After having graduated from Toho Gakuen Senior High School in Japan and then from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with the Première Prix of the piano and chamber music, EDO Kyoko made her debut in piano performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since then she has sustained an active career as an international concert pianist, performing with orchestras and giving recitals throughout Europe, as well as in USA and Japan. She has also served as judge in the Tchaikovsky Piano Concours, the George Enescu International Competition, “le Concours de Long-Thibaud”, and the International Music Competition of Japan, among others. She, as a president, founded the non-profit, Arion-Edo Foundation in 1985, which organizes and sponsors the annual Tokyo Summer Festival. In addition, the Foundation also sponsors the Arion Prize which honors promising young musicians and provides them with long-term support. “Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettre” was conferred on Kyoko Edo by the French government in 1988.

Leading one of the most distinguished careers as pianist, Claude FRANK has repeatedly appeared with the world’s foremost orchestras, since his debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in 1959. Mr. Frank is an internationally acclaimed interpreter of the piano literature of Beethoven. He has produced numerous recordings, including the 32 Beethoven Trios. He is also a contributing author to Piano Quarterly and Keynote Magazine. Mr. Frank received a 1966 Emmy Award Nomination and the 1979 Beethoven Society Award. A renowned teacher as well as performer, Claude Frank is on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia; he is a professor at the Yale School of Music. Of special interest are his master classes at Yale University, Duke University, University of Kansas and North Carolina School of the Arts.

Born in Essen, Germany, Klaus HELLWIG studied with Detlef Kraus at the Folkwang School, Essen and Pierre Sancan in Paris; he worked in master-classes with Wilhelm Kempff in Positano and Guido Agosti in Siena. After various awards, it was a prize at the international “M. Long-J. Thibaud” competition in Paris, the first prize of the international “Viotti” competition in Vercelly, Italy, and the “Bundesauswahi junger Kunstler” in Germany that brought a first and successful contact with audiences in Germany and Italy. Klaus Hellwig recorded for all German radio stations, BBC London, NHK Tokyo, he appears on more than 20 records. After one year at the Musashino Academy Tokyo and 10 years as a professor at the Folkwang School, Essen, Klaus Hellwig has been teaching since 1980 at the Berlin Hochschüle der Kunste. He held master-classses in Germany, Japan, Korea and the USA, he was a judge in the “Viotti” competition, the “Busoni”, the Vienna Beethoven-Competition and other competitions. His students repeatedly were awarded prizes at important international competition.

Born in 1936, Prof. Andrzej JASINSKI is the head of the piano Dept. of Katowice Music Academy. He graduated in 1959 with distinction from Katowice Music Academy where he studied under Prof. W. Markiewicz. In 1960 he was awarded first prize at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona. His international debut as a concert pianist took place in 1961 with the RAI Orchestra under Z. Zecchi in Torino. He has many times been the recipient of a special prize from Poland Minister of Art and Culture for his outstanding pedagogic achievement. Prof. Andrzei Jasinski was inviting professor at Stuttgart’s “Musikhochschule”. He has given master classes in South America, Japan and Europe including Salzburg’s Music Summer Academy “Mozarteum”, where he has taught for the last 7 years. Prof. Andrzej Janinski who is a teacher of K. Zimerman, served on the jury of many international competitions.

While still enrolled at the Seoul High School of the Arts, Kyung-Sook Lee was awarded a scholarship to study at the Julliard School of Music. After studying at Julliard, Lee went on to complete a course at the Curtis Institute of Music and studied under Mieozyslaw Horszouwski and Rudolf Serkin. In 1967, Lee won a Prize at the Geneva International competition and took first prize in the Central City Auditions sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Company. In 1968 Lee became artist-in-residence at Juniata College and later a member of the faculty of the Philadelphia Music Academy. In 1984 she performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist. In 1985 she was awarded the ‘Musician of the Year’ prize in Seoul. In 1986, her performance with Philadelphia Orchestra was broadcast nationwide over station WFLN. Her reputation is also reflected by her performing straight through the complete concertos of Beethoven with the KBS Orchestra. She currently serves as Dean of the Conservatory of Music at the Korean National University of Arts.

Pianist Viktor MERZHANOV is one of the most outstanding artists representing the 20th century Russian art of piano virtuosity. His first public appearance was in 1933 at the regional concert of young Russian musicians where he received first prize. He studied piano at the Moscow conservatoire under the guidance of S. Feinberg, and organ under the guidance of A. Gedike. In 1949 he became a prize winner of the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. During forty two years of his pedagogical work, more than 100 students have graduated and established their carriers as professional pianists. For 50 years he has played about 2000 solo, symphonic and chamber concerts in the USSR and abroad. Viktor Merzhanov is a president of the Russian Rachmaninov Society, a board member of the International Music Union and a Jury-Chairman of the Rachmaninov International Piano Competition in Moscow and also juror for many international piano competitions. In addition to his activities as concert pianist, juror and educator professor Viktor Merzhanov has made 24 recordings under the Melodya, Monitor and other labels.

Dominique MERLET, distinguished professor formerly at the Conservatoire National Sup rieur de Paris and currently at the Geneva Conservatory, is a performer of the international fame. A native of Bordeaux, France, he was a pupil of Roger-Ducasse, Nadia Boulanger and Louis Hiltbrand. The recipient of Premiers Prix from the Conservatoire National Sup rieur de Paris, and winner of the Geneva International Piano Competition, Professor Merlet has toured the world in recitals and solo performances with many great conductors including Charles Munch, Paul Paray, Peter Maag, Kazuhiro Koizumi, Armin Jordan and Moshe Atzmon. He has received two coveted Grand Prix du Disque for his recordings, and a third Chopin CD has recently been released. He is noted for his lecture recitals, and has a resplendent legacy of students who are themselves laureates of major international piano competitions. He laureates of major international piano competitions. He frequently participates on international piano juries is a member of the Board of Directors of EPTA(European Piano Teacher’s Association) in France, and serves as President of the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Foundation. His impressive accomplishments have been rewarded with the title ‘officier des Arts et des Letters’.

After initial studies in his native Dublin, John O’CONOR studied with the noted pedagogue Dieter Weber at the Hochschüle für Müsik in Vienna, Austria and made a special study of Beethoven with the great German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. Success in winning 1st prize at the International Beethoven Competition in 1973 and at the Bösendorfer Competition in 1975 led to a blossoming career and he has now played throughout Europe and the Far East in recital and with orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and in Japan with the NHK, Yomiuri and Sapporo. His recording of the John Field, Irish composer, Nocturnes spent many weeks in the American Billboard charts as one of the best-selling classical CDs of 1990. He has also given acclaimed masterclasses throughout the world and his students have won many international prizes. He is co-founder and artistic Director of the Guardian Dublin International Piano Competition. He is also Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

SHIN Soo-Jung received her musical training at the Seoul National University, the Vienna Academy of Music and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Chung Jin-Woo, Josef Dichler and Leon Fleisher. She also participated in master classes with Wilhelm Kempff and Maria Currio. She won many prizes in the competitions including the Dong-A National Competition in Korea, the Elena Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, etc, She was also awarded the Korean Academy of Arts Award. Orchestras she has performed with include the London Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Korean National and NHK Symphony orchestras. She appeared with the world famous performers such as Ruggiero Ricci, Nicolai Gedda, Janos Starker and Chung Kyung Wha. She has served on the juries of such international competitions as the International Music Competition of the ARD in Munich, the Sonoda Takahiro Prize Piano Competition in Japan, the Cologne International Piano Competition and the International Music Competition of Japan. She has taught at the Seoul National University, the Seoul School of Arts and the Kyung-Won University, where she currently serves as Dean of the School of Music.

(in alphabetical order)
*updated November 1996