Artists

After finishing her studies at Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa with the maximum classification under the supervision of the pianist Tania Achot, and a master's degree in piano performance at Catholic University of Porto with Filipe Pinto Ribeiro, she continued her musical studies at Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel with Jan Michiels and in Madrid with Claudio Mehner. She obtained her PHD degree in 2015 with “Summa cum laude” at the Escola das Artes of the Catholic University Porto under the orientation of the pianist Sofia Lourenço and the composer Paulo Ferreira Lopes.

She won several national and international prizes, including “Maria Campina” and “Princess Lalla Meryem”, and performed as soloist with the Brussels Chamber Orchestra, as a prize of Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel Competition for students of all instruments. She has played, since 2006, in countries as France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Brazil and China, as well as in the main Portuguese festivals and concert halls, including Dias da Música, Sintra Festival, Oeiras Festival, Mafra Festival, Centro Cultural de Belém, Auditório Ruy de Carvalho, Centro Cultural de Cascais and Olga Cadaval Cultural Center, as soloist and with the leading Portuguese orchestras and conductors.

She is the author of the book "Schumann´s Carnaval: work of genius and madness" (based in her PhD dissertation and with a preface of Professor Mário de Vieira de Carvalho) and has recorded four CDs: "Waltz Transfigured" with works by Schubert and Schumann, “Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1" with Orquestra do Norte, "Encounter", with works by Mozart and Schumann and the most recent "Identity", with music by Debussy, Prokofiev and Liszt.

Pianist of great originality, Teresa da Palma Pereira has been dedicated, in the last years, to a set of projects that aim to bring erudite music to new audiences, performing several cycles of commented recitals, as "Communication with music", "Classics outdoors", Classics for All" and " Classics in the Bookstore", at Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações, Palace of the Aciprestes, in Linda-a-Velha, social quarters and the bookstore “Ler Devagar”, in Alcântara, respectively.

She´s also the Artistic Director of the Oeiras International Piano Festival since 2018.

Jan Michiels studied with Abel Matthys at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. From 1988 to 1993 he studied at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin under the direction of Hans Leygraf - he was awarded an exceptional distinction for his interpretations of Bartók's Second concerto for piano and Ligeti's Etudes. He was Tenuto-laureate in 1988 ; in 1989 he won the international E.Durlet competition. In 1991 he was laureate of the international Queen Elizabeth Competition. In 1992 he was awarded the JeM/ Cera prize for musicians and in 1996 he was signed up as festival star of the Flanders Festival. He is also laureate of the 'Gouden Vleugels/KBC Muziekprijs' 2006.

Jan Michiels is currently active as piano professor in the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, where he also led the class of contemporary music for eight years. He conducted masterclasses in London, Murcia, Hamburg, Oslo, Montepulciano, Szombathely (Bartokfestival). He is fellow in the 'Platform' (VUB-KCB/The Brussels Model) and prepares a doctorate in the arts with the 'New Prometheus' of Luigi Nono as a guide. He regularly performs as a soloist or with chamber music ensembles (a.o. the Piano Quartet "Tetra Lyre" and a piano duo with Inge Spinette) in several musical centres in Europe and Asia, with conductors such as Angus, Asbury, Baudo, Boreycko, Edwards, Eötvös, Märkl, Meylemans, Nézet-Séguin, Ono, Pfaff, Rahbari, Rundel, Soustrot, Stern, Tabachnik, Tamayo, Zagrosek, Zender - but also with dance-productions of Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker, Vincent Dunoyer and Sen Hea Ha. His repertoire reaches from Bach to today.

Apart from his many radio recordings, he also recorded cd's with works from a.o. Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Busoni, Debussy, Dvorák, Janácek, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Ligeti, Kurtág and Goeyvaerts (these three last composers appreciated very much his interpretations). The cd 'Via Crucis' - a Liszt-portrait (Eufoda) - received a Caeciliaprize in 2002. He played different complete cycles: all Beethoven sonatas, all pianoworks of Schoenberg, Webern and Berg and the complete chamber music with piano of Johannes Brahms.

Born in St. Petersburg, he attended the special school of music for highly gifted children of the Academy of Music of St. Petersburg. During school, he has performed more than 300 times in his hometown and in other Russian cities.

He completed his studies at the University of Music in Jerusalem and then with Prof. Vitalij Margulis at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, where he obtained his concert exam diplom. Grigory Gruzman won a special award at the International Piano Competition in Monza (Italy) and in 1984 was a finalist at the Vercelli International Piano Competition (Italy).

As a soloist, chamber musician (among others, as a member of the Shostakovich Trio) and director of international masterclasses, he performed in 1974 in almost all European countries, in the Far East, Australia, Latin America and in USA more than 1000 times. Everywhere, his recitals were greeted by the public, the press and professional circles with great enthusiasm. "I have been waiting all my life for such an interpretation of Rigoletto's Paraphrase," said Herbert von Karajan once who invited Gruzman to Salzburg. International critics have repeatedly described Shostakovich's trio that he co-founded as one of the best chamber music groups of current days.

Radio and television broadcasters around the world broadcast about 100 of their performances. His adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures of an Exhibition" for the piano trio received special attention worldwide. Likewise, the CD with the Études, Op. 10 and Op. 25 Frédéric Chopin (organophon 90,112) and his CD with works by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Gershwin and Friedrich Gulda (PianoPlay, organophon 90,126) were highly acclaimed.

From 1998 to 2006, Gruzman worked as a lecturer at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater. In 2006, he was appointed professor of Franz Liszt Music University in Weimar. As a pedagogue, Gruzman can contemplate the achievements of many of his students, who have been awarded in several national and international competitions.

From 2005 to 2014, Gruzman was president of the Rachmaninov International Society.

He was artistic director and chairman of the jury of three international Rachmaninov competitions for children and teenagers of different age groups. Gruzman is often the jury of several international competitions abroad.

Since 2006, he is permanent director and chairman of the jury of the Liszt International Young Pianist Competition (every three years in Weimar).

He is also a founding member of the Trialogue Musical ensemble.

In 2013, Gruzman was unanimously elected director of the Institute of Keyboard Instruments at the Weimar Academy of Music.

Valentina Lisitsa is not only the first «YouTube star» of classical music; more importantly, she is the first classical artist to have converted her internet success into a global concert career in the principal venues of Europe, the USA, SouthAmerica and Asia.Washington Post Online wrote: “It’s striking that her playing is relatively straightforward. ‘Straightforward’ is an inadequate term for virtuosity. She does not tart the music up. She does not seek to create a persona, much less impose one on what she is playing. She offers readings that are, when you penetrate through the satin curtains of the soft playing and the thunder of the loud playing, fundamentally honest and direct. You feel you’re getting a strong performer but also a sense of what the piece is like rather than of how Lisitsa plays it. I was impressed, sometimes dazzled and sometimes even taken aback by the ferocity of her fortissimos. And she is also a delicate, sensitive, fluid player who can ripple gently over the keys with the unctuous smoothness of oil.”

She posted her first video on the internet platform YouTube in 2007, a recording of the Etude op. 39/6 by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The views increased staggeringly; more videos followed. The foundation stone of a social-network career unparalleled in the history of classical music was laid. Her YouTube channel now records 346.000 subscribers and 147 million views with an average 75.000 views per day.

For the 125th anniversary of Tchaikovsky’s death, Decca will release a special CD-Box in November 2018: the complete works for solo piano by Tchaikovsky recorded by Valentina Lisitsa (as well as some duets recorded with her husband and duet partner Alexei Kuznetsoff). Some of the works have just recently been rediscovered and were never recorded before.

In 2018/2019, Valentina will play concerts with orchestras in the USA, in Finland, in South Korea, in Italy and in Scotland. Moreover, recitals will bring her to South America (Bogota, Colombia and Joinville, Brazil), Portugal (Sintra and Porto), Italy (Messina and Catania), Istanbul, Prague, Paris, Barcelona and Beijing (NCPA). Furthermore, she will be Artist in Residence at the Internationale Musikfestspiele Saar and the Palermo Classica Festival.
The last season included a tour with the Russian State Philharmonic in Great Britain with concerts in London, Edinburgh, Cambridge and Warwick, as well as a South America Recital Tour to Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro. She was invited to perform at numerous festivals such as the Palermo Classica Festival, Festival der Stille in Kaiserstuhl (Switzerland), Festival Savoy Truffle in Megève (France). Valentina also performed in South Africa, Spain, France, Germany and Belgium, as well as a concert in honor of the King of Taipei.
Highlights of the past seasons were amongst others a sold out concert at Auditorio Nacional with the Spanish National Orchestra, where Valentina played all piano concerts as well as the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergej Rachmaninoff in one evening. With this more or less historical event

Valentina managed to captivate her audience until the very end as one could also read in the press.
A spectacular recital in London's Royal Albert Hall before an audience of 8000 in June 2012 set the seal on her international breakthrough. Listeners had the chance to vote online in advance for their preferred programme – a form of audience participation that has become one of Valentina Lisitsa's "trade marks". The major label DECCA gave Lisitsa an exclusive artist contract, releasing the live recording of the Royal Albert Hall concert only one week later on CD and DVD. In February 2013, Valentina Lisitsa made her debut in the large auditorium of the Berlin Philharmonie and she also appeared at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall London. In 2014 she performed with Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi, with Staatskapelle Dresden at Semperoper, in London's Wigmore Hall and at Prinzregententheater Munich.
Her discography contains amongst others recordings of every piano concert by Sergei Rachmaninoff, works by Chopin, Philipp Glass, Liszt and Scriabin as well as her latest CD «Love Story – Piano Themes from the Cinema’s Golden Age» with major film music from the 1920s.
Valentina Lisitsa is represented worldwide by Natalja Slobodyreva at IMG Artists.

