Leon Fleisher Academy

06/15/2026

The bells of Wells Cathedral have witnessed centuries of history.

This summer, they also witnessed a small piece of ours.

Seeing a Leon Fleisher Academy concert poster standing beneath one of England’s most iconic cathedrals was a reminder that music knows no borders.

Our students’ footsteps continue to reach farther than we ever imagined — from Washington, D.C. to stages around the world.

And this is only the beginning.

06/02/2026

Professor of Piano, East Carolina University School of Music

Pianist Kwan Yi has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, Mann Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Metropolitan and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Auditorium du Louvre, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.

Yi has appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra and the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, and Roberto Diaz on national tours. He was invited to perform at the Kronberg, Ravinia, Trondheim, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals and Carnegie Hall Presents and Peoples’ Symphony Concert series. He has recorded for FHR and Hänssler labels with violinist Itamar Zorman. His debut solo album, “The Last Look”, featuring late works by Haydn, Brahms and Dutilleux, was released on Centaur Records.

Yi’s awards include Mieczyslaw Munz Prize, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, and prizes in the Fourth Sendai International Piano Competition.

Yi is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and the Peabody Institute where he worked with Leon Fleisher and Robert McDonald. He has given masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Vivace International Piano Festival. His students have been granted scholarships at prestigious piano programs and won prizes in both regional and national competitions.

05/16/2026

🎹 Leon Fleisher Academy 2026 – Scholarship Opportunities Available

Dear Students & Families,

The Leon Fleisher Academy Summer Festival 2026 (Washington, D.C., July 13–25, 2026) is currently welcoming applications.

Built upon the extraordinary artistic lineage of Beethoven → Czerny → Leschetizky → Artur Schnabel → Leon Fleisher, the Academy offers a rare opportunity for serious young musicians to study within a tradition centered on deep musical understanding, artistic integrity, and long-term artistic growth.

In addition to intensive musical training, selected students may receive opportunities for concerto performances, chamber music collaborations, embassy concerts, and year-round professional performance opportunities through the Academy’s international artistic network.

✨ Scholarship opportunities are currently becoming available through new donor support for promising young musicians. With the May 25 priority deadline approaching, this may be an especially meaningful time to apply.

Please feel free to reach out to the Leon Fleisher Academy Team for additional information:

🌐 Website: www.leonfleisheracademy.com
📩 Email: [email protected]

Summer music program for aspiring young musicians. Piano Festival

05/16/2026

At Leon Fleisher Academy, we have always believed that supporting our students doesn’t stop when the festival ends.

When a last-minute opportunity came up with less than 24 hours’ notice, we were so happy to help our alumna Zihan Zhu step in for this incredible opportunity with Prince George’s Philharmonic, performing the highly challenging Shostakovich Piano Concerto.

The music world moves fast, and sometimes opportunities come unexpectedly. When they do, we will always do our best to support our students and alumni — helping them grow, step onto bigger stages, and be ready when the moment comes.

Very proud of Zihan for jumping in with courage and professionalism. And thank you to Jordan Smith and Prince George’s Philharmonic for the trust.

05/15/2026

At Leon Fleisher Academy, we have always believed that supporting our students doesn’t stop when the festival ends.

When a last-minute opportunity came up with less than 24 hours’ notice, we were so happy to help our alumna Zihan Zhu step in for this incredible opportunity with Prince George’s Philharmonic, performing the highly challenging Shostakovich Piano Concerto.

The music world moves fast, and sometimes opportunities come unexpectedly. When they do, we will always do our best to support our students and alumni — helping them grow, step onto bigger stages, and be ready when the moment comes.

Very proud of Zihan for jumping in with courage and professionalism. And thank you to Jordan Smith and Prince George’s Philharmonic for the trust.

PROGRAM CHANGE

We are sad to announce that piano soloist Rita Sloan has withdrawn from the performance on Saturday, May 16th due to illness. We wish her a speedy recovery.

We thank pianist Zihan Zhu for her willingness to step in on very short notice, joining trumpet soloist Chris Gekker for our performance of the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 at The Clarice.

We are excited to have Ms. Zhu perform with us and look forward to an exciting 60th Anniversary Season Finale.

Thank you for your understanding.

ZIHAN ZHU

Zihan Zhu studied piano under the guidance of Ms. Tian Lu and Mr. Yury Shadrin. She was selected as the only student from Guangxi to be invited to the Leon Fleisher Academy Embassy Concert Series, where she gained valuable performance experience. She was also chosen to participate in masterclasses with distinguished artists, including Gary Graffman, Jerome Lowenthal, and Professor Boris Berman of Yale University.

Her competition achievements include First Prize at the Aegio International Piano Competition, First Prize at the Quebec Music Competition, Second Prize at the Elevato International Piano Competition, and the Junior A Division Championship at the 5th IAC International Piano Competition National Finals.

In 2021, Zihan entered Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a substantial talent scholarship and is currently a senior majoring in Piano Performance under the mentorship of Professor Alvin Chow. She has also been admitted to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue a Master’s degree in Arts Management.

