The renowned Kazakh pianist Jania Aubakirova is the laureate of international competitions. She is the People's Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Laureate of the State Prize of Peace and Progress of the First President of the Republic of Kazahstan, the Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Cavalier of the Order of Arts and Letters of France, the Holder of the Award of European Union of Arts of Gustav Mahler, the Holder of a II degree Order of Catherine the Great, the Holder of the Polish awards of Distinguished Services to Polish Culture and the Gold Cross of Merit. and winner of an Independent "Platinum Tarlan" Award. The director of the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, “Steinway Artist”, professor.
1983 she won the Grand Prix of The Marguerite Long International Piano Competition and a special prize of the same Competition, “For the Best Performance of Contemporary French Composers' Works”. 1985 she won the Grand Prix International Competition of Chamber Ensembles of The Long-Thibaud Competition.
She studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of professor Lev Vlasenko and received lessons from celebrated Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev. At present pianist Jania Aubakirova is the one of the brightest classical music performers of the Central Asia. She leads concert activity as a pianist along with the great activity in social life not only of Kazakhstan, but also on international level.
Jania Aubakirova collaborated with many musicians and music collectives such as Mikhail Pletnev, Valery Gergiev, Martha Argerich, Alexander Sladkovsky, Alexander Vedernikov, Denis Shapovalov, Marat Bisengaliev, Alexander Trostyanskiy Christophe Mangou, the Quartet «Danel», Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of French Radio, Symphony Orchestra of India, English Chamber Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra and others. more
The official web site: www.aubakirova.com
PAVEL NERSESSIAN (Russia)
His performance brought a veritable roar of approval from the audience” wrote “The Irish Times” after Pavel Nersessian received the 1st Prize in the GPA Dublin International Piano Competition in 1991.
Being one of the most remarkable pianists of his generation in Russia, he is known for his ability to play equally convincing in the whole palette of the piano repertoire. He has won prizes in every piano competition he has entered, including Beethoven Competition in Vienna in 1985, Paloma O’Shea Competition in Santander and Tokyo Competition.
Since his childhood he has always been in touch with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. He was a pupil of the famous Central Music School of the Conservatoire, where his teacher was Yu. Levin, and later he was a student of the Conservatoire under Prof. S. Dorensky. Upon graduating from the Conservatoire in 1987 with maximum marks – a rare distinction – he was proposed to teach there. He is professor there now.
Pavel Nersessian’s concert activity is very intense. He has been touring around Russia and surrounding states from the age of eight and, since his remarkable successes in international competitions, has on several occasions given performances in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Cannes, Leipzig, Vienna, Budapest, Madrid, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Dublin, Muenchen, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, Belgrade, Cairo, Kiev and many others. more
The official web site: www.nersessian.com
JUSTAS DVARIONAS (Lithuania)
Justas already flourished into a skilful performer with his own musical identity at the age of eleven when he represented his country at the "Virtuosi per Musica di Pianoforte" International Piano Competition in Czechoslovakia. From this event Justas returned home as triumphant Laureate.
His extraordinary and growing abilities eventually lead him to the Moscow P.Tchaikovsky Conservatoire for graduate and post-graduate studies, both of which he completed with highest honours (CUM LAUDE) studying under Prof Lev Vlassenko and Mikhail Pletnev. After the initial five years of study, Justas' professor, Lev Vlassenko, found that his young student's "natural talent had bloomed and he had become undoubtedly an accomplished artist." Justas' pianistic and musical abilities were enhanced through his acquaintances with pianist Sviatoslav Richter and Elisso Wirssaladse.
Justas' early career continued successfully. During his final years of study he won the Italian "Viotti" International Piano Competition in 1992. Justas also received special awards from both the Portuguese "Porto" International Piano Competition and the "International M.K. Čiurlionis" Piano Competition in Lithuania, meriting the respect of jury chairman Daniel Pollack: "Justas Dvarionas from Lithuania left me with one of the biggest impressions...[he] has unique interpretation."
Justas also has performed concerts solo, chamber music or with orchestras in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Russia, United States of America, France, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Peru, Great Britain, Japan and more. more
MOMO KODAMA (Japan-France)
Born in Osaka, Momo Kodama spent her early years in Europe; educated at a German school, she attended the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris before studying with great masters such as Murray Perahia, Andras Schiff, Vera Gornostaeva and Tatiana Nikolaïeva. In 1991, she became the youngest winner of the Concours International ARD in Munich.
Momo Kodama has been invited to perform with world renowned orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, NDR Hamburg, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Seiji Osawa, Eliahu Inbal, Charles Dutoit, Lawrence Foster, Kent Nagano, André Prévin and Sir Roger Norrington. In 2016, she made her debut at the Musikverein in Vienna and received return invitations to perform with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, including for the performance of Messiaen’s ‘Trois Petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine, as part of the Saint-Denis Festival. In 2017/2018, parallel to a very busy career in Japan, she will be re-invited to perform with Düsseldorf Symphoniker, with her sister Mari, with whom she performs regularly. The duo will also make their debut at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.
