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Ido Zeev is an Israeli pianist known for his transcriptions, collaborations, and performances at international festivals, including the Martha Argerich Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron, the Oxford Piano Festival, and the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft Basel. In 2024, he is presented by Martha Argerich in a series of recitals in Lyon and Toulouse as part of Les Grands Interprètes. He has worked with musicians such as Nikolai Lugansky, Christoph Eschenbach and Menahem Pressler. He studied with Arie Vardi from 2016, then with Rena Shereshevskaya and with Florence Millet since 2024.
Ziyu Shao is a Chinese pianist and a laureate of the 2023 Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Weimar. He has also received first prizes at the International Chopin Competition in Poland, the International Vladimir Krainev in Moscow and the Horowitz Memorial Competition in Ukraine. In 2021, he gave a solo recital at the New MMDM Hall in Moscow, broadcast by Radio Orpheus and was featured at the 2024 Pianissimo Winter Festival. Ziyu has performed with orchestras such as the Virtuosi of Moscow and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra Svetlanov and has performed in venues such as the Moscow Conservatory, the Zaryadye Hall, and Carnegie Hall.
Yonatan Senik was 22 years old when he became a laureate of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, where he also received the award for best Israeli performer. He won competitions in Tel Aviv and Boston, and in 2021 won the Tel Aviv University Chamber Music Competition. In 2024, he received the Bruno Frey Musikpreis for chamber music in Ochsenhausen and was a finalist in the Classeek Ambassador. He was also nominated for an International Classical Music Award (ICMA). He is currently pursuing a Master’s at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Alexander Korsantia.
Natalie Schwamová made her orchestral debut at the age of ten, performing the Piano Concerto in D minor by Mozart with the Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has performed with the Czech Philharmonic, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, and the Extremadura Orchestra, with appearances in major venues such as the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, and the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. She has received over 20 international prizes, including first prize at the Frédéric Chopin Competition in Marienbad and the Alicante International Music Competition in 2023. In 2023, she was awarded, by Queen Sofía, the distinction of best student at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. She studied at the Prague Academy of Music with František Malý and at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía with Dmitri Bashkirov, Milana Chernyavska, and Claudio Martínez Mehner.
Magdalene Ho is a Malaysian pianist and the 2023 laureate of the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Vevey, Switzerland. She began playing piano at the age of four and studied for nine years with Patsy Toh at the Purcell School in the United Kingdom. She currently studies with Dmitri Alexeev at the Royal College of Music in London. At 19, she performed Beethoven’s
Swedish pianist Edward Ahlbeck Glader recently graduated from Stockholm’s Lilla Akademiens Musikgymnasium, where he studied with Martin Sturfält. Since 2022, he has been a private student of Paolo Giacometti at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. He has also drawn inspiration from the Jiri Hlinka Piano Academy in Norway and pianist Roland Pöntinen. In 2024, he made his solo debut with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, accompanied by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and his German recital debut in Hamburg. Edward received First Prizes at the Steinway & Sons Nordic Junior Piano Competition, the MozArte International Junior Piano Competition in Aachen, and the Euregio Young Piano Award in Geilenkirchen. He has performed in venues and at festivals such as Konserthuset Stockholm, Göteborg Concert Hall, Queen Silvia Concert Hall, Sasel-Haus Hamburg, the Royal Palace of Stockholm, the PIANALE Piano Festival, and the O/Modernt festivals and the Helsingborg Piano Festival.
Roberto Olzer, a pianist comfortable in both jazz and classical music, possesses a unique musical sensibility and extraordinary expressive power – A. Valiante, Jazzitalia
“Olzer’s unique disposition towards music and the intellectual awareness of a cultivated man have undeniably defined him as a jazz musician of admirable expressiveness; this becomes evident in his lucid inventiveness, his melodic and imaginative clarity, and his refined and appealing harmonic colorations.” – B. Schiozzi, Musica Jazz
“Reason combined with emotion… merging into a precious symphony with the power to evoke dreamlike spaces and distant lands.” – S. Maccari, Muzik Box
“… A pianist who is at once sophisticated, sensitive, and highly expressive, steeped in both classical and jazz traditions…” – F. Caprera, Dictionary of Jazz, Feltrinelli, 2014
“This ultra-refined recording by pianist Roberto Olzer (Steppin’ Out) is a clear example of how to create quality music with disarming formal simplicity, with an obvious preference for the ‘beautiful,’ devoid of unnecessary stylistic embellishments or exaggerated virtuosity.” – F. Peluso, Fedeltà del Suono
“A beautiful album (Steppin’ Out) of precious lyricism, by Italian pianist Roberto Olzer… very visual, each piece seems to tell a story.” – M. James, Only Jazz
“Clarity of phrasing, a pure sound, lyrical themes, a strong propensity for expressive linearity.” – L. Sforza, All About Jazz
Born in 1971 in Domodossola, Italy, Roberto Olzer began studying piano at a young age and subsequently studied organ with Maestro Giancarlo Parodi, under whose guidance he earned his diploma in organ and organ composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, Italy. Concurrently with his philosophy studies at the Catholic University of Milan, he studied jazz improvisation with Roberto Ciammarughi. He then refined his technique by attending courses and seminars with renowned master pianists such as S. Battaglia and E. Pieranunzi. He completed his musical education with a diploma in piano.
