PROGRAM
July 13, 2024
PERFORMERS
Michelle Lau
Michelle Lau has a strong passion for the arts and as a result, she wears a lot of hats! She is a pianist, educator, content creator, videographer, photographer, and social media consultant. When she is not engaging in classical music directly through performance or teaching, she is building theOpenScore - an online music educational resource for musicians of all levels and ages. From practice tips, relatable skits, and compelling podcasts, she grows an online community of healthy and happy musicians. In the future, Michelle has her eyes set on evolving the classical music performance experience to include visual installations and other artistic disciplines.
Virginia Sandford
Virginia Sandford grew up in San Antonio, Texas, in a family totally dedicated to making music. Her first lullabies were the Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, the Frank D Minor Symphony and the Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos! Kids riding by her family home on bicycles liked to mimic the operatic soprano singing they heard emanating from the house.
While in high school she performed as soloist with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra and played numerous solo recitals around her home state.
Virginia is a graduate of Juilliard, where she studied piano with Jane Carlson and Sascha Gorodnitzki. After graduation, she was privileged to study with Lucy Greene, a transformative piano teacher in New York. Her professional career has primarily been as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician, and, along with her spiritual mentors, Ann Gadol and Adyashanti, the marvelous musicians she has worked with comprise an important part of her musical lineage. She has performed as orchestral pianist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Bach Society, the Waterloo Festival Orchestra, and the Richmond (VA) Symphony. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with members of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Richmond Symphony. She served as a vocal accompanist at the Aspen Music Festival and in New York. She received positive comments in the NY Times for her collaboration with Carol Wincenc, flutist, in Ms. Wincenc’s debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. Her Richmond performance of the Mozart Piano Quintet with Richmond Symphony wind players won an award from the Richmond Times-Dispatch as "Chamber Music Performance of the Year."
After supporting her family for a number of years through teaching and performing, Virginia decided to explore the world outside of music and took on the challenge of director of sales and marketing at a psychological software company owned by her husband and herself. However, she always knew that she would return to the piano someday. So after a 30-year hiatus, she has purchased a vintage Steinway B, and has gone back to exploring and playing music for the sheer joy of it. She lives in Richmond, VA, with her husband Joseph and their beloved Aussiedoodle, Lucy. She is grateful to her husband, to Madeline Bruser, and to her Richmond musical friends for their loving support.
Mingke Zhu
Mingke Zhu, was born in Hunan, China. In 2009, she went to the middle school of Wuhan Conservatory of Music where she majored in piano performance and studied with Prof. Chongxiao Liu. During high school, she won the first place of "The Golden Hall of Vienna New Year Concert Competition" in Wuhan. In 2018, she graduated from The Catholic University of America with BM in Piano Performance and Minor in Mathematics degrees. During her undergraduate studies at CUA, she studied piano with Dr. Ivo Kaltchev. In 2020, She gained her Master of Music degree in piano Performance at the Peabody Institute of Music where she studied with Prof. Brian Ganz. Mingke is winner of the following piano competition: 2nd Prize and Best Chinese Performannce Award, International Young Artist Piano competition, 2024; 1st Prize, Golden Clasical Musical Music Awards International competition, 2024; 2nd Prize, Concert Artists International competition, 2023; 2nd Prize, the 5th Catholic University of America International piano competition, 2018; 1st Prize, Lancaster International Piano Festival competition, 2017; 2nd Prize, 2016 Xi'an "The Silk Road" International Music Festival Competition, Xi'an, China, 2016. She is the recipient of the 2018 CUA Benjamin Rome School of Music Instrumental Performance Award as well as the 2016 Presser Foundation Undergraduate Scholar Award. Mingke has performed at The Carnegie Weill Hall (New York, NY), the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (Washington DC), the Ware Performing Arts Center (Lancaster, PA), Cascais Cultural Center (Cascais, Portugal), and Ruy de Carvahio Auditorium (Oerias, Portugal) In 2015, she made her European debut performing the Beethoven Concerto No. 1 with Orquestra de Camara de Cascais e Oerias in Cascais, Portugal. She has performed in piano master classes by Meng-Chieh Liu, Xun Pan, Alla Voskoboynikova, Jenny Lin, Douglas Humphreys, Gary Graffman, Mikhail Voskresensky and Antonio Pompa-baldi. Currently Mingke is pursuing Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano performance at the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts where she studies with Prof. John Perry.
Madeline Bruser
Author of the acclaimed book, The Art of Practicing, New York City based pianist Madeline Bruser has taught musicians from six continents, both in person and online. Her distinct approach uses mindfulness principles to help musicians release physical and mental tension so they can transform their playing and expressive capacities. Her book has sold 90,000 copies in English and has been translated into Korean, Chinese, and Italian. And her popular Art of Practicing Institute summer program provides immersive group learning to bring performers greater joy and confidence onstage. The Institute also trains and certifies teachers to bring this approach to musicians around the world.
Madeline has served on the Adjunct Piano Faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University, and at the New School University. She developed the practice Performing Beyond Fear through her practice of mindfulness meditation, which she began in 1977 to gain more relaxation and confidence in performance.
Louis Yungling
Hello, my name is Louis Yungling and I'm a co-founder of COMPASS Concerts. I'm also a pianist and piano teacher.
Meditation, mindfulness and awareness exercises are an integral part of my teaching and practice. Musicians benefit greatly from these practices by being able to fine tune their focus and get more out of their practice as well as increase their responsiveness to sound and be more present and confident in performance.
I created COMPASS concerts to extend these practices to audiences and give everyone a moment to pause and go inward. We do this by sharing a brief contemplation exercise before every concert. In this way we practice being aware of one another and give ourselves a chance to feel and appreciate our unique contribution.
Preparing our minds and bodies to receive and make music allows us to be more receptive to the beauty and generosity that goes into a musical performance. And practicing this type of mindful preparation regularly can help us open our hearts more to the experiences of our day to day lives.
I am thrilled to share this journey with you and the very talented, generous artists who perform here. Thank you to all my musician friends for sharing your gifts and creating beautiful programs of music for our COMPASS community. And thank you to all who come and partake in these heart-warming community concerts.
I currently live and teach piano in Valencia, Spain. My teaching website: Yungling Piano Studio.