Germany

Biography

Born in 1995 in Madison, Wisconsin (USA), Ariela Bohrod studied piano at Mannes College the New School for Music in the class of Pavlina Dokovska, where she obtained both a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in Piano Performance on a full-tuition merit scholarship. She is currently enrolled at the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, studying with Suzana Bartal. A laureate of several awards, she is a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar and a current artist-in-residence at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris. Most recently, she was awarded the Pro Musicis International Prix 2025. She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and internationally and currently resides in Paris, France. Ariela’s interest in contemporary music comes from a strong drive to engage with living composers and to participate in an evolving musical language that reflects our present moment. The collaborative process of bringing new works to life is both a way of honoring the classical music tradition and ensuring its vitality for the future; for her, there is nothing more exciting.

Note of intent

Works by Liebermann and Hare and etudes by Muhly and Gershwin/Wild explore rhythm, agility, and the breadth of American pianistic styles, from minimalism to jazz-infused virtuosity. Composed in Paris between 1904-05, Miroirs (Maurice Ravel) is very much a product of Parisian creativity in the early 20th century. Reflecting the city’s avant-garde influences and the cross-pollination of music, literature, and visual arts, each piece was dedicated to a member of Les Apaches, a Parisian artistic circle which promoted modern music and interdisciplinary collaboration. Together, this program bridges American and French traditions, and showcases the love affair which has and still exists between them.

Programme

Lowell Liebermann, Sonata No. 1 for Piano, Op. 1 (1977):
I. Adagio
II. Presto
III. Lento
IV. Presto strepitoso
Dayton Hare, Lying Eyes (2025), André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize
Nico Muhly, Three Études for Piano (2008):
No.3 – Running
George Gershwin / Earl Wild, Embraceable You from the Virtuoso Etudes (1973)
Maurice Ravel, Miroirs (1904–05):
II. Oiseaux tristes
III. Une barque sur l’océan
IV. Alborada del gracioso 

Biography

Born in 1992 in Lakeland, Florida, United States, Robert Fleitz studied piano at The Juilliard School, the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, and the Sibelius Academy in the classes of Hung-Kuan Chen, Julian Martin, Juris Žvikovs and Niklas Pokki, where he obtained a Bachelor of Music, two Master of Music degrees, and is completing a Doctor of Music degree. A laureate of several awards, he has notably received a two-year fellowship from the Kone Foundation, the First Prize in the 2022 John Cage Award in Halberstadt, the 2021 Pro Musicis International Award, and winning the 2022 Festival Sansusī Musician Battle, among others. He regularly performs in concert internationally and currently resides in Helsinki, Finland. Robert views the piano as a space for illuminating what has been overlooked or misunderstood. He loves contemporary music because of its potential for corporeality, theatricality, and ability to break boundaries and expectations. His goal is to surprise, confound, and ultimately exhilarate his audience.

Note of intent

A map cut diagonally through time
This program maps my unusual pianistic influences: from my hometown near Tampa, Florida, where Robert Helps taught my father piano; to my current residence in Helsinki, where Valkonen lives and where Busoni spent two years; to the fierce whispers of Beat Furrer, a necessary home for any pianist of contemporary music. At the heart of this program stands de Falla, an emblem of Paris’s 1900–1930s creative and cultural crossroads. Like Valkonen’s new work, inspired by the diagonal line of St. Thomas’s spear, I gather these strands into one gesture, combining my influences as fluidly as de Falla once did.

Programme

Beat Furrer, Studie (2011)
Ferruccio Busoni, Sonatina Seconda (1912)
Robert Helps, Three Études (1956):
No. 2
Tara Jovana Valkonen, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Manuel de Falla, Fantasía Bética (1919)

Biography

Born in 1993 in Mola di Bari, Italy, Vincenzo Furio studied piano at the Conservatorio Nino Rota in Monopoli and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, and Interpretation in Contemporary Music at the Hochschule Luzern in the class of Stefan Wirth. He has received numerous awards and scholarships in more than twenty national and international competitions. He regularly performs as a soloist across Europe and currently lives in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he is the pianist of the contemporary Ensemble Ö!. His interest in contemporary music comes from working closely with living composers and from exploring the piano beyond the traditional repertoire, through projects that explore experimental concert programming and the use of electronics.

