Monday, January 23, 2023

William Fong


Teaching Language : English
Teaching Dates : August 5 - 9, 2026


William’s international career was launched in 1984 when he won the first prize, gold medal and Rosa Sabater prize at the Concurso Internacional de Piano in Jaén, Spain. His concerto début at St. John's Smith Square with the Philharmonia Orchestra followed soon after.  He subsequently added successes in the Busoni, Cleveland, Iturbi, and Scottish International Competitions.

Performances in New York, Moscow and St Petersburg (under the auspices of the Sviatoslav Richter Foundation), and in Europe have drawn critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences. Invited to China, supported by Arts Council England, William has performed and given master classes in Shanghai. He has also performed in Australia at the invitation of the Chair of the Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference and was the keynote speaker, giving a recital and master classes, at the Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand conference in Auckland.

William maintains a busy schedule of recitals, master classes, teaching and lecturing both in the UK and abroad, as well as regular commitments to some of the finest international piano summer schools.

A musician of wide interests, William has performed with ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet and members of Guildhall Strings. He has also collaborated with singers Steve Davislim and James Rutherford and has recorded some fascinating and little known repertoire in the chamber music field. His concerts have been broadcast on television and on radio in Europe and the US. William has performed at all of London's major venues.  His concerts have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, and BBC television.

A distinguished teacher, William is in demand for master classes and adjudication in the UK and overseas. He is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music www.ram.ac.uk and Head of Keyboard at the Purcell School for Young Musicians www.purcell-school.org - one of Europe's leading specialist schools for talented young musicians, visiting professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Artistic Director of “Piano Star” – an educational project and festival for young pianists in Romania.

His students’ achievements have included places and scholarships to study at Curtis Institute of Music USA, Universität der Künste Berlin, Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW), the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Trinity Laban.  His students have also won important international competitions, including Liszt International Competition (Budapest), Weimar Liszt International Competition, Jeunesses Musicales Romania, and Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition. Students have also established successful careers as recording artists. 

















































Sunday, January 22, 2023

Victor Chestopal


Teaching Dates : August 21 - 25, 2025
Teaching Languages : French, English, Italian, German, Swedish, Russian




Pianist, musicologist, poet Victor Chestopal was born 1975 in Moscow into a family of musicians, writers, scientists and artists. His first piano lessons, at the age of five, were under the guidance of his mother, Professor Victoria Yagling (1946-2011): a cellist and composer, a former student of Mstislav Rostropovich. At the age of six, Chestopal was enrolled as a pupil at the Gnessin Music School and three years later at the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. There, his teachers were Tamara Bobovich, Alexander Mndoyants, Professors Lev Vlassenko and Mikhail Pletnev.

At the age of twelve, Chestopal performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor in Saratov and the following year gave a recital at Moscow’s Rachmaninoff Concert Hall. In 1990 Chestopal won the First Prize at the “Carlo Soliva” International Competition in Casale Monferrato (Italy), and in 1991 played before Pope John Paul II at the Vatican as a soloist in Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto with the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev.

Chestopal has lived in Helsinki since 1990 and became a Finnish citizen in 1997, graduating with a Master’s degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2001. His studies at the Sibelius Academy were under the guidance of Professors Vitali Berzon and Erik T. Tawaststjerna. During his studies at the Accademia Pianistica “Incontri col Maestro” in Imola (Italy), 1992-1997, and at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar (Germany), 1995-1997, Chestopal was tutored by Lazar Berman. In 2001-2002, Chestopal had an opportunity to play several times for Mstislav Rostropovich.

A prize-winner of several major piano competitions Chestopal has performed all over the world, appearing in concert halls such as the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Herkulessaal in Munich, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, Kolarac Hall in Belgrade and Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.

Victor Chestopal has been a guest at many festivals, such as the Festival de Wallonie, Naantali Festival, Janacek May, Brancaster Midsummer Music, Carl Orff Festival, Ascoli Piceno Festival.
Chestopal has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as the Moscow Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Belgium and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, the conductors including Mikhail Pletnev, Hugh Wolff, Dennis Burkh, Pierre Bartholomée and Aleksandar Markovic among others.

In the domain of chamber music, Victor Chestopal collaborated with Victoria Yagling (over 20 years), Arto Noras, Michael Flaksman, Xavier Phillips, Pavel Berman, David Grimal, Tokyo String Quartet and other artists and ensembles.

