Since his debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 16, Korean born pianist, Hyoung-Joon Chang has worked with eminent conductors including Walter Hendl, Tadaaki Otaka, Thomas Sanderling and Paul Freeman. Chang has collaborated with world-renowned orchestras such as the London Philharmonic at the Barbican Centre, the Tokyo Philharmonic at the Tokyo Culture Center, the Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Czech National Symphony, the Osaka Symphony at the Osaka Symphony Hall, the Victoria Symphony, and the Chautauqua Symphony during its summer music festival. In addition, Chang has given acclaimed solo recitals on international stages in Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Korea. Chang received his doctoral degree from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with legendary American pianists Earl Wild and Constance Keene. He has also played often for the late Abram Chasins. He has been a jury member of Cleveland, Dublin, Epinal, Shanghai, Scottish, Astana International Piano Competition and “The Top of the World International Piano Competition” in Tromso, Norway. Many of his pupils have won major and special prizes from International Piano Competition. He has taught master classes at leading schools around the world, including the Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Shanghai, Beijing Conservatory, Royal College of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Dresden and Mannheim Hochschule. He has been a Professor of Piano at Seoul National University since 1995. An active and popular recording artist, Chang has recorded diverse piano concertos of Mozart, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin and Schnittke with labels such as Pro Arte, Warner Music and Genuin.

Gerald Fauth, who was born in Dresden and studied piano at the University of Music “Carl Maria von Weber” Dresden by Wolfgang Plehn and Amadeus Webersinke. Already as a young pianist he won numerous prizes and awards. After graduating, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Moscow State Conservatory “Peter I. Tchaikovsky” with Mikhail Pletnev and Lew Nikolayevich Vlasenko. He was a master student at the Academy of Arts in Berlin from 1987 to 1990. Gerald Fauth participated in major international competitions and won 1^st prizes in Barcelona(“Maria Canals” in 1987 with the cellist Michael Sanderling) and Leipzig(the 8^th International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in 1988). He was appointed professor of piano and chamber music at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin in 1992. Since 2001 he is teaching at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. As a soloist, he was a guest of major orchestras such as Staatskapelle Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Gerald Fauth was a founding member of the piano trio “Trio ex aequo”, and from 1984 to 2014 has given numerous concerts at home and abroad. Gerald Fauth has been a judge in competitions for many years and built up a great reputation as a teacher of master classes. From 2005 to 2009 he worked as one of the artistic directors of the festival EUROARTS in Leipzig. Since 2012, he is director of the International Mendelssohn Academy Leipzig. In June 2015, Gerald Fauth was elected Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig.

Pianist Young Ho Kim earned both his BA and MA degrees from the Juilliard School in New York. Later he received Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Manhattan School of Music as a recipient of Elva van Gelder scholarship. His teachers include Byron Janis, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Herbert Stessin and Solomon Mikowsky. During his studies in New York, Mr.Kim won top prizes in numerous competitions including the Kosciuzko Chopin, Helen Hart and Frinna Awerbuch international piano competitions in the U.S. as well as winning concerto competitions with the Juilliard Orchestra, the Manhattan Symphony and the Aspen Philharmonia. He made his recital debut at the Terrace Theater in Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Since his return to Korea he is an active performer as a soloist and as a chamber musician. He has played with all the major orchestras in Korea including the Seoul Philharmonic, the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic, the Sejong Soloists among others. As a founding member of Seoul Spring Festival of chamber music which will celebrate its 12th season in 2017 plays with international artists in the Sejong Cultural Center, Seoul Arts Center and other halls around Korea. The member of the Seoul Spring Festival makes international tours as well performing in Germany, Japan, Israel and China. In 2008 the group was invited to take part in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Festival in the Grand National Theater in Beijing and in 2010 World Expo music festival in Shanghai. As a soloist he was invited to perform the Prokofiev Concerto No.3 with Cuban National Symphony during the International Piano Festival in Havana in the newly restored Teatro Marti in 2014. Recently he has appeared with Fairbanks Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestras and with the KBS symphony orchestra at the end of year 2016 concert playing Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy at the Seoul Arts Center. Presently Young Ho Kim is a professor of piano at the Yonsei University School of Music in Seoul and also serves as the music director of Gumi International Music Festival featuring both orchestra and chamber music concert.

Pianist Shigeo Neriki has dazzled audiences and critics on four continents, as recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician. He arrived in United States to study with Professor Gyorgy Sebok at Indiana University in 1971. From first prize-winning performances at the Biennial Piano Competition at Tucson in 1976, and the Three Rivers Piano Competition in Pittsburgh in 1979, Mr.Neriki’s career has blossomed to include performances as a soloist with Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Denver Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony in Washington, D.C. In outside of the United States, he was a soloist with Orchesta Sinfonica Nacional in Mexico City, Radio Orchestra de France, Swedish Radio Orchestra, NHK Symphony and all of the leading orchestras in his native Japan. As an active chamber musician, Mr.Neriki has appeared in concerts and festivals throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. He is a regular artist in the chamber music series of Festival der Zukunft in Switzerland, and Kirishima International Music Festival in Japan. Mr.Neriki also dedicates himself to teach young talents from all over the world. He currently holds a title of Professor of the Toho Gakuen University of Music, and he is Former Professor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Since 1976, Mr.Neriki has shared a close musical association with the world-renowned cellist Janos Starker. They have collaborated extensively in concerts around the world. The duo has recorded for Dennon, Delos, Star, and RCA. Mr.Neriki has recorded three solo CDs, one for Harmony CD Classic and two for Meister Music. His recording of Schumann Piano Pieces(Meister Music, 1997) has won a Japanese Government Prize for his excellent performance. He had written his first book about piano chamber music “Give me an A”, published by Shunju-sha in 2004, and has received a high praise from critics.

Ekaterina Mechetina was born into a family of musicians, and accepted to study under T. L. Koloss at the Central School of Music for the Moscow State Conservatory. After finishing her schooling, she studied at the Moscow Conservatory under the tuition of V. P. Ovtchinnikov, and for her postgraduate studies, under the renowned Professor S. L. Dorensky. She performed in many concerts and competitions such as the International Busoni Piano Competition, and the Vercelli, Pinerolo and Cincinnati piano competitions, all of which awarded her first prizes. During these early years she was already earning critical acclaim: the Boston Globe ran with, “This highest-class Russian pianist Ekaterina Mechetina strikes the public by her debut in the US”, and a Busoni review stated, “Young Ekaterina already now is on the peak of world pianism”. Since the mid-2000s, Mechetina has broadened her scope and influence; her solo career has continued to grow, with well over 50 piano concerti and numerous recitals and chamber programmes in her repertoire. She leads an intensive concert schedule around 80 concerts each year, and increasing. She has performed with many of the world-class orchestras in some of the most famous venues in the world, in Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as abroad. Now she holds a teaching post at the Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory and leads an active role in Russian cultural life and is a member of the Presidential Council for Culture & Arts and was elected as co-Chairman of Council for musical education at Russia’s Ministry of Culture. Her releases include a collection of contemporary piano works by Schedrin and Shakhidi, a CD of Rachmaninov transcriptions and variations on FUGA LIBERA, and a CD of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky on MELODIYA.

John Perry, distinguished artist and teacher, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Eastman School of Music and was a student of Cecile Genhart. During those summers, he worked with the eminent Frank Mannheimer. Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, he continued studies in Europe for four years. Mr.Perry has won numerous awards including the highest prizes in both the Busoni and Viotti international piano competitions in Italy and special honors at the Marguerite Long International Competition in Paris. Since then he has performed extensively throughout Europe and North America to great critical acclaim. Also a respected chamber musician, Mr.Perry has collaborated with some of the finest instrumentalists in the world. He also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting master classes throughout the world. He often is a jury member at some of the most prestigious international piano competitions. Mr.Perry is professor at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, professor of piano at California State University Northridge in Los Angeles, visiting artist faculty at Boston University, and Professor Emeritus of the USC Thornton School of Music. In addition, he recently founded a music school, the John Perry Academy of Music, where he serves as Artistic Director. His recordings are available on the Telefunken, Musical Heritage Society, CBC, ACA and Fox labels.

Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń is a Polish pianist of Bulgarian origin. She was a student in Prof.Zbigniew Śliwiński’s piano class at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, from which she graduated with honours in 1973. In the two years that followed she was a holder of the Austrian government scholarship and continued her music education under Alexander Jenner at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. She also perfected her piano skills by participating in masterclasses with Suzanne Roche, Dieter Zechlin and György Sebők. Katarzyna is a regular performer in Poland and abroad. Her repertoire includes compositions from the baroque to the present day. She has also performed as a chamber musician with renowned soloists and ensembles: Urszula Krygier, Piotr Kusiewicz, Stefan Popow, or Camerata Quartet among others. She appeared in piano duos with Waldemar Wojtal(1985-92) and Jan Kulesza(1979-83). Since 1980 Katarzyna has been working as a piano teacher. She is a professor at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where she is also Head of the Piano Department. Her pupils and students have won awards in numerous national and international competitions. She also gives guidance to talented students of secondary music schools and cooperates with the Warsaw Center for Artistic Education. Katarzyna gives masterclasses, conducts seminars and courses for piano teachers at home and abroad. She has frequently been on juries, judging national and international competitions. She has received a number of awards, including national awards and medals, for her artistic and pedagogical achievements.

Anne Queffélec is regarded as one of today’s leading pianistic personalities and is a radiant presence on the musical scene. After studying at the Paris Conservatoire, she received Alfred Brendel’s musical advices in Vienna. Her success in München and Leeds international piano competitions(prizes 1968 and 1969) soon made her a prominent soloist invited to perform all over the world. She appeared regularly in the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, and U.S.A, as a guest of foremost orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchetra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under conductors as Boulez, Gardiner, Jordan, Zinman, Eschenbach, Conlon. «Artist of the Year» at the Victoires de la Musique in 1990, she is a frequent guest at festivals in China, UK, the Netherlands, and Austria. Both on stage and on record, Anne Queffélec cultivates a wide-ranging repertoire, as is borne out by the large number of records she has made: she has devoted over 40 recordings to Scarlatti, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Bach, Haydn, Debussy, Fauré, Mendelssohn, Satie, the complete works of Ravel and Dutilleux, Mozart, Beethoven, and Handel published by, respectively, Erato, Virgin Classics and Mirare. Among her last CDs, her disc “Satie & Compagnie” for Mirare has been awarded “Diapason d’Or” of the Year 2013. Then, both CDs “Ravel, Debussy, Fauré” for Erato(2014), and “Scarlatti Sonatas” for Mirare(2015) won a great success and have been awarded by a “Diapason d’Or”. In June 2016, BBC Magazine spotlighted Anne Queffélec in publishing several of her live recordings. In September 2016, the French magazine «Diapason» has selected her Ravel Concerto in G interpretation as an «Indispensable».

Santiago Rodriguez has been called “a phenomenal pianist”(The New York Times) and “among the finest pianists in the world”(The Baltimore Sun). He has performed internationally with leading orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Weimar Philharmonic, the Berliner Symphoniker. Mr.Rodriguez has appeared in recital at the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Alice Tully Hall in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Santiago Rodriguez was born in Cárdenas, Cuba and began his piano studies at age four. After Castro seized power in Cuba, his parents sent Mr.Rodriguez and his younger brother to America. Two years after his arrival, he made his concert debut at age ten performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 with the New Orleans Philharmonic. Santiago Rodriguez holds a Masters degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied on full scholarship as a pupil of Adele Marcus, and he completed his undergraduate studies magna cum laude with William Race at the University of Texas-Austin. His international career was launched in 1981 when he won the Silver Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He also enjoys a distinguished reputation as a teacher and master-clinician. Since 1980, he was a member of the Piano Division at the University of Maryland where he held the rank of Professor and Artist-in-residence. Beginning in September, 2009, he accepted the position of Professor and Artist-in-residence at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami. Most recently, he was Chair of the Jury at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in College Park, Maryland, and the San Antonio International Piano Competition in Texas. Santiago Rodriguez is also the Artistic Director of the Florida International Piano Competition and Artist-in-residence at the Endless Mountain Music Festival in Pennsylvania.

As one of the most internationally renowned Chinese pianist and conductor in the world, Zhong Xu is currently Music Director and Chief Conductor of Israel Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Principal Director of Fondazione Arena di Verona, General Director of Shanghai Opera House and Chief Guest Conductor of Suzhou Symphony Orchestra. Between 2012 and 2015, he was Music Director and Chief Conductor of Teatro Massimo Bellini. He has successfully collaborated with many of the most world-renowned musicians, including Paul Badura-Skoda, Lazar Berman, Sergiu Commissiona, Philippe Entremont, Neeme Järvi, Maxim Vengerov, Arto Noras, Jean – Bernard Pommier, Jian Wang, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Dimitra Theodossiou and etc. Zhong Xu was born in a family of well-known physicians for generations in the city of Shanghai. At the age of 16, he received the rigorous formal piano music education in the class of Dominique Merlet at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. As a conductor, he learned with Prof.Xiaotong Huang. He also enjoys tremendously in artistic consultation with Mariss Jansons, Jorma Panula and Piero Rattalino. In capacity of jury member, Xu is regularly invited to attend the most worldwide important international piano competitions, such as Leeds, Clara Haskil, Busoni, Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud, Franz Liszt, AXA Dublin, Hamamatsu, Seoul, Sviatoslav Richter and Fryderyk Chopin. In 2010, Zhong Xu has been awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, France, for his contributions in classic music and cultural exchange.