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Jury
Andreas Weber
Professor at Mozarteum & head of the Leopold-Mozart-Institute
Andreas Weber began his pianistic education at the Music University of Cologne with Prof. Karin Merle and continued with Prof. Hans Leygraf at the University of Music in Salzburg. His gives concerts as a soloist and as chamber musician in Europe and Asia, i.a. with the Trio Cartellieri and with the Violinists Luz Leskowitz and Albert Fischer. Television recordings in Austria, Korea and China. He holds many Masterclasses in US, Japan, Russia, Korea, China, Thailand, Australia, Germany, Croatia and Belgium and is
member of juries in national and international piano competitions in Germany, Austria, Croatia, Singapore, Russia, China and Korea. He has made CD recordings with the Cellist Hanna Spielbüchler (Brahms, Schubert and Franck) as well with the Violinist Albert Fischer (Mozart, Brahms, Schubert) and with the Trio Cartellieri (Turina, Takacs, Piazzolla)
Since 2002 Andreas Weber is professor for piano at the University Mozarteum and since 2005 he is the head of the Leopold-
Mozart-Institute for highly talented young students and is promoting young talents at national and international level. Concert tours in Japan, Russia and China with the violinist Luz Leskowitz.
Since 2009 he is professor at the International Summer Academy of Mozarteum and the head of the Leopold-Mozart-Institute as the representative for the highly talented program. Many of his students are prize winners of renown international piano competitions in Germany, Austria, South Corea, Spain, Serbia, Netherlands, Kazakhstan,Poland, Italy, Hungary etc.
Andrey Skripkin
Moscow Tchaikovsky's State Conservatory
Andrey Skripkin was born in 1991 in Kaliningrad, Russia. He started his musical life very late comparing with all professional musicians. He entered the Glier Music School when he was 12 years old. For 3 years he completed full school course and entered the Kaliningrad Music College to the class of Vladimir Slobodian, Honoured Artist of Russia. His teacher has many talented students won in different international piano competitions all over the world. Student years in Kaliningrad brought to Andrey two big laureate titles in competitions: «Music without limits» and «Music — XXI Century», both in Lithuania, among the pianists from Europe until 20 years old. Since he was 16 Andrey started actively to play with orchestra. His performances of Chopin's 1st piano Concerto with Polish symphony orchestra from Bielostok was mentioned on TV. He also played concertos by Mozart and Beethoven successfully with Kaliningrad symphony orchestra. In 2011 Andrey moves to Moscow and lives there till now. He passed the hardest entrance competition to Moscow State Conservatory and studied there with professor Irina Osipova. She is a Honoured Artist of Russia, concert pianist, laureate of famous competition M. Long and J. Thibaud in Paris, member of a jury in piano competitions in Rome, London, Moscow, has number of CDs. While studying with his professor Andrey won the Grand-Prix in EPTA-Competition in Belgium. EPTA is a well-known all over the world community of piano teachers. Next year he is a laureate of an International Piano Competition take part in Moscow. Andrey is invited for Opus festival at the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark every year since 2012 where he has a big success. He plays in different cities of Belgium and introduces new solo programs every year. In 2016 Andrey finishes the Conservatory and get titles of a concert pianist, chamber musician and accompanist. He has also a Master Graduate as an accompanist from Moscow Conservatory. In 2019 he has got his own class in Moscow Conservatory as a teacher.
Ching-Wen Hsiao
Professor at the Tianjin Juilliard School
American pianist Ching-Wen Hsiao has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She collaborated with Kurt Masur, James Conlon, James DePreist, and violinist Cho-Liang Lin. Hsiao performed at venues including Carnegie’s Issac Stern and Weill Recital Halls, David Geffen Hall, Steinway Hall, Ravinia Steans Institute, Rubinstein-Saal at Munich Steinway Haus, and Taiwan Concert Hall.
A native of Taiwan, Hsiao made her concerto debut at the age of 16 with the Cebu Youth Symphony in the Philippines with four performances of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and appeared as soloist with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, New York Youth Symphony, Arts Viva Orchestra, DuPage Youth Symphony, West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, Yi-Qi Orchestra, and Evergreen Symphony Orchestra. Her performances were broadcasted live on WNIB and WQXR. She is a founding member of the Lyon Piano Trio and the Valianatos-Hsiao Piano Duo.
Prior to joining The Tianjin Juilliard School, Hsiao served as assistant professor of piano and piano area coordinator at West Virginia University and was assistant professor of piano at Southeastern University. She was on the piano faculty at Juilliard’s Pre-College Division and Carnegie Mellon University’s Preparatory Division. She was executive director of the Geneva Conservatory of Music in New York City.
