Palm Springs International Piano Competition is deeply committed to ensuring the successful future for young pianists across the globe through many avenues.
One of the most invaluable opportunities a young pianist can have, is receiving feedback from and connecting with critically acclaimed concert pianists and leading pedagogues of today. The 2025 Junior Competition is no exception.
Winner of the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall, Anton Nel continues to tour internationally as recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Highlights in the U.S. include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit Symphonies as well as recitals coast to coast. Overseas he has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and major venues in China, Korea, and South Africa.
Much sought after as a chamber musician he regularly appears with some of the world’s finest instrumentalists and singers at festivals on four continents. He holds the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also Head of the Division of Keyboard Studies.
During the summers he is on the artist-faculties at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and also regularly teaches at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival, and the Orford Music Academy in Quebec.
Mr. Nel also frequently performs as harpsichordist and fortepianist. His recordings include four solo CDs, chamber music recordings (including the complete Beethoven and Brahms cello/piano works with Bion Tsang) , and works for piano and orchestra by Franck, Faure, Saint-Saens and Edward Burlingame Hill.
The Johannesburg-born Mr. Nel is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, where he studied with Adolph Hallis, and the University of Cincinnati where he worked with Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. His website is antonnel.com.
Pianist Bernadene Blaha is internationally recognized as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician. Lauded by Piano and Keyboard Magazine for her “integrity” and “total clarity of line,” Blaha began her musical journey in Canada before gaining prominence with top awards at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, Lugano Switzerland Masterplayer’s International Competition, and New York City’s International Piano Competition. These prizes led to acclaimed recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Lincoln Center Library in New York City. She was also featured at the XXIX International Chopin Festival in Marianske Lazne, followed by appearances at such distinguished venues as the Concertgebouw, Salle Cortot, Phillips Collection, National Arts Center, and Disney Hall.
In 2009, Blaha co-founded the piano trio Latitude 41 with violinist Livia Sohn and cellist Luigi Piovano. The group’s debut album for Eloquentia, featuring Schubert’s monumental Trio in E flat, received high praise upon release. With a rich discography, Blaha has also recorded for CBC, Centaur, Analekta, and Naxos. Her most recent album of Polish Violin Sonatas (Noskowski and Zelenski) with Swiss violinist Laurence Kayaleh, was released in December 2023 on the Naxos Label.
Also in demand as a teacher, adjudicator, and clinician, Blaha has received the National Arts Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher Recognition Award and the Thornton School of Music Dean’s Award for Excellence in Professional Activities. She has been invited to serve on distinguished jury panels, including the Gina Bachauer International Artist Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Competition and the International ECompetition.
Currently based in Los Angeles, Bernadene Blaha is a professor of piano performance at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
Lisa Nakamichi, known for her exquisite performances of Mozart has been called “born to play Mozart” by Honolulu Advertiser critic on her concerto performance with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.
The successful Tokyo solo debut recital at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Culture launched Ms. Nakamichi’s career in Japan. Ms. Nakamichi has since appeared in concerto performances throughout Japan among them the New Star Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, the Kyushu Philharmonic in Nagasaki, Kyoto Symphony in Kyoto and the Hiroshima Symphony in Hiroshima. Her performance with the Hiroshima Symphony was reviewed as “brilliant Mozart playing”.
Concerto performances with the Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Symphony have totaled over a dozen times and her performance of the Mozart Concerto was reviewed in the Honolulu Advertiser as “above all beautiful”. Notable performances with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra include the inaugural concert under the baton of Japan’s maestro Naoto Ohtomo, performance of Mozart’s double concerto with world-renowned Austrian conductor, Hans Graf and most recently Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with maestro JoAnn Falletta. Nakamichi has also been the featured soloist in a performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, celebrating Louis Vuitton’s 150th anniversary.
Ms. Nakamichi has appeared in numerous recitals in major cities of the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan. Notable venues include the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C., residence of the Consul General of Japan in Honolulu, Corcoran Art Theater (Washington, D.C.), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo, Japan), Eroica Saal (Vienna, Austria), residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Austria in Vienna, Libby Hall (University of Utah), University of Alaska in Anchorage, Montreal City Hall (Montreal, Canada), Portland Japanese Garden (Portland, Oregon), McCallum Theater (Palm Springs), among others.
Since 2000, Ms. Nakamichi has been on the artists’ roster of the Japan Foundation for Regional Art Activities (JAFRA). She has appeared throughout Japan in the Foundation’s outreach program holding workshops, masterclasses and performances to promote the regional development in arts and culture.
As juror, Nakamichi has served on the jury of the Cooper International Piano Competition (Cleveland), Waring International Piano Competition (Palm Springs), Alaska MTA, and Hawaii MTA, where she also conducted masterclasses. Since 2018, Nakamichi has been serving on the jury of the PTNA Competition (Piano Teachers’ National Association) for their national finals in Tokyo.
Ms. Nakamichi is the founding artistic director of the annual Aloha International Piano Festival and the triennial Ke’alohi International Piano Competition held in Honolulu, Hawaii attracting some of the most gifted young pianists from around the world.
Lisa Nakamichi received her Bachelor’s (BM) and Master’s (MM) degrees from The Juilliard School and doctoral degree (DMA) awarded from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Pianist Kevin Kwan Loucks enjoys a multifaceted career as international concert artist, educator, and arts entrepreneur. He has been described as “impeccable” (La Presse, Montreal), “a shining talent” (Völser Zeitung, Italy), and “a pianist of exhilarating polish, unity and engagement” (The Orange County Register, California). He has earned ovations from Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, to Prösels Castle in Italy, Herbst Theater, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kumho Art Hall and Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and Prague’s Lichtenstein Palace. He has been featured on National Public Radio, CBC Radio 2, Classical KUSC, the Public Broadcasting Service, KABC-TV Los Angeles, and the Korean Broadcasting System, and was a top prize winner at the Schlern International Competition in Italy, the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition in Boston, the Beverly Hills International Auditions in Los Angeles, and the American Prize in Performance.
As a collaborative artist, Kevin Kwan Loucks has appeared in recitals with Rachel Barton Pine, Colin Carr, Paul Coletti, Robert deMaine, Glenn Dicterow, Karen Dreyfus, Eugene Drucker, Edgar Meyer, Johannes Moser, Kyung Sun Lee, and Carol Wincenc. He has been featured in collaborations with the Afiara, Alexander, Argus, Arneis, Cecilia, Jupiter, Lyris, Rus, and Thalea String Quartets, and has performed and recorded as a member of Gruppo Montebello, an all-star ensemble of acclaimed Banff Centre resident artists based in Canada. Loucks has performed hundreds of recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia with his wife, violinist Iryna Krechkovsky, as part of the award-winning Krechkovsky/Loucks Duo. In 2012, the Duo formed Trio Céleste with cellist Ross Gasworth and served as Ensemble-in-Residence at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine where they also directed the annual Trio Céleste Summer Chamber Music Festival. Loucks presently holds faculty positions at Chamber Music | OC’s Pre-College Program and the Fischoff Chamber Music Summer Intensive.
A Korean-American adoptee and graduate of The Juilliard School in New York City, Kevin Kwan Loucks was mentored by pianist Julian Martin. He is an alumnus of programs at the Aspen Music Festival and Music@Menlo, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University where he served as Head of Piano for the Pre-College Division and Teaching Assistant for the Emerson String Quartet. He is Co-Founder of Chamber Music | OC, which earned him recognition from Orange County Business Journal and OC Weekly who named him one of Southern California’s most influential people. In addition to his artistic training, Loucks holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from the Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University where he studied entrepreneurship, finance, management, and strategy, and completed his Executive Education at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He previously served as Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, and Director of Innovation and Program Development at the Music Academy of the West. He currently serves as CEO of Chamber Music America in New York City, dividing his time between New York and Orange County.
Bonnie Barrett is a distinguished music industry professional with an extensive background in classical and jazz genres, including executive positions with artist management firms, major international recording labels and prestigious musical instrument manufacturers. Dedicated to promoting extraordinary performing artists and exceptional musical instruments, her experience includes managing high-profile and emerging talent relationships, driving business growth and brand enhancement and overseeing all aspects of concert production. She has held pivotal roles at major international music companies including Yamaha Corporation of America, Steinway & Sons, and recording labels including BMG Classics and Jazz, ECM, EMI-Capitol Records, Sony Legacy and Sony Classical. She began her career at Columbia Artists Management and later helped form a new artist agency, Barrett Vantage Artists. She has been recognized as one of Musical America’s “Top 30 Professionals in the Music Industry.”
Currently serving as the Director of Yamaha Artist Services at Yamaha Corporation of America, Ms. Barrett has transformed the company’s artist relations program, expanding its roster of distinguished classical and jazz pianists and enhancing its brand visibility through innovative multimedia and technology-driven events.
Beyond her professional achievements, Ms. Barrett actively contributes to the music community through her roles on the boards of the Pro Musicis Foundation and the Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute. She is a frequent guest speaker at higher education and professional music industry panels and has served on several international piano competition juries.
