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SharpMinds Music Academy
An Authorized Yamaha Music School - Faculty
The Founder
Patricia Ooi Englehardt, Ph.D.
Patricia Ooi Englehardt, Ph.D., founder and director, has been actively involved in music education for several years, with teaching experiences in the Royal Academy (UK), Trinity College (UK), Yamaha Music Education (Japan), and the American public school systems.
A scholarship student at the Berklee College of Music, Patricia was the resident pianist for the Berklee Wind Ensemble with several performances at the renowned Berklee Performance Center and the Boston Hatch Shell. Patricia received her master and doctoral degrees in music education from the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, Florida.
Born in Penang, Malaysia, Patricia’s role as the Music Director of Yamaha Music Malaysia included the monitoring and raising of music education standards and student population in the Yamaha schools throughout Malaysia.
Dr. Englehardt also directed and coordinated various music education programs, such as:
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Teacher training seminars
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Music workshops
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Music camps, and
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Teachers’ educational symposiums.
In her secondary portfolio as Director of Music Studies at the Yamaha Academy of Arts & Music in Malaysia, she was one of the main initiators and facilitator of joint degree programs between Yamaha Academy and foreign universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. Patricia also directed several musical productions, concerts, festivals, and served as a Yamaha examiner and adjudicator of both local and international music competitions during her tenure.
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Dr. Englehardt was appointed Yamaha Music Education Specialist and Yamaha Grade Examiner by Yamaha Corporation of America, and conducts teacher training seminars and examinations in the US. Currently, she manages and directs the Yamaha Music Education System courses (YMES) at SharpMinds Music Academy.
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With the establishment of SharpMinds Music Academy, and as a passionate educator, Dr. Englehardt hopes to encourage students of all ages to experience the joys of music making. She believes that music nurtures both mind and soul, and music education is a gift of a lifetime.
Our Instructors
Leefei Chen-Jenkins
Leefei Chen-Jenkins earned her Bachelor’s degree for piano and harp at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She continued her harp graduate studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Leefei completed her Master’s degree in 2003, and in 2008, she graduated with her Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) in harp performance from the University of Miami in Florida.
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Leefei was the winner of the Anne Adam National Harp Competition, and Pennsylvania State Harp Society Grandjany Award. She has also performed with the Florida Philharmonic, New World Symphony Orchestra, the Florida Grand Opera, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Miami Wind Symphony, and Miami Symphony. Dr. Chen-Jenkins has had performances on such Broadway shows as My Fair Lady, Peter Pan, and South Pacific. She also has performed with Sarah Brightman, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra Jr., Lucie Désirée Arnaz, Styx and more.
Leefei teaches individual piano classes at the Academy, where her students have achieved superior ratings in the Florida Federation music assessments.
Yizhou Zhong
Yizhou Zhong was born in Suzhou, China, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts
(DMA) in Piano Performance at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music, under the mentorship of Professor Tian Ying. She earned her Master of Music degree from Indiana University Jacobs
School of Music, studying with Roberto Plano, and completed her Bachelor of Music at the Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied under Stanislav Ioudenitch.
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Yizhou has actively participated in prestigious music festivals, including the IPM in Poland,
American Liszt Association Festival, Italy’s Lake Como International Summer Piano School,
the Suzhou-Juilliard Music Festival, and the Virginia Commonwealth University Music Festival.
Introduced to the piano at a young age by her father, she has since honed her craft under the
guidance of esteemed mentors such as Dr. Lucas Wong, Jin Tang, Olga Samosuyeva, Sandra
Shapiro, Tatiana Ioudenitch, and Marina Sultanova. She has also performed in masterclasses with
renowned pianists, including William Naboré, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Alvin Chow, Kathryn Brown,
Deborah Moriarty, and Thomas Lanners.
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​ Beyond performance, Yizhou is deeply passionate about music education. Having taught since her
undergraduate years, she is dedicated to sharing the beauty and tradition of classical music with
younger generations. She believes that music education should inspire joy and hopes to instill a
lifelong love of piano in her students.
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Alexander Sancho
Alexander Sancho, born and raised in Miami, is a talented pianist and composer.
Alex graduated from FIU with his B.M. (2011) and M.M. (2013) in Piano Performance, under Professor Kemal Gekic and Dr. Jose Lopez.
Alexander Sancho has played with many different orchestras/ensembles across South Florida. Some awards won are 1st Prize in Florida Federation of Music Clubs (Composition), 2nd Prize in the FIU Concerto Competition, 2009 and 2011, the Undergraduate Performance award from the FIU School of Music, 2011, as well as the Teaching Assistant position in Piano.
In 2012, he was awarded the Philippine Consulate of South Florida Leadership Distinction Award for Outstanding Achievement and Performance in Music.
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Currently, Alex teaches composition classes at SharpMinds Music Academy, where students have earned awards from his guidance and expertise.
Though coming from a classical background, Alex takes a musically-eclectic approach in his endeavors, with influences from Hip-Hop to Electronica that help shape his understanding of music. Alex believes that diverse-music education can benefit society. In 2018, he founded ALEX SCORES MUSIC, an original-music service for film, advertising and video production. Alex has been an instructor at SharpMinds Music Academy for several years, having nurtured some outstanding young pianists and composers during his tenure.
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Yudi Wang Foreiter
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Yudi Wang Foreiter is a dedicated professional pianist and teacher with a deep passion for nurturing a love of music in students of all ages and skill levels. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a Master’s degree, studying under Dr. Soyeon Kate Lee and
Dr. Dror Biran. She later earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Miami under the guidance of Professor Tian Ying.
Throughout her academic journey, Yudi successfully held annual solo recitals, actively participated in chamber music performances, and minored in Piano Pedagogy and Chamber Music. She also had the privilege of attending masterclasses with Chinese-born Italian pianist Jin Ju and Japanese pianist Kyoko Hashimoto.​ In her third year of doctoral studies, Yudi published a scholarly paper on the fusion of classical and jazz piano, featuring a performance guide for classical pianists interested in jazz. Her achievements include earning a doctoral teaching assistant position, where she taught piano group classes to non-piano major undergraduates.
With years of experience working as a piano instructor at the Frost Preparatory Program and SharpMinds Music Academy, Yudi introduced music to young students in both group class settings and individual lessons. She believes music is a language of love, self-healing, and a medium that connects people of different ages and cultural backgrounds.
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Marina Radiushina
Marina Radiushina, D.M.A. is the artistic director of the Miami Chamber Music Society and Mainly Mozart Festival. She is a winner of numerous prestigious piano competitions including Horowitz and Rubinstein piano competitions.
Hailed as a “virtuoso whose playing is distinguished by rare depth of interpretation and understanding of style”. Dr. Radiushina made her debut with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Valery Gergiev in February 2012, appearing at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and Theatre Des Champs-Elysee in Paris.
Recent highlights have included performances at the Salzburg and Rotterdam Festivals with Valery Gergiev, Carnegie Hall with Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson and Pablo Heras-Casado, appearances with Munich and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras, a recording project with the Brno Philharmonic, and chamber music performances with the members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Israel and the Carnegie Hall Ensemble at the Suntory Hall in Japan.
Dr. Radiushina is a member of Carnegie Hall’s resident chamber group, Decoda. She was a recipient of a fellowship from The Juilliard School of Music and holds degrees from the Odessa Conservatory (Ukraine), University of Miami and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Madison Ryan
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Madison Ryan has performed as a soloist and ensemble musician across the United States and Western Europe. She has used her experiences to develop a teaching style that combines the structure of the Suzuki Method with the body-awareness of the Roland Method, giving her students the skills and know-how to help them succeed, while working toward achieving their musical dreams.
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Ms. Ryan is an experienced educator, and performer, in both orchestral and chamber group ensembles. She has obtained her Master of Music in Violin Performance (M.M.), and currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
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Madison is offering individual violin lessons at Pinecrest Community Center as a member of the faculty at SharpMinds Music Academy.