Hsiao has given masterclasses in several universities, such as the Texas Christian University, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Missouri State University, Penn State University, Duquesne University, and Mahidol University in Thailand. She taught at multiple music festivals, such as the Aspen Music Festival, U.S.-China Piano Festival, and Viana do Castelo International Music Festival in Portugal. Hsiao was regional director of the Elite International Music Competition and director of West Virginia International Piano Competition and Festival.
Hsiao graduated from The Juilliard School with a B.M., M.M., D.M.A. in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. She is a recipient of Juilliard’s “Outstanding Pianist Award.” Her other principal teachers include Emilio del Rosario, Gordon Chin, and Juanelva Rose. She was the first prize winner at the Taiwan Piano Competition, Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer Piano Competition, Steinway's Solo Piano and Concerto Competitions. Hsiao also received an “Outstanding Scholarship” Award from Southeastern University, a Big 12 Faculty Fellowship from West Virginia University, and the “Rising Star Award” in Taiwan. Hsiao is a Steinway Artist.
Florence Millet
Professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Köln
Florence Millet, of Franco-German descent, performs with orchestra, in recitals and ensembles in venues across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Conductors she worked with are Charles Dutoit, Robert Kapilow, Pascal Verrot, Simon Blech, Heinz Holliger, Julia Jones, Elena Schwartz , Jonathan Darlington.
She is a founding member of the Lions Gate Trio, since 1988. Residencies include Tanglewood Festival, Universities of North-Carolina-Greensboro, Yale, W. Hartford and the Fairfield Library, CT.
A Professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, she was Chair of the Piano Department from 2018 and was elected Executive Director of its Wuppertal Campus in 2021.
She has worked closely with main voices in composition: Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, George Crumb, Johannes Schöllhorn, Jörg Widman, Hans Werner Henze, Hans Abrahamson. She played with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under Pierre Boulez and David Robertson from 1992-2000.
Her recordings for the labels Centaur, Sony, Triton and Erato were praised on both sides of the Atlantic. She can be heard in radio productions on France Musique, RTBF, WDR .
A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, Millet received her Masters and Doctoral Degrees at State University of New York at Stony Brook where she studied with Gilbert Kalish. Her other mentors were Leon Fleisher, Paul Badura Skoda, Peter Serkin and Jean Hubeau.
Florence Millet is the artistic adviser for the Lichterfeld Foundation, promoting tolerance, intercultural understanding and creator of the Echospore.de platform which propagates music from persecuted composers.
She explores multidisciplinairy concert formats with actors, Choreografy and dance ( Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal) and Arts in the Tony Cragg Foundation, Van der Heyd Museum, Phillips Collection or in lecture recitals.
Sarkis Baltaian
Pasadena Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles
Dr. Sarkis Baltaian has gained an international reputation as a concert pianist, chamber musician, recording artist and pedagogue. He has been praised by critics for his “beautiful tone and ability to project even the most delicate pianissimos” and compared to George Gershwin and Oscar Levant for his performance of Gershwin’s Concerto in F. Dr. Baltaian made his Carnegie Hall Debut in 1999 and has performed extensively both as recitalist and concerto soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Dr. Baltaian has been a top prize winner of several national and international competitions and has appeared as guest artist in numerous festivals including the Aspen International Music Festival, Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Holland Music Sessions, Bad Bertrich Klaviersommer, Pan Pacific Music Festival, Mammoth Lakes Music Festival, and Plovdiv International Chamber Music Festival. Dr. Baltaian has made recordings for Television and Radio Stations and has been featured in live concerts and interviews on NBC, NPR, KUSC- Los Angeles, K-Mozart- Los Angeles, WMFT-Chicago, Bulgarian National Radio and TV, Classic FM-Bulgaria among others.
A dedicated teacher, Dr. Baltaian’s students have won various national and international competitions and have been accepted at schools such as Eastman School, Peabody Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, USC, UCLA, Rice University, Cornell University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Barbara, Pomona College and University of Colorado at Boulder.
He is a fierce advocate for the music education of young musicians and has served on the piano faculty at the Casalmaggiore Music Festival in Italy, Pan Pacific Music Festival in Australia, John Perry Academy in California and as a chamber music coach for the Junior Chamber Music Series in Los Angeles. Dr. Baltaian is in demand as clinician and regularly presents Master Classes at Universities across the United States. He is frequently invited to adjudicate for such organizations as the Music Teachers National Association, Music Teachers Association of California, Junior Bach Festival and Southwestern Youth Music Festival.
Dr. Baltaian began to study piano at the age of four with Rositza Ivancheva at the “Dobrin Petkov” Music High School for gifted students in his native Bulgaria. He continued his education at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he received the Bachelor of Music, Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees under the direction of renowned pedagogue and concert artist John Perry where he also served as his teaching assistant.
