Seymour Bernstein has accrued scores of "triumphs" in a variety of activities. He studied with such notable musicians as Alexander Brailowsky, Sir Clifford Curzon, Jan Gorbaty, Nadia Boulanger, and Georges Enesco, both in this country and in Europe. His prizes and grants include the First Prize and Prix Jacques Durand from the international competition held at Fontainebleau, France, the National Federation of Music Clubs Award for Furthering American Music Abroad, a Beebe Foundation grant, two Martha Baird Rockefeller grants, and four State Department grants. His concert career has taken him to Asia, Europe, and throughout the Americas, where he has appeared in solo recitals and as guest artist with orchestras and chamber music groups. In 1969, he made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, playing the world premiere of Concerto No. 2 by Villa-Lobos.
Acclaimed for his “technical brilliance and penetrating interpretive skills,” Seymour Bernstein is also an internationally known writer, composer, teacher, and lecturer. Many of his piano works are on the best seller list. His books With Your Own Two Hands, 20 Lessons in Keyboard Choreography , andMusi-Physi-Cality (the children’s version) , have been published in German, Japanese, Korean, and Russian. They, along with his videotape,You and the Piano, have been hailed by critics as “firsts of their kind,” and “landmarks in music education.” Two new books, Monsters and Angels — Surviving a Career in Music and Chopin — Interpreting His Notational Symbols have recently been published by Hal Leonard.
In constant demand for master classes and educational programs, Seymour Bernstein is one of the most sought after clinicians in this country and abroad. Performances of his piano works have earned him awards from ASCAP. In December of 2004, Seymour Bernstein received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Shenandoah University. He maintains a private studio in New York City. In addition, he is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Music and Music Education at New York University.
Website: www.seymourbernstein.com
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Andrea Bonatta was born in Bolzano. Major influences in his musical development were studies with Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna, Nikita Megaloff in Geneva, Stefan Askenase in Bonn and Wilhelm Kempf in Positano. From these great masters he learnt a profound respect for the form, for the composer and for the musical score. He was however also encouraged by them to pursue artistic freedom and to follow his artistic creativity. Andrea Bonatta has often been defined as a ‘poet of the piano’. At his most recent recitals in the great hall of the Vredenburg in Utrecht or at the Conservatory in Moscow critics acclaimed him as a ‘perfect stylist’ and a number of great masters present defined him as one of the last truly romantic pianists.
He has recorded on CD Brahms’ complete works for piano as well as several other CD’s dedicated to Liszt and Schubert, in the process getting top critical reviews: Choc/Le Monde de la Musique; ffff/Telèrama, best CD of the year/Neue Musikzeitung. His book on Brahms’ piano work is considered a milestone in this field and has already been translated into German.
Andrea Bonatta is the artistic director of the ‘Feruccio Busoni’ International Piano Competition in Bolzano and vice-president of the Fédération Mondiale des Concours Internationaux de Musique of Geneva.
He has played in practically the whole of Europe, in North and South America, in Australia, in Korea, China and South Africa, and is often a member of the jury at the most important international competitions, also as president of the jury (Bolzano, Vercelli, Utrecht, Dortmund, Terni, Pretoria, Moscow, etc.). He very much likes chamber music and besides being an active musician in various ensembles, he also plays as a duet with pianists such as Paul Badura-Skoda and Valentin Gheorghiu
Website: www.andreabonatta.com
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Winner of the Gold Medal at the Seventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, José Feghali has been a major presence on the concert stage, having appeared in over 800 performances worldwide. These include concerts with such renowned orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, London Symphony, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic and, in the United States, with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Saint Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Baltimore and the National Symphony. Mr. Feghali has performed with such eminent conductors as Kurt Masur, Neeme Järvi, John Nelson, James DePriest, Yuri Temirkanov, Leonard Slatkin, Kurt Sanderling, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph Eschenbach, Eduardo Mata, Sergiu Comissiona, Philippe Entremont, Andrew Litton, Zdenek Macal, Hans Graf, David Zinman and Hans Vonk.
Equally active as a recitalist, Mr. Feghali has appeared on such prestigious stages as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Ambassador Auditorium and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. He has also performed in the major concert halls of the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Latin America. In addition, Mr. Feghali has regularly collaborated in chamber music performances, including recitals with renowned flutist James Galway, cellists Truls Mørk, Antonio Meneses and Daniel Gaisford, violinists Régis Pasquier, Olivier Charlier and Emanuel Borok, duo piano with André Watts, and performances of Strauss’ “Enoch Arden” with Jon Vickers. He is an Artist/Faculty member and Associate Director of the Mimir Chamber Music Festival in Fort Worth, and a regular performer at the “Classical Action/Performing Artists Against Aids” benefit concerts.
Recent and upcoming engagements include performances with the Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Nashville and Jacksonville symphonies as well as appearances at the Kravis and Meyerson Symphony centers, the Cliburn Concerts series and the Ravinia Festival. He participated in the Shanghai Piano Summer Sessions in 2003 and was invited to return to China for a concerto and recital tour this season.
A child prodigy in his native Brazil, Mr. Feghali made his recital debut at the age of five and concerto debut three years later with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. Feghali moved to London at fifteen to study with Maria Curcio Diamand, then continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton. His recordings include a CD of music inspired by dance on the Koss Classics label and a live recording from the Van Cliburn Competition on the VAI label. New recordings to be released this season include an all Schumann program and an all-Brahms CD with cellist Daniel Gaisford on the Anacapa Music Label. He has also recorded Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras no.3 with the Nashville Symphony for the Naxos label.
Mr. Feghali is Artist-in-Residence at Texas Christian University. He has a special interest in recording technology and was the producer and re-mastering engineer for the retrospective set of nine compact disks ( V.A.I. label) featuring past medalists’ live performances in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Mr. Feghali also serves as Vice President and Executive Producer for the new Anacapa Music label. He was Artistic Advisor of the Texas Chamber Orchestra for the 2003/2004 season, and performed with them as both pianist and conductor.
Website: www.feghali.com
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"A dazzling performance (...). Mr. Jiracek knows when and how to let drama melt into lyricism,
or to transform a solid wall of piano sound into a texture of crystalline clarity.“ - NEW YORK TIMES
Born into a German-Czechoslovakian family of musicians, 32-year-old German pianist Jan Gottlieb Jiracek was described by BBC Music Magazine as one of the leading pianists of his generation.
A 1997 graduate of the Hochschule der Künste Berlin , he studied with Hans Leygraf and has performed in masterclasses with Alfred Brendel and Bruno Leonardo Gelber, among others. Jan Gottlieb Jiracek won the first prize at the Steinway Competition in Hamburg at age ten, and made his formal debut the following year in his hometown of Hanover , performing a piano concerto by Mozart. Mr. Jiracek has since performed extensively throughout Europe, including recitals at the Herkulessaal Munich, Philharmonie Berlin, Steinway Hall London, Salle Cortot Paris, Palau de la musica Barcelona, Tonhalle Zurich, Konzerthaus Vienna, Musikverein Vienna, Musikhalle Hamburg and the Gewandhaus Leipzig, as well as orchestral appearances with the Berlin and St. Petersburg Philharmonics, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia of England.
A top prize winner at both the 1996 Busoni Competition and the 1996 Maria Canals Competition, Jan Gottlieb Jiracek was a finalist at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997, where he was a favorite of critics and audiences alike. Following his success at the Cliburn Competition, he was invited to join the roster of Community Concerts, resulting in more than 80 performances throughout the United States. Recent engagements included recitals at the Tilles Center at Long Island University , the University of Vermont Lane Series, and Spivey Hall in Atlanta . He also performed with the Washington Chamber Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. , the Riverside Symphony at the Lincoln Center in New York and with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at the recently opened Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, performing three piano concertos, including Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
Mr. Jiracek has been featured on several European radio and television stations, including BBC, 3Sat, RAI, ZDF, SFB Berlin, Deutschlandradio, Radio Hilversum, Radio Stockholm, and Radio France, and on NDR as a soloist with the NDR Symphony Orchestra.
Jan Gottlieb Jiracek gives master classes on a regular basis in America, South Korea and at the “Wiener Musikseminar”. He was appointed professor for piano at the prestigious School of music in Vienna, Austria ("Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien”) in 2001, making him the youngest tenured professor in the history of that school.
In 2006, Mr. Jiracek will be touring South Korea, South Africa and America.
"The marvelous Jan Gottlieb Jiracek thrilled the world so greatly when we first heard him and he is continuing his brilliant career both in the United States and abroad." - VAN CLIBURN
Website: http://www.jiracek.com/
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“From the first notes, Kasman sailed through the music, playing the massive chords with voluptuous tone and even inserting a playful quip now and then… Most extraordinary, his playing transcended the notes, difficult as they were, and took on the natural, assured quality of a storyteller enjoying his tale.” Oregonian, October 2004
“He is a gem of a pianist” Buffalo News, March 2005
“The audience's tremendous ovation mixed shouts of acclaim with the thunder of feet hammering on the floor of the balconies. The orchestra showed its appreciation of Kasman with a vigorous ovation of its own." Charleston Gazette-Mail, May 2005
Mr. Kasman’s debut in America in 1997 as Silver Medallist in the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth was the culmination of several competition triumphs and tours in Europe and the Middle East, including prizes at the 1991 Valentino Bucchi Competition in Rome, the 1991 London World Piano Competition, the 1992 Artur Rubinstein International Competition in Tel Aviv, and the 1995 International Prokofiev Competition at St. Petersburg.
