MY STUdents
Mariya Akhadjanova, DMA Program (ABD)
Mariya Akhadjanova, a native of Uzbekistan, is a Doctoral Candidate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Iowa, where she studies with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. She currently serves as a staff collaborative pianist at the University of Iowa School of Music, actively performing with students and faculty across a wide range of instruments and ensembles.
In 2023, Mariya was awarded both the Absolute Platinum Prize and the Rachmaninoff Prize at the Grand Maestro International Music Competition, and her performances were selected for publication on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music. She has also received First Prizes in the Swiss International Music Competition, Quebec International Music Competition, and Music and Stars Awards. Her performance highlights include a debut at Carnegie Hall (2021) as a winner of the Golden Classical Music Awards, and an appearance at Merkin Concert Hall at Lincoln Center (2022) as a finalist and Second Prize Winner of the Music International Grand Prix.
Mariya holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Uzbekistan State Conservatory in Tashkent. She earned a second Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Northern Iowa in 2018, studying with Dr. Dmitri Vorobiev and Dr. Vakhtang Kodanashvili
Nuo chen, DMA Program
Nuo Chen is currently a student in the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) program at the University of Iowa, where she studies under the guidance of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. She is also a recipient of the Iowa Performance Fellowship. Nuo earned her Master’s degree from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, studying with Professor Peter Bithell.
She has participated in numerous competitions and received top prizes, including the Concerto and Aria Competition at East China Normal University, the 29th International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in Shanghai, and the Yamaha Piano Competition in Hunan Province. Guided by an enduring passion for performance, Nuo has also performed widely at distinguished venues such as Milton Court, St. James’s Paddington Church, the University of Oxford, St. Michael’s Sittingbourne Church, Dartington Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, and the Opera House of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Henry Giles, DMA Program
Henry Giles is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts in piano performance at the University of Iowa, studying under Ksenia Nosikova. He will begin his DMA program at the University of Iowa in the fall as a teaching assistant. He has studied the piano since the age of four, with Amanda Kirkpatrick prior to college at Washington University in St. Louis, and earning his Bachelor's of Music at Lawrence University. He is currently a piano instructor at West Music in Coralville, Iowa. His summer festival experiences include the Decoda Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Gíjon International Piano Festival, PianoSummer at New Paltz, Walled City International Academy, and Piano Connections Festival.
Hyewon Lee, DMA Program
HYEWON LEE is a Korean pianist born in Seoul. She is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) candidate (ABD) at the University of Iowa, where she studies piano with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. She was a recipient of a School of Music Scholarship.
She has performed in Vienna, Seoul, Flaine, Amalfi, Iowa, and New York City, and has participated in festivals in the Vienna International Pianists Festival, Asia International Piano Academy and Festival in Seoul, Opus 74 in Flaine (France), Mannes Sounds Festival, and Amalfi Music and Arts Festival.
Hyewon earned a Master of Music (MM) degree and a Professional Studies Diploma (PDPL) from Mannes School of Music, The New School in New York City, studying with Dr. Blair McMillen. She was the recipient of the President’s Scholarship and Supplemental Scholarship from Mannes School of music, The New School. She earned a Bachelor of Music (BM) from Sangmyung University Seoul under the guidance of Dr. Heejin Kim, and she also studied at the University of Connecticut for Performer’s Certificate under the tutelage of Dr. Angelina Gadeliya.
As an educator, Hyewon taught in the University of Iowa School of Music’s Community Music Lesson Program and at Belvoir Terrace Visual & Performing Arts Summer Camp in Massachusetts. Starting this fall, she will teach piano at music schools in New York and New Jersey. Her students will present a recital at Merkin Hall in New York City at the end of the academic year.
n her free time, she enjoys jogging, ballet, and hiking.
