Dr. Paul Wirth
Camp Artistic Director PAUL WIRTH is a prominent figure in our national piano teaching community.  His unique combination of masterful teaching, performing, and sense of humor has produced remarkable results in his specialty of working with pre-college age students.  With his BM from Temple University, and his MM and DM degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University, Dr. Wirth co-founded and is the Artistic Director of the Central Minnesota Music School based in St. Cloud, MN.  He has been the featured speaker at local, regional, and national organizations.  His students have been first-prize winners of regional, national, and international competitions and performed over 60 times as soloists with orchestras.  A unique supporter of young performers, he co-founded the Salon se Lève Concert Series in Minneapolis, which awards over $2,000 annually to emerging young artists.

Dr. Nancy Bachus

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, NANCY BACHUS is an internationally known clinician and teacher who taught more than 25 years at the college and university levels.  Certified as a Master Teacher by MTNA, she currently has an independent studio in Hudson, Ohio.  A student of pianists Eugene List and the accompanist Brooks Smith, she has coached in recent years with Fernando Laires.  She has performed solo recitals in many states, Italy and Canada, and was in the original “Monster Concerts” in Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the White House.

Nancy served on the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society and is the Associate Editor for Repertoire and Performance for Clavier Companion magazine.  As an author and clinician for Alfred Music Publishing, she has presented to piano teachers’ organizations throughout the United States, England, Scotland, Southeast Asia, and at the 2005 European Piano Teachers Association Conference in Manchester, England.  A tour of Australia is planned for 2010.  She has authored the highly acclaimed “Spirit” series:  Baroque Spirit, Classical Spirit, Romantic Spirit, and Beyond the Romantic Spirit; and the new Exploring Piano Classics series published by Alfred.

Dr. Herbert Johnson

HERBERT JOHNSON was appointed Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Activities at Bethel University in September 2008. Prior to this position Johnson taught applied piano and theory at North Central University for fourteen years. Johnson received his doctorate in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Prior to his arrival in the Twin Cities he taught at King’s College in Briarcliff Manor, New York, and Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri.

Johnson participates in numerous musical activities in the metropolitan area including chamber music recitals, worship services and sacred concerts. In the summers of 1997-98, he traveled to the Ukraine with the Kairos Chamber Ensemble performing in churches and musical institutions in Kiev and Cherkassy, two of the country’s largest cities. He has also performed with the Kruspe Horn Trio throughout the state of Minnesota.

Dr. Jo Anne Link
Pianist JO ANNE LINK has appeared extensively as soloist, duo-pianist, and chamber musician throughout the Midwest and Southwest. She has appeared as soloist with the Maple Mount Festival Orchestra, the Jordan Conservatory Orchestra, and has toured as soloist with the University of Arizona Orchestra. Her teachers have included the Rudolph Ganz pupil and master teacher, Martin Marks, and the eminent pianist, Lee Luvisi (pupil of Rudolph Serkin and Mieczyslav Horszowski). Among the many awards received by her students are the following: Winner-MTNA National Baldwin Awards-State Division and 1st and 2nd place in the International Recording Competition of Austin, Texas. Dr. Link lives in St. Paul with her husband, Dr. Joseph Zins, where they share a studio devoted to the training of gifted and talented young musicians.

Dr. Miyoko Nakaya Lotto

Born in Hokkaido, Japan, MIYOKO NAKAYA LOTTO began piano lessons at the age of 3 and enrolled in the Preparatory Division of the Toho School of Music at age 5 where studies with the late Aiko Iguchi began. At age 17, she captured third prize on the prestigious Mainichi-NHK Music Competition and toured throughout Japan as a prize winner.

Miyoko Nakaya studied with the legendary piano pedagogue Sascha Gorodnitzki and became his assistant at the age of 21.  Professor Lotto has received awards from the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition, the Concert Artist Guild, Young Concert Artist Competition, Sterling Staff Competition in Dallas, Texas; and F. Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy.

Professor Lotto has performed in more than 40 states across the U.S. -- at age 26, her New York City debut was presented at Alice Tully Hall. She has given numerous master classes throughout Japan and the U.S.,and has served as juror on the panels of several international competitions.
Miyoko Lotto is on the faculty at New York University, Manhattan School of Music and the Perlman Music Program.  Her students have been prizewinners of numerous major international piano competitions such as the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the International Chopin Competition.

Dr. Ksenia Nosikova

KSENIA NOSIKOVA is a graduate of Moscow Conservatory, where she received her Undergraduate and Masters’ degrees (with highest honors). She earned her Doctoral degree from the University of Colorado.  Presently, Ksenia Nosikova is an Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Iowa, where she devotedly teaches an international studio of graduate and undergraduate students. In addition to her active performing, recording and teaching schedule, she is in high demand as an adjudicator. The prize-winner of three international competitions, she has been invited to serve the Ibla Grand Prize International Competition (Italy), Schmidbauer International Competition (Texas),  several American young artists’ competitions, and MTNA auditions as a jury member.She is one of the founding members of the Matisse Piano Trio and an Artistic Director of Piano Sundays at Old Capitol concert series (Iowa).  Ksenia Nosikova is a Steinway Artist. For more information click here.

Dr. Horacio Nuguid
Pianist HORACIO NUGUID has inspired and captivated listeners with his “digital precision, elegance, and beautiful tone.” He received the BM at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, MM at the University of Northern Iowa, and DMA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He maintains an active performance career both as a soloist and collaborator. He was a faculty member of the University of Northern Iowa and the Rochester Community College. As a member of the MMTA, Dr. Nuguid is also active in presenting master classes, lecture-recitals, and workshops. In his efforts to bring
more live performances of classical music to the community, Horacio founded the Rochester Chamber Music Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to presenting chamber music concerts.

Dr. Daniel Rieppel
DANIEL RIEPPEL, a native Minnesotan of Austrian descent, holds performance degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, and a DMA from the University of Minnesota. In 1990, Dr. Rieppel made his Ordway debut recital which was broadcast by MPR, and since has performed throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, England, and the Republic of Panama both on his own and as a soloist with several orchestras. He has worked often as a chamber musician with members of both the
Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and recently founded the Schubert Trio, of which he is a member. In 1998, Dr. Rieppel joined the faculty of Southwest State University. He divides his time between the Twin Cities and Marshall, where he lives with his wife, Panamanian harpsichordist Julieta Alvarado, and their two children.

Dr. Joseph Zins
As winner of the prestigious Young Pianist Competition of the Indiana State Symphony Society, pianist JOSEPH ZINS made his professional debut to critical acclaim at the age of seventeen with the Indianapolis Symphony.  In addition to 15 subsequent solo appearances with the ISO before the age of twenty-two, he has also appeared as soloist with many other orchestras and concertized widely as soloist, duo-pianist and chamber player in works ranging from Bach to Messiaen. Joseph’s musical heritage is an eclectic mix of the Russian, French, and German Schools. His students have excelled in local, state, and national competitions, and have appeared on NPR’s program From the Top and Music da camera. Dr. Zins was named Thursday Musical’s Teacher of the Year, 2003-2004.