April 1, 1944 – April 29, 2011






















































































































































































   OXANA  YABLONSKAYAwas born in Moscow. From ages six through sixteen, she attended The Moscow Central Music School for the Gifted under the tutelage of Anaida Sumbatyan (who also taught Vladimir Ashkenazy). Later she studied with Aleksandre Goldenweiser. Finally, at the age of 22, she began a professional relationship with Tatiana Nikolayeva, later acting as her assistant at the Moscow Conservatory. Following graduation she was introduced to the Western World by way of the Jaques Long-Thibaud Competition in 1963, the Rio de Janeiro Competition in 1965, and the Vienna Beethoven Competition in 1969. She won top prizes in all three competitions, and received scores of invitations for return engagements, but was not allowed to do so.
 She recorded for the Melodya label and held the prestigious title of Soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic along with artists such as Richter, Gilels and Rostropovich. Outstanding solo performances with the Bolshoi Orchestra, the Moscow Stars series, and the Shostakovich 65th Birthday Celebration Concert were confirmation of her Star status.
Thanks to a petition signed by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, she was allowed to leave the Soviet Union with her father and  young son.
  Arriving in New York in 1977, unknown, unheralded, and not having touched a piano in more than two years, Miss Yablonskaya made her first New York appearance in recital at Alice Tully Hall only four months later, receiving all-out acclaim from the press. Her Carnegie Hall debut recital the following October was filled to the rafters, and she has since taken her place among the major pianists of the world.
                                                                                                                                                                                  

VLADIMIR KRAINEV, MUSICIAN AND TEACHER OF MUSIC
Vladimir KRAINEV is an outstanding pianist and professor of piano.
  As a young child, his gift for music was discovered and developed by his teachers at the Kharkov music school. He continued his studies at the Central music school attached to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and later in the class of the great musician Henrich Neuhaus at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He graduated from the Conservatory and did a post-graduate course under the guidance of his late professor's son, an outstanding pianist himself, Stanislav Neuhaus.
  After wining first prizes at international contests in Lisbon (Portugal), Leeds (England) and especially after his brilliant victory at the IV Tchaikovsky International Contest in Moscow (1970) his carrier as a pianist began. His performances with famous orchestras, eminent conductors and outstanding soloists all over the world have made Vladimir Krainev known as a great musician of our time.
  Teaching music came as a natural continuation of his artistic activities. Presently Vladimir Krainev is a professor at the Higher School of Music and Theatre in Hanover (Germany). Many young pianists from Russia and CIS, France, Germany, China, Korea and other countries study in his class. Many of his students are laureates of prestigious international competitions.
  For many years Vladimir Krainev has been giving series of concerts called "Vladimir Krainev invites" at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His students as well as laureates of his competition for young pianists participate in these concerts side by side with outstanding musicians.
  Member of juries of many piano competitions, Vladimir Krainev was chair the piano jury of the XII Tchaikovsky International Contest in Moscow in 2002, “MARIA CALLAS GRAND PRIX – PIANO 2010” in Athens.

JOAQUIN  SORIANO began his studies in Valencia, Spain, with Professor Magenti. He later continued with Professor Vlado Perlemuter at the Conservatoire National de Paris, and privately in Viena, with Alfred Brendel. Due to his great success in several international competitions (Vercelli - first prize -, Jaen –first prize -, Casella, Naples -  second prize - to name a few), a brilliant carreer was launched. He has since performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Spain, the RAI Orchestra of Italy, the ORTF Orchestra of France, the Gürzenich Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchesrta, the English Chamber, the Royal Philharmonic, the Manchester Hallé Orchesrta, the Laussana Camerata, the Varsovia Camerata and the New-York Chamber.
     He has also appeared as a soloist in the Festivals of Granada, Santander, Menton, Annecy, Montpellier, Saintes, Kavala, San Petersburgo, and Brisbane. In 1978 he founded with P.León (violin) and P.Corostola (cello) the Trio de Madrid, which is very well known within the Spanish musical world and also abroad. After a succesfull tournée in Europe they where invited to make their USA debut at the Kennedy Center, obtaining a standing ovation. Futher artistic engagements brought them on other stages of America and also of Mexico. It was the beginning of a growing interest in chamber music, which nowadays plays an important role in the musical life worldwide. His recordings include works of Albeniz (Iberia), Granados, the complete work of Schubert-Liszt (Soirées de Vienne), Liszt, Chopin, and the complete work for chamber music of Turina, as well as his Symphonic Rhapsody. He has also recorded Nights in the Gardens of Spain with the English Chamber Orchestra and Falla's Clavecin concerto. He made a new recording of Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Frübeck and the National Orchestra of Spain in the year 2000.


