Artists 2023

“The most beautiful part of music for me is when I have the chance to play with others. But no matter whether I play as a chamber musician or as a soloist, I primarily want to be a musician and not a pianist.”

As a chamber musician and as a soloist, Péter Kiss has performed with many excellent partners: he has played with Zoltán Kocsis, Kristóf Baráti and Jonathan Cohen, as well as Barnabás Kelemen, Gergely Vajda and the Amadinda Percussion Ensemble. He has given recitals in Chicago, Cleveland, Santiago de Chile, New Delhi, and Beijing, and presented workshops in Chicago and Beijing. Contemporary music and the music of earlier periods – by Brahms, Bartók, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Mozart, Beethoven or Bach - coexist in organic harmony in the life Péter Kiss. With the structure of his concerts, he regularly tries to call the attention of the audience to the connection between contemporary music and the music of earlier times.

Mr Kiss has been, and still is, in touch with a number of significant composers of our times: he presented the Dances of the Brush-footed Butterfly by Péter Eötvös in 8 countries and he played the world premiere of Oh Rose. He has worked with Steve Reich, Michael van der Aa, Marta Ptaszyńska and Ivan Fedele. As a member of the Ludium Ensemble, Péter Kiss has been working intensively with the music of György Kurtág ever since he was a student at the Liszt Academy. Kurtág has supported the efforts of the ensemble, led by Gábor Csalog and András Kemenes, with his personal presence and instructions. With Péter Háry and Dániel Szendrey, Péter Kiss is a founding member of Trio Inception that features the unusual line-up of French horn, cello, and piano. Contemporary composers have written dozens of pieces for them, at their request, and they also plan to announce a composing competition to support the creation of new pieces.

Creative processes are highly important for the pianist: he has composed his own cadenzas for several piano concertos, including Mozart’s Concerto in D minor and Beethoven’s Concerto in B flat major. He is not satisfied with simply learning the notes and phrases: no matter what style or age it comes from, he examines passionately the building blocks of the music.

Apart from the 40-50 concerts he plays each year, Péter Kiss is also active as a professor of the Faculty of Chamber Music in the Liszt Academy. Péter Kiss won third place in the Piano Competition of the Hungarian Radio and came first in the Barletta International Piano Competition. He has been awarded the Annie Fischer Scholarship three times. In 2011, he was granted the Artisjus Award for his work for Hungarian contemporary music and in 2015 he received the Junior Prima Award for his achievements as a performing artist.

Castro Urdiales, 1987) She studied at the Higher School of Music of the Basque Country (Musikene), Liszt Ferenc Zenemuveszeti Egyetem in Budapest and the Music college of Music of Catalonia (Esmuc). In Esmuc continue two years as collaborative pianist with the Lied department and chamber music groups. Currently, she teaches Lied at that institution. 

In her degree, had a fundamental role pianists, such as Miguel Ituarte, András Kemenes, Marta Gulyás, Rita Wagner and Francisco Poyato. Moreover, she received advices from Sergei Yerokhin, Almudena Cano, Claudio Martínez-Mehner, Imre Rohmann, Kennedy Moretti, Zoltán Kocsis, Malcom Bilson, Peter Jablonski, Bárnabas Kelemen, Thomas Steinhöfel, Ian Burnside, Hartmut Höll and Wolfram Rieger. 

She has performed at festivals, such as Life Victoria, Emergents at the Auditori from Barcelona, Schubertiada de Cantabria, Quincena musical donostiarra, Festival Talent at Teatro Apolo or Aurora Music Festival (Stockholm) and venues such as Uvegterem (Budapest), Palau de la Música Catalana or Hellenic Theater (Mexico City). Since 2018 she collaborates with the visual artist Inés García in her film Winterreise, performing at Palacio de Festivales of Cantabria, Festival Jalgui or Filmoteca of Catalunya, and in her installation Seis canciones populares montañesas, performing in Santander, Bilbao or Castro Urdiales, and recording the music for her short film “Winterreise’s variation”. In addition, she has premiered new creations by the composer Cristina Barceló. She is collaborating also with Instrumental Ensemble of Cantabria (ENSEIC) and with the organization to spread the music and work by women artists in Basque Country Emakume Sortzaile eta Artisten Sarea (ESAS) Deep into spreading of the music legacy by Arturo Dúo Vital, in 2020 she recorded her first album with the soprano Mireia Tarragó, with whom conformed an artistic duo since 2016, in which they compile solo piano and voice and piano works by the aforementioned composer. With Tarragó have recently recording their second recording project thanks to the Catalunya música price at the Primer Palau Competition. In 2021/2022 Tarragó and Santamaria become part of the selected artist of Juventudes musicales in Spain, with several concert opportunities. 

