Adjudicators
Karina Bruk
Dr. Karina Bruk is a member of the music faculty of Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, where she teaches piano and chamber music, and also coordinates the accompanying services for the department.
She has performed solo, chamber music, and lecture recitals both in the United States (Weill
Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, among others) and abroad. Bruk has presented master classes and workshops at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ), the Handel Haus (Halle, Germany), The Isidor Bajic Music School (Novi Sad, Serbia), and throughout the local area. She performs with pianist Paul Hoffmann as the Bruk-Hoffmann Piano Duo and with baritone Perry Fine as the Fine-Bruk Duo.
She is active in the field teaching collegiate students with visual and hearing impairment, helping them achieve their greatest potential, including winning competitions such as Bella Music Foundation and The Sound Espressivo, among others. Bruk is the first Mason Gross faculty member to teach a visually- and hearing-impaired music student, the first such student to earn a graduate degree at the school.
Bruk has been a recipient of numerous awards, among them the Genia Robinor Award for Teaching Excellence, presented by the Piano Teachers Society of America, the Certificate of Excellence in Piano Pedagogy, and the Recognition Award for the contribution to the field of Music Education presented by the Sound Espressivo Competitions.
She has articles published in DSCH Journal and the Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century Encyclopedia, and has had scholarly works presented at the International Conference of Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Bruk has served as the graduate advisor and coordinator for graduate studies in music at Mason Gross School of the Arts and School of Graduate Studies, Rutgers University (2011–17), and as coordinator of the piano lab (2005–12). Bruk was also chair of the piano department at Newark School of the Arts (2003–11) and served there as an artist-in-residence (2011–14). She serves as a judicator for numerous competitions and festivals, among them Young Artist Talent Search
Jeffrey Carollo Scholarship Auditions at NJPAC, the bi-annual NJ State Solo and Ensemble Festivals, Music Teachers National Association Competition, and others.
Bruk holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music (BM, MM) and Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University (DMA). Her professional organization affiliations include World Piano Teachers Association, Music Teachers National Association, Piano Teachers Society of America, and the Music Educators Association of New Jersey.
Melody Qi
Born in China and based in New York, Melody Qi He is a brilliant concert pianist and acclaimed educator. Top prizewinner of several National Piano Competitions in China including the “Pearl River" National Piano Competition,and National Chopin Competition in China. Ms. He has represented China in international piano competitions in Warsaw (Poland), Sydney (Australia), and Viña del Mar (Chile). Following the Chopin International Piano Competition, Ms. He was invited to record with the Rogot Company in Warsaw. Ms. He has performed numerous concertos with orchestras, most notably twice the Chopin Second Piano Concerto with the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in Beijing Concert Hall. She has also given solo and chamber music recitals throughout Asia, Australia, and the United States, and in May 2004, made her New York debut in a sold-out recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
Melody Qi He is recognized as an excellent teacher, winning many educational citations which garnered her a “Music Prize”. Since moving to New York in 2002, her students have won competitions, performed with orchestras, and performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in Young Artists Showcases. She has served on the jury for the Guangdong Children's Piano Competition, Music Examination Board in Guangdong China, Cecilian Young Artists Competition in New Jersey, and Incentive Recitals of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York.
Ms. He is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association, Arts Performance Committee of the Guangdong Branch in China, and she had served as a board member and co-chair of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York. She was Associate Professor at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music (China), and served as faculty at the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music (New York), Long Island Conservatory of Music (New York), and at the Cristofori Music School (Singapore) where she taught both children and advanced training courses for teachers.
Ms. He began her piano studies at the age of 6 and gave her performance debut when she was 10. Her teachers include Zuojia Hou, Bixia Mai, Weiqi Zhang, Hanxin He, Leyi Wu, Guangren Zhou, Shou-Ping Chiu, Miyoko Lotto, and Albert Lotto. She is a graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
