Participants

Brad Arington

Brad Arington began piano lessons at an early age with his grandmother. For eight summers, he attended the Brevard Music Center, where he studied principally with Marilyn Neeley, and in New York City, he studied with German Diez and Ken Huber. He is a healthcare attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he currently studies piano with Erna Gulabyan. Brad has degrees from New York University (J.D.), University of Virginia (M.D.) and Hampden-Sydney College (A.B. in classical languages).

Diana Cusano

Diana has loved the piano since age five. It all began with an electric keyboard that was quickly replaced with a Yamaha upright. Within a year or two of beginning her studies, it was discovered that she had perfect pitch. Serious studies commenced up through high school, with ample competition wins and performances, including a televised hour-long solo piano recital for the Young Steinway Concert Series and a PianoArts competition win which included a concerto performance with orchestra. These experiences were exhilarating for Diana, but she also loved the sciences. So she studied at the University of Chicago (Chemistry, B.S.) and Yale School of Public Health (Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, M.P.H.) and followed this up with a decade-long career at Humana (Director of Population Health Analytics). After getting married, having three young cute children (ages 9, 7, and 5), and turning 40, Diana finally had some time for reflection and strategic thinking. So, in the fall of 2023, she decided to go back to the world she dearly missed and longed for - the world of piano! Diana now studies as an amateur with concert pianist and professor Anna Petrova. Prior teachers are Lyn Bronson of Carmel, California, Emilio del Rosario (Music Institute of Chicago), and Stephen Perry (Interlochen Arts Academy). Diana is excited to take advantage of the performance and learning opportunities at Oberlin.

Carl Di Casoli

A citizen of both the USA and Italy, Carl Di Casoli studied statistics at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, USA, earning both his masters and PhD degrees in statistics in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Although he currently works as senior director in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry with many work experiences in both small start-up biotech companies (Apellis and Cabaletta Bio) and large multinational companies (such as Bayer and Celgene), he finds time to indulge his passion for piano by performing recitals and entering amateur competitions. In 2022, he was second prize winner in the Osaka Piano Competition—Atlanta Region, and one of 5 winners at the Pianolink International Amateurs Piano Competition in Cremona, Italy. In 2021, he was finalist and laureate at the International Chopin Competition for Amateurs in Warsaw, Poland and first prize winner at the Harmonia International Piano Competition. In addition, he was first prize winner in the amateur divisions of the Bradshaw and Buono (New York) International Competition (2020), first prize winner in the San Diego International Amateur Piano Competition (2019), and the second prize winner of the Concours International de Grands Amateurs in Paris, France (2008). In 2017, he performed a full solo recital at the München Gasteig Kleinersaal in Germany. In addition, he has played at many venues in New York City such as Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Concert Hall, and Zankel Concert Hall as a member of the New York Piano Society both solo and chamber music.

Catherine Doss

Catherine Doss is a pianist, educator, and creative collaborator based in the Washington, D.C. area. After early training at Interlochen Arts Academy and earning degrees in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she served as Music Director for Pensacola Opera’s Artist in Residence program and later took time away from performing to focus on teaching, family, and community work. Recent appearances include the Cliburn Amateur Festival, PianoTexas, and the Washington International Piano Artists Competition, where she was a top prizewinner in 2024. Her programming often highlights underrepresented composers and explores the intersection of music, language, and story.

Robert Finley

Robert Finley was born in Hull, England, and is a retired electronics engineer. He began to play the piano at the age of 7, studied at Trinity College of Music in London and with Norma Fisher, Albert Ferber and in the masterclasses of Jorge Bolet, Louis Kentner and Vlado Perlemuter. He studied electronic engineering at the University of Sussex and worked in the UK and USA in the field of telecommunications. He was awarded the ARCM diploma in piano performance with Honours from the Royal College of Music in 1976. He played recitals and concertos in the USA, UK, Russia, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Argentina, Japan and Israel. He is the founder of the Boston Piano Amateurs Association that organizes international piano competitions every two years. He played in piano competitions in the USA and overseas and was a finalist in the 2009 Chopin Piano Amateur Competition in Warsaw Poland, and the joint grand prize winner of the 2012 Yamaha and Pianist Magazine amateur piano competition in Manchester, UK. In 2013, he was invited back to Manchester UK to give a recital at the Chethams School of Music and played the first movement of the Chopin 2nd Piano Concerto with the Manchester Camerata orchestra. In 2008 and 2010, he was a winner of the concerto competition during the Piano Texas Festival in Fort Worth and played the first movement of the Rachmaninoff 1st and 3rd concerti with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. In 2012, he played the Liszt 1st Piano Concerto with the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he gave a recital at the Gasteig auditorium in Munich Germany and also two recitals at the Earth Plaza Auditorium in Yokohama Japan. In 2016, he won the 2nd prize at the Piano Bridges Competition in St. Petersburg Russia and gave a recital at the State Academic Capella Auditorium. In 2018, he gave recitals in Bayreuth, Germany, on Liszt’s piano, and in Moscow, Russia, at the Alexander Goldenweiser Museum. In March 2022, he was a guest soloist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra. He was a semifinalist in the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. In October 2023, he gave a recital at Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth Germany on Richard Wagner’s piano. He was a winner of the 2025 Piano Texas concerto competition and played the 2nd movement of Rachmaninoff’s 1st Piano Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Minnie Ho

Minnie Ho is an engineer working in the field of self-driving cars and currently serves as Director of Systems Engineering and Integration at Zoox (an Amazon company). At Zoox, she leads efforts to design and integrate AI software into purpose-built robotaxis and recently helped launch the company’s ride-hailing service in Las Vegas. She holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (1995) and a Master’s in Computer Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (2023), both from Stanford University.

Beyond engineering, Minnie is an accomplished pianist. She has performed four times with orchestra at the California Concerto Festival, playing works by Bach (BWV 1052), Mozart (K.466), Schumann, and Beethoven (Op. 37). She participated in Piano Texas, including a master class with Yoheved Kaplinsky, and she was a competition winner at Carnegie Hall in 2017. Additional highlights include being selected to play in a master class for Olga Kern (2022) and chamber music appearances at Piano Sonoma, performing Franck’s Sonata in A minor and Brahms’ Trio in B major.

Her principal teachers have included Thomas Hansen, Sandra Shen, Gwendolyn Mok, and Jon Nakamatsu. Most profoundly, Ruth Slenczynska has been a guiding light since Minnie was thirteen. Ruth’s enduring lessons in music, integrity, and creativity continue to influence Minnie’s work and life. As Minnie writes, “Ruth will always be my role model.”

Vivian Ku

Vivian is a mother of four and a native of Hong Kong, and has recently relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan with her family. Since her childhood, Vivian has participated in music festivals including the Chopin Avenue and East Meets West in Asia. She is excited to join her first piano festival in the US with Oberlin. She has enjoyed taking lessons from teachers Robert Langston, Dr. Henry Chow, Dr. Timothy Kwok, and is currently studying with Professor Christopher Harding. 

Manuel Llorens

Born in Venezuela and a naturalized US Citizen since the early 1990s, Manuel studied with American Teacher and Pianist Harriett Serr, a student of Isabella Vengerova, one of the founders of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Earlier in life, he studied with Musicologist and Pianist Juan Francisco Sanz, and was part of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra Conservatory of Music. For the last 30 years, Manuel has worked in the Content Services Software Industry, first developing International Reseller Channels and later as a Technology Educator. Currently, he works as a Senior Trainer for Hyland Software.

Rita Luo

Rita started piano at age of five and actively participated in major youth piano competitions in China throughout her teenage years and won many awards. She has majored in computing and developed a career in human resource related fields, worked as in-house senior organization development manager in companies as well as team leader in a consulting firm specializing in talent assessment and development. After many years focusing on her professional and family life, Rita recently re-started piano lessons in 2023, performing with the Fort Worth symphony Orchestra in PianoTexas festival that same year as one of winners of the concerto competition.

