Viseu International Piano Competition
Jury
The Jury for the 5th Viseu International Guitar Competition is composed of 9 elements from 6 different countries. We are proud to have immense talent and experience in this panel and we are sure the decision of this year’s winner is in good hands.
Chairman
Marian Rybicki (France/Poland)
Competition Artistic Director and President of the Jury
Jorge Martins (Portugal)
Festival Artistic Director
José Carlos Sousa (Portugal)
Jurors
Carla Seixas (Portugal)
Dina Bensaïd (Marroco)
Iryna Polstiankina (Ukraine)
Manuel Araújo (Portugal)
Maria Gabriela Quel (Argentina)
Tae-Hyung Kim (Korea)
Marian Rybicki
Jury Details
MARIAN RYBICKI
Marian Rybicki, pianist, brings together two pianistic schools – those of Poland (Music Academy of Krakow) and France (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris).
Following a career of concertizing mainly in eastern countries, he began his tenure as professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris / Alfred Cortot in 1979.
Many of his students have been recognized at major international competitions, including FIRST prizewinners at Santander (1978), Marguerite Long – Jacques Thibaud (2004 and 2022), Leeds (2009), Hamamatsu (2012), Tel Aviv – Arthur Rubinstein (2014) and Paris – Prix Cortot (2016 and 2020).
He has also served on juries for international competitions such as Beijing, Moscow (Chopin and Scriabin), Shanghai, Tokyo, Kiev (Horowitz), Monte Carlo, Tbilisi, Porto and Jaén, among others.
Marian Rybicki develops an important support for young artists at the beginning of their career. In 1992 he founded the Animato Association in Paris, organizing numerous concerts for them in France and abroad. Since that date more than 800 young pianists invited by this prestigious association have played recitals in the Salle Cortot in Paris, and many of them have won top prizes from world greatest international competitions.
In December 2021 Marian Rybicki created the first in France International Frederic Chopin Competition.
In recognition of his musical contributions, he has been awarded the Gold Cross of Merit.
Marian Rybicki, pianist, brings together two pianistic schools – those of Poland (Music Academy of Krakow) and France (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris).
Following a career of concertizing mainly in eastern countries, he began his tenure as professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris / Alfred Cortot in 1979.
Many of his students have been recognized at major international competitions, including FIRST prizewinners at Santander (1978), Marguerite Long – Jacques Thibaud (2004 and 2022), Leeds (2009), Hamamatsu (2012), Tel Aviv – Arthur Rubinstein (2014) and Paris – Prix Cortot (2016 and 2020).
He has also served on juries for international competitions such as Beijing, Moscow (Chopin and Scriabin), Shanghai, Tokyo, Kiev (Horowitz), Monte Carlo, Tbilisi, Porto and Jaén, among others.
Marian Rybicki develops an important support for young artists at the beginning of their career. In 1992 he founded the Animato Association in Paris, organizing numerous concerts for them in France and abroad. Since that date more than 800 young pianists invited by this prestigious association have played recitals in the Salle Cortot in Paris, and many of them have won top prizes from world greatest international competitions.
In December 2021 Marian Rybicki created the first in France International Frederic Chopin Competition.
In recognition of his musical contributions, he has been awarded the Gold Cross of Merit.
Jorge Martins
JORGE MARTINS
Jorge was born in Porto and it was there that he received his initial pianistic training with Hélia Soveral, having also completed a Higher Course in Singing.
He enriched his training with pianists/pedagogues such as Vlado Perlemüter, M. Françoise Bucquet, Claude Helffer, Sequeira Costa, Madalena Soveral, Constantin Illiescu. Of particular importance were the contributions of Jean Fassina and, above all, Marian Rybicki, with whom he maintains assiduous pedagogical and artistic collaboration.
His pedagogical activity has developed at the Escola de Música e Escola Profissional de Música do Porto (Pedagogical Director) and at the Conservatório Regional de Música de Viseu, where he continues to be Coordinator of the Keyboards Department.
As a pianist, he has performed all over Portugal, Spain and France. With the Oporto Musical Workshop, since its foundation until 1998, he performed in all Festivals in Portugal and Spain, and also in Bogota and Dortmund. He has collaborated with several names of the national lyrical scene, such as Palmira Troufa and Oliveira Lopes (recital at the Granada Festival).
With the Contemporary Vocal Music Group of Porto, he participated in all its concerts for several years, including the tour in the Festivals of Berlin, Leipzig, Erfurt, Halle and Bad Elster.
He is part, as a consultant, of the structure of the Association Animato, Paris, dedicated to the promotion of Concerts of young pianists and International Competitions. In the last 25 years he has integrated juries of International Piano Competitions (alongside Andrej Jasinski, Jean Fassina, Marian Rybicki, Abdel-Raman El Bacha, Jacques Rouvier, Yuko Yamaoka, Akiko Ebi, Olivier Gardon, Aquiles Delle Vigne, among many others) -Porto, Gran Prix Animato (Paris), Piano Campus (France), International Competition of Morocco, Gorizia and Brescia (Italy), Horowitz (Ukraine), Hong-Kong and Macau (Asia-Pacific), and others. He is president of the delegated jury in the National Music Competition of Morocco (Piano).
