Fisher Piano Studio at Ohio University
Taae Hamid
Originally from Gallipolis, Ohio, Taae Hamid is a senior piano major within the Honors Tutorial College and School of Music at Ohio University where he is a student of Dr. Christopher Fisher. During the summer of 2019, Taae was studied at the Brevard Summer Music Institute and Festival in North Carolina. Taae’s former piano instructors include Teodora Owen, Cheryl Jarvis, and Allen Strait. He frequently collaborates with many musicians throughout his community, and was named the student accompanist of his high school choir during his junior and senior years of high school. Taae frequently plays in different churches, and has also accompanied the string and vocal students at his local theater. His primary interests besides piano include stargazing, reading, and running. Taae is pursuing the Bachelor of Arts in Music degree.
Zehao Liu
Zehao Liu is currently pursuing the Master of Music degree in piano performance at Ohio University the School of Music where she is a student of Dr. Christopher Fisher. She grew up in the Cangzhou city of Hebei, China where she began piano studies at the age of 5. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics in the Central University of Finance and Economics in China, Beijing, and a master’s degree in financial economics at the Ohio University.
During her study in piano performance in Ohio University, she has played in the master classes of Dr. Stephanie Wu, Dr. Richard Masters and Thomas Pandolfi. In 2018, she attended the MTNA national conference in Orlando and presented a poster with the MTNA Collegiate Chapter of MTNA. In 2018, she performed the Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 with the orchestra of the Daqing Opera House in China.
At the same time, she dedicates herself in the music education and cultural exchange. Together with two other Ohio University alumni, they have founded a company named PuBoSi International Culture and Education. PuBoSi endeavors to establish an international platform which integrates all the different types of global educational resources to deliver the top-level music educations, international culture exchange programs and high-end commercial performances in both China and the US.Last year, they did a cultural exchange program “East meet West” in the Nine Art Gallery in Shenyang and several lectures in universities and conservatories in China.
During her study in piano performance in Ohio University, she has played in the master classes of Dr. Stephanie Wu, Dr. Richard Masters and Thomas Pandolfi. In 2018, she attended the MTNA national conference in Orlando and presented a poster with the MTNA Collegiate Chapter of MTNA. In 2018, she performed the Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 with the orchestra of the Daqing Opera House in China.
At the same time, she dedicates herself in the music education and cultural exchange. Together with two other Ohio University alumni, they have founded a company named PuBoSi International Culture and Education. PuBoSi endeavors to establish an international platform which integrates all the different types of global educational resources to deliver the top-level music educations, international culture exchange programs and high-end commercial performances in both China and the US.Last year, they did a cultural exchange program “East meet West” in the Nine Art Gallery in Shenyang and several lectures in universities and conservatories in China.
Alejandro Orta
In 2008, at age of 8, Alejandro began his piano studies with professor Elizabeth Guerrero and music theory with Zuleyma Somaroo at Juan José Landaeta National Conservatory of Music, where he also completed his 3rd year of choral activity in the “Adda Elena de Sauce Children's Choir”, there he cultivated his passion and love for music, playing concerts and recitals. Alejandro participated in the second level of the XI Silvia Eisenstein National Piano Competition and wins the First Prize, Best Sonatina Performance Award and Best Venezuelan Work Performance Award in 2011. He played in La Fête de la Musique (sponsored by the French Embassy) in 2010 and 2013.
At the age of 13, he continued his piano studies with professor Carlos Urbaneja Silva at Mozarteum Caracas School of Music. There he takes classes in music history, harmony, musical analysis, art history and auditory training with professors Eduardo Plaza, Eduardo Lecuna, Luis Felipe Barnola and Maria Grazia. He participated in the fifth level of the XIII Silvia Eisenstein National Piano Competition where he received the Second Prize in 2016. He was selected to participate in three seminars of the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela held at “Las Taritas” farm in order to begin an international tour with maestro Gustavo Dudamel in 2017. Alejandro has performed the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 with the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the conductor Daniel Gil, following the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Municipal Orchestra of Caracas under the baton of maestro Rodolfo Saglimbeni, in addition to performing in recitals, ensembles and chamber music works by different composers. He has appeared in different venues in Caracas: the José Félix Ribas Concert Hall of the Teresa Carreño Theater, Humboldt Cultural Association, BOD Cultural Center, Anna Julia Rojas Hall (Unearte), Villa Planchart, Museum of Colonial Art of Venezuela, Transport Museum “Guillermo José Schael”, among others.
Alejandro was admitted to the Honors Tutorial College Music Program at Ohio University (2021-2024) where he is a student of Professor of Piano Dr. Christopher Fisher and named Senior Division winner of the 2021 Ohio University School of Music High School Concerto Competition.
At the age of 13, he continued his piano studies with professor Carlos Urbaneja Silva at Mozarteum Caracas School of Music. There he takes classes in music history, harmony, musical analysis, art history and auditory training with professors Eduardo Plaza, Eduardo Lecuna, Luis Felipe Barnola and Maria Grazia. He participated in the fifth level of the XIII Silvia Eisenstein National Piano Competition where he received the Second Prize in 2016. He was selected to participate in three seminars of the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela held at “Las Taritas” farm in order to begin an international tour with maestro Gustavo Dudamel in 2017. Alejandro has performed the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 with the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the conductor Daniel Gil, following the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Municipal Orchestra of Caracas under the baton of maestro Rodolfo Saglimbeni, in addition to performing in recitals, ensembles and chamber music works by different composers. He has appeared in different venues in Caracas: the José Félix Ribas Concert Hall of the Teresa Carreño Theater, Humboldt Cultural Association, BOD Cultural Center, Anna Julia Rojas Hall (Unearte), Villa Planchart, Museum of Colonial Art of Venezuela, Transport Museum “Guillermo José Schael”, among others.
Alejandro was admitted to the Honors Tutorial College Music Program at Ohio University (2021-2024) where he is a student of Professor of Piano Dr. Christopher Fisher and named Senior Division winner of the 2021 Ohio University School of Music High School Concerto Competition.
Caden Potter
Caden Potter is a freshman in the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University, studying with Dr. Christopher Fisher. Originally from Surprise, Arizona, he began taking piano lessons in 2nd grade and began percussion in 4th grade. Caden served as percussionist and timpanist with the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO) for five years and, in 2019, soloed on piano with PYSO at the Mesa Center for the Arts after winning the API Piano Concerto Competition. In 2021 Caden soloed with the PYSO percussion ensemble on marimba and is a winner of the 2021 Ohio University School of Music High School Concerto Competition.
Caden studied piano with Olga Gorelik for the last six years and percussion with Liz Guzman for the past 4 years. He has attended multiple music festivals, participated in competitions and studied with teachers such as Pavlina Dokovska, Eugene Pridonoff, Eliasabeth Pridonoff, Eckart Sellheim, Dian Baker, Dr. Barbara Fast, Dr. Eemely Phelps, Dr. Christopher Fisher, Dr. Jay Roberts, Drew Le, Silvan Negrutiu, Eliran Avni, Yuri Kot, and Heidi Willimas. Caden has taken percussion lessons and master classes with Mika Stoltzman, John Kasica, Roger Braun, Michael Competello, Matthew Holm, Katherine Stonefelt and Liz Guzman.
Caden enjoys collaborating with other musicians, especially his twin sister, Gracie (trombone), his older sister, Emma (french horn) and playing piano duets with his younger sister, Lily. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, learning about history, playing board games with family and friends and, of course, video games.
Caden studied piano with Olga Gorelik for the last six years and percussion with Liz Guzman for the past 4 years. He has attended multiple music festivals, participated in competitions and studied with teachers such as Pavlina Dokovska, Eugene Pridonoff, Eliasabeth Pridonoff, Eckart Sellheim, Dian Baker, Dr. Barbara Fast, Dr. Eemely Phelps, Dr. Christopher Fisher, Dr. Jay Roberts, Drew Le, Silvan Negrutiu, Eliran Avni, Yuri Kot, and Heidi Willimas. Caden has taken percussion lessons and master classes with Mika Stoltzman, John Kasica, Roger Braun, Michael Competello, Matthew Holm, Katherine Stonefelt and Liz Guzman.
