Pianist Charles Chien was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1961. He began his piano lessons at the age of seven. His formal training, however, did not start until he came to the U.S at the age of thirteen. Throughout high school, he participated in the Spokane Music Festival and the Seattle Young Artist Festival, and received first prize in the Young Artist Division. At the Seattle Young Artist Festival in 1980, he met John Perry, a judge for the festival that year, who immediately accepted him at the University of Southern California as a scholarship student in the Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. He studied with Mr. Perry from 1980 to 1984, and continues to coach with him at this time. At USC, he also studied chamber music, conducting and vocal accompanying.

After graduation and receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in 1984, he was hired by American Airlines as a flight attendant, a perfect job that gave him the flexibility to perform both in the U.S and abroad. Although he works full time now for American Airlines as an international flight attendant, his schedule allows him to pursue his love of music. He was among the top prize recipients at the last three Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano in Paris where he performed at the Radio France and La Sorbonne.

He was one of the five finalists at the second and third Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions for Outstanding Amateurs in 2000 and 2002 respectively. In addition, he was the third prize recipient of the first Boston International Piano Competitions for Outstanding Amateurs in August of 2001, and the second prize recipient of the first Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions In June of 2003 he was featured as a soloist with the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra in Fort Worth Texas in the performance of Schumann Piano Concerto, 1 st movement, as the result of his concerto audition in the 2000 TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute. His performance in Chicago at the Dame Myra Hess Music Series on Radio five years ago received very positive review by the chief music critic of the Chicago Tribune.

Janene Crosby was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1970. It was very clear from age 5 that music was something for which she had a deep passion. Her first musical instrument was the piano, and it remains her most loved and treasured instrument. Growing up, she also played the clarinet, guitar, saxophone and flute. The clarinet became her focal instrument in high school. She studied both piano and clarinet privately through these years. She received many musical honors throughout high school in the area of clarinet performance and greatly enjoyed the band atmosphere. She entered Louisiana State University in 1988.

At LSU, Janene was a member of the “Golden Band from Tigerland”, the LSU Summer Symphonic Band, the Baton Rouge Concert Band, and her church orchestra. She studied clarinet under the instruction of Dr. Steven Cohen, faculty member at the LSU School of Music. She graduated with a B. S. in Finance in 1992.

Janene moved to Shreveport, Louisiana after college and worked managing grant funds at the LSU School of Medicine. She stopped working after the birth of her first child in 1995. She and her husband now enjoy a family of three girls and one boy. She returned to piano studies with Dr. Ross E. Smith, PhD and professor at Centenary College in the year 2000. She has participated in his recitals, and actively participates as a collaborative pianist in the local community. She has also received instruction from Fabio Bidini, Italian concert pianist and Van Cliburn competitor, who is now the artist-in-residence at the University of Texas at Arlington. She has also recorded nine pieces on CD with Dr. Smith. Her most recent studies have been with Dr. Gregory Sioles, artist-in-residence at the LSU School of Music.

Janene's interests outside of piano include photography, travel and bird watching. Her family also enjoys summers on the water with boating activities.

After growing up playing piano and trumpet, Mr. Frederickson earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education from the University of Illinois, studying piano with Joel Shapiro and conducting with Harry Begian. He then taught high school band for 3 years in Henry, Illinois, winning top honors at local contests and winning the University of Illinois Concert Band Competition. Garry then acquired his Master in Management degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and joined Hewlett-Packard as a financial analyst. In 24 years at HP, he has had roles in marketing management, sales, and currently leads HP consulting engagements, specializing in software development and internet/intranet applications.

About a year ago and after a hiatus of around 28 years, Garry started to play seriously again and began to study piano with David Korevaar at the University of Colorado. Garry says, "Working on 28 years of bad habits is a tough job!" He also plays frequently for his church and has accompanied music students at the University of Northern Colorado and Colorado State University. Garry is married to Deanne, a Landscape Architect, and has a daughter Ashley who is about to go to college next year, and a 4 year old son Cam who keeps everyone moving and laughing. In addition to his family, work, and music, Garry enjoys woodworking - particularly woodturning in his "free" time.

Like many other amateur musicians at PianoTexas, Joel Goodman has led a double life. Born in New York City , Joel grew up in Los Angeles , where he had the good fortune to take piano lessons for 10 years with Paul Schoop, pianist as well as composer for his sister Trudi, a noted modern dancer in Europe and USA . To avoid the Vietnam War, Joel attended college, choosing UC San Diego (with its nearby beaches), where he drifted from major to major, finally settling down in biology with a minor in music. At UCSD he took classes from such notable musicians as Pauline Oliveros, Bertram Turetsky, and Rosalyn Tureck. In the early 1970s Joel worked as a research technician during the day and studied piano with Mario Feninger at night, playing weekly in his master class in the Hollywood Hills. Joel's focus then shifted to professional life as he obtained a Ph.D. in pharmacology from USC School of Medicine, followed by postdoctoral training in molecular and cell biology at UCLA. Joel moved to Dallas in 1982 with wife Roberta and daughter Rachel, where he continued in academic life as an assistant professor at UT Southwestern Medical School. He practiced piano as time permitted and gave several duo-piano concerts with Roberta in the 1990s.

Joel was a participant in the 2nd Van Cliburn Amateur Competition in 2000.

Awaiting this competition with some desperation and dread, Joel searched for a teacher and happily began studying with Adam Wodnicki, an association that continues to the present. At the Cliburn he met other amateurs in the area who had formed the DFW Amateur Piano Club. Joel quickly joined, giving him the opportunity to perform once a month for friends. Joel is currently the Jan and Bob Bullock Distinguished Chair for Science Education at UT Southwestern, where he continues to run a research laboratory in cell biology, train medical and doctoral students, and direct the medical center's outreach program for science teachers.

Peggy King received an undergraduate degree in Piano Pedagogy from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver,Colo. in 1976 .Peggy has attended the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute 6 times since 1998; performing in the chamber music program for 2 of them. Living in Kula, Hawaii she has taught piano and fitness to adults and children of all ages privately and at various elementary and middle schools on Maui.

Peggy currently teaches group fitness and does personal training at Gold's Gym Maui: owned by husband of 29 years Bill King. When she isn't teaching or practicing her piano she enjoys her husband, teenage son, caring for 4 dogs and a cat, kite boarding in the ocean and biking the hills where she lives. Peggy would like to thank her 2 piano instructors: Igor Resnianski and Ruth Murata for helping her prepare for these programs.

Larry Long took piano as a child in Shreveport , Louisiana from Anna Bell Worden, a graduate of The Juilliard School. He also studied with Alfred Teltschik in Houston in the late 1990's until unable to play due to a carpal tunnel condition in both hands. After successful surgery in 2004, Larry started piano lessons last year from Ekaterina Ryndina Loudermilk, a native of Moscow , Russia and recent Master's Degree graduate of Rice where she studied with Dr. Robert Roux.

Larry lives in Houston , Texas with his wife of 36 years, Carol. They have two adult children, Lloyd and Claire. He retired in 2002 from ExxonMobil Corporation after 30 years in finance, tax and accounting management. He holds a BA and MBA from U.T. Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Other interests include volunteer work for Living Water International, a Christian charity that drills water wells in developing countries. In March 2005 the Longs donated and completed drilling a 1000 foot borehole for a secondary school and surrounding rural village outside Nairobi , Kenya . In 2006, several families including the Longs will support drilling activity near Leon , Nicaragua for rural villages without clean water.

Canadian pianist, Thomas Maurice, is currently a full-time Network Administrator and Procurement Specialist for a non-profit company in Baltimore , Maryland . He garnered much musical success in his youth, winning prizes at several international competitions and performing as recitalist (solo and vocal accompanist) and with orchestra in five countries. Mr. Maurice also worked as a coach and assistant conductor for many of the large regional opera houses in the United States , culminating with the development of his own opera training company in New York City for two years. He holds both a Bachelor and Masters Degree in piano performance.