Artistic Director and President of the Jury of the International Piano Competition of Viseu, whose four editions have had as winners Aristo Sham, Dong-Jung Miao, Qiani Xu, Bruce Liu (winner of the Warsaw Chopin Competition 2021) and Illia Ovcharenko, all of them multiple laureates of numerous International Competitions.
Jorge was born in Porto and it was there that he received his initial pianistic training with Hélia Soveral, having also completed a Higher Course in Singing.
He enriched his training with pianists/pedagogues such as Vlado Perlemüter, M. Françoise Bucquet, Claude Helffer, Sequeira Costa, Madalena Soveral, Constantin Illiescu. Of particular importance were the contributions of Jean Fassina and, above all, Marian Rybicki, with whom he maintains assiduous pedagogical and artistic collaboration.
His pedagogical activity has developed at the Escola de Música e Escola Profissional de Música do Porto (Pedagogical Director) and at the Conservatório Regional de Música de Viseu, where he continues to be Coordinator of the Keyboards Department.
As a pianist, he has performed all over Portugal, Spain and France. With the Oporto Musical Workshop, since its foundation until 1998, he performed in all Festivals in Portugal and Spain, and also in Bogota and Dortmund. He has collaborated with several names of the national lyrical scene, such as Palmira Troufa and Oliveira Lopes (recital at the Granada Festival).
With the Contemporary Vocal Music Group of Porto, he participated in all its concerts for several years, including the tour in the Festivals of Berlin, Leipzig, Erfurt, Halle and Bad Elster.
He is part, as a consultant, of the structure of the Association Animato, Paris, dedicated to the promotion of Concerts of young pianists and International Competitions. In the last 25 years he has integrated juries of International Piano Competitions (alongside Andrej Jasinski, Jean Fassina, Marian Rybicki, Abdel-Raman El Bacha, Jacques Rouvier, Yuko Yamaoka, Akiko Ebi, Olivier Gardon, Aquiles Delle Vigne, among many others) -Porto, Gran Prix Animato (Paris), Piano Campus (France), International Competition of Morocco, Gorizia and Brescia (Italy), Horowitz (Ukraine), Hong-Kong and Macau (Asia-Pacific), and others. He is president of the delegated jury in the National Music Competition of Morocco (Piano).
Artistic Director and President of the Jury of the International Piano Competition of Viseu, whose four editions have had as winners Aristo Sham, Dong-Jung Miao, Qiani Xu, Bruce Liu (winner of the Warsaw Chopin Competition 2021) and Illia Ovcharenko, all of them multiple laureates of numerous International Competitions.
José Carlos Sousa
JOSÉ CARLOS SOUSA
José Carlos Almeida de Sousa was born in Viseu – Portugal, in 1972. He began his musical studies at the Conservatório Regional de Música Dr. José de Azeredo Perdigão in his hometown where he completed the general course of composition in 1995.
In 1996 he continued his studies at the University of Aveiro, where he completed his degree in Composition in 2000.
He studied composition and electronic music with Evgueni Zoudilkin, João Pedro Oliveira and Isabel Soveral. He also attended several composition and electronic music seminars oriented by the composers Jorge Antunes, Alain Sève, Tomás Henriques, Flo Menezes, François Bayle and Emmanuel Nunes.
In June 2005 he completed, at the University of Aveiro, a master’s degree in music with specialization in composition, under the theme “The Timbre and its Metamorphoses in the Compositional Process of Electroacoustic Music”.
He has taught at the University of Aveiro and at the Piaget Institute in Viseu.
Together with Paula Sobral, he was the organizer and artistic director of the International Classical Guitar Festival of Sernancelhe, for 15 consecutive editions.
He was the creator of the International Spring Music Festival of Viseu, which he organizes since 2008, also holding the position of Artistic Director of the Festival.
In 1995 he won the first prize of the 1st composition contest of the conservatory where he studied, with the children’s work for piano, Almofada.
In the Electroacoustic Composition Contest “Música Viva 2000”, he was awarded an Honorable Mention.
In April 2001, he was awarded a prize with his work Viagem (Journey) in the above-mentioned competition, integrated in the Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture.
His music has been played in several Portuguese cities and in several music festivals: Festival Música Viva (Portugal), Primavera en La Habana (Cuba), Aveiro Síntese (Portugal), “33e Festival International des Musiques et Créations Electroniques” (Bourges – France), Concurso e Festival Internacional de Guitarra (Sernancelhe – Portugal), 14th World Saxophone Congress (Slovenia), “Guitarmania” – International Festival of Classical Guitar (Almada – Portugal), Palencia Guitar Festival (Spain), Festival Dias de Música Electroacústica (Seia – Portugal), “Síntese” – Contemporary Music Cycle of Guarda (Portugal), Santo Tirso International Guitar Festival (Portugal), Viseu Spring Music Festival (Portugal), 8e Festival International Guitar’Essonne – (Paris – France), Electroacoustic Music Days in Santa Cruz Air Race (Portugal), VIII Festival de la Guitarra de Sevilla – Spain,
Tempo Reale Festival “Maratona Soundscape” in Florence Italy, Festival “The Soundscape we live in” in Corfu – Greece, among others.