Caden enjoys collaborating with other musicians, especially his twin sister, Gracie (trombone), his older sister, Emma (french horn) and playing piano duets with his younger sister, Lily. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, learning about history, playing board games with family and friends and, of course, video games.
Laura Silva
Laura Silva is a versatile musician with 20 years of professional experience. She graduated with a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy under the tutelage of Dr. Christopher Fisher at Ohio University, where is continuing her piano studies and musicology in the PhD program of Interdisciplinary Arts.
During her graduate studies at OU, Laura has been a group piano instructor for music-major college students, and a collaborative pianist of University Singers and Choral Union. She has also been a private piano instructor at ACMS, and a collaborative pianist for college and graduate students. She has been the instructor of Introduction to Piano Safari, Piano Ensembles, and Body Percussion/Movement at the ACMS Summer Week; she has also collaborated with the Music Theater Summer Camp and assisted the Piano Summer Camp. During her doctoral studies, she has been an instructor of Introductory courses to the Arts for undergraduate students and is the director of the Piano Ensembles Project at the Athens Community School of Music.
Laura Silva has been awarded the Silvia Reynolds Eckes Scholarship (2017-2019), the 2nd Prize at the Ohio International Piano Duo & Duet Competition with Teodora Owen (2018), the Graduate Achievement in Performance Award at the Annual OU School of Music Honors Assembly (2018), and the OU Diversity Fellowship (2019-2020). She premiered the nationally awarded piano solo piece “Art Miniatures” by Ryne Siesky (2018) at the West Fork New Music Festival at Fairmont State University (WV), the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Conference in Ashland, and the Society of Composers International Invitational at West Virginia University.
Three of her Elementary Piano Ensemble pieces are published by Piano Safari. Part of her teaching philosophy can be found on the article “The Power of Piano Ensembles: Building Collaboration, Musicianship, and Community” for The Piano Magazine: Clavier Companion published in 2019. She has joined the OU MTNA Chapter as Treasurer (2017-2018) and Vice-President (2018-2020), and has presented posters and conferences at several conferences such as MTNA Symposia, National Conference of MTNA and NCKP. In the latest edition of the NCKP, she has prepared a Virtual Piano Ensemble with the performance contribution of pianists attending and presenting at this conference. The arrangement for this project has been published by TimeWarp for the music library app SuperScore.
Laura holds degrees from the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica Juan Jose Landaeta, Central Universidad Central de Venezuela (Bachelor in Social Psychology) and a Master of Music from the Universidad Simon Bolivar. Her piano mentors have been Elizabeth Guerrero, Carlos Urbaneja, Abraham Abreu, Manuel Laufer, Christopher Fisher, Stephanie Wu, and Emely Phelps. She has participated of piano master classes and lessons of Judith Jaimes, Frank Fernández, Walter Blankenheim, Carlos Duarte, Gabriela Montero, Roger Muraro, Monique Duphil, Prisca Benoit, Michel Beroff, Laura Mikkola, Kristiina Junttu, Edith Peña, Vadym Kholodenko, Michael Chertock, Rachel Kudo, and Kwan Yi.
Besides the piano, she has studied organ with Paul Barte and Pablo Castellanos; harpsichord with Rubén Guzmán and Bruno Procopio and she has received classes of baroque music at courses with Jacques Ogg, Ketil Haugsand and Alessandro Santoro, among others. She obtained an advanced certificate at Ohio University in choral conducting, studying with Bradley Naylor and Paul Mayhew and has studied composition with Mark Phillips. She is currently interested in studies on music, identity, and migratory processes such as diasporas.
In her native city, Caracas, Laura was a piano teacher at Mozarteum Caracas School of Music, where she started the Piano Ensembles project (2014) that she has replicated in the US. She is a former principal pianist of the UNESCO awarded network “El Sistema”. She was the titular pianist at Teresa Carreño Youth Symphony Orchestra, a collaborative pianist of the Latin American Academy of Flutes, and participated of multiple concerts and festivals. Laura has partnered with the “Orquesta Barroca Simón Bolívar”, “Orquesta de Cámara Mozarteum Caracas”, “Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional de Venezuela”, “Orquesta Juvenil de Caracas”, “Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela”, “Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas”, “Schola Cantorum de Venezuela”, among others, and performed at the most prestigious venues in Europe, Asia, and the US, under the baton of internationally known artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Christian Vazquez, Diego Matheuz, Alberto Grau, and María Guinand.
https://laurasilvapiano.weebly.com/
During her graduate studies at OU, Laura has been a group piano instructor for music-major college students, and a collaborative pianist of University Singers and Choral Union. She has also been a private piano instructor at ACMS, and a collaborative pianist for college and graduate students. She has been the instructor of Introduction to Piano Safari, Piano Ensembles, and Body Percussion/Movement at the ACMS Summer Week; she has also collaborated with the Music Theater Summer Camp and assisted the Piano Summer Camp. During her doctoral studies, she has been an instructor of Introductory courses to the Arts for undergraduate students and is the director of the Piano Ensembles Project at the Athens Community School of Music.
Laura Silva has been awarded the Silvia Reynolds Eckes Scholarship (2017-2019), the 2nd Prize at the Ohio International Piano Duo & Duet Competition with Teodora Owen (2018), the Graduate Achievement in Performance Award at the Annual OU School of Music Honors Assembly (2018), and the OU Diversity Fellowship (2019-2020). She premiered the nationally awarded piano solo piece “Art Miniatures” by Ryne Siesky (2018) at the West Fork New Music Festival at Fairmont State University (WV), the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Conference in Ashland, and the Society of Composers International Invitational at West Virginia University.
Three of her Elementary Piano Ensemble pieces are published by Piano Safari. Part of her teaching philosophy can be found on the article “The Power of Piano Ensembles: Building Collaboration, Musicianship, and Community” for The Piano Magazine: Clavier Companion published in 2019. She has joined the OU MTNA Chapter as Treasurer (2017-2018) and Vice-President (2018-2020), and has presented posters and conferences at several conferences such as MTNA Symposia, National Conference of MTNA and NCKP. In the latest edition of the NCKP, she has prepared a Virtual Piano Ensemble with the performance contribution of pianists attending and presenting at this conference. The arrangement for this project has been published by TimeWarp for the music library app SuperScore.
Laura holds degrees from the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica Juan Jose Landaeta, Central Universidad Central de Venezuela (Bachelor in Social Psychology) and a Master of Music from the Universidad Simon Bolivar. Her piano mentors have been Elizabeth Guerrero, Carlos Urbaneja, Abraham Abreu, Manuel Laufer, Christopher Fisher, Stephanie Wu, and Emely Phelps. She has participated of piano master classes and lessons of Judith Jaimes, Frank Fernández, Walter Blankenheim, Carlos Duarte, Gabriela Montero, Roger Muraro, Monique Duphil, Prisca Benoit, Michel Beroff, Laura Mikkola, Kristiina Junttu, Edith Peña, Vadym Kholodenko, Michael Chertock, Rachel Kudo, and Kwan Yi.
Besides the piano, she has studied organ with Paul Barte and Pablo Castellanos; harpsichord with Rubén Guzmán and Bruno Procopio and she has received classes of baroque music at courses with Jacques Ogg, Ketil Haugsand and Alessandro Santoro, among others. She obtained an advanced certificate at Ohio University in choral conducting, studying with Bradley Naylor and Paul Mayhew and has studied composition with Mark Phillips. She is currently interested in studies on music, identity, and migratory processes such as diasporas.
In her native city, Caracas, Laura was a piano teacher at Mozarteum Caracas School of Music, where she started the Piano Ensembles project (2014) that she has replicated in the US. She is a former principal pianist of the UNESCO awarded network “El Sistema”. She was the titular pianist at Teresa Carreño Youth Symphony Orchestra, a collaborative pianist of the Latin American Academy of Flutes, and participated of multiple concerts and festivals. Laura has partnered with the “Orquesta Barroca Simón Bolívar”, “Orquesta de Cámara Mozarteum Caracas”, “Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional de Venezuela”, “Orquesta Juvenil de Caracas”, “Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela”, “Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas”, “Schola Cantorum de Venezuela”, among others, and performed at the most prestigious venues in Europe, Asia, and the US, under the baton of internationally known artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Christian Vazquez, Diego Matheuz, Alberto Grau, and María Guinand.
https://laurasilvapiano.weebly.com/