Note of intent

This programme traces a trajectory from early twentieth century experimentalism to later modernist and contemporary perspectives, focusing on rhythm, texture and the physicality of pianistic gesture. The two Preludes by Ruth Crawford Seeger frame the programme with a highly concentrated approach to musical form, in which pitch, density and registral space are organised through principles of dissonant counterpoint rather than through tonal hierarchy. In the Piano Study in Mixed Accents, this thinking is projected into the rhythmic domain, where multiple layers of accent and pulse create a constantly shifting sense of motion. Abel Decaux’s Clairs de lune opens a radically different sound world. Written in Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century, these visionary pieces anticipate later explorations of sonority and harmonic suspension, using extreme registers, resonance and darkness to dissolve traditional notions of tonal gravity and musical narrative.Stefan Wirth’s Étude No. 1, written by my current teacher, brings these ideas into a contemporary context. The piece treats the piano as a field of physical and perceptual tension, in which gesture, resistance and resonance are continuously reconfigured. Rautavaara’s Second Piano Sonata closes the programme with a powerful synthesis, where modernist energy and spiritual intensity coexist. Its long arc transforms the preceding explorations of sound and gesture into a large-scale, visionary form, bringing the programme to a dramatic and contemplative conclusion.

Programme

Ruth Crawford Seeger, Preludes (1927–28):
6.
Abel Decaux, Clairs de lune, (1900–1907):
No. 1 – Lent
Stefan Wirth, Étude (2004–2007):
No. 1
Sharad Goulam, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Ruth Crawford Seeger, Preludes (1927–28):
9.
Ruth Crawford Seeger, Piano Study in Mixed Accents (1930)
Abel Decaux, Clairs de lune  (1900–1907):
No. 4 – Très large “La Mer”
Einojuhani Rautavaara, Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 64 (1970):
“The Fire Sermon”

Biography

Born in 1997 in Japan, Hyogo, Karin Furutani studied piano at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Roger Muraro, where she obtained a Master’s degree in piano.
A laureate of several awards, she has notably received Le prix André Boucourechliev in the 16th international piano concours of Orléans. She regularly performs in concerts in France and Japan and currently resides in Paris, France.
“My interest in contemporary music comes from curiosity about the place where classical music continues to be born.”

Note of intent

From abyss to light
Inspired by the chiaroscuro of Velázquez’s Saint Thomas, which permeates young composer Tomohiro Suzuki’s new work, this program opens an inner space between contemplation and transcendence. Fabien Touchard’s Dancing Lilies unfolds as a dreamlike dance, set against the vertigo and lightning force of Ligeti’s L’escalier du diable. Alongside the colourful architecture of Schoenberg’s Op. 33, Ravel’s La Valse draws us into a twilight apotheosis in a Vienna on the brink. A program of meditation, imbalance and reconstruction, resilience, and self-transcendence.  

Programme

Tomohiro Suzuki, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Arnold Schönberg, Klavierstücke Op.33 (1931):
a. Mässig
b. Mässig langsam
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume II (1994):
No.13 – L’ escalier du diable
Maurice Ravel, La Valse (1920)
Fabien Touchard, Etudes pour piano (2019):
No.2 – Dancing Lillies

Biography

Born in 1997 in Poggibonsi, Italy, Mattia Fusi studied piano at the Conservatorio “L. Cherubini” of Florence in the class of Cecilia Giuntoli, where he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance. He later received a Master of Music Degree in Piano Solo at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, under the guidance of Sheila Arnold, supported in his studies by the Dörken Stifting, the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Yehudi Menuhin – Live Music Now Köln Foundation. He is currently studying with Siavush Gadjiev at the Glasbena Matica “M. Kogoj” of Trieste.
 A laureate of several competitions, he has notably received 2nd Prize and Audience Prize at the XXIII International J. S. Bach Competition in Leipzig and the 3rd Prize (1st and 2nd not awarded) and the Audence Prize at the X International Piano Competition J. S. Bach in Würzburg.
 He regularly performs in concert in Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Belgium and currently resides in Trieste, Italy.
“My interest in contemporary music emerged during my years of study through close collaboration with young composers. Confronting living musical languages and creative processes reshaped my understanding of interpretation, opening a space where performance becomes an active act of exploration and artistic exchange.”