Valentina Lisitsa is represented worldwide by Natalja Slobodyreva at IMG Artists.

Praised by audiences and critics for his sensitive interpretations and refined touch, the italian pianist Angelo Arciglione came to international attention by winning major prizes at numerous international piano competitions, including the 2012 “San Marino” Competition, the 2012 “San Antonio” (Texas) Competition, the 2010 “Hilton Head” Competition, the 2010 “Scriabin” Competition in Grosseto, the 2010 “Schumann Prize”, the 2010 “Porrino” Competition in Cagliari, the 2008 “Iturbi” Competition in Valencia, the 2005 “Pozzoli” Competition in Seregno.

He has performed in major international venues and renowned festivals, including Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Festival dei 2 Mondi in Spoleto, Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Centro Studi Musicali F. Busoni, Auditorium San Barnaba in Brescia, Festival Dino Ciani in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Teatro Orfeo in Taranto, Festival Aosta Classica, Teatro Verdi in Salerno, Miami International Piano Festival, Gasteig in Munich, Steinway Hall in London, Palau de la Musica in Valencia, Governador Pedro Ivo Theater in Brazil, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Hamamatsu Concert Hall and Sendai Grand Hall in Japan, Unisa in South Africa.

He is often featured in many television and radio broadcasts in Italy, Spain, Usa, Brazil, Japan and South Africa. In 2004 he was invited from the prestigious “2 agosto” International Composing Competition in Bologna to premiere the new work of Eddy Serafini “Movimento concertante In antiqua silva obscura…” with the Symphonic Orchestra of Emilia Romagna “Arturo Toscanini”. In 2006 he took part in the performance of the complete Mozart’s Concertos for piano and orchestra with a chamber ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the Festival Opera Barga.

From several years he deals with research, with particular attention to twentieth century music, an attitude already manifested in 2013, when he won the 1st Prize at the "Mencherini" International Contemporary Music Competition in Cagli. His passion for twentieth century Italian music led him to rediscover and record rare repertoires. In 2018, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of the Florentine composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, the monographic CD "Exotica" (label Digressione Music) dedicated to him was released: a world premiere recording of his unpublished pages for solo piano and for violin and piano. The album achieved enthusiastic reviews and gave rise to an extensive recording project. The unpublished manuscripts of the compositions of Castelnuovo-Tedesco rediscovered by Angelo Arciglione will be published by Edizioni Curci. Also in 2018 he performed in Russia the Fantasia and the Concertos for piano and orchestra by Giorgio Federico Ghedini, of rare listening, with the North Caucasus State Philharmonic.

He also has a keen interest in chamber music. He has collaborated with the “Ensemble Le Musiche” of Simone Bernardini, with the singers Laura Polverelli and Raffaella Lupinacci and with the violinists Alissa Margulis, Maria Kouznetsova, Anna Mazor, Silvia Mazzon and Caroline Loeffler in the performance of Mozart's (2006) and Beethoven's (2007) complete Sonatas for violin and piano in several important italian venues.

Born in Acri in 1982, Arciglione studied with Maria Tipo and Elisso Virsaladze at the “Scuola di Musica di Fiesole” (Florence) and obtained a Master of Music degree with honours from the Music Conservatory of Siena. His artistic training was enriched also by the masterclasses with Pietro De Maria, Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Lonquich, Boris Petrushansky, Boris Berman, Fou Ts’ong, Dmitri Bashkirov and Lilya Zilberstein. He also graduated summa cum laude at the “Accademia di Santa Cecilia” in Rome.

He lives in Florence. To the intense concert duties, he always adds an intense work in the teaching field, with courses and masterclasses at Music Conservatories in Italy and International Music Institutions. Currently he is piano professor at the Music Conservatory of Modena. He received the Award for Teaching in many music competitions thanks to the numerous successes achieved by his students and is often invited to sit on the jury in prestigious national and international competitions. Since 2013 he is the founder and Artistic Director of the “Campus Musica Acri” (summer masterclasses & festival) in Calabria.