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
Paul Casiano, DMA Program (ABD)
Born and raised in the Philippines, Paul Benjamin Casiano started taking piano lessons at the age of ten. Immediately, he began accompanying choral groups and church congregations. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at the University of the Philippines College of Music in 2018 with Prof. Richelle Rivera. In those years he was awarded two prestigious scholarships for performance and academic excellence, namely the Regalado Jose grant and the Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines. He garnered top prizes in the Piano Teacher’s Guild of the Philippines and the Leonor Kilayko Piano Competitions. In 2021, he obtained his Master of Music in Piano Performance at Western Illinois University with Dr. Jeffrey Brown, where he received a graduate assistantship award. He was a prize winner in the 2019 MTNA Illinois Chapter and the 2022 Thursday Musical Young Artist Scholarship Competition. Paul is currently in his second year of his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Iowa, under the tutelage of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. He is also one of the current Teaching Assistants at the School of Music, where he conducts group piano classes and individual piano lessons, as well as a piano accompanist for student musicians.
Hyewon Lee, DMA Program
Hyewon Lee is a Korean pianist, born in Seoul. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Iowa studying with Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. She has performed in Vienna, Seoul, Flaine, 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 BM from Sangmyung University Seoul under the guidance of Professor Heejin Kim. She graduated with a Master of Music degree and Professional Studies Diploma(PDPL) from Mannes School of Music in New York, 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 also studied at the University of Connecticut for Performer’s Certificate under the tutelage of Dr. Angelina Gadeliya. Recently, she joined University of Iowa School of Music’s Community Music Lesson Program as an instructor. In her free time, she enjoys jogging, playing badminton, 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.
Canlin Qiu, DMA Program (ABD)
Canlin Qiu is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Piano Performance at the University of Iowa. Under the guidance of the Ksenia Nosikova, Canlin is a recipient of the Doctoral Fellowship and Teaching Assistantship. She completed her Master's Degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she studied with Evelyne Brancart. She studied in China Conservatory for her bachelor degree in piano performance.
Canlin has achieved first place in various competitions, including the Austria Mozart Internationaler Klavierwettbewerg, the Third KAWAI Cup Youth Piano, the Second JINGZHU Cup Piano Competition, and the CEKK Piano Competition. With a sincere passion for her craft, Canlin Qiu has recently performed in the V Festival de Piano de Natal in Brazil, the Key Change Concert Series in Iowa, USA, and the Wiener Musikseminar in Vienna, Austria. As a chamber/collaborative musician, she has worked and performed with faculties and musicians from UNT, Central Conservatory of Music (China), China Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, and Des Moines Symphony. Canlin has given presentation about Ethlomusic in conferences like MGMC, IMTA. Recently, she has given performances, masterclasses, and presentations in Medellín, Colombia, and Quebec, Canada.
Henrique Rabelo, DMA Program
Henrique Rabelo is a pianist, composer, and arranger original from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Henrique currently lives in Iowa City, IA, pursuing his doctoral degree in Piano Performance under Dr. Ksenia Nosikova at the University of Iowa. Henrique got his Master’s degree in Piano Performance at the University of Wyoming with Dr. Theresa Bogard, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Rio de Janeiro at UniRio with Dr. Erika Ribeiro. As a pianist, Henrique Rabelo has participated in various music festivals and competitions. He has been a soloist performing with the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, after winning the 2022-2023 Jacoby concerto competition at the University of Wyoming, the Orquestra Jovem de Guarulhos and the Orquestra Sinfônica da UniRio. Henrique has worked closely with the international pianist Maria João Pires during an artistic residency in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2019. He also has participated in masterclasses with many illustrious pianists from around the globe such Andrew Harley, Eduardo Monteiro, Jean-Louis Steuerman, Guigla Katsarava, David Korevaar, Tim Ovens, Cristian Budu, Flávio Augusto, Roberto Domingos, Débora Halász, Markus Stange, Ney Fialkow, Paulo Álvarez and Pedro Burmester. He has been working intensely in chamber music groups and as a collaborative pianist in duos and ensembles. As a composer, Henrique’s recently premiered works include his Sonata for Clarinet Solo, Collectives, for mixed ensemble, and Variations on a Theme by Ravel, for piano 4-hands, as a result of his collaborations with wonderful artists such as Theresa Bogard, Blake McGee, and The Playground Ensemble (Colorado), besides studying with the composer Anne Guzzo. His piece The Lodgepole Pine, for string quartet, was recently premiered in the 2023 Wyoming Festival.
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.
jONATHAN bASS, mm 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
Henry Giles, MM Program
Henry Giles is a second year graduate student at the University of Iowa, studying with Ksenia Nosikova. He completed his bachelor's degree at Lawrence University under Michael Mizrahi. He had been studying the piano since the age of four. Prior to college, he studied under Amanda Kirkpatrick, Head of Piano at Washington University in St. Louis. His summer festival studies include the Decoda Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Gijon International Piano Festival, and PianoSummer at New Paltz.
Nicklas Hull, MM 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, MM Program
Jun (Duong) Le is an international student from Vietnam studying Master in Piano Pedagogy under the tutelage of Dr. Nosikova at the University of Iowa. After spending 10 years at the Vietnam National Academy of Music with Dr. Dao Thu Le, she came to the US for her bachelor’s degree and to pursue her musical career. In her early life, she earned a silver medal in 2018 - Asia International Piano Academy & Festival with Competition in Korea and participated in Chopin International Piano Competition in Thailand 2019. During her college years, Jun Le has performed at various Series by the School of Music like the Key Change Series: Scriabin, and multiple Lunch Concert Series. She is also involved in community service performances, including a full recital at Oaknoll Retirement Center, and performance for the MTNA event at the animal shelter. She also teaches at Music4Life as a part-time piano teacher and has been actively teaching since 2020.
John Thomas Morris, MM Program
John Thomas Morris is in his second year of graduate study at the University of Iowa, where he studies with Ksenia Nosikova. Morris's musical passions include teaching, performing works by composers that do not receive enough recognition, and composition.
Morris graduated from the Alabama School of Fine arts in 2020, where he studied piano with Lucy DeSa. At the Alabama School of Fine Arts, he also composed and performed his string trio on his senior recital. Morris has placed highly in various piano competitions such as placing first in the 2023 New Orleans Piano Institute Solo Competition and then placing second in the 2023 New Orleans Piano Institute Concerto Competition. He also placed second at the Lois Pickard Concerto Competition in 2020. Since his upbringing in Alabama, Morris has graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied piano with Alvin Chow and composition with Michael Frazier. Morris premiered his piano quintet, "Contemplation," on his junior recital at Oberlin in 2023. Other than music, Morris is interested in studying astronomy and languages, currently focusing on Russian.
Helen Mao, BM Program
Freshman Helen Mao developed her strong passion for piano at the age of four with Pam Sibbel, Larisa Kanevski, and Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang. She is 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, Victor Borge Legacy winner, and a Young Artist who performed with the Central Iowa Symphony and the Fort Dodge Symphony. She also performed at 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 within ensembles, jazz bands, gigs, and parades. Helen is thankful for the unconditional support of her family, friends, and teachers. She is currently majoring in piano performance and pre-med.
Eric Newton, BM Program
Eric Newton is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing a dual-degree in Computer Science and Music at the University of Iowa. He began learning piano at age 4, and he remained primarily self-taught until age 17 when he joined the studio of Dr. Marian Lee, following a successful recommendation by Dr. Robert Satterlee from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. He now studies under the tutelage of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. Eric has received numerous awards in both the arts and sciences, such as U Iowa Hackathon Special Prize, IMTA Level F Winner, Best in Center (Solo/Ensemble and Jazz), National History Day Special Prize & National Qualifier, Science Olympiad State Medalist, and multiple Division 1 solo ratings. His ensemble experience includes Iowa All-State, Quad Cities Chamber Institute, Hawkeye Marching Band, and Bettendorf Varsity Band (Drum Major) He has also worked many related jobs, such as Water Resources Engineering intern in San Francisco, CA, John Deere Computer Science Academy in Bettendorf, IA, Countryside Community Theater in Eldridge, IA, and as an accompanist/organist for several Catholic churches. Currently, Eric is the President of U Iowa chapter of League of United Latin American Citizens, a Research Assistant for the department of Political Science, Director of Sonidos Encendidos (Latin Ensemble), and a member of University Honors, the Association of Computing Machinery, and Music Teachers National Association.
Henry Wolf, BM Program
Henry Wolf is a sophomore at the University of Iowa majoring in Piano Performance and Music Education. He is originally from Geneva, Illinois where he began piano lessons at age 7, and has performed with ensembles such as the Elgin Youth Symphony in Illinois. In 2024, he made his international debut, participating in masterclasses and performing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. He joined Ksenia Nosikova's studio in the fall of 2023.
Ana Yam, BM Program
Ana Yam, a San Francisco, California native, is currently an undergraduate pursuing a dual major in Piano Performance and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa, where she studies under Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. She began her studies at the age of nine and has won numerous state, regional, and international piano competitions. For consecutive years, Ana was named winner of IMTA, MTNA, and Terrace Hill competitions along with first prize at the 2017 Lee University International Piano competition. She was granted the title of “Steinway’s Young Artist” at the 2018 Steinway Young Artist Competition and was named Grand Champion of the Bill Riley Competition at the Iowa State Fair that same year. Ana has won several concerto competitions and received the opportunity to perform with the Fort Dodge Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and the Central Iowa Symphony. In addition to solo work, Ana has worked collaboratively as a four-year ‘all-stater’ for the piano department and has performed works of Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Dvorak with her previous trio ensembles.
Sarah Zhang, BM Program
Sarah Zhang is an undergraduate student from Northbrook, Illinois. She is studying piano performance and music education. She began learning piano with Debbie Gillette, and then studied in Dr. Vivian Zhao’s studio for eight years. Starting at age 7, Sarah has competed in multiple piano competitions in the Chicago area. She was awarded fourth place in the ISMTA competition, second in the NSMTA Piano Competition and third in the Chicago-wide Roberta Savler competition. For consecutive years, Sarah received gold and silver medals from NSMTA and CAMTA sonata festivals. She also performed in the 2023-2024 school year’s Key Change Concert Series, featuring works by Rachmaninoff and his contemporaries.