Jury

Voice

Ewa Biegas

Quartet

Krzysztof Chorzelski

Violist (soloist and chamber musician), cofounder of the internationally acclaimed Belcea Quartet, in which he has been playing since 1996. Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama London.

In 1992 he won the Tadeusz Wroński Competition in Warsaw and has subsequently performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist, making recordings for Polish Radio and the BBC.

Krzysztof Chorzelski works as a chamber music partner with internationally renowned ensembles such as Ysaÿe Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Pavel Haas Quartet, Jerusalem Quartet and Škampa Quartet, and artists such as Stephen Kovacevich, Piotr Anderszewski, Christian Zacharias, Polina Leschenko, Katya Apekisheva, Henning Kraggerud and Natalie Clein.

In 2006 he was invited by the Alban Berg Quartet to perform as a guest violist in a series of concerts celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Mozart’s birth in the Konzerthaus, Vienna.

He performs as soloist with orchestras such as Sinfonia Varsovia and Real Filharmonía de Galicia. He also has a keen interest in contemporary music. Recent premieres include viola sonatas by Paweł Szymański and Andrzej Czajkowski, as well as “Letters from Warsaw” by Joseph Phibbs. In August 2015 in Warsaw he also gave the world premiere of a recently discovered Viola Sonata by Andre Tchaikowsky.

Krzysztof Chorzelski is also a keen conductor of Polish and Israeli orchestras (cooperation with Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra). His recording of Ittai Shapira’s Violin Concerto “Concierto Latino” with the London Serenata Orchestra and the composer as soloist has recently been released by Champs Hill Records.

Krzysztof Chorzelski is also regularly invited as guest-principal violist by orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe His debut solo recital recording with pianist Katya Apekisheva was released in February 2012 and was met with critical acclaim. It was launched by the two artists with a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Piano

Joanna Domańska

Quartet

Tim Frederiksen

Tim Frederiksen comes from a musical family: he was given first viola and violin lessons by his grandfather. Then, he studied with Erling Bloch and Max Rostal. In the field of chamber music, he honed his skills with members of The Amadeus Quartet.

In 1980, he was appointed Principal Viola in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with most Danish orchestras, and first performed and recorded many contemporary Danish pieces.

His discography includes many albums, e.g. with compositions by Vagn Holmboe, Hindemith, and Brahms.

Tim Frederiksen is a much sought-after chamber musician. As a cofounder of the Danish String Quartet, he has given many recitals all over the world and has recorded string quartets by Brahms, Ib Nørholm, Carl Nielsen, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Paul Hindemith – earning him prestigious awards, including Deutscher Schallplattenpreis 1997.

In 1995 Tim Frederiksen was appointed professor of viola and chamber music at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen.

Tim Frederiksen coaches Danish ensembles, such as Trio Ondine, Paizo Quartet, Jalina Trio, Nightingale String Quartet, Trio Ismena, Trio Vitruvi, Erlendis Quartet, winners of numerous chamber music competitions in London, Vienna, Munich, Melbourne, Trondheim, Heerlen, Trapani, Osaka.

Tim Frederiksen is highly in demand as a teacher at international and national masterclasses and is often invited to international music competitions as a jury member.

Quartet

Tadeusz Gadzina

He studied at the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw (currently the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music)  with Zenon Bąkowski.

He developed his abilities at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Tadeusz Gadzina is the winner of the international competitions in Helsinki , Genoa , Poznań, London, and Brussels. In 1973, he also received the Gold Medal at the Pleven International Laureate Festival.

The artist has been successful both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. He is the founder and principal violinist of the internationally acclaimed Wilanów Quartet. The ensemble is the winner of the 2nd Prize in the International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna, and of the 3rd Prize in the International ARD String Quartet Competition in Munich.

He made numerous radio, television and disc recordings, recorded an album with the violin works by Karol Szymanowski and Witold Lutosławski among other things, which was awarded the Diapason d’Or in 1990.

He performs all around Europe as well as in Japan, the USA, South America, Canada, Russia. He is invited to conduct masterclasses both in Poland and abroad (the USA, Canada, Brasil, Belgium, Spain, Germany).

On numerous occasions, he has been invited to be on the juries of competitions in Lublin, Wrocław, Łódź, Munich,  Portsmouth, Kiev, and Moscow.

As part of the Erasmus-Socrates programme, he lectured in prominent centres of music education in Brussels, Stuttgart, and Bremen.

He conducts a violin class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where between 1999 and 2005 he held the position of Head of the Department of String Instruments .

From 1997 to 2006, he was a member of the Council of Higher Artistic Education; from 2011 to 2014, he was a reviewer of numerous research projects at the Institute of Music and Dance. In 2013, he was awarded a medal of merit by the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, and in 2015, he received first class Rector’s award for lifetime achievement.

Violin

Eszter Haffner

An artist of international renown; her dazzling, electrifying performances won her a wide circle of admirers. She has established close relationships with many of the most prestigious conductors and orchestras and is also much sought after as a viola player.

Eszter Haffner studied at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt Music Academy and University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (Diploma with unanimous distinction )with András Kiss, Ferenc Rados, György Kurtag, and Gerhard Schulz. In 1995, she completed postgraduate study in Holland with Viktor Libermann and Philip Hirschhorn.

She participated in a variety of masterclasses with Josef Gingold, Lorand Fenyves, Tibor Varga, Igor Ozim. She has performed at countless Music Festivals such as Schubertiade, Bregenzer Festspiele, Haydn Festspiele, and KlangBogen Wien. Eszter Haffner has been the recipient of numerous scholarships, e.g. from the PE Förderkreis. She has also been prize winner in numerous international competitions in Prague, Vienna, Trapani (Sicily) and Hungary. As a result of her successful career in the arts, she received Austrian citizenship.

As soloist and chamber musician, she has appeared with artists such as Clemens Hagen, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alexander Lonquich, Arto Noras, Melvyn Tan, Wolfgang Schulz, Stefan Vladar. Her recordings reflect her unusually extensive musical range, covering chamber and concerto works composed during various periods.

Since 2002 she has been Professor of Violin at the KUG University of Music Graz, and since 2010 also at the Royal Danish Academy of Music Copenhagen. She is a regular instructor of music courses in Austria, Hamburg, Madrid, Copenhagen, Tokyo, and the USA.

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Voice

Hartmut Höll

Hartmut Höll’s performances are instantly distinctive for emotion and sensitivity for sounds, as well as the ability to think beyond sounds to create atmosphere, experiences and feelings within the sound landscape. Höll knows the value of chamber music collaboration and maintaining long-term partnerships.

For over four decades, Hartmut Höll has worked closely with Mitsuko Shirai on the lieder repertory. Their recitals, broadcasts, and CDs are highly acclaimed were worldwide.

From 1982 to 1992, Höll was the regular performance partner of the legendary baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, acclaimed in recitals at the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festivals, as well as in Florence, Munich, Berlin, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Höll has recorded some sixty CDs, many of which have won international awards. For nearly two decades, Höll has accompanied Renée Fleming in concerts across Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America.

More than 70 CD releases have won universal acclaim and received international prizes.

Höll has also partnered in performance with other singers, including Urszula Kryger, Jadwiga Rappé, Thomas Hampson, Roman Trekel, Udo Reinemann, Roberto Sacca, Yvonne Naef, Jochen Kowalski, Christoph Prégardien, René Pape, Hermann Prey, and, as well as instrumentalists such as the violist Tabea Zimmermann and clarinetist Sabine Meyer.

Currently a professor at the University of Music Karlsruhe, Höll previously taught at Frankfurt and Cologne, where he worked closely with new generations of performers. He was visiting professor in Helsinki (1998/1999) and the Salzburg Mozarteum University (1994 to 2003), has given master classes for lied at the Weimar International Music Seminar, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, as well as in Jerusalem, Cairo, and the United States. For nearly a decade he lectured on lied interpretation at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Since October 2007, he has served as rector for the University of Music Karlsruhe.

In 1990, Höll was honored with the Robert Schumann Prize of the city of Zwickau. He is an honorary member of the Robert Schumann Society Zwickau and the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1997, together with Mitsuko Shirai he received the ABC International Music Award.

As juror, he was appointed Chairman of the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau, invited to New York’s Naumburg Competition, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, and in 2015 the the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Voice-Piano Competition in Paris. In 2018 Höll will be in the jury of Concours Musical International de Montréal / Chant.

From 1985 to 2007, Hartmut Höll was artistic director of the International Hugo Wolf Academy, Stuttgart. Under his direction, the Academy’s outstanding cultural accomplishments included festivals exploring Eduard Mörike (1988);  “Germanies” (1990); “Europe on the Move: People • Places • Migrations” (1992/93) under the honorary patronage of Simone Veil; the complete works of Schubert by over 100 performance groups (1997); 1998 “Nature’s Sounds/Human Sounds” (1998), invited to the Weimar – European City of Culture; and a musical-literary-cinematic “Trip Along the Danube” (2002). These events echoed far beyond the local region and led to invitations to perform at New York’s Lincoln Center and the Louvre Auditorium in Paris.

In 2012, Höll’s autobiographical “WordMusic” was published by Staccato Verlag in Düsseldorf, describing experiences, lied interpretation, and personal memories.

His memoir ‘WordMusic’ is as sensitive to literary and musical subjects as [Höll’s] CDs, while also offering useful advice to piano lovers.” International Piano Magazine

“… The outstanding Hartmut Höll. The way Höll perfectly adapts himself to the notes of the most varied compositions, capable of maintaining the musical line even during the slowest passages, is absolutely riveting. His heartfelt pauses each made a musical point, and his ambition to take artistic risks should encourage every other musician.”

Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin

“Hartmut Höll, one of Europe’s most distinguished pianists and accompanists of classical song…”  Wall Street Journal Europe

“…The superb pianist Hartmut Höll – emphatically a partner, not an accompanist.” 

The Financial Times, after a Carnegie Hall recital

Piano

Olga Kern

Russian-American pianist Olga Kern is now recognized as one of her generation’s great artists. With her vivid stage presence, passionately confident musicianship and extraordinary technique, the striking pianist continues to captivate fans and critics alike. Olga Kern was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff and began studying piano at the age of five. She jumpstarted her U.S. career with her historic Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas as the first woman to do so in more than thirty years.

Steinway Artist and First prize winner of the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition at the age of seventeen, Ms. Kern is a laureate of many international competitions and tours throughout Russia, Europe, the United States, Japan, South Africa and South Korea. In 2016 she served as Jury Chairman of both the Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition and the first Olga Kern International Piano Competition, where she also holds the title of Artistic Director.

Kern serves as Artist in Residence to the San Antonio Symphony’s 2017-18 season, appearing in two subscription weeks as well as solo recital. She will also perform with Madison Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Austin Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Arizona Musicfest Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, and Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kern will premiere her first American concerto Barber’s Piano Concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. She will give recitals at the University of Arizona, the Lied Center in Lincoln, NE, the Sanibel Music Festival in Sanibel, FL, and abroad in Mainz and Turin. Additionally, Ms. Kern will perform in the Huntington Estate Music Festival with Musica Viva in Australia.

Highlights of the previous season include her Chinese debut with the National Youth Orchestra of China tour, concerts with Pacific Symphony, Colorado Symphony, the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, and La Jolla Music Festival, and recitals in Santa Fe, New Haven, Scottsdale, and San Francisco. Ms. Kern opened the Baltimore Symphony’s 2015-2016 centennial season with Marin Alsop. Other season highlights included returns to the Royal Philharmonic with Pinchas Zukerman, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice with Giancarlo Guerrero, a month-long tour of South Africa for concerts with the Cape and KwaZulu Natal philharmonics, an Israeli tour with the Israel Symphony, solo recitals at Sarasota’s Van Wezel Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y, and the University of Kansas’ Lied Center, and recitals with Renée Fleming in Carnegie Hall and Berkeley.

In recent seasons, Ms. Kern has performed with Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, Orchestre National De Lyon, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the symphonies of Detroit for Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos 1, 2 & 3, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Nashville, Colorado, Madison, and Austin, and gave recitals in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Louisville, and alongside Renée Fleming and Kathleen Battle. Ms. Kern’s performance career has brought her to many of the world’s most important venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Salzburger Festspielhaus, La Scala in Milan, Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Châtelet in Paris.

Ms. Kern’s discography includes Harmonia Mundi recordings of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Christopher Seaman (2003), her Grammy Nominated recording of Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations and other transcriptions (2004), a recital disk with works by Rachmaninoff and Balakirev (2005), Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Warsaw Philharmonic and Antoni Wit (2006), Brahms Variations (2007) and a 2010 release of Chopin Piano Sonatas No. 2 and 3 (2010). Most recently, SONY released their recording of Ms. Kern performing the Rachmaninoff Sonata for Cello and Piano with cellist Sol Gabetta. She was also featured in the award-winning documentary about the 2001 Cliburn Competition, Playing on the Edge, as well as Olga’s Journey, Musical Odyssey in St. Petersburg and in They Came to Play. In 2012, Olga and her brother, conductor and composer, Vladimir Kern, co-founded the “Aspiration” foundation whose objective is to provide financial and artistic assistance to musicians throughout the world.

In 2017, Ms. Kern was gratified to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, joining other honorees including Rosa Parks, Buzz Aldrin, Coretta Scott King, and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. This commendation recognizes Americans who “embody the spirit of America in their salute to tolerance, brotherhood, diversity, and patriotism.”

Violin

Laurent Korcia

The freedom, the presence and the imagination of Laurent Korcia’s playing, only a handful of violinists – living or dead – have it… Korcia has it all: the majestic style, the technique, the charisma, the ideas, the charm. (Le Monde) His recordings of Ysaÿe and Bartok make it clear: Laurent Korcia is an outstanding violinist. One of those whose passion and instinct just grab you from the very first bars. Just like those turn-of-the-century virtuosos, Elman, Heifetz, Ysaÿe or Kubelik, whose style, sound and vibrato were a real trademark, you can’t mistake Korcia for another. For this reason, he stands out among his contemporaries. (Diapason).

Taken under the wing of Pierre Barbizet from his early age, Laurent Korcia studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Michèle Auclair, herself pupil of Jacques Thibaud and George Enesco. First Prize laureat from the Paris Conservatoire, he continued his studies with Felix Andrievsky at the Royal College of Music in London, where he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth prize “for the most outstanding contribution to the College”. At the age of eighteen, he won the Paganini Competition in Genoa, affording him the honour of performing on Paganini’s Guarnerius, he also won a Grand Prix at the Concours Jacques Thibaud, a first prize at the International Zino Francescatti Competition and was laureate of theYoung Concert Artists Trust in London.

He is considered one of the most distinctive violinists of his generation. In 2002, he won the prestigious award Victoire de la Musique ‘Instrumental Soloist of the Year’ and was made ‘Chevalier des arts et lettres’. He also received the George Enesco Prize of the SACEM and the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros.

Laurent Korcia performs regularly with leading European orchestras with conductors such as Yuri Ahronovitch, Philippe Bender, Semyon Bychkov, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Norman del Mar, Stéphane Denève, Charles Dutoit, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Emmanuel Krivine, Louis Langrée, John Nelson, Sakari Oramo, Marcello Panni, Michel Plasson, Manuel Rosenthal, Yutaka Sado, Michael Schønwandt, Tugan Sokhiev, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Heinz Wallberg and Walter Weller…In 2005, he perfoms with the National Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Spivakov, the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, the Orchestre National de France and Kurt Masur.

He is one of the rare contemporary violinists to include solo violin recitals in his concert repertoire, with programmes ranging from Bach to contemporary music. He gave all six Ysaÿe sonatas to great critical acclaim at the Auditorium du Louvre and the Verbier Festival, and performed the world première of H.-W. Henze’s Sonata for solo violin and the violin concerto Exultet by Edith Canat de Chizy, who dedicated her Irisations for violin to him. Other collaborations include the ballet Achterland by the choreographer Anne-Teresa de Keersmaeker, based around the Sonatas of Eugène Ysaÿe, which travelled on a year-long world tour. He has also recorded the music for the film The Diary of Anne Frank and participated in the documentary by Bruno Monsaingeon L’art du violon along with Itzhak Perlman, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel and Hilary Hahn.

After an exclusive contract with BMG/RCA, Laurent Korcia now records for the Naïve label. Naïve releases include: – Danses (Naïve), a collection of violin miniatures with guests including Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Michel Portal – BartoKorcia: a Bartok double CD with concerto n°2, the sonata for solo violin, the first sonata for violin and piano and Contrastes with the CBSO, S. Oramo, J.-E Bavouzet and M. Portal – Bruno Coulais ‘ Stabat Mater with the Mikrokosmos Choir, Guillaume Depardieu and Aïcha Redouane.

Since 1999, Laurent Korcia has been playing on the Zahn Stradivarius (1719), a violin on loan by the prestigious French group LVMH, Moët-Hennessy-Louis Vuitton.

Violin

Szymon Krzeszowiec

A distinguished violinist (soloist, chamber musician), graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, where he studied under Roman Lasocki, and Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he was supervised by Herman Krebbers.

He rose to fame when he won prizes in violin competitions in Poznań (Zdzisław Jahnke Competition), Warsaw (Tadeusz Wroński Competition) and Brescia, and was victorious in chamber music competitions in Copenhagen and Sondershausen (Aristos string trio).

As a soloist, he performed with leading Polish orchestras, such as the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra or Sinfonia Varsovia.

Since 2001, he has been playing the first violin in the Silesian Quartet, with which he gives regular concerts all over the world. The ensemble received numerous prestigious awards, e.g. five Fryderyks and the Gramophone Classical Music Award for recording complete string quartets by Grażyna Bacewicz.

He actively collaborates with the pianist Wojciech Świtała, with whom he recorded complete violin sonatas by Brahms (Sony Classical). He has over 30 albums on his scorecard, under such labels as EMI Music Poland, Chandos, BIS, CD Accord, Naxos, ECM, DUX, Dacapo, and Polish Radio Katowice.

He devotes special attention to teaching; he functions as the Chair of the Violin Department and conducts the violin class at his alma mater. Besides, he is artistically responsible for the International Academy of Art in Zakopane and International Violin Festival in Katowice. Since 2004, he has been lecturing at the Ensemble International Festival in Książ (Poland). He is frequently invited to be on juries judging violin competitions.

Quartet

Arkadiusz Kubica

Between 1975 and 1980, he studied violin under Klemens Bortel in the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

Between 1978 and 1983, he played in WOSPRiTV (currently NOSPR). At the same time, in 1978 he founded the Silesian String Quartet, and he has been its member to this day. Between 1986-1987, he played in Sinfonia Varsovia, with which he went on an international tour, together with Yehudi Menuhin.

As a co-founder of the Silesian String Quartet, he premiered over 130 works by composers from Poland and abroad, and received many awards. He recorded for radio and television, and performed in the most prestigious concert halls all over the world. He released over 60 albums, five of which received the Fryderyk Award, and more than ten were nominated for it. In 2017, the recording of complete string quartets by Grażyna Bacewicz, performed by the ensemble, earned them the Gramophone Classical Music Award. As a member of the Silesian String Quartet, he was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit in 1999, and in 2008 – the Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis.

Between 1998 and 2004, he was the head of a Section of the Karol Szymanowski Music Society, since 2002 he has been presiding over the Academy of Music in Katowice Alumni Association. He is also the deputy president of the Karol Szymanowski Music Society in Zakopane and one of the founding members of the Katowice Kultura Natura Association. He became famous for setting up numerous artistic projects, such as the International Chamber Music Festival Silesian String Quartet and Guests. He is a dedicated teacher as well; he teaches the violin at the Karol Szymanowski Secondary Music School in Katowice and holds the post of professor at the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he was bestowed the title of doctor habilitatus in 2015 and currently acts as the head of the Department of Chamber Music.

He has regularly judged music competitions in Poland and abroad, as well as has been invited to hold chamber music and violin workshops.

Quartet

Mats Lidström

An international soloist and chamber musician, who has a wide repertoire. He has gained a reputation for performances covering various periods, characterized by great charisma and virtuosity.

He has been a member of the Royal Academy of Music since 1993, currently attached to Oxford University through his solo cello position with the Oxford Philharmonic & Soloists, as well as his teaching.

He has recorded as a soloist and chamber musician for EMI, DECCA, BIS, Deutsche Grammophon and Hyperion.

Mats Lidström is also active as a composer. His compositions are available, along with his transcriptions, educational material and recital pieces for young cellists, through his publishing company CelloLid.com. He is the founder of the annual cello course EXPANSION.

He has led the cello sections of many leading orchestras, most notably the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, as well as the orchestras in his native Sweden (e.g. the Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra).

He comes from a family with more than a hundred years of involvement within the arts. His ancestor, Rickard Dybeck, wrote the Swedish national anthem.

Voice

Bruno Michel

Violin

Tedi Papavrami

A violinist of Albanian descent. In the 1990s he launched his career as soloist and chamber musician. He won several important prizes in international music competitions. He has collaborated as concerto soloist with conductors of the likes of Kurt Sanderling, Antonio Pappano, Armin Jordan, Emmanuel Krivine, Manfred Honeck, François-Xavier Roth, Thierry Fischer, Gilbert Varga and M. Aeschenbacher.

As far as performing is concerned, he devotes special attention to chamber music. He was a founding member of the Schumann Quartet. He has performed in recitals and made recordings with chamber music partners such as Philippe Bianconi, Nelson Goerner, Martha Argerich. Ever since 2011 he has been presenting Beethoven’s piano trios in the company of cellist Xavier Phillips and pianist François Frédéric Guy. He recorded 6 Sonatas for solo violin and Sonata for two violins by Ysaÿe, together with violinist Svetlin Roussev. This album was awarded Diapason d’Or and Choc de Classica in 2014.

He was appointed violin professor at the Haute École de Musique de Genève in 2008. Apart from his musical performance, he is an expert on French literature and translator; he has translated works by Ismail Kadare, an Albanian writer, into French.

Piano

Aviram Reichert

Acclaimed for his deeply intelligent interpretations, phenomenal technique and ravishing tone –won the Bronze Medal at the 10^thVan Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997, after having won several major competitions in the Far East, France and Germany. Today, Reichert is a frequent soloist with the leading orchestras in his native country, Israel, including the Israel Philharmonic, Haifa Symphony, Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony. His prize-winning participation in competitions in Japan and Korea brought him numerous concert engagements in the Far East where he has been earning immenseapplause for 15 years, performing with the Tokyo Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony, the Korean Symphony orchestra, and theDaegu Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the National Symphony of the Dominican Republic, the major orchestras in South Africa, and numerous orchestras in the United States. Conductors he has worked with include the late Sergiu Commissiona, James Conlon, Peter Bay, James De Priest, Leslie Dunner, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, David Lockington, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi, Emmanuel Krivine, Meir Minsky, Leon Botstein, Kevin Rhodes, Barry Wordsworth, Guillermo Figueroa, Michele Carulli, and Kim Daejin.

In recital, Reichert has performed throughout the United States, Israel, South Africa, the Far East andin Europe, where an appearance at the Herkules-Saalin Munich elicited an enthusiastic ovation and high critical praise. Festival performances include the Ruhr and Epinal Music Festivals, Tokyo Summer Festival, Bear Valley, CA, Durango and Steamboat Springs, CO, Ravinia Festival, the Fontana and the Gilmore Keyboard Festivals. A fine chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists such as Anne Akiko Meyers, Maya Beiser, Guy Braunstein,Yuri Gandelsman, Vadim Gluzman, Dylana Jenson, Bill Purcell and Philippe Quint.

Reichert can be heard on a Harmonia Mundi CD featuring highlights of his prize-winning solo performance at the Van Cliburn Competition, a Jerusalem Music Center label (JMC) featuring two Schubert Sonatas, and Mozart concerti with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra under the baton of Mischa Semanitzky. He has recorded Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for Piano and Brass quintet with the Spectrum Brass Quintet, released on CD in 2009 and an album for cello and piano including the two Brahms sonatas released in 2014.

In addition to his busy performing career, Reichert is a sought-after teacher who is frequently invited to conduct master-classes in Japan, Korea, South Africa, Israel and the United States. From 2001-2008 he held the positions of Associate Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Seoul National University, College of Music.

Aviram Reichert, a Steinway artist, studied at the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv with Professor Arie Vardi.

Piano

Martin Roscoe

With an extraordinary career spanning over four decades, Martin Roscoe is unarguably one of the UK’s best loved pianists. Renowned for his versatility at the keyboard, Martin is equally at home in concerto, recital and chamber performances. In an ever more distinguished career, his enduring popularity and the respect in which he is universally held are built on a deeply thoughtful musicianship allied to an easy rapport with audiences and fellow musicians alike.
With a repertoire of over 100 concertos performed or recorded Martin works regularly with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, having especially close links with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra and with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has given over ninety performances. Martin has also performed with orchestras and festivals across Europe, Canada, Australia and the Far East, and shared the concert platform with eminent conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder and Christoph von Dohnányi.
A prolific recitalist and chamber musician, Martin tours the UK extensively every season, including regular appearances at Wigmore Hall and Kings Place. He has long-standing associations with Peter Donohoe, Kathryn Stott, Tasmin Little and the Endellion and Maggini Quartets as well as more recent collaborations with Jennifer Pike, Ashley Wass, Matthew Trusler, Liza Ferschtman and the Brodsky, Escher and Vertavo Quartets. One of his most important ensembles, the Cropper Welsh Roscoe Trio, performed many times across the UK, most notably at Wigmore Hall.
Recent highlights include BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whilst future plans include engagements with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Northern Chamber Orchestra.
Martin is Artistic Director of Ribble Valley International Piano Week, Beverley Chamber Music Festival and the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society.
Having made over 500 broadcasts, including seven BBC Prom appearances, Martin is one of the most regularly played pianists on BBC Radio 3. Martin has also made many commercial recordings for labels such as Hyperion, Chandos and Naxos. He has recorded the complete piano music of Nielsen and Szymanowski, as well as four discs in the Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto series. For the Deux-Elles label, Martin has recorded the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, the first four discs of which have been released to unanimous critical acclaim. Martin’s most recent disc is Volume 3 of the complete piano music of Dohnányi, released on Hyperion in 2015; the disc has been yet another success with reviews such as “commanding and warm-hearted… a delectable disc” (Gramophone) and “exuberant and expressive…brilliant technical precision” (BBC Music Magazine, 5 stars).
Teaching has always been an important part of Martin’s life and the development of young talent helps him to constantly re-examine and re-evaluate his own playing. He is currently a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London and has been awarded his Fellowship there.
Martin lives in the beautiful English Lake District which provides inspiration and relaxation, and also enables him to indulge his passions for the countryside and hill-walking.

Voice

Mitsuko Shirai

Together with her duo partner, German pianist Hartmut Holl, Mitsuko Shirai has set standards in Lieder interpretation.  The Lieder duo has given recitals all over the world for more than 30 years, sharing and living the understanding of Lieder as vocal chamber music.  The German magazine “Stern” called Mitsuko Shirai “the first Lady of Lieder” (Jurgen Kesting), and in the USA the duo Shirai-Holl is seen in the line of a unique tradition: “Peter Pears- Bengamin Britten, Pierre Bernac – Francis Poulenc: in our own day, Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Holl have achieved a comparable artistry.” (The Audiophile Voice, USA)

Mitsuko Shirai has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, among them the Berlin Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique Paris, Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, Boston Symphony Orchestra.  She has worked with conductors such as Yury Ahronovitch, Gary Bertini, Riccardo Chailly, Sergiu Comissiona, Charles Dutoit, Peter Eotvos, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Eliahu Inbal, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Geraint Jones, Bernhard Klee, Gustav Kuhn, Sir Neville Marriner, Gunter Neuhold, Seiji Ozawa, Mendi Rodan, Shuntaro Sato, Wolfgang Sawallisch, David Shallon, Ken Takaseki and Hiroshi Wakasugi.

On the opera stage, Mitsuko Shirai appeared in productions of Mozart ‘s “Lucio Silla”, Wagner’s “Liebesverbot”, Paul Dukas’  “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue” , Berlioz’ “Damnation de Faust”, Hugo Wolf’s “Der Corregidor”.  In 1987 Gary Bertini engaged her to sing Despina in his Frankfurt production of “Cosi fan tutte”.

Having won first prizes herself between 1973 and 1976 at the renowned song competitions in Vienna, Zwickau, s’Hertogenbosch, Athens and Munich, Mitsuko Shirai is today a much sought-after member of the jury at important international competitions, among them the International Hugo-Wolf-Competition Stuttgart, Robert-Schumann-Competition Zwickau, International ARD-Competition Munchen, International Competition for the Art of Lieder Stuttgart 2001 as well as the Foundation of the Arts Baden-Wurttemberg.

Her recordings, the series “Liededition”,  with compositions from Schubert to Webern, have received numerous international awards.

In 1982, Mitsuko Shirai was awarded the Robert-Schumann-Award by the town of Zwickau, and in 1993 she and Hartmut Holl were given “Carte blanche”  by the Louvre, Paris.  Mitsuko Shirai is a honourary member of the Robert-Schumann-Society, Zwickau, and of the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg.  In 1996, a panel of Japanese artists granted Mitsuko Shirai the “Great Idemitsu Music Award” in appreciation of her artistic work. ABC International Music Award in 1997, together with Hartmut Holl.  In March 2005, she became the winner of  “The Art Encouragement Prize for fiscal 2005 (56th)” in the field of music by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.  This award is given to the artists whose outstanding achievements have made a new departure in their respective fields of arts in a given year.  In April 2008, the Japanese government bestowed “Shiju Hosho” (Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon)  upon Mitsuko Shirai, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to academic and artistic developments, improvements and accomplishments.  This particular medal had been given to only five musicians in the past fifty years.  She is also the recipient of  “Dem Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” in 2010.

Mitsuko Shirai was taken ill overnight with GBS in 2006.  After spending many months in hospitals and rehabilitation, she had her comeback in February 2008 with a Schubert programme at the “La Folle Journee” in Nantes.

As a professor at the Karlsruhe Conservatory, Mitsuko Shirai, together with Hartmut Holl, teaches a class focusing mainly on the Lied. She is also a visiting professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and gives master classes with Hartmut Holl in Finland, at the International Music Seminar Weimar, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Summer Academy of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, in the USA (CCM Cincinnati, Tanglewood u.a.), Jerusalem and her home country, Japan.

Voice

Elżbieta Szmytka

Elżbieta Szmytka graduated from the Music Academy in Katowice where she studied singing with prof. Helena Łazarska. She is currently living in Belgium where she made her debut in 1984. She has performed in the most famous European opera theatres such as: Staatsoper, Grand Theatre in Geneva, Nederlandse Operain Amsterdam, Deutsche Oper in Berlin. She worked with such conductors as John Pritchard, Sylvain Cambreling, Sir Georg Solti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, John Eliot Gardiner, Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Neville Marriner czy Andrew Davis. In her repertoire she has i.a. parts from operas by Mozart and Verdi.

Elżbieta Szmytka made many radio, television and CD recordings. One of the most recent recordings is the part of Roxana in the Karol Szymanowski opera King Roger, conducted by Simon Rattle.

Violin

Alexander Trostiansky

Born in the family of musicians, he began his studies under the guidance of his father, and was afterwards accepted to the Special Music School at the Novosibirsk State Conservatory. Later he graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where he studied with Irina Bochkova.
He rose to fame as the prize-winner of several international competitions: Premio Paganini in Genova, F.Schubert and 20th Century Music (Graz, Austria), Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow).

Alexander Trostiansky appeared as a soloist in Great Halls of the Moscow Conservatory and St.Petersburg Philharmonic, Concert- en Congresgebouw de Doelen, Covent Garden, Mozarteum, Goetheanum, Schoenberg Hall, Weill Hall.

He participated in many festivals, e.g. in Moscow, Hamburg, Kreuth and Minsk.
Alexander Trostiansky is a regular recording artist. He recorded under Melodia, Vista Vera, Chandos, Egan, Naxos, ECM labels.

His wide repertoire includes over sixty violin concertos, a lot of chamber music and music of 20th century. Trostiansky specializes in Paganini’s 24 capriccios for solo violin.

His stage partners were such musicians as Alexei Lubimov, Alexander Rudin, and Natalia Gutman.

Alexander Trostiansky shares his musical knowledge and performer experience with young people. Since 1999, he has been serving as a Professor of Violin at the Moscow State Conservatory. He collaborates with foundations supporting young talents and works as the jury member of various competitions. He also teaches masterclasses in France, Portugal, the UK, Italy, Spain, Kazakhstan, Canada, South Korea and Russia.

In 2007, he was awarded the Honorary Russian Artist title.

Piano

Tamás Ungár

Pianist Tamás Ungár has earned worldwide acclaim for his powerful performances and innovative programming. A regular guest artist at numerous music centers in the United States, he also performs and teaches frequently all over the globe. Between the 2006 -2014 seasons he performed over 70 concerts in America, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Romania, England, Taiwan, The People’s Republic of China, Korea and Japan. Some of the highlights of those seasons include performances with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, performing as soloist/conductor of Mozart Piano Concertos at the University of Leeds, as Artist-in-Residence and a return visit to present a solo recital and master class series at the Liszt Academy in Budapest.

In addition to his performing commitments, Tamás Ungár has become one of United States’ best-known and most respected teachers of the piano. As Founder – Executive Director of PianoTexas Festival and member of the TCU Piano Faculty, he attracts students from across America and as far afield as Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Korea, Hungary, Japan, Malaya, Mexico, Poland, Republic of Georgia, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan. His students have received prizes in national and international competitions, have performed in prestigious music centers including Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall, New York City and have made numerous recordings. During the summers Dr. Ungár has been invited as guest teacher to the Semper International Music Festival in Schlern, Italy, the Banff Piano Master Classes, Canada, Hamamatsu Master Classes in Japan, the Tel-Hai Master Classes in Israel, International Master Classes in Katowice and the Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Poland. Since 1989 Tamás Ungár has been a regular guest teacher at the most important music centers in China and has taught in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Indonesia. From 2006 to 2014 he was appointed as Artistic Director of the Beijing International Piano Festival and continues to be Artistic Advisor for the Zhou Guangren Summer Piano Institute.

In 2010 Dr. Ungár received the prestigious Presidential Scholar Program’s Teacher Recognition Award and in 2013 the Music Teachers National Association (USA) named him “The Teacher of the Year”. The Senate of Texas has proclaimed Tamás Ungár as a “Distinguished Citizen” in recognition for his lifetime work and achievements in the fine arts.

Dr. Ungár’s most influential teachers included Alexander Sverjensky at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Lajos Hernádi at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and György Sebök at Indiana University, where he was awarded the Doctorate in Music. Prior to his present position he taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Purcell School, England and at the University of California at San Diego. He joined the TCU School of Music in 1978 where he is Professor of Music.

Tamás Ungár records exclusively for CALA Records.