Since his American debut, he has given concerts in the United States, South America, Europe, Russia and Asia, including recitals in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Paul, Atlanta, and Birmingham. He has appeared as soloist with more than fifty orchestras including the Buffalo, Oregon, Pacific, Syracuse, Memphis, Miami, Ft. Worth, Nashville and Alabama symphonies, Athens State Orchestra, the Orchestre de Lille and Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier in France, the Singapore Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Orquestra Simfonica de Baleares (Spain), Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea) and the Moscow Philharmonia Orchestra.
Mr. Kasman has twelve studio CD recordings on the Calliope label. His two CD set of the recordings of the complete sonatas of Prokofiev was awarded the “Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Academie du Disque” in France in 1996. Other CDs include solo works by Haydn, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninov. The International Piano Quarterly magazine recommended his CD of Moussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” as one of 14 equally ranked best in a survey of recordings over the past 75 years. His recording of Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1, and Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings, released in 2000, received the “Choc du monde de la musique” award in France, is rated highest for artistry and sound quality by Classics Today.com, and referred to as “superlative” in the American Record Guide. He has also recorded two CDs with Harmonia Mundi, the most recent one with the Pacific Symphony includes Piano Concerto No. 2 by Lukas Foss, released in 2001. In 2003 he completed recording of all Scriabin piano sonatas and in 2004 recorded an All-Tchaikovsky CD featuring “The Seasons” and Grand Sonata in G-Major.
Born in the city of Orel, near Moscow, Mr. Kasman began his piano studies at the age of five. A graduate and postgraduate of the Moscow Conservatory and previously a professor of piano at the Music College of the Conservatory, he is now Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. His students are winners of regional and national competitions.
Website: www.yakovkasman.com
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Harold Martina was born in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. He began to study music as a small child, first with the English teacher Newburn Patrick, and later with the Dutch pianist Teun Don. He furthered his training with the Italian pianist Anna Maria Pennella at the Fine Arts Institute of Medellin, Colombia, where he graduated Cum Laude. He completed his advanced studies in Europe with Professor Richard Hauser at the Vienna Academy of Music, and became the first student to graduate Summa Cum Laude by unanimous vote from the Academy. In conjunction with this distinction, he was awarded a prize by the Austrian Ministry of Culture.
In 1975, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands appointed him as a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his outstanding contribution to music. In 1990, the National Committee of Honorary Membership of Sigma Alpha Iota, an international fraternity of music, selected Harold Martina as a National Arts Associate.
Mr.Martina has made several recordings: one in Holland, three in Belgium, four in Colombia, and two in the United States. He has been referenced in books such as "Hundred Years of Music Life in Curaçao", "Encyclopedia of the Netherlands Antilles", "Cultural Mosaic of the Netherlands Antilles", "Music and Musicians of the Netherlands Antilles", "New History of Colombia", "Popayán", "Changin Curaçao", and "Holy Week in Popayán".
Harold Martina has performed as soloist in the U.S. with the State Symphony Orchestra of New Jersey, the Boston Symphony Players, the East Texas State Orchestra, the Knox Galesburg Symphony, the Butler University Symphony Orchestra, and the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. He toured with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Zinman. He has been soloist with orchestras in Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ecuador and Curaçao. Mr. Martina is the founder and conductor of the Antioquia Chamber Orchestra, and has been guest conductor of several chamber orchestras.
Harold Martina has accompanied world renowned performers such as: violinists Eugene Fodor, Daniel Heifetz, Henryk Szeryng, Erick Friedman, and Ruggiero Ricci; cellists Christine Walevska, Leonard Rose, Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier, Andre Navarro, Antonio Janigro and Janos Starker; sopranos Maria Stader and Sheila Armstrong; flautist Gary Schocker, and bandoneonist Daniel Binelli.
His concerto repertoire consists of over 50 compositions. In Bogotá, Colombia, he performed an anthology of piano concerti with works by 13 composers, ranging from Bach to Shostakovich, in a period of two months. He has also performed the cycle of all Beethoven piano concerti on several occasions.
