Scottish International Piano Competition · 2017. 8. 9. · Scottish International Piano Competition sipc2017.org 4 5 Welcome It is my pleasure to welcome the Scottish International

sipc2017.org

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sipc2017.org

Scottish International

Piano Competition1 – 10 September 2017

ContentsWelcome 4

UNESCO City of Music 5

Why Glasgow? 5

Scottish International Piano Competition 6

A Festival of Piano Music 7

Sponsors and Donors 8

Patrons and Friends 9

Competition Calendar 11

The Jury 13

The Competitors 21

Frederic Lamond 38

Competition Repertoire 39

Gordon McPherson and the Test Piece 40

The Orchestra 42

Thomas Søndergård, Conductor 44

Scottish International Piano Competition sipc2017.org

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Welcome

It is my pleasure to welcome the Scottish International Piano Competition to the city.This triennial event is an established and highly regarded musical fixture that attracts gifted competitors from across the globe to Glasgow.Glasgow is a city with a reputation for musical excellence. As a UNESCO City of Music we pride ourselves on our musical diversity. Hosting events that cross musical genres and styles including Celtic Connections, Proms in the Park, TRMNSMT and the Kelvingrove Bandstand concerts.

The Scottish International Piano Competition held in memory of Frederic Lamond, a Glasgow born pianist and pupil of Liszt, is an event Glasgow City Council is delighted to support.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the planning and organising of this prestigious event which is always a great success.

The Rt Hon Councillor Eva Bolander Lord Provost of Glasgow

Welcome to the Scottish International Piano Competition 2017.

As ever we look forward to a veritable feast of piano music from our hugely talented competitors from across the world. It is a huge honour for Glasgow, UNESCO City of Music, to serve once more as the host of SIPC.

Clearly our competition could not take place without the support and diligent efforts of our many supporters. Thanks are due to the trusts, businesses, local authorities, city organisations and individuals who have made generous contributions to SIPC.As ever we are indebted to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with whom SIPC works closely. I should like to express my gratitude to Professor Aaron Shorr the Artistic Director of the Competition, Professor Fali Pavri and Ian Mills, our Administrator.

I am forever conscious of the huge support from and the hard work undertaken by my fellow Board Members of SIPC and take this opportunity to express to each of them my grateful thanks.

I know you will all enjoy greatly our SIPC 2017.

Liz CameronChair, Scottish International Piano Competition

Why Glasgow?

Glasgow was named UNESCO City of Music in August 2008. It is the second Scottish city to join the Creative Cities Network beside Edinburgh City of Literature.

What is UNESCO? Founded in 1945, currently 193 member states – cultural arm of the United Nations.

What is the Creative Cities Network? 41 cities across the world with 6 existing Cities of Music (Glasgow, Bologna, Bogota, Brazzaville, Seville and Ghent).

Our Aims:

• Enhance the city’s creative potential by using the title to promote ambition and excellence in music of all genres;

• Stimulate interest in musical education with the resulting social benefits;

• Culturally transform the city by using the universal language of music;

• Improve access to music for all ages and social and ethnic backgrounds

• Actively contribute to the UNESCO Creative Cities network.

Glasgow’s legendary music scene stretches across the whole spectrum from contemporary and classical to Celtic and Country. Its venues are equally varied and include King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (consistently voted the top live music venue in the UK), the Barrowlands, 02 Academy, the Hydro, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and many pubs and clubs throughout the city.

Glasgow is home to four of the five National Companies (including Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra) alongside other national organisations including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scotland, National Youth Companies, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Scottish Ensemble.

The city hosts an average of 130 music events each week (more than any other Scottish city) and it is estimated that music businesses generate some £75 million a year for Glasgow’s economy.

Glasgow has the highest density of higher education institutions offering courses in music, and the largest population of music students in Scotland.

Five of the biggest Scottish employers in the music industry are based in Glasgow and the city employs over half the country’s entire music workforce.


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Scottish International Piano Competition

The eleventh Scottish International Piano Competition has again attracted interest from a large number of talented young pianists from around the world. The international jury will be chaired by Professor Aaron Shorr, Head of Keyboard and Collaborative Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. As a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions, SIPC regulations comply with the highest standards set for international music competitions

For SIPC 2017, all competitors play in stages 1 and 2 thus providing an opportunity to design a 30-minute recital programme in which they can demonstrate their breadth and depth of repertoire. The jury will then select ten semi-finalists who perform a free choice of repertoire in their 60-minute recital although they must include the commissioned piece written by Gordon McPherson. A special prize is awarded to the competitor who, in the opinion of the jury and the composer, gives the best performance of the commissioned piece.

The initial stages of the competition take place in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Competitors will play each of three grand pianos – Steinway, Bosendorfer and Fazioli – during the competition.

These stages will be streamed live.

Three finalists then go forward to the concerto final where they will perform in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Thomas Søndergård. The concert will be recorded by Classic FM for broadcast at a later date.

In addition to a cash prize, the winner also receives a concert engagement with the RSNO during the 2018-19 season.

We hope you enjoy what is sure to be a thrilling week, watching some of the world’s finest young pianists compete here in Glasgow.

First Prize£10,000The Patrons and Friends PrizeSir Alexander Stone Memorial TrophyFrederick Lamond Gold Medal

Second Prize£7,500Lawrence Glover Silver MedalSupported by the Merchants House of Glasgow

Third Prize£5,000The Douglas McKerrell Memorial Prize and Trophy

Semi Final Prizes£1,000The Barcapel Foundation PrizeThe William Brown PrizeThe AMW Charitable Trust PrizeThe W A Cargill Fund PrizeThe Hugh Fraser Foundation PrizeThe J R Gibbs Trust PrizeThe Syson Foundation Prize

Special Prize£500For the best performance of the commissioned work.

In conformity with the rules of the World Federation of International Music Competitions, the monetary prizes awarded on the final evening of the competition will be judged on the basis of the competitors’ overall performances throughout the competition week.

The jury is not obliged to award all the prizes.

Honorary PresidentRaymond M Williamson

Honorary Vice Presidents Lady StoneMrs Helen Chalmers

Board of Directors

ChairLiz Cameron

DirectorsRichard ClarkIan DicksonAnn LeverLizanne McKerrell James Y. MillerDr Lynn NobleAaron Shorr

Honorary FriendsDmitri Alexeev John Lill Bernard d’AscoliJames Loughran Sergei Babayan Hamish MilneDaniel Barenboim Bryce Morrison Alfred Brendel Cristina Ortiz Arnaldo Cohen Cecile Ousset Bella Davidovich Steven Osborne Nikolai Demidenko Maurizio Pollini Barry Douglas Christopher Seaman Peter Frankl Howard ShelleyAndrei GavrilovJean-Yves ThibaudetAnthony GoldstoneValerie TryonIngrid HaeblerJohn WallacePhilip Jenkins

Administration

AdministratorIan Mills

Scottish InternationalPiano Competitionc/o RCS100 Renfrew StreetGlasgowG2 3DBE-mail [email protected] www.sipc2017.orgCharitable Trust SC 009346Company Number SC185425

Registered OfficeMacrobertsCapella Building (Tenth Floor)60 York StreetGlasgow G2 8JX

A Festival of Piano Music



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Sponsors and Donors

Patrons and Friends

The Scottish International Piano Competition gratefully acknowledges the support of the following:

Glasgow City Council

Jennie. S. Gordon Memorial Foundation

Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust

JTH Charitable Trust

The McKerrell Family

The Merchants House of Glasgow

Commonweal Fund

Barcapel Foundation Limited

The Hugh Fraser Foundation

J.R Gibb Charitable Trust

Cruden Foundation Limited

The Binks Trust

Nancy Brown’s Charitable Trust

The Inches Carr Trust

The William Syson Foundation

The AMW Charitable Trust

The W. A Cargill Fund

The Tay Charitable Trust

The R K T Harris Trust

The James Wood Bequest Fund

Chardon Trading Limited

VWM Wealth

Arts&Business Scotland

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

ArtsPR

Gold Patrons

Robin BarrDonald and Nan BlairMr & Mrs Douglas T BoydAlison & Anthony BrownColin ClarkLord Cameron of LochbroomMrs Beth GibbDr David GreenhoughNick and Sally KuenssbergMrs Katharine M E ListonIain McGlashanMaureen MichieNeil R MurrayMr & Mrs Charles M ScottThe Hon. Lord and Lady WeirRaymond & Brenda Williamson

Patrons

Allan and Moyra Barns - GrahamElizabeth BoydMiss J Ann BoydLaura BuistHelen ChalmersMr Russell CrichtonDr Frances DryburghSir Kerr Fraser Mrs Ailene S HunterMrs Inez HutchisonDr Helen M LairdRobert LoveDr A G MathiesonStewart MacKayElaine McLarenMr Duncan McGhie Ian MorrisonDr Lynn NobleMs Jean Reid Mrs E M RobertsonMrs Feodor Wolfe

Friends

Dr A G AitkenJanet BairdMarilyn BoydMrs Bridget ButterRichard Clark Albert CowieSimon & Liz Freebairn-SmithAdele Granet Norah R GrayThe Rt Hon Lord HamiltonSusan HemmensMrs Kirsten HolmesColin HolroydDiane HowieMrs Ann LeverEwan LoveMiss Jean C MacKenzieMrs Maeve McGlynnMrs E A McKerrellMr James W McNeillMr David MorganDr Jill MorganDr & Mrs Michael MossMr & Mrs J. B. PettingerAndrew O RobertsonAlastair & Elaine RollandPatricia SogbanmuPatricia Waite

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Competition Calendar

Friday 1 SeptemberStage 1 recitals Stevenson Hall, RCS 10am, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

Saturday 2 SeptemberStage 1 recitals Stevenson Hall, RCS 9.25am, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

Sunday 3 September Stage 2 recitals Stevenson Hall, RCS 10am, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

Monday 4 September Stage 2 recitals Stevenson Hall, RCS 9.25am, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

Tuesday 5 September Announcement of Semi finalistsStevenson Hall, RCS 11am

Guest Recital by SIPC 2014 winner Jonathon FournelStevenson Hall, RCS 1pm

Wednesday 6 SeptemberSemi- final recitals Stevenson Hall, RCS 2pm, 7.30pm

Thursday 7 SeptemberSemi-final recitals Stevenson Hall, RCS 2pm, 7.30pm

Friday 8 September Announcement of Finalists Stevenson Hall, RCS 11am

Sunday 10 September Concerto final Glasgow Royal Concert Hall3pm

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The JuryChair

Aaron ShorrSince settling in the United Kingdom in 1984, Aaron Shorr has established an international career as soloist, chamber musician and educator. As well as appearing as soloist at London's South Bank in over thirty concertos, he has toured extensively as a recitalist and chamber musician worldwide. More recent performances have included tours of Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Turkey, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the United States. He has performed extensively in the United Kingdom appearing in concerti, solo recitals and chamber music concerts at the Wigmore Hall, St. Martins in the Field and St. John’s Smith Square and festivals throughout Britain. He has also appeared in major European Festivals including the BBC Proms, Menuhin Festival, Munich Biennale, Hanover Expo, Paganiniana in Genoa, Venice Biennale, Instrumenta Festival Mexico, the Skopje Days of New Music, Cyprus International Contemporary Music Festival and the Istanbul Biennale. He has broadcast frequently for radio, including BBC Radio 3, BBC Scotland, Classic FM, Bavarian Radio, Swiss Classical Radio, ABC Australia, and WQXR New York.

