Freddy
Kempf

Germany

Born in London in 1977, Freddy Kempf made his concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 8 and further came to national prominence in 1992 when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition. In 1998, his award of third, rather than first, prize in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow provoked protests from the audience and an outcry in the Russian press, which proclaimed him “the hero of the competition”.
A committed recitalist, Freddy has appeared in many of the world’s most important concert halls including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Milan’s Sala Verdi, the Concertgebouw, London’s Cadogan and Barbican, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, the Sydney Opera House and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. 
Freddy has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious musical institutions including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, La Scala Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires and the Dresden Philharmonic.
Freddy Kempf is one of today’s most successful pianists performing to sell-out audiences all over the world. Exceptionally gifted with an unusually broad repertoire, Freddy has built a unique reputation as an explosive and physical performer who is not afraid to take risks as well as a serious, sensitive and profoundly musical artist.

Justus
Frantz

Germany

Justus Frantz was born in 1944. He began playing piano at the age of four, and later studied conducting under Wilhelm Kempff. In 1967, he won a prize at an international music competition held by a famous German TV channel ARD, which marked the beginning of his international fame. In 1970, Justus Frantz joined the group of first-class pianists with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert von Karajan. He celebrated his US debut five years later with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein.
In 1995, Bernstein's dream of an international orchestra that brings together young professionals inspired Justus Frantz to found the Philharmonia of the Nations. As the chief conductor, Justus Frantz works all over the world and discovers new names, while constantly updating the cast of the orchestra. 
In 1986, Frantz founded the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, remaining its director for years. Its Paul Hindemith Prize has become a prestigious award for contemporary composers. Justus Frantz is a co-founder of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festival. He is a regular guest conductor in many venues around the globe and works on a regular basis with renowned orchestras, such as the Mariinsky Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Sinfonia Varsovia, as well as with philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, Vienna, New York, and Osaka, among others. His annual “Finca Festival Frantz & Friends” on Gran Canaria has been one of the “insider tips” of international musical life for years.

Maxim
Mogilevsky

Belgium

Maxim Mogilevsky comes from an exceptionally distinguished family of musicians. Having impressed audiences worldwide with his fiery performances and distinctive interpretations, Maxim made his debut at age thirteen with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Dmitri Kitayenko to wide spread acclaim. Since then he has gone on to perform as a soloist with major orchestras around the worldand undertaken many unique artistic projects. 
His orchestral appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Turku Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Moscow Soloists Ensemble, Svetlanov Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, to name a few. Maxim has performed under the batons of internationally renowned conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz, Yuri Bashmet, Mikhail Pletnev, Leif Segerstam and Valery Gergiev among many others.
Along with recital performances on five continents, Mogilevsky’s notable appearances include those at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kravis Center, and Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Lincoln Theater, Jordan Hall, as well as at the Salzburg, Edinburgh, Ravinia, Ruhr Klavier and Spoleto Festivals. In addition to his performing career, Mogilevsky holds the posts of Nanjing Opera House director as well as Honorary professor of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. He is also an artistic advisor to the Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts, China. 

Valeri
Piassetski

Russia

Valery Piassetski was born in Moscow in 1961. He graduated from the Moscow Central Music School (class of Anna Artobolevskaya) in 1979 and from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with honors in 1984, to continue his studies as a postgraduate (class of Professor Alexei Nasedkin) until 1988. Valery Piassetski was a winner of the International Bach Competition in Leipzig (1984).
In 1994, he started working at the Moscow Conservatory as Assistant Tutor to take on his individual class in 1999. In 2009, he was appointed Professor of the Specialized Piano Department headed by Professor Sergei Dorensky.
Since 1984, Valery Piassetski has been teaching at the Moscow Central Music School, in 2001, he was appointed Head of the Specialized Piano Department. He is currently President and Professor of the Moscow Central Music School and the Academy of Performing Arts. Valery Piassetski bears the title of the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation and holds the position of the Artistic Director of the Constellation Competition in Russia.
Over 130 times, Valery Piassetski’s disciples have become winners and laureates of the most renowned Russian and international competitions. Among them, Denis Matsuev, Daniil Kharitonov, Dinara Clinton, Arseny Aristov, Alexander Sinchuk and many others.
Valery Piassetski has been member of the jury at such prominent competitions as the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers and Conductors, Grand Piano Competition, Astana Piano Passion, International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition, Yamal Symphony, International Competition of the Moscow Central Music School, Constellation and a plethora of others. As a vising professor, he regularly teaches at the River of Talents artistic master classes. 

Rena
Shereshevskaya

France

A graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory and of a poste-graduate course at this conservatory, she taught during 12 years at the Central Special Music School for Gifted Children at the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, then was a head of a piano chair at the Moscow Ippolitov-lvanov Superior Moscow Institute. 
In 1993 she was invited to France as a guest professor of piano by the Colmar National Conservatory for organization of a branch for gifted children. In parallel with her activity in Colmar she taught also in the Paris National Superior Music Conservatory, in the Rueil-Malmason Conservatory and in the Alfred Cortot Paris Superior Music School where she teaches till now. 
Rena Shereshevskaya gives public master classes worldwide at the most prestigious academies and festivals as the Roque d’Anthéron in France, Verbier and Sion Festival in Switzerland, New Paltz Summer Festival in the USA, as well as at conservatories in France, Switzerland, Germany Sweden, Spain. She is a jury member of grand international piano competitions in France, Spain, Switzeland, Finland, Canada and others. 
Well-known teacher and pianist who raised a galaxy of young pianists among the most renowned of nowadays (Lucas Debargue, Alexandre Kantorow, Rémi Geniet among others), Rena Shereshevskaya is awarded a title of a “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”, (France) and is a Laureate of the Ippolitov-Ivanov International Prize in Musical Education “for her outstanding contribution in the development  of the world musical culture”. 

Hideko
Kobayashi

Japan

Hideko Kobayashi, a Tokyo-born pianist and teacher, studied piano under Nobuko Funayama and Hiroko Nakamura, later in Russia with Evgeny Mogilevsky, Assanetta Egisserian, Boris Romanov, and further with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory. She completed her music studies at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna under Noel Flores. Upon returning to Japan, she graduated from the Faculty of Letters at Keio University in Tokyo.

Vincenzo
Balzani

Italy

Vincenzo Balzani graduated under Alberto Mozzati Magna Cum Laude from Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of music Milano. In 1965 he won the Förster – Ricordi piano competition. In 1967 he got Liszt prize at Maria Canals in Barcelona. In 1971 he was top prize winner in many famous competitions as Pozzoli, Treviso, Viotti internationals. In 1975 he successfully represented RAI television at Ravel Competition in Paris. He has performed 1300 concerts all over the world including the most prestigious Italian theatres and festivals. He is recording on Radio and TV and has recorded several LPs and CDs. 
Since 1973 he became piano professor in the Conservatory of Piacenza and since 1996 in the Conservatory of Milan. He is jury member of many international competitions in Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, Slovakia, China, and holds courses, masterclasses lectures in Italy and abroad. He is artistic director of Città di Cantù, Valsesia Musica, Pianotalents, Pozzolino, Monterosa Kawai, Tadini International and Champion’s Keyboard Piano Competition Online. From 2010 to 2021 he has been artistic consultant of the prestigious Pozzoli competition in Seregno and from 2012 to 2020 of Pozzolino.
In 2009 in Milano he has founded the Pianofriends association organizing festivals, concerts, stages. He is president of PianoIn association of Varese. He was invited in October 2023 to hold a seminar and a masterclass at the Chopin University in Warsaw. Professor since 2021 at the Academy of the Ridotto of Stradella.

Denis
Matsuev

Russia

Since his triumph in the 1998 at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition, Denis Matsuev has become a virtuoso in the grandest of Russian pianistic tradition and has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation.
Mr. Matsuev performs with the world's best known orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra,  BBC Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Vienna Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic, Oslo Symphony, National Orchestra of Belgium, Swiss Romande Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Verbier and Budapest Festival Orchestras, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, NHK Symphony, as well as the European Chamber Orchestra. He is continually re-engaged with the legendary Russian orchestras such as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra.
Denis performs recitals at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Maison symphonique de Montréal, Koerner Hall in Toronto, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, G. Verdi Conservatory in Turin, Tonhalle in Zurich, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Gasteig in Munich, Accademia Filarmonica Romana in Rome, Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan and Flagey in Brussels.
Denis Matsuev regularly appears with the most distinguished conductors on a stage today, including Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Christian Thielemann, Paavo Jarvi, Antonio Pappano, Charles Dutoit, Alain Gilbert, Leonard Slatkin, Myung-Whun Chung, Semyon Bychkov, Iván Fischer, Adam Fisher, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Manfred Honeck, James Conlon, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Yury Bashmet, Alexander Sladkovsky, Kristian Jarvi and others.
Mr. Matsuev is a frequent guest of world famous music festivals such as Verbier Festival and Lucerne Music Festival in Switzerland, BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival in Great Britain, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in Germany, Les Chorégies d’Orange and Festival de la Rogue d’Anthéron in France, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl in the U.S., Chopin Festival in Poland, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Mito Festival in Italy, Montreux Festival in Switzerland, Enescu Festival in Romania, Baltic Sea Festival in Sweden and Stars of the White Nights Festival in Russia.
In 2010, in Avery Fisher Hall, the New York Philharmonic gave the orchestra’s 15,000th concert – a number unmatched by any other orchestra. Denis Matsuev was a leading soloist in this unprecedented milestone concert, which was conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev, and was praised highly by music critics.
For many years Denis Matsuev has led numerous musical festivals and educational projects which have added to his role as a prominent public figure. Since 2004 he has organized “Stars on Baikal” in Irkutsk, Siberia (in 2009 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Irkutsk), and since 2005 he has been the artistic director of the Crescendo music festival (a series of events held in international cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Tel Aviv, Kaliningrad, Paris and New York). In 2010 he became the artistic director of Annecy Music Festival in Annecy, France, with the goal to bring together Russian and French music cultures. 
In 2012 Denis Matsuev became the artistic director of I International Astana Piano Passion Festival and Competition as well as the artistic director of International Festival and Competition Sberbank DEBUT in Kiev in 2013. In 2016 Denis Matsuev as the artistic director of the Competition and chairman of the Organizing Committee started a new competition for young pianists in Moscow – Grand Piano Competition. Next editions took place in 2018 and 2021. Additionally, Mr. Matsuev is the president of the charitable New Names foundation that discovers and supports talented children and helps to develop music education in regions of his native Russia. More than 10000 children received monetary grants and/or opportunity to perform at the professional stage.
In 2007, RCA Red Seal released “Unknown Rachmaninoff” featuring Mr. Matsuev. His Carnegie Hall recital in November 2007 was released in 2009 as “Denis Matsuev – Concert at Carnegie Hall.” Mariinsky Label releases include Rachmaninoff’s Concertos No. 2, No. 3, Prokofiev’s Concertos No. 3, No. 5, Shostakovich’s Concertos No. 1, No. 2 and Shchedrin’s Fifth, performed by Denis Matsuev and Mariinsky Theatre orchestra under baton of Valery Gergiev. In April 2013 Denis Matsuev presented the record (RCA Red Seal) with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, accompanied by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert. In September 2013 the label LSO Live released a new disc with Denis Matsuev and LSO under baton of Valery Gergiev performing Symphonia Concertante by Szymanowski. Gramophone has chosen Denis Matsuev’s recording of Tchaikovsky Concerti Nos. 1 & 2 as their recording of the month in April 2014. 
For many years Denis Matsuev has collaborated with the Sergei Rachmaninoff Foundation, established by Alexander Rachmaninoff, the grandson of the composer. Mr. Matsuev was chosen by the Foundation to perform and record Rachmaninoff’s unknown pieces on the composer's own piano at the Rachmaninoff house “Villa Senar” in Lucerne. Later, he became the artistic director of the Foundation.
In 2021 Denis Matsuev became the artistic director of renewed Rachmaninoff Competition in Moscow with three nominations: pianist, composer and conductor.
Denis Matsuev is a laureate of prestigious Shostakovich Prize in Music as well as the State Prize of Russian Federation in Literature and Arts. He also is a People’s Artist of Russia. Denis Matsuev was named Honorary Professor of the Moscow State University. He is a member of The Presidential Council for Culture and Arts, Honored Artist of Russia and was the head of The Public Council under The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
In February 2014 Denis Matsuev was awarded the honour of performing at the official Closing Ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic games in Sochi and at the same year UNESCO designated Denis Matsuev as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. In 2016 Denis Matsuev was announced as 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia ambassador. Denis Matsuev was awarded with State Order of Honour. And in 2017 he received Government of Russia Prize in the sphere of Culture for his International Stars on the Baikal Music Festival in Irkutsk.
As the Ambassador of FIFA World Cup Russia Denis organized the unique concert with participation of Valery Gergiev, Anna Netrebko, Placido Domingo and other stars of classical music at the Red Square in Moscow on 13th of June 2018. In 2019 Denis Matsuev was awarded with Lev Nikolaev gold medal for his significant contribution to education and popularization of science and culture. In 2021 ICMA awarded Denis Matsuev with the prize for Video Performance of the Rachmaninoff's Third concert with Riccardo Chailly and Lucerne Festival Orchestra.
Denis Matsuev was the Chairman of the jury for the International Tchaikovsky Competition in the piano category (2019, 2023).