Bowen (Peter) Liu, DMA Program (ABD)
Bowen (Peter) Liu is a current graduate student studying at University of Iowa with Dr.Ksenia Nosikova. He is from Beijing, China and has been studying in the U.S since third years of high school. Peter has been playing piano for 15 years, and throughout those years has studied under many different teachers who have helped him grow in his piano career. In his piano career, he has gotten to perform in various venues and settings. Peter has participated in various piano competitions. His most recent awards include, first place, MTNA State competition, 2017; winner of concerto and aria in University of Northwestern, St. Paul. First place, MMTA competition, 2019; Second place in Schubert Club competition, 2019; and first place in Thursday young artist college division, 2019. Recently, Peter had won the concerto and aria competition in University of Iowa.
Henrique Rabelo, DMA Program
Pianist Henrique Rabelo, 28, is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in Piano Performance under the guidance of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova at the University of Iowa. Henrique has had the opportunity to perform at various venues and music festivals around the world, in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Austria, frequently working with renowned artists and teachers. Henrique is a recipient of the Iowa Performance Fellowship and works as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa, where he teaches classes and piano lessons, collaborates with other instrumentalists, singers, conductors, as serves as Dr. Nosikova's studio assistant. In the Spring of 2024 Henrique had the opportunity to perform Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra after winning the university's concerto competition in the previous Fall. At the university, he is also currently serving as President for the University of Iowa MTNA Chapter, promoting an atmosphere of collaboration among students and projects for the local community.
His interests encompass a wide range of solo repertoire, chamber music and historical performance practices. Henrique is also a composer and arranger, with works performed by wonderful musicians in the United States, Brazil, and Ireland. He earned his Master of Music degree from the University of Wyoming and his Bachelor of Music degree from UNIRIO, Rio de Janeiro, his hometown.
Zijie Wang, DMA Program
Zijie Wang is a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) student in Piano Performance at the University of Iowa, where he studies under Professor Ksenia Nosikova and serves as a Teaching Assistant.
He earned both his Bachelor’s degree in Musicology and Master’s degree in Piano Performance from Hunan Normal University. He was admitted to the master’s program with top rankings in both performance and academic assessments and completed his degree with first place in thesis evaluation.
Wang represented Hunan Normal University in the Provincial College Student Arts Competition, where he received the First Prize in the Instrumental Solo Category. He was also recognized in the First Hunan Provincial Chopin International Youth Piano Competition, among other awards.
An experienced educator, Wang holds a Chinese High School Teacher Certification and has taught extensively at Changjun Bilingual Experimental School and Shenzhen Longhua Foreign Language School. His students have been successfully admitted to leading Chinese universities.
His academic and artistic interests center on piano teaching, fundamental music education, and the study of musical aesthetics. His article “Problems and Countermeasures in the Music Appreciation Course Module” was published in the journal Juying Yuebao and indexed by CNKI.
Yimu Wang, DMA Program
Yimu Wang started piano lessons in elementary school. From 2008 to 2014, she studied with Professor Mai Wang at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, one of the most prestigious conservatories in China. She has participated in master classes with outstanding international teachers such as Theresa Bogard, Tianshu Wang, Robert Garcia, Boaz Sharon, and Boris Berman. She participated in various piano competitions held in China with various honors, from participation awards to grand prizes.
She won the first prize and “Excellent Art Talent Prize” in the 3rd Excellent Art Talent Contest of Sichuan Province, in the year of 2007, the first prize of the YAMAHA Piano Competition in Chengdu in 2010, and the grand prize of the 4th ChangJiang Piano Competition in Chongqing in 2010. For her undergraduate degree, she attended the prestigious Oberlin College starting in 2014 where she studied with Professor Robert Shannon.
In 2017, Wang participated in the Jiulong Music Festival held in Chongqing, China, and had lessons with Professor Bruce Brubaker and Miss Chufang Huang. In fall 2018, she won the “Oberlin 2018 Senior Concerto Competition” and was a featured performer with the Oberlin Symphony the following spring performing the Shostakovich Concerto No. 1. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College in 2018.
She completed her Master’s degree in Piano Performance at the University of Wyoming in 2021 studying with Dr. Theresa Bogard. She held a Graduate Assistantship in both teaching and collaborative piano and was highly sought after as a collaborator. She got the Music Performer’s Certificate at the University of Wyoming in 2023. Wang is currently a doctoral student studying with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova at the University of Iowa.