05/14/2026

Daniel Shapiro
Professor of Piano, Cleveland Institute of Music

Daniel Shapiro is widely recognized as a leading interpreter of Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, and Brahms, and as an inspiring teacher and coach at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he has taught since 1998.

He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America, appearing at major venues including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. His recent projects include a complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, as well as acclaimed recordings of Schubert’s major piano sonatas and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

A devoted chamber musician, Shapiro has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Jaime Laredo, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Cho-Liang Lin, Roberto Díaz, Ronald Leonard, Franklin Cohen, and Frank Rosenwein, and has performed with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra.

As a teacher, he is known for helping students reach a profound understanding of masterworks and develop vivid, individual interpretations. His students have won major competitions and gone on to hold teaching positions at leading universities and conservatories.

Shapiro studied with Leon Fleisher, John Perry, Russell Sherman, Joanna Graudan, and Reginald Stewart. He received his doctorate from the Peabody Conservatory.

05/06/2026

Dr. Vivian Sui-Rong Li is a Chinese-Canadian pianist and one of China’s most respected pedagogues. Born into a family of artists, she made her concert debut at the age of five under the tutelage of her father, renowned pianist Qi Li, and the guidance of her mother, celebrated ballerina Xianping Su.

Dr. Li studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music on full scholarship with the esteemed French pianist Monique Duphil, a student of Marguerite Long, and was awarded Oberlin’s William R. Abate Outstanding Pianist Award, presented annually to the most distinguished pianist of the graduating class. She later earned her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Houston, studying with Nancy Weems and Horacio Gutiérrez, and distinguished herself in competitions including the CMC Stepping Stone, Grace Welsh, and San Antonio International competitions.

Since 2006, Dr. Li has been on the faculty of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music, where her students have won major prizes at international competitions including Chopin, Cliburn, Busoni, Gina Bachauer, Cleveland, Sendai, Sydney, Aarhus, Ettlingen, Krainev, Zhuhai Mozart, and Cooper, earning wide international recognition. Among these journeys, her longtime student Hao Rao’s experience at the Chopin Competition—and their close bond as teacher and student—was beautifully captured by director Jakub Piątek in the Emmy Award–winning documentary Pianoforte.

A Steinway Artist, Dr. Li is a frequent guest faculty member at leading music festivals in China and abroad and regularly serves on juries at major international competitions, including Weimar–Bayreuth Liszt and Hastings.

04/30/2026

The Schnabel-Fleisher Tradition.
A Legacy of Depth.
Our faculty brings together artists shaped by internationally acclaimed solo and leading American orchestras, and chamber stages.
Throughout the program, we continue this tradition by offering young musicians clarity of vision, meaningful platforms, and the space to shape their musicianship with depth and integrity.
One stage. One artistic vision.
Rooted in tradition - shaping the next generation.

04/27/2026

Jing Qiao was appointed to the National Symphony Orchestra’s second violin section by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda in 2018 and joined the first violin section in 2019. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Music of Baroque ensemble in Chicago. In February 2015, Jing appeared as Guest Principal Second Violin with the Minnesota Orchestra. Jing began her musical studies on the accordion at age five and switched to the violin the following year. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Milan Vitek, and completed her Master of Music degree at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University as a student of Almita Vamos. She also studied with Sylvia Rosenberg at the Aspen Music School and Festival, and her mentors include Per Enoksson and Amy Oshiro. As a soloist and chamber musician, Jing has performed recitals and concerts throughout China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and the United States. She made her solo debut performing the Nielsen Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the Triangle in 2008. In 2023, she made a solo appearance with the National Symphony Orchestra and has performed with NSO colleagues at embassy events in Washington, DC, and Berlin.

04/23/2026

Following recent debuts with the Chicago, Pittsburgh and London symphony orchestras, Lukáš Vondráček has a season packed with highlights ahead of him. In 2021/22 he will debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at Hollywood Bowl and return to renowned orchestras such as Baltimore and Chicago symphony orchestras, both under the baton of Marin Alsop. Elsewhere Lukáš Vondráček will appear with Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Lionel Bringuier, Warsaw Philharmonic as well as the Turku and Malmö symphony orchestras. Recital projects will take him to the Rudolf Firkusny Piano Festival at Prague’s Rudolfinum and the Kissinger Summer Festival. He will take his residency with the Janáček Philharmonic into the next season and continue his recording cycle of all Rachmaninov Piano concertos with Prague Symphony Orchestra.

Over the last decade Lukáš Vondráček has travelled the world working with orchestras such as the Philadelphia, Tasmanian and Sydney Symphony orchestras, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Symphony Radio Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic and Netherlands Philharmonic orchestras.Recitals have led him to Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Flagey in Brussels, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and to renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad, PianoEspoo in Finland, Prague Spring Festival and Lille Piano Festival.
At the age of four Lukáš Vondráček made his first public appearance. He has achieved worldwide recognition by receiving many international awards, foremost the Grand Prix at the 2016 Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels alongside first prizes at the Hilton Head and San Marino International Piano Competitions and Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.