Junior piano major, Yimeng Xu was accepted into the Collaborative Piano Institute at Louisiana State University for an extensive three week program. The Collaborative Piano Institute will offer collaborative piano seminars, workshops, masterclass, group lessons, and individual lessons with legendary faculty, Martin Katz, Kathleen Kelly, Rita Sloan, Jonathan Feldman and more. Opera stars Jamie Barton, Lisette Oropesa, and Paul Groves join the illustrious faculty, as well as instrumentalists Simon Gollo and Horatio Contreras to name a few.

The festival workshops will include classes focused on coaching, working with a conductor, musical style and interpretation, audition preparation for Young Artist Programs and summer festivals, language and diction, recording and technology aspects for the collaborative pianist to name a few.

Panels and Q&A with conductors from three different areas (opera, musical theater, and choral) will speak about what the needs and expectations are for collaborative pianists. Music Director of the Chicago Opera Theater, Lidiya Yankovskaya; Choral Conductor & ensemble founder, Arianne Abela; and Musical Theater director, arranger and coach, Doug Peck will join the Collaborative Institute.

Yimeng Xu is a student of Dr. Washington Garcia and studies Collaborative Piano with Professor Stacie Haneline.