The 2026 Heida Hermanns International Music Competition
Finalists
Matthew Figel
USA
“With a tone and approach entrancing from the outset,” (New York Concert Review, Inc.) Matthew Figel is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he studies with Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers. The first musician in his family, Matthew began his piano studies at age ten in Midland, Texas, making his recital debut that same year. Since then, he has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe, in venues such as the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.
Matthew was named a fellow at the 2022 Gilmore Piano Festival and made recent summer concert appearances at the Southeastern Piano Festival in Columbia and the Arts at Messiah Summer Concert Series. His successes in competitions have included top prizes in the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition and the Harold Protsman Classical Period Competition. He was also named a finalist and awarded sixth prize at the 2022 International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, where he performed with the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra in Leipzig.
Eager to specialize in 18th and early 19th-century repertoire, Matthew has studied harpsichord and fortepiano with Eduardo Bellotti and Lisa Goode Crawford in addition to lessons in historical performance practice under Paul O’Dette. Additionally, he attended the inaugural Forte / Piano Academy held at the Cornell Institute for Historic Keyboards, where he studied with Mike Cheng-Yu Lee and Malcolm Bilson. Recently, he performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History as part of a recital presenting the complete Piano Trios of Ludwig van Beethoven as part of the Beethoven Trio Academy coached by Kenneth Slowik, Mike Cheng-Yu Lee, David Breitman, and Vera Beths.
Matthew received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Applied Music and Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music as well, previously studying with Nelita True. Here, Matthew was admitted into the music honor society, Pi Kappa Lambda, in addition to graduating with Highest Distinction and receiving the Anne T. Cummins Prize in Humanities. While in his sophomore year, Matthew was named winner of the Eastman Concerto Competition, becoming one of the youngest students to solo with the Eastman Philharmonia in the school’s 100-year history.
Matthew has performed in masterclasses instructed by Richard Goode, Simone Dinnerstein, Paul Lewis, Pascal Rogé, Hung-Kuan Chen, Emanuel Ax, and Lori Sims. He also recently participated in Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series, where he performed in a Mozart Piano Concerto masterclass presented by Mitsuko Uchida. A past fellow at PianoFest in the Hamptons and PianoTexas International Festival and Academy, he has also attended summer festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival, Gijón International Piano Festival and the Aspen School of Music.
He is also an avid collaborative pianist, performing in masterclasses for artists such as Renée Fleming and Jon Nakamatsu while receiving coachings from the Ying Quartet, Steven Doane, and Natalya Antonova. While at Eastman, he received the John Celentano Award for Excellence in Chamber Music and the Verdehr Trio Award at the Commencement ceremony to recognize his commitment to chamber music.
An alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy, he was chosen as the school’s first-ever Senior Performer, an honor given to a student to represent the graduating class with a solo performance at the final Commencement ceremony. His teachers here included Thomas Lymenstull and Michael Coonrod, following Matthew’s studies with Mark Puckett.
An enthusiastic teacher, Matthew currently teaches secondary lessons at Eastman and has received the Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Matthew previously served as the Artist-in-Residence at Valley Manor Living Center, where he performed monthly recitals for the senior community of Rochester, New York, and continues to actively perform outreach concerts at retirement homes and community centers.
Juhee Lim
Korea
Praised for her poetic sensitivity and commanding virtuosity, Juhee Lim has emerged as one of the most compelling pianists of her generation. She is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School and is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree under Robert McDonald. Lim has also been awarded the Gina Bachauer Memorial Scholarship, Lola Maskiewitz Scholarship, and Richard R. Levien Scholarship, and in 2020 was named a “2030 Next Generation Leader” by Forbes Korea.
She has won numerous competitions, including the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition at Juilliard, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, and the Modern Times Prize as a finalist at the Clara Haskil Piano Competition. She is also a grand prize winner of the PyeongChang Music Festival Competition in South Korea and the IMA Festival Competition in Japan. As winner of Juilliard’s Concerto Competition, she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” at Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra under Carlos Miguel Prieto.
She has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras including the Mariinsky Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Taiwan Philharmonic, Polish Kammer Philharmonic, Asia Philharmonic, Incheon Philharmonic, Gyeonggi Philharmonic, Daegu Symphony, Gwangju Philharmonic, and Shanghai Sinfonietta, collaborating with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Osmo Vänskä, Julian Kovatchev, and Massimo Zanetti. At the age of nine, she made her debut with Kabalevsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 under Gergiev at the Stars of the White Nights Festival, a performance that launched her European career.
Her recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2022 was met with critical acclaim, followed by appearances at Accademia Palermo Classica in Italy and major festivals including Rheingau Musik Festival, Annecy Festival, Seoul Spring Festival, PyeongChang Music Festival, Fukuyama International Music Festival, Ishikawa Music Festival, and Suntory Hall Chamber Music Garden. She has performed across the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Spain, Japan, China, and South Korea, in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Suntory Hall, Opera City Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Lotte Concert Hall, and Shanghai Oriental Art Center.
Her repertoire spans from Bach and Beethoven to Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and contemporary works, showcasing both intellectual depth and technical brilliance. Critics have praised her performances for their “poetic sensitivity and commanding virtuosity,” drawing comparisons to the artistry of Evgeny Kissin and other legendary pianists.
Daria Podorozhnova
Russia
Praised for performing “with the authority of a fully mature artist”(New York Concert Review), pianist Daria Podorozhnova was Second Prize winner at the 2025 Olga Kern International Piano Competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her recent successes include First Prize at the Ann & Charles Eisemann Young Artist Competition in Dallas, which led to a solo appearance with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra in 25/26 season, Gold Medal in the Professional Young Artist Concerto Division at the 2025 International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U. S. A., which led to a solo appearance with Boulder Symphony orchestra in 26/27 season and First Prize at the Chopin International Piano Competition 2025 in Hartford, Connecticut. She has also received Sixth Prize at the 69th Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, as well as top prizes at international competitions in Russia and Kazakhstan.
In February 2025, Podorozhnova was named a winner of the Eisenberg–Fried Concerto Competition at the Manhattan School of Music and she performed Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the OPUS130 orchestra. Daria has appeared extensively as a recitalist and concerto soloist in Russia and internationally, and has performed at major festivals including Stars of the Baikal, XVII International Piano Festival “Mariinsky”, PianoTexas.
Born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Daria began her piano studies at the age of six at the Special Music School affiliated with the Rostov State Conservatory. She studied with Inna Serebryanskaya and later with renowned professor Sergei Osipenko.
Daria Podorozhnova is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where she studies with Alexandre Moutouzkine. She is a recipient of the prestigious Harold and Helene Schonberg Pianist Scholarship.