Chestopal has recorded for Melodiya, Russian Disc, Ricercar and Record Production of Radio and Television of Serbia (Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with the Serbian Radio and Television Orchestra, conducted by Aleksandar Markovic).

n 2010, Victor Chestopal became a Doctor of Music at the Sibelius Academy. The doctoral degree comprised five recitals dedicated to the cornerstones of the piano repertoire (Bach’s Goldberg Variations; Beethoven’s Grosse Sonate für das Hammerklavier, op. 106; Schubert’s Sonata in B flat major D 960; Brahms’ Sonata No. 3, op. 5; Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, among other works) and a doctoral thesis entitled “Temporal correlation in the Goldberg Variations”.

Chestopal has been active as a pedagogue, conducting master-classes at several European universities and conservatories. Since 2007 he has led annual piano master-classes in Liège, and since 2018 he is a piano professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, where he is chairman of the Keyboard section (since 2020). 

Chestopal is invited as a jury member of international piano competitions.




Thomas Hell


Teaching Dates : August 16 - 20, 2026
Teaching Languages : English, German



His playing felicitously combines intelligence with virtuosity.- Alfred Brendel 


 The pianist Thomas Hell has established his reputation in an unusually broad repertoire. His musical explorations include the standard masterpieces, but he is particularly known for his penetrating performances of works by twentieth-century composers. 

 Thomas Hell has performed major works by Elliott Carter, Charles Ives, Arnold Schoenberg, Luigi Dallapiccola and Pierre Boulez and many other 20th century composers. More recently Thomas Hell has received great acclaim for his performances of the complete Etudes pour piano by György Ligeti in Darmstadt, Basel and Tokyo. His performance in Tokyo was selected as “Best Concert 2010” by the Japanese journal Ongaku no tomo. In the same year his CD with piano music by Eduard Steuermann, a pupil of both Busoni and Schoenberg, received the coveted German Record Critics' Award (“Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik” 2010). Thomas’ discography also includes piano works by Max Reger and Robert Schumann, as well as a disc containing the two violin sonatas by Béla Bartók, performed together with Adrian Adlam, and the complete Etudes pour piano by Ligeti (WERGO). His latest release is a recording of Charles Ives' second piano sonata (Piano Classics). 

Thomas Hell has won prizes at several German and international competitions, including the first prize at the Concours international de piano d’Orléans. He has appeared widely throughout Europe as well as in Japan and in Russia and is regularly invited to perform at major international festivals and in renowned concert halls. 

Already as a student at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Thomas Hell enjoyed approaching music from different angles. He obtained his concert diploma for piano whilst studying with David Wilde, but also earned a diploma in Music Theory, studying with the composer Reinhard Febel. 

Following several teaching posts at the universities of music in Hanover and Stuttgart, he was appointed professor of piano at the University of Music in Mainz (Germany) in 2016. Hell has held master classes in Germany, in China, at the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, the Tokyo College of Music, the Danish Royal Academy of Music Aarhus, as well as the Iceland Academy of the Arts, Reykjavík.


















Takahiro Hoshino

 


Teaching Dates : August 16 ~ 20, 2027
Teaching Languages : English, Japanese



Takahiro Hoshino, born in Hokkaido, Japan, is an internationally acclaimed pianist known for his poetic interpretations and virtuosic artistry. 
A graduate of Toho Gakuen and the Liszt Academy in Hungary, where he studied as a government-sponsored scholar, Hoshino has performed across Europe, North America, and Asia.

He is a winner of over 65 international piano competitions, including top prizes at the Viotti-Valsesia, Maria Canals, Cantu, Masterplayers, Medici, Moscow, London, London Classical, Birmingham, New York Classical, NY Classical debut Awards, Clara Schumann, Claude Debussy, Swiss Art Holdings, Los Angeles, etc..
He has also received special distinctions such as the Platinum and Audience Awards, and the Best Liszt Performance Award.

As a  soloist, Hoshino has appeared with leading orchestras such as the Tokyo New City Philharmonic Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony, NIPPON SYMPHONY, Hungarian MÁV Symphony, Hungarian Symphony, Rumania National State Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, Hungary Solnok Symphony, Poland Sudteka Symphony, Lugano Festival Philharmonic, Praha Chamber Philharmonic, etc..
He has been featured at renowned venues including Royal Albert Hall (London), Musikverein (Vienna), Carnegie Hall (New York) and international festivals in Italy, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland.

Hoshino is currently an exclusive artist with FIERTÉ Classics (Japan) and PRICE ATTRACTIONS (USA), performing on the legendary “Horowitz’s Love Piano” (Steinway CD75). He is also active as a professor at Tosei Gakuen Showa College of Music, Ueno Gakuen College of Music, Japan and mentor in international masterclasses.

His critically acclaimed discography includes LISZT–SCHUBERT, Passion Kreisleriana, and the All-Chopin Album FANTASIE.























Szczepan Konczal


Teaching Dates : August 21 - 25, 2026
Teaching Languages : English, Polish


Szczepan Kończal - Polish pianist, graduated with the highest distinction (Primus Inter Pares medal) from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied under Prof. Józef Stompel’s guidance.

He has participated in masterclasses with such artists as Krystian Zimerman, Peter Donohoe, Dang Thai Son, Alexander Korsantia, Anna Malikova, Joan Havill, Bernard Ringeissen, John Perry, Andrzej Jasiński, Lee Kum Sing, Victor Merzhanov.

He has been a semifinalist of the 15th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (2005; WFIMC) as well as a prize-winner of several significant piano competitions: 16th  Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition (5th prize and special award for the best interpretation of the mandatory work, Lisbon, Portugal, 2007; WFIMC), 11th UNISA International Piano Competition (6th prize, Pretoria, South Africa, 2008; WFIMC), 4th Tbilisi International Piano Competition (3rd prize, Georgia, 2009; WFIMC), 2nd International Piano Competition Spazio Teatro (1st prize and special award, Milan, Italy, 2010), 9th Concours Grieg – International Competition for Pianists (2nd prize and two special awards, Oslo, Norway, 2008), 3rd Campillos International Piano Competition (3rd prize, Spain, 2009), 1st Luciano Luciani International Piano Competition (1st prize, Laurignano, Italy, 2011), 7th Mozart International Piano Competition (1st prize, Frascati, Italy, 2012), 3rd  Ella Philipp International Piano Competition (1st prize, Timisoara, Romania, 2011), 16th  Kerikeri International Piano Competition (2nd prize and audience prize, New Zealand, 2012), 1st Verona International Piano Competition (2nd prize, Italy, 2012), 8th  Lissone International Music Competition (1st prize, Italy, 2013), 5th Caraglio International Piano Competition (1st prize, Italy, 2014), 21st Carl Filtsch International Festival Competition for Pianists (2nd prize and Szaunig Prize, Sibiu, Romania, 2016). Finalist of the Tallinn International Piano Competition (Estonia, 2006), triple laureate of the National Frederick Chopin Piano Competitions in Warsaw in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Earlier, he was awarded 1st prizes in seven international and national piano competitions for youth, as well as 2nd prize in the 7th Takasaki International Art and Music Competition (Japan, 2001).

He has performed during Chopin festivals at Nohant, Duszniki-Zdrój and the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, during the Rubinstein Piano Festivals in Łódź, Festival of Polish Piano Art in Słupsk, festivals and concert seasons in Milan, Montecatini Terme, Folgaria, San Giulio and Ischia (Italy), Locarno (Switzerland), Sunderland, Newcastle, Carlisle (England), Kuressaare (Estonia), Istanbul and Izmir (Turkey), Tbilisi (Georgia).

He has cooperated with such orchestras as Sinfonia Varsovia, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Silesian Philharmonic, Toruń Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica Banatul, Chamber Orchestra of South Africa and such conductors as: Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Strugała, Marek Pijarowski, Michał Klauza, Szymon Bywalec, Jerzy Swoboda, Marcin Nałęcz Niesiołowski, Andres Mustonen, Mitsuyoshi Oikawa, Boon Hua Lien, Jüri Alperten, Heiko Mathias Förster, Per Sigmund Thorp, Peter Csaba, Gheorghe Costin, Arjan Tien.

He has received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture on six occasions (1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), the Prime Minister (2002), the Hugo Kołłątaj Foundation (2003), the International Frederick Chopin Foundation (2003). During 1998-2004 he was supported by the Polish Children’s Fund. In 2010 he became a laureate of the national program Młoda Polska (offered by the Ministry of Culture). In 2022 he was awarded the Scholarship for the Outstanding Young Scholars by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

He has appeared at many venues in Poland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Cyprus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Currently he is an assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Katowice (where he received his doctorate in 2019), gives masterclasses and serves as a jury member of piano competitions in Poland and abroad (i.a. International Piano Competition ‘Chopin in Asia’ in Japan).
































