Kent State University’s Kent Keyboard Series 2026-2027 Season

Five concerts. Returning artists. Musical connections that span Kent State, Northeast Ohio and stages around the world.

Purchase a five-concert season bundle for $45 and experience every performance in “A Season of Homecomings” with one purchase. Individual concert tickets are $12.

The Oct. 16 Giuseppe Guarrera concert, presented in collaboration with Piano Cleveland, is free, but a ticket is required. Admission to that performance is included with the season package.

All concerts take place in Ludwig Recital Hall, Center for the Performing Arts, 1325 Theatre Drive, on the Kent Campus.

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Special Opening Concert
Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 | 7 p.m.
Ludwig Recital Hall
Presented in collaboration with Piano Cleveland
Free; ticket required

Italian pianist Giuseppe Guarrera returns to Northeast Ohio following his most memorable appearance at the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, where he earned a medal and the special Beethoven Prize.

Guarrera has received major international recognition, including prizes at the Arthur Rubinstein and Montréal competitions and the Tabor Foundation Award at the Verbier Festival. His career has taken him to prominent concert halls and festivals around the world, including Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Cortot in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Severance Music Center in Cleveland and venues throughout China.

As a soloist, Guarrera has appeared with ensembles including The Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

A defining moment in his career came when Daniel Barenboim invited him to perform at the opening concert of the Pierre Boulez Saal’s 2017-2018 season. Guarrera returned for additional performances and later joined the faculty of the Barenboim-Said Akademie.

His return to Northeast Ohio opens “A Season of Homecomings” and continues the Kent Keyboard Series’ connection with artists who have established meaningful ties to the region.

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Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026 | 5 p.m.
Ludwig Recital Hall

Kent State alumnus and Green, Ohio, native Daniel Milan, D.M.A., returns to the Kent Campus for the second performance of “A Season of Homecomings.”

Milan is assistant professor of piano and division head of keyboard and strings at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he teaches applied piano, collaborative piano, piano pedagogy, piano literature and musicianship lab. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree with honors from Kent State University in 2013 before continuing his education at Bowling Green State University and the University of Oklahoma.

An active performer, clinician and adjudicator, Milan presents recitals, master classes, workshops and lectures at local, state and national levels. His research interests include solo and collaborative Romanian music, pop music at the piano, and music for geomungo and piano. His work has been presented through organizations including the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and College Music Society and has appeared in Piano Magazine.

International performance highlights include appearances in Italy, Austria and Romania, as well as a showcase recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. His competition honors include first prize at the Tuesday Musical Competition and recognition from the Grand Prize Virtuoso and Golden Key Debut international piano competitions.

In addition to his classical work, Milan is an independent recording artist and composer whose releases span pop and classical genres.

His return to Kent State brings an alumnus back to the university where his undergraduate musical training began.

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Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026 | 5 p.m.
Ludwig Recital Hall

Pianist and educator Cicilia Yudha returns to Northeast Ohio with a performance shaped by a career in music, scholarship and cross-cultural exploration.

Yudha’s work explores the intersections of French and Indonesian musical traditions through repertoire and research. She has performed in 20 U.S. states and internationally, with appearances at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta, Carnegie Hall and Severance Music Center with The Cleveland Orchestra.

Her work extends beyond the concert stage. Yudha has presented lecture-recitals for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the Frances Clark Center’s “From the Artist Bench” series, TEDx, Ohio Music Teachers Association and College Music Society conferences. Over nine years, she delivered nearly 50 Preview Concert Lectures for The Cleveland Orchestra.

Her recordings include “Selected Piano Works by Robert Casadesus and Henri Dutilleux,” released by Navona Records in 2016, and a 2024 recording of two piano trios by Emilie Mayer.

A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and four-time recipient of the Steinway Top Teacher Award, Yudha spent more than a decade on the faculty of the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University. She joined the University of Nevada, Reno as assistant professor of piano in fall 2025.

Her return to Northeast Ohio continues a professional connection to a region where she spent more than a decade performing, teaching and engaging with audiences.

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Sunday, Feb. 7, 2027 | 5 p.m.
Ludwig Recital Hall

Pianist and pedagogue Jerry Wong, D.M.A., returns to a campus he called home for more than 15 years.