Aaron Shorr has recorded for Naxos, Mettier, Olympia, NMC and Meridian. His recordings of Beethoven with duo partner, Peter Sheppard Skaerved, have won wide acclaim. Research on composers in Beethoven’s inner circle of friends and contemporaries has yielded modern recording premieres of works by Mayseder, Ries and Archduke Rudolph as well as unknown chamber version of Beethoven’s Third Symphony. He has also enjoyed close associations with composers and has given countless premieres and performances of works, including those by Hans Werner Henze, George Rochberg, Sadie Harrison, David Matthews, Paul Moravec, Elliott Schwartz, Jorg Widmann, Michael Alec Rose, Jeremy Dale Roberts, Judith Bingham, Rory Boyle, Marek Pasieczny, and Sidika Ozdil.

Aaron Shorr studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he received their most prestigious prizes for performance. His teachers have included Alexander Kelly, Solomon Mikowsky, Gary Graffman, André Watts, John Browning and chamber music with Joseph Seiger, former duo partner of legendary violinist Mischa Elman.

Aaron Shorr was a professor and researcher at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1992 before going on to lead the keyboard department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2006. His students have gone on to win major prizes at international competitions including the Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Tel Aviv, UNISA, Pretoria, Rio, Brazil, Munich, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Vines - Spain, Piano Campus - Paris, Redding-Piette and the Schubert Competition in the Czech Republic. His students have also won prizes in major UK competitions, including the Royal Overseas League, Brandt, Bromsgrove, Park Lane Debut Series and the Moray Piano Competition. In 2011, he became Artistic Director and Chair of the Jury for the Scottish International Piano Competition.

In 2006, Aaron Shorr was appointed Head of Keyboard at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2013, he was awarded a Professorship from RCS and from 2013-2015, also served as Acting Director of Music at RCS. “Sensational Instruments…”

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Scottish Comp 2017_Layout 1 01/08/2017 13:39 Page 1

The JuryIvari IljaProfessor Ivari Ilja studied at the Tallinn State Conservatoire with Professor Laine Mets and at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with Professor Vera Gornostayeva and Professor Sergey Dorensky. He held the position of the Head of Keyboard Studies in 2000-2015 and, in 2017, he was elected as the Rector of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Ivari Ilja has given masterclasses, among other places, at the Guildhall School of Music in London, Latvian Academy of Music in Riga and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has also served as a jury member in several international competitions. Ivari Ilja’s students include several prize winners in international piano competitions.

Ivari has held solo recitals in France, United Kingdom, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Sweden, Finland and performed as a soloist with several symphony orchestras. He is a recognised accompanist and ensemble musician. His collaboration with renowned singers Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Irina Arkhipova, Maria Guleghina, etc. has been particularly successful and acclaimed. Together they have performed on many of the great concert stages of the world, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall of New York, the Kennedy Center of Washington DC, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Barbican Hall in Londo and Suntory Hall of Tokyo,c. In 2001, Ivari Ilja won the Estonian National Culture Award and in 2006, the prize of the Estonian Music Council.

Russian-American pianist Olga Kern is recognised 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 was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, and began studying piano at the age of five. She jump-started her US 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. The first Olga Kern International Piano Competition took place in Albuquerque in 2016. Olga is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Division of the Arts, and served as Jury Chairman of the Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition in June 2016.

In the 2016/2017 season, Ms. Kern premiered her first American concerto, the Barber Piano Concerto, with the Saint Louis Symphony and Leonard Slatkin. She also appeared with the Pacific Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, and Copenhagen Philharmonic. Recital appearances include the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Virginia Arts Festival, Milan, and Glasgow. 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, performances with the Rochester Philharmonic and San Antonio Symphony, 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’s Lied Center, and recitals with Renée Fleming in Carnegie Hall and Berkeley.

Ms. Kern has performed with Tokyo’s NHK Symphony; Orchestre National de Lyon; Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo; the Detroit Symphony for Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos 1, 2, and 3; and the Symphonies of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Nashville, Colorado, Madison, and Austin. Ms. Kern has also given recitals in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Louisville, with performances alongside Renée Fleming and Kathleen Battle. Ms. Kern's has performed in 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.

Her 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 disc with works by Rachmaninoff and Balakirev (2005), Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Warsaw Philharmonic and Antoni Wit (2006), Brahms’s Variations (2007), and a 2010 release of Chopin’s Piano Sonatas Nos. 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 in Olga’s Journey, A 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.

The JuryOlga Kern


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A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Meng-Chieh Liu first made headlines in 1993 as a 21-year-old student at the Curtis Institute of Music when he substituted at last minute's notice for André Watts at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. The concert earned high acclaim from critics and audience alike, and was followed by a number of widely praised performances, including a recital at the Kennedy Center and a concert on the Philadelphia All-Star Series. Already an accomplished artist at the time, Mr. Liu had made his New York orchestral debut two years earlier.

The stellar beginning of his career was abruptly halted by a rare and debilitating illness that affected his connective tissues. Hospitalised and almost immobile for a year, doctors believed his chances for survival were slim and, should he survive, playing the piano would be "absolutely impossible." With arduous determination and relentless physical therapy, Mr. Liu has been restored to full health and is now once again performing on the concert stage. Since then, he has performed throughout the world as a soloist in recitals and with orchestras under conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Gustavo Dudamel and Alan Gilbert. In 2002, Liu received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Philadelphia Musical Fund Society Career Advancement Award. A sought-after musician and strong advocate of chamber music, Liu performs in music festivals across the globe and has worked with international musicians Shmuel Ashkenasi, David Soyer, Bernard Greenhouse, James Buswell, Wendy Warner as well as the Borromeo and St. Lawrence Quartets.

Liu also collaborates with artists in varied disciplines, such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project, among other dance companies. His concerts have been heard over the airwaves around the world, and a biography on his life was broadcast on Taiwanese National Television.

During the 2016-17 season, Liu appeared with orchestras in Miami, Philadelphia, Beijing, Shenzhen, Kunming, Qindao and Taichung, collaborating with conductors Long Yu, Daye Lin, Kah Chun Wong, Guoyong Zhang and David Wetherill. He was the featured soloist with the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra in the world premiere of works written for him by Xiaogang Ye. His reputation as a teacher/mentor has brought him across the globe in summer festivals, masterclasses, and lecture recitals. Since 1993, Liu served on the piano and chamber music faculties at the Curtis Institute of Music, and recently added the New England Conservatory to his itinerary. For the last three summers, he was also a faculty member for the Tanglewood Music Center. Also a faculty member at Roosevelt University in Chicago from 20016-2014, Liu joined Chicago Chamber Musicians in the fall of 2009, and served as Artistic Director of the ensemble from 2011-2014, where performances have already been acclaimed for his "faultless, discreetly balanced pianism" (Chicago Classical Review).

Steven Osborne is one of Britain’s most notable musicians whose insightful and idiomatic interpretations of diverse repertoire show an immense musical depth. His numerous awards include The Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist of the Year (2013) and two Gramophone Awards for recordings of Britten’s works for piano and orchestra and of solo works by Prokofiev and Mussorgsky.

Concerto performances take Steven Osborne to major orchestras all over the world including recent visits to the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Salzburg Mozarteum, Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Danish National Radio, London Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. He has enjoyed collaborations with conductors including Christoph von Dohnanyi, Alan Gilbert, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Stéphane Denève, Ludovic Morlot, Juanjo Mena, Leif Segerstam, Andrew Litton, Ingo Metzmacher, Vladimir Jurowski, Ed Gardner and Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

He is a favourite soloist of British orchestras and for the 16/17 season is Artist in Residence with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Reflecting his eclectic musical taste, Osborne brings concertos by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Messiaen, Britten and Tippett to Birmingham. He regularly works with the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with whom he recently completed a Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle, and last August made his thirteenth appearance at the Proms.

Steven Osborne’s recitals of carefully crafted programmes are publicly and critically acclaimed without exception. In recent seasons he has held residencies at both De Singel in Antwerp and at Wigmore Hall and has performed in many of the

world’s prestigious venues including the Konzerthaus Vienna, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Philharmonie Berlin, de Doelen Rotterdam, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Kennedy Center Washington and Carnegie Hall. His chamber music partners include Alban Gerhardt, Paul Lewis, James Ehnes, Dietrich Henschel and Alina Ibragimova.

Highlights of 16/17 season include performances with the Oslo Philharmonic/Mena, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony/Brabbins, Dresden Philharmonic/Francis, Royal Flemish Philharmonic/Märkl. St Louis Symphony/Denève, Oregon Symphony/Kalmar, Hallé/Langrée and BBC Symphony/Oramo. Recital tours take him to Japan, Italy, Belgium, the US and Wigmore Hall.

This season also sees the release of his 25th CD on Hyperion spanning an 18-year partnership. These releases have accumulated numerous awards from the UK, France, Germany and the USA including two Gramophone Awards, three Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Awards, a Choc in Classica Magazine and many ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone. His recordings span a wide range of repertoire including Beethoven, Schubert, Debussy, Ravel, Liszt, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Medtner, Messiaen, Britten, Tippett, Crumb and Feldman. His second disc of Beethoven sonatas, opps 90, 10 and 106 is released in October 2016 and his recording of the Ravel Piano Concertos coupled with de Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain is released in spring 2017.

Steven Osborne won first prize at the prestigious Clara Haskil Competition in 1991 and the Naumburg International Competition in 1997. Born in Scotland, he studied with Richard Beauchamp at St. Mary's Music School in Edinburgh and Renna Kellaway at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is a Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March 2014.


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The JuryMeng-Chieh Liu

The JurySteven Osborne

Praised for his “astonishing technical facility”, “singing line” and “perfect sense of balance”, Peter Tuite is now widely regarded as one of Ireland’s leading classical musicians and one of the outstanding talents of his generation. Over the past decade, he has garnered considerable international acclaim for his recital and concerto appearances throughout the world.

More recently, his twelve-concert joint-traversal of the complete 52 Sonatas for Keyboard by Joseph Haydn was met with exceptional reviews; and he has just completed a new multi-media filmed performance of the Goldberg Variations at the famous Long Room Library—a unique project scheduled for release next year.

Educated at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Oxford and as a Fulbright scholar at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, he subsequently went on to become Head of the Keyboard Faculty and later the first Senior Dean of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He is currently the Head of Piano and Keyboard Instruments at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

Along with numerous further concert appearances, upcoming projects include the recording and filming of the complete Haydn Sonatas for Keyboard and a new series of piano compositions based on short portraits of Dublin entitled Palm of the hand Portraits, premiered in 2016.

