Anna Szalai is 17 years old and is a junior at Keystone School in San Antonio, TX. She has been playing piano since she was 4 years old, and currently she studies piano with Peter Steigerwald at the Musical Arts Center of San Antonio. Her biggest achievements in piano are winning first place at the Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition, and as a result performed at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall at age 10 in 2018 and placing in 1st-3rd place for the past six years at the Janice K. Hodges Piano Competition. She was featured in KSAT Interview in March 2019 about her musical accomplishments and in 78209 Magazine as a gifted child in February 2019. More recently, you may have heard her playing on the radio at the SOLI Open Mic Night on Texas Public Radio in 2022 and on KPAC 88.3 in 2024. She also won 1 st place in the Playful Piano competition in 2024. She has won the Judges Choice Award at the UTSA Achievement Auditions multiple times and performed at the UTSA Recital Hall. She also won 2nd place at the 2019 Young Artist Piano Competition in San Marcos Texas State School of Music and was selected to participate in a week-long piano masterclass at SMU in the summer of 2021. She also was invited to attend a 2-week keyboard academy class at the University of Houston in 2022 and masterclasses in Budapest, Hungary in 2023. Anna was chosen as a member of the Gurwitz Ambassadors in 2019 and played on numerous recitals, including at San Fernando Cathedral Christmas Concert of Musical Bridges of San Antonio in December 2021. Most recently, she was awarded the prestigious Young Artist Award from MACSA in 2024, which is awarded to students who are among the best performers in their age group in Texas. She is currently the San Antonio regional director of the Back to Bach Project, which goes around to schools and performs classical music for children, as well as the student leader of the Junior Tuesday Music Club. Outside of music, Anna loves to read, write, and draw.

Tonya Pacetti-Perkins is a pianist with years of experience collaborating with instrumentalists and vocalists in the San Antonio Area in her youth. She began her piano studies at the age of 7 with Thelma Gonzalez Landon at the Lackland Music Academy in San Antonio, Texas. In 1997, after being inspired by the piece Miràge which was composed by Elisenda Fábregas and commissioned by the San Antonio International Piano Composition, she auditioned and became part of Dr. Fábregas' studio at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1998, where she focused on expanding her piano repertoire and technique. During her studies she was recognized by the Piano Area for her accompaniment efforts. After years of focusing on her corporate career, and family, she has returned to her piano studies, and recently completed a Master’s Certificate in Collaborative Piano Performance at UTSA. Tonya was the  first student studying under Dr. Tracy Cowden and Dr. Jeong-Eun Lee as they defined a collaborative piano program for the San Antonio area rooted in the Eastman School of Music tradition and the teachings of Dr. Jean Barr. Tonya is excited to bring a fresh perspective to collaborative piano and  highlighting the works of underrepresented composers.

Isaiah Valdez, 23, from Harlingen, Texas, began his musical journey at Vernon Middle School. He studied under Dr. Tido Janssen at UTRGV, honing his cello skills and developing a deep appreciation for the instrument. At the University of Texas at San Antonio, he learned from esteemed teachers like Dr. Yi Qun Xu, Holgen Gjoni, and Bonnie Hampton. He has also participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Julien Swartz, Brook Speltz, Santiago Cañón Valencia, and Emilio Colon.

Isaiah actively engages in chamber groups at UTSA, showcasing his versatility and commitment to musical collaboration. His composition, "Silent Cartography," a suite for solo piano, won awards at UTSA's COLFA Research Conference in 2021. Currently at UTSA’s Master's program in Cello Performance and Pedagogy, Isaiah aspires to follow in the footsteps of his mentors and become a distinguished university-level music educator. His dedication and diverse musical pursuits highlight a promising career ahead.