Joaquin Soriano's masterclasses are highly appreciated in Europe, U.S.A., Australia and Asia. As a jury member, he has been on the panels of well known International Competitions: Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein (as a vice-president), Marguerite Long, Van Cliburn, María Callas (as a president of the jury), Hamamatsu, Bolzano, London, Leeds, Dublin and Santander (as a president and artistic director). At present, he is the artistic director of the Iturbi International Piano Competition in Valencia (Spain).

He gives master classes regularly at the Juillard and Manhattan Schools of New York, at the Paris International Yamaha Center, in Fribourg, Hannover, Schlitz, as well as at the Hochschule of Stuttgart in Germany, in Imola and Fiesole (Italy), in San Francisco, Moscow, at the Austin University, in Shanghay, Hamamatsu, Brisbane and, from 2007, at the Sommer-Akademie of the Salzburg Mozarteum.

    Joaquín Soriano teaches as a professor at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. He is a member of the Academy of San Fernando and of the Institute of Spain. Amongst his honours are the Gold Medal of Fine Arts, the French Order of Arts and Letters and the Medal of the City of Paris. He also owns the title of the Republic of Lithuania's.officer award.

Joaquín Soriano is open minded about the new musical tendencies but he also keeps alive the transmission of the classic tradition, He is fully active in his career as a musician, a professor and as an international juror. 
He is collaborating with the Eutherpe Foundation since 2005.

EINAR STEEN-NOKLEBERG is a leading Norwegian pianist, having made continuous international appearances and more than 50 recordings. He studied with Nicolai Dirdal and Hans Leygraf.
Among other prizes and distinctions, some of the most important are the German Hochschulwettbewerb, the Norwegian Piano Competition in 1972, the Norwegian Critics' Prize for Best Performance in 1975 (for the interpretation in Grieg's Piano Concerto at the Bergen Festival), the Norwegian Recording of the Year in 1976 for a recital of Norwegian Baroque Composers, the Lindeman Prize ("Performer of the Year") 1984, the Grieg Prize in 1985 (Bergen) and 1992 (Oslo). He is a Knight of the St. Olav Order, appointed by the King of Norway for his activities for Norwegian music in general.
From 1975 to 1981 Einar Steen-Nøkleberg was Professor of Piano at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, Germany, an appointment which made him Germany's youngest professor.
Einar Steen-Nøkleberg's international career has included repeated solo recitals in London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Moscow, Mexico City, New York, Hamburg and Copenhagen. He toured the U.S.A. and the former Soviet Union several times. Concerto appearances include the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Copenhagen Royal Chapel, the China Philharmonic, Beijing, the Yumiori Philharmonic Orchestra and the NHK in Tokyo and the Oslo and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras in Norway. His recording of the Grieg Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra was chosen by the BBC Saturday Review as the best version of this much-recorded concerto.
His recently released monumental recording of all Grieg's piano music, a 14 CD set, for Naxos Records is recieving international acclaim. He is currently publishing H. Kjerulf piano works (3 CD's) on Simax, and H. Saeverud piano works (5 CD's) on  Naxos.

Famous Georgian pianist, MANANA  DOIDJASHVILI  People‚ Artist of Georgia, Rector and Professor at the V. Saradjishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire, prize-winner at the international competitions, Director of the Georgian Music Competitions Foundation Manana Doidjashvili carries out intense performing, teaching and social activities. She graduated the Tbilisi State Conservatoire under Professor T. Amiredjibi. Her successful participation in such international competitions as the G. Enescu International Competition in Bucharest (1970), the B. Smetana Competition (1974) and the First International Piano Competition in Sydney, Australia (1977) as well as the appearances at the major music festivals brought her worldwide recognition.
  She is known to many musicians and classical music lovers in Russia, Bulgaria, Iceland, the USA, Finland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Korea, Australia and elsewhere in the world. She has issued the CDs of solo recitals, as well as audiocassettes recording her performance with the symphony orchestra.
Under her initiative the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire has been restored and brought back to musical life. M. Doidjashvili herself has become the organizer and inspirer of the competition “movement” in Georgia. She has founded two music competitions in Georgia, viz: the Republican Competition of Musician-Performers /1995/ and the Tbilisi International Piano Competition /1997/.
  In 2003 M. Doidjashvili was awarded the Z. Paliashvili Prize, the most honorable award for a Georgian musician.
  In 2004-2005 she was awarded the prize of the Russian Performing Arts Foundation for her contribution in development of performing arts.


SERGIO PERTICAROLI was born in Rome and obtained his music degree at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in that city.
　In 1950 he won the prestigious Concours International d’Execution Musicale in Geneva and 2 years later, first prize in the Busoni International Competition. These awards signaled the start of a brilliant career which was to take him on concert tours all over the world. An early highlight of this career was his meeting with the Russian composer Aram Khachaturian, who having heard him play his Piano Concerto, decreed Perticaroli the best interpreter of this work, and invited him to perform it in all the major European capitals. Another important invitation came from Sir John Barbirolli, who follow a concert with Perticaroli in Rome, arranged for him to tour extensively in England as soloist with the Halle Orchestra.
　Since then, Perticaroli has appeared in most major concert venues; Carnegie Hall, La Scala, Symphony Hall in Boston, Teatro Colon, the Tonhalle of Zuerich, Symphony Hall in Melbourne, Glinka Hall in St. Perersburg, etc., both in solo recitals and with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia, the Radio Orchestra of Moscow with conductors such as Jochum, Giulini, Celibidache, Abbado, Sawallisch, Maazel, Kondraschin, etc.
　In addition to his concert career, he has been for many years a dedicated and sought-after teacher. In 1987 he was appointed to the Chair of Advanced Piano Studies at the Academy of Santa Cecilia. He was elected a member of that Academy in 1977, and subsequently served as its Vice President for 15 years.
　He has given piano master classes at the Mozarteum Sommerakademic in Salzburg for over twenty years, and travels regularly to Japan, France, Germany and the USA offering master classes in interpretation. In addition he is frequently asked to serve as president or member of the jury for many of the major piano competitions; Busoni, Chopin, Cleveland, Casagrande, Schubert, Jose Iturbi, Monza among others.

  Ms. RASSOULOVA, native of Baku, Azerbaijan, graduated from the Byul - Byul Special Music School and went on to continue her education at the Azerbaijan state Gajibekov Conservatory and at the the Moscow state Conservatory with Lev Vlasenko.
       Her prizes and awards include an honorary diploma from the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, top prize in the International Marguerite Long - Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris and the Gold Medal at the International Music Festival in Pleven, Bulgaria. Ms. Rassoulova–Suk, who holds the title of Distinguished Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has performed in major venues throughout the former Soviet Union, as well as in Poland, Italy, Algeria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Austria, the Netherlands , Belgium, Turkey, Finland, Norway and France. Since settling in New York City in 1990, she has started successful teaching career and became much sought after teacher. Ms. Rassoulova-Suk has appeared in recitals and as a chamber musician throughout the United States , Azerbaijan, and Ukraine. In 2003 she appeared as the featured soloist at a benefit concert for the French Academy Conservatory at Weill Recital Hall. In January 2004, she performed a program of Chopin works in a concert entitled “Reconstructing Chopin” as part of the “Music at the Institute” series at the Ukranian Institute of America. She often collaborating with the distinguished soprano Oksana Krovytska and the Cassat String Quartet. In September 2004, Ms. Rassoulova–Suk returned to her native Baku to appear as soloist with the Azerbaijani Academic Symphony Orchestra.
     In the years leading to the present, Ms. Rassoulova–Suk participated in the International Music Festival in Puigcerda, Spain, served on the juries of Intenational Piano Competitions in Monterrey, Mexico, Horowitz in Kiev, Ukraine, played recitals in the prestigious serious at “Bargemusic,” New York, while continuing teaching at Lucy Moses Special Music School.



