Faculty

Daria Rabotkina holds the position of an Assistant Professor of piano at Texas State University. Born in Kazan, Russia, into a family of musicians, she gave her first solo recital at the age of ten. She received her education at the Kazan State Conservatory and Mannes College of Music in New York City under the tutelage of Vladimir Feltsman. Rabotkina holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and the Artist Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Natalya Antonova.

She has taught at the Kazan State Conservatory, the Music School of New York City, and the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Rabotkina’s concerto highlights include San Francisco and New World Symphonies, Kirov (Mariinsky) Orchestra, Moscow State Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Hudson Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Concepción and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra (Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety). Her orchestral collaborations include conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Feltsman, Julian Kuerti, JoAnn Falletta, Benjamin Shwartz, and Giancarlo Guerrero. Dr. Rabotkina has given recitals at the Kennedy Center (Washington Performing Arts Society), Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Ravinia’s Rising Stars, Dame Myra Hess and PianoForte Salon Series in the Chicago area, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and in Denmark, Switzerland, and Japan.

Winner of the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Dr. Rabotkina has received top prizes at many international competitions and participated in Russia’s White Nights Festival, Finland’s Kuhmo Festival, Copenhagen’s Summer Festival and Germany’s MusikFest in Kreuth. In the United States, Dr. Rabotkina has appeared at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, International Keyboard Institute and Festival, Music Academy of the West, and PianoSummer at New Paltz. Her debut recital disc, spotlighting the Tchaikovsky Grand Sonata and Prokofiev’s Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, garnered universal critical praise. Her second solo CD, on CAG Records (2012), features Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Dr. Rabotkina’s third project involved live recording of three concerti is as part of the Victor Elmaleh Collection.

Pianist Jason Kwak has already enjoyed a successful career, both as an artist and as a pedagogue.  Born in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Kwak began his piano studies at the age of four.  He has earned his degrees in Piano Performance from Eastman School of Music and The University of Texas at Austin.  His principal piano teachers include David Watkins, Douglass Weeks, Barry Snyder, and Nancy Garrett. Dr. Kwak is currently Professor of Piano and Keyboard Area Coordinator at Texas State University.  Previously, he has held teaching positions at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas Extension Program, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. He is consistently in high demand for performances, masterclasses, lectures, and adjudications on a state, national, and international level.

Dr. Kwak has received top prize in many piano competitions including the Atlanta Steinway Society Competition, Handok Piano Competition, Southern Keyboard Competition, Atlanta Music Club, and the Clara Wells Piano Competition.  He has made numerous national and international appearances as a solo pianist including performances with the Victoria Symphony, Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra, Daegu Symphony Orchestra, The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Wind Symphony, The Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Round Rock Symphony, Gangnam Symphony Orchestra and the Rocky Ridge Orchestra.  Recent international engagements have taken Dr. Kwak all over the world, including stops in England, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, Norway, and South Korea

Dr. Kwak has also given solo performances in many notable venues and festivals, including performances at Seoul Arts Center, Jeju National Museum, Bundy Arts Center, Daegu Culture Center, Museu de Arte Moderna (Brazil), and Fox Theatre in Atlanta as well as solo performances in over 30 U.S. College Campuses and many International college campuses including Kei Myung University (South Korea), Adnan Menderes University, Yasar University (Turkey),University of Malay (Malaysia), Kuang Jen Catholic School, Chinese Culture University (Taiwan) and Birmingham Conservatory (England).  An avid chamber musician, Dr. Kwak has collaborated with many distinguished artists including performances with Mezzo-Soprano Shin Ja Kim, violinist Vincent Fritell, and trumpeter Billy Hunter and Craig Morris.  In 2008, Dr. Kwak, along with Dr. Ian Davidson and Professor Daris Hale, formed 'Trio 488', a chamber group comprised of applied music faculty at Texas State University.  With goals to promote and commission new music, Trio 488 has already performed at the College Music Society International Conference, International Double Reed Society Conference, Bear Valley Music Festival, NACUSA International Conference, RioWinds Festival, and at the Mysterium of Modern Music Concert along with several performances in various concert series.  An advocate of new music for this instrumentation, 'Trio 488 has already commissioned and premiered several new pieces and has plans to release their first CD of new music in the very near future.

As an educator, Dr. Kwak is a dedicated teacher who has been recognized numerous times for his teachings.  Most notably, in 2011, Dr. Kwak was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from Texas State University.  In 2004, Dr. Kwak received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  He has presented many lecture performances including lectures for Victoria Symphony, Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra, Corpus Christi Music Teachers Association, Kingsville Music Club, Austin District Music Teachers Association, Jeju National Museum, Texas Music Educators Association Convention and The University of Texas at Austin.  Further, Dr. Kwak’s students garnered several recognitions in competitions at the regional, national and international level.  Dr. Kwak was recently featured by Texas State University in their ‘Profiles in Teaching’ series.