Harold Martina has performed in Europe, the United States of America, Latin America, Israel and Japan with extraordinary acclaim by both audiences and critics. Mr.Martina has performed at the Lincoln Center in New York, and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In 1993, he ended a tour in Belgium and Holland with a recital in the Great Hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. In 2001 College of Fine Arts of the University of Antioquia in Colombia named its music hall "Harold Martina Auditorium". At present he is an Pianist-in-Residence at the School of Music of the Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
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From his groundbreaking transcriptions of Radiohead to his unforgettably sublime interpretations of repertoire classic and contemporary, pianist Christopher O’Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical music. He has taken his unique vision to both traditional classical music venues and symphonic settings, as well as to entirely new audiences on the radio, at universities and even clubs. As host of the most popular classical music radio show on the air today, National Public Radio’s From the Top, Mr. O’Riley works and performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians, demonstrating to audiences, with humor and a lack of pretense, that these young artists are as characterful and diverse in their personal lives as they are in their music-making. In 2007 From the Top will be filmed for public television in Zankel Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall. An interpreter and arranger of some of the most important contemporary popular music of our time, O’Riley lives by the Duke Ellington adage, “there are only two kinds of music, good music and bad.” His first recording of Radiohead transcriptions, ”True Love Waits” (Sony/Odyssey) received 4 stars from Rolling Stone and was as critically acclaimed as it was commercially successful. His second set of music from the British alt-pop outfit, entitled “Hold Me to This: Christopher O’Riley plays the music of Radiohead,” was released on World Village/Harmonia Mundi to similarly enthusiastic acclaim. In April 2006, his third set of transcriptions is being released on the same label. Entitled “Home to Oblivion; An Elliott Smith Tribute,” O’Riley this time tackles the deeply emotional and complex work from the troubled singer/songwriter who died prematurely in 2003.
Just as his radio show and his contemporary classical recordings have created extraordinary buzz, so have his performances in traditional classical context. In November 2004, Mr. O’Riley toured the U.S. with the world-famous Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra visiting 10 cities in 2 weeks, playing Bach, Mozart and Lizst concerti. He recently appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Minnesota Orchestra, the symphonies of Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Baltimore. The illustrious group of conductors with whom he has collaborated includes Marin Alsop, David Zinman, Leonard Slatkin, John Williams, Neeme Järvi, Bobby McFerrin, Hans Graf, Yoel Levi, Hugh Wolff and Andrew Litton.
An enthusiastic advocate of new music, Mr. O’Riley has twice participated in the annual “Absolut Concerto” concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, a brainchild of O’Riley’s fan in the 80’s, Andy Warhol, premiering works by Richard Danielpour and Michael Torke. In 1999-2000 he performed Michael Daugherty’s “Le Tombeau de Liberace” with the Detroit Symphony and with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, both in St. Paul and on tour. He has also recently given premieres of works by Aaron Jay Kernis, including his piano quartet, “Still Movement with Hymn,” which was also recorded for Decca’s Argo label, and the “Superstar” Etude No. 1, inspired by the pianism of Jerry Lee Lewis.
From early in his career, Mr. O’Riley was honored with many awards at the Leeds, Van Cliburn, Busoni and Montreal competitions, as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Among his many solo releases are a Scriabin disc for Image Recordings and an all-Stravinsky disc on Elektra Nonesuch, featuring “Three Movements from Petrouchka” and Mr. O’Riley’s first foray into transcriptions with his own versions of “Apollo” and “Histoire du Soldat.” Other recordings include an RCA Victor Red Seal release of French repertoire for flute and piano with James Galway; his audacious debut disc of the music of Busoni including the momumental “Fantasia Contrapuntistica”, a disc of Ravel’s solo works; a recording of Beethoven Piano Sonatas; a collaboration with cellist Carter Brey entitled “Le Grand Tango”; and the premiere recording of P.D.Q Bach’s “The Short-Tempered Clavier” by the fabled composer-satirist Peter Schickele. Other contemporary composers he has recorded include Richard Danielpour, Robert Helps, Todd Brief, Roger Sessions and John Adams.
In addition to his own transcriptions, O’Riley has ventured into alternate territory on tour with other classical artists. He has developed programs with fellow pianists: “Heard Fresh: Music for Two Pianos,” with the jazz pianist Fred Hersch; and “Los Tangueros,” with the Argentinian pianist Pablo Ziegler, a program of two-piano arrangements that feature Astor Piazzolla’s classic tangos. In 1999 he collaborated with choreographer and director Martha Clarke, who staged several stories of Anton Chekhov set to the piano works of Alexander Scriabin, performed live on stage by Mr. O’Riley. This production, titled “Vers la Flamme,” toured Europe and the United States, and was presented by Jacob’s Pillow, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, among others.
As Mr. O’Riley continues to create new directions in which to take the solo piano recital, the demand for his work internationally has continued to grow. He has performed his transcriptions at major jazz festivals in Istanbul, London, San Francisco and Sicily as well as on a tour of the U.K. He recently appeared at the Belfast Festival and in January 2006, he will be debuting in Australia, at the Sydney Festival in a program entitled “Shostakovich meets Radiohead” as well as with Pablo Ziegler in “Los Tangueros” followed by solo concerts in Adelaide and Brisbane. O’Riley’s next transcriptions project features the music of the British folk singer, Nick Drake who died in 1974 after releasing just 3 albums, and yet influenced two generations of songwriters in his wake.
