Jessen Cao is currently studying Mathematics at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and previously won 1st prize in the 2013 Alaska Piano Competition in the senior division. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, skateboarding, and reading.

In this Master Class session, Mr. Cao performs select passages of Claude Debussy's Prelude from Suite Bergamasque for Boris Slutsky and engages in an in-depth discussion of his performance. You'll get to hear valuable insights from this world-renowned educator and professor as he evaluates and critiques Mr. Cao's interpretation of one of Debussy's most memorable compositions.

Mr. Slutsky has presented master classes throughout North America, Europe and Asia and served as a jury member of many international piano competitions. Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, he received his early training at Moscow’s Gnessin School for Gifted Children as a student of Anna Kantor, and completed his formal studies at the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, studying with Nadia Reisenberg, Nina Svetlanova, John Browning and Joseph Seiger. Mr. Slutsky joined the faculty of The Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1993, where he currently serves as the Piano Department Chair.