New Orleans Piano Institute
July 12-20, 2024
NOPI is an intensive solo performance program for advanced and intermediate college, high school, and junior high school pianists. The 2024 NOPI participants will receive lessons, master classes, attend lectures, discussions, guest artists recitals, and perform in the Showcase Recital. This year, NOPI will run concurrently with the 29th New Orleans International Piano Competition to which the students will have the opportunity to attend. Additionally, students may enter the Concerto Competition for a cash/performance prize, and the winner will be invited to perform with New Orleans Civic Symphony during 2024-2025 season.
More details will be included on the 2024 NOPI Application Form which will be available beginning January 15.
During the Institute, there will also be a solo recital by guest artist and NOIPC Juror Alexander Korsantia. Tickets to this recital will be available for the general public. All master classes, presentations, and performances of the institute participants, including the NOPI Concerto competition, are free and open to the general public to attend.
About the Program
New Orleans Piano Institute Directors, Dr. Igor Resnianski and Dr. Hristo Birbochukov will select approximately thirty-two pianists to participate in the 2024 New Orleans Piano Institute.
Accepted participants will enjoy an intensive solo performance week-long summer program designed for advanced and intermediate college, high school, and junior high school pianists. The 2024 NOPI participants will receive private lessons from internationally distinguished faculty and New Orleans Int’l Piano Competition Jury Members, perform in master classes, attend lectures and discussions, perform in a Showcase Recital, and attend the opening solo recital of the New Orleans Keyboard Festival with Guest Artist Alexander Korsantia. Students will also attend the Semifinal and Final Rounds of the 29th New Orleans International Piano Competition which runs concurrently with the 2024 NOPI.
Besides participation in the institute, the NOPI participants may choose to participate in the NOPI Concerto Competition (NOPICC) sponsored by Hall Piano Company and The Steinway Society of New Orleans. The winner of the Concerto Competition will receive a $500 cash prize and the opportunity to perform with the New Orleans Civic Symphony during the next season. Please see below for more information about the NOPI deadlines, repertoire, competition requirements, and prizes.
Apply & Pay Fees
Applications open January 15 and are due May 1, 2024.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE. Please indicate within the General Application if you are applying for financial assistance and complete the Financial Assistance Application by April 15, 2024.
Please note: Late applications may be considered based on availability and on a first come, first served basis.
Any questions about the program please e-mail:
Co-Director Dr. Igor Resnianski at igorresn@gmail.com
Any questions specific to the Institute application process and dorm/meal options please e-mail:
Co-Director Dr. Hristo Birbochukov at birbochukov@yahoo.com
Levels of Participation
There are two levels of participation in the NOPI program: as an Active Participant or as an Observer.
Active Participants will receive four private lessons, and perform in one Masterclass. In addition, Active Participants will be invited to attend all of the NOPI and Keyboard Festival events, all rounds of NOIPC free of charge, and will have a chance to perform in the Showcase Recital at the end of the Institute with scholarship prizes awarded.
Active Participants may also choose to compete in the New Orleans Piano Institute Concerto Competitions sponsored by Hall Piano Company and the Steinway Society of New Orleans for the cash prize of $500 and an opportunity to perform with the New Orleans Civic Symphony.
Observers will receive three private lessons and be invited to attend to all of the NOPI and the Keyboard Festival events as well as all rounds of NOIPC. Observers are not eligible to perform in the Masterclass, Showcase Recital, and Concerto Competitions. NOTE: The applicants for the Active Participant program who are not accepted as such, will automatically be considered for acceptance as Observers.
Room and Board
Boarding participants are housed in a dormitory on the campus of Loyola University, a five-minute walk from the Music Building. All participants are strongly recommended to stay at the dorm. The dormitory will have adult supervisors. Participants 13 years old or under who would like to stay in the dorm must be accompanied by a parent or a guardian. Participants that are 18 and older who choose to stay outside of the campus, will be fully responsible for their safety and well-being. Participants 17 and younger can only stay outside of the campus with the written permission of a parent or legal guardian. Participants 17 and younger staying at the dorm are not allowed to leave the campus without the permission from the Institute Directors. Local participants can commute daily to the campus for all NOPI activities or choose to stay at the dorm.
Please note that participants as well as parents/guardians who will be arriving by plane, will be responsible for their airfare and transportation from and to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY).
NOPI Solo Competition Division & Prizes
Participation in the NOPI Solo Competition is limited to Active Participants of the New Orleans Piano Institute. First-prize Winners from previous NOPI Solo Competition can not compete in the same age
group.
There are two Divisions based on the age of the contestant. In order to be accepted to compete in the Semi-final and the Final Rounds of the NOPI Solo Competition, a contestant has to submit a video recording (YouTube link only). Please see preliminary recorded round requirements below. If selected, each competitor will compete in both the Semi-final and the Final Rounds during NOPI. Winners will be announced at the conclusion of the Final Round.
- Division I: Age 17 and younger (as of July 16, 2023)
- Division II: Age 18 and older (as of July 17, 2023; maximum age limit is 29 by July 17, 2023)
Preliminary Recorded Round:
Submit a YouTube link of free repertoire up to 15 minutes, which must include at least two works from contrasting styles. The performer and the hands must be clearly visible. Each selection can be recorded separately but uploaded to YouTube as a single file with one link for the entire round.
Semi-final Round repertoire:
This repertoire must be the same as the repertoire of the preliminary recorded round (up to 15 minutes).
Final Round repertoire:
Up to 18 minutes repertoire of your own choosing; it can consist of a single or multiple selections. A single movement of a sonata or a suite is acceptable. Repertoire from the Semi-final round cannot be repeated.
Note: the repertoire in all rounds must be played from memory and no special prepared piano pieces will be allowed.
Prizes for each Division are as follows:
- Division I: Age 17 and younger (by July 16, 2023)
- First Prize – $500
- Second Prize – $200
- Third Prize – $100
- Division II: Age 18 and older (by July 17, 2023; maximum age limit is 29 by July 17, 2023)
- First Prize – $700
- Second Prize – $300
- Third Prize – $150
NOPI Concerto Competition
Sponsored by Hall Piano Company and the Steinway Society of New Orleans
Participation in the NOPI Concerto Competition is limited to Active Participants of the New Orleans Piano Institute. Previous First-prize winners of the NOPI Concerto Competition are not eligible to compete in the Concerto Competition again.
There is no video pre-selection for this competition. If an applicant is eligible and accepted as an Active NOPI 2024 Participant, they can take part in the Concerto Competition, see the NOPI Concerto Competition fee.
Each competitor will perform one movement of a piano concerto from the standard concerto repertoire from Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century literature. Some concertos might be subject of approval by the conductor of the Civic Symphony. The competitors must perform concerto movements by memory with a second piano accompaniment. NOPI can provide an accompanist for an additional fee that will be paid directly to the accompanist.
The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the Concerto Competition and will be invited to perform with the New Orleans Civic Symphony during the next concert season. The cash prize of $500 will be awarded at the performance with the New Orleans Civic Symphony.
The New Orleans Piano Institute Concerto Competition is sponsored by Hall Piano Company and the Steinway Society of New Orleans.
Fees
NOPI General Application Fee: $75
(non-refundable, submit together with your application and no later than May 1, 2024)
NOPI Concerto Competition Application Fee: $50
(only if applying for the Concerto Competition, non-refundable, submit together with your application and no later than May 1, 2024)
NOPI Active Participant Tuition: $725
(paid after the student is notified of acceptance on/around June 1, 2024 and due by June 10, 2024; becomes non-refundable after July 20, 2024)
NOPI Active Participant Tuition with 2023 Scholarship Applied: $475
(paid after the student is notified of acceptance on/around June 1, 2024 and due by June 10, 2024; becomes non-refundable after July 20, 2024)
NOPI Observers Tuition: $400
(paid after the student is notified of acceptance on/around June 1, 2024 and due by June 10, 2024; becomes non-refundable after July 20, 2024)
NOPI Dormitory Fee: $650
(for a single participant in a double occupancy room; due by June 10, 2024)
NOPI Meals: $300
(3 meals a day/all you can eat dining service; due by June 10, 2024)
New Orleans Piano Institute Directors and Faculty
Igor Resnianski (NOPI Co-Director)
Formally trained in Russia and the USA Steinway Artist, Igor Resnianski (NOPI Co-Director) is a prize winner of numerous international piano competitions including the First Prize in New Orleans International Piano Competition, the Silver Medal in World Piano Competition, Bronze Medal in Nena Wideman International Piano Competition, Fifth Prize in the First China International Piano Competition, and the Second Prize In All-Russia Piano Competition Sodrujestvo. He extensively performed in Russia, USA, South America, China, Hong Kong, etc. His performances were televised and broadcasted in Russia and the USA including the PBS/WHYY Y-Arts television channel.
In addition of being names 2016-2023 Top Teacher by Steinway and Sons and 2012 Teacher of the Year for the state of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Music Teaches Association, Dr. Resnianski was inducted into Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in the fall of 2023. Dr. Resnianski teaches master-classes in the USA and abroad judges local, state, national, and international piano competitions. His students were winners of many local, state, national, and international piano contests. They appeared with many orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, and New Orleans Civic Symphony just to name a few. Since 2014 Dr. Resnianski is a co-director of the annual New Orleans Piano Institute. Dr. Resnianski is an Assistant Professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and also teaches at the Nelly Berman School of Music in Haverford PA.
Dr. Hristo Birbochukov (NOPI Co-Director)
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
Dr. Kevin T. Chance
Dr. 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 and is currently President-Elect of the Music Teachers National Association. He also currently serves as the President of the American Matthay Association.
Alan Chow
Alan Chow is on the faculty at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Acclaimed for his “elegant poetry and virtuosic fire,” Alan Chow has won First Prizes at the Concert Artists Guild International New York Competition, the UCLA International Piano Competition, the Palm Beach Invitational Piano Competition, and the Silver Medal and Audience Favorite Prize at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, he was also a prizewinner in the William Kapell International Piano Competition. His students are winners of numerous state, national and international piano competitions. A Steinway artist, Mr. Chow has performed in recital and in concert with orchestras from coast to coast in 47 states. His recitals have brought him to the major music centers including New York (Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall), Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago (Symphony Center and Ravinia), Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Miami. Concerto performances include appearances with the National Symphony, Utah Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, and Omaha Symphony. Mr. Chow regularly tours Asia with performances in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, including performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Shanghai PhilharmonIc and the lan-Asia Symphony. Alan Chow is on the faculty at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
Shearon Horton
Shearon Horton was a co-founder of the New Orleans Piano Institute in 1998 and for fourteen years was a director of the New Orleans Piano Institute. At the June, 2019 state convention of Texas Music Teachers Association, Shearon was named the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Pre-Collegiate Teaching Award for Texas Music Teachers Association. She received the Outstanding Teacher Award for Louisiana Music Teachers Association in 2004. She was the recipient of the Austin Music Teachers Association Award for Outstanding Pre-Collegiate Teaching Achievement in 1988, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019.
She was awarded the Steinway Top Teacher Award in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021. Shearon Horton holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Peabody College and Masters of Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin with further doctoral study at Louisiana State University. Her teachers have included William Race, Jack Guerry, Lucien Stark, Gregory Allen, and Amanda Vick Lethco. She has performed extensively as soloist and collaborative pianist and has presented lectures and master classes in Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Washington, Alabama and throughout Louisiana. In 2010 she presented master classes in China at Sichuan Conservatory, Nanjing Normal University, and Fudan University. Her articles related to piano pedagogy have been published in Keynotes magazine and in Keyboard Companion.
Ms. Horton taught at Tulane University in the Newcomb Department of Music in New Orleans from 1989 to 2006 and was an independent teacher in the New Orleans area before moving to Austin, Texas in 2007. She has taught at The University of New Orleans and filled a one-year appointment as Coordinator of Piano Pedagogy and Class Piano at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 2001-2002. She has maintained a prize-winning teaching studio for many years with students who have distinguished themselves in many local, regional and national competitions. Her students have been accepted in undergraduate and graduate programs at Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Rice University, San Francisco Conservatory, New York University, Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, Loyola University, and many of her students now work in the music teaching profession.
Dustin Gledhill
Dustin 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 completion.
As composer and performer, he has collaborated with modern dance companies and choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Russell Maliphant, Parisa Khobdeh, Maya Taylor and Brad Landers.
In 2022, Dustin became president of The Bohemians: New York Musicians’ Club – a 116 year-old non-profit, supporting young musicians through an annual concert series. Dustin fully produced their virtual concert series in 2021 for their 115th season, and created the first Bohemians Young Artists Piano Competition in 2022. www.BohemiansNYC.org
Dustin is the director of Gledhill Arts Collective – a group of private teaching studios In NYC, complemented by collaborative professional events and workshops. Students of GAC have won top prizes in international young artists competitions and consistently win national and state medals from the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Certificate Program. www.GledhillArtsCollective.com
Dustin collaborated with writer and director Nathan Wright, composing electronic-Classical inspired music for a collage-theater piece, “Manifesto,” featuring the life of Serge Diaghilev. www.inabsentiatheater.com
Dustin has been commissioned to compose for podcasts such as Autism Speaks and other commercial work. In 2016, Dustin, along with singer-songwriter and sister-in-law Mindy Gledhill, formed synth-pop duo, Hive Riot, releasing an award-winning album, music videos and additional singles. www.youtube.com/@HiveRiot
Current and future projects include: recording and performing the piano music of Gabriel Fauré, commemorating one hundred years since his death in 2024; releasing a series of original solo piano tracks titled “Mottscapes,” inspired by views of the Harlem River and various bridges from his home in Mott Haven, Bronx; releasing a trio of original piano compositions titled “Her Elegy,” originally commissioned by choreographer Maya Taylor in New Orleans and inspired by the highly influential relationship Dustin had with his grandmother, Ida. Dustin is also in the development stages of producing an arts education video series, in part inspired by the television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” www.DustinGledhill.com
A once upon a time native of Provo, UT., Dustin is a graduate of The Juilliard School, Royal Academy of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and received his DMA from Stony Brook University in New York.
Dustin currently lives in Mott Haven, Bronx.