Momo has appeared at prestigious festivals and concert halls including Marlboro, USA; Verbier, Switzerland; La Roque d’Anthéron, Festival Chopin, Festival d’Automne, France; Festival Enesco, Romania; Festival Tivoli, Denmark; Settembre Musica, Italy; Schleswig-Holstein, Germany as well as Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Musikverein in Vienna, and will give recitals at both Festival Musica in Strasbourg and Philharmonie in Paris during the following seasons. In 2011, she performed ‘Momo Kodama Piano Fantasie' in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, for which she was awarded the Saji Keizo Prize by the Suntory Foundation.
A keen chamber musician, she regularly collaborates with violinists Christian Tetzlaff, Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Dumay; cellists Mario Brunello, Gauthier Capuçon and Steven Isserlis; the clarinettist Jörg Widmann and his sister, Carolin Widmann, with whom she performed Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du Temps at the Konzerthaus in Berlin in February 2016. more
The official web site: www.momokodama.com
ALEXSANDER KORSANTIA (Georgia-USA)
Dubbed "a major artist" by the Miami Herald and a "quiet maverick" by the Daily Telegraph, pianist Alexander Korsantia has been praised for the "clarity of his technique, richly varied tone and dynamic phrasing" (Baltimore Sun), and a "piano technique where difficulties simply do not exist" (Calgary Sun). The Boston Globe found his interpretation of Pictures of an Exhibition to be "a performance that could annihilate all others one has heard." And the Birmingham Post gushed that "his intensely responsive reading was shot through with a vein of constant fantasy, whether musing or mercurial." Ever since winning the First Prize and Gold Medal of the Artur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the First Prize at the Sidney International Piano Competition, Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Gianandrea Noseda, Valeri Gergiev and Paavo Jarvi and orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Kirov Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony and Israel Philharmonic.
Resent and coming seasons bring him to the Cincinnati Symphony, Edmonton, Huntsville, Pacific, Louisville, Bogota, San Juan, Jerusalem, City of Birmingham, Oregon, Vancouver, Omaha, Elgin, Mannheim and Israel Symphony orchestras; Tokyo, Louisiana, Oslo, Malaga and Israel Philharmonic orchestras; Georgian Sinfonietta, Ingolstadt and Israel Chamber Orchestra, Gerusalem Camerata, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, RAI Orchestra in Turin, Polish Radio Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional in Mexico City among many others. He can be heard at Piano Jacobins concert series in Toulouse, Warsaw, Boston, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Vancouver, Calgary, San Francisco, Lodz, White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Tanglewood, Newport, Stresa, Gilmore, Verbier festivals and music series performing solo recitals and collaborating with musicians such as Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin and Sergei Nakoriakov among others. Bel Air Music and Piano Classics are among the recording labels Mr. Korsantia has worked with. The most recent release includes a collection of piano variations by Beethoven (Eroica), Rachmaninoff (Chopin) and Copland.
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Korsantia began his musical studies at an early age with his mother, Sventlana Korsantia and later became a pupil of Tengiz Amiredjibi, Georgia’s foremost piano instructor. In 1992, he moved his family to the United States and joined the famed piano studio of fellow Georgian, Alexander Toradze, at Indiana University in South Bend. In 1999, he was awarded one of the most prestigious national awards, the Order of Honor, bestowed on him by then-President Eduard Shevardnadze. Korsantia resides in Boston where he is a Professor of Piano on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. Mr. Korsantia is the artistic director of the annual music festival “From Easter to Ascension” in Georgia.
NAN-HEE KIM (SOUTH KOREA)
The winner of many piano competitions which were taking place in Korea. While attending Seoul National University, she studied with Professor Sun-Yul Kim, graduating with magna cum laude.
For her Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, she studied with Professor William Browning at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. The pianist actively made solo programs and went on tour with concerts in many cities of the USA. After she was invited to join the faculty of member at Keimyung University in 1979.
Her performances include recitals in Chicago, Santiago (Chile), and Warsaw as well as many cities of homeland. She also appeared as a soloist for many orchestras such as Daegu symphony orchestra and St. Petersburg octet. She also gave numerous duo-concerts in many cities around the world like Oxford, Chicago, St. Petersburg, Kamakura, Mumbai, Brisbane and Juvaskyla. Her piano recitals held in Poland, U. S. A and several cities in Korea attracted music critics' attention with their excellent reviews.
The Ministry of Culture of Poland conferred the Medal of meritorous service on her in 2008, and the academic council of Kazakh Kurmangazy National Conservatoire conferred the honorary title of professor upon her in 2004. She has also been chosen as a Steinway artist in the year of 2000.
She was the chairperfon for the first and second International Piano Competitions in Almaty.