Note of intent

Dancing on the edge
This program traces a gradual destabilization of dance throughout the 20th and the 21st centuries. Ligeti opens with a swirling, shifting motion in which rhythm continually slips from balance. Ornstein amplifies this volatility, driving the piano into a fierce, percussive energy. Debussy then turns the movement inward, revealing a dance shaped by colour, resonance, and finely drawn contrasts. In Saunders’ Shadow motion is reduced to gestures that seem to hover at the edge of disrupture. Ravel’s La Valse concludes the arc, presenting the waltz as both splendour and collapse—a final dance unraveling in its own momentum.

Programme

Riccardo Burato, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
György Ligeti, Etudes for piano (1985):
No. 2 – Cordes à vide
Leo Ornstein, Wild Men’s Dance (1913/1914)
Claude Debussy,  Études (1915) :
No. 5 – “Pour les octaves”
Rebecca Saunders, Shadow (2013)
Maurice Ravel, La Valse (1920)

Biography

Born in 1996 in Freiburg, Germany, Till Hoffmann studied piano at the HfM Karlsruhe and the HMTM Hannover with Prof. Kaya Han and Prof. Bernd Goetzke, where he obtained his Bachelor, Master, and Konzertexamen (Artist Diploma). A laureate of several awards, he notably received first prize at the TONALi competition (2016), the “Ton und Erklärung” competition (2019), and the German Music Competition with his ensemble, Trio E.T.A. (2021). He regularly performs in concerts across Europe and currently resides in Stuttgart, Germany.
“My interest in contemporary music was sparked by my earliest teachers, who approached the interpretation of modern works with great seriousness, which I found deeply inspiring. Having been exposed to modern music from early childhood (for instance, by regularly attending the Donaueschinger Musiktage), developed a lasting passion for exploring and listening to new musical languages.”

Note of intent

This first round brings together works in which colour, gesture, and transformation are central. From Scriabin’s fleeting intensity to Ligeti’s motoric spell, from Mompou’s evocative silence to the obsessive evolution in Enno Poppe’s music, I aim to show how different traditions contain the seeds of modern thinking.
By combining the music of Anna Bofill Levi and the world premiere of Mikaela Livadiotis with these 20th-century voices, my focus lies on the interplay of gesture and resonance. I am interested in how clarity of texture and the shaping of time reveal the specific character of each work, driven by a commitment to precision and a curiosity for complex musical structures.

Programme

Alexander Skriabin, Etude op. 42/3 f sharp minor (1903)
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume II  (1994):
No. 10 – Der Zauberlehrling
Anna Bofill Levi, Corpi liberi (2025)
Federico Mompou, Charmes (1920-21):
1. Pour endormir la souffrance
2. Pour pénétrer les âmes
3. Pour inspirer l’amour
4. Pour les guérisons
5. Pour évoquer l’image du passé
6. Pour appeler la joie
Mikaela Livadiotis, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Enno Poppe, Thema mit 840 Variationen (1993/97)

Biography

Born in 1994 in Taipei, Taiwan, Shan-Chi Hsu studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in the class of Pierre-Laurent Aimard, where she earned a Master’s degree in Contemporary Piano Music; as well as at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Bernd Goetzke, completing with a Konzertexamen diploma. She was selected as pianist of the International Ensemble Modern Akademie 2023/24. Shan-Chi is a recipient of the 31st CHIMEI Cultural Foundation Artist Award in Taiwan, the #MusikerZukunft scholarship from the Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung and the Scholarship for Contemporary Music from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. She performs regularly across Europe and has appeared at major festivals including the Stresa Festival, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Impuls Festival, Gaudeamus Festival, and the Lucerne Festival. She currently resides in Germany. It was through working on modern song literature (Lied) that she developed a profound interest in contemporary music, opening up new artistic perspectives and sound worlds. This journey has since been enriched by close collaborations with composers and active participation in the creative process, she is committed to creating concert programs and performances that are diverse and thought-provoking.

