THE FLORIDA
STATE
UNIVERSITY
College of Music presents
16th Annual Competitive Festival
“Music of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia” Competition
Jury
Jihye Chang Sung, Boston University
Christopher Guzman, Northwestern University
Irina Morozova, Mannes School of Music
Principal and Secondary Piano Division | 10:00 a.m.
Piano Major Division | 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Longmire Recital Hall
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Principal and Secondary Piano Division
Saturday, February 28, 2026 | 10:00 a.m.
Nocturne No. 13 in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1
Hayden John Marciszewski
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Etude tableau, Op. 33, No. 4 in D minor Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
The Seasons, Op. 37a
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky No. 12 December (1840–1893)
Koen DeVries
Poème, Op. 32, No. 2
Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)
Three Concert Etudes Franz Liszt No. 2 La leggierezza (1811–1886)
James Powers
Piano Variations, Op. 41
Nikolai Kapustin (1937–2020)
Cayden Smith
Valse-Scherzo No. 1, Op. 7
Prelude No. 4 in D major, Op. 23
Visions fugitives, Op. 22
Veronica Parodi
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
Sergei Prokofiev
I. Lentamente (1891–1953)
VIII. Commodo
X. Ridicolosamente
Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E major
Ethan Durant
INTERMISSION
Sergei Slonimsky (1932–2020)
Preludes, Op. 28
Piano Major Division
Saturday, February 28, 2026 | 11:00 a.m.
Frédéric Chopin
No. 1 in C Major (Agitato) (1810–1849)
No. 2 in A Minor (Lento)
No. 3 in G Major (Vivace)
No. 10 in C-sharp Minor (Molto allegro)
No. 11 in B Major (Vivace)
No. 12 in G-sharp Minor (Presto)
No. 13 in F-sharp Major (Lento); No. 14 in E-flat Minor (Allegro);
No. 15 in D-flat Major (Sostenuto)
No. 16 in B-flat Minor (Presto con fuoco)
No. 23 in F Major (Moderato)
No. 24 in D Minor (Allegro appassionato)
Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60
Prelude (2006)
Piano Suite No. 2 in D Major, Op. 10
Soohyun Lee
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023)
George Enescu I. Toccata (1881–1955)
Doogan Townsend
Nocturne for the Left Hand, Op. 9
Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)
Moment Musical, Op. 16, No. 4 in E Minor Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
Keyboard Sonata Hob. XVI:48 in C Major Joseph Haydn II. Rondo: Presto (1732–1809)
Etude Op. 25 No. 1 in A-flat Major
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, Op. 30 Alexander Scriabin I. Andante (1872–1915) II. Prestissimo volando
Santiago Martinez Sverko
ABOUT THE JUDGES
Pianist Christopher Guzman enjoys an international performing career, known for his versatility in styles ranging from the Baroque era to the avant-garde. Since winning top prizes in international competitions such as the Walter M. Naumburg Competition (USA), the Seoul International Music Competition (S. Korea), and the Isang Yun Competition (S. Korea), Guzman has performed across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. His victory at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans in Orléans, France, led to extensive tours and masterclasses throughout France.
Guzman has appeared in major international venues such as Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Buenos Aires’s CCK, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, and London’s Wigmore Hall. As a chamber musician, he collaborates regularly with members of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and soloists. He is also a sought-after orchestral pianist, and as such has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Guzman joined Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony Orchestra as a keyboardist in 2024.
While Guzman has earned several international accolades for performing the traditional Western canon, many of his performances showcase music written after 1900. His performances have included world premieres by Donald Martino, Nico Muhly, and Paul Schoenfield. The New York Times hailed his performance of Christopher Theofanidis’s Statues as “coiled” and “explosive.” His CD of German and Austrian music from the past one hundred years, Vienne et après, is available on the Tessitures label. His CD of Paul Reale’s compositions, Chopin’s Ghosts, on the Naxos label, was included in Fanfare Magazine’s Top Five releases of 2018. Other world premiere recordings include solo works by Peter Ablinger and Jörg Widmann.
Born in Texas, Christopher Guzman began studying piano at age nine and violoncello two years later. He later studied at the University of Texas at Austin, the New England Conservatory, and The Juilliard School. In addition to performing, he is also a Professor of Piano at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He previously taught at Penn State University and has taught masterclasses throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit christopherguzmanpiano.com.
Irina Morozova made her New York debut with a solo recital at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1996 after winning the Artists International Auditions. Critics raved, “Morozova possesses astonishing beauty of sound and power of ideas… she is the sort of pianist who can turn a simple phrase into magic.”