Some of his works result from commissions from various institutions such as International Music Festivals, Universities, Museums and City Halls.
In April 2022 the world premiere of his work for Orchestra “The 7 Trumpets and the New Jerusalem” was held, a joint commission from Miso Music Portugal and the Viseu International Spring Music Festival.
He is currently professor of composition at the Conservatório de Música de Viseu, also acting as Pedagogical Director of the Conservatory since 2004.
José Carlos Almeida de Sousa was born in Viseu – Portugal, in 1972. He began his musical studies at the Conservatório Regional de Música Dr. José de Azeredo Perdigão in his hometown where he completed the general course of composition in 1995.
In 1996 he continued his studies at the University of Aveiro, where he completed his degree in Composition in 2000.
He studied composition and electronic music with Evgueni Zoudilkin, João Pedro Oliveira and Isabel Soveral. He also attended several composition and electronic music seminars oriented by the composers Jorge Antunes, Alain Sève, Tomás Henriques, Flo Menezes, François Bayle and Emmanuel Nunes.
In June 2005 he completed, at the University of Aveiro, a master’s degree in music with specialization in composition, under the theme “The Timbre and its Metamorphoses in the Compositional Process of Electroacoustic Music”.
He has taught at the University of Aveiro and at the Piaget Institute in Viseu.
Together with Paula Sobral, he was the organizer and artistic director of the International Classical Guitar Festival of Sernancelhe, for 15 consecutive editions.
He was the creator of the International Spring Music Festival of Viseu, which he organizes since 2008, also holding the position of Artistic Director of the Festival.
In 1995 he won the first prize of the 1st composition contest of the conservatory where he studied, with the children’s work for piano, Almofada.
In the Electroacoustic Composition Contest “Música Viva 2000”, he was awarded an Honorable Mention.
In April 2001, he was awarded a prize with his work Viagem (Journey) in the above-mentioned competition, integrated in the Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture.
His music has been played in several Portuguese cities and in several music festivals: Festival Música Viva (Portugal), Primavera en La Habana (Cuba), Aveiro Síntese (Portugal), “33e Festival International des Musiques et Créations Electroniques” (Bourges – France), Concurso e Festival Internacional de Guitarra (Sernancelhe – Portugal), 14th World Saxophone Congress (Slovenia), “Guitarmania” – International Festival of Classical Guitar (Almada – Portugal), Palencia Guitar Festival (Spain), Festival Dias de Música Electroacústica (Seia – Portugal), “Síntese” – Contemporary Music Cycle of Guarda (Portugal), Santo Tirso International Guitar Festival (Portugal), Viseu Spring Music Festival (Portugal), 8e Festival International Guitar’Essonne – (Paris – France), Electroacoustic Music Days in Santa Cruz Air Race (Portugal), VIII Festival de la Guitarra de Sevilla – Spain,
Tempo Reale Festival “Maratona Soundscape” in Florence Italy, Festival “The Soundscape we live in” in Corfu – Greece, among others.
Some of his works result from commissions from various institutions such as International Music Festivals, Universities, Museums and City Halls.
In April 2022 the world premiere of his work for Orchestra “The 7 Trumpets and the New Jerusalem” was held, a joint commission from Miso Music Portugal and the Viseu International Spring Music Festival.
He is currently professor of composition at the Conservatório de Música de Viseu, also acting as Pedagogical Director of the Conservatory since 2004.
Carla Seixas
CARLA SEIXAS
Born in Luanda, Angola. She studied with Noémia de Brederode, Olga Prats, Tania Achot and Sequeira Costa.
She graduated with an honors degree from the Music School of the National Conservatory
She continued her studies at the University of Kansas with a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
She studied for four years in Paris under Jean Fassina, who, by his enormous sensibility, unique technical knowledge and unique command of almost all the pianistic literature, remains her model “Master”. He has also attended masterclasses by Leon Fleischer, Gary Graffman, Josef Palaniceck, Paul Badura-Skoda, Jorg Demus and Helena Costa.
He has given concerts in Paris, Germany, Holland, Denmark, as well as in Macau, Australia, Bahamas, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, India and Colombia.
She has taught master classes in Leiria, Montijo, Águeda, Brescia (Talent Summer Courses), Bogotá, Macau and Australia (Australian National University, Canberra). She is co-founder of the Oeiras Piano Competition, and has also been a jury member of the Czerny, Almada, Cascais, Olga Prats, S. Teotónio in Coimbra, Sardoal, WPTA Portugal and Santa Cecília International Competitions.
He belongs to the General School Council of the Artistic School of Music of the National Conservatory. With soprano Lia Altavilla she recorded Francisco de Lacerda’s integral for Singing and Piano, “Saudades da Terra”, for the Fine Arts label.
She was a Piano Teacher at the Music School of the National Conservatory from 1978 to 2011, having also taught at the Orfeão de Leiria and at the Academia de Música de Santa Cecília.
Born in Luanda, Angola. She studied with Noémia de Brederode, Olga Prats, Tania Achot and Sequeira Costa.
She graduated with an honors degree from the Music School of the National Conservatory
She continued her studies at the University of Kansas with a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
She studied for four years in Paris under Jean Fassina, who, by his enormous sensibility, unique technical knowledge and unique command of almost all the pianistic literature, remains her model “Master”. He has also attended masterclasses by Leon Fleischer, Gary Graffman, Josef Palaniceck, Paul Badura-Skoda, Jorg Demus and Helena Costa.
He has given concerts in Paris, Germany, Holland, Denmark, as well as in Macau, Australia, Bahamas, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, India and Colombia.
She has taught master classes in Leiria, Montijo, Águeda, Brescia (Talent Summer Courses), Bogotá, Macau and Australia (Australian National University, Canberra). She is co-founder of the Oeiras Piano Competition, and has also been a jury member of the Czerny, Almada, Cascais, Olga Prats, S. Teotónio in Coimbra, Sardoal, WPTA Portugal and Santa Cecília International Competitions.
He belongs to the General School Council of the Artistic School of Music of the National Conservatory. With soprano Lia Altavilla she recorded Francisco de Lacerda’s integral for Singing and Piano, “Saudades da Terra”, for the Fine Arts label.
She was a Piano Teacher at the Music School of the National Conservatory from 1978 to 2011, having also taught at the Orfeão de Leiria and at the Academia de Música de Santa Cecília.
Dina Bensaïd
DINA BENSAÏD
Dina Bensaïd made her solo debut with the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003.
In September 2015, she made her London debut with the English Chamber Orchestra. Dina has performed in recital at the Salle Cortot, the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, as well as in Italy, Spain, and Canada, and as a soloist at the Philharmonie de Paris
She has collaborated with artists such as Jean-Claude Casadesus, Faycal Karoui, Marc Coppey, David Guerrier, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Frank Braley and Emmanuelle Bertrand.
In 2015, she performed Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor op. 18 at the inaugural concert of the Maghreb Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Faycal Karoui, and appeared as a soloist with the Orchestre Pasdeloup under the baton of conductor Marzena Diakun.
Dina founded the Yadain Piano Duo to promote a message of dialogue and respect between Jewish and Muslim cultures.
Anxious to break down the wall between the stage and the public, Dina makes her concerts a moment of conviviality, exchange and sharing, by presenting her recitals herself. This concern to renew the classical forms of concerts led her to create the Concert à la carte, during which the audience takes a full part in the show.
Always anxious to make her concerts a moment of conviviality and sharing, she is particularly fond of conducting Mozart or Beethoven keyboard concertos from the piano, thus privileging the connection between soloist and orchestra.
Born in Rabat (Morocco), Dina Bensaïd began her piano studies at the age of 4 in Casablanca. Spotted by Jacques Rouvier, Dina moved to Paris, where she studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the piano class of Georges Pludermarcher and Claire Désert, then with Franck Braley and Haruko Ueda.
During masterclasses, she was advised by Pascal Devoyon, Dominique Merlet and Dimitri Bashkirov. She also studied conducting with Nicolas Brochot.
Dina Bensaïd has received First Prizes in numerous international competitions, and is the first Moroccan to be selected to participate in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition of Belgium.
Since 2016, Dina is supported by ADAMI and the Fondation Safran pour la culture, she is the Artistic Director of the Festival Printemps Musical des Alizés and the General Director of the Fondation Ténor pour la Culture.
Dina Bensaïd made her solo debut with the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003.
In September 2015, she made her London debut with the English Chamber Orchestra. Dina has performed in recital at the Salle Cortot, the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, as well as in Italy, Spain, and Canada, and as a soloist at the Philharmonie de Paris
She has collaborated with artists such as Jean-Claude Casadesus, Faycal Karoui, Marc Coppey, David Guerrier, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Frank Braley and Emmanuelle Bertrand.
In 2015, she performed Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor op. 18 at the inaugural concert of the Maghreb Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Faycal Karoui, and appeared as a soloist with the Orchestre Pasdeloup under the baton of conductor Marzena Diakun.
Dina founded the Yadain Piano Duo to promote a message of dialogue and respect between Jewish and Muslim cultures.
Anxious to break down the wall between the stage and the public, Dina makes her concerts a moment of conviviality, exchange and sharing, by presenting her recitals herself. This concern to renew the classical forms of concerts led her to create the Concert à la carte, during which the audience takes a full part in the show.
Always anxious to make her concerts a moment of conviviality and sharing, she is particularly fond of conducting Mozart or Beethoven keyboard concertos from the piano, thus privileging the connection between soloist and orchestra.
Born in Rabat (Morocco), Dina Bensaïd began her piano studies at the age of 4 in Casablanca. Spotted by Jacques Rouvier, Dina moved to Paris, where she studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the piano class of Georges Pludermarcher and Claire Désert, then with Franck Braley and Haruko Ueda.
During masterclasses, she was advised by Pascal Devoyon, Dominique Merlet and Dimitri Bashkirov. She also studied conducting with Nicolas Brochot.
Dina Bensaïd has received First Prizes in numerous international competitions, and is the first Moroccan to be selected to participate in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition of Belgium.
Since 2016, Dina is supported by ADAMI and the Fondation Safran pour la culture, she is the Artistic Director of the Festival Printemps Musical des Alizés and the General Director of the Fondation Ténor pour la Culture.
Iryna Polstiankina
IRYNA POLSTIANKINA
Pianist, Honored Artist of Ukraine. Executive director of the International Competition of Young Pianists in Memory of Volodymyr Horowitz and President of International Charitable Fund of Vladimir Horowitz competition.
Head of the educational and methodical department, associate professor of the faculty of musical art of the R.Glier Kyiv Academy of Music .
Iryna Polstiankina – CEO of the International Festival “Kyiv Summer Music Evenings” since 1999, the International Festival “Virtuosos of the Planet” (Kyiv 2006-2010), the International “Summer Academy of Music”, Kyiv since 2000.
Arranging of the International Festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Volodymyr Horowitz Kyiv – New York – Moscow, 2003.
Arranging concert tours of Horowitz competition’s Prizewinners in Ukraine, Croatia, France, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, USA, etc.
She has been a juror for national and international competitions: National preselection for the classic Eurovision (Ukraine), «OPEN MUSIC.PIANO» (Ukraine), Viseu International Piano Competition (Portugal), International Classical Music Bridge (Ukraine), and Animato Chopin Piano Competition (France).
Pianist, Honored Artist of Ukraine. Executive director of the International Competition of Young Pianists in Memory of Volodymyr Horowitz and President of International Charitable Fund of Vladimir Horowitz competition.
Head of the educational and methodical department, associate professor of the faculty of musical art of the R.Glier Kyiv Academy of Music .
Iryna Polstiankina – CEO of the International Festival “Kyiv Summer Music Evenings” since 1999, the International Festival “Virtuosos of the Planet” (Kyiv 2006-2010), the International “Summer Academy of Music”, Kyiv since 2000.
Arranging of the International Festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Volodymyr Horowitz Kyiv – New York – Moscow, 2003.
Arranging concert tours of Horowitz competition’s Prizewinners in Ukraine, Croatia, France, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, USA, etc.
She has been a juror for national and international competitions: National preselection for the classic Eurovision (Ukraine), «OPEN MUSIC.PIANO» (Ukraine), Viseu International Piano Competition (Portugal), International Classical Music Bridge (Ukraine), and Animato Chopin Piano Competition (France).
Manuel Araújo
MANUEL ARAÚJO
Manuel Araújo was born in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1983. He began his musical studies at the age of 5 with teachers Norma Graça-Silvestre and Felipe Nabuco Silvestre. He is a disciple of Aquiles Delle Vigne, with whom he studied at Codarts, Rotterdam’s Superior School of the Arts, graduating “Cum Laude”. He also studied occasionally with musicians such as Mikhail Voskresensky, Angela Hewitt, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Ronald Brautigam, Gabriel Kwok, Helena Sá e Costa, Sequeira Costa, Fausto Di Cesare, Luiz de Moura Castro, Emanuel Krasovsky, Enrico Pace, Gary Hoffman, Wolfgang Holzmair, and Choong Mo Kang.
He made his professional debut in 2000, after being unanimously awarded the 1st. He debuted as a professional in 2000, after winning unanimously the 1st National Young Pianists Award of the Portuguese Rotary Foundation, dedicated to Helena Sá e Costa and with a jury presided by the same. He has won first prize in several competitions in Portugal, France, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Japan and Italy, such as the Premier Prix of the 89th Concours International Léopold Bellan in Paris, S. Sebastian (Spain), Mascia Masin and F. Zadra (Italy), Primavera Pianistica (Belgium), Codarts Virtuoso Piano Competition (Holland) and the Special Luso-Brazilian Prize Maria Campina.
He was also awarded by the International Piano Competition Interfest (Macedonia), in the Young Musicians RDP Prize and by the Portuguese Musical Youth. He has received special jury awards at the International Competition City of S. Sebastião (Best Interpretation of Scriabin) and at the International Music Competition “Riviera del Conero” (Young Talent).
He was one of the 4 prize winners of the 34th Yokohama International Piano Concert and one of the 36 finalists of the Australian International Piano Competition in Sydney, a semifinalist, among all instruments, of the prestigious Vriendenkrans Concours of the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and one of the 3 finalists, also among all instruments, of the Ageas/Casa da Música 2017 New Talents Prize. He was a semifinalist and obtained the “Best Portuguese Participant” award at the XVII International Music Competition “Vianna da Motta” in 2010.
He has performed in Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Israel, Australia, Italy, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Brazil, Austria, Macedonia, Japan and Taiwan.
His performances at the Imperial Hermitage Theatre and Briantzev Theatre in S. Petersburg, the Stadsschouwburg and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Lucent in The Hague, the Jerusalem Theater, the Philips Hall of the Stadsschouwburg in Eindhoven, Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht, Theater De Vest in Alkmaar, the Schouwburg of Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Leiden, the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, the Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall, and the Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center in Taipei.
Carlos, Grande Auditório CCB, Convento São Francisco, Fundação Serralves Auditorium, Sala Gótica do Hôtel de Ville in Brussels, Teatro Nacional de Bitola, Wiener Zaal and Solitar of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Salla Filarmonica de Trento, Concertgebouw De Doelen in Rotterdam, Altes Handelsboerse and Mendelssohnhaus in Leipzig, Palácio de S. Clemente in Rio de Janeiro, Altes Handelsboerse and Mendelssohnhaus in Leipzig, Palácio de S. Clemente in Rio de Janeiro, and the Concertgebouw De Doelen in Rotterdam. Clemente in Rio de Janeiro, the Felicja Blumental Music Centre in Tel Aviv and the Seymour Centre in Sydney.
Between 2006 and 2009, he cooperated with the choreographer Ton Simons and the company Dance Works Rotterdam, in the productions Human Figures and Moving Being, in a partnership that presented the first book of J. S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier in the main halls of all cities in the Netherlands.
He dedicates himself regularly to divulging the Portuguese musical heritage. He has given first modern auditions and world premieres of works by Frederico de Freitas, J. D. Bomtempo, Nicolau Ribas and António Fragoso. He was dedicated to Alexandre Delgado’s “Bamboleio”.
He has performed live for Euroradio (EBU), Kol Ha Musica IBA (Israel), RTP2 and Antena 2, and ABC Classic (Australia). He has recorded albums for the Codarts label, with works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky, and for Associação António Fragoso.
He was invited to perform in the Festivals of Sintra, Mafra, Cistermúsica, Quatro Estações de Vidago, Primavera de Viseu, Euro-Mediterraneo and Alfonso Rendano (Italy), Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg, Openlook S. Petersburg, Forum Internacional Torrelodones, Cap Ferret, Festa na Baixa CNC and at the Rotterdam Operadagen, where he performed in the presentation of the integral of Liszt’s opera transcriptions, interpreting Reminiscences de D. Juan.
As a soloist he performed with the Sinfonia Rotterdam, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Rotterdam Ensemble, Orquestra Filarmónica da Macedónia, Orquestra Clássica de Espinho, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra Clássica do Centro, Orquestra Sinfónica Esproarte, Orquestra Sinfónica do Atlântico and Orquestra Filarmonica di Stato “P. Constantinescu” of Ploiesti (Romania), among others, under the direction of Lior Shambadal, Conrad van Alphen, Marc Tardue, Anton Nanut, Manuel Ivo Cruz, Sergio Alapont, Jan Wierzba, Roberto Beltrán, José Ferreira Lobo, Ahmed El Saedi, Gustavo Delgado, Artur Pinho Maria, Roberto Misto, Gustavo Delgado, Enrique Bátiz and Claudio Cohen.
He was assistant professor of piano at the Rotterdam Superior School of Music (Codarts), at the Schola Cantorum of Paris and has been invited to give master classes and conferences for the Kawai Omotesando of Tokyo, Chinese Culture, National Chiao Tung and Chung Yuan universities of Taipei, Forum Musikae Madrid, National Conservatory of Lisbon, University of Coimbra, Esproarte. He has been a juror in important competitions such as the Taiwan International Piano Ensemble Competition, Fujairah International Piano Competition, Viseu International Competition, Ilda Moura and StayHome International Piano Competition.
He is co-founder, board member and regular teacher at the International Music Academy “Achilles Delle Vigne”, the Coimbra World Piano Meeting and the Sardoal International Piano Meeting.
He is also a lecturer at the Wiener Musikseminar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Manuel Araújo was born in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1983. He began his musical studies at the age of 5 with teachers Norma Graça-Silvestre and Felipe Nabuco Silvestre. He is a disciple of Aquiles Delle Vigne, with whom he studied at Codarts, Rotterdam’s Superior School of the Arts, graduating “Cum Laude”. He also studied occasionally with musicians such as Mikhail Voskresensky, Angela Hewitt, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Ronald Brautigam, Gabriel Kwok, Helena Sá e Costa, Sequeira Costa, Fausto Di Cesare, Luiz de Moura Castro, Emanuel Krasovsky, Enrico Pace, Gary Hoffman, Wolfgang Holzmair, and Choong Mo Kang.
He made his professional debut in 2000, after being unanimously awarded the 1st. He debuted as a professional in 2000, after winning unanimously the 1st National Young Pianists Award of the Portuguese Rotary Foundation, dedicated to Helena Sá e Costa and with a jury presided by the same. He has won first prize in several competitions in Portugal, France, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Japan and Italy, such as the Premier Prix of the 89th Concours International Léopold Bellan in Paris, S. Sebastian (Spain), Mascia Masin and F. Zadra (Italy), Primavera Pianistica (Belgium), Codarts Virtuoso Piano Competition (Holland) and the Special Luso-Brazilian Prize Maria Campina.
He was also awarded by the International Piano Competition Interfest (Macedonia), in the Young Musicians RDP Prize and by the Portuguese Musical Youth. He has received special jury awards at the International Competition City of S. Sebastião (Best Interpretation of Scriabin) and at the International Music Competition “Riviera del Conero” (Young Talent).
