Igor Resnianski (NOPI Co-Director)  is a prize winner of many piano competitions including New Orleans International Piano Competition; World Piano Competition; Nena Wideman International Piano Competition; First China International Piano Competition; All-Russia Piano Competition, etc. He performed, judged, and gave master classes in the US, Russia, China, South America, Hong Kong, etc. His students are winners of numerous state, national, and international competitions and were featured on the national radio and TV program "From the Top". In 2012, Dr. Resnianski was named Music Teacher of the Year by PAMTA; and in 2016 and 2017, he was named Top Teacher by Steinway & Sons. He is on the faculty at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Nelly Berman School of Music near Philadelphia. Igor Resnianski is a Steinway Artist.

Dr. Hristo Birbochukov (NOPI Co-Director) has appeared frequently in solo and collaborative music performances in Eastern Europe and in the United States, including a New York debut recital in 2012. Dr. Birbochukov is a prize winner of national and international competitions in Bulgaria, has performed as a guest soloist with numerous orchestras, and has participated in international music festivals, such as the International Festival for Contemporary Piano Music ppIANISSIMO (Sofia), and the International Festival of New Music (Florida). Birbochukov’s television and radio appearances have included broadcasts in both Bulgaria and in the United States. A sought-after educator, Dr. Birbochukov was named Steinway & Sons Top Teacher for 2017 and 2018, and has presented recitals and master classes at numerous colleges and universities across the United States and has served as an adjudicator for competitions in the United States and Eastern Europe. Students of Dr. Birbochukov are frequent winners of state, regional, and national piano competitions, and were selected as finalists for the National Public Radio program "From the Top." Presently, Dr. Hristo Birbochukov is the Chair of the Classical Instrumental Department of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and an Artist- Teacher in Applied Piano. In addition, he is on the Music Faculty of NOBTS, where he teaches Applied Piano to Doctoral piano students, he is a Co-Director of the New Orleans Piano Institute (NOPI), and on the Board of Directors of the Musical Arts Society of New Orleans (MASNO). More info: www.birbochukov.com

Kevin T. Chance serves as Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Alabama where he also coordinates the Gloria Narramore Moody Piano Area.  He has performed throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Asia as both soloist and chamber musician, and he is frequently in demand as a clinician and adjudicator.  Recent presentations include lectures for the Music Teachers National Association Conference, the American Matthay Association, and the College Music Society.  A dedicated teacher, he was the recipient of the 2015-2016 AMTA Teacher of the Year Award, and he was awarded the 2019 Music Educator of the Year Award by the Arts and Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa. Most recently, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Steinway & Sons Music Teacher Hall of Fame in New York City. His pre-college and college students consistently receive top awards in state, regional, and national competitions.  Dr. Chance holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Louisiana State University, and Birmingham-Southern College, and his primary teachers include Barry Snyder, Constance Knox Carroll, and William DeVan.  He is also an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Ann Schein and Herbert Stessin.  Kevin has served as Vice President of the Music Teachers National Association and currently serves as the President of the American Matthay Association.

Frank Heneghan is retired Director of the Conservatory of Music and Drama of the Dublin Institute of Technology.  He also served as its Director of Cultural Affairs.  He has adjudicated, lectured, taught, and conducted master classes in all five continents.    Frank has been a faculty member of NOPI since its inception.  He has higher degrees, including two doctorates, in Education, Music and Philosophy.  He is a respected authority on topics as diverse as general music education, piano technique, the philosophy of interpretation and the theory of Contextualism as related to music education philosophy.    

Shearon Horton holds degrees from Peabody College and The University of Texas at Austin with further doctoral study at Louisiana State University. She has performed as soloist and collaborative pianist and has presented lectures and master classes in many states in the U. S. and in China. Her students have received state, regional, and national prizes including finalists in the MTNA National Piano Competition and have been featured on the national radio program “From the Top.” Former director of the New Orleans Piano Institute, in 2004 she received the Outstanding Teacher Award by Louisiana Music Teachers Association.

Dustin Gledhill is an International prize-winning pianist, composer, songwriter, producer, teacher, director, writer and actor. As a child prodigy and young adult pianist, he garnered over twenty first-prize awards in international competitions including the gold medal at the 2006 New Orleans International Piano Competition. As composer / performer, he has collaborated with modern dance companies and choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Russell Maliphant, Parisa Khobdeh, Maya Taylor and Brad Landers. Dustin is director of the Gledhill Arts Collective - a group of private teaching studios In NYC, complemented by collaborative professional events and workshops. www.GledhillArtsCollective.com. Click here for more about Dustin.

Faina Lushtak was born and raised in the Soviet Union, and began her piano and composition studies at the age of six, taught by her mother, Evgenia Lushtak. She went on to study at the Stoliarsky School for Musically Gifted Children in Odessa under the tutelage of Eleonora Levinson, followed by the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she was taught by Genrietta Mirvis, Yakov Zak and Tikhon Khrennikov, and earned degrees in piano performance and composition. She was a faculty member at the Moscow Conservatory, performing throughout the Soviet Union until immigrating to the United States in 1978. Ms. Lushtak’s performances have inspired  audiences in Russia, Western Europe, Canada and the United States. She has appeared with orchestras under many conductors, including Klauspeter Seibel, William Henry Curry, Maxim Shostakovich and Alfred Savia. She has performed as a solo recitalist in major venues throughout the United States, including Lincoln Center. Ms. Lushtak has made frequent guest artist appearances and conducted master classes at university campuses, including at Emory University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Texas Christian University, and has repeatedly served as director of the Brandywine International Masterclasses at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She has also been a guest artist and judge at international competitions and festivals, including the Wideman International Piano Competition, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, the Canadian National Music Competition, the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the New Orleans International Piano Competition. Ms. Lushtak is the Downman Professor of Music at Tulane University, where she heads the piano division. She also serves on the faculty of the Orfeo International Music Festival in Italy. She is a SteinwayArtist.

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