Ludmil Angelov graduated from the National Academy of Music »prof. Pancho Vladigerov« in Sofia. He has won prizes and diplomas at many international competitions, including the Senigallia, Chopin Competition Warsaw, Palm Beach International Competition, Piano Masters and World Piano Masters Tour. Ludmil Angelov has performed at major concert halls, such as the Philharmonie in Berlin, Musikverein and Staatsoper in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Pleyel and Gaveau in Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Lincoln Centre in New York, among many others. Ludmil Angelov teaches at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, where he has been an Honorary Professor since 2013. He gives masterclasses all over the world and has served as a jury member at many international competitions, including the Chopin Competition Warsaw (2010, 2015, 2021). In November 2011 he was awarded the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis by the Polish Ministry of Culture for his contribution to the international promotion of Polish music. Angelov is a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Toledo, Spain, where he directed the Toledo International Music Festival for 21 years. He is also the founder of the festivals Piano Extravaganza and Cameralia in Sofia.

Alberto Nosè is one of the most awarded piano artists of his generation. His musical education started at the Verona Conservatory and continued at the Imola International Academy Foundation »Incontri con il Maestro«. His artistic development has been also enriched by studying with M. Pollini, M. Perahia, A. Jasinski, P. Badura-Skoda, M. Beroff, and A. Vardi, among others. Nose has received the top prizes in competitions such as the Monte-Carlo Piano Masters, New York Concert Artists, Paloma O’Shea in Santander, Long-Thibaud in Paris, Maj Lind in Helsinki, and Busoni in Bolzano. He was laureate at the Chopin Competition Warsaw in 2000, which opened the door to an international career as a soloist as well as performing with major orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France, Symphony Orchestra) in venues like Carnegie Hall, the Southbank Centre, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Théâtre du Châtelet and Pleyel Hall in Paris, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires, La Fenice Theatre in Venice, and Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome. He has been a jury member in many international piano competitions held in cities such as Kyiv, Tbilisi, New York, Hong Kong, Helsinki, Budapest, Graz, Ljubljana, and Warsaw, and he is also co-founder of the International Amadeus Competition in Lazise, Italy. Alberto Nose` is currently a professor of piano at the Verona Conservatory of Music, and is a member of the faculty of the International Accademia Amadeus in Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy.

The acclaimed Slovenian pianist Tomaž Petrač graduated with distinction from the Ljubljana Academy of Music in the class of D. Tomšič Srebotnjak. He went on to study in Basel (Switzerland) for four years, at the end of which he received a concert diploma in the class of R. Buchbinder. He received the 1988 student Prešeren Award from the University of Ljubljana. To date, he has performed at many concerts at home and abroad. As a soloist, he has performed in many famous cultural centres and halls with various orchestras such as the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Maribor Chamber Orchestra, the DSS Soloist Chamber Orchestra, the FMU Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade, the Varaždin Chamber Orchestra, the SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, and with conductors A. Nanut, M. Munih, M. Letonja, S. Robinson, H. Rodmann, N. Alexeev etc. He often gives concerts with acclaimed Slovenian and international musicians. Tomaž Petrač is currently a Full Professor at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

I am extremely pleased that Slovenia, and more precisely Ljubljana, will at last have an International Piano Competition.

It is an honour for me to be president of an international jury at the first Festival Ljubljana International Piano Competition in February 2023.  I hope and expect that the competition will be successful and that gradually it will become one of the great, prestigious world piano competitions.

he Slovenian pianist and Emeritus Professor Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak has for many years been considered Slovenia’s No. one cultural ambassador. This exceptional musician is the first lady amongst Slovenian musicians in promoting Slovenian pianism to all parts of the World.
Ms. Tomšič began her piano studies at age 4 with Zora Zarnik in Ljubljana. At age twelve she continued her studies in the USA at the famous Juilliard School in New York, with Katherine Bacon, and at seventeen she graduated with distinction and two special prizes. She then spent two years studying with the famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein. She gave her first public recital at age of 5 in Dubrovnik and from then onwards has not stopped performing for 77 years. Her magnificent piano career with over 5,000 concerts has taken her to the most prestigious world concert halls on all continents, performing in recitals, at important music festivals and as soloist with major, great orchestras and famous conductors.
Her repertoire includes works for piano from the Baroque to the 21st century and around 50 piano concertos. She has made recordings for important radio and television stations around the world. Since 1987 her playing has been recorded on almost 100 CDs by different record labels. In 2003 she won the “Grand Prix du Disque” from Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc Society for the CD of the year featuring works by Franz Liszt.
As a young pianist she won many international piano competitions and is now a jury member of many important international piano competitions throughout the world. She has been teaching at the Ljubljana Academy of Music since 1966. In 2013 the University of Ljubljana conferred upon her the title of Emeritus Professor.
Ms. Tomšič has also held masterclasses throughout Europe and the USA. For her artistic achievements she has received numerous prizes and awards both at home and abroad, including the Prešeren Prize, Župančič Prize, Golden Lyre, Avnoj award, Golden medal of St. Fortunatus Mainz, Order of Merit for the Nation with silver rays, Golden plaque of the University of Ljubljana, Orlando Award for 1978 and 2005 (Dubrovnik Summer Festival).
Since 1995 she has been an honorary member of the Slovenian Philharmonic and in 2005 she became Honorary Citizen of Ljubljana. On December 1, 2015, the University of Ljubljana proclaimed her a Honorary Senator for her important contribution to the international reputation of the University of Ljubljana. In 2018 the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, conferred on her the Golden Order of Merit for her life’s work and an exceptional opus of performances in Slovenia and in the world.

