Joaquín Achúcarro

Spain

In March 2010 Opus Arte released the

DVD/BluRay “ACHUCARRO BRAHMS” with

Brahms n.2 piano concerto, with Sir Colin

Davis and the London Symphony, a recital at

the Prado Museum and a Documentary about

Achúcarro´s life. The success was immediate

obtaining 5 stars all over Europe and

immediately climbing to the top of the

Bestsellers and Hot New Releases charts in www.amazon.com

In September 2011, Euroarts published Achúcarro´s new DVD/BluRay ”FALLA and FRIENDS”

playing Falla Nights in the Garden of Spain with Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle,plus a

live recital at the Teatro Real of Madrid , also received with great acclaim.

Joaquin Achúcarro has been described by the Chicago Sun Times as “The Consummate Artist”.

His impeccable and modelic artistic career has earned him a reputation of the highest degree .

Born in Bilbao his victory in England at the 1959 Liverpool International Competition (one year

after Zubin Mehta had won it as conductor) and the rave reviews in the London papers after his

debut with the London Symphony in the Royal Festival Hall , marked the beginning of his career.

Since then, Achúcarro has been enjoying an uninterrupted international career touring 59

countries performing in venues such as Avery Fisher Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall,

Concertgebouw, Kennedy Center, Musikverein, Royal Albert Hall, Salle Gaveau, Salle Pleyel,

Teatro alla Scala, Suntory Hall, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colón and The Barbican both playig

recitals and as soloist with over two hundred different orchestras including, Berlin Philharmonic,

New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, La Scala of Milan,

London Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Sta Cecilia di Roma, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia,

Royal Scottish, City of Birmingham, Hallé, National de France, Yomiuri, Tokyo Philharmonic,

Tokyo Symphony, RIAS Berlin under more than 350 conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Sir

Adrian Boult, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Seiji Ozawa and

Sir Simon Rattle.

UNESCO named him “Artist for Peace” in recognition of “his extraordinary artistic achievement”.

He is Accademico ad Honorem of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and in Spain Achúcarro

has received the highest honours in the Arts: the Gold Medal of Fine Arts, The National Award for

Music and, King Juan Carlos of Spain bestowed upon him the Great Cross of Civil Merit.

Achúcarro recorded for SONY his own revision of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Piano Concerto. He has

prize-winning recordings of de Falla, Granados, Ravel and Brahms with BMG-RCA, Claves and

Ensayo. Other recordings include music by Schumann, Schubert, Chopin, Beethoven, Debussy,

Bartok, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Turina and Hermann.

Since August 1989 he holds the Tate Chair at SMU in Dallas (USA) adjusting his teaching periods

to his busy concert schedule.

In 2008, the Joaquin Achúcarro Foundation was created by a group of individuals and

institutions from the Dallas community “to perpetuate his artistic and teaching legacy” and to

help young pianists at the outset of their careers.

Fumiko Eguchi

Japan

Fumiko Eguchi is acclaimed as one of the most prominent

pedagogues in Japan. Beginning her piano studies with

Susumu Nagai in Japan, she has subsequently studied at

Toho School of Music with Jun Date. She continued her

studies in Europe and has performed numerous concerts in

solo, chamber music, accompanying, and with orchestras.�

Nurturing many composers and artists, she has devoted to

developing young talents as a chairperson at Yamaha Master

Class since its establishment in 1988.

She is always in demand for masterclasses and lectures throughout the nation and abroad.

Since 2010, she is a faculty at Ishikawa Music Academy and ASIA International Piano Academy

and Festival. Many of her students are prizewinners at prestigious international competitions.

Her contributions in music education extend widely and she is actively involved in editing and

publishing of many books, adult piano courses, along with other musical activities. She has

also been a jury member of many international competitions.

Currently, she is a professor at Showa University of Music (Chair of Piano Department), Director

of Showa Music and Ballet Studio, Director of Music Research Center, and Chair Professor at

Piano Art Academy. She also serves on board of Piano Teachers’ National Association of Japan

and is a Special Member of the Executive Committee of International Chopin Piano Competition

in ASIA.

Homero Francesch

Switzerland

The Swiss pianist, Homero Francesch, was born in

Montevideo. He attended piano lessons under Santiago

Baranda Reyes in Uruguay and in 1967 he was awarded a

scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service

(DAAD). He then went on to study in Munich under Hugo

Steurer and Ludwig Hoffmann.

He has performed concerts in all major European capital

cities, in Canada, Japan, Australia and the USA, as well as

in Latin America.