Heesun Joyce Rogers

Heesun Joyce Rogers, MD, PhD, has been playing piano since the age of six in South Korea and participated in numerous youth piano competitions. She went on to attend medical school in South Korea, where she received her medical degree and Ph.D. Shortly after moving to Cleveland, OH for further medical study, While continuing her medical study in Cleveland, she rekindled her passion for piano after discovering the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) and the Cleveland Orchestra. After becoming a board certified physician in the USA, she joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2010 as a staff pathologist with a subspecialty in hematopathology and is an Associate Professor of Pathology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. As an amateur pianist, she has enjoyed performing as a soloist, or with small chamber ensembles in the Cleveland area and South Korea. As her children are now grown, she has spent more time practicing for musical growth and performing as opportunities become available. In recent years, she has been selected as a participant in prestigious international amateur competitions, concerto and music festival events. She has taken lessons from Sergei Babayan in the past and recently Shuai Wang at the CIM and Haewon Song at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Carl Rosser

Carl Rosser grew up in a household filled with music, not only because his parents played a wide variety of music on the stereo but also because both his brothers played piano as well (and, like Carl, still play). Carl went on to earn a Ph.D. In English at the University of Iowa, and later taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for almost 30 years at Central Washington University in Ellensburg Washington, until retiring in 2019. He and his wife Lin raised three children, and now—finally!—he is the proud grandfather of a three-year-old. Currently, Carl spends his time reading, taking nature photographs, and playing piano as a volunteer at several different assisted living communities in Ellensburg.

Jonathan Shih

Jonathan is a Seattle-based product designer at a small startup. He began his piano studies with various Chicago-area teachers (most notably Emilio del Rosario), and continued briefly at Northwestern University under James Giles before a minor hand injury and recession-induced career introspection led him to forgo piano for an engineering degree. After a decade-long hiatus due to work travel, he resumed playing and now studies with Peter Mack. Jonathan has performed live on 98.7 WFMT and was a finalist in the 2024 WIPAC competition, earning special awards for “Best Classical Performance” and “Most Imaginative Programming”. Outside of music, he enjoys cooking, traveling, and collecting other hobbies.

Wei Ling Wang

Wei Ling’s musical journey began in grade school and continued through her college years with private piano studies. After earning a degree in computer science, she embarked on a career in the telecommunications industry, where she has been instrumental in building wireless and wireline networks for telecommunication companies. Her work enables the transport of voice, video, and data for both consumers and corporations. On the musical front, Wei Ling had the honor of performing a concerto movement with the Fort Worth Symphony after winning the concerto competition at the prestigious PianoTexas Academy and Festival. Her passion for music has also led her to participate in amateur competitions in various cities, including Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Washington D.C. Furthermore, Wei Ling has consistently contributed to the music community by actively serving as a board member for several nonprofit music organizations. Beyond her professional and musical pursuits, Wei Ling enjoys engaging in a variety of outdoor activities. Some of her memorable adventures include canyoneering in Zion National Park, zip-lining through the lush landscapes of Kaanapali in Maui, and hiking in Majorca, Spain, the very place where Chopin composed his renowned “Raindrop” prelude.

Yuchao Zhou

Yuchao Zhou is a software engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area. A native of China, Zhou pursued his master’s degree in computer science in the US. Beyond his technical career, Zhou has a profound passion for piano and classical music, a pursuit he began at age 5 and has continued for over two decades without formal music education. Music serves as a vital channel for self-expression and identity for him. Recently, he showcased his talent at the 2024 California Concerto Festival for Amateur Pianists, performing the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Mission College Symphony. He was also a performer of the PianoTexas Amateur program in 2024. His musical journey has been enriched through studies with esteemed pianists worldwide, including pianists from China, Ukraine, Austria, Venezuela, Israel, Australia and Germany.