses in Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand, where she supported cultural diplomacy and music education initiatives.

She is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, including the Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition, MTNA Solo and Duo Piano Competitions, Nordmann Piano Scholarship Competition, New York Piano Competition, and the Oberlin Piano Competition. Dr. Chu earned degrees from The Juilliard School and Eastman School of Music, studying with Matti Raekallio, Jerome Lowenthal, Nelita True, and Jean Barr. She currently serves on the piano faculty at Denison University and has previously taught at Nazareth College, Monroe Community College, Kent State University, and Cedarville University.

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Jose Ramon Mendez

Oberlin Conservatory

Described as “an artist with a polished sound and tremendous constructive power” and hailed by the Hoja del Lunes de Madrid as “the Spanish pianist of his generation,” Jose Ramon Mendez is one of the most exciting Spanish pianists of today.

Recent performances include Rachmaninov’s second concerto with the Williamsport Symphony, Chopin’s first piano concerto with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra, and Manuel de Falla’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” with the Nittany Valley Symphony, as well as numerous solo and chamber music performances in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His playing has been featured on WQXR’s “Performance Today” and on Classical KMFA. He has been a guest performer at many music festivals, including Caramoor Festival, Barge Music Series, Festival Internacional de Piano de las Islas Canarias, Music at Penns Woods, Amalfi Coast International Music Festival, “Tocando el Cielo,” Musica en Compostela, the Stony Brook International Piano Festival, and the Santander International Music Festival to name a few. As a chamber musician, Mendez has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Karl Leister, Itzhak Perlman, Michael Tree, Pascual Martinez-Nieto, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Mendez received his first music instruction from his father and by the age of seven was already performing on Spanish television and radio stations. He made his solo debut at the age of eleven at the Oviedo Philharmonic Society in Oviedo, Spain, the youngest performer ever to do so in the history of the society. He first gained international recognition when he performed Liszt’s first piano concerto under the direction of Sergiu Commissiona at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Since then, he has concertized extensively in his native Spain, the United States, Italy, England, Portugal, Holland, and Japan to great acclaim. With his poetry, intellect, and masterful technique, he has been praised by critics and celebrated by audiences around the world.

At the age of 18, Mendez’s success brought him to the United States, where he began his studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s Degrees in piano performance with renowned pedagogue Solomon Mikowsky and went on to finish his Doctor of Musical Arts under the tutelage of Byron Janis and Miyoko Lotto. During his stay in New York, he won top prizes in many international competitions, including Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition, Hilton Head Island International Piano Competition, Frederick Chopin Competition in New York, and Hermanos Guerrero International Piano Competition, among others.

Formerly on the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin, New York University, The Pennsylvania State University, Northwestern University and Northern Arizona University. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Piano at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He is the Artistic Directors of the Gijon International Piano Festival in Gijon, Spain, as well as frequently being invited to perform and teach at various festivals.

Jose Ramon Mendez is a Yamaha Artist.

Sun Min Kim, Artistic Director

Denison University

South Korean-born American pianist Sun Min Kim is the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and Associate Professor of Music at Denison University. He made his début with the Ulsan Symphony Orchestra at age 13, performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto. He has been a prizewinner at national and international competitions, including the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, the International Crescendo Music Awards, Brevard Music Center Solo Piano Competition, the Competition of the Society for American Musicians, and the Lee Biennial Piano Competition.

In 2008, the professional music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon awarded Kim the Sterling Achievement Award, the highest honor that the fraternity bestows upon its collegiate members. He has debuted at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and other prestigious venues across the United States and abroad. Sun Min Kim completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under the legendary pedagogue Nelita True and served as her teaching assistant.

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Tatjana Rankovich – Guest Artist

Mannes School of Music

Described by The New York Times as an “astonishingly good pianist,” Tatjana Rankovichhas performed throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Central and South America. She is the first pianist ever to play the First, Second and Third Piano Concertos of Nicolas Flagello, recording them with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the Slovak Philharmonic, which were released to unanimous praise and chosen for one of the five “best of the year” recordings in 1996, 1999 and 2005, by Fanfare magazine. These premiere recordings were described as “splendid” and “superb.” In his review (Classical Net, 2008), of the Naxos/Flagello Piano Concerto CD, Steve Schwartz writes:

“…pianist Tatjana Rankovich, one of my favorite performers, who routinely takes risks on unknown repertoire. She undoubtedly knows like the back of her well-muscled hand the Russian school of piano writing Flagello makes use of. She plays with fiery power. At the end of the recording I, without giving it a thought, stood up. Imagine what she would do to a live audience.” She has recorded many other acclaimed discs for Phoenix USA, Naxos, Albany, Artek, Dezil, Citadel, and most recently, a highly praised 3-disk set of live recordings for IBOX. The review by Jerry Dubins of Fanfare Magazine (October, 2010) reads: “My long time favorite recording (of the Shostakovich Piano Concerto #1) has been the one with Argerich….But I think this version with Rankovich now takes pride of place. It’s quite stunning…”

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Dr. Rankovich was a Fulbright Scholar, a laureate of numerous awards, and the recipient of a prestigious State Award, “Golden Badge,” which is awarded annually by the Serbian Ministry of Diaspora in Belgrade. She holds her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and her Doctorate from Rutgers University. Her teachers and mentors were of the legendary Leschetizky and Liszt traditions of piano performance: Arbo Valdma, Josef Raieff, Clifton Matthews, Claude Frank, and Benjamin Kaplan. Most recently, she was a recipient of the prestigious Irene Alm Memorial Prize for excellence in performance and scholarly research at Rutgers University (May, 2017) for her thesis: “Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto: the unpublished revisions and its Doppelgängerchamber versions.”

She holds a Visiting Professor of Piano position at the European Center for Peace and Development (ECPD) of the University for Peace established by the United Nations in Belgrade. Dr. Rankovich is the Founder and Artistic Director of Music & More SummerFest – International Classical Music Festival in Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and President of the Music & More Foundation, a US non-profit charitable organization, which is devoted to music education and the provision of scholarship for music students through education, performance and research.

Jiao Sun

Concert Pianist

Acclaimed by New York Concert Review, Chicago WFMT, and Sing Tao Daily (Los Angeles/Hong Kong), Dr. Jiao Sun has performed extensively across the U.S, Canada, England, Russia, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Laureate of Washington International Piano Competition, she also won first prizes at Memphis International Repertory Orchestra Concerto Competition, Cincinnati Conservatory Concerto Competition, Chautauqua Piano Competition among others. Aside from her PBS radio debut in fall 2025, she appeared in Chicago Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert, New York Liliane Questel Recital Series, Zemlinsky Prize Concerts among others. She soloed with St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Orchestra, Cincinnati Philharmonic Orchestra, and Memphis Repertory Orchestra. Her SunRix Piano Trio was one of the six piano trios selected worldwide to Fischoff International Competition quarterfinal and won first prize at Hong Kong International Chamber Music Competition. Dr. Sun has adjudicated at many international competitions such as Vivace International Piano Competition, Ohio International Piano Duo & Duet Competition, Hong Kong Global Music Contest, Orbifold International Piano Competition. Besides her presentations at many national pedagogy conferences, she holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree and an Artist Diploma at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and degrees of an M.M and a B.M at Eastman School of Music.