Homero Francesch has recorded works by Bach, Bartok, Henze, Mendelssohn, Mozart,

Ravel, Schumann, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky for Deutsche Grammophon and works by

Scarlatti, Ravel, Chopin, Mozart and Reinecke for Tudor. The record label Kontrapunkt has

released all of Mozart’s Sonatas and Piano Concertos played by Homero Francesch. In 1978

he was awarded the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, which is the German equivalent of the

Grammy.

He has taken part in numerous televised music productions, including among others,

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, which was awarded the Prix Italia in 1973, Beethoven’s

Choral Fantasy with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein, Hans

Werner Henze’s “Tristan” with the Cologne-based WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by

the composer, Haydn’s Concerto in D Major and Mendelssohn’s Concerto in D Minor in a

concert with The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner and original

solo recitals with works by Mozart, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Albeniz, de Falla, Villa-Lobos and

Alberto Ginastera.

He has been invited to perform as a soloist by the most renowned orchestras from all over

the world such as, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Sächsische

Staatskapelle Dresden, all the radio symphony orchestras in Germany, the Vienna

Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the

London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale

della RAI Torino or the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

Homero Francesch has played together with Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis,

Gary Bertini, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Eliahu Inbal, Neeme Järvi, Zdenek Macal,

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Marek Janovski, Michael Gielen, Witold Rowicki, Karl Richter,

Hiroshi Wakasugi, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Charles Mackerras, Charles Dutoit and many

others.

He has been invited to perform at numerous festivals such as, the Berliner Festwochen, the

Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, the Wiener Festwochen,

the Rheingau Music Festival, the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Prague Spring, the Salzburg

Festival, the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest, the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, the

Schubertiade, Aix en Provence, the Kasseler Musiktage, Savonlinna Opera Festival in

Finland, the Duzniki Chopin Festival in Poland or the Bach Festival in London with

Bernstein.

Homero Francesch has held a professorship at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK)

until 2012. He now centers on his soloistic performing career and holds masterclasses all

over the world.

He serves as a jury member at numerous international piano competitions. From 2004 to

2009 he was the Artistic Director of the Sommer Akademie Lenk in Switzerland. Since 2006

he is the Artistic Director of the Viersener Musiksommer.

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Carlo Guaitoli

Italy

Carlo Guaitoli studied at the Verona Conservatory and at

the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome with

Loretta Turci and Sergio Perticaroli.

He has been prize winner in several important

international piano competitions such as “A. Casagrande”

in Terni, “International Music Competition of Japan” in

Tokyo, “F. Busoni” in Bolzano, “A. Rubinstein” in Tel Aviv, “City of Porto Music Competition” in

Portugal, and “Unisa International Music Competition” in Pretoria.

His concert engagements have brought him to perform in Europe, Japan, United States, Canada,

Israel, China, South Africa.

He has appeared as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw Chamber

Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony

Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart

Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana. He toured

together with the Hungarian pianist Tamas Vasary and the Israel Chamber Orchestra performing

the Mozart Double Piano Concerto.

In 2009 he gave his debut in China at the Beijing Concert Hall, in 2011 at the National Academy

of Santa Cecilia in Rome, in 2012 at the International Festival of Brescia e Bergamo where he

gave the world premiere of the Second Piano Sonata by Carlo Boccadoro.

As a chamber musician he has played with the russian cellist Alexander Kniazev, Quartetto

d’archi della Scala, Quintetto Bibiena, Nuovo Quartetto Italiano.

He has recorded for Sony Music and EMI. Together with Franco Battiato, the Italian singer,

composer and movie director, he has worked for many years as a pianist and conductor,

directing many orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber

Orchestra.

He is currently Professor of Piano at the “G. Briccialdi” Conservatory in Terni. He gives

masterclasses in Japan, Canada, and South Africa and collaborates regularly with the New York

University and the Showa University in Tokyo.

He is a member of the artistic committe of the “A. Casagrande” International Piano Competition

in Terni.

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Anna Kravtchenko

Italy

Born in 1976, Anna began to study the piano at the age of

five. She studied with Maestro Leonid Margarius at the

Accademia Pianistica Internazionale of Imola (Italy) where she

was admitted “Ad Honorem”. At the age of 16 she won the

first prize at the "F. Busoni" International Piano Competition

in Bolzano (Italy) in 1992 and since 2006 has released two

critically acclaimed CDs on the Decca label of music by

Chopin and Liszt.