Sandra Chamoux


Teaching Dates : July 30 - August 3, 2025
Teaching Languages : English, French


After receiving the highest laurels from the Conservatory of Music in Grenoble (France) where she studied piano with Christian Bernard, Sandra Chamoux attended the National Conservatory of Music in Geneva where she won First Prize in the Virtuoso Class of Harry Datyner. She participated in several Master Classes with teachers from the French and Russian schools: Catherine Collard, Vlado Perlemuter, Yevgeni Malinin and won prizes in the Busoni and Viotti International Piano Competitions in Italy. 

She combines her pedagogic interests with a concert career as recitalist and chamber musician in France and various other European countries as well as China and the United States. She played with conductors like Jean-Sebastien Béreau, Marc Tardue, Patrick Souillot, Frédéric Bouaniche, and Nathalie Borgel with whom she recorded in concert, Rachmaninoff’s second concerto. 
She also played with famous musicians as Michel Moragues, Romain Leleu, Elsa Grether, Sergio Lamberto, Vadim Tchijik, Sonia Wieder Atherton, Jean Ferrandis, Hermes quartet, Athena trio, Liberquartet…With Florence Cioccolani, she performed the complete works for 2 pianos and 4 hands of Rachmaninoff in concerts. 

Sandra Chamoux regularly plays with cellist Hélène Dautry since 2015, she recorded the complete works of Brahms for piano and cello in 2017 (Lyrinx). 

Contemporary creation played an important role in her artistic way: Philippe Hersant, Jean Claude Wolff, Sophie Lacaze, Florentine Mulsant who dedicated a piece to her which she created at the Cortot hall in Paris. In 2017, Sandra Chamoux also recorded the "sonata ostinato" dedicated to her by Claire Vazart, and "Au Féminin" for soprano and piano. Since 2018, she has worked with Emmanuel Cury, baryton. They created together the Phidylé Duo whose recording of Duparc’s melodies for the Calliope label was awarded a Choc Classica in 2020. In 2021, always with the Calliope label, a double CD with Ephémères of Philippe Hersant and Images of Claude Debussy won 5 stars Classica, 4 Diapasons and a rave review in France and Germany. In 2023, she worked with Des Equilibres for the record of 4 CDs on the complete chamber music of César Franck with the Klarthe label, greeted by 5 Diapasons between others… 

She continues to produce and deliver masterclasses across the world: China, India, Europe… and is currently a teacher at Nanterre’s conservatory and at Ecole Normale Supérieure Alfred Cortot in Paris.



Titulaire des plus hautes distinctions dans la classe de Christian Bernard au CRR de Grenoble, Sandra Chamoux intègre brillamment la Haute Ecole de musique (HEM) de Genève dans la classe de Harry Datyner et obtient en 1992 le Premier Prix de virtuosité. Lauréate des Concours internationaux Gian-Battista-Viotti et Ferrucio-Busoni (Italie), elle étudie auprès de Catherine Collard, Vlado Perlemuter et Yevgeni Malinin.


Musicienne éclectique, Sandra Chamoux s’exprime dans des répertoires très variés aussi bien en soliste qu’en musique de chambre, en France comme à l’étranger (Europe, Chine, Inde, Etats-Unis…). Elle a joué sous la direction de Jean-Sébastien Béreau, Marc Tardue, Patrick Souillot, Frédéric Bouaniche, Nathalie Borgel avec qui, au sein de l’orchestre Symphonia Médica, elle a gravé en concert le Concerto n°2 de Rachmaninov.

Elle partage également la scène avec Michel Moraguès, Romain Leleu, Elsa Grether, Sergio Lamberto, Vadim Tchijik , Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Jean Ferrandis, le quatuor Hermès, le trio Athéna, le Liberquartet… Avec Florence Cioccolani, elle a donné l’intégrale de l’œuvre de Rachmaninov pour deux pianos et quatre mains. Depuis 2015, elle joue régulièrement avec la violoncelliste Hélène Dautry avec laquelle un CD des sonates de Brahms est paru chez Lyrinx.


La création contemporaine joue un rôle important dans son cheminement artistique : Philippe Hersant, Jean-Claude Wolff, Sophie Lacaze… et Claire Vazart dont elle a créé sa Sonate pour piano, un trio et un cycle de mélodies, ces œuvres lui ayant été dédiées.

Depuis 2016, Sandra Chamoux travaille avec le baryton Emmanuel Cury. Ensemble, ils ont créé le Duo Phidylé dont l’enregistrement des Mélodies de Duparc pour le label Calliope a été récompensé d’un Choc Classica en septembre 2020.


En mai 2021, toujours chez Calliope, un double CD de l’intégrale des Éphémères de Philippe Hersant et des Images de Debussy obtient 5 étoiles Classica, 4 Diapasons et une presse élogieuse en France et en Allemagne.


En 2023, elle travaille avec l'ensemble Des Equilibres pour l'enregistrement de l'intégrale de la musique de chambre pour cordes et piano de César Franck paru pour le label Klarthe, salué par 5 diapasons, 5 étoiles Classica…


Professeur de piano à l’Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot à Paris et au CRD de Nanterre, Sandra Chamoux enseigne aussi dans des  Académies internationales (Nancy, Grand Paris, Moulin d’Andé…) et est régulièrement invitée à donner des master-class en France mais aussi en Suisse, en Allemagne et récemment en Inde et en Chine.


















Roman Zaslavsky



Teaching Languages : English, German, Russian

“Close your eyes, the piano is there”
Pizzicato, Luxemburg

"...a memorable performance of the excellent Russian-Israeli pianist Roman Zaslavsky
...interpreted in the best tradition of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Giles“

AN Bariloche, Argentina


Born in St. Petersburg Israeli pianist Roman Zaslavsky gained an international recognition after winning the Primer Gran Premio at the renowned “José Iturbi” International Piano Competition in Valencia, Spain.
Since then he performs regularly at the major concert stages around the globe. His tours took him to almost all European countries as well as to Israel, Japan,Columbia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. In the past few years, the pianist has given performances also in Asia during his extensive tours in Taiwan and China appearing among others at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, at the Beijing Concert Hall, at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center etc.

Roman Zaslavsky is also a top prizewinner of some other renowned international piano
competitions such as the “Vendome Prize” International Piano Competition in Cologne (the
only winner) and the “3rd Hamamatsu Academy International Piano Competition” in Japan
(second Prize).

Having left St. Petersburg and Russia in 1991 Roman Zaslavsky emigrated to Israel, then moved to Germany. Here he made his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra under the button of Gianandrea Noseda performing then regularly with acclaimed international orchestras in Spain, Italy, Germany, South America in collaboration with Michail Jurowski, Lászlo Kovács, Constantin Trinks, Ligia Amadio and Ruben Gazarian.

In 2017 Roman Zaslavsky was appointed Professor for Piano at the University of Music and
Performing Arts in Vienna.

Roman Zaslavsky’s concert appearances in such concert halls as the Berliner Philharmonie, the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Palau de la Música in Valencia, the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Oji Hall in Tokyo, the Kitara Hall in Sapporo, the Sala Cecilia Meireles in Rio de Janeiro, the Sala Sao Paolo in Sao Paolo and the Jerusalem Theatre are recognized by international audiences and critics alike. 

The Scottish “Herald” was impressed by his performance calling it ”...A touch of dynamite”, “... flamboyant, swashbuckling”, “...A sensation”. The British press praised him in “Strad” magazine, saying that Mr. Zaslavsky is “... a pianist with exceptional virtuosity”, the Canadian “Toronto Star” wrote that his performance was “marvellous”, German “Badische Neueste Nachrichten” referred to him as “... a virtuoso keyboard lion”.

Zaslavsky's discography contains several releases with EuroArts Music International: in 2012 the first Blu-Ray Audio release “Ingenious Opposites Vol.1” featuring works of Robert
Schumann and Franz Liszt received the international Pizzicato Supersonic Award (2013). The sequel “Ingenious Opposites Vol.2”, released in November 2013 on Blu-Ray Audio highly acclaimed by the "Pizzicato International Journal for Classical Music". Zaslavsky’s release of the filmed studio solo recital with works of Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev was published on DVD in 2016 and his live recorded piano recital with works of Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt was released on DVD in 2017.

Roman Zaslavsky’s new recording for DECCA Classics dedicated to works of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms has been released in December 2020.