Wong served as professor of piano at Kent State University from 2003 to 2019. He later relocated to Australia and is now professor of piano and head of keyboard at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

A Steinway Artist, Wong has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician on five continents. His performances have taken him to the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, National Concert Hall in Taipei, National Gallery of Art in Washington, Melbourne Recital Centre, Opera City Hall in Tokyo, Severance Music Center in Cleveland and Weill Recital Hall in New York.

Wong also has an extensive recording career. His projects for MSR Classics include works by Sergei Prokofiev and the solo recordings “Of Motion and Dance – Piano Music of Claude Debussy” and “Of Love and Longing – Piano Music of Franz Liszt.”

As a chamber musician, Wong has appeared at festivals including the Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival, Killington Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival and Pacific Music Festival. For more than a decade, he also performed and taught at the Kent Blossom Music Festival, where he collaborated with members of The Cleveland Orchestra and the Miami String Quartet.

A recognized pedagogue, Wong has presented master classes at institutions throughout the United States, Asia and Australia.

His return to Ludwig Recital Hall represents one of the season’s most direct homecomings, welcoming a longtime former Kent State faculty member back to the university community where he taught and performed for more than a decade and a half.

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Sunday, April 18, 2027 | 5 p.m.
Ludwig Recital Hall

Kent State faculty artist Donna Lee, D.M.A., closes “A Season of Homecomings” with a chamber music program bringing together colleagues, collaborators and family.

Featuring pianist Sungeun Kim, clarinetist Daniel Gilbert and cellist Holden Gilbert, the season finale will feature chamber masterworks for piano duo and clarinet trio.

Donna Lee, piano

Steinway Artist Donna Lee is professor and coordinator of piano at Kent State University’s Glauser School of Music and director of the Kent Keyboard Series.

Lee made her solo debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in 1990 and has since appeared as a soloist and collaborative artist at venues including the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Her international performance career has included appearances throughout the United States, Asia and Europe and at festivals including the Gotland Chamber Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Kent Blossom Music Festival, Classical Tahoe and Music on the Hill.

Her recordings include “Scenes from Childhood” on the Azica label and Felix Mendelssohn’s complete works for cello and piano with cellist Keith Robinson on Blue Griffin.

Lee was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in 2021. That same year, she received Kent State University’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the university’s highest teaching honor.

For the season finale, Lee brings together musicians whose artistic and personal connections make the program a fitting conclusion to a season centered on returning home.

Sungeun Kim, piano

Award-winning pianist Sungeun Kim has performed in the United States, Canada, Russia, Spain, Korea and Italy.

Her appearances as a soloist include performances with the Russian Federal Orchestra in the Moscow Conservatory’s Bolshoi Hall, Banff Festival Orchestra, International Chamber Ensemble of Rome and Gijón Symphony Orchestra.

Kim is also a returning Kent Keyboard Series artist, having been featured in a solo recital on the series in 2016.

Daniel Gilbert, clarinet

Clarinetist Daniel Gilbert is associate professor of clarinet at the University of Michigan and a frequent collaborator with Lee.

Before joining the University of Michigan faculty in 2007, Gilbert served as second clarinet with The Cleveland Orchestra from 1995 to 2007. Earlier in his career, he performed regularly with ensembles including the Metropolitan Opera, Stamford Symphony and New Haven Symphony.

Gilbert has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. His return to the Kent Keyboard Series continues a longstanding musical collaboration with Lee and another connection to Northeast Ohio’s performing arts community.

Holden Gilbert, cello

Cellist Holden Gilbert returns to the Kent Keyboard Series after making an appearance on the series in 2016.

A sophomore at Beachwood High School, Gilbert began studying cello at age 3 and currently studies with Mark Kosower. He earned first place in the Elementary Division of the Cleveland Cello Society Competition in 2022 and won the competition’s Junior Division in 2025.

In summer 2026, Gilbert attended Brevard Music Center’s Orchestral Institute, where he performed with the Brevard Concert Orchestra. He also has appeared in solo and chamber performances at Classical Tahoe and in Maryland, Massachusetts and Ohio.

Together, Lee, Kim and the Gilberts bring “A Season of Homecomings” to a close with a program rooted in collaboration, shared musical experiences and connections that extend across generations.

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