Our After School Arts with Juilliard programme will be launching after Easter. We have four amazing musicians champing at the bit to work with our young people on a range of instruments – Ben Moermond on bassoon, Beedarn Chao on violin, Gen Wong and Ivan Osaulenko on piano. Interested parents who are interested in after school lessons, coaching sessions, masterclasses or group lessons with these wonderful teachers and musicians, please email naomi.rowan@nais.hk. These lessons are not limited to students but open to the wider community, so go ahead and spread the word!
Gen Wong
Pianist Genevieve Wong is an artist “gifted of the hand, soul and vision”, hailed by the renowned pianist Russell Sherman. A concert pianist, chamber musician, educator and competition adjudicator, Miss Wong was prizewinner of the Young Musicians Competition organized by the Five Towns Music and Art Foundation in New York, USA. Miss Wong’s craft and dedication have taken her to the concert stages in major cities in North America, including appearances at the Lincoln Center in New York, in various cities across China as well as in her hometown Hong Kong. She has collaborated with international award-winning artist, Zhu Dan, in many duo recitals and performed with members of the Hong Kong Philharmonic on many occasions in concerts and on radio, including recording for them the complete Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Ms. Wong has appeared in live performances and as recording artist on Radio 4 of The Radio Television Hong Kong and in solo recitals and chamber music concerts presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at the Hong Kong City Hall, the Chinese University, the University of Hong Kong and the University of Science and Technology. She collaborates with instrumentalists, singers, composers, and with the Hong Kong University Orchestra on many occasions. Miss Wong has been on the faculty at the Hong Kong Baptist University Music and Baron School of Music and is frequently invited to serve on the jury for competitions, including among them the Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition.
Miss Wong took her Bachelors’ degree at the New England Conservatory and was subsequently admitted to The Juilliard School in New York, where she was a full scholarship recipient and obtained her Masters’ degree in Piano Performance. Miss Wong has worked closely with many great artists, among them were Jacob Lateiner, Patricia Zander, Seymour Lipkin and German Diez during her years residing in the U.S. At masterclasses she has worked with many great pianists including Vladimir Feltsman, Russell Sherman, Robert Taub and Yoheved Kaplinsky.
Ivan Osaulenko
Ivan Osaulenko started to play piano at the age of 7. Four years later, he made his first public appearance at the Cherkassy Philharmonic Society playing works by Beethoven, Chopin and his own compositions. While a student, he won prizes at youth piano competitions in Ukraine and Italy.
In 2003, Mr. Osaulenko graduated a specialist in piano - a master's degree by today's standard - at the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kiev).
After graduation, he worked at his alma mater as a collaborative pianist in opera and symphonic conducting departments, and taught piano at the Lysenko Secondary Special Music School for the Gifted in Kiev.
Mr. Osaulenko has collaborated with leading orchestras of Ukraine such as the Academic Symphony Orchestra (Kiev), Chernihiv Symphony Orchestra "Philharmonia," and Cherkassy Philharmonic. He has toured extensively in every major Ukrainian city, both as a soloist and performing with orchestras. Mr. Osaulenko also has appeared at music festivals, such as "Kiev Music Fest" and "Musical Premieres of the Season" where he premiered the newest works by contemporary Ukrainian composers, which were broadcast on NRCU.
As a soloist and a member of contemporary music piano trio "Counterpoints" he has toured in Poland, Germany, Russia, and China.
Mr. Osaulenko has served as a juror of several piano competitions including Hong Kong Asia – Pacific Youth Piano Competition and Brandenburg International Music Competition, and has given master classes in Ukraine and China.
Since 2007 he has resided in Shenzhen, China, where he has taught piano at Shenzhen Tairan International School for the Gifted and Talented, Funful Bilingual School, and Danzhaoyi Piano Art Centre.
Mr. Osaulenko enjoys teaching very much and gains much satisfaction from seeing his students playing musically and developing a love for music. Being trained in the classical Russian method Mr. Osaulenko follows the great traditions of the Russian piano school, educating his students insuch qualities as a loyalty to the text with a deep understanding of a composer’s language, a polished singing sound in combination with an expressive natural phrasing, a natural finger position and a physiological ease with the keyboard.
Mr. Osaulenko is proud of the success of his students, many of whom are prizewinners of international piano competitions and graduates of higher musical education institutions across the globe.