With his return to the solo piano arena, this time as an amateur, he was recently named the Grand Prize winner in the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition (Amateur Division). He will be presented in recitals at Carnegie's Weill Hall, the Musica e Arte Festival, Tolentino , Italy , and the Douglaston Recital Series, Douglaston , New York . Mr. Maurice also won the Grand Prize at the 4 th Annual Rocky Mountain Amateur Piano Competition ( Colorado ), which included two performances with the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs. These concerts were so successful that he has already been invited back to participate in future seasons. He also won 6 th place in the first Gina Bachauer International Amateur Competition ( Utah ).

During his lengthy hiatus from the music world, Mr. Maurice pursued his current career in computer technology, earning many certifications from Microsoft, Novell and Cisco. He now enjoys a balanced life of work, music, and caring for his many feline companions. His hobbies include renovation on his historic home and assisting his partner in the creation and maintenance of websites. He has also recently developed an avid interest in the piano tuner/technician field.

Following an extended period of debilitating back pain and eventual loss of sensation in his left leg, Mr. Maurice underwent spinal surgery in the fall of 2005. While the surgery was moderately successful, he continues the recovery process, and the long-range prognosis is uncertain.

Hiroko Ohtani is a physical chemist, working at the Physical and Environmental Sciences Department of Ford Motor Company. Her current research involves nano-scale tribology, and nano-materials.

Ohtani began her piano studies at the age of three in Japan where she won the NHK audition to be a performer for the educational TV program "Piano Lessons" taught by Sumiko Inouchi. Ohtani won the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute's first amateur concerto competition, the 6 th Japan Amateur Piano Competition (finalist), and the 1 st Washington International Piano Amateur Competition (finalist and a winner of the " Best Performance of a Contemporary Work"). She was also a semifinalist at the 2 nd and 3 rd IPCOA.

Ohtani earned B.S. in chemistry from the University of Tokyo, and the PhD in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. She resides in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, and studies piano privately with Ralph Votapek, Gold Medalist of the First Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

San Franciscan Dick Olsen, 67, started piano study at age three. As a youth, he studied with former San Francisco Conservatory faculty member Herbert Jaffe, gave solo recitals, competed in West Coast competitions and performed as a concerto soloist with the California Youth Symphony. When he matriculated at Stanford University, he discontinued piano study and performance.

Following his retirement as Vice President of Transamerica Corporation seven years ago, Dick resumed piano study with William Corbett-Jones, Chair of the Piano Department at San Francisco State University. Dick has since performed in : the “Grands Amateurs de Piano” in Paris; two of the Van Cliburn Foundation's “International Piano Competitions for Outstanding Amateurs;” the “Rocky Mountain Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs” where he was a Semi-Finalist, and the “Pinault Music Society International Competition,” where he was a Finalist in 2001, won Second Prize in 2003 and in both years was the highest-ranked in the “Senior” (age 60 and over) category- which included both professionals and amateurs. He will be competing in the 1 st International Piano Amateur Competition in Berlin this September.

Dick enjoys community service. He is a Trustee and Chair of the Finance Committee for both the University of California at Berkeley Art Museum and U.C. Berkeley's Young Musicians Program. He is also a Trustee and Audit Committee Chair for the Eye Research Foundation at the U.C. San Francisco Medical School. Dick has previously served as a Trustee for: the San Francisco Ballet; the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; San Francisco Performances; and the Stanford University Alumni Association.

Dick is married (Candace). His daughter, Jennifer is Senior Director of Marketing for The GAP and his son, Jeffrey, is Senior Writer/Director/Producer for cable television's Cartoon Network.

José Mauro Silveira Peixoto, Brazilian, was born on september, 7, 1943. He lives now in São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brasil. José Mauro is a mechanical engineer, graduated in 1966 by Maua Institute of Technology. He completed a post graduated course in Business Administration at Getulio Vargas Foundation in 1970. José worked as a judicial expert and mechanical engineer until 1970. Following his studies in Business Administration he has worked in the financial market to the present. Today he is an adviser and portfolio manager in the Brazilian stock market.