Hedvig Orsovai was born in 2003 in Zombor, Serbia. She played piano four-hands with her brother at the age of four, and when she was five she was admitted to the local music school. Hedvig composed her first piano piece aged nine, and the following year her hometown issued a CD recording of her work. She has composed 80 pieces so far. She has won several first prizes, among others at the Slavenski International Piano Competition in Újvidék (Novi Sad) and the National Piano Competition in Belgrade. In 2017 she was admitted to the class of outstanding talent at the Liszt Academy. She received the first prize at the 2018 National Composition Competition of Mezőtúr. In 2019 she got the first prize at the Danubia Talents international piano competition, and in 2021 she got a first price too at the 1. International Piano Competition of Carpathian Basin. She has graduated in piano and composition at the Béla Bartók High School of Music last year. From 2022, she is studying piano at the Liszt Ferenc Academy.

The Italian pianist Simone Alessandro Tavoni has given recitals internationally, including in the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Hungary, France, Spain, Malta, Estonia, Greece and across Italy. He has been awarded a place on the BBC Pathway scheme during the 2015/2016 academic year and through this, he has had the opportunity to rehearse and perform as an orchestral pianist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and some of these performances have been played by BBC Radio 3. 

In 2019 Simone has been selected as a Parklane Group Artist, as Keyboard Charitable Trust Artist and received the Luciano and Giancarla Berti full-ride scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School studying with renowned Professor Fabio Bidini. 

He has featured as a soloist with the East London symphony orchestra, the Kensington Chamber Orchestra, the Ashod Symphony Orchestra, the Alion Baltic symphony orchestra and the Luigi Cherubini Symphony Orchestra. Performance venues have included the Liszt House (Budapest, Hungary), Salon Christophori (Berlin, Germany), the Florence Conservatory Concert Hall (Florence, Italy), the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall, St.Mary's Perivale, 1901 Art Club, the Brunel University, St Martin in the Fields, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Regent Hall, St. James’ Piccadilly (London. U.K.) The Winchester Cathedral (U.K.), Petit Palau in Barcelona ( Spain),The Talliin Philarmonia and Glehn Castle (Talliin, Estonia) the Hausmusik of Aarhus and the Italian institute of culture in Copenhagen (Denmark). He is also a regular guest artist at the En Blanc Et Noir Piano Festival in Lagrasse, (France) and of the Aegean international art festival in Heraklion ( Crete). During a recent recital in Spain his recording has been broadcasted by the Canal du sur ( Almeria, Spain).

After graduating from the Giacomo Puccini Conservatoire in La Spezia, Liguria (Italy) when he was 18, where he studied the piano under Marco Podestà, he then moved to Florence to study at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatoire, continuing piano studies with Giuseppe Fricelli, and studying composition with Rosario Mirigliano. 

Winner also of numerous national competitions in Italy, he had also the opportunity to participate in an exchange programme in Budapest on a full scholarship at the Franz Liszt Academy studying with Professors Kesckes Balazs and Rita Wagner. 

In 2014, he moved to London to study on the Master of Performance programme at the Royal College of Music with Professor Andrew Ball. After winning a second exchange bursary in Autumn 2015, he pursued his studies for one term at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, Germany with Dr. Peter Nagy. He has received also masterclasses by Dmitri Bashkirov, Fabio Bidini, Aldo Ciccolini, Zoltan Kocsis, Antonio Pompa Baldi and Malcolm Bilson.

Simone has been generously supported by the Talent Unlimited organization and by the Henry Wood Trust at Royal college of Music.  During the 2018/2019 academic year he obtained an Advanced Diploma course at Trinity Laban Conservatoire with professors Deniz Gelenbe and Peter Tuite majorly supported by a scholarship and selected as a Alfred Kitchin and Trinity College London Scholar.

Simone is supported by the Talent Unlimited organization; he is a trustee of the prestigious and long established Kensington and Chelsea Music Society and Founder and Artist Director of Paisajes Piano Festival, Sierra de Gata in Spain  https://paisajespianofestival.com.

He is currently performing, closely assisted and supported by Prince Dr. Donatus Von Hohenzollern.

Carolina Cury (1997 - Venice IT) is a pianist, singer, composer and performance artist. She graduated from the Venice Conservatoire and achieved a Master’s and Artist Diploma degrees at Trinity Laban, securing the 2021 Gold Medal award, Director’s prize of excellence and John Halford piano and composition prize among others.

Carolina has performed in international music halls, such as Teatro La Fenice (Sale Apollinee), Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall), Megaron Theatre (Mitropoulos Hall), St James Piccadilly and Southwark Cathedral.

She co-founded the electronic music duo Hypereyess with Konstantinos Damianakis and currently collaborates with choreographers Franziska Boehm and Iris Athanassiadi.