JEREMY  SIEPMANN is an internationally acclaimed writer, musician, teacher, broadcaster and editor. In recent years his series for Naxos Records – ‘Life and Works’ and ‘Classics Explained’ – have received exceptional accolades from critics and listeners on both sides of the Atlantic.
  Though long resident in England, he  was born and formally educated in the United States. On completing his studies at the Mannes College of Music in New York, he moved to London, at the suggestion of Sir Malcolm Sargent. After several years as a freelance lecturer he was invited to join the staff of London University. For most of the last thirty years he has confined his teaching activity to the piano. His pupils, many coming from abroad for purposes of study with him, include pianists of worldwide repute.He has also given numerous masterclasses on both sides of the Atlantic and has been on the regular staff of the Chethams International Summer School and Festival for Pianists since 2002. In January 2004 he was appointed Professor of Musical Aesthetics and the History of Piano Performance at the International Piano Academy, Lake Como, Italy, and has recently joined the panel of lecturers at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education.
  As a writer he has contributed articles, reviews, interviews and programme notes to numerous journals, recordings and reference works (including The New Statesman, The Listener, Encounter, The Musical Times, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Classical Music, Slavic Review and the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) some of them being reprinted in book form (Oxford University Press, Robson Books). His books include highly acclaimed biographies of Chopin, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, two volumes on the history and literature of the piano, and an introductory survey of chamber music.  From December 1997 to February 2010 he was the editor of Piano magazine, whose regular contributors included many of the world’s greatest pianists.
  His career as a broadcaster began in New York in 1963 with an East Coast radio series on the life and work of Mozart, described by Alistair Cooke as “the best music program on American radio”. On the strength of this, improbably, he was hired by the BBC as a humorist, in which capacity he furnished weekly satirical items on various aspects of American life. After a long break he returned to broadcasting in 1977, and has devised, written and presented more than 1,000 programmes, including the international-award-winning series The Elements of Music.
  In 1988 he was appointed Head of Music at the BBC World Service, broadcasting to an estimated audience of 135 million. He left the Corporation in Spring 1994 to form his own independent production company.

Mr. OCTAY ABASKULIEV was born in Baku in 1940. He has studied with Professor Brener in Baku Academy of Music and graduated in 1962. His post graduate study he did in the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Milstein. He is a winner of the 2nd  Youth competition in Azerbaijan.
Mr. Abaskuliev is teaching in Baku Academy of Music since 1964 and between 1973 and 2003 was the Dean of the Piano department. Since 2003 he is Pro-Rector of Baku Academy of Music and Honored Professor of Azerbaijan.
    Oktay Abaskuliev has written numerous books on theory and method in piano performance. Nearly 150 students of Mr.Abaskuliev have graduated from Baku Academy of Music and many of them are winner of National and International competitions.




ZHOU  KENG, a distinguished pianist, educationist and music activist, Zhou Keng is currently Artistic Director of the International Piano Festival of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Executive Deputy Director of the International Piano Academy, as well as the Deputy Dean of the Piano Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Head of Piano Department at Shenzhen Arts School. He also was a judge of  HYPERLINK "http://www.mosconsv.ru/english/page.phtml?2172"International Nikolay Rubinstein Competition for Chamber ensembles and String quartets in Moscow，Shanghai International Piano Competition，Jaen international Piano Competition in Spain, Vice Chairman of the 1st International-e-piano Competition Committee in Minneapolis, USA. In addition, he is a senior counselor of the Shanghai Music Press.
    In 2002, Zhou Keng came back from USA to China and started his career as an educationist. Since 2005, he has been organizing the International Piano Festival of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, an annual event widely celebrated by professionals and students alike. So far over 50 renowned pianists have been invited and over a thousand students have attended the past festivals.
    To promote piano culture, Zhou Keng has organized several weekly radio piano concerts at the Shanghai Concert Hall, as well as various high-profile piano competitions. He constantly seeks to provide platforms for talented piano players at home and abroad.  He played a key role in the “China Piano Night” at the National Center for the Performing Arts in August 2008 to grace the ongoing Olympics, and acted as a jury member of the CCTV Piano and Violin Competition in December 2008. In 2009 the Spanish government awarded his a special prize for his promotion of Spanish music on the 100th anniversary of the death of the composer Isaac Albeniz.


 MYRTHALA SALAZAR was born in Monterrey, México. She began her studies in piano at the age of five under the guidance of Antonio Ortiz, a very distinguished mexican musician. She received her Bachelor´s degree in Music Education and Concert Pianist from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL).
     She continued postgraduate studies at the Ecole Normale Superieur de Paris, Alfred Cortot, under the reknowned pianist France Clidat and in London with the great pianist Louis Kentner, later attending masterclasses under Gyorgy Sándor, Jorg Demus and in Santiago de Compostela with Rosa Sabater.
     Myrthala Salazar has performed throughout México as well as in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, the United States, England, Greece, Italy, Brazil and the Cayman Islands, etc.. She participated on a T.V. program “Pianists of America” which was transmitted to several cities in the United States.
     Myrthala Salazar has been awarded prizes in the field of music such as. The Aguila de Tlatelolco, a medal and diploma for artistic excellence, from the Conjunto Cultural Ollin Yoliztli, a prize for musical merit from the Universidad Regiomontana, Honorable mention from the “Amigos del Obispado”as well as the Civic Merit Award of her home State, Nuevo León. Salazar occupies a very important place in the international concert circuit not only for her piano skills but as the author of “Concerteatro” having its premiere with the work and life of C.A. Debussy. She is the founder of the internationally, acclaimed musical association “PARNASSOS” which organizes concerts, ballets and individual recitals of world renowned artists in Monterrey, México. Last October Parnassós successfully held its First International Piano Competiton Parnassós 2003 under the presidence of Salazar, Gyorgy Sándor and France Clidat.
     Myrthala Salazar keeps very busy as a juror in many international competitions, being the last ones, the Piano competition of Spanish Composers in Madrid, The Scriabin Competition and the Valsesia in Italy, the Princess Lalla Merien in Morocco, The Merignac in Burdeos, the Andorra and the Chatou international competition in France. having become a permanent member of the jury for the later. She has given Masterclasses in Brazil, the Puigcerda festival and many other places.
     Myrthala Salazar just started to work in the third National Competition for Young Pianists to be held in January 2010.

   Born in Korea, SOO-HYUN YOO began her musical studies from early childhood. At the age of 9, she attracted attention as a young pianist when she made her orchestra debut with Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major with Seoul Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 15, she moved to the United States and began her training at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Eleanor Sokoloff, chamber music with Felix Galimir. She also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Christopher Elton and Maria Curcio Diamond.
While she was a student, she won many prizes in the competitions like Philadelphia Orchestra audition and Byan Young Artist Competition. Her recital at The Curtis Institute of Music was broadcasted live on New York W.Q.X.R. radio station. She has given many concerts in New York, Philadelphia, Europe, and South Korea as a recitalist and a chamber musician. She also has performed with Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Virtuosi Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic, Festival Orchestra, Ulsan Philharmonic, Wonju Philharmonic, Pohang Sympony Orchestra, Daegu Symphony Orchestra. Festival appearance includes Salzburg Festival, Colmar and Prade Festival in France, Camerino Festival in Italy where she has given concerts and worked with Leon Fliesher, Lev Vlasenko, Gyorgy Sandor, Gary Graffmann, and Dominique Merlet. She has established Harmonia Piano Trio in 2003, which was performed and broadcasted frequently throughout Korea.
Since 1994, she has served as a faculty of The Korean National University of Arts, Kyung Hee University and many other Music schools in Seoul, Korea. In 2004 and 2005, she was invited as a visiting professor in the Puigcerda International Music Festival in Spain where she has given concerts and masterclasses. During her teaching career, her students were showing enormous achievements, such as giving numerous recitals and winning national, international competitions. Recently, her 15-year-old student has released a recording of Kabalevsky’s Piano Concertos on Naxos label. She was also invited as a jury of the 2006, 2008, Parnassos International Piano Competition in Mexico.



Leonid Rozenberg – Violinist, Conductor, Educator - born 1949 in Ukraine, completed Tashkent State Conservatorium in 1972, immigrated to Israel 1977. Director of Ganei Tikva Music Conservatory 1984 -1997, member of faculty of Idylwild Arts Festival (California) 1993 -2004 (violin, chamber music), Director of Red Sea Music Center 1998 -      , Founder and Artistic Director of the Eilat International Chamber Music Festival 2005 -       . Leonid Rozenberg has appeared as solo violinist in USSR, Germany, Switzerland, USA and Israel. He has appeared as a conductor in Germany, Switzerland, USA and Israel. He has formulated and brought to fruition an encompassing musical education program for elementary school children, using the City of Eilat as a pilot, which has been adopted for the entire country by the Israeli Ministry of Education.