Roberto Olzer’s first recordings date back to 2002-2003 with “Folk Songs” accompanied by guitarist F. Spadea and “Eveline” accompanied by a sextet bearing his name for the Splasc(h) label. Subsequently, he collaborated with the Max De Aloe Quartet, recording six albums, including a live concert released by Abeat Records. Following this, he recorded two albums for Splasc(h) and Dodicilune with the Michele Gori Quartet, a recording titled “Bill Evans Homage” with the Roberto Mattei Double Quartet, and a CD with Florentine singer Susanna Parigi.
His first solo piano recording, “Esprit de Finesse,” released by Dodicilune, was recorded in 2009 and is dedicated to F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy to commemorate his bicentenary. He then developed themes from the classical repertoire as a basis for jazz arrangements and compositions with the Rudy Migliardi Quartet. “Au Rebours” is a recording with double bassist Roberto Mattei of improvisations on classical themes, released by 201 Editions, which is also the label for “Avorio,” a recording with singer Elisa Marangon.
A more recent formation is the JMT (Just Music Trio) with Yuri Goloubev and Fabrizio Spadea. The trio recorded “Standpoint,” released by Caligola.
The Roberto Olzer Jazz Trio was formed in 2011 with double bassist Yuri Goloubev and percussionist Mauro Beggio. Their debut album “Steppin’ Out,” on the Abeat label, released in 2013, was widely acclaimed by music critics and the public. In particular, it was named best instrumental album of 2013 by the Japanese magazine “Jazz Critique Magazine” (HIHYO) in a category that includes world-renowned names such as Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Steve Swallow. Since the trio’s debut at the prestigious Moods Jazz Club in Zurich, Switzerland, they have continued to refine their sound, highlighted by the strong solo talents of each member and their creative reciprocity.
Roberto Olzer continues to perform in concert, not only as a jazz pianist but also as a classical pianist and organist in Italy, Switzerland, France, and England, at theaters, festivals, clubs, and significant events such as Time in Jazz (Sardinia, Italy), Fano Jazz by the Sea (Italy), Musica sulle Bocche, Iseo Jazz, Gallarate Jazz Festival, MITO, Blue Note (Milan, Italy), House of Jazz (Rome), Piazza Verdi (Radio Rai 3, Italy), Moods Jazz Club (Zurich, Switzerland), Villa Streuli (Winterthur, Switzerland), Swiss Radio Auditorium (Lugano, Switzerland), Paris Conservatory, Choletais Conservatory (France), Bangor New Music Festival (United Kingdom), and many others.
Roberto Olzer is also active as a composer and arranger for bands, string quartets, and prestigious ensembles. He has arranged compositions such as “Homage to Nino Rota,” “Xilophonia,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” and “John Williams Suite” for the Decimino d’Ottoni (Brass Ensemble) of La Scala in Milan. He has also arranged Astor Piazzolla’s tangos, a tribute to Ennio Morricone, etc., for the Coccia Theater Symphony Orchestra (Novara, Italy).
His collaboration with the La Scala Brass Ensemble as arranger and soloist in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” (Domodossola, Italy, 2013) developed into a new project called “American Sweets,” where he performs, in combination with his own Trio and the Brass Ensemble, his original arrangements of music by Leonard Bernstein and John Williams.
Roberto Olzer’s published works as a composer include “Tetragono” for clarinet and piano (Bim Vuarmarens Editions Switzerland), “Sciccareddu” and “Monte Rosa” (Wicky Editions in Milan), “Per Geometrico Destino” for soloists, choir, and orchestra, commissioned for the centenary of the Simplon Tunnel (Switzerland), and two organ compositions commissioned by M° Parodi: “Prelude, Fugue et Chorale” and “Fantasy on B.A.C.H.”
In addition to the musicians mentioned above, he has collaborated and performed with musicians such as Chris Collins, Paolo Tomelleri, Emilio Soana, Bruno de Filippi, Roberto Rossi, Asaf Sirkis, Luciano Zadro, Emanuele Cisi, Bebo Ferra, Andrea Dulbecco, Ramberto Ciammarughi, Mauro Negri, Steve Mead, as well as with exceptional Italian singers such as Diana Torto, Barbara Casini, Susanna Parigi, Antonella Ruggero, Tosca Donati.
Clarinetist Pierre Génisson, one of the most renowned representatives of the French wind school, has signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics/Erato.
The first album from this new collaboration, dedicated to Mozart with Concerto Köln, complements an already extensive discography that has been unanimously praised by critics (Diapason d’or, Choc de l’année de Classica, ffff de Télérama, “CD of the week” from the Sunday Times, Gramophone, Clef d’Or de Resmusica…)
Awarded the “Cino del Duca” Prize by the Académie des Beaux-Arts de l’Institut de France in 2018, Pierre Génisson is also a laureate of prestigious international competitions such as the Carl Nielsen International Competition, the Jacques Lancelot International Competition in Tokyo, as well as the Banque Populaire, Safran, and “Musique et Vin au clos Vougeot” foundations.
Pierre Génisson trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Michel Arrignon for clarinet, and Claire Désert, Amy Flammer, and Jean Sulem for chamber music. After unanimously winning first prizes in both disciplines there, he furthered his studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with Yehuda Gilad, where he earned an Artist Diploma.
Equally adept on modern and period instruments, Pierre Génisson is regularly invited to perform as a soloist with prestigious orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester-Berlin, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC orchestras, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Sichuan Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Insula Orchestra… and collaborates notably with conductors such as Krystof Urbansky, Olari Elts, Darell Ang, Sacha Goetzel, Alexandre Bloch, Laurence Equilbey, and Lionel Bringuier.
In addition to his solo activities, Pierre Génisson frequently engages in musical collaborations with some of the most renowned string quartets (Ebène, Modigliani, Jerusalem, Zemlinsky, Hermès, Van Kuijk…), as well as soloists such as Maxim Vengerov, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Nemanja Radulovic, Marc Bouchkov, Miguel Da Silva, Lise Berthaud, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, David Kadouch, Franck Braley, Michel Dalberto, David Bismuth, Bruno Fontaine, Les Solistes du Metropolitan Opera de New York, Patrick Gallois, Marielle Nordmann, Emmanuel Ceysson, Karine Deshayes, and Delphine Haidan.
A fervent advocate for contemporary music, Pierre Génisson promotes French music abroad and collaborates with numerous composers, notably Tristan Murail, Thierry Escaich, Eric Montalbetti, Karol Beffa, and Eric Tanguy, to whom several concerti and chamber music pieces are dedicated.
Pierre Génisson also dedicates part of his time to education, through numerous masterclasses worldwide and as a faculty member at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot.
Born in 1992 in St. Petersburg, he graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College in St. Petersburg (Pavel Krichashvili’s class) and the St. Petersburg Conservatory (Alexander Mikhailov’s class). He honed his skills with Peter Sadlo, Marinus Komst, Nick Woud, Raymond Curfs, and other percussionists. Winner of national and international competitions.
Since 2013, he has been a member of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and, since 2018, its principal timpanist, also performing with the “Renaissance Percussion” ensemble.
He teaches at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and, since 2022, he has been a coach for the Verbier Festival Orchestra (Switzerland). His students now work at the Paris Opera, the Orchestre National de Bretagne, and other prestigious institutions.
He is currently studying orchestral conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Alexander Polishchuk.
After studying psychology, Hanna Schwarz began her vocal training at the Hanover Academy of Music, where she also made her operatic debut as Sigrune in Wagner’s Die Walküre. After winning a singing competition in Berlin, she was engaged by the Hamburg State Opera.
In 1975, she made her Bayreuth debut, where she achieved an international breakthrough as Fricka in the Chéreau/Boulez Ring. In the following years, Hanna Schwarz also performed at Bayreuth in the roles of Erda, Brangäne, and Waltraute.
An international career followed, leading her to the world’s major stages, collaborating with renowned conductors. She participated in
Hanna Schwarz also excels on the concert stage. She has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Europe’s and America’s most prestigious venues, such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Berlin and Cologne Philharmonies, the Vienna Musikverein, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, to name but a few.
She has also participated in numerous radio concerts and recordings, performing Das Lied von der Erde, Gurrelieder, symphonies and lieder by Gustav Mahler, as well as Verdi’s Requiem under the baton of conductors such as Böhm, Ozawa, Levine, Mehta, Sinopoli, Maazel, Sawallisch, Dohnanyi, and Bernstein. The artist has also distinguished herself through her interpretations of contemporary music, performing works by Maurizio Kagel, Hans Werner Henze, Pierre Boulez, Alfred Schnittke, and Leonard Bernstein.
Her recent projects include new productions of Dialogues of the Carmelites and The Queen of Spades in Basel, concerts of The Threepenny Opera in Vienna, London, Paris, and Hamburg, Salome in Valencia, Das Rheingold in Seville, Salome at the New National Theatre Tokyo, and a new production of Jenůfa at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
At the 2011 Salzburg Easter Festival, Hanna Schwarz performed the role of Herodias in Salome under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, as well as new productions of Die Soldaten at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the Zurich Opera, and Jenůfa and Salome also in Zurich. Her other engagements include new productions of Tchaikovsky’s