He was one of the 4 prize winners of the 34th Yokohama International Piano Concert and one of the 36 finalists of the Australian International Piano Competition in Sydney, a semifinalist, among all instruments, of the prestigious Vriendenkrans Concours of the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and one of the 3 finalists, also among all instruments, of the Ageas/Casa da Música 2017 New Talents Prize. He was a semifinalist and obtained the “Best Portuguese Participant” award at the XVII International Music Competition “Vianna da Motta” in 2010.
He has performed in Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Israel, Australia, Italy, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Brazil, Austria, Macedonia, Japan and Taiwan.
His performances at the Imperial Hermitage Theatre and Briantzev Theatre in S. Petersburg, the Stadsschouwburg and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Lucent in The Hague, the Jerusalem Theater, the Philips Hall of the Stadsschouwburg in Eindhoven, Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht, Theater De Vest in Alkmaar, the Schouwburg of Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Leiden, the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, the Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall, and the Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center in Taipei.
Carlos, Grande Auditório CCB, Convento São Francisco, Fundação Serralves Auditorium, Sala Gótica do Hôtel de Ville in Brussels, Teatro Nacional de Bitola, Wiener Zaal and Solitar of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Salla Filarmonica de Trento, Concertgebouw De Doelen in Rotterdam, Altes Handelsboerse and Mendelssohnhaus in Leipzig, Palácio de S. Clemente in Rio de Janeiro, Altes Handelsboerse and Mendelssohnhaus in Leipzig, Palácio de S. Clemente in Rio de Janeiro, and the Concertgebouw De Doelen in Rotterdam. Clemente in Rio de Janeiro, the Felicja Blumental Music Centre in Tel Aviv and the Seymour Centre in Sydney.
Between 2006 and 2009, he cooperated with the choreographer Ton Simons and the company Dance Works Rotterdam, in the productions Human Figures and Moving Being, in a partnership that presented the first book of J. S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier in the main halls of all cities in the Netherlands.
He dedicates himself regularly to divulging the Portuguese musical heritage. He has given first modern auditions and world premieres of works by Frederico de Freitas, J. D. Bomtempo, Nicolau Ribas and António Fragoso. He was dedicated to Alexandre Delgado’s “Bamboleio”.
He has performed live for Euroradio (EBU), Kol Ha Musica IBA (Israel), RTP2 and Antena 2, and ABC Classic (Australia). He has recorded albums for the Codarts label, with works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky, and for Associação António Fragoso.
He was invited to perform in the Festivals of Sintra, Mafra, Cistermúsica, Quatro Estações de Vidago, Primavera de Viseu, Euro-Mediterraneo and Alfonso Rendano (Italy), Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg, Openlook S. Petersburg, Forum Internacional Torrelodones, Cap Ferret, Festa na Baixa CNC and at the Rotterdam Operadagen, where he performed in the presentation of the integral of Liszt’s opera transcriptions, interpreting Reminiscences de D. Juan.
As a soloist he performed with the Sinfonia Rotterdam, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Rotterdam Ensemble, Orquestra Filarmónica da Macedónia, Orquestra Clássica de Espinho, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra Clássica do Centro, Orquestra Sinfónica Esproarte, Orquestra Sinfónica do Atlântico and Orquestra Filarmonica di Stato “P. Constantinescu” of Ploiesti (Romania), among others, under the direction of Lior Shambadal, Conrad van Alphen, Marc Tardue, Anton Nanut, Manuel Ivo Cruz, Sergio Alapont, Jan Wierzba, Roberto Beltrán, José Ferreira Lobo, Ahmed El Saedi, Gustavo Delgado, Artur Pinho Maria, Roberto Misto, Gustavo Delgado, Enrique Bátiz and Claudio Cohen.
He was assistant professor of piano at the Rotterdam Superior School of Music (Codarts), at the Schola Cantorum of Paris and has been invited to give master classes and conferences for the Kawai Omotesando of Tokyo, Chinese Culture, National Chiao Tung and Chung Yuan universities of Taipei, Forum Musikae Madrid, National Conservatory of Lisbon, University of Coimbra, Esproarte. He has been a juror in important competitions such as the Taiwan International Piano Ensemble Competition, Fujairah International Piano Competition, Viseu International Competition, Ilda Moura and StayHome International Piano Competition.
He is co-founder, board member and regular teacher at the International Music Academy “Achilles Delle Vigne”, the Coimbra World Piano Meeting and the Sardoal International Piano Meeting.
He is also a lecturer at the Wiener Musikseminar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Maria Gabriela Quel
MARIA GABRIELA QUEL
Maria Gabriela Quel was born in 1967 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She began her piano studies at the age of 5. With the highest distinction she was awarded the title of Superior Piano Teacher by the Carlos Lopez Buchardo National Conservatory of Music of Buenos Aires in 1992. In 1995 she obtained a grant from the National Ministry of Culture to continue her studies in Paris with Emile Naoumoff and Atty Lengyel at the Russian Conservatory “Sergei Rachmaninov”.
Her long and solid career has led her to give recital and chamber music concerts in France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Argentina, Morocco and Japan.
Since 2014 she has been a member of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgium.
From his encounter with the pianist and composer Gustavo Beytelmann , he threw himself with passion into the repertoire of Argentine music. He has participated in numerous shows: “Tango mon amour” with the actress Hanna Schygulla, Hannover Opera, (Germany), “Omoi” with the singer Anna Saeki in Tokyo, Asajikawa, Nagasaki, Fukuoka (Japan), creation (2021) of the children’s show “Allô” in collaboration with the author and director Stéphan Druet (Molière Prize, 2018), etc. He has performed in numerous festivals such as Mawazine in Rabat (Morocco), Tempo Latino in Vic-Fezensac, (France), Paris Banlieues Tango, (France), Eurolat Festival (2022 Brussels) with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Parallel to his performance as a pianist, he develops an intense pedagogical activity that began at the Conservatory of Soissons, France, Royal College of Morocco, among others.
Since 2009 he has been a member of the jury of the National Piano Competition of Morocco and the International Piano Competition of Viseu, Portugal.
Maria Gabriela Quel was born in 1967 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She began her piano studies at the age of 5. With the highest distinction she was awarded the title of Superior Piano Teacher by the Carlos Lopez Buchardo National Conservatory of Music of Buenos Aires in 1992. In 1995 she obtained a grant from the National Ministry of Culture to continue her studies in Paris with Emile Naoumoff and Atty Lengyel at the Russian Conservatory “Sergei Rachmaninov”.
Her long and solid career has led her to give recital and chamber music concerts in France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Argentina, Morocco and Japan.
Since 2014 she has been a member of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgium.
From his encounter with the pianist and composer Gustavo Beytelmann , he threw himself with passion into the repertoire of Argentine music. He has participated in numerous shows: “Tango mon amour” with the actress Hanna Schygulla, Hannover Opera, (Germany), “Omoi” with the singer Anna Saeki in Tokyo, Asajikawa, Nagasaki, Fukuoka (Japan), creation (2021) of the children’s show “Allô” in collaboration with the author and director Stéphan Druet (Molière Prize, 2018), etc. He has performed in numerous festivals such as Mawazine in Rabat (Morocco), Tempo Latino in Vic-Fezensac, (France), Paris Banlieues Tango, (France), Eurolat Festival (2022 Brussels) with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Parallel to his performance as a pianist, he develops an intense pedagogical activity that began at the Conservatory of Soissons, France, Royal College of Morocco, among others.
Since 2009 he has been a member of the jury of the National Piano Competition of Morocco and the International Piano Competition of Viseu, Portugal.
Tae-Hyung Kim
TAE-HYUNG KIM
Pianist Tae-Hyung Kim made his international debut in 2004 at the City of Porto International Piano Competition, where he won the first prize and the best interpretation prize of Beethoven Sonatas. Kim won numerous prestigious competitions for Pianist including the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, the Long-Thibaud Music Competition, the Grand Prix Animato, also as Chamber musician with Trio Gaon the “Premio Trio di Trieste” Chamber Music Competition, the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.
Kim has expanded his scope of activities by performing with prominent orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra, National de France, and National Orchestra of Belgium. He has performed with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Spivakov, Marin Alsop, Hugh Wolff also musicians as Vadim Repin, Christoph Poppen, Nobuko Imai and Kyung Wha Chung among many others.
Born in Seoul, Kim graduated at Korean National University of Arts (Professor Choong-Mo Kang). Upon graduation, he studied Meisterklasse in piano performance (Professor Elisso Virsaladze), Meisterklasse in Liedgestaltung (Professor Helmut Deutsch), also chamber music course (Professor Christoph Poppen and Friedemann Berger) at München Hochschule für Musik Und Theater. He subsequently trained at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Elisso Virsaladze.
In 2018, he released his CD ‘The Portrait’ (Sony Classical). Currently, he is appointed professor at the Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea and he is the pianist of Trio Gaon.
Pianist Tae-Hyung Kim made his international debut in 2004 at the City of Porto International Piano Competition, where he won the first prize and the best interpretation prize of Beethoven Sonatas. Kim won numerous prestigious competitions for Pianist including the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, the Long-Thibaud Music Competition, the Grand Prix Animato, also as Chamber musician with Trio Gaon the “Premio Trio di Trieste” Chamber Music Competition, the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.
Kim has expanded his scope of activities by performing with prominent orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra, National de France, and National Orchestra of Belgium. He has performed with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Spivakov, Marin Alsop, Hugh Wolff also musicians as Vadim Repin, Christoph Poppen, Nobuko Imai and Kyung Wha Chung among many others.
Born in Seoul, Kim graduated at Korean National University of Arts (Professor Choong-Mo Kang). Upon graduation, he studied Meisterklasse in piano performance (Professor Elisso Virsaladze), Meisterklasse in Liedgestaltung (Professor Helmut Deutsch), also chamber music course (Professor Christoph Poppen and Friedemann Berger) at München Hochschule für Musik Und Theater. He subsequently trained at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Elisso Virsaladze.
In 2018, he released his CD ‘The Portrait’ (Sony Classical). Currently, he is appointed professor at the Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea and he is the pianist of Trio Gaon.