Andrea Bonatta was born in Bolzano. Major influences in his musical development were studies with Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna, Nikita Megaloff in Geneva, Stefan Askenase in Bonn and Wilhelm Kempf in Positano. Andrea Bonatta has often been defined as a ‘poet of the piano’. At his most recent recitals in the great hall of the Vredenburg in Utrecht or at the Conservatory in Moscow critics acclaimed him as a ‘perfect stylist’ and a number of great masters present defined him as one of the last truly romantic pianists. Last appearances include the Smetana hall in Prague, the Stilwerk in Berlin, the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, the IUC in Rome and the Salle Gaveau in Paris. He has recorded on CD works of Brahms, Liszt, and Schubert. His book on Brahms’ piano work is considered a milestone in this field and has already been translated into German.
Mr. Bonatta has played in practically the whole of Europe, in North and South America, in Australia, in Korea, China and South Africa, and is often a member of the jury at the most important international competitions. He is a president of the jury at some competitions (Bolzano, Weimar, Vercelli, Utrecht, Dortmund, Terni, Pretoria, Moscow, Shanghai, Shenzhen etc.) and also is the artistic director of the ‘Feruccio Busoni’ International Piano Competition in Bolzano and has been a vice president of the WFIMC of Geneva.

Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling is considered as one of the most sought after piano pedagogues in the world. After completing his studies in Leipzig he held a position as a teacher at the municipal Music Academy in Braunschweig and then accepted a professorship at the Music Conservatory in Hannover. He also served as Vice-president of the university for six years. Since 1989 he holds a professorship for Piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Prof. Kämmerling has been named Artist Laureate of the State of Lower Saxonia (Germany). He is founder and publisher of the journal EPTA Germany and is co-editor of the journal Ueben und Musizieren. He writes for the music publishers Bosse and Schott. Since 2004 he is guest professor at the Music Academy in Zagreb, Croatia.
Prof. Kämmerling has given master classes in Europe, Asia, and the USA. Pianists from all over the world extend their studies with Prof. Kämmerling, frequently after completing their music education. His instructional style combines heightening conceptual sensibility with practical assistance in a manner that is easy to grasp for the student. Technical problems are tackled as matters of musical logic and interpretation rather than as discrete obstacles to be overcome. In 1999 he received the Bundesverdienstorden 1st class of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2000 the Grosse Ehrenzeichen of the Republic of Austria. Since 2005 he is a member of honour of the German Music Council.

Choong-Mo Kang is the winner of Dong-A Competition in Korea, Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, Louise D. McMahan Competition and Washington International Competition. A graduate of Seoul National University, he received his master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory, and his Artist’s Diploma from Peabody Conservatory. While pursuing his DMA degree at Peabody Conservatory, he was appointed as a member of the Peabody piano faculty.
Mr. Kang won plaudits from critics around the world for his acclaimed performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra as well as Korea’s leading orchestras. He performed at the Carnegie Hall, the Opera House in Sydney, London, and Oxford. His honorary performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Russia’s revered pianist Tatiana Nikolaeva’s death received an astounding reception.
Few undertakings are as stirring as pianist Choong-Mo Kang’s five-year endeavor to master and perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s entire works for the keyboard. His recent recordings include Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations,’ ‘Inventions and Sinfonias,’ and ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier.’ The great pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher has claimed Mr. Kang’s “Goldberg Variations” as “a notable addition to the ‘Goldberg’ discography.”
In 1993, he returned to Korea to serve as an eminent faculty member of the Korean National University of Arts and also has been on the jury for the prestigious competitions such as Warsaw Chopin Competition and Dublin Competition. He is also an artistic director of the Euro Music Festival and Academy in Leipzig as well as a faculty member of the Ishikawa Music Festival in Japan.