Dr. Baltaian has held full time professor positions at the Colburn Conservatory and UAHuntsville
He is currently the Director of Instrumental Music at the Orange County School of the Arts.
Magí Garcías
Associate professor at the Conservatorio Superior de les Illes Balears
Magí Garcías is an eclectic and active pianist born in Mallorca. He continued his Master's degree studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Weimar, Germany, with Professor Gerlinde Otto where he obtained the highest marks in Piano and Chamber Music. He receives masterclasses and highly influential advice from teachers such as Claudio Martínez-Mehner, Natalia Trull, Grigory Gruzman, Iván Martín, Josep Colom, Henry Bonamy, David Kayjken, Lluís Rodríguez, Enrique Bagaría, Iván Cítera or Aquilles Dellevigne. Nowadays he is a "Meisterklasse" student in the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg in the class of the Prof. Dr. Aurelia Visovan.
His chamber music training was led by Cuarteto Quiroga and influenced by teachers like Prof. Thomas Steinhöfel or Prof. Dirk Mommertz. He also delves into the piano and cello repertoire learning from professors such as T. Svane, Fernando Arias, J. Peter Maintz or W. E. Schmidt. This knowledge was fundamental to develope his profile as cellists' collaborative pianist.
He performed in various countries as Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Austria or Spain, and in festivals as the International Chopin Festival of Valldemossa, Festival of New Creation (Valencian Community), Jornadas de Música Contemporánea Española (Aragon) or Festival de Encuentros Sonoros (Andalusia), International Festival of Deià, Festival Inclàssic, etc.
As solo pianist he's been awarded in several competitions. In 2021 he was awarded the 2nd prize and the Special Prize Jardí dels Tarongers of the International Competition of Les Corts, in Barcelona. In 2018 he won the Young Art of Soloists competition unanimously, promoted by the Ministry of Culture of the Balearic Government. He receives several awards in various competitions, such as the prize for best resident performer in the Rottary-Palma International Piano Competition, Ravel Award at the 13th San Daniele PianoMeeting, 1st Prize in the Rafel Nadal Musical Contest, Scholarship Prize at the Paola Baschetti International Competition, and Diploma di Merito at the Concorso Internazionale Pianisitco Maria Giubilei, 3rd prize in the Gabriel Giubilei Competition. 1st prize in the Ciutat de Felanitx competition, Finalist in the Permanente Juventudes Musicales Competition, Prize for the best classical concerto for piano and orchestra at the 15th San Daniele Piano Meeting (Italy), etc.
He has performed as a soloist with various orchestras such as the Bad Reichenhaller Philharmoniker JOL (Joven Orquesta Leonesa), the Orquesta Sinfónica Solidaria of the CSMA, or the OCM (Orquestra de Cambra de Mallorca) and worked with various conductors such as Fernando Marina, Jorge Manrique, Bernat Quetglas, Albert Gosálvez, Fernando L. Briones, etc.
He combines his solo activity with an intense activity in the world of chamber music. Within this field he has performed with musicians such as Dudu Carmel, Thomas Indermhülle, José Manuel Montero, José Manuel ÁLvarez-Losada or Andreu Riera. He is member of the stable chamber music duo "Sosnowska-Garcías with the renowned cellist Zuzanna Sosnowska. In 2019 they were awarded the 1st ex-aequo Prize at the prestigious Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition. In 2022 they got awarded with the 2nd Prize in the International Swedish Duo Competition. The Sosnowska-Garcías Duo has performed in international Festivals like the J. Waldorff Festival in Radziejowice, the Linköpping Kammarmusicforening or the Festival Brahms 2022 Mallorca-Pollença. They have received advice from teachers like T. Svane, J. P. Maintz, Dirk Mommertz, T. Steinhofel, W. E. Schmidt, F. Arias, etc. and performed in many different countries like Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain or Poland.
In 2018 his first album "Before you fall asleep" is released, paying homage to the composer Sergi Ramis (1990-2017), with the BLAU label (DISCMEDI). In 2020 he also published "Nuredduna", a concept album based on the poem by Costa i Llobera, which receives a special mention at the Ciutat de Palma Awards 2020 and is a finalist in the Enderrock Awards of Balearic Music. Refractio VOL is published in 2021. I (Columna Música), a dialogue between interpretation and improvisation with jazz pianist Diego Hervalejo and the featuring of Clara Fiol.
He has been co-artistic director of the BTHVN2020 Festival, MZRT2021 Festival and Festival BRAHMS 2022 in Pollença together with the conductor Bernat Quetglas.
He currently combines his artistic activity with teaching, as an associate professor at the Conservatorio Superior de les Illes Balears, and he has accompanied masterclasses by famous teachers like Ramón Ortega, Dudu Carmel or Thomas Indermhülle.a