Her future plans include pursuing a doctoral degree, focusing on piano performance and collaborative piano. She hopes to teach at the university level and continue her performing career. She helped her middle school professor Mai Wang and her mother, Jie Zheng, a piano professor and collaborative coaching in Sichuan Conservatory, with their collaborative piano projects since middle school. She was a Graduate Assistant in University of Wyoming who worked as a main collaborative pianist and chamber music pianist, and was known as a fast learner with sensitivity to musical emotion and balance.
Kelai Yang, DMA Program
Kelai Yang is a first-year piano DMA student at the University of Iowa School of Music.
He began his undergraduate studies at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music in 2020 under the instruction of Associate Professor Cheng Qian. In 2022, he was selected for the institution’s Second-Level Top-Notch Innovative Student Program and studied with Professor Yang Hu, Chair of the Piano Department, for one academic year. He was further admitted to the Top-Notch Innovative Student Program again in 2023.
In 2024, Yang pursued his Master of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with distinguished pianist Professor Antonio Pompa-Baldi. In 2026, he enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Iowa School of Music, where he currently serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and studies under Professor Ksenia Nosikova.
Yang has participated in numerous master classes led by internationally renowned pianists, including Hong Xu (Wuhan Conservatory of Music), Yunlin Yang (Shanghai Conservatory of Music), Ming Yang (Central Conservatory of Music), Bingbing Li (Royal Northern College of Music, UK), and Andrei Pissariev (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conservatory).
His competitive accolades include the Third Prize of the 2020 Yamaha Music Scholarship Competition (University Division), Third Prize of the 8th Yangtze River Piano Cup (2021), Second Prize of the 2022 Wuhan Conservatory Academic Cup, Second Prize of the 9th Yangtze River Piano Cup (2023), and First Prize in the Professional Youth Group at the Finals of the 7th Kawai Asian Piano Competition (2023). He has also earned multiple academic merit scholarships throughout his studies.
jONATHAN bASS, mA Program
A native of Washington Island, WI, USA, Jonathan Bass is currently a Master’s student at the University of Iowa where he studies with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova and is a Teaching Assistant in the School of Music. Jonathan received his graduate diploma with high honors in piano from the École normale de musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot under Prof. David Lively, supported by a Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley scholarship; as an artist-in-residence at the Fondation des ÉtatsUnis in Paris, Jonathan regularly collaborated with fellow musicians and visual artists to contribute to FEU’s cultural programming. Jonathan graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where he studied primarily with Dr. Michael Mizrahi, with additional accompanying and chamber music instruction from Drs. Cathy Kautsky and Anthony Padilla and jazz instruction from Professor Bill Carrothers. Jonathan has been named a winner in numerous competitions, including the Lawrence Concerto Competition, Miroslav Pansky Memorial Concerto Competition, National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial College Piano Competition, Wisconsin MTNA Competition, and Thursday Musical Young Artist Scholarship Competition. At Lawrence, Jonathan was a recipient of both the Margaret Gary Daniels and Marjory Irvin awards in piano and chamber music, as well as the Miriam Clapp Duncan Award in Harpsichord Literature. The Lawrence University Accompanying Fellowship gave him opportunities to accompany the choir and opera programs in addition to solo vocalists and instrumentalists. He also enjoys performing regularly in chamber music and jazz combo settings. Jonathan is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with Dr. Michael Coonrod, and an alumnus of numerous summer music festivals, including Rocky Ridge, Brevard, the Gijón International Piano Festival, and the Decoda Chamber Music Festival, for which he was awarded a full-tuition fellowship. Dedicated to expanding the repertoire of music performed regularly by pianists, Jonathan helped create a database of chamber works with piano by contemporary and historically underrepresented composers. He regularly works with living composers and has given multiple world premieres of new music. Jonathan began his musical education on Washington Island at age three with lessons from Diane Kahlscheuer and is extremely grateful for the unfailing support that Door County has shown him ever since
Nicklas Hull, MA Program
Nicklas Hull is a pianist, educator, and collaborator hailing from Stoughton, Wisconsin. He completed his undergraduate degree in Piano Performance at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton Wisconsin under the tutelage of Dr. Catherine Kautsky. He is now in his first year as a Masters student at the University of Iowa studying with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. Nick graduated magna cum laude from Lawrence University and enjoyed a wide array of musical activities and responsibilities, including accompanying singers and instrumentalists, performing in chamber ensembles and jazz combos, and teaching. At Lawrence he was a recipient of the Marjory Irvin prize in piano as well as the Lawrence University Accompanying Fellowship. Nick has attended and performed in domestic and international summer festivals. He's also received guidance from Dr. Karen Leigh-Post, Dr. Samantha George, and Bill Carrothers.
Jun Lee, MA Program
Duong (Jun) Le, originally from Vietnam, is studying Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova at the University of Iowa. She was a Teaching Assistant for the Piano Area (2025-2026) and is currently serving as a TA for the Theory Area (2026-2027) at the School of Music. After spending 10 years at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, she came to the US to pursue her musical career in pedagogy. In her early life, she earned a Silver medal at the Asia International Piano Academy & Festival with Competition in Korea. During her time in Iowa, Jun Le has performed in various School of Music series, as well as participating and hosting community performances as a board member of the MTNA (Music Teacher National Association) of UIowa. She also works as a Piano Teacher at Music4Life in North Liberty, and has been actively teaching and hosting student recitals since 2020.
Helen Mao, BM Program
Sophomore Helen Mao developed her strong passion for piano at the age of four with Pam
Sibbel, Larisa Kanevski, and Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang. Helen currently studies with Dr. Ksenia
Nosikova at the University of Iowa. Helen plays in multiple ensembles, including piano in
the UI Symphony Band and Concert Band, and is the principal percussionist in the
University Band. In April 2026, Helen performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the UI
Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the UI Concert/Aria Competition in Fall 2025.
She is also the winner of the Terrace Hill Senior Division Piano Competition, semifinalist of
the 2025 Dubois Piano Competition & Festival, three-time IMTA State winner, three-time
MTNA State winner, a First Prize Winner of the Golden Classical Music Awards
International Competition, and a Victor Borge Legacy winner. Helen is also a Young Artist
who performed with the Central Iowa Symphony (2019) and the Fort Dodge Symphony
(2024). Significant performances include Carnegie Hall and at the Museum of Danish
America.
Helen enjoys playing tennis, writing, and percussion, where she performed in the All-State
Band (2023) and Orchestra (2024). She loves to perform piano and percussion for her
community. Helen is thankful for the unconditional support of her family, friends, and
teachers. She is currently an honors student majoring in piano performance and pre-med.
Helen is a member of Iowa's Presidential Scholars Program.
Henry Wolf, BM Program
Henry Wolf is an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa, where he studies Piano Performance and Music Education under the instruction of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. He is originally from Geneva, Illinois where he began his piano studies and has performed with ensembles in the area such as the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra. Henry’s performances have included appearances at prominent international festivals, including the Mahidol International Piano Festival in Salaya, Thailand, the Walled City Music International Piano Festival in Derry, Northern Ireland, and the Wiener Musikseminar in Vienna, Austria. In addition to these festival appearances, Henry regularly performs in concert series at the University of Iowa, including Key Change: Piano Revolutionaries and Eine Kleine Lunch Music. Henry also frequently enjoys performing chamber music and collaborating with other musicians.
Sarah Zhang, BM Program
Sarah Zhang is a third-year undergraduate student from Northbrook, Illinois. She is currently pursuing a
dual degree in piano performance and choral music education and at the University of Iowa, where she
studies under Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. Her past performances include playing in recitals, competitions, and the
Key Change concert series. In 2025, she was invited to participate in the Festival of Connections in Natal,
Brazil where she collaborated with pianists and singers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do
Norte (UFRN) School of Music. Additionally, Sarah accompanies ballet and modern classes at the University
of Iowa’s Community Dance School.