Ms Kravtchenko has performed at some of Europe’s most important halls and events: Berlin

Philarmonic Hall, Musikverein Big Hall in Vienna, Amsterdam Concertgebouw’s

“Meesterpianisten serie”, Brescia e Bergamo Festival, Herkulessaal in Munich, Ruhr Klavier-

Festival, la Salle Gaveau di Parigi, Tonhalle di Zurich, La Roque D'Antheron Festival, Wigmore Hall

in London, Victoria Hall in Geneve, Festival “Piano Aux Jacobins” in Toulouse, Bergen Festival etc.

She also toured Japan, USA, Canada and South Africa.

She also has appeared as soloist with the Berlin Rias Symphony Orchestra, the RAI Symphony

Orchestra and London Philharmonic, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic

Orchestra,Die Deutsche Kammerphiharmonie Bremen, the Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra,

the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Swedish Radio

Symphony Orchestra, the Noord Nederland Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra etc.

Since 2013 she has been teaching at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano,

Switzerland.

Aleksandar Madžar Serbia

Aleksandar Madžar was born in Belgrade

in 1968. He started playing the piano under

the guidance of Gordana Malinovic and

later studied with Arbo Valdma, Elisso

Virsaladze and Daniel Blumenthal in Novi

Sad, Belgrade, Moscow and Brussels.

Of his third prize in the 1996 Leeds Piano

Competition, Gerald Larner of The Times

described Madžar as the most imaginative musician among the 1996 finalists. The Leeds

competition propelled Madžar onto the UK scene where he also became a sought-after soloist

with the Royal and BBC Philharmonics, BBC Scottish Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as throughout Europe and Asia, working with Paavo

Berglund, Ivan Fischer, Paavo Järvi, Carlos Kalmar, John Nelson, Libor Pesek, André Previn, Andris

Nelsons and the late Marcello Viotti. He won prizes also in Geneva, the 'Busoni' and 'Umberto

Micheli' competitions and gave his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Ivan

Fischer in 1990. Various select partnerships are key to Aleksandar Madžar’s current performance

schedule, such as, for istance, with violinist Ilya Gringolts and with the soprano Juliane Banse.

Aleksandar Madžar has given solo recitals in Berlin, London, Rome, Florence, Milan, Hamburg,

Duisburg and in 2007-08 his US recital debut on the Miami International Piano Festival was an

astounding success. He is a regular guest artist at the festivals of Bad Kissingen, Schleswig

Holstein, the Ivo Pogorelich Festival at Bad Wörishofen, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Davos, Roque

d’Antheron, Salzburg, Sintra and Aldeburgh.

His discography includes the two Chopin piano concertos, with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony

Orchestra and Dmitri Kitaenko for BMG/Classic FM (1997), for the French label Arion (1999) a disc

of Chabrier's music for two pianos and, working regularly with cellist Louise Hopkins, a disc of

Elliot Carter, Rachmaninov and Schnittke for the Swedish label Intim Musik.

Aleksandar Madžar teaches at the Royal Flemish Conservatoire in Brussels.

Li Ming Qiang China

Li Ming Qiang, born 1936 in Shanghai, was

Vice-President of the Shanghai Conservatory

(1984-89) and Professor of Piano since 1983. He

studied with Alfred Wittenberg and Tatiana Petrovna

Kravchenko of the St. Petersburg Conservatory of

Music. He won the Third Prize of the 3rd Smetana

International Piano Competition, Prague’s Spring Festival, 1957, the First Prize of the First George

Enescu International Piano Competition in Romania in1958 and the Fourth Prize of the 6th

International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Since then he has concertized extensively

throughout Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania.

He is a highly regarded jury member of many major International Piano Competition including

the China International Piano Competition, the Chopin International Piano Competition in

Warsaw, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the USA, the George Enescu

International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition

in Japan, Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the William Kapell International Piano

Competition in the USA, the Dinu Lipatti International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the

Montreal International Music Competition in Canada, the Prokofiev International Piano

Competition in St. Petersburg, the Rubinstein International Master Piano Competition in Tel-Aviv,

the Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, the Sydney International Piano

Competition in Australia, the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow and many

others.

Since 1989 he has been lecturing and giving master classes at many leading Universities,

Conservatories and Schools of Music in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe, Australia

and the USA. He has made recordings for the China Records, Electrecord of Romania, Supraphon

of the Czech Republic and Alpha Omega (Hong Kong). He is a life-member of the American Liszt

Society and Honorary member of Trinity College of Music, London.