Current Fellows

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Nomin Samdan '25

Born into a family of musicians, pianist Nomin Samdan made her first public appearance at the age of 7 in her native country, Mongolia. Since then, her career as a soloist, collaborator, and educator has brought her to stages spanning the continents of Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent professional appointments include a position on the piano faculty of the Mongolian State Conservatory and as pianist for the Mongolian State Opera and Ballet House. A long-time admirer of contemporary music, Ms. Samdan has premiered vocal works by Juliana Hall, Michael Finnissy, and Dennis Báthory-Kitz, as well as the opera Alice: An Operatic Wonderland by Amy Scurria. Ms. Samdan received her B.Mus and Graduate Performance Diploma in Piano Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee under the guidance of YaFei Chuang, and also holds a M.M. in Collaborative Piano from Boston University.


 

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Gabriele Zemaityte '25

Gabriele Zemaityte was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. She started playing piano at the age of six, when she began her studies at the National M. K. Ciurlionis Art School in Vilnius. Laureate of numerous national and international piano competitions, she has taken part in master classes with such renowned performers and teachers as Dmitry Bashkirov, Stefan Vladar, Armen Babakhanian, David Breitman, Nina Seriogina, Johannes Meissl, Stephan Picard, Michel Strauss, Philippe Graffin and David Dolan among others. In 2019, Gabriele completed her Master degree at Koninklijk Conservatorium, The Hague in the class of professor Naum Grubert. Gabriele Zemaityte has performed in various festivals throughout The Netherlands including Kammermuziekfestival in The Hague, Gergiev Festival, and various venues such as De Doelen, Het Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam. In 2019 Gabriele toured in China where with a chamber orchestra she performed in more than twenty different theatres all over the country. In 2021 together with American baritone Rolfe Dauz she won the 2nd prize in the Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition. Since 2017 Gabriele was privileged to have an opportunity to practice on a Bechstein grand piano kindly loaned to her by Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds. In 2020 and 2023 she was awarded Lithuanian Council for Culture grants for commissioning and performing contemporary vocal and instrumental music. Gabriele is currently a Collaborative Piano Fellow at Bard College Conservatory of Music.

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Pei-Hsuan Shen '25

Pianist Pei-Hsuan Shen is currently a first-year collaborative piano fellow at Bard College Conservatory of Music. She is originally from New Taipei City, Taiwan. While studying music, she discovered her passion for collaborative piano and decided to pursue a career as a collaborative pianist. She was a graduate diploma student at New England Conservatory, where she studied with Jonathan Feldman and Cameron Stowe. In 2018, She attended Bard College’s APS program on a full scholarship, studying with Frank Corliss. Previously, she earned both her bachelor’s degree in piano performance and master’s degree in collaborative piano at National Taiwan Normal University.

Pei-Hsuan expressed her strong enthusiasm for working with instrumentalists and attended Music Academy of the West in 2019 and 2022 as a collaborative piano fellow. As a solo pianist, she also participated in the 23^rd Annual Music Festival at Walnut Hill in 2014.

Pei-Hsuan demonstrates her diversity as a collaborative pianist through her performances in duo works, chamber music, contemporary music, orchestra, her roles in opera rehearsal pianist and rehearsal pianist. She was a rehearsal pianist in the conducting studios of Professor Apo Hsu and Professor Chia-Hong Liao at National Taiwan Normal University, as well as the studios of Professor Harold Farberman and Professor James Bagwell at Bard College.

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Lara Saldanha '26

Pianist Lara Saldanha is equally at home as a soloist and collaborator in the worlds of new music, standard repertoire, and historical performance. New music highlights include appearances with Metropolis Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion, Chelsea Symphony, Leschetizky Association, Mannes American Contemporary Ensemble, and Round Top Festival. Standard repertoire highlights include concerts at Princeton Sound Kitchen, Valley Cottage Young Masters Series, Rites of Spring Festival, Music Iowa City, Icicle Creek, National Federation of Music Clubs, Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Bohemian National Hall.
Lara debuted in India, her country of origin at the National Center of Performing Arts in Mumbai, Kala Academy in Goa, and Pune Music Society in 2017. As a historical performer, Lara performed with Kollective 366 in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in 2024, Virginia Baroque Academy, and Mannes Baroque.

Lara is currently a Collaborative Piano Fellow at Bard Conservatory, having completed her D.M.A. in Piano Performance at Stony Brook University, P.D.P.L. and M.M. at Mannes, and B.A./B.M. at Northwestern University, and high school diploma at the International School of Geneva and Geneva Conservatory, Switzerland. Lara deeply grateful for the guidance of her past teachers, including Christina Dahl, Vladimir Valjarevic, Alan Chow, Serguei Milstein, Neya Korsantia, and Inna Terekhov. Lara is a committed educator, having held assistantships at Mannes and Stony Brook, and with a thriving private
studio.

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Yi-Hsuan Hsia '26

Born in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1996, Yi-Hsuan began learning piano at the age of five under the guidance of his mother. After entering a music program in junior high school, he continued his musical education, graduating from the prestigious Taipei National University of the Arts in 2019 and the Graduate Institute of Performing Arts at National Taiwan Normal University in 2023, where he majored in Piano Collaboration. After graduation, Yi-Hsuan enrolled in the Advanced Performance Study program with full scholarships at Bard College Conservatory of Music in New York, where he studied under Frank Corliss, Kayo Iwama, Erika Switzer, and Stephanie Blythe. In 2024, he secured a fellowship position in piano collaboration at the school. Since junior high school, Yi-Hsuan has frequently collaborated with vocalists, developing a deep passion for art songs and operas. He hopes to refine his skills and advance toward becoming a professional vocal accompanist through the two-year piano collaboration fellowship.

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Kyeongji Koh '26

Kyeongji Koh, a collaborative pianist, chamber musician, and organist, possesses a wide-ranging repertoire from Baroque to contemporary music, with a particular passion for art songs, opera, and choral music. She relocated from South Korea to the United States in 2018 and has been awarded scholarships including the Koehler Piano Scholarship, Hallen Scholarship, Kolze-Rasmussen Scholarship, Lovering Scholarship, and Baker Memorial Scholarship. 

Currently, Kyeongji is pursuing a Collaborative Piano Fellowship at Bard College Conservatory of Music. She earned her Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the College-Conservatory of Music (University of Cincinnati), completed a Performer’s Certificate in Piano Performance at Northern Illinois University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Church Music from Seoul Theological University, receiving scholarships throughout her studies. Her teachers and mentors include Kenneth Griffiths, Donna Loewy, Sandra Rivers, Michelle Conda, Soyeon Kate Lee, William Goldenberg, James Brown, Kwon-Jung Sun, and Yoon-Kyung Cho.