Morozova has given numerous solo recitals throughout the U.S., Germany, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Chile, China, Hong Kong, and Australia. She has made solo appearances with the South Carolina Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Irving Symphony Orchestra, and the New American Chamber Orchestra, among others. A passionate chamber music player, she has performed in ensembles with members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera orchestras, Saint-Petersburg Quartet, and The Bronx Arts Ensemble. Her performances were broadcast on Russian radio and TV, KPAC (Texas), WFMT (Chicago), ABC (Australia), and BBC. She participated in the Film America’s “Music in the 20th Century” TV series. Her CD of virtuoso transcriptions of Gershwin works, including a unique recording
of the solo version of Concerto in F, was released by Samum Publishing.
Morozova has taught and performed at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in NYC, Cremona International Music Academy (Italy), InterHarmony Festival (Germany), Music Mountain and Caramoor Festivals (USA). She gave masterclasses and workshops worldwide. Ms. Morozova was a top prize-winner of the New Orleans, the Frinna Awerbuch, and the San Antonio International Piano Competitions.
Born to a musical family, Morozova began her musical studies at the Saint-Petersburg Special Music School for Gifted Children and graduated with honors from the Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music where her major teacher was Galina Orlovskaya. While studying with Prof. Vladimir Shakin at the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory, she performed in the major concert halls of Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, and many other cities in the former Soviet Union. Morozova received her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Dr. Arkady Aronov. Since 1996 she has been on the faculties of Mannes College of Music and the Special Music School at Kaufman Center in NYC.
Dr. Jihye Chang Sung enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, collaborator, educator, scholar, and advocate for new music in the United States and abroad. Her performances focus on the creative process of collaborating with living composers, curating programs that connect to various audiences, and giving context to contemporary works. Critics have noted her “exuberance and confidence” and “faultless technique,” describing her as “the perfect vehicle for so many diverse ideas” and a performer provides a “demonstration of a musical space beyond mere virtuosity.”
She is a recipient of the first prize of the Mikhashoff International Pianist-Composer Competition, the Henry Kohn Award from the Tanglewood Music Center, an Honorary Fellowship from the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and the Aaron Copland Recording Grant. She has appeared as a soloist with the Brevard Music Center Sinfonietta, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Wonjoo Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea), Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and Virtuosi of Festival Internacionale de Musica in Recife (Brazil), among others. Recently, she premiered Igerthi, a piano concerto written for her by Sungji Hong, with Intersection Music in Nashville and performed it again with Florida State University’s Polymorphia Ensemble.
As a dedicated chamber musician, she has collaborated with musicians from across the states including Cheeyun, Jordan Bak, Andrés Cardenes, Frank Cohen, Andrés Diaz, Inbal Segev, and Richard Young, and has appeared at the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Blue Candlelight Music Series in Dallas, Broman Series at Mary Baldwin University, Parker Concert Series in Brevard, and Artists Series of Tallahassee.
Her programming creativity is exemplified by “Continuum 88,” a collaborative project she has led since 2016. In this initiative, she focuses each concert season on a different genre of the piano repertoire—such as sonatas, etudes, and variations—programming masterworks of the literature alongside newly commissioned works by younger composers. Nine new works have been created by composers of diverse backgrounds and styles, and she has led more than 20 performances in venues across the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan. Following a 2024-5 replay season of miniatures and fantasies, her 2025–2026 season focuses on etudes, fantasies, and sonata genre.
Piano etudes are a cornerstone of her research and performance. She has given lectures and performances on this topic at institutions including Indiana University, Rutgers University, and U. C. Berkeley, often collaborating with young composers. She also launched a successful collaboration with the Brevard composition area in 2016 called the “BMC Etude Project” and continues to lecture on the genre at various institutions. Most recently she released Boston Etudes on New Focus Recordings in 2024, featuring eight commissions from Boston-area composers. The CD received a five-star review from Fanfare magazine, which described the “engrossing program” as a showcase for her “hushed virtuosity,” “scintillating impression,” and “faultless technique.”Other research interests include music by living women composers and Korean composers, which she has brought to venues at University of North Texas, Northeastern Univerisyt, Boston Conservatory, and C4NM San Francisco.
Sung graduated summa cum laude from Seoul National University and earned her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, under the tutelage of the late György Sebök, Edward Auer, Evelyn Brancart, and Reiko Neriki. She is a Senior Lecturer at Boston University, a faculty member at the Brevard Music Center, and the director of Piano Intensive Program in multiple locations. Her recordings can be found on Albany, Centaur, Parma, and Sony Korea.
SPECIAL THANKS
Dean Todd Queen; Adrienne DeStefano, Assistant Dean of Finance & Administration
Claire Williamson, BEETHOVEN & COMPANY
FSU Keyboard Area: Stijn De Cock, Read Gainsford, Qing Jiang, David Kalhous, Heidi Louise Williams
Wendy Smith, Nicholas Smith, Rich Fell, Justin Ball, Cameron Downs
