2025 to 2026 World Harmonies Competition Adjudicators

American pianist Kay Zavislak enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performer, teacher, adjudicator, and clinician.  Spending her formative years in Japan, Ms. Zavislak attended the Toho Gakuen High School of Music, one of the most prestigious conservatories in Japan.  Ms. Zavislak then moved to the U.S. and earned the degrees Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan.

As a performer, Kay Zavislak has given solo recitals and chamber concerts regionally and nationally, in addition to public performances in Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, and Poland. In collaboration with flutist Leonard Garrison and saxophonist Bill Perconti, Ms. Zavislak has also recorded two commercial CDs for Centaur Records. 

In 2001, Ms. Zavislak was named a winner of the concerto competition at the University of Michigan. Her other awards include first prize in the Frances Walton Competition, second prize in the Richardson Young Artist Award Competition, second prize in the All-Tohoku Piano Competition in Japan, and third prize in the William Byrd International Concerto Competition.

Many of Ms. Zavislak’s university and pre-college students have received top prizes and honors in a number of regional piano festivals and competitions, such as the Music Fest Northwest in Spokane, Sonata-Sonatina Festival in Ellensburg, Northern Idaho Piano Festival, Spokane Piano Competition, Music Teachers National Association Idaho State and Washington State Competitions, and MTNA Northwest Regional Competition.

Before joining her family in Bellingham in 2013, Ms. Zavislak was an Assistant Professor of Piano and the Keyboard Area Coordinator at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music.  In addition, she has held teaching positions at Schoolcraft College, Albion College, and the University of Michigan. She studied piano under the guidance of Arthur Greene, Logan Skelton, Yoshie Kora, and Miyoko Hamamoto, harpsichord with Edward Parmentier, and organ with Marilyn Mason.

Dr. Xin Chang is a Chinese-born pianist with a vibrant career as a collaborative pianist, chamber musician, and educator across North America and Asia. Born into a musical family—her father an orchestra conductor, her mother a harpist, and her grandparents both ballet dancers—Dr. Chang was immersed in the performing arts from an early age.

She is currently based in Seattle, Washington, where she maintains a thriving private piano studio and collaborates regularly with leading string, woodwind, and voice studios, including the Zadinsky Violin Studio, Yuan Fang Violin Studio, Yuuki Hashimori Violin Studio, Rose Johnson Flute Studio, and Nayoung Ham Flute Studio. Dr. Chang also serves as the piano specialist for the Collaborative Musicians’ Project Youth Ensemble Program.

In 2024 and 2025, Dr. Chang served as Regional Director of the Orbifold Global Music Competition in the Seattle area, organizing meaningful performance opportunities for young musicians and helping bring high-level musical experiences and educational initiatives to the local community.

Renowned for her versatility and musical sensitivity, Dr. Chang has held positions as a full-time collaborative pianist at the University of Wyoming and as accompanist for the Seattle Bach Choir during the 2021–2022 season. She has served on the faculty of major music programs including the Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy, Texas Low Brass Academy, International Violin Festival and Competition in Singapore, and the Key to Change Solo String Festival.

Her extensive summer festival experience includes participation in prestigious programs such as the Interlochen Center for the Arts, SongFest, Brevard Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, Banff Centre, and the Castleman Quartet Program.

Dr. Chang has performed with esteemed artists including violinists Charles Castleman and Yuan Fang, clarinetist Xiaobin Lu, baritone David Small, tubaist Charles Villarrubia, and saxophonist Toshikazu Nagase, and has recorded with double bassist DaXun Zhang. As a soloist, she was awarded Second Prize at the Colorado International Piano Competition and has appeared with the Jiangsu Orchestra of China.

A dedicated and supportive teacher, Dr. Chang enjoys working with students of all levels. She is a certified Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) piano teacher, and many of her students have successfully completed RCM and ABRSM exams and earned recognition in international piano competitions.

Dr. Chang holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from Renmin University of China. Her principal teachers include Colette Valentine, Anne Epperson, Jean Barr, and Fang Zhang.

In her free time, Dr. Chang enjoys spending time with her husband and two active sons—Archer and Gordon!

Mr. Yuan Fang, professor of Violin, Founder and head of the Orchestral Instruments Department of China Conservatory of Music, Beijing, and Deputy Director of China Youth Philharmonic. Visiting Professor of University of Washington and Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Western Michigan University.

Mr. Yuan Fang has held concerts and master classes in many well-known venues, including Carnegie Hall, New York; Benaroya Hall, Seattle; Sydney Opera House, Australia; Mozarteum in Graz, Austria; Orpheum Theater, Canada; The Queensland University, Australia; Ewha Womans University, South Korea; Suntory Hall, Japan; Hong Kong Cultural Centre ,National Center for the Performing Arts,Beijing;Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, Beijing Concert Hall etc. As a jury member of the China National Violin and Piano Competition, the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition, the Shlomo-Mint International Violin Competition, the Singapore International Music Competition, Joseph BOLOGNE Chevalier de Saint-Georges International Violin Competition, and the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside (PAFE).

Mr.Yuan Fang Fang studied at the Central Conservatory of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied under Professor Zhao Weijian and Professor Taras Gabora.

Yang Lu received Doctor of Music Arts degree in Cello Performance from the University of Washington, a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, and a bachelor’s degree from Central Conservatory of Music in Bejing, China. Her principal teachers include Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Mingqing Yu, Eric Gaenslen, and David Premo. Lu was the recipient of the Alcor Endowed Scholarship and the Louis G. Marsh Endowed Music Scholarship in her DMA studies at the University of Washington, where she performed with the Corda Quartet, winner of the Strings and Piano Chamber Music Competition for the 2016 – 2017 academic year. She has had masterclasses with world-renowned chamber quartets such as the Emerson String Quartet, the Brandis String Quartet, the Tokyo String Quartet, and the Calidore String Quartet. She also had solo masterclasses with eminent cellists that include Wolfgang Boettcher, Lynn Harrell, David Geringas, Walter Grimmer, Albert Rome, Solow Jeffery, and Xavier Phillips.

As a dedicated cello teacher, Lu has developed a studio that strives to teach cello to students across an array of experiences, from beginners to advanced levels. Lu’s passionate commitment to her students’ success has helped them win many domestic and international competitions, including the David Popper VI International Cello Competition for Young Cellists, the 23rd Heran Violoncello Competition, the Liezen International Cello Competition, the Russian Chamber Music Competition, the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside, and the Bach Festival. Her students have received admission to the Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music and to the University of Pennsylvania Department of Music. Although the fruits of her commitment to teaching have recently begun to appear, they bode well for her as she continues her journey as an artist-teacher.

Always seeking to intersect technology with music, Lu believes that technology-assisted music education will be critical for the future because it will allow performers and students to practice with objectivity. As a music scholar, she undertook research into recorded excerpts of renown cellists in performance environments, analyzing those excerpts with digital signal processing techniques. This allowed her to visualize and discuss cello vibrato as it was actually executed. She will continue to create such innovate methods to improve musicians’ understanding of the instrument, in terms of both technique and musicality.

As cellist and founding member of Seattle-based chamber music groups Trio Camellia and Corda Quartet, Lu enjoys the variegated life of a musician. She has been a recitalist and chamber musician both nationally and worldwide, appearing in performances at Carnegie Hall, Music Center at Strathmore, the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Tokyo Metropolitan Center, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and Graz Opera in Austria. Lu served as cellist in many local orchestras including Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, Bellevue Ballet Orchestra, and Ensign Symphony Orchestra.

Since moving to Seattle in 2013, Lu has devoted herself to musical outreach in the local community. She was invited to perform on Seattle’s KING 5 TV, which interviewed her on-air. Lu additionally performed with Trio Camelia for the project Music Under the Stars, hosted by Seattle Chamber Society, to offer chamber music to local Seattle communities. She was also a mentor at Seattle Music Partners, helping to eliminate racial and economic barriers to quality music education.

Yang Lu serves as cello coach at the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and as faculty at the Seattle Conservatory of Music, where she teaches chamber music. She is also a member of American String Teachers Association and Washington Music Teachers Association.

Elizabeth Buck is professor of flute at Arizona State University. Previous appointments include visiting associate professor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Principal Flute with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. 

As an orchestral musician, she has performed as Principal Flute with the Arizona MusicFest Orchestra, Arizona Opera, Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera National Company and the Nova Philharmonia Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal.

Professor Buck has performed as concerto soloist with the Phoenix Symphony, Phoenix Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Prescott Strings, Transylvania Symphony Orchestra, The Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall, as well as with ASU’s student ensembles in Gammage Auditorium.

An active chamber musician in addition to orchestral performer, Buck has been a member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet and performs regularly with ASU’s Ocotillo Winds and Paradise Winds. With the Manhattan Wind Quintet, Buck has recorded on Centaur Records, and has performed on such distinguished series as the Frick Collection in Washington, D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, and the Da Camera Series in Houston, TX.

As a recitalist and master class clinician, Buck has performed for the Arizona Flute Society, the National Flute Association Conventions in Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, as well as Brigham Young University, Bowling Green State University, Butler University, Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, Ithaca College, Northern Arizona University, Oklahoma State University, Penn State Erie, Rice University, SIU-Edwardsville, SUNY-Fredonia, Stony Brook, Texas Tech University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Youngstown State University. 

Internationally, she has given masterclasses and guest recitals at University of the Arts in Bern, Switzerland, Lucerne University of Applied Arts and Sciences, Switzerland, the Conservatory of Music in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, Dankuk University in Seoul, Korea, Seoul International Summer Music Festival, and ChonNam University in Gwangju, Korea. 

Among her distinctions and awards, Buck won the New York Arts Club Competition, the New York Flute Club Competition, and the Juilliard School Concerto Competition.

Summer festival appearances include Artist-Faculty at InterHarmony International Music Festival (Arcidosso, Italy), Saarburg Festival (Saarburg, Germany), with previous appointments at West Virginia University International Flute Seminar, Brevard Music Center, Indiana University Summer Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and Banff Centre Summer Music.

Buck holds a doctorate in musical arts from Rice University and bachelor's and master's in music from The Juilliard School. She is an active and lifetime member of both the National Flute Association and the Arizona Flute Society. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, hiking, reading, water sports and traveling.

Chen Wang is an internationally active saxophonist and music educator whose career spans solo performance, chamber music, adjudication, and community engagement. He has performed widely across China, the United States, and Europe, and is recognized for his expressive artistry and versatility as a classical saxophonist. Wang has appeared as a featured soloist with the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra and Choral Arts Northwest, and has toured extensively with the UW Wind Ensemble, including high-profile concerts throughout China. From 2021 to 2024, he served as Principal Saxophonist with the Seattle Wind Symphony, contributing significantly to the ensemble’s artistic growth and concert programming.

A committed and sought-after adjudicator, Wang has served on the jury for several major competitions. He was appointed Saxophone Solo Adjudicator for the 2025 Washington State Solo & Ensemble Contest—one of the most prestigious and selective music competitions in the state—and served as a 2024 All-State Band Selection Judge through the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA). Internationally, he plays a key leadership role as a board member and artistic advisor to the World Harmonies Foundation, which promotes global music education and cross-cultural performance exchange.

Wang is also an active teaching artist and mentor. His students have won top prizes in competitions such as American Protégé, the Russian Composer Competition, Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside, and Washington State All-State. In addition to private instruction, he is involved in public music education, serving as a saxophone ensemble coach and clinician at schools such as Newport High School. He has led professional development workshops on music pedagogy and technology integration as part of China’s National Teacher Training Program and has presented lectures and masterclasses at institutions including Tsinghua University, Sichuan University, and Xi’an Conservatory of Music.

Wang’s dedication to music education is rooted in a strong academic background. He is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate (ABD) in Saxophone Performance at the University of Washington School of Music, where he also earned his Master of Music under the guidance of Dr. Michael Brockman. Prior to his studies in the U.S., Wang completed a Master of Education in Music and earned dual Bachelor’s degrees in Music and Geography from Capital Normal University in Beijing, studying with esteemed music educator Professor Zheng Li. His graduate thesis on music education received First Prize in the national graduate paper competition hosted by the Music Branch of the Chinese Society of Education.