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Cleveland, OH — Piano Cleveland has announced its collaboration with the �鶹��ý College of the Arts in creating a new Arts Entrepreneurship Residency Program designed to help emerging artists develop an entrepreneurial mindset to enhance their careers.  The residency will see 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition Fourth Prize winner Giuseppe Guarrera and Semi-Finalist Antonio Chen Guang return to Cleveland in 2026 and 2027 respectively to be in residence at Kent State where they will present master classes and performances, as well as workshops on the arts ventures they will have created as part of the residency. In preparation for their on-campus activities, both artists will complete a 20-hour learning intensive and create an arts venture under the guidance of Nick Petrella, an Entrepreneur-In-Residence in the John S. and Marlene J. Brinzo Center for Entrepreneurship in the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, and an assistant professor in the College of the Arts.

“We are thrilled to welcome Giuseppe Guarrera and Antonio Chen Guang to Kent State as part of this exciting residency program,” says Petrella. “Their talent and insight will inspire our students and enrich our arts community and the region.”

The residency program, according to Piano Cleveland Artistic Director, Yaron Kohlberg, “is another chance for our artists to further refine and define their artistic identity and while sharpening their business acumen. In return, the contestants will share their experiences while working directly with Kent State students.” Contestants will also be performing and speaking at Kent State as well as the Arts Without Limits event.

Both Guarrera and Guang have a world-class musical pedigree. Giuseppe Guarrera has performed as soloist and as chamber musician in some of the most prestigious halls of Europe such as Wigmore Hall in London, Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Scherzo Foundation in Madrid, and Cappella Paolina del Quirinale in Rome. Solo highlights of his career include appearances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

Antonio Chen Guang has performed across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia in recitals and with important orchestras. He studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, at The Juilliard School in New York, followed by the Accademia Pianistica Internazionale di Imola, where he was the youngest ever Artist Diploma recipient. Antonio’s first album was released by Steinway & Sons in 2020, dedicated to Bach, Brahms, and Berg, receiving worldwide praise.

The Piano Cleveland Arts Entrepreneurship Residency is made possible by the generous support of Vic and Cheryl Petrovic. For more information about the Cleveland International Piano Competition and Piano Cleveland, including its history, past and present contestants, competition dates and performance venues, visit .

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About Piano Cleveland

Piano Cleveland promotes Cleveland as a premier piano destination by presenting world-class programming, community engagement, and education initiatives. The organization’s four major programs and events include the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the CIPC for Young Artists, a mixed-genre piano festival, and year-round education and community engagement programming.

About �鶹��ý

�鶹��ý is the highest-ranked public university in northern Ohio on the Top Public Schools and Best National Universities lists by U.S. News & World Report. The university also holds the esteemed distinction of being one of only five institutions in Ohio to be recognized as an R1 top-tier research university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Kent State is one of Ohio’s leading public universities and a major educational, economic and cultural resource far beyond the Northeast Ohio region it has served since 1910. The university has a global footprint with eight campuses throughout Northeast Ohio, a College of Podiatric Medicine, a Twinsburg Academic Center and academic sites around the world, including New York City; Florence, Italy; and Curitiba, Brazil. Kent State offers award-winning student support services that help students succeed. Its diverse student body comprises more than 34,000 students, including 2,200 international students from 102 countries, and the worldwide alumni family is nearly 280,000. Kent State provides transformational educational experiences and leads with its values, which include kindness, respect and freedom of expression.

For more information about Kent State, visit kent.edu.

For more information about �鶹��ý’s College of the Arts, visit kent.edu/artscollege.