Described by Daniel Barenboim as “a highly gifted pianist and musician,” pianist Gabrielius Alekna has built a prolific performance and recording career bridging the cultures of his birth country of Lithuania and his present home of the U.S.
Angelina Gadeliya serves as Artistic Director of the Fryderyk Chopin Society of CT and has been the Assistant Professor in Residence of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of Connecticut in Storrs since 2016.
"Her piano sound rich and resonant, dark and confident throughout. This was one of the most striking performances in NY this entire season." -The New York Sun
“Yang's performance was breathtaking and entrancing in equal measure. What a kaleidoscope of tonal refinement and graduated range of dynamics!" - Cultural Voice of North Carolina
One of the most prominent pianists of his generation, Piotr Alexewicz has been a two-time winner of the National Chopin Competition in Poland. "He demonstrated all the qualities for the highest level of musicianship: genuine and unforced musicality, storytelling, a wide colour palette, and broad dynamic range…” — Victor Lazarov, La Scena Musicale
Founder of the Chopin Society of CT, Sławomir Dobrzański has performed in over twenty countries around the world both as as a soloist and chamber musician. His extensive discography includes the complete piano works of Maria Szymanowska, as well as previously unknown works of Anton de Kontski, Wiktor Labunski, Felis Labunski, and Károly Aggházy.
This season's "Rising Star," Georgi Lekov has won an impressive number of prizes in competitions in his native Bulgaria, as well as in Romania, Cyprus, Belgium, China, and the U.S. He holds a Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Mannes School of Music in NYC and is pursuing his doctorate at UConn where he is a Graduate Assistant.
Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures.
GRAMMY® Award-winning Ukrainian-American pianist Nadia Shpachenko will perform beloved works by Frédéric Chopin paired with Chopin-inspired pieces by Ukrainian composers. The program will also include Connecticut premieres of new compositions by Ludmila Yurina and Ethan Gans-Morse about the war in Ukraine.
Described as "a masterful pianist" by The NY Times, Arthur Greene has a vast discography and serves on the piano faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Hailed as “a startlingly subtle and visionary pianist” with “a rare blend of charm and mastery,” Croatian pianist Aljoša Jurinić is currently a visiting artist at MIT where he is investigating the biomechanics of piano playing.
With an innate aptitude for the piano's vast repertoire, this season's "rising star" Vladimir Rumyantsev stands out for his exceptional virtuosity.
Born in 1932, Jerome Lowenthal continues to fascinate audiences, who find in his playing a combination of youthful intensity and eloquence born of life-experience. Mr. Lowenthal has taught at the Juilliard School for over 30 years and at the Music Academy of the West for 42 summers.
"Israeli-American pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry and creative insight. In addition to his frequent solo appearances with orchestras here and abroad he is widely sought after by colleagues for his versatility and collaborative spirit."
-Los Alamos Daily Post
Antonio Oliveira: Portuguese pianist Antonio Oliveira earned his Master’s degree at The Hartt School as a pupil of Luiz de Moura Castro and has served as piano faculty at the Conservatório de Música do Porto since 2002
"Her piano sound rich and resonant, dark and confident throughout. This was one of the most striking performances in NY this entire season"
-The New York Sun.
Consistently acclaimed for his exquisite tonal beauty and superb artistry, Boris Slutsky emerged on the international music scene when he captured the First Prize at the 1981 William Kapell International Piano Competition. Mr. Slutsky serves as Professor of Piano at The Yale School of Music
"Javor Bracic is a pianist who possesses a deep, genuine musicianship and an outstanding technique that serves the great music he chooses. He honors both listener and composer with his intelligent, committed interpretations, and he offers a thoughtfully constructed program with elegance and humility."
-New York Concert Review
“Thank heaven for Ann Schein…what a relief it is to hear a pianist who, with no fuss, simply reaches right into the heart of whatever she is playing - and creates music so powerful you cannot tear yourself away."
-The Washington Post
"Her piano sound rich and resonant, dark and confident throughout. This was one of the most striking performances in NY this entire season"-The New York Sun.
Laureate of international piano competitions in Kiev and Rome. He regularly performs in the concert halls of Europe, in recitals and with orchestral accompaniment. His performances inaugurated the Schuman Parade and the opening of the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Żelazowa Wola.
"Jose Ramos Santana who established his career as an interpreter of Spanish Music is indeed extraordinary in his performance, which excites our desire to repeat this auditory experience".
Hong Kong Hi Fi Review magazine.
"In both works Vladimir Valjarevic, who teaches at the Mannes School, was an outstandingly responsive partner, a superb tonalist and alive to Brahmsian drama.”
Dennis Rooney
The Strad
Award-winning Pianist JingCi Liu now joined KNS Classical with her first recording project “Portrait of Beauty .” It has been praised for her “choice of pieces and performance made a fresh perspective on truly outstanding music by women composers within a span of several centuries. There are lots of emotional stories, twists, and rollercoasters in this beautiful and unusual album.”-Vyacheslav Gryaznov
A native of Ukraine, Pavlo Gintov has been described as “a poet of the keyboard” by the Illinois Entertainer, a “musical storyteller” by the Japanese publication Shikoku News, and “a fantastic pianist and extraordinary artist” by Fanfare Magazine. Following his debut at the Kyiv Philharmonic Hall at the age of 12, Mr. Gintov has been touring throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the US.
“The superb keyboardists were co-artistic director Roman Rabinovich and Evren Ozel, who in his second season as a “Rising Star” has earned a permanent place in the ChamberFest firmament. Facing each other at twin Steinways, the two played as one, deftly coordinating pearly runs and expressive dynamic changes..”
- Published by ClevelandClassical.com, June 17, 2022
“All of 17, pianist Kate Liu is a veteran of at least eight competitions, an appearance on PBS’s “From the Top at Carnegie Hall” and numerous high-profile concerts.” - The Washington Post, November 28, 2011
"One of the most talented Polish pianists of his generation, Piotr Alexewicz is a two-time winner of the Polish National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition (2017, 2020)..” - Teatr Wielki
"Jay Hershberger is an exceptional and thoughtful artist.” - Michael Barone, Minnesota Public Radio
“Gil Kalish’s piano serves as a grounding force, or a familiar memory, that keeps reappearing amid the different textures introduced by Sō Percussion. And Dawn Upshaw’s voice is a brilliant instrument that brings the words to life with warmth and directness.” - BBC Radio 4's John Wilson
“Angela Cheng is quite simply one of the best Mozart concerto players around: her sound is invariably transparent and marked by delicacy of feeling. That it always carries, even in a large hall like the Orpheum, is a bit of inexplicable magic.” - Vancouver Symphony, VANCOUVER SUN
Lewin scaled the heights as soloist in Brahms Concerto No. 1... He brought a combination of elegance and muscle to the first movement..the second theme was golden-toned, stately, perfectly balanced. Read full review here.
- Boston Classical Review, Jonathan Blumhofer
“Trained in Rio and at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, de Moura Castro must have been fortunate in his teachers—he himself went on to establish a wide-ranging career as an educator, primarily in the U.S.—because there's a Golden Age sensibility behind his playing that can't help but remind me of Shura Cherkassky, among others.” Henry Fogel
