ARGENTINA / PORTUGAL

Fernando Severo Altube was born in 1960 in Salta, Argentina. Pianist, composer, director, writer and educator, his musical career has led him to live in different cultures in various cities around the world. Upon graduation, he was awarded gold medal from the CARLOS LOPEZ BUCHARDO National Conservatory of Music in his native country, with concentration in piano performance, a disciple of Haydèe Loustaunau. In 1989 he received a scholarship from the Soviet Unio to study composition at the P.I. TCHAIKOVSKY State Conservatory in Moscow, graduating in 1995 as Master of Fine Arts in the fields of Composition and as Professor of Theoretical Musical Subjects. As a solo pianist and in chamber music he has performed recitals in Argentina - including the Teatro Colón's "Salón Dorado" in Buenos Aires; Russia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, the U.S.A and the Netherlands. Among his awards in composition competitions, he's won First Prize: Carlos Guastavino Competition 2023 under the aegis of the Sonus International Music Festival (USA); First Prize: WPTA-IPC International Competition 2017 in Serbia – as composer and performer of his 3rd Piano Sonata; First Prize: Andrés Gaos Competition 1999 (Spain); and First Prize: Juan Carlos Paz Competition 1996 (Argentina). As pianist, he has been awarded twoconsecutive Improvisation Competition Awards (Tchaikovsky Conservatory) and "Recognition Award 2017" by the Argentine Embassy in Portugal.  He has recorded his three piano sonatas. Upcoming projects include a CD with world premieres of works by Argentine and Portuguese composers and a live recital on the Antena2 radio station in Portugal.

ARGENTINA / ITALY

Cristian Axt is an Italian-Argentine composer, music producer, recording engineer, and pianist based in Vienna, born in Buenos Aires. His works have been performed worldwide in concert halls, theaters, and on radio, television, and streaming platforms. Renowned for blending genres such as contemporary, neoclassical, cinematic, ambient, and experimental, Cristian’s music encompasses symphonic, chamber, and ballet compositions. Inspired by Vienna’s rich musical heritage and environmental excellence, he founded Green Affaire, an organization dedicated to promoting environmental awareness through innovative concerts, audiovisual productions, and collaborations with leading European artists. In 2022, Cristian partnered with producer Arpad Hy to launch Waves Affaire Music Production – Vienna. As its creator and CEO, he bridges European classical music with contemporary global sounds, with a particular focus on Latin American performers and repertoire. His recent highlights include the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1 at the National Auditorium of Argentina; the recording, production, and release of LAYERS and MOTO, neoclassical compositions created with violinist Yury Revich and recorded on a 1709 Stradivarius; and the production of Waves Affaire's albums PIAZZOLLA QR by the Grammy-winning QUINTETO REVOLUCIONARIO and the debut album of the TOCUYITO TRIO, celebrated with a concert broadcast on Austrian National Radio. Through his innovative projects and global collaborations, Cristian Axt continues to redefine the intersections of classical and contemporary music. For more information, please visit www.cristianaxt.com

USA

Pianist Andrew Cooperstock performs widely as soloist and chamber musician and has appeared throughout six continents and in most of the fifty states, including performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the United Nations; at the Chautauqua, Brevard, and Round Top music festivals, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, and Hong Kong’s Hell Hot! New Music Festival, and on National Public Radio, Radio France, and the British Broadcasting Corporation. With violinist William Terwilliger, as Opus Two, he has recorded a series of critically acclaimed single-composer discs of American music by Aaron Copland, Paul Schoenfield, George Gershwin, and Stephen Sondheim, among others, and his recording Leonard Bernstein: Complete Solo Works for Piano (Bridge Records and Deutsche Grammophon) was lauded by Gramophone as “winning” and “brilliant.” A Steinway artist, he was recently inducted into the Steinway Piano Music Teachers Hall of Fame. Dr. Cooperstock has served as Program Director of the Saarburg International Music Festival (Germany), faculty member at Adamant Music School, Brevard Music Center, and Round Top Festival-Institute, and is currently Director of the International Chamber Music Seminar Aix-en-Provence and Professor of Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he received the 2020 Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award in Teaching and Pedagogy. Dr. Cooperstock is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the Peabody and Cincinnati Conservatories.

USA

Andrew Gerle is a multi-faceted pianist, theatre creator, author, and educator. After studies with Nancy Roldán and Peter Frankl, he graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and began a career in musical theatre, while continuing to perform classically. He has appeared as piano soloist with the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Yale Symphony, and others, as well as at major music festivals and on National Public Radio and Television. Andrew has served as conductor, accompanist, pianist and musical director for some of Broadway’s biggest names, and has been heard in numerous Broadway pits. An award-winning composer, lyricist, and librettist, Andrew Gerle’s works for the theatre include the musicals Meet John Doe (Jonathan Larson Award, cast album on Broadway Records), Whisper Darkly (concept album released 2024), Glory, Mississippi (Kleban Award, Richard Rodgers Award), The Tutor (three Rodgers Awards), and Prospera (with Fantasticks lyricist Tom Jones). One of the most respected theater educators in the country, Andrew served on the faculty of Yale University for ten years, then became a founding faculty member of the Musical Theatre department at the Manhattan School of Music, where he currently teaches. Andrew is also the author of two popular books for musical theater actors: The Enraged Accompanist’s Guide to the Perfect Audition, and Music Essentials for Singers and Actors. He is currently finishing a 2-disc album of original arrangements with cellist Jennifer Kloetzel.

www.andrewgerle.com

USA

Pianist Daniel Glover has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Mr. Glover trained with Eugene List, Abbey Simon, Jerome Lowenthal, Nancy Bachus and Thomas LaRatta. He holds a master’s degree from New York’s Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship student. He has served on the faculties of New York University, University of the Virgin Islands, University of San Francisco, and Notre Dame de Namur University. He gave his New York Carnegie Recital Hall debut after winning the Artist’s International Competition and was First Prize winner in the Liederkranz Competition in New York City. He currently resides in San Francisco and is a sought-after soloist, adjudicator and teacher. He has performed over 70 concertos with orchestra, on four continents. This includes three world premieres, as well as modern revivals of works that have been neglected. Daniel Glover recently performed the Piano Concerto in D minor by Felix Borowski, a work that had not been performed since its 1914 premiere with the Chicago Symphony.  Lee Actor’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was composed for Mr. Glover and recorded by him with the Slovak National Symphony in 2015.  Mr. Glover served as editor for four editions of music by Dukas, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky for Dover Publications. He has recorded ten CDs and is in the process of recording the Borowski Concerto and Beryl Rubinstein Concerto in C with the Lithuanian National Symphony.  Both will be world premiere recordings. 

ISRAEL / USA

Pianist Gila Goldstein is known as a versatile musician and has captivated audiences around the world with her unique artistry and soulful interpretations. Ms. Goldstein has performed solo recitals, solo with orchestra and chamber performances throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Korea, the Philippines, Europe and Israel. In addition, Ms. Goldstein has been a sought-after pedagogue and has given numerous master classes in the USA, China and Korea. She is currently a member of the piano faculty at Longy School of Music in Boston and a visiting Professor of Piano at Changzhou University in China. A champion of the music of Israel's leading composer Paul Ben-Haim for over two decades, Ms. Goldstein has recorded two volumes of his entire piano and chamber works on the Centaur label. In July 2024 she released a new album on Centaur, “Latin American Piano Gems”, and in February 2025 another new album, “24 Preludes of Dusk and Dawn” by Ronn Yedidia will be released on the Albany record label. Since 1993 Gila Goldstein has served on the board of directors of the American Liszt Society and the founder-president of its NY/NJ Chapter. She obtained her music degrees in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Prof. Nina Svetlanova and from the Tel-Aviv University's School of Music where she studied with Prof. Victor Derevianko. Both her teachers were disciples of the legendary pianist and pedagogue Heinrich Neuhaus.

Please visit her web site, www.gilagoldstein.com & http://www.facebook.com/gilagoldsteinpianist

URUGUAY / USA

Enrique Graf was born in Uruguay. After winning all the national competitions there, he was awarded a full scholarship by the Organization of American States and Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory to study with the great Leon Fleisher. Upon finishing his studies, Graf was the winner of the First Prize in the International Piano Competition "William Kapell", the "USA National Ensemble Competition" and the "East and West International Auditions" in New York. Since then he has performed in recitals, chamber music, and with orchestras on four continents in such venues as Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, South Bay Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, Broward Center for the Arts in Florida, and Carnegie Hall. He has participated in the festivals of San Miguel de Allende, Chautauqua, Music Fest Perugia and Spoleto International Piano Festival, Festivals of Santa Maria and Natal in Brazil, Kiev Music Festival among others.

He has performed at the Argentinian Mozarteum, the Cultural Centers of São Paulo and Manila, and the Beethoven Society of Europe at St. Martin in the Fields and St. James Piccadilly in London. Graf is one of the most renowned piano teachers and has given master classes at distinguished universities such as Carnegie-Mellon and Yale, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Hong Kong Academy of Arts, the National University of Korea, the Federal University of São Paulo, Peabody, Oberlin, Boston and Eastman Conservatories. He has been a member of the jury and his students have been winners in numerous national and international competitions.

www.EnriqueGraf.com

USA

American pianist Joseph Kingma, praised by the New York Concert Review as “…a rare gift…showing the command of a master and a composer’s insight",  enjoys a varied career as both a performer and educator. As a concert pianist, Kingma has won awards in several major piano competitions, including first prize at the 2017 Franz Liszt International Piano Festival and Competition. His prolific performance career has included appearances with the Gulf Coast Symphony, Bartlesville Symphony, Rapides Symphony, Monroe Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota, Louisiana Piano Series International, Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, among many others. He has also served as guest artist for the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, Masterworks Festival, and SONUS International Music Festival. In addition to performing, Kingma enjoys working with aspiring pianists. He served on faculty at Louisiana College and Palm Beach Atlantic University before opening Kingma Piano Studio, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His students have won awards in competitions, performed with orchestras, and been accepted to major music programs. He has also been invited to share his insights by universities and music teacher associations across the United States, including the 2023 Mississippi State Music Teachers Association conference, where he served as Guest Artist. Kingma’s early studies were with Elena Arseniev, Philip Pletcher, Aviram Reichert, and Deborah Moriarty. He earned his B.M. and M.M. at Rice University with Robert Roux, and his D.M.A at the University of Texas at Austin with Anton Nel. www.josephkingma.com

ARGENTINA / SWITZERLAND

Fernando Viani is an Argentine pianist who has captivated audiences worldwide with his exceptional technical skills and profound musical interpretations. Often compared to legendary South American virtuosos like Martha Argerich and Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Viani has established himself as one of the greats of classical piano. Critic Peter Cossé described him as "a rising star in the tradition of Latin American pianistic excellence." He began his musical studies with Prof. Dora de Marinis in Mendoza and later trained under Sontraud Speidel at Karlsruhe Music University. His artistry was further refined under the mentorship of Marisa Somma, who played a key role in shaping his interpretative style. Viani has won numerous awards, including first prizes in the Alberto Williams and Ciudad de Lincoln Competitions, as well as a gold medal for his interpretation of Argentine works. Viani has performed in prestigious venues across five continents, including the Baden-Baden Festival Hall, Kirchner Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires, Redpath Hall in Montréal, and Casino Bern in Switzerland. He has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Philharmonie Baden-Baden and Argentina’s Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. His repertoire includes European classics and works by Argentine composers like Alberto Ginastera, whose complete piano works he recorded to critical acclaim. As a professor at the Bern Conservatory and founder of the Melvin Music Academy, Viani has mentored students who have won over 200 competition prizes. He continues to share his expertise through masterclasses and research, contributing to the global classical music community. More information at

www.fernando-Viani.com

TURKEY

In 1992, Yakar Birol began her piano and composition studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul State Conservatory.
She won the Yamaha Foundation Piano Competition in 2002 and received the Honorable Mention award at the Eczacıbaşı National Composition Competition. The work was recorded by the İzmir State Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, she was accepted to Hochschule für Musik Saar (Germany), where she continued her studies in the piano classes of Prof. Thomas Duis and Prof. Fedele Antonicelli. During this period, she also attended the chamber music classes of Prof. Eduard Brunner and Prof. Tatevik Mokatsian. Yakar Birol received her Soloist Diploma in 2009. Her significant piano recordings and concerts in Europe include the Schwetzingen Mozart Festival, SR-2 Kultur Radio recordings, and performances as a soloist with the Luxembourg Sinfonietta at the Luxembourg Philharmonic and Metz Arsenal in France. Her project with the Luxembourg Sinfonietta was published as a CD album by Edition Lgnm. She has performed in Turkey's leading concert halls. In 2021, she won second prize at the Sonus International Competition and performed at the gala concert in Washington, D.C. In the same year, her first solo album as a pianist and composer, “Saygun'a Saygı,” was released by Çağsav Music. In 2024, İnci Yakar Birol received the title of Professor. While continuing her career as a performer, she serves as a jury member in international competitions and teaches at M.S.G.S.U Istanbul State Conservatory.