Soo-Jung SHIN received her musical training at the Seoul National University, the Vienna Academy of Music (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Wien) and the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, USA. Her teachers include Chung Jin-Woo, Josef Dichler, Leon Fleisher, Wilhelm Kempff and Maria Curzio Diamond. She won many prizes in music competitions including the Dong-A National Competition in Korea, the Elena Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, the Deutsch Industrie Vanband Scholarship Competition among others. She was also awarded the Korean Academy of Arts Award. She received Das Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse from German Government in 2011.

She made her debut at the age of 13, playing Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 with Navy Symphony Orchestra (Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, today)

She has performed with orchestras such as London Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, KBS and NHK Symphony under the batons of Lim Won-Shik, Leon Fleisher, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir John Pritchard, Asahina Takashi, Iwaki Hiroyuki, Myung-whun Chung and others. She performed together with Ruggiero Ricci, Nicolai Gedda, Janos Starker, Chung Kyung Wha and others.

She has served as jury of international competitions including ARD, Seoul, Tokyo, Köln, UNISA, Dublin, Hamamatsu, Sendai and Leeds International Music Competitions.

At the age of 26, she became the youngest faculty member at her alma mater, College of Music, School National University. She taught also at Seoul High School of Arts and Kyung Won University where she served as Dean of the School of Music. In 2000, she returned to Seoul National University, where she taught until her retirement in 2007. Soo-Jung was also elected as Dean of the College of Music, the first woman in its history. In 2009, she was elected as member of the National Academy of Arts, Korea. She is Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University and chairperson of Great Mountain Music Festival and School’s Managing Committee.


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The JuryPeter Tuite

The JurySoo-Jung Shin


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Dr Krishna Thiagarajan was appointed Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) in August 2015. Dr Thiagarajan joined at a pivotal moment in the Orchestra’s 125-year history, overseeing the final stages of the company’s move from Henry Wood Hall – its home since 1979 – to the purpose-built, state-of-the-art rehearsal, recording and education facilities of the RSNO Centre, in the heart of Glasgow, Scotland’s UNESCO City of Music.

Dr Thiagarajan joined the RSNO from the New York City-based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, where he served as Executive Director since January 2013. Whilst there, he was responsible for increasing audiences, including sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall, commissioning new work, touring the Orchestra to Japan, Colombia and throughout Europe, ensuring financial stabilisation and overseeing the orchestra’s first self-produced recording.

Previously Dr Thiagarajan served as President of Symphony in C ¬– one of three professional training orchestras in the United States – as well as Senior Director of Artistic Operations for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), based in Rochester, New York state’s third largest city.

Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, Dr Thiagarajan trained as a pianist and performed throughout the USA, Europe and Asia. He graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, where he studied with Leonard Hokanson and taught as an associate instructor of piano. He later received his doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park where he studied with pianists Santiago Rodriguez and André Watts. In 1997, he founded and directed Kammermusikkurs in Dortmund, Germany, a chamber music festival with internationally acclaimed faculty and students.

The JuryDr Krishna Thiagarajan

Piotry Alexewicz, Poland

Piotry Alexewicz was born in 2000 in Wroclaw. He began his musical training at the Grażyna Bacewicz Elementary School of Music in Wroclaw with Małgorzata Borkowska, and graduated from here in 2013. Currently, he is a student of Prof. Paweł Zawadzki at the Karol Szymanowski High School of Music in Wrocław. In 2010 and 2011, Piotr won 1st prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary piece at the 10th and 11th J.A. Hiller International Piano Competition in Goerlitz. He also received 2nd prize at the 11th International Piano Festival of Young Pianists in Głubczyce. In 2013 he was awarded the 1st prize at the 12th International Piano Festival of Young Pianists in Głubczyce and the title of a laureate at the in 21st International Chopin Piano Competition in Sochaczew.

In 2014 he received the 3rd prize at the 2nd International Subcarpathian Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. In the same year Piotr received the 1st prize and the special prize ”European Piano Teachers Association Poland” at the 8th National Piano Competition “EPTA” in Cracow. In 2015 Piotr appeared as a part of the anniversary celebration of the Wrocław Technical University and the National Forum of Music Symphony Orchestra performing Piano Concerto in f minor op. 21 of Frederic Chopin under the baton of Benjamin Shwartz. In 2016, Piotr received the 1st prize at the 5th International Piano Competition in Augustów and the 2nd prize at the 23rd Jeunesses International PIANO Competition Dinu Lipatti in Bucharest. In 2016, he was also accepted to take part at the “Internationale Mendelssohn Akademie” – Leipzig where he had the privilege to study in the class of Prof. Pavel Gililov. This year, Piotr received the Fontys Hoogschool in Tilburg Award at the Anton Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Düsseldorf. He also gained Grand Prix, Audience Prize and Musideco Prize at the 3rd “Concours International de Piano Ville de Gagy” in Paris.

Svetlana Andreeva, Russia

Svetlana Andreeva was born in Crimea (Ukraine). In 2000, after music school, she became a student of Lyceum (Music College) of the Rostov Rachmaninov Conservatory (Anna Zhirikova’s class, Prof. Sergey Osipenko's class). Since 1999 Svetlana studies also as a composer.

From 2004 till 2007 she studied in the Central Music School of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, was the pupil of Andrei Limaev and Prof. Natalia Troull.

Since 2007 Svetlana is a student of Moscow State Conservatory as a pianist (Prof. Natalia Troull) and as a composer (Prof. Leonid Bobylev). In 2012 she graduated from the Conservatory and continued her post-graduate study at the Moscow Conservatory.

Since 2014 she lives in Germany and studies recently at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin in the class of Prof. Stefan Arnold.Awards:

• Third prize and special prize for the best semi-final recital at the Paderewski International Piano Competition

• Grand Prix, prize of the Goethe-Institute and prize of the Embassy of France for the best performance of contemporary music at the International Piano Competition H. R. H. Princess Lalla Meryem (Rabat, Morocco 2014)

• Grand Prix and Schubert-prize at the Rosario Marciano International Piano Competition in Vienna (Austria, 2011),

• Second prize at the Campillos International Piano Competition (Spain, 2015)

• third prize at the IPC “Euregio Piano Award” (Germany, 2014)

• third prize at the “Tkaczewski” IPC (Poland 2016)

• fifth prize at the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition (Australia, 2013),

• Honorable diploma at the Scriabin International Piano Competition (Moscow, Russia 2012),

• Honorable diploma at the International Piano Competition “Premi Principat d’Andorra” (Andorra, 2006)

In-Ju Bang, South Korea

In-Ju Bang has won various awards including first prize in the Puigcerda International Piano Competition, the New York Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, and third prize in the New York International Artists Piano Competition. At 14 years of age, Ms. Bang was given the opportunity to record Kabalevsky's Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 with Naxos. From then on, she has given many performances in places such as the Seoul Arts Center Recital Hall, Juilliard School, Yamaha Artist Services in New York, Mannes College of Music, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Merkin Hall, as well as recital in Heidelberg, Germany. She has also performed chamber works at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in Lincoln Center.

Ms. Bang began playing the piano at the age of five, and entered the Music Academy in Seoul at eleven years old. She later continued her intensive studies at the Juilliard Pre-College Division, and furthered her education at Mannes College of Music obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree under Victor Rosenbaum, Master’s Degree at the Hochsuhule fur Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover with Bernd Goetzke and Ewa Kupiec, and is now pursuing her Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold with Alfredo Perl.

Ludovica de Bernardo

Ludovica de Bernardo is considered to be one of the most interesting young pianists of her generation. Since 2012, under the tutelage of the pianist Mario Coppola, she has participated in many competitions, winning the 1st prize at the International Piano Competition "Ischia", the 25th European Music Competition "Moncalieri", the 4th International Piano Competition "Clara Wieck" (Asti), the National Competition "Piana di Cavaliere" (Carsoli), the National Competition "Hyperion" (Ciampino), where she also recieved the "Sonja Pahor" special prize for outstanding musical sensibility and the International Competition "Contea of Vidor" (Treviso).

In May 2016 she won the First Prize and special prize for the interpretation of the Etudes Tableaux of Rachmaninov at the International Piano Competition "Martucci " (Novara).

She has performed concerts for important associations and festivals including Società dei Concerti di Milano, Amici della Musica di Novara, Festival Pianistico di Galliate, Festival Pianistico di Barletta, Ravello Concert Society, Naxos in Musica di Taormina, Alpen Classica Euroregional Festival performing the 2’ concert of Chopin with Alpen Classica Orchestra, and with Sestetto Stradivari dell’Accademia


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The Competitors


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Nazionale "S. Cecilia" di Roma for Federimusica in Naples. She has also performed at the Steinway House in Munich, at the Hochschule in Nuremberg and at the Italian Cultural Institutes in Hamburg and Wolfsburg.

She currently attends the two-year specialisation at the Conservatory of Trento with Mario Coppola.

Sung-Soo Cho

Pianist Sung-Soo Cho continues to captivate audiences with profound interpretations of musical depth. Praised for his technique and command at the piano, his wide musical perception has drawn critical acclaim. Awarded “Best American Contemporary Performance” at the Cincinnati World Piano Competition and “Best Performance of the Commissioned Work” at the Texas State International Piano Competition, he especially enjoys broadening his passion for contemporary music. One of his recent projects includes a CD "Minimum | Maximum | Modern Piano Music by American Composers" which was released in 2016 by Albany Records.Dr Cho has been a worldwide prize-winner in numerous competitions including the International Piano Competition "Delia Steinberg" in Madrid, Spain, the Suri Music Concours, the JoongAng Music Concours in Korea, the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano

Competition, the 5 Towns Music and Art Foundation Young Musician Competition in New York, New York International Music Concours, Glasgow International Competition for Young Pianists, the United States Virtuoso International Piano Competition, Texas State International Piano Competition, and the Cincinnati World Piano Competition.

Dr Cho has appeared as a soloist throughout the world, including appearances with the Prime Philharmonic of Korea, the Festival Chamber Orchestra of Lublin Philharmonic, the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, and the Round Rock Symphony. His performance highlights include solo performances in various venues throughout Korea, the United States and Europe. He has performed at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Yamaha Artist Service Seoul, and the Kumho Art Hall. He is also a pianist at Lake George Music Festival, a strong supporter of contemporary classical music.

Dr Cho started his musical studies at the age of five in Seoul, South Korea and graduated from Yewon Arts Middle School, Seoul Arts High School, Seoul National University, and Manhattan School of Music. His teachers include Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Phillip Kawin and Hyoung-Joon Chang. He recently earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music.Dr Cho serves as adjunct faculty in piano and class piano at New York University, as well as an adjunct faculty in music history (online) and a visiting artist-in-residence at Notre Dame College.

Can Cakmur, Turkey

Born in 1997 in Ankara, Can’s first musical impulses came from pianists Emre Sen, Marcella Crudeli and Jun Kanno. He participated in numerous masterclasses, working with important personalities like Ewa Kupiec, Robert D. Levin, Arie Vardi or Alan Weiss. Since 2015, Çakmur has been working with Grigory Gruzman at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, whilst continuing his studies with Diane Andersen in Belgium.

In 2012, Can Çakmur won the first prize at the XXII. International Rome Piano Competition. 2014 brought him further prizes such as the EMCY Prize and a scholarship at the PIANALE Junior Academy and Competition, and third prize and Bartók Prize at the 4th Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists Weimar. His critically-acclaimed performances and prizes brought him the award "The Young Musician of the Year" at the annual Donizetti Classical Music Awards in Istanbul. In 2016, he became a laureate of the X. Balys Dvarionas Competition for Young Pianists and won two special awards.

Since 2013, Çakmur has been a part of the programme "Young Musicians on the World Stages" founded and led by renowned pianists Güher and Süher Pekinel. Being a part of this programme gave him numerous performance

chances and the opportunity to meet important musical personalities. Can has performed in almost every important classical music festival in Turkey. In 2014 he was invited as a soloist for the season opening concert of Eskisehir City Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Ender Sakpinar.

In 2015, Çakmur was the soloist in the opening concert of the 43rd Istanbul Music Festival, accompanied by Borusan Istanbul Philarmonic Orchestra under Sasha Goetzel. He performed in halls like Eindhoven Muziekgebouw, Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest, Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, Bilkent Concert Hall in Ankara or Adnan Saygun Concert Hall in Izmir. His concerts have been often recorded for the Turkish National Radio.

Can has performed rarely-played masterworks such as Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians (Thuringia Premiere) in different ensembles. He is an avid speaker and regularly moderates his own concerts as well as other concerts by renowned artists. Since 2015 he writes monthly for the classical music magazine "Andante".

Can Çakmur, as a scholar of "G & S Pekinel Young Musicians on the World Stages" is supported by TÜPRAŞ.

Vivianne Cheng, USA

Vivianne Cheng is among the five youngest official Steinway Artists in the world to have joined the legendary roster. She is praised by critics as "a veteran performer, playing with unfailing concentration and purpose" (The News & Observer) and “dazzling and riveting... an artist with sensibilities far beyond her years" (CVNC Arts Journal). Rachmaninoff's final pupil, Ruth Slenczynska, describes Vivianne as having "unlimited promise through her interpretive imagination". Born in 1990 in North Carolina, she gave her debut solo recital at the age of ten and has since performed throughout the United States, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Vivianne has appeared in venues including Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Symphony Hall, Musikverein, Wiener Saal, Mirabell Palace, Arenberg Castle, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Festival Ljubljana and La Cité Internationale des Arts. She has participated in the International Keyboard Institute and Festival, Verbier Festival Academy and International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove.

Vivianne is a prizewinner of numerous competitions including Tureck International Bach Competition, New York International Piano Competition,

Concurso Internacional de Piano CLAMO, Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition, Wideman International Piano Competition and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Albert M. Greenfield Concerto Competition with Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. In 2012, she was named the winner of the inaugural Arts Arena–Curtis Institute of Music Award in Paris. Vivianne was the recipient of the David H. Springman Memorial Fellowship, Vladimir Horowitz Piano Scholarship, and Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Grant.

Vivianne's performances have been broadcast on PBS, Y Arts 'On Stage at Curtis’, The Classical Network (WWFM), Good Morning Television New Zealand, and in documentaries "On a Personal Note" (2010) and “Die Martins-Passion” (2004). An avid chamber musician, Vivianne has performed alongside artists such as Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, Efe Baltacigil, and has studied with Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, Pamela Frank, Gábor Takács-Nagy and Aaron Rosand.

Vivianne holds a Postgraduate and Master of Arts degree from the Mozarteum as a student of Andreas Groethuysen and Pavel Gililov, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Gary Graffman and Leon Fleisher. Prior to entering Curtis, Vivianne studied at The Juilliard School where, at fifteen years old, she became one of the youngest students in their history to be accepted as a college student. Previous major teachers have included Ruth Slenczynska, Yoheved Kaplinsky and Arkady Aronov.

Andrei Dubov, Russia

Andrei Dubov was born in Moscow, in 1987.

In 2006 he finished the Gnessins Music School (College) (under the class of L.Grigorieva). In 2011 he graduated with honors from the Russian State Gnessins Academy of Music and in 2014 finished this academy as a postgraduate student (class of Prof. S. Senkov). In 2016 Andrei Dubov graduated from Mozarteum (Salzburg), postgraduate course, with Prof. A. Groethuysen. Now he is a student of Accademia Pianistica Siciliana with Prof. E. Comis.

Andrei has taken part in masterclasses with professors: D. Bashkirov (Russia), P. Gililov (Russia/Germany), A. Vardi (Israel), L. Natochenny (Germany), F. Gottlieb (Latvia), E. Comis (Italy), A. Mamriev (Russia/Germany), V. Viardo (USA), P. Donohoe (GB), M. Salazar (Mexico) and others.

In 2012 he became a 3rd prize winner in the 5th International A. Rubinshtein Piano Competition (Dresden, Germany). In 2014 Andrei won the main prize in the I International Music Competition "eMuse" (Athens, Greece). The 1st prize winner in "The Grand Prize Virtuoso" piano competition in Paris (France, 2015) and many others including 3rd prize of the 4th Hong Kong International Piano competition, 2nd prize of the 23th Epinal International Piano

competition and 1st prize of the 7th Almaty International Piano competition.

Andrei Dubov has participated in important festivals including "Beethovenfest" (Germany), "Brucknerfest" (Austria), "Autumno musicale" (Italy), Trecastagni International Music Festival (Italy), International Festival of Piano Transcriptions (Russia), "Russian Evenings" International Music Festival (Russia), "The Cherry Wood" International festival (Russia), Malta International Piano Festival. In 2016 Andrei got the 1st prize in the "Internationale Klavier Akademie Freiburg Pianofest" (Germany) etc. In 2016 Andrei performed concertos by Rachmaninov no.2, no.3 and "Rhapsody on the theme of Paganini”.

In 2017 Andrei Dubov gave masterclasses in Tel-Aviv and Ashdod (Israel), Bethlehem (Palestine), Astana and Almaty (Kazakhstan), Kishinev (Moldova). He has played with such well known orchestras as Russian National Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Bratislava National Orchestra, Orchestra of Hong Kong International piano competition etc.

Andrei Dubov is an author of a lot of piano transcriptions, which were highly appreciated by such musicians as B.Berezovsky, A.Vardi, M.Voskresensky, J.Margulis, A.Volodin, F. Gottlieb, E.Comis, M. Korstick and many others. His repertoire consists of works from the Age of Baroque to contemporary pieces..

Anna Geniushene, Russia

Born in January 1991 in Moscow, Anna Geniushene has commenced her Master of Arts degree at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under Professor Emeritus Christopher Elton. She is generously supported by the ABRSM Scholarship and the English-Speaking Union. Anna recently graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory, where she gained her Bachelor’s degree under Elena Kuznetsova. Since the age of eight, she has been actively involved in the cultural life of Moscow: her early musical achievements included second prize at the Shostakovich Music Competition (1998), as well as the Grand Prix at the Blütner International Piano Competition in Kaliningrad (2006). Anna has been a prize winner at many competitions, including Shchedrin Music Competition (first prize, Moscow, 2008), Musika be sienu (first prize, Lithuania, 2009), Romantic Music Festival for Young Musicians, (first prize, Moscow, 2010), Citta di Padova (second prize, Italy, 2012) and Maria Yudina International Music Competition (first prize, St Petersburg, Russia, 2015). She has been selected as one of six finalists of the Patrons’ Award 2017 and had the privilege to play a recital on the prestigious stage of Wigmore Hall. She has been awarded the Second Prize

in Mauro Monopoli Competition in May, 2017 (Barletta, Italy) as well as the First and the Audience Prizes in Sheepdrove Competition (Newbury, UK) Anna is delighted to have featured several times in the encyclopedia A Talented Youth; The Future of Russia (2010). She is actively involved in promoting Russian culture throughout the world: she was elected as a representative of the Moscow State Conservatory and has taken part in the Kyoto International Music Students Festival in Japan in 2014. In the autumn of 2015 Anna became a soloist at the St Petersburg House of Music, having received an invitation to play in several concerts throughout Russia. She regularly takes part in masterclasses and collaborates with such renowned artists as Ferenc Rados, Kirill Gerstein, Imogen Cooper, Rita Wagner, Pavel Nersessian, Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, Alexander Sandler, Haenk Gouttard, Steven Osborne and Wolfgang Redik.

George Harliono, UK

British pianist George Harliono was invited to make his first one-hour long, solo recital at the age of nine and since then has performed in numerous locations both in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia, including Wigmore Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, Chicago Symphony Centre and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.He has been awarded prizes in many competitions throughout the world including the Grand Piano Competition in Moscow, Royal Overseas League Music Competition in London, Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Utah and Dinu Lipatti Piano Competition in Bucharest.A regular performer with orchestras including the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, Tyumen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ealing Symphony Orchestra and Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra George has also performed alongside eminent artists such as Lang Lang and Denis Matsuev.

George studies with Professor Vanessa Latarche (Chair of International Keyboard Studies and Head of Keyboard, Royal College of Music in London) and travels to Switzerland to work with his mentor, renowned pianist Professor Vovka Ashkenazy and his father Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has been accepted to enter the Royal College of Music for a BMus Degree on a full four-year scholarship commencing September 2017.

Upcoming engagements include performances with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Philharmonic and Orquesta Provincial de Santa Fe, among others.

Yixiang Hou, China

Winner of the 2016 New England Conservatory Piano Concerto Competition, pianist Yixiang Hou has performed in China, Japan and the US. Yixiang has appeared as soloist with the Taiwan Sanchong Orchestra in He Luting Concert Hall and the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra in Shanghai Concert Hall. In 2006, Yixiang made his debut recitals at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre and Shanghai Conservatory Hall. Yixiang is also very active as a chamber musician, having performed chamber music concerts in Shanghai, Ningbo, Beijing and Boston.


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Yixiang has been a prizewinner of various competitions. At only ten years of age, Yixiang became a prizewinner of the 2004 Shanghai Haydn Piano Competition, and in 2009, Yixiang won the Wiesbaden Piano Competition in Shanghai. Yixiang has also received awards in the Tianjin "Flying Melody” Competition and the Steinway Competition of China in Beijing. As a student in Shanghai, Yixiang received the highest honors, including the Tang Scholarship.

Born in China, Yixiang moved to Shanghai at the age of eleven to study with pianists Ting Zhou at the Shanghai Conservatory. Following his studies in Shanghai, Yixiang moved to Boston in 2012, where he began his studies with Wha-Kyung Byun at New England Conservatory. Yixiang completed his Bachelor of Music degree at NEC, as a recipient of the Carol and Robert Henderson Presidential Scholarship. He is currently enrolled in NEC’s Master of Music degree program on a full tuition scholarship funded by the Saj-nicole A. Joni Endowed Scholarship Fund, in honor of Patricia Zander. Yixiang continues to study with Ms. Byun.

Luke Jones, UK

Luke Jones is a Welsh pianist. Originally from Wrexham in North Wales, he started playing the piano at the age of five and made his debut recital at the Wrexham Arts Centre aged 10. Since then he has performed all over Britain in venues such as Eaton Square (London), Dora Stoutzker Hall (Cardiff), Barber Institute (Birmingham) and the Pump Room (Bath). He has also performed in Italy, Austria (Wienersaal, Salzburg) and Slovenia and has won prizes in competitions around Europe notably 1st Prize in "Aci Bertoncelj" International Piano Competition, Slovenia, 1st Prize in "Section A" Chopin-Roma International Piano Competition, Italy, and 3rd Prize in the Manchester International Concerto Competition, UK. Most recently, Luke was awarded the RNCM Chopin Prize for his performance of the 12 Etudes, Op.10. Furthermore, his performances have been broadcast on BBC Wales Radio, S4C Television, Radio Vaticana and Telepace in Italy.

He has performed Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with the Manchester Camerata and the Liszt No.1, Mozart K488 and Grieg concertos with other British orchestras. At the age of five he studied with Eva Warren, and then, at the age of 8, began studying with concert pianist Andrew Wilde. At the age of 11, he was awarded a place at Chetham's School of Music where he studied under the Head of Keyboard, Murray McLachlan from 2006-2013. Between 2013-2015 he studied at Conservatorio di Musica 'Lorenzo Perosi' Campobasso under the tutelage of Maestro Carlo Grante. Currently he is studying at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester where he has studied with Prof. Frank Wibaut and Prof. Dina Parakhina.

Luke has been fortunate to have had masterclasses/lessons with notable pianists such as Leslie Howard, Vladimir Tropp, Sergejs Osokins, Bernard Roberts, Hamish Milne, Peter Donohoe, Stephen Hough, Llyr Williams, David Wilde and Philippe Cassard.

Nejc Kamplet, Slovenia

Nejc Kamplet, born in 1996, is the son of a composer and a flautist. He has been learning the piano from the age of five and graduated in 2015 with a distinction from the Music Conservatory in Maribor under Prof. Mag. Sasa G. Donaldson. In the same year, he also received his high school certificate from the II. Gimnazija in Maribor. In 2012, he started preparatory classes at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria and has since started pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in 2014 in the class of Prof. Dr. Zuzana Niederdorfer.

Nejc has received awards in more than twenty international piano competitions including: second prize in the 15th Ettlingen International piano Competition for Young Pianists (Germany, 2016), first absolute prize in the category Euregio Piano Award in the 4th Euregio International piano competition in Geilenkirchen (Germany, 2016), first absolute prize and special EMCY prize “Europe” for the best competitor in the 6th international Young academy award in Rome (Italy, 2016), golden plaques and two special prizes in Slovenian national piano competition TEMSIG (in years 2010, 2013, 2016),

first absolute prize and two special awards of 2nd International piano competition Forum per tasti in Banska Bystrica (Slovakia, 2015), first absolute and three special prizes in the Jurica Murai International piano competition in Varaždin (Croatia, 2015), first prize in GrandPprize Virtuoso International Piano Competition in London (2015), second prize in the Giovanni Musicisti International piano competition in Treviso (Italy, 2013), first absolute prize in T. Holmar International piano competition (Italy, 2013).

Nejc has played piano concertos with leading Slovenian orchestras such as SNG Maribor symphonic, Festine symphonic, and also the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra in Qintai Golden Hall in Wuhan, China. He has collaborated with many renowned conductors such as Jin Hyoun Baek, Taejung Lee, Benjamin Pionnier, Slavko Magdič, Živa P. Peršuh. He has also performed enormous number of solo concerts on stages in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Germany, New York City, Liechtenstein, Croatia, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania. Nejc regularly attends masterclasses including those held by Grigory Gruzman, Daejin Kim, Mikhail Voskresensky, Aquiles Delle Vigne, Arbo Valdma, Aleksandar Madžar, Ruben Dalibaltayan and Sofya Gulyak.He is a scholarship recipient from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture for his outstanding cultural achievements.

Kang Tae Kim, South Korea

Kang Tae Kim was born in 1997 and began playing the piano at six. He attended the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts at the age of 12 and studied under the guidance of Professor Yoonju Oh from 2009 to 2014.

He has been a student of Professor Heesung Ju since 2016 at the College of Music, Seoul National University. He made his performing debut at age 11 in recital with the Wonju Philharmonic Orchestra.In addition to being a prizewinner in many domestic competitions, Kang Tae Kim is a laureate of several International competitions. In 2008 he won the 1st prize at the Osaka International Music Competition in Japan, and in 2016 he won the 1st Prize at the Concerto Competition held by BIMFA (Beijing International Music Festival & Academy) in China.

This year he has won the 1st Prize at the Jirisan International Music Festival Competition in South Korea.


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Marina Koka, Japan

Marina Koka was born in Japan and studied at the Tokyo College of Music before coming to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she is now a fellow, with Professor Ronan O'Hora and Professor Noriko Ogawa.

Marina has been a top prizewinner in several competitions including the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artist Award where she was the overall winner, the Asia-Pacific International Piano Competition in Korea, the PTNA Piano Competition in Japan, and the Dudley International Piano Competition.She has performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo New City Symphony Orchestra and the Sendai Philharmonic, performing in prestigious venues including the Barbican Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, as well as playing many recitals both in Asia and Europe.

Recently Marina has been awarded the Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize in 2016, as well as the Worshipful Company of Musicians' Silver Medal which annually awards an exceptionally talented Guildhall School musician with a Wigmore Hall debut recital.

Ilya Kondratev, Russia

Ilya Kondratiev is the prize winner of such renowned competitions as the International F. Chopin Piano Competition (Hannover 2011), International F. Liszt Piano Competition (Budapest 2011), International F. Liszt Piano Competition (Weimar 2011), the Fifth Tbilisi International Piano Competition (Tbilisi 2013) and Brant International Piano Competition (Birmingham 2015). He also won the Beethoven Senior Intercollegiate Competition in December 2015 and the Chappell Medal Piano Competition in March 2016.

Ilya performs extensively as a soloist and as a chamber music player. The venues he performed at include the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Gasteig Munich, Weimarhalle, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, the Palace of Arts in Budapest, and the Great Hall of Tbilisi Conservatoire. In 2009 he founded a chamber music ensemble ‘Robert-Quintet’, which successfully played at the Sixth Stasys Vainunas Chamber Music Competition (Vilnius 2009, Second prize, First was not awarded) and at the ‘Premio Vittorio Gui’ Chamber Music Competition (Florence 2011,3rd prize).

His repertoire is mostly based on classic and romantic music, but also includes many contemporary works.

In 2011 Ilya was invited to take part in the Franz Liszt Piano Academy in Schillingfurst (Germany) with E. Leonskaya and in the Eppan Piano Academy (Italy) with P. Gililov. He frequently takes part in masterclasses with Rolf-Dieter Arens, Dina Yoffe, Konstantin Shcherbakov, Willem Brons, Paul Gulda, Dmitry Bashkirov, Jerome Rose, Leslie Howard, Vanessa Latarshe, Lang Lang, and ArieVardi. In 2015 and 2017 Ilya took part in ‘Encuentro’ festival in Santander. In the summer 2016 Ilya Kondratiev was invited as a guest artist to the Gumusluk Festival in Turkey and Beethoven Music Festival and Academy in Altaussee, Austria.Ilya obtained a Master of Performance and an Artist Diploma from the Royal College of Music (London) where he had been studying with Prof. Vanessa Latarche and Sofia Gulyak. He previously studied with People Artist of Russia Zinaida Ignatieva at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, and Victoria Soifer at the Samara College of Music.Ilya is supported by Henry Wood Trust Foundation, Future of Russia Foundation, Talent Unlimited Foundation and Mark Zetland Foundation.

Siqian Li, China

Siqian Li, born in December 1992 in Chongqing China, started her musical education at the age of four. Annecy Classical Festival acclaimed her: “Virtuosity and talent. Elegant, subtle and dynamic performance with exceptional musical quality. A rising star of the piano.’’

Starting her public performances at the age of ten, Siqian has performed recitals throughout major cities in China as well as cities in Spain, France, and Egypt. She has also been invited to appear in well-known venues and festivals, such as Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, Egypt’s Cairo Opera House, New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, Annecy Classical Festival, Festival d’Auvers sur-Oise, Puigcerda Festival, Dinard Festival International de Musique, Shanghai International Music Festival, Guangren Zhou’s Pianist Awards China Tour Concert, BNP Paribas Rising Star Piano Festival, and Shenzhen Public Benefit Concerts. As a soloist, Siqian appeared with chamber artists of China National Symphony Orchestra and performed concertos with Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, Xiamen Opera Symphony Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Ukraine State Symphony Orchestra, and Central Conservatory of Music Youth Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Siqian is the First Prize winner of the Chinese-Works Piano Competition, Italy Imola International Piano Competition, Yamaha China Piano Competition Conservatoire, Puigcerda Festival Competition; The Grand Prix and the Special prize winner of the International Vladimir Krainev Competition for young pianists. She has also been awarded prizes at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia, International Music Competition Jeunesses Musicales Bucharest, International Competition for young pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz, China National Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, Shanghai International Piano Competition, Guangren Zhou Pianist Award, and the Diploma at Tbilisi International Piano Competition.

Siqian was the student of Professor Huiqiao Bao and received a Bachelor of Music Degree at Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing, China). Currently, she is continuing her study with Professor Alexander Korsantia at New England Conservatory (Boston, USA), after obtaining her Master of Music Degree.

Robertas Lozinskis, Lithuania

Robertas Lozinskis is a prizewinner of more than 20 international piano competitions in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Latvia and Lithuania. In May 2015 he won the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at the Sheepdrove Piano Competition in England. In September 2015 he won the 1st Prize at the International M.K.Čiurlionis Piano and Organ Competition as well as the Audience Prize, National Philharmonic Prize and the Special Prize for the best performance of M.K.Čiurlionis pieces.

In 2016/17 Robertas played with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he performed in Scotland as well as Czech Republic, France, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary and Lithuania. In November 2016, Robertas performed a piano concerto by a Lithuanian composer Stasys Vainiūnas in San José, National Theatre of Costa Rica.

He was a participant in masterclasses with renowned pianists including Mikhail Voskresensky, Dmitri Bashkirov, Nikolai Lugansky, Pascal Devoyon, Michel Beroff, Christopher Elton,


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Ivari Ilja, Oliver Kern, Philippe Cassard, Stanislav Pochekin, Dmitri Alexeev, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Steven Osborne, Elisabeth Leonskaja and others.Robertas currently studies with Prof. Fali Pavri at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He previously studied with Prof. Zbignevas Ibelgauptas at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and also spent one year as an exchange student at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), where he studied with Prof. Elena Lapitskaja.

As a chamber musician, Robertas has successfully participated in international chamber music competitions and festivals. He is also a founding member of Trio Agora with clarinetist Žilvinas Brazauskas and cellist Natania Hoffman. Formed in March 2016, Trio Agora has already performed in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Lithuania, recorded their debut CD “Youth” which was released in January 2017, and performed in the Kaunas Philharmonic Hall, among other venues.

Robertas has been a recipient of scholarships from Mstislav Rostropovich and Roderick F. Tuck support funds. He has also received acknowledgements from the President and the Prime Minister of Lithuania for international awards and achievements.

Florian Mitrea, Romania

Romanian-born British pianist Florian Mitrea’s early passion for the piano led him to a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was awarded the Second Prize at the 2016 RNCM’s James Mottram International Competition and shared the Second Prize ex-aequo at the 2016 Verona International Piano Competition. In 2015, he was a double laureate at the Hamamatsu International Competition and was awarded second prizes at both the Santa Cecilia Competition in Porto, and the Premio Città di Imola at the Imola Academy. In 2014, Florian won third prize and the Classical Concerto Prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich, and first prize at Lagny-sur-Marne. Previous awards include first prizes at the Panmusica 2010 Vienna International Piano Competition, the Beethoven 2010, and Sheepdrove 2011 Intercollegiate Competitions in the United Kingdom. In Romania, Florian won several first prizes in the Romanian Music Olympics, the grand prize in the Ada Ulubeanu Piano Competition and third prize in the Jeunesses Musicales International Competition. He has performed recitals and concertos across the UK, Romania, and in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea.

His concerto performances include engagements with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, Collegium Musicum in Basel, the George Enescu Philharmonic and the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra in Bucharest.He has benefited from participation in masterclasses given by Leif Ove Andsnes, Angela Brownridge, Imogen Cooper, Pascal Devoyon, Akiko Ebi, Stephen Hough, Stephen Kovacevich, John Lill, Joanna MacGregor, Boris Petrushansky and Michael Roll. After studying with Boris Berman at the International Holland Music Sessions in 2013, Florian was granted a fellowship at Yale University – Norfolk Music Festival for the 2014 summer, and enjoyed intensive coaching from Peter Frankl, Boris Berman, Wey-Yi Yang and Melvin Chen.

Florian’s piano studies started in Bucharest as a student of Flavia Moldovan and Gabriela Enăşescu, at George Enescu Music High School. While studying at the RAM with Diana Ketler, he obtained his BMus with First Class Honours and the Regency Award for notable achievement. He obtained his Master of Arts degree with Distinction and a DipRAM for his final recital, and received the Alumni Development Award for distinguished studentship. He held the Hodgson Memorial post-studentship Fellowship at RAM in 2014-2015 and continues to teach there as a chamber music coach. Florian is currently studying with Boris Petrushansky at the Accademia Pianistica Internazionale "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola, Italy.

Florian remains an active chamber musician. As a Sonoro Chamber Music Festival scholar, Florian has performed alongside Alexander Sitkovetsky, David Cohen, Jan-Erik Gustaffson and Nabil Shehata, among others.

Florian has been generously supported by the Rațiu Family Foundation and held the 2010/2011 Enescu Scholarship awarded by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London and the 2012/2013 Roy King Scholarship at the Academy. His postgraduate studies were supported by the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and the Tillett Trust and he was awarded the Silver Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

Performances by Florian have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Romanian radio and television (SRR and TVR), and Südwestrundfunk (SWR2) and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR-Klassik) in Germany. In March 2015 Nimbus Records released a CD of chamber and organ works by Sir Nicholas Jackson: Florian accompanies soprano Mary Bevan in recordings of Three Hymns and the song cycle Six Elizabethan Songs. Florian’s first solo CD with music by Bartok, Liszt, Schubert, and several Romanian composers is due for release under the Acousence Records label in autumn 2017.

In 2016, Florian was appointed a Kawai Global Artist.

Federico Nicoletta, Italy

Federico Nicoletta performed as a soloist for the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Liszt recital), the Teatro alla Scala (Hindemith’s Kammermusik n. 2), the Bologna Festival (Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques), with the Philharmonic Orchestra “A. Toscanini” at the Auditorium Paganini in Parma (Liszt and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos), the Philharmonic Orchestra “La Verdi” at Teatro Manzoni in Monza (Schumann Piano Concerto), the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana (Beethoven’s 1st piano concerto) and at the Theatre "Verdi" in Busseto with the principal soloists of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. In 2016 he won 2nd prize and critic prize at XXIV "Rina Sala Gallo" International Piano Competition (WFIMC). In 2006, for the 150th anniversary birth of Neapolitan composer Giuseppe Martucci, he played in front of Maestro Riccardo Muti.Federico has a passion for chamber music, collaborating with principal soloists of the orchestras of the Teatro alla Scala, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Opera di Roma, RAI and Teatro Regio di Torino, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Metropolitan Opera, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Berliner Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic, Opera de Paris, with musicians such as C. Giuffredi, E. Fagone, P. Cuper, E. Daniels, B. Grossi, U. Lemper, M. Marasco, R. Morales, A. Persichilli, L.Vignali, U. Ughi, A. Zemtsov.

Since 2008 he has played in an ensemble specialising in the XXth century’s repertoire, playing for prestigious concert societies and renowned theatres. The work with this ensemble reached its highest when they performed in a series of concerts at Teatro alla Scala.In 2007 he played the première of G. Mancuso's Obra Maestra (with RAI Trade, Rai-Radio 3 and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma), A. Cera's Distacco and C. Pedini's Pietra (Teatro Lirico Sperimentale of Spoleto).

He has also performed opera repertoire, collaborating with Renato Bruson and Raina Kabaivanska, for the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale “A. Belli” in Spoleto and Teatro del Giglio in Lucca.He received distinguished scholarships, including the Richard Wagner Stipendienstiftung - Bayreuth 2008, Paolo Barile, 2008 and Rudolf Serkin, 2010 - Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, Roche Continents - Salzburg 2009.Graduating with top marks and distinction at the Naples Conservatory San Pietro a Majella with S. Bertucci, at the Parma Conservatory with P. Maurizzi and at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole under Bruno Canino and Pietro De Maria, he is currently attending the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome where he studies with M° Benedetto Lupo. He is Piano Professor at the Conservatoires in Bergamo and Reggio Emilia and he is the assistant of the Master courses in Città di Castello.


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Luka Okros, Georgia/UK

Luka Okros was born in 1991 in Tbilisi, Georgia. In 2004, he moved to Moscow, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory under the tutelage of Sergei Dorensky. In 2013, he was awarded a full scholarship for a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Norma Fisher.

At the age of 18, Luka made his US debut at the Carnegie Hall. He has given concerts in many of the world’s most famous halls, such as the Wigmore Hall, the Cadogan Hall and the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Salle Cortot and Radio France Hall in Paris, the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, the Palau de la Musica in Valencia and Barcelona and has also performed in Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russia, Georgia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

During the last two years he has won more than ten top international prizes and awards, including Grand Prix at the 4th Hong Kong International Piano Competition, first prize at the Iturbi Prize Valencia Piano Competition in Spain, first prizes at both the Morocco Philharmonic International Piano Competition and the Piano Campus Competition at Cergy-Pontoise in France, and several prestigious awards from the Hattori Foundation, the Tillett Trust and the Tabor Foundation Piano Award at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

In March 2017 Mr. Okros won the First Prize at the Hannover Chopin International Piano Competition.As a winner of the Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition, Luka was interviewed by Sean Rafferty on the “In Tune” programme of BBC Radio 3, during which he performed pieces by Liszt and Rachmaninov

Akihiro Sakiya, Japan

Akihiro Sakiya was born in Japan, in 1988. He has studied with J. Watanabe, T. Torii, C. Soares and M. Araki in Japan since 2008. Then, he entered in Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and had studied with Jacques Rouvier. After graduation CNSM as the top student, he continued his study at the Tokyo University of the Arts, in a Docter's degree, with Akiyoshi Sako.

He has won many international competitions such as; 2nd Prize in the 16th A.M.A. Calabria International Piano Competition (1st Prize not awarded) in 2006, 1st Prize in the 3rd Lyon International Piano Competition in 2011, 3rd Prize in the 59th F. Busoni International Piano Competition in 2013 and Laureate in the 18th Santander Paloma O’Shea International Piano Competition in 2015.

In 2014, he won the 1st prize in the 56th Jaén Prize International Piano Competition with Spanish Music Prize and Audience Prize.He has given many recitals around Europe, Asia, North and South America including 34th Yokohama International Piano Concert, Festival de Nohant 2012, and Saõ Paulo Beethoven Festival and performed with many orchestras such as; Osaka Sinfoniker, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Japan Symphony, Granada City Orchestra, RTVE Orchestra etc.He has also received cultural and musical awards; Matsukata Music Award, the New Face Award of Aoyama Music Prize in Kyoto, The Art Encouragement Award of Hyogo Prefecture, The Cultural Art Encouragement Award of Kobe City and Leonid Kreutzer Award of the Tokyo University of the Arts.

His performances were broadcast on NHK TV, Australian ABC Radio, RAI, RTVE etc. He has recorded “Beethoven Complete Sonatas” series by DPIC (Vol. 3 was published last January). Naxos also published his CD “Akihiro Sakiya Piano Recital” in 2015.

Anna Szalucka, Poland

Anna Szałucka is a Polish pianist who started her musical education at the age of seven. She finished her Master's Degree and Artist Diploma course at the Royal Academy of Music in London under the supervision of Ian Fountain and was recently awarded the prestigious Hodgson Fellowship at this Academy. In November 2016, Anna won the 1st Prize together with the Eller, Recital, Orchestra and Estonian Museum Awards at the 3rd International Tallinn Piano Competition.

She’s a prize winner of many other competitions including the 1st Prize in Young Pianists Forum in Rybnik and the 2nd Prize in IX International Competition for Young Pianists “Arthur Rubinstein in Memoriam”. In the last few years she’s been awarded The Jacob Barnes Piano Scholarship, Musicians’ Company – Harriet Cohen Bach Prize, Kenneth Loveland Gift Prize as well as the 3rd Prize in the International Sussex Piano Competition. Her recent successes include multiple prizes: Janet Duff Greet, Walter MacFarran and Alexander Kelly Memorial Prizes, The Regency Award as well as 2nd Prize and the Audience Prize at the Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Piano Competition.

She was selected by the Musicians’ Company to give her Wigmore Hall debut recital in 2016.

Anna Szałucka has given many concerts across Poland and abroad cooperating with such institutions as The National Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Wiener Beethoven Gesellschaft, The Arthur Rubinstein International Music Foundation, The Worshipful Company of Musicians as well as BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.

The orchestra appearances include concerts with the Polish Radio Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Worthing Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Baltica, Pomeranian Philharmonics, Górecki Chamber Orchestra and others. In Poland she was awarded the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Prize as well as Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Prize.


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Antonina Suhanova, Latvia

Since 2000, Latvian pianist Antonina Suhanova has given numerous national and international performances across Europe. She studied with Gunta Boza and Professor Juris Kalnciems at Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music.

Antonina has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Latvia, Great Britain and Russia under the batons of Andris Nelsons and Vladimir Spivakov, amongst others. She has participated in masterclasses of such world-renowned pianists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Richard Goode, Dmitri Bashkirov, Boris Berman, Pavel Gililov and Matti Raekallio. Antonina has appeared in prestigious international festivals, including the City of London Festival, the International Piano Stars Festival in Liepaja, the International Holland Music Sessions in the Netherlands, and the Autumn Chamber Music Festival in Riga.

She has performed at the Great Guild Hall in Riga, Moscow International House of Music, Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s, St Martin in the Fields, St James’s Piccadilly and Milton Court Concert Hall.

Antonina made her debut performance at the Barbican Hall with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Adrian Leaper as a finalist of the Guildhall Gold Medal Prize in May 2016, returning in December of the same year to perform a solo recital. In 2017 she won the Senior Award of Hattori Foundation. Currently she is a postgraduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with professor Ronan O’Hora.

George Todica, Romania

George Todica is a Romanian pianist based in the United Kingdom. Born in Iasi in 1993, he started his musical training when he was six, under the guidance of Silvia Panzariu. He attended the Octav Bancila School of Arts, later joining the classes of Raluca Panzariu and then Andrei Enoiu-Panzariu, and had lessons with pianist Iulian Arcadi Trofin. George came to the UK in 2010, after winning the ‘Constantin Silvestri’ Scholarship which allowed him study for one year at Stewart’s Melville College. A year later he entered the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he would study for the next six years, under the guidance of Graeme McNaught, Norman Beedie and Jonathan Plowright. He finished his Bachelor’s Degree in 2015 with First Class Honours and his Master’s Degree in 2017. His training was supported by scholarships from RCS, The Tillet Trust and The Colin Kerr Trust, and a ‘Britten Award’ from Help Musicians UK. He has been chosen for the Tillett Young Artist Platform scheme for 2017.George has been participating in competitions since the age of eight, having obtained over 20 First Prizes in national and international competitions.

During his time at RCS, he won 1st prize at the Moray International Piano Competition in 2012, 1st prize at the Stefano Marizza Competition in Trieste, Italy in 2014 and 2nd Prize at the International Piano Campus Competition in Pontoise, France, 2016. He also won RCS’s Classical Concerto Competition, the Walcer Prize Competition for Chopin Repertoire and the Governors’ Recital Prize for Keyboard.

As a concert pianist, he has travelled to venues in Italy, Austria, Croatia and the USA and has performed in prestigious halls such as the Teatro San Giuseppe in Torino, the Philharmonic Hall in Trento, the Mozarteum Concert Hall in Salzburg, the Fazioli Factory in Sacile, the Conservatoiro Tartini di Trieste and the Dôme de Pontoise in France. George has also played at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, the Brunton Theatre in Edinburgh, the Erin Arts Centre on the Isle of Man, the Hall at Yamaha Music London, Inverness Town Hal and the Ardkinglas Castle in Argyll. Recent projects have been with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, playing Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, and with the All About Piano Festival in London at the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni and at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. George will have his debut at the Wigmore Hall in the spring of 2018.

Hin Yat Tsang, Hong Kong

Born in Hong Kong, Hin-Yat Tsang was admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as a Junior Student under the tutelage of Eleanor Wong. A Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholar, Hin-Yat attained his Bachelor of Music Degree from the Academy, graduating with first class honours. A winner of various international awards such as the First and Audience Prize at the Third Manchester International Concerto Competition and the First Prize at the Steinway & Sons International Youth Competition in Beijing, Hin-Yat was named ‘The Hong Kong Young Musician of the Year’ in 2010. In early 2014, Hin-Yat received the Gold Medal in the Asian Chopin Competition in Tokyo. He is also a laureate prizewinner in the Gina Bachauer Young Artist, Manchester James Mottram and Hong Kong International Piano Competitions. In early 2017, Hin-Yat was named the Gold Prize d’or at the 16th International ‘Piano-Campus’ Competition in Pontoise of Paris. He will be returning to France for a series of concert engagements in the 2018 season. Hin-Yat was also recently awarded the Second Prize, the ‘Fundació Carulla Prize’, at the 63rd Maria Canals International Competition held in Barcelona.

Hin-Yat has collaborated with many ensembles and orchestras including the Prima Vista Quartet, the Logos Chamber Group, Trinity Harrow Orchestra,

Shenzhen Symphony, the Manchester Camerata, London Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Silesian Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra Mélo’dix of Nanterre University, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya of Barcelona as well as the Hong Kong City Chamber and Philharmonic Orchestras. He has also worked alongside many distinguished conductors, including Ian Brown, Hannu Lintu, Fabrice Parmentier, Trevor Pinnock, Jose Serebrier and Manel Valdivieso. Hin-Yat has given recitals in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, as well as Germany, including a performance at the biannual International Steinway Festival in Hamburg. Performances in the United Kingdom have also included many of London’s prestigious venues, namely the Cadogan Hall, Drapers Hall, the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall, St. James Piccadilly, St. Lawrence Jewry, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Steinway Hall London as well as the esteemed Wigmore Hall.

A former Croucher Foundation Hong Kong Scholar and Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund recipient, Hin-Yat is a Masters and Artist Diploma graduate from the Royal College of Music in London. Supported by the Craxton Memorial Trust as well as the Worshipful Company of Musicians, Hin-Yat also served as the Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellow at the Royal College from 2015 to 2016 under the guidance of renowned Russian pedagogue Dmitri Alexeev. Hin-Yat is one of the young artists represented by the Keyboard Charitable Trust in London. He currently resides in Germany and continues his studies at the Universität der Künste wth Klaus Hellwig in Berlin.


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Yuliya Yermalayeva, Belarus

Yuliya Yermalayeva was born in Minsk into a musical family. At the age of six she enrolled in the piano class of Elena Metelskaya at the special music school attached to the Belarusian State Academy of Music. She is currently studying here with Prof. Natallia Tashchylina.

She is a prize-winner of many international competitions and has received special prizes, including 2nd Prize at the International “Music of Hope” competition in Gomel (Belarus, 2003), 1st Prize at the International German and Austrian music competition for young pianists “Klaviermusik” in Vilnius (Lithuania, 2004 ), 3rd prize laureate at the XIII International piano competition of Chopin for children and youth in Szafarnia (Poland, 2005), finalist and award for the outstanding achievement at the International Piano Competition for Young Musicians in Enschede (Netherlands, 2006), absolute 1st award (100 of 100 possible points) at the 5th International music competition “Citta di Padova”, Padua (Italy, 2007), semifinalist of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Moscow (Russia, 2008), 1st Prize at the IV Open piano competition of Fryderyk Chopin in Grodno (Belarus, 2008), twice 2nd Prize at the VII and VIII International Competition of Young Pianists dedicated to the work of Fryderyk Chopin in Narva (Estonia, 2008 and 2010), 1st Prize

at International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Young People in Antonin (Poland, 2010), “Encouragement award” at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen (Germany, 2012). Her greatest successes include winning at the XVIII Chopin Piano Competition in Brest (France, 2013), where she won in three categories and received 1st Prize Special Liszt, 2nd Prize and 1st unanimously Chopin Prize of the city of Brest; 1st Prize at the Russian Conservatory Alexandre SCRIABINE XIII Piano Competition in Paris (France, 2013); 2nd Prize at the XLI “Dr. Luis Sigall” International Musical Competition in Vina del Mar (Chile, 2014); Grand Prix at the XV International Piano Competition “Music without borders” in the category Concert for piano and Chamber Orchestra in Druskininkai (Lithuania, 2015); Prize “Golden Parnas 2016” at the XI International pianist forum “Bieszczady bez granic”; audience prize and Chopin prize Tatiana Shebanova in Sanok (Poland, 2016); 1st prize at the I Future Stars International Piano Competition online by Connecticut Chopin Foundation, Inc. (USA, 2016); artistic prize of Elżbieta i Krzysztof Pendereccy and the prize of the best performance piano concert with orchestra at the XII International pianist forum “Bieszczady bez granic” in Sanok (Poland, 2017).

She has performed prizewinning piano duets, including Laureate at the All-Ukrainian Festival of Children and Youth Art "Accords of Khortitsa" in the category of piano ensemble (2004); 1st Prize at the XII International children's competition of piano duets

“Brother and sister” (Russia, 2007); 1st Prize at the 5th International music competition “Citta di Padova” (Italy, 2007).

Yuliya’s has performed as a soloist with the National Chamber Orchestra of Belarus and the State Symphony Orchestra of Belarus, Kaunas Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Paul Berman (Italy), the State orchestra of radio and TV of Belarus under the direction of Czesław Grabowski (Poland), also under the direction of Bernhard Wünsch (Germany) and Yuri Karavaev (Belarus), Tallinn Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra (Estonia), Santiago Symphony Orchestra (Chile), Bydgoszcz Chamber Orchestra (Poland).

She has also been invited to participate in festivals and solo concerts at festivals in Russia at the International Vladimir Spivakov's Festival “Moscow meets friends”, in Germany at the European Musical Academy of Bonn, in France (as part of “Le chant de la rive” in Carantec, “Cycle Musical de la Chapelle de Kersaint-Landunvez” in Bretagne, “Lundis musicaux” at “La Chapelle de Rocamadour” in Camaret-sur-Mer), in Belarus at the International Piano Festival “January musical party” in Brest, in Poland at the International Chopin Festival “Lato z Chopinem” in Busko-Zdrój, “Wawel” in Warsaw.She is a recipient of grants of Special Prize EUMCY (European Union of Music Competitions for Youth) in 2010. In 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015 Yuliya became the owner of the Grand Prize and the title of laureate of the Special Fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus to support talented youth.


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Stages 1 and 2 comprise of two, separate solo recitals given on different days. Each recital should not exceed 30 minutes, including applause and pauses.

The programmes offered over the combined Stage 1 and Stage 2 recitals must include the following:

(i) An original work(s) from the baroque era (no transcriptions permitted). Repeats are at the discretion of the competitor.

(ii) Two Etudes by different composers.

(iii) One complete work from the classical period, 1750-1828.

The remaining repertoire for the Stage 1 and Stage 2 recitals is an entirely free choice.

Stage 1Subject to (i), (ii) and (iii) above, a solo recital with the maximum duration of 30 minutes, which includes applause and pauses.

Stage 2Subject to (i), (ii) and (iii) above, a solo recital with the maximum duration of 30 minutes, which includes applause and pauses. Works performed in Stage 1 may not be repeated in Stage 2.

Stage 3(i) The maximum duration of

programmes, which includes applause and pauses, is 60 minutes. Repeats are to be at the artistic discretion of the competitor.

(ii) Works performed in Stages 1 and Stage 2 may not be repeated in Stage 3.

(iii) A commissioned work (duration 5-7 minutes) written by Scottish composer Gordon McPherson will be included in Stage 3. The score of the commissioned work is sent to each competitor shortly after acceptance for the competition.

(iv) Subject to (ii) and (iii) above, in addition to the compulsory commissioned work, competitors have a free choice of works for the Stage 3 semi-final recital.

Note: It must be emphasised that the maximum duration of programmes in Stages 1, 2 and 3, which includes applause and pauses, should be adhered to strictly. The Chairman of the Jury may stop performances which exceed the permitted duration.

Stage 4Each of the three finalists will play a concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 10 September 2017.

Competitors should be prepared to present one concerto selected from the following list:

BartókConcerto no. 1, Sz 83Concerto no. 3, Sz 119 BeethovenConcerto no. 1 in C major, op.15Concerto no. 2 in B flat major, op.19Concerto no. 3 in C minor, op.37Concerto no. 4 in G major, op.58Concerto no. 5 in E flat major, op.73Brahms Concerto no. 1 in D minor, op. 15Concerto no. 2 in B flat major, op. 83ChopinConcerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11Concerto no. 2 in F minor, op.21Liszt Concerto no. 1 in E flat majorConcerto No. 2 in A MajorMozartConcerto in D minor K466Concerto in E flat major K482Concerto in A major K488Concerto in C minor K491Concerto in C major K503Concerto in B flat major K595Prokofiev Concerto no. 2 in G minor, op.16Concerto no. 3 in C major, op. 26RachmaninoffConcerto no. 1 in F sharp minor, op.1Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18Concerto no. 3 in D minor, op. 30 Rhapsody on a Theme by PaganiniRavelConcerto in G majorSaint Saens Concerto No 2 in G minorSchumannConcerto in A minor, op.54Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1Concerto No. 2 (complete)

Competition Repertoire


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Frederic Lamond (1858 - 1948)A contemporary of the great Charles Mackintosh, Lamond was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow and spent his early years at 91 Tullis Street. A memorial plaque commemorating his birth has now been placed on the façade of the building.

With the generous support of the City Fathers, Frederic Lamond was able to study in Germany. The young Scot was one of the very last pupils of Franz Liszt and contemporary photographs taken during the last year of Liszt’s life show Lamond as one of the chosen few. The great composer pianist attended the young Lamond’s London recital and Tchaikovsky was equally enthusiastic about his playing.

Frederic Lamond made his career in Germany, settled in Berlin and was greatly admired for his interpretations of Beethoven and Brahms. Whilst his reputation was principally based in Europe, he also taught for a while at the Eastman School of Music in New York, which by co-incidence has links with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland through the first experiments in video-link music teaching across the Atlantic which began in the year 2000. Lamond was a pioneer of recorded performance. Most of his Beethoven piano sonata records were made for HMV during the 1920s in London. Almond eventually returned to live in Scotland in 1935 and, under Whittaker’s leadership, taught at the Scottish National Academy – the future RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).

His performances in the midst of wartime (1943 and 1944) are still clearly remembered by a few among our audience, who heard him play on the stage of the Athenaeum Theatre at that time. Lamond died in Stirling in 1948.

The Gold MedalThe Scottish International Piano Competition was established in 1986 as a memorial to Frederic Lamond. The First Prize of the Competition carries with it the Frederic Lamond Gold Medal.

The Silver MedalThe Second Prize of the Competition carries with it the Lawrence Glover Silver Medal.

Lawrence Glover was Head of Keyboard Studies at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama at the time when the Scottish International Piano Competition was established. He gave great encouragement to the teaching members of his staff, Elisabeth Jacobs and Bernard King, who founded the Competition to widen the horizon of young pianists studying at The Academy. Lawrence studied at The Royal Manchester College then with Gordon Green and Claudio Arrau. He performed with many of the leading British orchestras and gave broadcasts on BBC Radio and TV, performing also on chamber music player with the Naxos Quartet and the Alberni String Quartet.

Competition Laureates

Year 1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize1986 Graeme McNaught Susan Tomes Christopher Oakden1990 Daniel Wiesner Balazs Szokolay Elena Margolina1992 Sergei Babayan Michael Injae Kim Tal Weissman1995 Giampaola Stuani Charles Owen Maria Rostovsky1998 Alexander Kobrin Katya Apekisheva & Alexander Taylor (equal)2001 Chenyin Li Marina Nadiradze Ayako Kimura2004 Tanya Gabrielian Evgheny Brakham Amir Tebenikhin2007 Tom Poster Lukas Geniusas Tristan Pfaff2010 Oxana Shevchenko Nadezda Pisareva Pavel Kolesnikov2014 Jonathan Fournel Ilya Maximov Jianing Kong

Gordon McPherson and the Test PieceThe Pounding Room is part of a series of works entitled Stunt Doubles which explore the interplay between the virtuosic (acoustic instruments) and the impossible (virtual counterparts) and began with an initial series of three that were commissioned by the Manchester based ensemble Psappha to celebrate their 20th anniversary season.

Since then Stunt Doubles have been written for flute (The Triple Truth), viola (Lamenta Infracta), marimba (Williams Machine), xylophone (Mobility Sticks), trumpet (Tallman and Mentz), guitar (A Thousand Eyes See the Sky Full of Stars), cello (Page Forty) and most recently bassoon (Obradous’ Revenge).

The Pounding Room was commissioned as the test piece for the 2017 Scottish International Piano Competition and is inspired by the machines built to break in new pianos like young horses and the factory rooms built to contain their sound.

Gordon McPherson was born in Dundee in 1965. He studied at the University of York and returned there for his Doctorate. He followed this with post-doctoral work at the Royal Northern College of Music. His music has been performed extensively both in this country and abroad and has been recorded on numerous labels.

Recent works include: ‘The Baby Bear’s Bed’ - a large amplified work commissioned for London-based ensemble Icebreaker and premiered in Vienna; ‘The Waterworks’ – a large, hour long multi-media investigation into alien abductions, commissioned and premiered by the Paragon Ensemble; ‘The New Black’ – a large scale orchestral work commissioned by the BBC; ‘Ghosts’ – three orchestral nocturnes, funded as part of the Creative Scotland Awards; and ‘Blood’ - a concerto for oud and orchestra commissioned by the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. He is currently working on 'Meat' - an alien conspiracy opera for robotic voices; future stunt doubles for saxophone, harpsichord and an extended stunt double for string quartet; and 'The Passions' – a large scale music theatre version of the Passion of Christ commissioned by Red Note, based on the Lorimer Scots translation of the New Testament to be premiered in 2016-2017 season. He has taught composition since his student days and has held posts at the University of Edinburgh, University of St Andrews, RNCM as well as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he was asked to build a composition department in 1999 - something that has kept him very busy for the past eighteen years.


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The Orchestra

Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1977. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has played an integral part in Scotland’s musical life, including performing at the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament building in 2004. Many renowned conductors have contributed to its success, including George Szell, Sir John Barbirolli, Walter Susskind, Sir Alexander Gibson, Neeme Järvi, Walter Weller, Alexander Lazarev and Stéphane Denève.

The Orchestra’s current artistic team is led by British Canadian conductor Peter Oundjian, who joined as Music Director in 2012. Dane Thomas Søndergård was appointed as Principal Guest Conductor in the same year, and Holly Mathieson joined as Assistant Conductor from 2016. In May 2017, it was announced that Thomas Søndergård would succeed Peter Oundjian as Music Director, taking up his new post from September 2018.

The RSNO performs across Scotland, including concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness. The Orchestra appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival, the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the St Magnus Festival, Orkney, and has made recent tours to France, Germany, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Serbia. In December 2012 and January 2013 the Orchestra undertook its first mainland Asia visit with a hugely successful tour of China with Peter Oundjian. The RSNO was an active participant in the cultural programme of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow and in the same year hosted the Ryder Cup Gala Concert at the SSE Hydro. In January 2017 the musicians and Peter Oundjian undertook a tour of Spain and in March made their first visit to the USA in over 35 years.

The Orchestra is joined for choral performances by the RSNO Chorus, directed by Gregory Batsleer. The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in

Scotland. Today, the RSNO Chorus is one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain, with a membership of around 160. The Chorus has performed nearly every work in the standard choral repertoire along with contemporary works by renowned composers, including John Adams, Magnus Lindberg, Howard Shore and Sir James MacMillan.

The acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus, formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd, also performs regularly alongside the Orchestra. Since 1994 it has been directed by popular Chorus Director, Christopher Bell, and has expanded its membership to over 400, with members aged from seven to eighteen. It has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television.

The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings, receiving two Diapason d’Or de l’année awards for Symphonic Music (Denève/

Roussel 2007; Denève/Debussy 2012) and eight GRAMMY Awards nominations. Over 200 releases are available, including the complete symphonies of Sibelius (Gibson), Prokofiev (Järvi), Glazunov (Serebrier), Nielsen and Martinů (Thomson), Roussel (Denève) and the major orchestral works of Debussy (Denève).

The RSNO’s Learning and Engagement team deliver progressive participatory music-making activities across Scotland, from Selkirk to Shetland, working with all ages and abilities. With a programme of activity available for new-borns and onwards, the team are committed to delivering the highest quality workshops as well as nurturing and developing new talent. From schools and nursery concerts, to community workshops and annual residencies during which the Orchestra places itself at the centre of Scottish communities, the team connects the Orchestra, its music and musicians with the people of Scotland.


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Thomas Søndergård, ConductorDanish conductor Thomas Søndergård is Principal Conductor of BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBCNOW) and Principal Guest Conductor of Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO); prior to this, he was for three seasons Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. He has recently been announced as Music Director of Royal Scottish National Orchestra from September 2018.

Plans for 2016/17 include debuts with Bayerische Staatsoper (Turandot), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Deutsche Oper Berlin (world premiere of Scartazzini’s Edward II) and return visits to Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Royal Danish Opera (Il viaggio a Reims). With RSNO, projects include Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with Janine Jansen and with BBC NOW, the complete Stravinsky The Firebird, recordings and touring.

Recent seasons have included Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker; leading tours with Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and European Union Youth Orchestra; Rotterdams Philharmonisch, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Brussels Philharmonic; Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Orchestre National d’Ile de France; Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony and Seattle Symphony Orchestra; Philharmonia Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate supporter of the music of Carl Nielsen, his most recent programme with Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester (Symphony No. 5) received wide praise as “equal of the great pioneers of Nielsen interpretation… It’s harder to imagine a finer performance of this remarkable symphony” (Dagens Nyheter). As part of the 2015 anniversary celebrations of both Sibelius and Nielsen he conducted a wide variety of works by these two composers with many leading orchestras.

Thomas is also an experienced opera conductor at home in mainstream and contemporary repertoire. Recent seasons have included Tosca, Turandot (Nina Stemme) and Les dialogues des Carmelites for Kungliga Operan (Royal Swedish Opera). He was described as “a sensation” at his debut with the Royal Danish Opera conducting Ruders' opera Kafka's Trial: "He is one of the best things that has happened to the art of opera for many years" and subsequent productions there have included Il barberi di Siviglia, Le Nozze di Figaro, La bohème and Cunning Little Vixen. Last season he made his Den Norske Opera debut with their new, highly-successful Die Zauberflöte.

In Spring 2015 Thomas and BBCNOW released their first commercial recording of Sibelius Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7 (LINN Records). Other noteworthy recordings include Vilde Frang's celebrated first recording for EMI, and Ruder’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Bridge Records which was nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2011. Admired for his interpretations of Scandinavian contemporary repertoire, his discography also includes a number of other contemporary works. In 2011 he was awarded the prestigious Queen Ingrid Foundation Prize for services to Music in Denmark.


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Scottish International Piano Competition · 2017. 8. 9. · Scottish International Piano Competition sipc2017.org 4 5 Welcome It is my pleasure to welcome the Scottish International