Danwen Wei, CHINA

(Chairman of the jury)

Chairman of piano department, Central Conservatory of Music

Danwen Wei, a native of the People’s Republic of China, is hailed as one of the most outstanding musicians of his generation. His commanding technique and artistic temperament have resulted in his appearances as soloist with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the New York Chamber Symphony, the Augusta Symphony, symphony of the Americas, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Shanghai Symphony, the Shanghai Broadcasting Orchestra, the National Orchestra of China and the Singapore Symphony among many others. His performance with the New York Philharmonic was broadcast on PBS’ “Live from Lincoln Center” series.

A Steinway Artist, Mr. Wei has performed in cities throughout the United States as well as in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Mr. Wei has performed in festivals such as the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Mostly Mozart festival in New York, the Beijing Music Festival, and the “Tuscan Sun Festival” in Cortona, Italy. His two solo albums were released on 3D Classic label, and a concerto performance was released by China Record Company.

In recent years, Mr. Wei is expanding into the area of conducting as well. He has conducted Soloisti di Perigia, Badapest Youth Symphony, The Oshdot Symphony of Israel, University of Alicante Symphony,and Shenyang Youth Symphony, and the Master’s Chamber Orchestra of Central Conservaory of China among others. He has been a principal conductor of Music Fest Perugia in Italy since 2013.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and one of the last pupils of the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, Mr. Wei is now a much sought after teacher in China and a frequent adjudicator in both national and international piano competitions. He has been invited to give lectures and master classes both in China and abroad. Mr. Wei’s students have won top prizes in many competitions, and he is a faculty member of many summer festivals including Musicfest Perugia in Perugia, Italy, and Beijing Music festival and Academy. Currently Mr. Wei is on the faculty of the Central Conservatory of China in Beijing, and became chairman of piano department in 2019.

Huiqiao Bao, CHINA

Huiqiao Bao is a well-known Chinese pianist, was the soloist at the China Symphony Orchestra from 1970 until retirement. She has been an external professor at the piano department of Central Conservatory of Music for nearly 30 years, and currently serves as a professor at the Tianjin Juilliard School.

She completed undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the Central Conservatory of music In Beijing and the Leningrad Conservatory of Music. During her university studies, she won numerous prizes both nationally and internationally, including the 1st Prize in Performance of Chinese Works Competition in 1960, 5th Prize in the Second George Enescu International Piano Competition in 1961, 1st Prize in the National Selective Competition of China in 1964 and a Chopin Competition in 1965, Best Performance Prize in the Fourth National Competition for Music Compositions in 1985 and “The Golden CD prize” issued by the China Recording Company in 1992.

As a pianist, she has performed frequently all over China, Japan, Singapore, Europe and South America, Chile, Turkey and more. She served as adjudicator in many piano competitions in China as well as international competitions, including the 6th and 15th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel, Jaen International Piano Competition in Spain (2007), UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa (2008), Taipei International Chopin Competition (2008), Tbilisi International Piano Competition (2009), Seoul International Music Competition (2011), Leeds International Piano Competition (2012) and the Isangyun Competition in South Korea (2013). Many of her students have won prizes in national and international piano competitions.

Pavel Gililov, GERMANY

Pavel Gililov was born in 1950 in the Ukraine. As a child prodigy he was supported by Dimitri Kabalewsky. He completed his piano studies at the Leningrad Conservatory with honours.

Still a student, Pavel Gililov won the National Piano Competition in Moscow in 1972. He is the winner of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the International Viotti Piano Competition in Vercelli (1st prize).

From 1979 to 2013 he was a professor at the Cologne University of Music and since 2007 he is professor for piano at the University Mozarteum Salzburg.

The engagements with the leading orchestras and his numerous performances in the most important cultural metropoles of the world were enthusiastically received by the audience and critics. The CD recordings for Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, RCA Victor, Toshiba EMI, Orfeo and others established his reputation.

In addition to his solo career, he also devotes himself to the field of chamber music: Pavel Gililov was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet. Pierre Amoyal, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Tabea Zimmermann and Mischa Maisky were his regular chamber music partners.

For over 25 years he had a duo with Boris Pergamenschikow and several years a piano trio with Viktor Tretjakov and Karine Georgian.

In 2005, Pavel Gililov founded the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn and has always been its artistic director and president of the jury.

Pavel Gililov leads numerous international masterclasses worldwide and is a sought-after juror in prestigious competitions.

Vanessa Latarche, ENGLAND

A renowned piano pedagogue, with many international competition prize-winners amongst her students, Vanessa has been Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music since 2005. Awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music in 2010 for outstanding services to music, an honour conferred on her by HRH Prince of Wales, in September 2011, she was granted a Personal Chair at the RCM, which gave her the title of Chair of International Keyboard Studies. As an extension to her keyboard faculty work, Vanessa was appointed as the Associate Director for Partnerships in Asia, which involves managing the RCM’s collaborative work in China and the RCM’s degree programmes at Nangyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore. Vanessa was previously a professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music for 14 years, where she was made an Honorary Associate in 1997.

After studying at the Royal College of Music with Kendall Taylor and completing her training in the USA and Paris with Claude Franck and Vlado Perlemuter, Vanessa was awarded many scholarships and prizes from international piano competitions. Her concert career has taken her to Europe, the USA and the Far East, as well as many festivals within the UK. Vanessa’s interest in Bach led to a performance of the complete 48 Preludes and Fugues at the Lichfield International Festival in 1992, the performances being given over four consecutive evenings. She has performed as a soloist with international orchestras and those in the UK including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, working with many leading conductors. She is a Steinway Artist and has broadcast for over 30 years for BBC Radio 3 and has also broadcast extensively on the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4. To celebrate Queen Victoria’s 200th birthday in 2018, Vanessa appeared on BBC 2’s documentary on the Queen, Prince Albert and Felix Mendelssohn with Lucy Worsley, which was filmed in Buckingham Palace.

Vanessa is Artistic Director of Hastings International Piano in which capacity she chairs the jury for HIPCC and oversees the artistic programme for HIP concerts. She has been a juror and jury chair for numerous international competitions in China, Poland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Italy, New Zealand, USA, Singapore, and Hong Kong and has adjudicated the national keyboard final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year. In 2007 she was an advisor to the BBC TV programme ‘Classical Star’.

As an advisor to Lang Lang Music World in Shenzhen, China, from its inception, Vanessa has always demonstrated a passion for supporting young musicians worldwide. She now holds the honour of being Artistic Advisor to the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

Vanessa frequently travels to give masterclasses, to such institutions as Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Beijing Central Conservatory, China Conservatory, Tokyo College of Music, Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, Seoul National University, Piano Texas, Oxford Piano Festival, as well as to other UK conservatoires and specialist music schools, and international summer schools.

Representing the professoriate, Vanessa has served four terms of office on the Council, the RCM’s Governing body. As a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, in January 2023 she was elected to the WCoM Court as a Court Assistant. She is a member of the editorial board of Classical Music Magazine, and Director of the Eileen Rowe Musical Trust. She has contributed to the RCM’s publication, Inside the Conservatoire, to be published in 2023.

John O’Conor, IRELAND

A Steinway Artist, Chair of the Piano Division at Shenandoah University in Virginia, Professor of Piano at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Distinguished Visiting Artist at the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Visiting Professor at Showa University in Japan.

"A pianist of unbounding sensitivity" (Gramophone) ; "He represents a vanishing tradition that favors inner expression and atmosphere over showmanship and bravura" (Chicago Tribune) ; "Impeccable technique and musicality ... it would be hard to imagine better performances" (Sunday Times - London) ; "This artist has the kind of flawless touch that makes an audience gasp" (Washington Post); "Exquisite playing" (New York Times).

The Irish pianist John O'Conor has been gathering wonderful reviews for his masterly playing for over forty years. Having studied in his native Dublin, in Vienna with Dieter Weber and being tutored by the legendary Wilhelm Kempff his unanimous 1st Prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna in 1973 opened the door to a career that has brought him all around the world.

His recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas led CD Review to say that he "by now should be recognised as the world's premier Beethoven interpreter" and his recent recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra and Andreas Delfs have also been greeted with acclaim. In the past two years he has released three new CDs on the Steinway label, one of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and two of Haydn Sonatas. He has also been featured on tonebase.com with videos on teaching and discussing Beethoven and Haydn Sonatas. Last summer he recorded a CD of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with the Irish cellist Ailbhe McDonagh.

For his services to music he has been decorated "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Government, awarded the "Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst" by the Austrian Government, the "Order of the Rising Sun" by the Emperor of Japan, and has received many other awards.

Noriko Ogawa, JAPAN

Noriko Ogawa has achieved considerable renown throughout the world since her success at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Noriko’s “ravishingly poetic playing” (Telegraph) sets her apart from her contemporaries and acclaim for her complete Debussy series with BIS Records (“If you like your Debussy to sound like the musical equivalent of a chilled white wine, Noriko Ogawa is the pianist for you” Roger Vignoles, BBC Radio 3, CD Review), confirms her as a fine Debussy specialist.

As an exclusive recording artist for BIS Records, Noriko’s most recent discs were music by Xiaogang Ye with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, released in June 2022, and the fifth volume in her series of Erik Satie’s piano music, released in March 2022. Ranging from Mozart, Rachmaninov, Satie, Debussy to contemporary composers including Alexander Tcherepnin, Vagn Holmboe, and Yoshihiro Kanno, Noriko boasts a prolific catalogue of over 30 albums. Her discography includes Takemitsu’s Riverrun (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone), Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition (Critics’ Choice, BBC Music Magazine), critically acclaimed Debussy’s complete piano music, and a complete set of Eric Satie’s music for solo piano.

As a regular Professor and sought-after guest educator, Noriko is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Tokyo College of Music and Music Director of Hamamatsu International Piano Academy. Noriko is a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music, Yamaha Masterclasses, The Purcell School and Chetham’s International Piano Summer School.

In addition to her busy performing and teaching career, Noriko regularly judges at international competitions. Forthcoming and recent adjudications include Rubinstein Piano Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition, Leeds International Piano Competition, Japan National Music Competition, International Edvard Grieg Competition in Norway, International Paderewski Piano Competition, ARD International Music Competition, Honens International Piano Competition, and the Scottish International Piano Competition.

Noriko is passionate about charity work, particularly after the earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan in early 2011. Since the earthquake she has raised over £40,000 for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Fund and is keen to keep fundraising. Noriko also founded Jamie’s Concerts, a series for autistic children and parents, and is a Cultural Ambassador for the National Autistic Society.

Vladimir Pavlovich Ovchinnikov, RUSSIA

Vladimir Ovchinnikov is the only pianist ever to receive the top prizes both at the Tchaikovsky International Competition (1982) and the Leeds International Competition (1987).

Vladimir Ovchinnikov continues the traditions of the world known G. Neighaus Piano School.

The pianist is a graduate of the famous Central Special Music School (the class of A. Artobolevskaya) and the Moscow Conservatory (class of Prof. A. Nasedkin).Vladimir Ovchinnikov is also a laureate of the Concours International de Montreal (Canada, 1980, 2 nd Prize), and the International Music Competition G.B.Viotti in Vercelli (Italy, 1984, 1 st Prize).

It was his success at Leeds, however, which established his international career, a triumph which was followed by a triumphant début performance in London in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.

V. Ovchinnikov possesses a wide repertory and appears in all the major cities throughout Europe and the USA. As internationally renowned pianist V. Ovchinnikov had the honour to perform at the most prestigious Concert Halls.

Currently, he is the Resident Professor of Piano at the Moscow Conservatory and Guest Professor of Piano at the Moscow State University in Russia. He has also been a jury member of many International Competitions.

In 2005 Vladimir Ovchinnikov received Russia’s highest award and honor for Musicians – the title of the People’s Artist of Russia awarded by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Piotr Paleczny, POLAND

On 5 May 2022, the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw held a solemn ceremony to confer the title of “Doctor Honoris Causa” to Piotr Paleczny. The promoter of this act of the highest prestige was Maestro Krystian Zimerman.

One of the most outstanding Polish pianists and professors, laureate of five international piano competitions. He completed piano studies at the Frederick Chopin Music University in Warsaw in the class of prof. Jan Ekier. The opportunity of having artistic contact with Arthur Rubinstein and Witold Lutoslawski also had a huge impact on the final development of his artistic personality.

His success achieved at the 8th Frederick Chopin International Piano Competition opened to Piotr Paleczny the doors of many prestigious world concert halls.

Receiving, in company of Garrick Ohlsson and Mitsuko Uchida - the Third Prize, the Special Prize for the best performance of a Polonaise and the Witold Małcużyński Prize his career, which the artist has enjoyed constantly until now performing concerts on all continents.

He performed as a soloist with such prominent orchestras as the Chicago Symphony,

Concertgebouw, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, RAI, Santa Cecilia, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina and Orquesta Nacional de España.... and many other famous orchestras.

He gave concerts in prestigious concert halls including the Carnegie Hall, the Alice Tully Hall and the UN General Assembly Hall in New York, the Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Berliner Philharmonie, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Festival Hall in London and Festspielhaus in Salzburg.

He has held master classes in New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Fort Worth, Bordeaux, Paris, Seoul, Beijing, Brescia, Madrid, Amsterdam, Hamamatsu, Montevideo, Mexico City…

He has gained a great recognition as a juror at the prestigious international piano competitions such as those organized in Warsaw (eight last editions of the Chopin Competition), Leeds, Montreal, Moscow (Tchaikovsky - in 2002 and in June, 2019), Paris, A.Rubinstein in Tel Aviv, London, Cleveland, Geneve, Hamamatsu, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Tokyo, Takamatsu, Seoul, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Santander, Sendai, Taipei, Weimar, Manchester, Shezhen, Los Angeles, Hilton Head...

In July 2007, he led the Jury works at the prestigious piano competition in Cleveland, thus he was the first and only Pole invited to fulfill a function of Jury chairman at the USA international piano competitions.

On 5 November 2001, Piotr Paleczny was invited to be a soloist of the extraordinary Gala Concert to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra.

Since 1993 he has been Artistic Director of the world's oldest existing piano festival – the Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival and since 2004 he also is the Artistic Director of the International Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz.

In 2015 the National F.Chopin Institute has released highly awaited CD recorded by Piotr Paleczny - all Chopin recital which became a huge success among critics and the audience.

Piotr Paleczny conducts the piano class at the Frederick Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

His students have won dozens of awards at the most important international and national piano competitions. Currently he is also Professor at the Talent Music Academy in Brescia, Italy.

Member of the executive committee of the International Pianists Association.

The artist is honored with many superior and prestigious Polish and foreign states decorations, such as the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Mexican Order of the Aguila Azteca. In September 2005, Piotr Paleczny was awarded the highest Polish artistic distinction - „Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis”.

In March 2017, Piotr Paleczny was awarded with prestigious Diploma and Title of Honorary Professor of the F.Chopin University of Music. In April 2017, the Board of the Polish Phonographic Academy, in recognition of his artistic achievements, awarded him with the most prestigious 'Golden Fryderyk' Award. In 2018, Piotr Paleczny received an extraordinary and unique prize

- The C.K. Norwid Award "Work of Life"

In 2019 - the Government of Japan awarded Piotr Paleczny one of the highest Japanese honors

- Order of the Rising Sun, Golden Rays with Ribbon.

Matti Raekallio, FINLAND

Faculty Emeritus, The Juilliard School

Pianist Matti Raekallio was born 1954 in Helsinki. He studied in his home country as well as with Maria Curcio in London, with Dieter Weber at the Vienna Academy of Music, and at the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatory in Russia.

Raekallio made his American debut in 1981 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. In his concerts, he has performed cycles of the complete piano Sonatas of Beethoven, Scriabin, and Prokofiev, as well as altogether 62 piano concertos. He has recorded about 20 albums, including an acclaimed set of the complete Prokofiev Sonatas. He first taught for 30 years at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki while also temporarily working as professor in Kungliga Musikhögskolan in Stockholm and at Western Michigan University. In 2005, Raekallio became professor of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany. Two years later, in 2007, he was invited to join the faculty at Juilliard. He has held a part-time professorship at Bard College Conservatory and also holds a part-time professorship at Oberlin College Conservatory. In 2022, he retired from all school faculties and is now doing free-lance work, both live and remotely. His students include several first prize winners in major international competitions. He serves as an adjudicator and teaches master classes in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Raekallio’s doctorate (Dr. Mus.) from the Sibelius Academy focused of the history of piano fingering. Subsequently, Raekallio became a member of an international research team, investigating pianists’ fingering choices from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology.

Raekallio received the Leonie Sonning Foundation Grant (Denmark) in 1980, and was recipient of the five-year artist grant from the state of Finland three times. He served for three years (1998-2000) as a member of the Finnish Academy’s Council for Research of Culture and Society. In 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from the Estonian Academy of Music.

(In Alphabetical order)