Note of intent

This round explores two complementary approaches to piano music. Debussy’s Estampes, Ligeti’s White on White, and the André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize piece by Maria Vittoria Agresti transform external ideas — landscapes, imagery, and painting — into musical color, gesture, and narrative. Furrer’s Studie für Klavier and André’s Contrapunctus on the other hand focus on the piano’s material possibilities, shaping resonance, articulation, and texture to create carefully defined sound worlds. The program highlights how composers can translate external inspiration into music or work directly with sound and gesture to explore the piano’s expressive potential.

Programme

Beat Furrer, Studie für Klavier (1989)
Maria Vittoria Agresti, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Claude Debussy, Estampes (1904)
I. Pagodes
II. La soirée dans Grenade
III. Jardins sous la pluie
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume III (1995):
No. 15 ‘White on White’
Mark Andre, Contrapunctus (1998/99)

Biography

Born in 1997 in Aschaffenburg, Germany, Lukas Katter studied piano at the Cologne University of Music and Dance as well as the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in the classes of Prof. Florence Millet, Prof. Gerald Hambitzer, Prof. Joonas Ahonen, Prof. Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Prof. Stefan Arnold, where he obtained a Master‘s degree in piano performance and has completed the postgraduate program at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. A laureate of several awards, he has notably received first prize at the Karlrobert Kreiten piano competition 2020, the Siegfried Ernst-Preis at the European Piano competition Bremen 2024. In addition to this he has received scholarships from the International Association of Richard Wagner Societies as well as most recently from the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund. He performs internationally and currently resides in Alzenau, Germany. His interest in contemporary music started earlier on during his Bachelor studies with Prof. Florence Millet, when he had several opportunities to premiere pieces, collaborate in Ensembles and continued with further fruitful influences in studies of contemporary piano music with Prof. Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Prof. Joonas Ahonen. 

Note of intent

These works are united by intense emotional expression through complex textures, contrasts, and the blending of personal, musical influences, especially folk elements. Ligeti’s Automne à Varsovie juxtaposes relentless rhythmic motion with lamenting, human-like melodies forming micropolyphonic structures, building toward dramatic, almost cataclysmic climaxes. Dedicated to his Polish friends, it reflects both historical and personal struggles. Bartók’s Etude Op. 18 No. 3 similarly condenses contrasts – ballad-like lyricism, frenzied energy, humor, and dance – into a compact, intense space. Enescu’s Sonata No. 1 draws on both the vibrant Parisian musical climate of the early 20th century and Romanian folk traditions.

Programme

Béla Bartók, Etudes op. 18 (1918):
III. Rubato
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume I (1985):
No.6 – Automne à Varsovie
Margot Pommellet, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
George Enescu, Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 24 No. 1 (1924):
I. Allegro molto moderato e grave
II. Presto vivace, III. Andante molto espressivo

Biography

Born in 2002 in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from the Piano Performance Course at Tokyo College of Music High School, she completed her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at Tokyo College of Music. She is currently enrolled in the master’s program at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main. She has studied piano with Chika Inaoka, Motoi Kawashima, Kyoko Kaise, and Florian Hölscher. After being based in Tokyo for her musical activities, she is now based in Frankfurt, Germany. Her interest in contemporary music emerged through close engagement with composers of her own generation. She is particularly drawn to how they perceive society and history, how they position music within their artistic and ideological frameworks, and how these ideas can be realized through performance. For her, contemporary music resists facile simplifications and offers a sensitive way of engaging with the complexity of the world, which continues to strongly inspire her.