José Mauro is son of the pianist Odette de Faria and the journalist Silveira Peixoto and started to study piano with his mother when he was three years old. When he was five he made a studio recording. At nine he gave a recital for “Pro Arte” the most famous artistic society at the time in Sao Paulo . At eleven appeared twice on Television. His mother did not favor his adopting music as a carreer and encourages him to study engineering, because of his facility for mathematics.

At the age of twelve he abandoned the piano for twenty eight years, and only played again when a friend on the ocasion of his fortieth brithday asked Jose Mauro to play, as a birthday gift, the Chopin's Polonaise (opus 53), which he loved and remembered hearing him play as a child. The success encourages José to return to the piano. He looked for a teacher, and found Olga Normanha in Campinas , a friend of his mother's. For eight years he had weekly classes. At the same time, he refused invitations to work as director of two large financial institutions in Brazil , because he needed four hours daily to practise the piano.

In 1988 he gaved two recitals. In the following years he performed in public about once a year and in 1994 played the Rachmaninoff's Concerto nº 2 with the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra under Eleazar de Carvalho. After this concert, and for two years Jose had classes with Beatriz Balzi, from the class of Joseph Kliass. In 1997 he recorded a CD with works of Bach/Almeida Prado, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy and Rachmaninoff. In January, 1999, he played in Paris , in the preliminary round of the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs organized by Gerard Bekerman.

In June, 1999, Jose played in Fort Worth , Texas , in the preliminary round of the First International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. When returned to Brasil, Jose performed five times at English Culture of Sao Paulo, once at Musical Conservatory of Osasco, once in Curitiba , most of all playing a Chopin's Recital. In June, 2000 Jose went again to Fort Worth to the Second International Piano Competition and in January, 2001 in Paris also for the Piano Competition.

Vincent Phillips is currently a practicing anesthesiologist in Dayton , OH where he has been for eight years. He started his musical training with his mother and later attended the University of Cincinnati . After graduation, he moved to North Carolina where he eventually decided to pursue medicine. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , and then completed his residency at The Duke University Medical Center.

He has two daughters, Shauna and Mya, and a one-year-old granddaughter, Jordan.

A native New Yorker, Linda has lived in Minnesota for the last 43 years and presently lives in Saint Paul . She is a graduate of the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan , where she majored in voice, and Antioch College in Yellow Springs , Ohio , where she majored in Biology and Secondary Education.

Since her retirement in 2003, Linda has worked part time teaching adults with special needs at the Ronald B. Hubbs Center . Piano lessons began at age six with long breaks for parenthood and high school teaching. She has most recently studied piano with Guna Skujina at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis .

Linda is currently involved in two music groups involving both solo and chamber music, and is presently arranging a piano piece for flute, bass, and piano, to be performed in a Musicale in Minneapolis in May.

Linda enjoyes hiking, walking, piano, dancing, singing, socializing, films, theater, reading novels and political commentary.

Residing in Dallas , Texas , Christopher is a business consultant and attorney who helps companies execute strategic transactions, such as partnerships, joint ventures, and acquisitions. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (B.A.), Northwestern University Law School (J.D.), and Harvard Business School (M.B.A.).

A native Oklahoman, Christopher studied piano from age 10 through high school. After graduation, however, Christopher pursued education and careers in business and law, pretty much neglecting the piano altogether. His return to the piano after almost 25 years was prompted by eye surgeries that severely affected his vision.

Christopher began playing again a couple of years ago to improve his hand-eye coordination. Although still extremely rusty in his performance capabilities, Christopher views the Amateurs Program of PainoTexas Academy & Festival as an excellent way to foster his renewed passion for music and gain invaluable artistic insights. He is honored to be able to take part in such a renowned institution.

Jeffrey Wilson from Inglewood , California is assistant professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles , where he teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses in the history of philosophy, ethics, aesthetics and modern philosophy. His research specialties are German philosophy and aesthetics, and his articles on Jean-Paul Sartre, Immanuel Kant, and Henry David Thoreau have appeared in Sartre Studies International, the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, and the Journal of Philosophical Research. He is also director of a program designed to teach graduate students how to teach philosophy and regularly teaches philosophy courses as intellectual enrichment for law school faculty.

Jeffrey Wilson began studying piano privately at age seven, continuing during high school in the University of Louisville School of Music preparatory department. He also studied violin for two years. In college, he majored in liberal arts and studied piano extracurricularly with composer Douglas Allanbrook. While completing an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy at Emory University and establishing his academic career, Jeffrey did not play the piano regularly for the next 17 years. His dissertation year was spent in Cologne , Germany as a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellow, where he also performed as a choral singer with the Muehlheimer Kantorei. The high point of his musical life in Cologne was performing Mendelssohn's version of Bach's St. Matthew Passion on Good Friday in the Koelner Philharmonie, the Kantorei joining forces with Das neue Orchester under the direction of Christoph Spering. He has performed as a member of the LMU Choir at Carnegie Hall under Paul Salamunovich.

Native Texan Susan Woodward was born in Houston in 1954, and moved to Dallas shortly after where she spent her youth and resides today. She began to formally study the piano at age 6 with Eugenia Nicks O'Reilley, and remained O'Reilley's student until she was 17. 4 years at Baylor University , where she received her BBA in Accounting, began a 20-year break from Susan's piano experience, however, in those 2 decades she never sold her Steinway.

Married Ben Woodward, and worked for five years as a tax accountant for EDS and then an assistant controller for The Mischer Corporation. Family plans called Susan to self employment and in 1982, upon passing the CPA exam (she received the Haskins Sells Award for being one of the top 120 scores in the United States ),she started her own accounting practice. The decision to shift to self-employment was largely influenced by the forthcoming birth of her first child, John. John is now 22 years old and attends Bethany College in Kansas ; his sister, Mary, is 20 years old and, like her mother, studies at Baylor University .

In 2000, after the difficult experience of divorce, Susan began to pause as she passed the old Steinway. She found that music still spoke to her with its quiet persuasion, and now, six years later, Susan takes lessons every week from Mark Black of Promethean Studios and has built a small studio of neighborhood children with whom to share her passion. She also does some accompanying for school and church performances in Coppell.

Susan has continued her accounting practice, and is currently the President of TW Properties, Inc (a rental property company), the Secretary and Treasurer of Terry Properties, Inc (which deals in real estate).

Aside from playing the piano, Susan involves herself in a variety of activities and hobbies. She rides her horse, Chiquita, at least twice a week, and would ride her newest toy – a Harley Sportster - twice a day if the weather and her schedule allowed. Susan runs most mornings (she completed her first marathon in Alaska this summer), and also enjoys bicycling and swimming. Susan is also a game player; she loves ping pong, spades, and nearly any board game. Susan has a chocolate lab ( Coco ) and a cat (Bubba Douglas) and can easily spend hours chasing the pair around the house.

Penelope Zarwell returned to the serious study of piano more than 25 years ago, and has since devoted herself to the performance of both solo and chamber literature. She has participated for six years in the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute, and for more than a decade she has attended the Interlochen School of the Arts annual Adult Chamber Music Conference, in Interlochen, Michigan .

At Interlochen, Penelope has participated in chamber music master classes. She has coached with Wolfgang Laufer, cellist of the Fine Arts Quartet, in adult chamber music classes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  Her chamber music and ensemble activities have extended to TCU:  In the 2001 and 2002 seasons, she performed with members of the Avalon String Quartet and the Vegas String Quartet. 

In 2003 as one of the winners of the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute Concerto Competition, she played the Largo of the Beethoven Concerto No. 1 in C Major with the Fort Worth Symphony in TCU's Ed Landreth Auditorium.  In her home state of Wisconsin she has presented private house-music concerts.  She also participates in monthly music programs in Madison , Wisconsin as a member of Carnival an adult music-performance group.   Penelope currently studies with Igor Resnianski and Inessa Zaretsky.

Penelope graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor's degree in Nursing.  She and her husband have four adult children and live on a small lake in southeastern Wisconsin where she enjoys gardening, swimming, hiking and reading.