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January 2013
USASU International Piano Competition
ASU Herberger Institute
School of Music
Honorary Advisory Board
Sulamita Aronovsky, UK
Jaime Ingram, Panama
Jerome Lowenthal, USA
Garrick Ohlsson, USA
Menahem Pressler, USA
Pnina Salzman, Israel (in memoriam)
The 5th Bösendorfer and Schimmel USASU International Piano Competitions
Jury
| Baruch Meir, Chairman Israel/USA |
Aleksandar Serdar Serbia |
| Michael Christie USA* |
Ilana Vered Israel/USA |
| Sofya Gulyak Russia |
Tamas Vesmas France |
| Robert Hamilton USA |
"...Baruch Meir is an exceptional artist, he did a beautiful performance of my piano
work entitled A LITTLE SUITE FOR CHRISTMASS which was distinguished by
deep musical insights and consummate technical skill. It was certainly one of the very
finest performances this work of mine has ever received."
– George Crumb, composer; 1968 Pulitzer Prize in Music; 2001 Grammy award; 2004 Musical America "composer of the year"
Pianist Baruch Meir has performed extensively in Austria, China, England, France, Israel, Portugal, Serbia and throughout the United States. Meir has recently presented two solo recitals at the Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna, as well as at the Bauman Auditorium in Portland (Bösendorfer Concert Series), Dixon Hall in New Orleans, Wise Auditorium in Jerusalem, Bates Hall in Austin, Murphy Hall in Los Angeles and at the Toujours Mozart Festival in Salzburg. In 2008 he performed five recitals for the National Concert Season in Serbia. Currently an Artist/Teacher Associate Professor of Piano at Arizona State University, Meir maintains a busy teaching schedule in addition to his international concert career. In demand as master class clinician, Meir toured Korea's most prestigious music schools and universities including Seoul National University, Yonsei, Kookmin, Hanyang, Sunhwa, Kyoungbook and Seoul Arts High School, as well as at the Shanghai Conservatory in China and the middle-school affiliated to the conservatory (2005 & 2007), the Music Academy in Vienna (Austria), the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem (Israel), the Manhattan School of Music in NY and various conservatories and universities in the US.
A native of Israel, Meir is a summa cum laude graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music of Tel Aviv University, where he earned both bachelor and master degrees in piano performance. He holds the Artist Diploma from
the Royal College of Music in London and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from ASU. His teachers include
Rachel Gordon, Valter Aufheuser, Pnina Salzman, Michael Bugoslavsky, Irina Zaritskaya and Robert Hamilton.
Meir's distinctions include the American-Israel Cultural Foundation Awards, the British Council fellowship,
1st place at the Klatzkin Competition for contemporary piano music and the ASU concerto competition, and
additional awards in piano competitions worldwide. Dr. Meir is the Founder, President & Artistic Director
of the Bösendorfer & Schimmel USASU International Piano Competitions which he organized through a
partnership between the Arizona Young Artist Committee, The Herberger Institute School of Music and the
European Bösendorfer and Schimmel piano companies.
At Arizona State University, professor Meir maintains a class of outstanding pianists from all over the world.
His students were awarded more than 43 prizes in various competitions within the past several years, including
1st Prize at the 2008 Schimmel USASU International Senior Piano Competition for Young Pianists, 1st
Prize at the Young Concert Artist International Competition and the 1st Prize at Washington International Piano Artists Competition, to name only a few. His students regularly participate in summer music festivals
throughout the US and Europe including Aspen, Adamant, Brevard, Schlern, TCU/Cliburn Institute, IIYM,
Prague, New- Paltz, Wasserman, Mannes and Tel-Hai. In July 2009, Meir will join the piano faculty at
Musicfest Perugia in Italy (http://www.musicfestperugia.com).
Baruch Meir is one of only 65 artists worldwide named Bösendorfer Concert Artist since the founding of the company in 1828.
Michael Christie became the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony in August 2005 and Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic in September 2005. With his orchestras, he has embarked on a series of ambitious projects focusing on interdisciplinary collaborations with visual artists, dance companies and theatre groups, as well as contemporary composers such as Gorecki, Ligeti, Adams, Golijov and Tan Dun. He is also Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival, where he has been much praised for his innovative programming and where festival audiences are now at an all-time high.
Christie made his New York Philharmonic debut in March 2007, stepping in for an ailing Riccardo Muti. In previous seasons, he has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony, among many others. In the 2008-2009 season, Christie returned to the St. Louis Symphony and made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra. In the 2009-2010 season, Christie made his debut conducting The Ghosts of Versailles at the Wexford Festival. This production, a collaborative effort with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and directed by James Robinson, won the 2010 Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Opera. He conducted the opera again at the Aspen Music Festival in August 2010. In upcoming seasons he will make his debut with the Minnesota Opera and return to the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
In Europe his career has been equally successful, with past engagements including the DSO Berlin, Orchestre National de Lille, Swedish Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, NDR Hannover Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic. His ties to orchestras in Scandinavia have been particularly strong with engagements in all five countries.
He enjoys a strong profile in Australia, where aside from his role as Chief Conductor of the Queensland Orchestra (which ended in December 2004), he has also conducted the Sydney Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Opera Queensland and the Western Australian Symphony in Perth.
Michael Christie has also established an excellent reputation as an opera conductor and he has regularly conducted both operas and ballet performances at the Opernhaus Zürich. He has a special relationship with the Zurich Opera House, where he was Assistant Conductor to Franz Welser-Möst (a position created especially for him) in the 1997–1998 season. That season he made his highly successful debut conducting performances of Romeo and Juliet and a new production of Hansel and Gretel. He has also worked with the Finnish National Opera, where he conducted The Marriage of Figaro in 1999–2000 and with the Queensland Opera where he made his debut conducting Cosi Fan Tutte the same season. In March 2004 he made his highly successful opera debut in The Netherlands conducting John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. In June 2009, Christie made his U.S. debut conducting staged opera with a new production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Michael Christie first came to international attention in 1995 when he was awarded a special prize for “Outstanding Potential” at the First International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in Helsinki. Following the competition, he was invited to become an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and subsequently worked with Daniel Barenboim in Chicago and at the Berlin State Opera during the 1996–1997 season.
Michael graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance. He is married to Alexis, a physician and they have a daughter, Sinclair, born in 2008.
In September 2009 Sofya Gulyak was awarded the 1st prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Sixteenth Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman who has achieved this distinction in the history of this competition.
Sofya Gulyak’s resume includes prizes at many prestigious piano competitions: she is a 1st prize winner of William Kapell International piano competition in USA, Maj Lind Helsinki International piano competition, Tivoli piano competition in Copenhagen, Gyeongnam International piano competition in South Korea, San Marino piano competition, 2nd prize winner( first not awarded) of Busoni competition in Italy and 3rd prize winner of Marguerite Long piano competition in Paris.
Sofya Gulyak is a native of Kazan (Russia) where she studied in a Special Music College and then in Kazan State Conservaoire under professor Elfiya Burnasheva. Ms.Gulyak graduated also from “Ecole Normale de music de Paris Alfred Cortot” with the highest distinction. She continued her studying in Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestri” (Imola,Italy) with Boris Petrushansky and in Royal College of Music with Vanessa Latarche.
Recitals and concert appearances have been numerous, with Ms.Gulyak having performed in various cities in Russia, Poland, France, Italy, Germany, Finland, United Kingdom, Norway, USA, Japan, Portugal, Switzeland, Morocco, Greece, South Korea. She performed in Sala Verdi in Milan, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Big concert Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Sala Bossi in Bologna, Finlandia Concert Hall in Helsinki, Leeds Town Hall, Salle Moliere in Lyon, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, King Theatre in Rabat, Kursaal in Bern, Tivoli concert Hall in Copenhagen.
Sofya Gulyak appeared as a soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Symphony Orchestra, Oulu Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Morocco Orchestra, Copenhagen Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Baltimore Symphony, Kazan Symphony, Samara Symphony, Kazan Chamber Orchestra. She participated in many festivals, such as Festival du Sceaux, Festival d’Annecy, International Keyboard Festival in New York, Liszt Festival in Villa d’Este, Nordlys festival in Norway, Ravello Festival, Sorrento Music Festival.
Ms. Gulyak has beed honored with the role of scholar for the Rostropovich Foundation and Russian President Foundation. Recently, Ms. Gulyak also participated as a member of the jury at international piano competitions in Italy, Serbia and Greece.
Her performances were broadcasted on radio and TV stations in Russia, Poland, France, Italy, USA, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom.
Future highlights include appearances with Rome Symphony Orchestra, Rio de Janeiro Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, tour with Halle Orchestra, tour in Asia, recitals in Sala Verdi in Milan, Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Kennedy-center in Washington, Hercules Saal in Munich,as well as Klavier Ruhr Festival, Chopin Festival in Duzniki-Zdroj, Harrogate festival, Busoni festival and the Krakow piano Festival.
Internationally respected pianist and recording artist Robert Hamilton has been enthusiastically reviewed by two chief music critics for The New York Times. Harold C. Schonberg (who also authored The Great Pianists) wrote: "He is a very fine artist. All of Hamilton's playing has color and sensitivity...one of the best of the million or so around." And Donal J. Henahan reported: "It was an enthralling listening experience. We must hear this major talent again and soon!"
Robert Hamilton studied at Indiana University with the first winner of the coveted Levintritt award, Sidney Foster and graduated summa cum laude. A move to New York City brought studies with Dora Zaslavsky of the Manhattan School, coaching from legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz and a host of monetary awards from the Rockefeller Fund and U.S. State Department, launching a strong career and the winning of five major international competitions.
Hamilton has made countless tours of four continents, appearing in the major music capitals. His orchestral engagements have included the Chicago, National, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Grant Park, Chautauqua and S.O.D.R.E symphony orchestras. Hamilton has been heard over networks NPR, ABC, BBC London, Voice of America, Armed Forces Network, DRS Zurich and Radio Warsaw. He has recorded for Phillips, Orion and Summit Records. A recent 2004 release brought this comment from Audiophile Audition: "Hamilton has a blazingly brilliant approach to this repertory, delivering powerful, often breathtaking interpretations. Exposure will make any future hearing of these works seem pallid." The American Record Guide added: "Hamilton's playing is full of integrity, rare brilliance and grandeur. This is a pianist I would like to have studied with."
Professor Hamilton's students have also won many prizes and awards, appearing with the Indianapolis Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Hudson Valley Symphony, London Westminster Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonie d'Avignon , Kammerorchester Dusseldorf, Pazardjik National Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Gakuen Philharmonic and Korea Symphony.
Featured in the book The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in the USA, Hamilton also served as artistic director of the London Piano Festival during the 1990s. Since the year 2000, he has joined with Vladimir Feltsman and a distinguished group of prominent international pianists each July for PianoSummer in New York. Robert Hamilton is an official Steinway Artist.
Pianist Aleksandar Serdar won several international competition awards including the Monza, Carlo Zecchi and Vercelli in Italy, Palm Beach and Cincinnati in the USA and the 4th prize at the Arthur Rubinstein competition in Tel Aviv. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Aleksandar Serdar graduated from the Art Academy of Novi Sad and received his Master of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore where he studied with Leon Fleisher for five years. Later he continued his studies with Sergio Perticaroli at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome. Currently, Serdar is a Professor of Piano at Academy of Arts in Belgrade and at the Faculty of Arts in Nis, both in Serbia. Aleksandar Serdar performed in Italy (Conservatory hall in Milano, Palermo, Venezia, Roma, Bari, Trento, Reggio, Torino), the United States (namely at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Washington DC), France (Paris-Musee d'Orsay, Auditorium du Louvre, Theatre du Chatelet, Nice, Lion, Orleon, Marseil, Toulouse and Festivals such as La Roque d'Antheron, Sully sur Loire, St.Riquier, Piano Jacobin, Radio France Montpelier), Switzerland (at the prestigious Zurich Tonehalle), Russia (at the Saint Petersburg festival and in Moscow), Israel, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia (in Ljubljana, Bled Festival, Celje, Gorizia), Croatia (Zagreb and Dubrovnik Summer Festival), Brazil, Peru, Portugal (Lisabon festival Folles Journeaus),Maroco, Lebanon (Bustani Festival in Beirut),Thailand, Japan, Canada, Luxembourg, Germany (Munich, Nuremberg, Hamburg-Schwlesi Holstain festival). Aleksandar Serdar played with such orchestras as the Dresden Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Bremen Philharmonic, Slovenian Philharmonic, Sophia Philharmonic, San Jose Philharmonic, Cincinnati Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Belgrade Philharmonic, Zagreb Philharmonic, Athens Philharmonic, Vancouver Island Symphony, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Santa Cecilia and with conductors Marcello Viotti, Erich Kunzel, Emil Tabakov, Mendi rodan, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Milan Natchev and Jeansuk Kahidze. Serdar's CD, released by EMI Classics, in 1988 arouse strong interest from promoters and the press. His second double disc has been released in Luxembourg in December 2004. He has recently recorded a first CD for the Serbian discographic house PGP with an all-Baroque repertoire. "Aleksandar Serdar is clearly thoughtful musician with imagination and personality" - Gramophone, February 1999.
Ilana Vered is synonymous with vibrant piano virtuosity since the earliest days of this compelling artist's career. "Shattering," "magnificent," "dazzling," "splendid" are words critics have used all over the world to describe her on the concert stage. Renowned for the white-hot intensity of her performances, Vered now comes before her public as a musician whose art has achieved a rare balance between passion and intellect, temperament and reflection.
Vered, who has repeatedly demonstrated sovereign musical and technical command over some forty-five concertos – from Bach to Berg – has already recorded for the London label highly lauded versions of the concertos of Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. She has committed to disc the complete set of Beethoven's five piano concertos with the
Warsaw Philharmonic under the baton of Kazimierz Kord, released in late 1993 by the ProArte label. Vered has to her credit a highly-praised version of the complete Chopin Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25, a brilliant recording of the complete Moszkowski Etudes, both for Connoir Records and Connoisseur Records has release a disc entitled 25 Virtuoso Etudeson which Vered offers new readings of concert etudes by Chopin, Schumann, Paganini-Liszt and Debussy.
Vered began playing the piano at the age of three and later attended the Paris Conservatory where she studied with the eminent pianist Vlado Perlemuter. Born in Israel, she graduated from the Paris Conservatory at fifteen and completed her studies at the Juilliard School in New York City under the tutorship of Rosina Lhevinne, Nadia Reisenberg and Aube Tzerko. She made her debut as one of the first winners of the Young Concert Artists International Competition.
She has been heard in recital in virtually all of the music centers of the world and has been engaged and re-engaged as soloist with the leading orchestras of our time: the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Japan NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic. She has performed as soloist under the batons of most of the world's finest conductors, including Stokowski, Solti, Mehta, Kempe, Kondrashin, Tilson Thomas, de Waart, Slatkin, Comissiona, Conlon, Davis, Sanderling, Cassadesus, Bertini, Weller, Sawalich, Atzmon, Leppard, rodan, Judd, Foster, Bamert, Janson and Vanska. A regular participant in summer festivals, Vered has made appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Chicago's Ravinia Festival, Tanglewood, Caramoor, Cleveland's Blossom Festival, the Meadow-brooks Festival in Detroit and at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl.
Vered is a chamber musician of distinction and has appeared with important chamber ensembles throughout the world. She is noted particularly for her frequent performances with the Tokyo String Quartet. A highlight of this collaboration was Vered's world premiere performance with the ensemble of Ezra Laderman's Piano Quintet at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. This work, which was written for Vered and the Tokyo String Quartet, was later recorded by them for the RCA label.
Tamas Vesmas was born in Romania and began studying piano and composition at the age of ten under Professor Ella Philipp. His career as a soloist began at the age of fourteen with recitals and appearances with leading symphony orchestras throughout Romania. He continued his studies at the Bucharest Music Academy as a pupil of Florica Musicescu, Dinu Lipatti’s teacher. In 1962, he won the National Competition for Young Soloists in Bucharest and went on to study in France with professors Yvonne Lefébure and Monique de la Bruchollerie.
His artistry won him numerous prizes at several international piano competitions, including the Gold Medal at the 1968 International Claude Debussy Competition in Paris. That same year he was invited to become an Assistant Professor at the Music Academy in Bucharest.
As a concert pianist, soloist and conductor, Tamas Vesmas has performed with many of the world's major orchestras and ensembles and under such conductors as Simon Rattle, Jean-Claude Casadessus, Janos Fürst, Harry Blech, Kurt Redel, Carlo Zecchi, Mark Elder, Erich Bergel. His extensive chamber music experience includes partnerships with Nathan Milstein, György Pauk, Boris Bermann, Peter Frankl, Heinz Holliger, Boris Belkin, Mark Lubotsky, Cho-Liang Lin, to name a few.
His tours and appearances at major music festivals throughout five continents have included such venues as the Queen Elizabeth Hall's South Bank Piano Recital Series and the Wigmore Hall in London, the Théatre des Champs-Elysées and the Salle Pleyel in Paris.
He has been repeatedly invited to chair juries of numerous piano and chamber music competitions, as well as to conduct master classes world wide. He has also held distinguished teaching positions, such as Professor of Piano Studies and Chamber Music at the School of Music, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Tamas Vesmas is the founder and first Musical Director of the Auckland Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra and founder and Director of the Auckland International Piano Festival.
Tamas Vesmas’ numerous recordings can be found under various labels including Kiwi/Pacific Records (a prize-winning Brahms Album), 'ARS Studiofrance' and Ode Records. Recent CD releases under Ode Records include: "Eastern European Piano Music", "Western European Piano Music", an album of music by Alfred Schnittke for Cello and Piano, the Complete Works for Cello and Piano by Prokofiev with cellist Alexander Ivashkin and an album of Piano Music by Bela Bartok. These recordings are complemented by an album on the BMG label (New Zealand Ltd.) featuring piano music by Debussy and Bartok, as well as a double CD dedicated to Debussy’s 24 Preludes (The complete Books 1 and 2) released in January 2000 on the Atoll label (referenced ACD 599). His interpretation of Beethoven’s Last Three Piano Sonatas op.109, op.110 and op.111 has been released on DVD in 2008 under the McCarthy Communications label. Tamas Vesmas’ life and artistic activities have also been the subject of a 2004 documentary film produced by Romanian Television.
Tamas Vesmas is now living in Paris continuing a rich international musical career as a freelance musician, conducting master classes, accepting frequent invitations to various international piano competitions.
