About
The 2025 M2 Piano Intensive
The M2 Piano Intensive is a newly formed summer program for talented and aspiring pianists based anywhere in the world. Students of all ages study and perform for one week with our esteemed teaching artists in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, California, where they will be prepared to be showcased at a community wide event.
The program houses students at the Dunn School, a small private school located just outside Los Olivos. Students will spend the day taking 1:1 lessons with our faculty, participating in team building exercises, outdoor activities, and performing for each other and the local community. Day trips will be made to both Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West, and Los Angeles during the week. Special field trip options will be available to visit UCLA, USC, Colburn, and even Disneyland.
The goal of the program is to refine students' current abilities at the piano, and develop organizational and interpersonal skills and knowledge which can then be applied in their everyday lives. We stress the importance of bonding within our cohort of students, structuring the program in a way that requires everyone to work together and support one another. Students will also be exposed to new aspects of the music industry, and are encouraged to prompt any musical discussions that might help them grow. Furthermore, both primary teaching instructors Sylvia Jiang and Yong Hi Moon will be in attendance for the full duration of the festival, allowing students to gain valuable knowledge and advice beyond their set lesson times.
Students participating in the M2 Piano Intensive, will also have a chance to meet and interact with students participating in our M2 Camp, taking place during the same week. M2 Camp students represent the local community of young artists who will be working with our multi-instrumentalist instructors.
PLEASE NOTE:
-Students 18 and older have the option to live on campus for $1,000 (room and board) or live off campus at one of our partner hotels at a reduced rate. Students under 12 years old who are attending as boarding students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian also willing to stay on campus or housed together in a hotel.
-Students who are living on campus will be boarded among students in similar age brackets. Residential assistants will supervise housing of all boarded students to maintain a healthy and happy living environment.
-All students must submit a pre-screening recording with their application.
-Students who will be flying in are able to either arrive at the Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), where our staff will pick them up to transport them to campus, or students can arrive at LAX in Los Angeles and take a shuttle bus to Santa Barbara.
faculty
Sylvia Jiang - Program Chair
Davis Reinhart - Program Coordinator
Yong Hi Moon - Teaching Artist
Sylvia Jiang is a young concert pianist from New Zealand and serves as Artistic Director and co-founder of non-profit organization Muffin Music Inc.. Hailed by critics as a ‘gifted young pianist of genuine substance’ and ‘New Zealand’s most notable young emerging pianist,’ Sylvia has been featured on BBC News, The Washington Post, ABC Aus
Sylvia Jiang is a young concert pianist from New Zealand and serves as Artistic Director and co-founder of non-profit organization Muffin Music Inc.. Hailed by critics as a ‘gifted young pianist of genuine substance’ and ‘New Zealand’s most notable young emerging pianist,’ Sylvia has been featured on BBC News, The Washington Post, ABC Australia, Radio New Zealand Concert, and other notable news networks and publications. Sylvia has performed as a soloist with numerous internationally renowned Orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, Queensland Symphony, Music Academy of the West, and Juilliard Chamber Orchestras. Solo performance highlights include Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Auckland Town Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Sylvia has served as Artistic Director for multiple arts organizations and events, with a focus on her interest in multi-disciplinary collaborative work. She was invited to be a featured soloist in The Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Miami City Ballet. Over the years, she has won numerous top prizes at national and international level competitions including the prestigious Lev Vlassenko, Kerikeri, Music Academy of the West, and Hastings International Piano Competitions. She most recently served as the sole Artist Diploma Candidate at Johns Hopkins University.
She is currently on faculty at the University of Aukland School of Music.
Learn more about Sylvia here
Yong Hi Moon - Teaching Artist
Davis Reinhart - Program Coordinator
Yong Hi Moon - Teaching Artist
Accomplished pianist and teacher Yong Hi Moon made her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 10 as winner of the National Korean Broadcasting Competition. Ms. Moon has won top prizes in the Elena-Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli, Italy, the Vienna da Motta Competition in Lisbo
Accomplished pianist and teacher Yong Hi Moon made her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 10 as winner of the National Korean Broadcasting Competition. Ms. Moon has won top prizes in the Elena-Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli, Italy, the Vienna da Motta Competition in Lisbon, Portugal, and also received the Chopin Prize from the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland. Ms. Moon performs extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the US as recitalist and soloist, having appeared with the Korean National Symphony and the Osaka, Seoul, and Tokyo Philharmonics. She collaborates regularly with her husband, pianist/conductor Dai Uk Lee, in duo piano concerts and has performed under his baton with the Busan, Bucheon and Ulsan Philharmonics, Korean Symphony Orchestra, and Korea Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Moon has been affiliated as a teaching artist for The Juilliard School, Michigan State University School of Music, The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Davis Reinhart - Program Coordinator
Davis Reinhart - Program Coordinator
Davis Reinhart - Program Coordinator
Davis Reinhart is a composer from Buellton, CA, and is the co-founder and President of the non-profit organization, Muffin Music Inc.. Davis is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, in music composition and performing arts management and entrepreneurship. He writes for a wide array of compositional s
Davis Reinhart is a composer from Buellton, CA, and is the co-founder and President of the non-profit organization, Muffin Music Inc.. Davis is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, in music composition and performing arts management and entrepreneurship. He writes for a wide array of compositional styles, including videogames, film, theater, as well as for orchestras, chamber ensembles and big band. In 2021, Davis was commissioned to write, record, and produce an original composition for the City of Buellton, thanks to a generous grant provided by the Buellton Arts and Culture Committee and the Buellton City Council. Davis’s other recent projects include composing music for the award winning film, Trailhead, by Justin Rubin, as well as music for Yale Climate Connections filmmaker, Peter Sinclair. Davis has written for the professional contemporary music ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, as well as the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble, and Brain Pocket Trio. As a music educator, he has been an instructor for Michigan Artist Citizen, a program that offers free piano lessons to low income families in Ann Arbor and Detroit, as well as teaches supplemental music workshops in schools through Children's Creative Project, a Santa Barbara based nonprofit. Davis currently resides in Los Angeles and is on faculty of the Arabesque Conservatory teaching piano, trumpet, and music therapy.
Learn more about Davis here