The German pianist Robert Benz received his first piano lessons at the age of four. After being taught by N. Taneda at the University of Music Karlsruhe, where he also graduated in conducting, he went to the Juilliard School New York as a student of R. Lhevinne and M. Canin. Benz became famous as the winner of the first prize of both the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano 1974, and the International Liszt-Barto`k Piano Competition in Budapest 1976. He started his wide-ranging career as a recitalist and soloist playing with orchestras around the world. Benz’s recordings include all 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven for the label Thorofon. In 1990, he became professor of piano at the University of Music Mannheim, and then decided to withdraw as a soloist and concentrate on chamber music. Since 1996 Benz has been the pianist of Trio Bamberg, and together they have performed and recorded most of the piano trio repertoire. In 2005 he became artistic director of the Ettlingen International Piano Competition. Today Robert Benz enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, and regularly serves as a jury member at international competitions.

Despite his youth, Ricardo Castro was exceptionally accepted to join the School of Music and Performing Arts of the Federal University of Bahia at only 5 years of age. In 1984 he began his studies in Europe, joining the Superior Conservatory of Music in Geneva in the virtuosity class of M. Tipo, while also attending the conducting class of A. Gerecz. He completed his piano studies in Paris with D. Merlet. In 1987 he was the exaequo winner of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, which kickstarted his international career. In 1993 Castro also received the first prize at the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in England, becoming the first Latin American to win the competition since its foundation. Throughout his career, he has played or conducted in some of the most important concert halls in the world alongside great and renowned orchestras. He has been a professor at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne in Switzerland and at a prestigious school the Fiesole School of Music. From September 2020 on he’s engaged as a piano teacher at the prestigious Haute École de Musique de Geneve and from 2021 he is also head of the keyboard department. Invited by the Government of the State of Bahia, Castro created NEOJIBA (State Centers for Youth and Children Orchestras of Bahia). In 2013, he became the first Brazilian to receive the Honorary Membership from the Royal Philharmonic Society.

Leonel Morales is a professor at the Sommerakademie in Salzburg and at the Alfonso X el Sabio Univeristy in Madrid, Exclusive Artist of Yangtze River Piano, Artistic Director and Founder of the Maria Herrero in La Rioja and the Spanish Composer International Piano Competition and academic member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville. He graduated from the University of Havana under the tutelage of F. Fernandez. He carried out postgraduate studies with D. Voskresensky and J. Latainer. He gives masterclasses in places such as the Mozarteum in Salzburg, as well as in Korea, Italy, Mexico, France, Belgium, and China. He was awarded the prestigious “Tasto D´Argento 2008” for his international career. On tours in the US with the Spanish National Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, he has had the opportunity to play in the most important concert halls in North America, such as Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. Over his career he has worked with many major Spanish and international conductors such as F. de Burgos, E. García Asensio, M. Tardue, G. Pehlivaniam, F. Krager, Y. Traub, P. Baleff, and E. Shao etc.

Barry Douglas has established a major international career since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow. As Artistic Director of Camerata Ireland and the Clandeboye Festival, he continues to celebrate his Irish heritage whilst also maintaining a busy international touring schedule. Barry regularly plays in recitals throughout the world, he has previously given concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Staatskapelle, Hallé Orchestra, L’Orchestre National de France, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Barry Douglas received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2002 New Year’s Honours List for services to music. Barry is an exclusive Chandos recording artist. He recently completed recording the full works for solo piano of Brahms, and he is also exploring Irish folk music through his own arrangements.

Violetta Egorova was accepted into the Moscow Central Music School for Gifted Children at the age of 6. Her early career was mentored by the “Godfather of the Russian Piano School” L. Naumov. She has appeared at many important international musical festivals and performs regularly, as a guest artist, with renowned orchestras. Her concerts have been featured in some of the most important concert halls. Egorova’s repertoire encompasses a wide variety of eras and styles, from concertos and solo monographic works by Schubert, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Liszt, to those by contemporary composers. She has won top prizes in several piano competitions: Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition, Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, »G. B. Viotti« International Music Competition, and many others. Since 2022, Egorova is a professor of piano at the Conservatory of Music Alessandro Scarlatti in Palermo. She is also the president and founder of the Sergei Rachmaninov International Award; the artistic director of the International Festival Moscow ConcertFest, and an active member of the International Informatization Academy.

Cyprien Katsaris graduated from the Paris Conservatory. He has won the International Rostrum of Young Interpreters – UNESCO, the First Prize in the International Cziffra Competition and was the only Western European prize-winner at the 1972 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. His major international career includes performances with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam, London Philharmonia, NHK Symphony Orchestra from Tokyo, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and Beijing Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with conductors such as L. Bernstein, K. Masur, M. Whun Chung, Sir N. Marriner, Sir S. Rattle, A. Doráti, M. Rostropovich, Ch. Dutoit, N. Harnoncourt, C. von Dohnányi and K. Münchinger. Cyprien Katsaris has been named an Artist of UNESCO for Peace, Commandeur de l’Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg and Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also received the Médaille Vermeil de la Ville de Paris and the Nemitsas Prize.

With over 50 concertos in her repertoire, the pianist Anne-Marie McDermott has performed with many leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Dallas, Columbus, Seattle, National, Houston, Colorado and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras, Moscow Virtuosi and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. McDermott has also toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi. In addition to her many achievements, Anne-Marie McDermott has been named the Artistic Director of the famed Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado. She is also Artistic Director of two new festivals – the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival and Avila Chamber Music Celebration in Curaçao. She is also a member of the renowned piano quartet, Opus One, with her colleagues Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom and Peter Wiley. As a chamber music performer, McDermott was named an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center. McDermott studied at the Manhattan School of Music with D. Carra, C. Keene and J. Browning.