Note of intent

I am interested in the experience of different layers of time—such as memory, immediate perception, and gesture as action—coexisting within a single subject without fully aligning. This program explores various forms of asynchrony through works by Ligeti, Chin, and Enescu. Through polyrhythms, fragmented meters, and the coexistence of remembered folk material with classical forms, rhythm, gesture, and recollection never completely coincide. Each work unfolds within its own temporal framework, shaped by imperfection and multiplicity.

Programme

Unsuk Chin, Piano Études (2003):
No. 5 – Toccata
Yuya Haryu, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2025)
George Enescu, Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 24 (1924):
No. 1
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume I (1985):
No. 6 – Automne à Varsovie

Biography

Born in 1997 in Omsk, Russia, Georgy Krizhnenko studied piano at Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève in the class of Nelson Goerner and at Moscow Academy of Performing Arts in the class of Vasily Ermakov where he obtained his diploma in Instrumental Performance and Teaching. Since 2025, he has the honour of continuing his development under the guidance of Rena Shereshevskaya. A laureate of several awards, he has notably received the Grand Prix, Audience Prize, and Young Audience Prize at the 2025 Henri Kowalski International Piano Competition and the Second Prize at 7th International Music Competition in Paris (2025). He also won the First Prize at the Rotary Club International Piano Competition (Moscow, 2009), Grand Prix at the Rubinstein Competition (St. Petersburg, 2008), and the “Sforzando” Competition (Berlin, 2008). He regularly performs in concert in France, Switzerland and across Europe and currently resides in Paris, France. Georgy Krizhnenko’s current passion for contemporary music emerged relatively recently. As a musician raised within the Romantic paradigm, he was initially skeptical of contemporary music in his youth. However, at a certain point in his adult life — after many wanderings and even a break from playing — he was profoundly struck by The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta by Béla Bartók. These works sparked an intense interest in new modes of musical expression and ultimately led him toward a continuous exploration of extended performance techniques. At the same time, the inability to create a genuinely new interpretation — one not confined within the brackets of established tradition, which performers are often compelled to reproduce without true understanding due to rigid frameworks that limit alternative perspectives on musicology — frequently frustrated him within the traditions of the “Romantic school.” As a result, his entry into the world of contemporary music became a powerful source of energy and vivid curiosity: a discovery, for both himself and the audience, of a vast body of still “unworn” music, where it becomes possible to communicate a personal artistic vision through a direct and unmediated reading of art.

Note of intent

Metamorphoses
Harmony often seems to be an inseparable part of a musical work. Yet, if we extract a particular sonority from its context, we suddenly perceive it as a molecule of music. Before us unfolds a thousand other constructions and contexts in which it might sound — or in which it has already sounded, and we have already heard it. In this program, the final sounds of each piece are transformed into the point of departure for the next one. Listen closely to the harmony, and you will hear that every ending is not a conclusion, but a beginning. 

Programme

Arseniy Gusev, Retrato de Santo Tomás (after Velázquez) (2025), André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize
Sergei Prokofiev, Étude Op. 2 No. 1 (1909)
Galina Ustvolskaya, Sonate No. 6 (1988)
George Crumb, Makrokosmos Vol. 1, Part One (1972) :
5. The Phantom Gondolier (Scorpio)
Alexandre Scriabin, Sonate No. 5 Op. 53 (1907)
George Crumb, Makrokosmos Vol. 1, Part One (1972) :
11. Dream Images (Gemini)
Nikolai Kapustin, Eight Concert Études Op. 40 (1984):
8.Final

Biography

Born in 1994 in Saitama, Japan, Nanami Okuda studied piano at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and École Normale de Paris and Tokyo University of the arts in the class of Frank Braley, Jean-Marc Luisada and Hiroshi Arimori, where she obtained a Piano Master’s, Bachelor of Music and Advanced Diploma. A laureate of several awards, she has notably received 1st prize of concours international of piano Albert Roussel. She regularly performs in concert in France and Japan and currently resides in Paris, France. It is precisely because of the experience she has gained in the CNSMDP Third Cycle, the Chamber Music Class (through her work with Duo NéMeu), the Improvisation Class, and the Écriture Class that she decided to participate, driven by a desire return to the piano as an instrument.