Helen Ottaway is a composer, pianist, installation artist and curator.  While a student at Goldsmiths’, University of London in the 1980s, she studied briefly with John Cage and up to 1998 worked as a performer, musician and composer with experimental music and theatre groups, touring nationally and internationally.  In 1999, with arts administrator Steve Ehrlicher, she formed Artmusic to promote and produce collaborative,site-specific and participatory work.  As lead artist she has had extensive experience of working with artists from different disciplines and curating and producing her own and other artists work. As a composer she has received commissions from BBC2, Salisbury Festival, Bath Film Festival, the Bernardi Music Group and others. Landscape, water and nature provide inspiration and and are recurring themes in a style that is predominantly minimalist with influences from folksong and English pastoral and church music traditions.

Paisajes Imaginados (Imagined Landscapes) performed by Carolina Cury on the 14th of August

Ramón Grau finished his Bachelor in Madrid with Ana Guijarro and studied piano part-time at Liszt Ferenc University in Budapest with Jenö Jandó. He earned several first awards in Spanish national piano competitions and played as a soloist in several Spanish cities. He also offered recitals at International Music Festivals of Jimena de la Frontera, Lucena and Úbeda, in Scherzo Foundation’s XVI Young Performers Cycle (Madrid, 2018), in Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid, 2018 and 2020) and in Teatro Monumental (Madrid, 2018). In November of 2019 he debuted in Czech Republic with Hradec Králové’s Philharmonic Orchestra playing Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain. At the theatre field, he has developed his activity as a pianist at Teatro Español of Madrid in “Twilight of the Gods” (2011) and “Antigone” (2013) and at the Teatro de la Zarzuela of Madrid where he currently works as répétiteur. He is a member in several chamber music duos: with David Sánchez, bass, with Aaron Lee, violin, and with Syilvia Torán (piano 4 hands and 2 pianos).

Hailed as “a brilliant pianist and exceptional artist” (Heilbronner Stimme), Australian born pianist-composer Ashley Hribar has developed a reputation as a versatile musician embracing multimedia, world music, cross-disciplinary art forms and a broad range of traditional genres. With a deep interest in contemporary aesthetics, he is the curator of many projects including: Sound and Colour in Scriabin’s Piano Sonatas – a multi-media performance with projections of Australian opals (2017 European Tour); Intangible Landscapes – the fusion of piano, analog drum machine and didgeridoo; Magic Hands – Two hands Two pianos (in 2019 for his 4th China tour); Anatolia – arrangements of Turkish folk songs with soprano Ayse Göknur Shanal and Cyclone – a techno-piano concert by DJ Stephen Gibbs. Ashley performed the challenging piano cycle Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus, by Olivier Messiaen’s in Holland and Germany, which streamed live for OpenWebcast.nl.
 

Ashley’s compositions are poly-stylistic collages often employing extended performance techniques, voice and electronics. Notable works include Wodunga (2019) for piano, didgeridoo and Moog DFAM in collaboration William Barton, A Night in the Outback (2018) for solo piano and didgeridoo as well as Paganini Variations (2012) and ‘ash’ Fantasie (2011) for solo piano. His Cadenza for George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (2010) has been performed by several pianists worldwide. Ashley composed and performed the music for Betty rettet die Volksbühne in collaboration with actress Bettina Lamprecht (2017, Volksbühne Berlin). An avid lover of the silent film genre, Ashley frequently performs his own scores to silent classics such as Sherlock Jnr. (1924), Hamlet (1921), Richard III (1911), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Faust (1926) and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans(1927). He received commissions for film scores by Silents Now (Richard III and Hamlet), Tallis Foundation (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and Silent Remasters (Faust).
 

In 2005 Ashley won the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition and the 2008 Michael Kieran Harvey Award. He has since performed in countless festivals such as the Gaudeamus Week, Ultima Festival, Beethovenfest, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Mersin International Music Festival, Koper Biennale, En Blanc Et Noir Festival and in distinguished venues as the Sydney Opera House, Adrienne Arsht Center (Miami), Bunka Kaikan Theater (Tokyo) and the Melbourne Recital Centre. Ashley has performed as a soloist with the Radiophilharmonie Amsterdam and the Szolnok Symphony Orchestra.
 

Ashley has several recordings to his credit including Piano Rhapsody(Auster Records, 2012), Echohaus (Dekorder), Alpenglühen (Col Legno) and The Wizard Tone Records Improvisation Series I (nominated for the 2017 South Australian Arts Awards). His two latest albums have been released in 2019: Faust: A Mortal's Tale with solo works ranging from Georgy Catoire, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Franz Liszt to Led Zeppelin and Sleeping Orchards, a selection of neo-classical compositions with cellist Richard Vaudrey under the moniker “Two Deep Breaths”. Both albums were recorded on the world’s first 9-octave grand, an Australian-made Stuart & Sons piano.

Ashley is indebted to the invaluable guidance of his teachers Ann Adamek, Stefan Ammer, Gil Sullivan, Stephen McIntyre, Eleonora Sivan, Graham Williams and Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. In 2018, he completed his performance PhD at the University of Adelaide researching the music of American composer, Frederic Rzewski. 
Last updated on 6. November, 2019

This sums up Eva Zavaro’s mission, which she aims to fulfil whenever she gets onto the most prominent concert podia in the world, from France through the USA all the way to China and Japan. Eva Zavaro was born in Paris in 1995 in a musical family and started playing the violin age five. When she was twelve she won the Vatelot-Rampal Competition in Paris and two years later she had a debut with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. These days she ranks among the most prominent French violinists of her generation.

Eva Zavaro studied with Roland Daugareil at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and Julia Fischer at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich.

In 2016 Eva Zavaro received the Georges Enescu Prize from the French Composers Association (SACEM) and in 2018 she was the first prize winner of the Johannes Brahms International Competition in Pörtschach, Austria, where she also gained the Vadim Repin Prize for the best Mozart interpretation. In 2021 she was nominated for the french award "Les Victoires de la Musique classique" in the "Revelation" category which broadcasted her performances on a large televion scale.

She has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras around the globe including Orchestre de Paris in 2021 for her Paris Philharmonie debut performing Saint-Saëns, Potsdamer Kammerorchester for her Berliner Philharmonie debut performing Bach and Mozart, Prague Philharmonia, Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn, Brandenburger Symfoniker to name a few.

Alongside her career as a soloist, she devotes herself intensively to chamber music and among her partners are excellent players, such as Julia Fischer, Lucas Debargue, Alexandre Kantorow, Marie-Ange Nguci, Jérôme Ducros, Jérôme Pernoo and many others. She is a member of the Trio Hélios since 2023.

She performed at festivals such as Sommets Musicaux in Swiss Gstaad, Mecklenbourg-Vorpommern Festpiele in Germany, at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, « Rencontres Musicales d’Évian » Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival and at Valery Gergiev’s « White Nights » Festival at the Mariinsky Theater Saint-Petersburg. 

Eva Zavaro plays an italian violin named "Le Bel Inconnu" made by Nicolo Amati and Antonio Stradivari which is generously loaned to her.

Born in 1988, Guillaume Sigier starts playing the piano at age 7 in Valenciennes, then he joins Lille’s conservatory, where he studies with Marc Lys and Christophe Simonet.

In 2005, he gets into the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) of Paris in Henri Barda and Isabelle Dubuis’ promotion. In the meantime, he improves his training with the study of harmony, accompaniment and chamber music, with Cyrille Lehn, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Yumi Otsu, Claire Désert, Ami Flammer and Yovan Markovitch. After obtaining his Artist Diploma in Paris, he is has studied at the Royal College of Music of London with Ian Jones.

All along his career, he gets some advice from such personalities as Susan Manoff, Anne Quéffelec, Daria Hovora, Florent Boffard, Denis Pascal, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Jean-Claude Pennetier, and also takes part into several master classes with Roy Howatt, Ian Jones, Philippe Bianconi, Gilbert Amy, Michel Béroff, Emmanuel Strosser, Christian Ivaldi and the members of Trio Wanderer, Peter Nagy, Avedis Kouyoumdjian…

He regularly performs recitals in France and abroad in many festivals (Jeunes Talents, Aix-les-bains Festival, Pablo Casals Prades Festival, Ravéliades, 30th Société Chopin Festival, Piano à Lyon Festival, Novi Sad World Piano Conference…). He also plays at the National Archives, the Bouffes du Nord Theater, in the Singer-Polignac Foundation, in the National Residence of the Invalids, in the Polish Ambassy, in the Salle Pleyel (prélude au concert) in Paris, and also in the Kyoto International Music Students Festival. As a soloist, he plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and recently Ravel’s Concerto in G major at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, conducted by Philippe Aïche.

Keen on chamber music, Guillaume plays with the cellist Honorine Schaeffer during the 31st International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron – The duet receives the support of Ivry Gitlis – and recently with young violonist Verena Chen during the 1rst International Vioin Festival of Beijing, but also with artists as Yan Levionnois, french oboist Olivier Stankiewicz…

He did many apparitions at the French Radio, including \”Le matin des musiciens\”, « Générations Jeunes Interprètes » by Gaëlle Le Gallic, \”La Matinale\”, \”Carrefour de Lodéon\”, all on \”France Musique\” channel.