Lee Kyung-Sook studied at the Curtis Institute of music in Philadelphia under Mieozyslaw Horoszowski and Rudolf Serkin. In 1967 after having completed her studies at the Curtis Institute, she won a prize at the Philadelphia Orchestra concerto auditions and performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1968, which was broadcasted nationwide in the United States. Subsequently, she was involved in a period of great activity with performances with such distinguished artists such as Christian Ferras, Pierre Fournier, Eudice Shapiro, Aaron Rosand, Julius Baker, Dmitri Yablonsky, and Paul Tortolie, and also with world renowned orchestra including L’orchestra de la Suisse Romande, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony, the Moscow Philharmonic, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ms. Lee has performed all of Beethoven piano concertos in 1987, Beethoven sonatas in 1988, Mozart piano sonatas in 1989, Prokofiev nine piano sonatas in 1991, and Tchaikovsky’s three piano concertos in one concert in 1993. In 1985 she won the first “Musician of the year” prize awarded by the magazine “Music Dong-A.” In 1985 and 1988 she was named the “Artist of the year,” in 1987 she was awarded “The Nanpa Music Awards,” in 1988 “The Korean Critics Association Awards” and the “Kim Soo-Goon Performing Arts Awards,” and in 1994 she won “The Korean Artist Prize,” and has held a chair as a judge on the judging committee in the Munich and Japanese Sonoda International piano competitions.
Ms. Lee has chaired the Dean’s office of the Korean National University of Arts and is now a dean at the College of Music, Yonsei University.

Born in Vienna in 1940, Heinz Medjimorec studied at the Viennese Academy of Music and Performing Arts (now: University of Music and Performing Arts) with Richard Hauser. He won prizes at international piano competitions in Salzburg, Geneva, and Vienna. He started his career as a concert pianist at the age of 20 and toured around many countries.
Since 1968, Mr. Medjimorec has been the pianist of the “Haydn Trio Wien” and with this ensemble he performed at concerts in North and South America, Africa, Europe and the Far East. He also performed chamber music series in the Wiener Konzerthaus. Recording (LPs, CDs) of the “Haydn Trio Wien” were made with Arabesque N.Y., Teldec, Warner Classics and Musica Wien. Other musical activities include serving as a jury member of international and national piano and chamber music competitions, and teaching master classes in Europe, Australia and in USA. Since 1975, he has been teaching young concert pianists at the Keyboard Institute of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

Born in Bordeaux, Dominique Merlet was a pupil of Roger-Ducasse, Rose Lejour, Nadia Boulanger and Louis Hiltbrand. After three first prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris he won the Geneva International Competition in 1957 and also received the special prize as the most accomplished laureate. He played in most European countries as well as the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, Australia and Japan and took part in many important festivals such as Paris, Berlin, Bordeaux, Hong Kong, Besançon, La Roque d’ Anthéron and Duszniki . He has worked with notable conductors such as Charles Münch, Paul Paray, Armin Jordan, Moshe Atzmon, Richard Hickox, Sergiu Comissiona, Yutaka Sado, Christian Mandeal.
Mr. Merlet’s recordings include works of Schumann, Weber, Brahms, Bartok, Liszt, Satie, Ravel (complete works), Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, Roger-Ducasse, and Kirchner and they have won many distinctions such as “Grand Prix du Disque” and “Diapason d’Or”. He enjoys sharing performances with his friends (quartet or quintet) and has recorded Beethoven’s complete Sonatas for piano and violin with Gérard Poulet.
From 1974 to 1992 Mr. Merlet taught his class at CNSM, Paris and then gave lectures and master-classes in many countries. He frequently participates at international piano juries (Warsaw, Leeds, Vienna, Dublin, Tokyo, München, Cleveland, Shanghai and others) and he is an Honorary President of EPTA as well as President of the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Foundation. His impressive accomplishments have been rewarded by the French Ministry of Culture with the tittle of Officier des Arts et des Lettres.

One of Japan’s most internationally respected pianists, Minoru Nojima began piano lessons at the age of three under renowned pedagogue Aiko Iguchi and at ten years old made his debut with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. During his studies at Toho Gakuen School of Music, he performed in subscription concerts with the Tokyo Philharmonic and Japan Philharmonic. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory of Music between 1966 and 1968 under the tutelage of Lev Oborin, and performed at numerous recitals in Moscow, Leningrad and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. He also won the second prize in the 3rd Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Mr. Nojima received effusive praise from the New York Times for his debut recital at Carnegie Hall. Since then, with bases in New York and Tokyo, he has maintained an active schedule of recitals, orchestra engagements, and chamber music performances throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He has continued to perform with Japan’s major orchestras, as well as collaborating with orchestras and conductors such as the Montreal Symphony and Charles Dutoit. Mr. Nojima also performs a wide range of works by Japanese artists to audiences nationwide and overseas, including special performances of contemporary composer Teizo Matsumura’s 2nd Concerto for Piano in Moscow and for the opening of the 3rd Leningrad International Music Festival, receiving high praise at both venues.
Mr. Nojima has served on the jury for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the chairperson for the Sendai International Music Competition. Furthermore, in 2006, he produced his own competition “Minoru Nojima Piano Competition” in Yokosuka which is his hometown. He is a professor at Toho Gakuen Graduate School.

Piotr Paleczny is one of the most eminent Polish pianists and professors. He graduated from the Frederick Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw in the class of Prof.Jan Ekier. He won prizes at international piano competitions in Sofia, Munich, Warsaw, Pleven, and Bordeaux. Since the success achieved at the 8th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, he has been engaged in concerts activities on all the continents.
Mr. Paleczny performed with internationally renowned orchestras, such as Chicago Symphony, American Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, BBC London, and Gewandhaus to name few. He has been holding master classes in Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Paris, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Toronto, Copenhagen, Lugano, Mexico City, Montevideo and Warsaw. He also sat many times on the jury of many international piano competitions. Since 1993 he has been the Artistic Director of the oldest music festival held in Poland and most probably the oldest existing international piano festival in the world – the International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki Zdrój.
In recognition of his outstanding artistic achievements, the artist is honoured with many superior and prestige Polish and foreign medals such as the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Mexican Order of the Aguila Azteca. In September 2005, Piotr Paleczny was awarded the “Meritorious for Culture – Gloria Artis” Gold Medal. In 1998 the President of Poland has conferred on Piotr Paleczny title of Professor.

Winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, pianist Paul Schenly has performed with major United States orchestras, including the Atlanta Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and New York Philharmonic. He made two United States tours with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and toured with the same orchestra in Europe. He has appeared in many summer festivals, including repeated performances at the Hollywood Bowl, the Ravinia Festival, Blossom Music Center, and the Mostly Mozart Festival. He appeared in the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center, and in acclaimed recitals at Carnegie Hall. He has appeared with many of the world’s leading conductors including James Levine, Eric Leinsdorf, Christoph Von Dohnanyi, Edo de Waart, Mstislav Rostopovich, Christoph Eschenbach, Loren Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Zubin Mehta, Robert Shaw, and Aaron Copland.
Mr. Schenly has been artist-in-residence at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and is currently the head of the Piano Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Schenly is the Artistic Director of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and has served on the juries of several national and international competitions. He also founded and directs the summer music festival, “Pianofest” in 1989 in the Hamptons, New York.

As one of most internationally renowned Chinese pianists and conductors, Xu Zhong is the founding member and Artistic Director of China Shanghai International Piano Competition and Executive Artistic Director of Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. He collaborated with many of the most world-renowned musicians, including Philippe Entremont, Sergiu Commissiona, Paul Badura-Skoda, Arie Vardi, Vladimir Krainev, Lazar Berman, Michel Dalberto, Arto Noras, Gérard Poulet and Pavel Kogan.
Mr. Zhong studied at Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He won numerous prestigious international competitions since 1988, including the 1st Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, the Santander Paloma O’Shea International Piano Competition, the 5th Tokyo International Piano Competition and the 10th Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.
Since then Mr. Zhong performed as a pianist and a conductor in Europe, North America, South America and South-East Asia. He has performed with world’s prominent orchestras, such as Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, and Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Zhong participates to international master-classes and has been a juror at the international piano competitions, such as Leeds International Piano Competition, Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, Busoni Piano Competition in Bolzano (2007), and Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud (2007).

(in alphabetical order)
*updated April 2008