Note of intent

I wanted to shape the recital as a coherent whole, placing in the middle a work that evokes Debussy to balance the presence of Albéniz. I designed the program in a way that preserves the impact of presenting it in a contemporary-music competition, while showcasing my strengths as a pianist as fully as possible. 

Programme

Isaac Albeniz,Iberia (1906):
Livre 1, No. 2 – El Puerto
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume I (1985):
No. 6 –  Automne à Varsovie
Masahiro Aogaki, Étude sur le bégaiement (2022):
II – d’après Debussy 
Paul Dukas, La plainte, au loin, du faune (1920)
Isaac Albeniz, Iberia (1906):
Livre 2,  No. 5 – Almeria 
Taekyu Yoon, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)

Biography

Born in 2001 in Moscow, Russia, Sofia Skladannaia studied piano at the Moscow State Conservatory in the class of Professor Alexander Mndoyants, where she obtained her Bachelor of Music degree. She is currently continuing her studies at the University Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria, in the class of Professor Eung-Gu Kim. A laureate of several international competitions, she has received first prizes at the Vivaldi International Competition in Vienna, Austria (2019), the International Classical Music Competition in Saint Petersburg, Russia (2019), and the International Sergei Taneyev Competition for Young Pianists in Moscow, Russia (2022). She regularly performs in concert in Russia, Germany, Austria, and South Korea, and currently resides in Salzburg, Austria.
“My interest in contemporary music developed gradually. I was drawn to its new ways of expressing emotions and feelings, and I wanted to become more deeply acquainted with this language and to understand it better. An important role in this process was played by my studies at the Mozarteum, as well as by my interactions with composers, which inspired me to explore contemporary music more profoundly. Through performing contemporary music, I discovered new ways of expressing my own ideas and emotions, and I would like to share my artistic vision with other musicians.”

Note of intent

This program represents a journey from the inner light and romantic impulse of Scriabin, through Ligeti’s intellectual play with chaos and structure, to the colorful, vibrant imagery of Albéniz’s Iberia, and finally to Staud’s contemporary sound world, where music becomes process and movement. With this repertoire, I aimed to unite tradition and modernity, emotional depth and analytical sensitivity, impulse and form, and to present sound as a living, evolving substance. 

Programme

Johannes Maria Staud, Bewegungen (1996)
Alexander Scriabin, Etude op. 8 (1894):
No. 10 – Des-dur
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume II  (1994):
No. 10 – Der Zauberlehrling
Isaac Albeniz, Iberia (1906):
Livre 1,  No. 2 – El Puerto
Livre 2, No. 5 – Almeria
Jacob Fitzgerald, « Plant Science » Theme and Variations for solo piano (2025), André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize
Olivier Messiaen, Catalogue d’oiseaux, Livre 5 (1956-1958):
No.8 – “L’alouette calandrelle”

Biography

Born in 1993 in Poznań, Poland. Miłosz Sroczyński studied piano at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva  in the class of Cédric Pescia, at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich in the class of Konstantin Scherbakov and Christoph Berner and at the Royal College of Music in London in the class of Norma Fisher, where he obtained his Artist Diploma. He was a scholar of Royal College of Music and obtained several scholarships and awards in Switzerland, UK, Poland and Israel. His Debut CD wad released in February 2026 on Genuin Classics. He regularly performs in concert in major European cities: London, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Zurich and the prestigious festivals like Davos Festival. He currently resides in Zurich, Switzerland.
“As a kid and teenager I was spending all my pocket money on CDs. I would always buy myself records of pieces I knew nothing about. I must have been 13 years old when I learned about Xenakis for the first time and heard Ligeti’s Volumina — what a schock it has been! Classical education offered me little space for contemporary music, and I spent years immersed in the traditional canon. But in recent years, this has changed dramatically and I got several opportunities to explore my youth fascination. Performing at the Davos Festival and collaborating directly with living composers has been revelatory: after years of wondering “What would Chopin say?“, I finally had the composer in front of me. I was asking questions, witnessing reactions, suggesting adjustments. It was terrific. Such collaborations led me to a premiere of a new piece in Tonhalle Zurich and other fascinating projects. Applying for the competition is a natural next step in this journey as I never cease to pursue my natural curiosity to discover and explore new things!”

Note of intent

The etude transcends mere technical exercise—it becomes a laboratory for extreme emotional states. From Debussy’s impressionistic colors through Messiaen’s ecstatic fire to Ligeti’s autumnal melancholy, this program explores how each etude pushes its own boundaries. Abrahamsen distills childhood memories, Dusapin compresses sound to implosion, Nicolaou poses the existential question: “Are you afraid?” Each piece drives a technical idea—fifths, fourths, octaves—into emotional extremes. The etude becomes a seismograph of inner landscapes, where virtuosity and vulnerability merge into one.

Programme

Claude Debussy, Etudes (1915):
No.1 – “Pour le cinq doigts”
No.3 –  “Pour les quartes”
No.5 –  “Pour les octaves”
Pascal Dusapin, Etude 6 (2000)
Hans Abrahamsen, Etudes (1984 – 1998):
VI. For the children
VIII. Rivière D’oubli
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume I (1985):
No. 6 –  Automne à Varsovie
Haru Shionoya, Étude pour piano, Tierce en taille (2026), André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize
Vassos Nicolaou, Etude, Hast du Angst? (2013)
Olivier Messiaen, Etude (1950) :
No.2 – “Ile de feu 2”

Biography

Born in 2000 in Tokyo, Japan, Haruka Ugaji studied piano at Kyoto City University of Arts in the class of Professor Makoto Ueno, where she obtained a Piano Bachelor of Music degree. Currently, she is studying at Mozarteum University Salzburg in the class of Professor Eung-Gu Kim, where she obtains a Piano Master’s and Contemporary music Master’s degree. A laureate of several awards, she has notably received first prize at the 6th Sardoal Young Talent Award in Portugal and the “Honorable Award” at the 24th Matsukata-Hall Music Competition in Kobe, Japan. Since 2024, she has been supported by the Music Foundation “Yamaoka Träumerei”. She regularly performs in concert in Europe and currently resides in Salzburg, Austria.
“I became deeply interested in contemporary music after first seriously encountering it as part of a performance examination during my undergraduate studies, having previously had little exposure to the field. Although it appears complex and precisely notated, I am drawn to how clearly the composer’s intentions are conveyed, while allowing flexibility in timbre and the use of silence.”

Note of intent

This program traces a development from Romantic virtuosity toward contemporary sonic reflection. The etudes of Scriabin and Szymanowski combine technical brilliance with expressive intensity, opening a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Granados’ Goyescas expands this space through harmonic richness, narrative gesture, and vivid color. Nemtsov’s Zwanzig Skizzen and Staud’s Bewegungen further reinterpret pianistic gesture in a fragmented and modernized form. The result is a field of tension between emotion, elegance, rhythmic vitality, and abstract texture—a journey that leads from lyrical expression to a more distilled and contemporary musical presence.

Programme

Sarah Nemtsov, Zwanzig Skizzen (2005):
No. 1, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20
Enrique Granados, Goyescas (1911):
No. 5 “ El amor y La Muerte”
Periklis Sdravopoulos, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Karol Szymanowski, Etude Op. 4 (1900-1902):
No. 1
Johannes Maria Staud, Bewegungen (1996)
Alexander Scriabin, Etude Op. 8 (1895):
No. 10