O’Riley studied with Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory of Music. Christopher O’Riley makes his home in Los Angeles. His radio show can be found on-line at www.fromthetop.org
Website: www.christopheroriley.com
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John Owings consistently wins enthusiastic praise from audiences and critics for hisexciting pianism and sensitive artistry. “Real spiritual elation” was how the London Daily Telegraph described hisplaying of the Elliott Carter Piano Sonata. The Cleveland Plain Dealer called his playing a “fine blend oftechnical brilliance with expressivity,” and the Houston Post, reviewing his performance of the Ravel G MajorConcerto, said, “the audience was spellbound.”
Since making his orchestral debut with the San Antonio Symphony at the age of 15, Mr.Owings has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, the Boston Pops, the EnglishChamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestras of Colombia and Peru. He has performed recitals in major cities in the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Far East and has been a guest artist at numerous music festivals. His CD recordings on the Koch International Classics label, as well as his newly released CD of piano music by Robert Casadesus for Opus Millésime, have received outstanding reviews.
The recipient of many prestigious awards and prizes, Mr. Owings won first prize in the 1975 Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland, the1968 London Liszt Society Competition and the Musical Arts Competition in Chicago in 1980. He has served on the juries for major international competitions including the Casadesus, the Gina Bachauer, and the Beethoven in Vienna.
Following his early musical training in his native Texas, John Owings studied at the Royal College of Music in London as a Fulbright Scholar. Later, his studies took him to Switzerland, Italy and The Juilliard School, where he received his Master’s Degree. His teachers have included Dalies Frantz, Rosina Lhevinne, Martin Canin, Karl Leifheit, Geza Anda and Wilhelm Kempff.
Since 1990 John Owings has been a member of the faculty of Texas Christian University where he holds the Herndon Professorship of Music. In 1993, the University conferred upon him its highest award, the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Research and Creative Activity, for his performances of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas. A CD with six of the sonatas from these live performances is available.
Website: www.johnowings.com
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One of the most eminent Polish pianists and professors. Graduated from the Frederick Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw in the class of prof.Jan Ekier. Prizewinner at five international piano competitions, those in Sofia (1968), Munich (1969), Warsaw (1970), Pleven (1971) and Bordeaux (1972). Since the success achieved at the 8th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, he has been engaged in concerts activities on all the continents. Was appearing as soloist with such internationally renowned orchestras as, Chicago Symphony, American Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, BBC London, Gewandhaus, Tonhalle Zurich, Yomiuri Nippon, RAI Roma, Santa Cecilia, Mexico National, Buenos Aires National, National Orchestra Madrid, Warsaw National Philharmonic, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Has been appearing in famous concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully in New York, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Royal Festival Hall in London and Tonhalle in Zurich.
Mr. Palecny gave master classes in Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Paris, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Toronto, Copenhagen, Lugano, Mexico City, Montevideo and Warsaw. He sat many times on the jury of international piano competitions in Warsaw (Chopin), Paris, Santander, Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Toronto, Prague, Tel Aviv, Casablanca, Kitzingen, Taipei, Cleveland, London, Geneve, Los Angeles and Moscow (Tchaikovsky). Made numerous CD recordings, for such recording companies as: EMI, BBC Classic, Naxos, Pony Canyon, Sound, BeArTon, DUX, CD Accord, Olimpia, Wifon, Polskie Nagrania. Concertos and solo works by Polish composers are a significant parts of his repertoire. Particulary highly regarded have been his recording of concertos by Frederick Chopin (BeArTon and Pony Canyon), Ignacy Jan Paderewski (BeArTon and Sound), Witold Lutosławski (Naxos) and Karol Szymanowski’s Symphony No.4-“Symphony Concertante “ [ EMI, BBC Classic (live rec.) and BeArTon). Two of his Chopin CD’s - complete Ballades and Piano Concertos – recorded with Sinfonia Varsovia and Jerzy Maksymiuk (BeArTon), received status of the “Gold Disc”. Another recent recording - “The best of Chopin” (DUX) - has been awarded the “Frederick ‘99”, prize by the Polish Phonographic Academy and in December 2002 this CD achieved status of the “Platinum Disc”. Piotr Paleczny was invited to be a soloist of the extraordinary Gala Concert to commemorate the 100 Anniversary of the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1993 he has been the Artistic Director of the oldest music festival held in Poland and most probably the oldest existing international piano festival in the world - The International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki Zdrój.
In 1998 the President of Poland has conferred on him title of Professor. Piotr Paleczny conducts the piano class at the Frederick Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. In recognition of his outstanding artistic achievements, the artist is honoured with many superior and prestige Polish and foreign medals such as the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Mexican Order of the Aguila Azteca. In September 2005, Piotr Paleczny was awarded the “Meritorious for Culture - Gloria Artis” Gold Medal.
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Igor Resnianski was born in 1967 in the city of Irkutsk , Russia . He began his piano studies at the age of nine. In 1982 he completed seven years of study in the Novosibirsk Music School under Ludmila Sakharova and received Diploma with distinction. In 1986 Igor graduated with distinction from the Novosibirsk Music College where his teacher was professor Elena Storojuk. He then continued his studies at the Novosibirsk State Conservatorium under the tutelage of Professor Mary Lebenzon. He graduated in 1993 with distinction also.
Mr. Resnianski is a prizewinner of many piano competitions including the First Prize of the New Orleans International Piano Competition, 1996, the Bronze Medal of the International World Piano Competition, Cincinnati , Ohio in 1996. The Bronze Medal of the Nena Wideman International Piano Competition, Shreveport, Louisiana in 1995, the Fifth prize of the First China International Piano Competition, 1994 in Beijing, and the Second Prize of the All Russian Piano Competition in 1991.
In 1995, Igor Resnianski entered the “Artist Diploma” Program at TCU in Fort Worth , Texas where his teacher was Professor Tamás Ungár . In June 1996 Igor made his concerto debut in America performing with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson and in South America performing solo recital at the Medellin International Festival, Colombia . Since then he performed with New Orleans and Acadiana Symphony Orchestras; gave solo recitals in Fort Worth and Arlington TX, New Orleans and Lafayette LA, Cincinnati OH and Palm Beach FL, Philadelphia PA and Camden NJ; presented in Master Classes in New Orleans LA, Lafayette LA,
Santa Clara CA, Camden NJ, West Chester PA, Medellin Colombia; served as associate faculty at the 1999, 2000, 2001 and faculty 2003, 2004, and 2005 TCU/ Cliburn Piano Institute, Fort Worth TX.
Mr. Resnianski has concertized extensively in his native Russia , including the famed halls of Moscow and St. Petersburg . Besides his appearances on the radio and television, and as a concert soloist with several Siberian Symphony Orchestras, Mr. Resnianski had recorded two Compact Discs of chamber music with the violinist Ilja Konovalov (Principal violinist of Israel Philharmonic) for the St. Petersburg Recording Company and Sony Entertainment.
Back in Philadelphia Mr. Resnianski performs at Rutgers University in solo recitals, in concerts with his students, and since 2001 gives lectures at the university during the Mozart summer course. In the fall of 2001 he was appointed as an Artist Associate of the Music Department at Rutgers University , Camden New Jersey . His students successfully participate on various competitions receiving the top prizes and honors. As a result some of his young students performed at Wail Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall , New York , and appeared with Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra.
Since fall of 2005 Mr. Resnianski is Artist in Resident at West Chester University in Pennsylvania . In the spring 2005 he was a jury member of the Annual West Chester University Piano Competition
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The distinguished American pianist JEFFREY SIEGEL has been soloist with the world's great orchestras. Abroad, these include the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Philharmonic and Philharmonia, Moscow State Symphony, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), The Hague Residentie Orkest, Oslo Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestra of La Scala and NHK Symphony of Japan, while, in the United States, engagements include the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Siegel has collaborated with many of the eminent conductors of our time: Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Järvi, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas and David Zinman, as well as legendary maestros of the past, including Eugene Ormandy, Sir George Solti, William Steinberg, Klaus Tennstedt and Yevgeny Svetlanov.
In addition to his solo appearances, Jeffrey Siegel presents Keyboard Conversations®, a unique, concert-plus-commentary format in which he speaks to the audience about the music before performing each work in its entirety. Newcomers to classical concerts have greeted these programs with enormous enthusiasm because they present an informal, accessible and highly entertaining introduction to the vast repertoire of the piano and to classical music in general. Mr. Siegel has also developed a following among seasoned music-lovers, who are constantly enlightened by his erudition and delighted by his wit. Ongoing series flourish in numerous American cities, among them New York, Chicago, Washington, D. C., Cleveland, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas and Denver. Some of these venues have been presenting Keyboard Conversations® for more than twenty years - resounding testimony to Mr. Siegel's superb artistry and his innovative format.
As a conductor, Jeffrey Siegel has appeared with the Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestras, The Minnesota Orchestra and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as orchestras in France, Scandinavia and South America. He is equally at home in the dual role of conductor/pianist, directing the orchestra from the keyboard. For thirteen years, Mr. Siegel served as Music Director and Conductor of the Mainly Mozart Festival in Arizona.
In addition to solo piano works of Rachmaninoff, Hindemith and Dutilleux, Jeffrey Siegel has recorded Gershwin's complete works for piano and orchestra with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Born into a musical family, he studied with Rudolf Ganz in his native Chicago, the legendary Rosina Lhevinne at The Juilliard School and Ilona Kabos in London.
Jeffrey Siegel resides in New York City with his wife and two children.
Website: www.keyboardconversations.com
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With his peerless technical mastery and intensely expressive playing, Janos Starker is universally recognized as one of the world’s supreme musicians.
During the course of his extraordinary career he has appeared as recitalist and soloist with the most prestigious orchestras around the globe and has become one of the most sought after virtuosi and teachers of our time. After almost five decades of appearing on concert stages worldwide, Mr. Starker is now focusing his efforts on teaching. He continues as professor of Indiana University, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor and where his masterclasses have attracted string players from around the world. Mr. Starker joined the faculty of the School of Music at Indiana University in 1958 and was the first recipient of the Tracy M. Sonneborn Award, an honor given by the University to a faculty member who has achieved distinction both as a teacher and as a performing artist. This season he will conduct numerous cello and chamber music masterclasses and give lectures in the US and Europe, and is honored with a doctorate by the New England Conservatory.
Highlights of recent seasons include a return visit to Tokyo and Hong Kong for recitals, masterclasses, and performances of the Elgar Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, appearances at New York's 92nd Street Y and a tribute organized by the La Jolla Chamber Music Society in which he was honored with two sold-out concerts. He performed Dohnanyi Konzerstuecke with the Indianapolis Symphony, a special concert at the Kennedy Center celebrating his native Hungary and appeared with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. In New York, he performed in a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall, appeared with the New York Chamber Symphony at Lincoln Center, and featured the complete Beethoven works for cello and piano as well as all Bach suites for unaccompanied cello.
Mr. Starker has amassed an extensive discography of more than 165 works. Releases on BMG’s RCA Victor Red Seal label include the version for cello of Bartók’s Viola Concerto, the Dvorák Cello Concerto, and Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote. Other recordings are concertos by Hindemith, Schumann, Elgar and Walton, Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro and Fantaisiestücke as well as sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, Martinu and Rachmaninoff. Additional releases can be found on Angel, CRI, Delos, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, London, Mercury, Philips, Seraphim, and other labels worldwide. He re-recorded the Bach suites for BMG’s RCA Victor Red Seal label, a release which won a Grammy Award for the best instrumental solo performance in 1998.
In his native Budapest he began studying the cello when he was six years old. By the age of eight he was teaching his first pupil and by eleven he was performing in public. His early career took him through Budapest’s Franz Liszt Academy and on to positions of first cellist with the Budapest Opera and with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1948 he emigrated to the United States, where he subsequently held the post of principal cellist with the Dallas Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner.
Website: www.colbertartists.com/ArtistBio.asp
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P ianist T amás U ngár has earned worldwide acclaim for his powerful performances and innovative programming. A regular guest artist at numerous music centers in the United States , he also performs and teaches frequently all over the globe. Between the 1997-99 seasons he performed over 70 concerts in America , Australia , Brazil , Colombia , Hungary , Romania , England , Taiwan , Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China, Korea and Japan . Some of the highlights of recent seasons include performances with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, performing as soloist/conductor of Mozart Piano Concertos at the University of Leeds , as Artist-in-Residence and a return visit to present a solo recital and master class series at the Liszt Academy in Budapest .
In addition to his performing commitments, Tamás Ungár has become one of United States ' best-known and most respected teachers of the piano. As Founder - Executive Director of PianoTexas International academy & Festiva and member of the TCU Piano Faculty, he attracts students from across America and as far afield as Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Kazakstan, Korea, Hungary, Japan, Malaya, Mexico, Poland, Republic of Georgia, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan. His students have received prizes in national and international competitions, have performed in prestigious music centers including Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall , New York City and have made numerous recordings. For the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, three of his students were invited to participate, an achievement reserved for very few teachers.
Since 1989 Tamás Ungár has been a regular guest teacher at the most important music centers in China and in 2006 he was appointed as Artistic Director of the China Conservatory International Piano Festival in Bejing.
Dr. Ungár's most influential teachers included Alexander Sverjensky at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Lajos Hernádi at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and György Sebök at Indiana University , where he was awarded the Doctorate in Music. Prior to his present position he taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Purcell School, England and at the University of California at San Diego .
Tamás Ungár records exclusively for CALA Records.
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In an increasingly active career, TIMOTHY WOOLSEY has given over 100 performances and masterclasses during the past several years. Recent performances have included solo recitals at the Phillips Collection and the National Gallery of Art (both broadcast to audiences of 75,000 in the Washington D.C. area), a lecture-recital on the 18th-century fortepiano at the Texas Music Teachers Association Convention, and a lecture-recital on the piano music of Alexander Scriabin at the MTNA National Convention in Little Rock.
He has also performed with the East Texas Symphony, at Shatin City Hall in Hong Kong, and at many colleges and universities in Texas and throughout the United States. His solo programs include works he has commissioned from leading Texas composers, and he recently recorded these works for Centaur Records©.
He is currently Professor of Piano at Texas State University. He has been nominated by the School of Fine Arts for the University's Teaching Excellence Award four times, and in 1988 he was one of three finalists selected for this award out of a faculty of over 700. In 1993 he was selected by the Texas Music Teachers Association as Collegiate Teacher of the Year.
He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin where he studied with John Perry. He also studied with Anne Koscielny at the Hartt School of Music and has coached with many other eminent teachers including Frank Mannheimer, Lilian Kallir, and Roy Hamlin Johnson. In addition, he has studied with Malcolm Bilson, the world-renowned fortepianist.
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The
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association has grown
to become one of the most successful orchestras of
its size in the United states, with an annual budget
of $10.8 million, a 52-week season, and a $22 million
endowment fund.
Under the artistic leadership of Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and as a resident company of the acoustically superb Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, the Orchestra presents a full range of Symphonic and Pops subscription and special concerts, while also performing for the Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Opera, Southwestern Seminary Oratorio Chorus, and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
The FWSOA's annual Concerts In The Garden Summer Music Festival features a wide array of performances and artists, and has grown to be the largest and most successful summer outdoor festival of its kind in all of North Texas, attracting an annual audience of more than 50,000.
The Orchestra's comprehensive education program, Adventures in Music , annually inspires more than 70,000 schoolchildren and families in Fort Worth and across Texas. The Orchestra's commitment to outreach is evidenced through numerous free concerts performed in neighborhood churches, schools, and community centers for under-served audiences. In addition, the Orchestra offers free Symphonic Café concerts during the lunch hour in the Van Cliburn Recital Hall throughout the year, as well as family friendly Discovery concerts in Bass Performance Hall at no charge.
The FWSOA and all Orchestra activities are governed by a volunteer board of directors and a 40-member executive committee. Additional volunteer leadership comes from the 500-member Symphony League of Fort Worth, Inc. The administrative staff, led by President and CEO Katherine E. Akos, consists of 25 full-time employees.
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Geoffrey Simon is known for his ability to draw distinguished sounds from an orchestra:
“The orchestra under his leadership sounded transformed, suddenly becoming a blended, unified musical body.” Gerhard Kramer die Presse Vienna.
His more than forty CDs, combining rare with familiar elements of repertoire and orchestration, have prompted similar comment:
“Simon seems to have an unerring ear for beautiful sound. Not since the great days of Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy has a young conductor led performances that were at once so tasteful and individual and simply drenched in the most sumptuous of sounds.”
Byron Belt Newhouse News
His instincts for ensemble sonority, honed by schooling with Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Hans Swarowsky and Igor Markevich, are combined with a distinctive sense of musical line and evocation:
Applauded in The Strad for "its totally committed, imaginative interpretation that emphasized contrasts of mood, dynamics and articulation" and The Ann Arbor News for "crisp, incisive playing-with just the right quotient of sass," the Enso String Quartet is quickly becoming one of America's leading young ensembles. In spring 2003, the quartet was a winner of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and they also earned top prizes at Chamber Music Yellow Springs (OH) Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition that same year. In September 2004, the Enso Quartet was awarded second prize and the Pièce de concert prize at the Eighth Banff International String Quartet Competition, and the following month, the ensemble was featured in a national broadcast of Minnesota Public Radio's long-running program Saint Paul Sunday.
Gary Whitman is Professor of Clarinet and Division Chair of Wind and Percussion Studies at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Active as a recitalist, he has performed at ClarinetFest conferences in Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Maryland. His performances at international conferences include Paris, France, Ostend, Belgium and Stockholm, Sweden. He has served as guest lecturer in wind performance and pedagogy at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, the Conservatory of Music “Josafat Roel Pineda” in Lima, Peru, and the Stedelijk Conservatory in Oostende, Belgium. His chamber music affiliations include the Texas Clarinet Consort, and Trio Con Brio, a TCU faculty trio dedicated to performing and commissioning music for clarinet, viola, and piano. Trio Con Brio has completed successful tours of Arizona, Nevada, and California. On March 1, 2005, the trio performed the world premiere of Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano by Eric Ewazen in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In addition to his position at TCU, Mr. Whitman is the bass clarinetist of the Fort Worth Symphony, performing in the classical subscription series, “Pops”, the opera and ballet productions at Bass Performance Hall. He holds the BME and MME degrees from the University of North Texas and was awarded the certificate de stage from the International Music Institute in Nice, France. In 2004, TCU conferred upon him the Dean's Award for Research or Creativity. He has recently been selected for inclusion in the eighth edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 2004. Mr. Whitman is an artist-clinician for Buffet Crampon USA, Inc. 
Blaise Ferrandino earned a DMA from the Hartt School of Music where he studied composition with Edward Diemente and Donald Harris and double bass with Gary Karr and David Murray.