This month’s performance in our free Community Concert Series features pianists and Hinsdale Central students Tong-Bai Deng and Daniel Razminia.
Tong-Bai has been a student at New Music School since autumn of 2023, studying with Dr. Winston Choi as well as Dr. Sean Bennett and Jeffrey Panko. He has been recognized in many competitions and has won numerous awards, such as Gold Medal in the Professional Young Group at the 11th GOCAA Competition, Professional Young Artist II 1st Prize in the 2024 and 2025 CIMC Competition and Best Contemporary Piece Performance in 2024 and Gold Medal in the Professional Young Group at the 12th Qingdao International Mendelssohn Piano Competition, held in China. Recently, he earned 1st place in the 56th Annual Stanger Competition and 1st Alternate in the Crain-Maling CSO Young Artist Competition, where he performed the finale of Prokofiev’s 2nd piano concerto in G minor. As a prize for this competition, he was invited to play for pianist Daniil Trifonov in a masterclass.
Daniel aspires to be a concert pianist. He started his formal training in classical music in 2022 with Jeffrey Panko at the New Music School in Chicago and is currently a student of Panko and Mary Sauer, principal keyboardist emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In August of 2024, Daniel participated in the Todi International Music Masters Piano Festival in Todi, Italy, where he attended masterclasses and performed several solo recitals. Daniel received the Gold Medal Prize twice in the Sonata-Sonatina Festival (CAMTA). In 2025, he had the special honor of performing in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall after being awarded Second Place in the American Protégé Competition. In addition, Daniel recently won first prize at the SBC Concerto Competition in the Senior Piano Division and received Honorable Mention at the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra Stanger Concerto Competition.