Meet the NYC Jury

Get to know the distinguished members of our jury, each bringing a unique perspective and wealth of experience to this year’s competition.

Praised as a "technically proficient soloist with sparkling tone"(das Orchester, Germany) and "astonishing stylistic confidence"(Piano News, Germany), multi-award-winning pianist-composer Zhen Chen has performed as a soloist and chamber music artist at prominent music venues in USA, Europe and China, such as Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall, Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, China National Centre for Performing Arts and Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall. His live performances and recordings have been broadcast by France's Radio Classique, Austria's Radio Klassik, Chicago WFMT 98.7, Princeton WPRB 103.3, WCNY Classic FM, and China Central Television.

Recent performances include appearing as a soloist with Chamber Orchestra Mannheim in Germany (Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester) under the baton of the prominent French conductor Paul Meyer and the internationally acclaimed conductor Thomas Rösner of the Beethoven Philharmonie in Austria, interpreting Mozart's quintessential piano concertos including Nos. 15, 20, 21 and 24. Zhen's "fresh, spontaneous, natural and warm"(Pizzicato, Belgium) performance of Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos.15 & 21 has been featured by Europe's leading classical concert video streaming service Symphony.Live. Highlights of upcoming seasons and projects include Zhen’s debut at the Berliner Philharmonie with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (Berliner Symphoniker) performing George Gershwin’s riveting Piano Concerto in F major, recording collaboration with the German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate under the baton of the British-Swiss conductor Howard Griffiths and a tour engagement with the Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra (Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie) playing Mendelssolhn's monumental piano concertos.
As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Zhen Chen has worked with eminent violinists, such as Maxim Vengerov, Cho-Liang Lin, Elmira Darvarova, and outstanding instrumentalists of the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Metropolitan Opera in concert and recording engagements. He has been an official collaborative pianist of the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) and the International Music Competition Harbin (IMCH). In the 2025 season, he tours with the Vienna-based Glière String Quartet in Germany, Austria, and the U.S.A., presenting an all-Mozart chamber music program.
Zhen Chen wears another hat as a performer-composer who bridges Eastern and Western sensibility and musicality. His cross-culture and cross-genre composition works were crystallized in the albums ERGO: New Music for Piano and Chinese Folk Instruments (Navona/Naxos, 2017) and On & Between: New Music for Pipa and Western Ensembles (Navona/Naxos, 2018). The featured music video of Turpan Tango, a hit from his album ERGO, has accumulated over 1 million views on various video platforms. The album On & Between won the Gold Medal of Global Music Awards for Best Show top honor, Best Album, and Best Instrumentalists. As an avid recording artist, Zhen has been a voting member of the Grammys (The Recording Academy) since 2017.

Zhen Chen received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and a master’s degree in piano performance under Arkady Aronov at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he also earned a master’s degree in collaborative piano and chamber music with Heasook Rhee. He joined the piano and the chamber music faculty of Manhattan School of Music Precollege in 2022 and was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in 2023.

A pianist with a “wonderful firm, clear touch” (New York Times), a “fascinating interpreter” (Tagblat, Germany), and an “artist of depth and virtuosity” (Time Argus, USA), Golda Vainberg-Tatz has performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (the Tchaikovsky Grand Hall in Moscow), Shanghai Symphony, Lithuanian National Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, St. Kristoforas Chamber Orchestra, Kaunas State Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania, Ann Arbor Symphony in Michigan, and Cincinnati Symphony. As a recitalist and chamber musician she has been heard in Europe, Russia, Israel, the U.S., Canada, and China, including numerous collaborative recitals with the Vilnius (Lithuania) String Quartet. Ms. Vainberg-Tatz has been a guest artist at the Mozarteum Festival in Salzburg, Vilnius Festival in Lithuania, St. Petersburg Palaces Festival in Russia, Puigcerda Music Festival in Spain, International Academy in Italy, and the Shanghai Conservatory International Festival and Shanghai Himalayas International Piano Festival in China.
Golda Vainberg-Tatz received her musical education at the Čiurlionis School of Arts in her native Lithuania, Israel’s Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School. She won first prize in the Lithuanian State Competition for Young Pianists; full scholarships with distinction from the America–Israel Cultural Foundation; Maurice Clairmont Awards in Israel; top prizes in the Young Keyboard Artists Competition in Michigan, the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, the Frinna Awerbuch International Competition in New York, and the Palm Beach Invitational International Competition; and the Prix du Disque from the French Piano Institute in Paris.
An associate faculty member at the Juilliard School, Ms. Vainberg-Tatz serves on the faculty of the Precollege Division at Manhattan School of Music, the Lucy Moses School’s Young Artist Program at the Kaufman Center, and the Adamant Summer Music School in Vermont. She has given master classes at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University, Shanghai Conservatory, Čiurlionis School of Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the Puerto Rico International Summer Piano Festival. Appointed by Rosalyn Tureck to serve as the director of the Tureck International Bach Competition in New York, Ms. Vainberg-Tatz has judged auditions and competitions such as the 1st Olga Kern International Competition 2016, DMA recitals at Manhattan School of Music, and concerto competitions at the Juilliard School Precollege division. Her students have won national and international competitions.
Ms. Vainberg-Tatz studied in Lithuania with Judith Gotler, in Israel with Mindru Katz and Emanuel Krasovsky, and in the U.S. with Bella Davidovich (the Juilliard School), Nina Svetlanova (Manhattan School of Music), Jeffrey Swann, and Rosalyn Tureck. She has participated in master classes with Louis Kentner, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Dominique Merlet, and Yvonne Loriod.
Ms. Vainberg-Tatz’s recordings include The Portrait, a solo recital (on FPI), French violin–piano sonatas with Raimundas Katilius (VSCD label, Lithuania), Mozart piano concertos with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (Consonance). Her CD of Robert Schumann’s piano music (3D, France) was critically acclaimed in Fanfare and the American Record Guide. Moisei Vainberg’s Piano Quintet with Vilnius String Quartet was released on the Delos label.
Golda Vainberg-Tatz has been a member of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty since 2000.

“Passionate,” “expressive,” “bold,” and “sensitive: This is how critics described pianist Kayoung An’s performance with the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie. Her playing was praised by Korea Music Review: “Along with elegance, she has fire.”

Multi-award-winning pianist Kayoung An has performed as a soloist and chamber music artist at prominent halls such as Carnegie Hall, SummerStage, Bruno Walter Auditorium, Seoul Art Center, and Chicago Cultural Center. She has also performed for broadcasts on WFMT Chicago (98.7 MHz), KBS Classic FM, KBS-TV (Korea Broadcasting System), WBFY Belfast Radio (100.9 MHz), and YourTV Ontario, Canada. Kayoung An toured in Korea with Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie in 2017 and appeared on stage with renowned orchestras such as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonians, Amadeo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra, and Morning Heights Chamber Orchestra, to name a few. During her dedicated musical career, she was fortunate to work with prominent conductors such as Gábor Hontvári, Lawrence Golan, Francis Fortier, and others. Kayoung An has been a guest solo artist at the Bar Harbor Music Festival, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Lechetzsky Association, and Arts on the Lake Recital Series. Her recent recording, “Kayoung An and Friends Play Bernard Hoffer.” in collaboration with David Gilbert, former assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, has been released by Albany Records.

Dr. An is an enthusiastic educator whose students have won many prestigious national and international competitions. She is a sought-after master class teacher and international competition adjudicator. Kayoung An is on the piano and chamber music pre-college faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.
Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty since 2022.