Biography

Dasom Woo (born 1995 in Gumi, Republic of Korea) is a pianist specializing in contemporary music. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the Mozarteum University Salzburg (2014–2017), followed by a Master’s degree in Solistenausbildung (2017–2019). From 2019 to 2020, she pursued postgraduate studies with Prof. Klaus Kaufmann. In 2023–2024, she undertook a Master’s degree in Contemporary Music (Neue Musik) at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under the guidance of Prof. Eung-Gu Kim. During the Erasmus exchange year 2024–2025, she studied at the Hochschule der Künste Bern with Prof. Wilhem Latchoumia. Since 2025, she has been continuing her studies in the Cycles de spécialisation at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg with Prof. Wilhem Latchoumia. In 2024, she was awarded Third Prize as well as the Best Mozart Interpretation Prize at the Bechstein Bruckner Competition in Austria. She is actively engaged in performance activities throughout Europe, including Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.
Initially trained as a classical pianist, she built her musical foundation through the traditional piano repertoire. Over time, her artistic interests expanded toward contemporary music, driven by a fascination with sounds that extend beyond conventional forms. In particular, sounds that encompass not only pitch, but also timbre, texture, resonance, and the physical act of sound production led her to perceive the piano not merely as a melodic instrument, but as a source of diverse timbral and spatial expression. This perspective continues to shape her approach to performance and interpretation.

Note of intent

This recital explores the diverse musical traditions of Europe, emphasizing the link between folk heritage and contemporary expression. In the etudes of Bartók and Ligeti, one senses the asymmetric, unfolding rhythms of Hungarian folk music. Albéniz’s El Puerto and Almería highlight the vivid colors and dance-like energy of Spanish traditions. Òscar Colomina i Bosch’s Imatges, inspired by landmarks in Valencia, reflects the sensuous poetry of Vicent Andrés Estellés. A commissioned work by Salzburg composer Lukas Moser, rooted in Austrian tradition, completes the program, evoking musical landscapes of different regions.

Programme

Òscar Colomina i Bosch, Imatges (2021):
I. Cant i Espai, Pedra i Llum – Sospés i lliure, amb el cant
II. Platja i nit. Albà – Difús, incorpori
III. Aigua i Alabastre – Tan clar com siga possible
Isaac Albéniz, Iberia (1906):
Livre 2,  No. 5 – Almería
Livre 1, No. 2 – El Puerto
Béla Bartók, Etude pour Piano (1920):
Op. 18, No.2
Jorge Tabarés, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
György Ligeti, Etude pour Piano, Volume II (1994):
No. 10, Der Zauberlehrling

Biography

Born in 1995 in Shaoshan City, China, Yilan Zhao studied contemporary music at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart in the class of Nicolas Hodges, where she obtained a Konzertexamen in New Music. She received her Master degrees in Zurich University of Arts in the class of Konstantin Scherbakov and her Bachelor of Music degree at the Juilliard School under the mentorship of Hung-Kuan Chen. A laureate of several awards, she has notably received the Fritz Gerber Award from the Lucerne Festival and top prizes in competitions such as the Viotti International Music Competition. She regularly performs in concert in Europe, America and Asia and currently resides in Zürich.

Note of intent

This recital program is a seamless lineage of soundscape. I have inserted the Étude from Bill Hopkins and György Ligeti in between Debussy’s preludes. Both Hopkins and Ligeti are inevitably influenced by the revolutionary style of Debussy. Their études manifest totally different moods and pianistic challenges, but both composers achieved an improvisatory yet tightly constructed form as well as a harmonic palette which no doubt mirrors the genius of Debussy. Strongly inspired by Chopin’s Études, Debussy’s own Études inevitably stand out as great musical pieces which transcend the technical aspect of a pure exercise. I hope this play between Debussy’s étude, préludes and Ligeti/Hopkins’ études can reflect the great tradition of compositional lineage in the 20th century. 

Programme

Claude Debussy, Études (1915):
No.1 –  “Pour les cinq doigts”
Claude Debussy, Préludes, Livre 1 (1909-1910):
4. “Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir”
5. “Les collines d’Anacapri”
Bill Hopkins, Etudes en série: 1er cahier (1965-68):
III (know)
Claude Debussy, Préludes, Livre 1 (1909-1910):
8. “La fille aux cheveux de lin”
3. “Le vent dans la plaine”
György Ligeti, Etudes for Piano, Volume II (1990):
No.9 –  Vertige
Yilan Zhao, André Chevillion – Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize (2026)
Claude Debussy, Préludes, Livre 1 (1909-1910):
6. “Des pas sur la neige”
7. “Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest”