NOIPC Jurors
The 2026 New Orleans International Piano Competition features a world-class jury of educators and performers. These distinguished jurors bring a wealth of expertise from the world’s most prestigious conservatories and concert stages to evaluate and mentor the competition’s global talent.
Recorded/Preliminary Round
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.
Dustin Gledhill
Dustin is an international prize-winning pianist, composer, songwriter, producer, educator, director, writer, and actor. As a child and young adult pianist, he garnered over twenty first-prize awards in international competitions.
As a composer and performer, he has collaborated with modern dance companies and choreographers including Russell Maliphant, Parisa Khobdeh, Maya Taylor, and Brad Landers, and has appeared in productions of the late Pina Bausch.
In 2022, Dustin became President of The Bohemians: New York Musicians’ Club—a nonprofit established in 1907 that supports young musicians through an annual concert series and artist residency. He fully produced the club’s virtual concert series in 2021 for its 115th season and launched the inaugural Bohemians Young Artists Piano Competition in 2022 for performers aged 18 and under. He now serves as Executive & Artistic Director, producing career assets for recipients of the Robert A. Levinson and Patricia S. Levinson Arts Achievement Award and the Bohemians Artists Residency, in collaboration with New York’s Concert Artists Guild.
Dustin is also the director of Gledhill Arts Collective, a group of private teaching studios in New York City, complemented by collaborative professional events and workshops. Students of the Collective have won top prizes in international young artist competitions and have consistently earned state and national gold medals in the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Certificate Program, at every level offered.
In collaboration with writer and director Nathan Wright, Dustin composed electronic-classical–inspired music for the collage-theater piece Manifesto, which explores the life of Serge Diaghilev.
He has been commissioned to compose original music for podcasts including Autism Speaks, as well as for other commercial projects. In 2016, Dustin and his sister-in-law, singer-songwriter Mindy Gledhill, formed the synth-pop duo Hive Riot, releasing an award-winning album, music videos, and additional singles.
Dustin recently released an independent album featuring highlights from his second Wigmore Hall concert, Live at Wigmore Hall, 2010. This concert was made possible by sponsorship from the late Richard Goula, following Dustin’s gold medal win at the 2006 New Orleans International Piano Competition.
He is currently writing a series of twenty-four short pieces in the soft-piano genre titled Pink Preludes, and is set to release a new album in Fall 2025 featuring Rameau’s Nouvelle Pièces de Clavecin and Fauré’s Préludes, Op. 103.
A native of Provo, Utah, Dustin holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), the Royal Academy of Music (PGDip), and earned his DMA from Stony Brook University. He currently resides in New York City.
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.
Recorded/Preliminary Round
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.
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