Rising Stars Recital Series | Past Artists
- 2006–07 Artists
- 2005–06 Artists
- 2004–05 Artists
- 2003–04 Artists
- 2002–03 Artists
- 2001–02 Artists
- 2000–01 Artists
2006–07 Artists
Jie Chen, China
Jie was just announced as First Prize Winner at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions when she chose to join Verve Productions. Although still only 21, she has already established herself...
Sa Chen, China
Chen’s piano studies have taken her from China to London to Germany. The only Chinese pianist to win prizes in both the Leeds Piano Competition and the International Chopin Piano Competition, and a finalist in the twelfth Cliburn Competition, Chen already has the makings of an important career.
Alexander Gavrylyuk, Ukraine
Born in the Ukraine, Gavrylyuk began studying piano at age 7 and gave his first public concerto performance two years later. In 2005, he won the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. He now tours extensively around the world....
Martin Stadtfeld, Germany
German pianist Martin Stadtfeld made his concert debut at age 9. He performs internationally as a soloist and collaborator with chamber music ensembles and orchestras. He has released four CDs and was the youngest winner ever of the Johann Sebastian Bach Music Competition when he was just 21.
Dan Tepfer, United States
Tepfer has a varied background: began classical studies at age 6, played jazz and conducted operas at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), from which he graduated with a degree in astrophysics, and completed his master's degree at the New England Conservatory under Danilo Pérez and Fred Hersch.
Eric Zuber, United States
American pianist Eric Zuber has won the 2007 Hilton Head Int'l. Piano Competition. For more information, visit the Competition website.
Zuber began piano lessons at age 4, and entered Peabody Conservatory at age 16. He has toured extensively in Europe and the US...
2005–06 Artists
Christopher Falzone, United States
Christopher Falzone, has received critical acclaim and numerous national and international awards for his piano performances and compositions. In 2004, he received the Gilmore Young Artist Award...
Adam Golka, United States
Twenty-year-old Adam Golka, a first generation American, was born of Polish parents in Houston, Texas. He began studying both the piano and the violin at the age of four.... He gave his first recital at the age of nine and first performance of a concerto with orchestra at ten...
Javier Perianes, Spain
The pianist Javier Perianes, born in Nerva, Huelva (Spain) in 1978, began his piano lessons in his hometown with Julia Hierro, Lucio Muñoz and Maria Ramblado....,At present, he is furthering his piano studies in Madrid under Ana Guijarro and Josep Colom.... He has also participated in the Scherzo Cycle of young 21st century pianists.
Severin von Eckardstein, Germany
Severin von Eckardstein took his first piano lessons when he was six years old, and has already won numerous competitions, both nationally as well as internationally.
2004–05 Artists
Adam Birnbaum, United States
The 2004 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, Adam Birnbaum was born and raised in the Boston area. His early music education included music theory, chamber music, and classical and jazz performance....
Misha Dacic, Yugoslavia
“Misha Dacic made an impressive American debut last May at the Miami International Piano Festival. Now in his mid-20s, he is clearly an artist equipped with an awesome technique and a taste for keyboard barnburners.” —Lawrence Johnson, Sun-Sentinel
Born in 1978 into a musical family in the former Yugoslavia, Misha Dacic first came to the public attenti
Benjamin Hochman, Israel
Benjamin Hochman, born in 1980 in Jerusalem, has played recitals at Town Hall in New York, the Spoleto Festival (Italy), the Louvre, & the Jerusalem Music Center. He has performed at the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers for the Performing Arts, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall & Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. He has participated in the festivals of Marlboro, Spoleto/Italy, Santa Fe, Lucerne, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, & at the “Bravo! Vail” Festival in Colorado. In the spring of ’04 he debuted with the Israel Philharmonic, & performed in Santa Fe’s “Artist Circle” Series. Highlights of the current season include a recital at the Vancouver Recital Society and beginning a two-year residency at Lincoln Center as part of the prestigious Chamber Music Society Two program.
Hochman was awarded the Israeli Minister of Culture’s “Partosh Prize” for best performance of an Israeli work, first prize at the Rubin Academy’s National Piano Competition in Jerusalem, the “Outstanding Pianist” citation at Switzerland’s Verbier Academy & Second Prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. His performances have been broadcast on NPR’s Young Artist Showcaseand Performance Today, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), Radio France, and Israel’s “Voice of Music” radio station, and the European classical music television station, “Mezzo.” He has performed with the Jerusalem Symphony and Holon orchestras, and has collaborated in chamber music performances with Miriam Fried, Ralph Kirshbaum, Daniel Phillips, Paula Robison, Marcy Rosen & David Soyer.
Hochman graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Claude Frank and won the Festorazzi Award, and the Mannes College of Music in New York where he studied with Richard Goode. He has coached with many of today’s leading musicians at Marlboro, Ravinia, the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove and the International Chamber Music Encounters.
Natasha Paremski, Russia
Though just 18, Paremski has appeared around the world, made two CDs with the Moscow Philharmonic and debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic when she was only 15. On Feb. 29, 2004, she made her Carnegie Hall debut (with the New York Youth Symphony).
Elizabeth Schumann, United States
Elizabeth Schumann was born in Virginia but lived in Taiwan for two years.
Upon returning to the US, the Schumanns bought a secondhand upright piano. Just a three-year-old toddler at the time, her parents thought she was too young to be taught...
Shai Wosner, Israel
Active as a soloist & chamber musician, Shai Wosner’s uniquely intellectual & poetic approach has caught the attention of audiences and critics alike....
2003–04 Artists
Inon Barnatan, Israel
With a musical touch described as “magical,” Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan performs after the holidays. Classica Magazine named Barnatan’s recording of a live all-Beethoven recital, as “Discovery of the Month.” A list of this twenty-three-year-old’s major concert appearances includes the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Salla Verdi in Milan, and in London, the Royal Festival, Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore Halls.
Stanislav Ioudenitch, Uzbekistan
Winner of the gold medal at the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the remarkable Uzbeki pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch will close our Rising Stars season. He is recognized for his rich detail of color and gesture and his enormous sophistication of line and form. Since the Cliburn, Ioudenitch has concertized extensively throughout the world.
Wang Xiaohan, China
Wang Xiaohan was born in China but now lives in Germany. A finalist in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Wang, now twenty years old, has performed extensively throughout his native country and in Germany, Japan and the United States. An engaging performer, he is also a composer who enjoys performing his own works.
Joyce Yang, Korea
Seventeen-year-old Korean-American pianist Joyce Yang opens this season’s Rising Stars Recital Series. She came to the United States at age eleven, and began studies at the Juilliard School. During her first year there she won its Pre-College Division Concerto Competition. Then, in April 1999, she won the Philadelphia Orchestra’s student competition, which led to a performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the beginnings of a young career. She is in her senior year of high school and continues her studies at Juilliard.
2002–03 Artists
Rieko Aizawa, Japan
Rieko Aizawa began piano lessons at the age of five and by the time she was a teenager she had won the First Prize in her division at the 40th All-Japan Student Music Competition. She made her United States debut at the Kennedy Center, playing with the New York String Orchestra. Aizawa has performed in solo and orchestra engagements in much of the United States, Canada, and her native Japan. She has toured throughout Europe, apearing in music festivals inclduing the Kammermusikk Festival in Germany, the Evian Festival in France and the Festival Strings in Switzerland. In chamber music performances, she has appeared with the Guarneri String Quartet and the Shanghai Quartet. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute. Among her teachers were Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Seymour Lipkin and Peter Serkin.
Ning An, China
Born in Beijing, Ning An began studying the piano at the age of four at the Central Conservatory of Music, and at the age of nine, he moved with his family to Indiana. At sixteen he made his concerto debut with the Cleveland orchestra. Earlier this year, An was awarded the Audience Prize at the first Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition and Festival in California. He was also awarded First Prize at the 2000 American National Chopin Piano Competition. Named a 2000 Classical Fellow by the Amerian Pianists Association, An was part of a New Year's Eve 2000/2001 telecast in Beijing that was broadcast to an estimated one billion viewers. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he is a student of Russell Sherman.
Jonathan Biss, United States
Twenty-six-year-old American pianist Jonathan Biss, a 2002 Gilmore Young Artist, has already proven himself an accomplished and exceptional musician with a flourishing international reputation through his orchestral and recital performances in North America and Europe.
Simon Trpceski, Macedonia
Born in 1979 in Skopje, Macedonia, Simon Trpceski began playing the piano in 1986. In 2000 he was awarded Second Prize in the Millennium World Piano Competition in London for his performance of Prokofieff's Third Piano Concerto. He has performed in recital and with orchestra throughout Europe and has won prizes in the Czech Republic and Italy. In 1998 he won the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Competition. In June 2001 Trpceski gave his London debut recital at Wigmore Hall to dazzling reviews for his musical intelligence, technical prowess and youthful panache. The concert was nominated for the Best Concert in the United Kingdom in 2001. This season he will be performing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and returns to Wigmore Hall for a live broadcast of his performance.
Lukáš Vondrácek, Czech Republic
Lukás Vondrácek is an experienced performer—he gave his first public concert at the age of four, and he made his first recordings at age eleven....
2001–02 Artists
Esther Budiardjo, Indonesia
Esther Budiardjo, born in Jakarta, Indonesia, now resides in the Boston area, where she is currently completing her doctoral work at the New England Conservatory of Music. In addition to winning first prize at the 1996 William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland, she was awarded top prizes at the 1993 Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition in Illinois and both the 1998 and the 2000 Palm Beach Invitational International Piano Competition in Florida. Ms. Budiardjo has performed as a soloist throughout the U.S. and Europe. Her debut recording was released in January 1999. A second recording was released in December 1999 and selected by the Philadelphia Inquirer as one of the top 10 classical CDs in 2000.
Ketevan Badridze Genadi Zagor, Russia
Ketevan Badridze was born in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. In 1976, she began piano studies at the Georgian Special Music School. In 1988–93, she studied at Tbilisi State Conservatory, and in 1993 she continued studies with Nodar Gabunia earning her post-graduate degree and joining the faculty of the Conservatory. She frequently performs solo and chamber music recitals throughout Russia and Europe. She made her recording debut on the “Excelsior“ label with the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra.
In 2000, she joined the studio of Alexander Toradze at Indiana University South Bend. Later that year, Badridze won the second prize at the World Piano Competition.
Born in Krasnodar, Russia, Genadi Zagor began his music studies in his hometown and later studied at Moscow State Conservatory. He participated in various state and regional competitions in Russia and appeared in recitals and as soloist with various orchestras in Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov-on-the-Don.
In 1991 he settled in Israel and became a student at the
Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music. He competed in the Eighth Artur
Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 1995, and in
the same year he won the Francois Shapira Prize and "Voice of
Music" Young Artist Competition in Israel. Zagor has been a
recipient of America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarships since
1994. He won first prize at the Chopin Competition in Jerusalem in
1999. He moved to the United States in 2000 to join the Alexander
Toradze Piano Studio in South Bend, Indiana.
Kirill Gerstein, Russia/United States
Pianist Kirill Gerstein is quickly proving to be one of today's most promising and intriguing young artists. Already recognized for his deeply musical interpretations and masterful technique...
Konstantin Lifschitz, Ukraine
Konstantin Lifschitz is receiving accolades worldwide. Born in the Ukraine, he presented a landmark recital at the Russian Academy of Music when he was 13. In 1994 at the age of 17, Denon Records recorded his graduation recital from the Gnessin Special Middle School of Music in Moscow, and this recording (released in 1996) was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1998, he performed at the Miami International Piano Festival of Discovery, his first U.S. appearance. During the 2000-2001 season, Lifschitz performed in virtually every European music capital as well as Japan, China and Russia, and he appeared at the prestigious International Piano Festival at Williams College.
Andrew von Oeyen, United States
Andrew von Oeyen has already established himself as one of the most captivating pianists of his generation. Since his debut at age 17 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, von Oeyen has performed to critical acclaim in recital and orchestral appearances around the world....
2000–01 Artists
Finghin Collins, Ireland
Collins has won all the major national piano prizes and competitions in Ireland. Born in Dublin in 1977, he studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He is recognized across Europe as an upcoming star, and has performed throughout Europe and Canada as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra.
Stewart Goodyear, Canada
Goodyear is a young pianist with an already strong name in the music world. A native of Canada, Goodyear is currently pursuing graduate studies at the Julliard School in New York. Goodyear's recent appearances include performances with the National Arts Centre Orchestra under Pinchas Zukerman, the St. Louis Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was featured as soloist on the Toronto Symphony's recent United States Tour.
Lang Lang, China
Born in Shen Yang, China, Lang Lang entered the China Central Music Conservatory in 1993 and currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Lang Lang’s career took a major leap forward in 1999 when he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravina Festival, replacing an ailing soloist. He returned to Ravina in the summer of 2001 as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Katia Skanavi, Russia
“Playing with Fire” not only describes the intensity of the young Russian pianist, but is also the title of the PBS documentary featuring Skanavi as she performed in the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A competition finalist, she received the Steven De Groote Memorial Award.
Ashley Wass, England
Wass made his orchestral debut at 14 in Manchester, England. Born in 1977, he was the first British pianist to win the World Piano Competition in London. This season marks the release of his first recital and concerto recordings.
Orion Weiss, United States
Pianist Orion Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators in his generation of young American musicians. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him acclaim from audiences, critics and colleagues...