Arn Xu started playing piano at the age of six. Growing up in Miami, he graduated with his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He received his Master of Music degree from the University of Toronto in Piano Pedagogy and Performance.
He has studied under numerous world-renowned teachers, including Cynthia Chun-Kam, Tian Ying, Kevin Kenner, and Enrico Elisi. During his studies in Toronto, he served as a Teaching Assistant for the Graduate Conducting Program under Maestro Uri Mayer.
Arn has been teaching piano for over 10 years, and is also a teacher at the University of Miami Frost School of Music’s prep program. In both Miami and Toronto, Arn has taught in a group-class setting, as well as private lessons to students of all ages and skills.
In addition to being an active pedagogue, Arn has been described as a sensitive pianist in both a solo and collaborative setting, with performances and masterclasses throughout the United States, Canada, and Sicily.
Arn Xu
Jasming Senel
Jasming Senel started piano lessons at the age of 4 at SharpMinds Music Academy. As a member of the Academy’s inaugural class, Jasming has benefitted from the Yamaha Music curriculum throughout her piano career.
Jasming began in JMC 1 and went through the JSAC levels, including taking annual Yamaha grade exams and passing with high marks. This culminated in 2019 when she flew to Los Angeles to take the Yamaha Grade 5 examination. She is in the first class of students that earned the Teacher’s Certificate in both Piano Performance and Fundamentals. She is also a semi-finalist in the Steinway Piano Competition and Actors’ Playhouse Competition.
Jasming has been tutoring piano since 2018. She emphasizes technique, singing, sight-reading, and music theory and often prepares her students for auditions, examinations, and recitals.
In addition, for the last 10 years, she has been a violinist with the Greater Miami Youth Symphony. She currently plays in the Symphony orchestra as a first violinist and principal pianist.
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James Woolwine
James Woolwine began playing the piano at the age of 7, and was winning competitions and scholarships by the end of high school. He has earned degrees in Guitar Performance and Music Business from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Since graduating James has been an active professional musician, performing on guitar and keyboards in several bands and studios; and as a soloist. James is fluent in Classical, Metal, Rock, and Pop styles, while Folk would be his favorite.
James is also a dedicated composer/songwriter, and has released two solo albums, with more releases planned. He won first prize in the 2014 Topanga Fingerstyle Guitar Competition; and performed at the Grand Ole Opry as a finalist in the 2017 Enlightened Piano Radio Awards. http://jameswoolwine.com/
James has taught guitar and piano to students of all ages and ability levels on both sides of the country. He is dedicated to helping every student achieve their musical potential in a positive and supportive atmosphere. He has received accolades from his guitar and piano students, all of whom commend him as a “patient, methodical, attentive, kind, encouraging, and fun” instructor.
Piotr Kozlowski
Piotr Kozłowski (Poland) is a versatile pianist with a special affinity for chamber and contemporary music. He is a laureate of chamber music and solo piano competitions in Poland and abroad, and he has performed extensively across Europe and the United States.
After completing his studies at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Piotr pursued further education at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, where he served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Under the guidance of Kevin Kenner and Dr. Naoko Takao, he earned his doctorate in piano performance. As an Erasmus scholarship recipient, he also studied with renowned chamber musician Avedis Kouyoumdjian at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
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Piotr received a scholarship to record the album Beeth250ven (Young Virtuosos; Fryderyk Chopin University of Music; Société Générale) and was featured on the Interwar Retrospections album performing Bernstein’s Piano Trio (Sarton Records). He collaborates as a cello-piano duo, performing in New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Piotr also serves as a collaborative pianist during the Philadelphia International Music Festival (winter edition in Redland, FL) and most recently gained experience as a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
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Currently based in Miami, Piotr Kozłowski freelances both locally and internationally. He has premiered works by Donald Scott Stinson, Julia Janiak, and other living composers. Piotr is passionate about creative programming, seeking to showcase the beauty of classical and contemporary chamber music. He serves as a Piano Mentor and Event Lead at tonebase.co and has a particular love for Baroque and early 20th-century repertoire.
