Akari Bastiaens, piano (Belgium) and Linda Yuan, piano (Germany)

Akari Bastiaens (2012) first appeared on stage at the age of five. A year later she won the Steinway Piano Competition in Belgium, where she also received the award for the best overall performance. She has also won first prizes and special awards at several other national and international competitions, including the MozArte International Festival and Piano Competition in Aachen, the International Piano Competition for Young Musicians in Enschede, the Princess Christina Competition and the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia. Since 2019, she has been studying at the Junior Deparment of Conservatory in Maastricht, where she initially honed her skills under Joop Celis and, from September 2025 onward, she has been continuing her studies under Ashley Wass. Since 2022, she has also studied at the Davidsbündler Music Academy in The Hague with Tatiana Abaieva and Borys Fedorov. She regularly attends masterclasses with Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden. Akari has already performed at prestigious venues and festivals, including the Arte Amanti International Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival and International Festival Vocallis, and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras. Her outstanding performances at various competitions have earned her invitations to perform with the Philips Symphony Orchestra and the Euregio Youth Orchestra, with concerts planned for the 2025/2026 season.

Linda Yuan (2010) has been playing the piano since she was four and is already enrolled at the music academies in Hanover and Rostock. She studies under Uwe Balser, Roland Krüger, Matthias Kirschnereit and other distinguished professors. Her musical path has also been shaped by masterclass mentors, such as Arie Vardi, Dang Thai Son and Janina Fialkowska. She has won over thirty first prizes and special awards at national and international competitions, including the Franz Liszt International Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar, the Carl Maria von Weber International Piano Competition in Dresden, the International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Kronberg and the 32nd International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia. She is a scholarship recipient of the German Foundation Music Life and the Music Academy in Liechtenstein. She made her solo debut at the age of ten and has since performed at festivals in Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States. She has performed at concerts at the Semperoper in Dresden, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Konzerthaus in Berlin and NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston.