Internationally known pianist, organist and conductor. Teaching activity at many universities, colleges and conservatories in Europe, USA, Mexico and Asia. Currently head of the "keyboard department" at the private conservatory "Friedrich Gulda School of Music Vienna" and lectures at the "Jam Music Lab University Vienna", artistic director of festivals, concert series, master classes and orchestras in Austria and abroad, founder and director of the "A·M·A" (Altenburg Music Academy), jury member and jury president at international music competitions, popular YouTube channel: "Robert Lehrbaumer - About music".
Born in Vienna, Robert Lehrbaumer started his career at the age of 9 when he made his appearance as a pianist in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Since then, concert tours have brought him to almost all European countries and capitals, to North, Central and South America, to the Near East, South-East Asia, Korea, and Japan, in famous locations from Viennas Musikverein und Konzerthaus to New York's Carnegie-Hall and Tokyo's Suntory Hall and Casals Hall.
Robert Lehrbaumer began to study piano at the age of six. From 8 to 13 he was a member of the Mozart Boys Choir. Two years later, he entered the Vienna University of Music and Dramatic Art to study piano, organ, and conducting. Prizes in numerous competitions, especially Geneva 1985, and scholarships by Bösendorfer and the Alban Berg Stiftung distinguished the young interpreter.
When he was 11, he had his first appearance as a soloist with orchestras and has since performed concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Radio Symphonic Orchestra, the Bruckner Orchestra/Linz the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Camerata Academica Salzburg, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and with many foreign orchestras under the baton of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Yehudi Menuhin, Sandor Végh, André Previn, Leopold Hager....
He cultivates musical partnerships with Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Anton Dermota, Walter Berry, Angelika Kirchschlager, Bo Skovhus, Friedrich Gulda, Rudolf Schock, Philippe Entremont and others. Robert Lehrbaumer pursued his careers as an organist and as a pianist simultaneously. His special piano-organ-recitals, also with orchestras, are very popular events for which he gets rave reviews.
Robert Lehrbaumer has participated in numerous festivals such as the Vienna Festival, Salzburg Festival, Brucknerfest/Linz, Carinthian Summer/Ossiach, Bregenz Spring, Luzern Music Festival, the Nuremberg Organ-Week, Slovakia Spring-Festival, Schubert-Festival/Washington D.C., Festival Cervantino/ Mexico. At the age of 25, he played a solo-recital in the cycle "Master-Soloists" in the Vienna Konzerthaus, together with Abbado, Sinopoli, Previn, Caballe, Brendel.
In addition, Robert Lehrbaumer has made recordings for radio and TV stations, LP and CD; he has starred in films and videos. President of the international piano competition "Zagreb 2006". When conducting Robert Lehrbaumer is known also performing both as conductor and pianist in works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Gershwin.
Awarded the title "Professor", Grand decoration of Honor of Burgenland and Lower Austria. Most recently highest cultural award of the provincial capital of St. Pölten: "Johann Prandtauer-Award".
is an icon of vocal training. Her singing studio in Vienna has produced world-class singers such as Elina Garanca, Lilli Paasikivi, Topi Lehtipuu, Martin Achrainer, Johanna Russanen and Mirko Roschkowski, some of whom she is still coaching today.
She is frequently called upon by opera houses as a special coach, for example for longer periods for the vocal soloists of the Latvian and Finnish National Operas.
Irina Gavrilovici was born in Romania. She studied piano and singing in Bucharest. Her singing teacher, Ludmila Boicescu Grosowscaja, introduced her to the specific Italian school of singing.
She was a lecturer at the University of Music in Bucharest before emigrating to Austria in 1986.
She also is working as a lecturer, e.g. at the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Helsinki, where she gave illustrative lessons to a large audience of experts, including Birgit Nilsson.
Irina Gavrilovici has given master classes in Rome, Sofia, Saarbrücken, Kangasniemi and Turku (Finland), Riga and Vienspils (Latvia), Irkutsk (Russia) and also in the Academia Sighisoara (Romania) and acts as a jury member at international singing competitions.
Teaching languages: German, English, French, Italian, Russian and Romanian.
Born in New York, soprano Claudia Visca graduated from the acclaimed Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Anna Moffos teacher, Eufemia Giannini and Wagnerian soprano, Margret Harshaw. A Fulbright Scholarship took her to the Hochschule fur Musik Wien where she finished her education under the guidance of Ks. Hilde Rossel-Majdan and Anton Dermota. Claudia Visca has worked with renowned conductors, stage directors, and artists, including Eugene Ormandy, Gustav Kuhn, Istvan Kertesz, Miguel Gomez-Matinez, Sandor Vegh, Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, Pina Bausch, Christine Mielitz, Marcel Prawy, Bruno Canino, Rudolf Serkin, members of the Guarneri Quartet, Edith Mathis, Agnes Baltsa and Placido Domingo. A highlight of Claudia Viscas career was to sing Maria in West Side Story conducted by the composer, Leonard Bernstein. During her long stage career, Claudia Visca guested in more than 25 opera houses in Europe, among them those in Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Geneva, Vienna, and Zürich. In over 2,000 performances, she appeared in more than 75 roles in operas, operettas, and musicals as well as in concerts From 1998 to 2003, Claudia Visca was voice professor at the Hochschule fur Musik Cologne. In 2003, she became a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Claudia Visca has given international masterclasses in vocal technique and interpretation in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland and the United States. Her students are winners of international competitions and are engaged in major opera houses and concert halls as soloists all over the world, including: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Bologna, Buenos Aires, Geneva, Glyndebourne, Hamburg, Lissabon, London (Convent Garden), Madrid, Milan (La Scala), Moscow, Munich, New York (The Metropolitan), Paris, Peking, St. Petersberg, Prague (National Theater), Rome, Seoul, Tokyo, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb.
A Steinway Artist, pianist Min Kwon is in demand around the world as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Her professional engagements have taken her to over 60 countries on 7 continents and to all 50 states in the US, including such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the United Nations in New York, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and to major venues in Seoul, London, Vienna, Freiburg, Interlaken, Prague, Sydney, and to the festivals of Aspen, Ravinia, Cape & Islands, Caramoor (US), Colmar (France), Salzburg and AMA (Altenburg), and Kuhmo (Finland).
Highlights of her recent seasons include chamber music performances with ten principals of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a tour and recording of Schubert Four Hand recital with Viennese pianist Robert Lehrbaumer, and world premiere of three newly commissioned works for her in New York, Florida, and Serbia.
Since her North American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1987 in Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 Ms. Kwon has appeared worldwide in over 20 concerti performing as soloist under James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski among others and, as a chamber musician, performed with the principal players of New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Czech Philharmonic and many other distinguished artists. With her sister, violinist Yoon Kwon, she has given over 200 joint recitals throughout the United States under the auspices of CAMI, and has recorded for BMG/RCA Red Seal. Her solo album of Schubert and Liszt (MSR Classics) earned a Grammy Award for Best Producer of the Year (David Frost) in 2009.
A dedicated teacher, Min Kwon has given master classes at major institutions and festivals around the world, among them the Royal College of Music in London, Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories in China, National University of Singapore, Academy of Fine Arts in Hong Kong, The Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music, New York University, University of Chicago, Vladmir Feltsman's Summerfest, AMEROPA Int’l Festival in Prague, Kuhmo Int’l Festival in Finland, and Vianden Music Festival in Luxembourg. Dr. Kwon is currently Chair of Keyboard Programs and Professor of Piano at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in New Jersey where she works with a highly selected group of doctoral candidates. Her students have won numerous national and international prizes. She is also Founder and Director of CME, The Center for Musical Excellence in New York, a non-profit organization dedicated to mentor and help careers of gifted young international pianist. With Robert Lehrbaumer, she also serves as Co-Director of Vienna ConcertoFest in Austria.
She performs as a piano soloist, as an accompanist for singers and instrumentalists (Hans Hotter, Kim Borg, Iliana Cotrubas, Robert Holl, Elly Ameling, Kurt Equiluz, Graziella Sciutti et al.), as well as an organist and a harpsichordist. She has been the accompanist for master classes in Vienna, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Berlin, Aldeborough, Matsue, Osaka, Nagoya, Cleveland. She has been a teacher for Lied-accompanist in Tokyo, Matsue, Hamamatsu as well as in Seoul and at the Vienna Master Classes. Margit Fussi can be credited with many CD and radio recordings.
Dr. Pantelis Polychronidis has been a lecturer for accompaniment in the field of musical drama at the Department of Vocal and Musical Theatre at the University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW) in Vienna since 2014. He has also held positions as Assistant Professor in Residence at the University of Nevada, USA, Visiting Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, and as a lecturer at the Vienna Conservatory and the Institute for International Student Education (IES) in Vienna.
After completing his diploma in Athens, he continued his studies in the USA as a Fulbright and Onassis scholarship holder, where he earned his Master's degree with Maxim Mogilevsky at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and his doctorate in collaborative piano (song accompaniment, opera coaching, and chamber music) at the University of Michigan under Martin Katz. During his time in Michigan, he was accompanied by Shirley Verrett's vocal class. He subsequently perfected song accompaniment with Charles Spencer, as well as chamber music and solo piano with Roswitha Heintze at the MDW in Vienna.
Eric Schneider and Deen Larsen, as well as master classes with pianists Nicolai Petrov, Bernard Ringeissen, Paul Badura-Skoda, Lazar Berman, Martino Tirimo, Helmut Deutsch, and Wolfram Sehr Rieger, as well as with singers such as Elly Ameling, Rudolf Piernay, Edith Wiens, Christa Ludwig, and Edda Moser, also had a significant influence on his artistic development.
Highlights of his career to date have included performances at the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington D.C., the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna and the European Cultural Center in Delphi.
He is a sought-after accompanist/repetiteur and coach, and as such regularly participates in the International Haydn Vocal Competition, the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Vocal Competition, the International J. Brahms Lied Competition, and the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar. He regularly works with well-known singers such as Clemens Unterreiner, Ildiko Raimondi, Anita Hartig, Annely Peebo, Lena Belkina, Melba Ramos and Raehann Bryce-Davis.
Born in Carinthia, Austria; received her first piano lessons at the "Kärntner Landeskonservatorium" followed by studies with Prof. Charles Rainer in Montreal and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (piano and organ) with Prof. Walter Fleischmann and Prof. Dr. Rudolf Scholz. Besides her university studies Judith Velisek has attended various masterclasses.
Since 1991 she has been teaching at Austrian music schools and has been a tutor to many award-winning students. Besides her intensive teaching activities, Judith Velisek regularly performs both as an organist and as a pianist, focusing on chamber music and piano accompaniment, at various music festivals.
teaches as Associate Professor for guitar and contemporary music at University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and Guitar Professor at Joseph Haydn Private University in Eisenstadt. Besides his activities as guitarist, composer and teacher, he is also an active lecturer, giving lectures about composing for guitar on various European and USA Universities, such as The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Vienna and Frankfurt Universities, etc...
The international prizes, glowing reviews (Washington Post, Classical Guitar Magazine, Los Angeles Daily News etc.) and the very response of the audience at home and abroad all point to an artist in the round, successfully negotiating the joined path of composition and interpretation.
Nejc Kuhar finished his Masters degree in guitar at Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts with prof. Alvaro Pierri and his Masters degree in composition with Dr. Reiner Bishof and prof. Christian Minkowitsch at Konservatorium Wien, Privatuniversität, both with honours. In 2023 he finished with Music Research PhD at Surrey university with prof. Steve Goss.
As a guitarist as well as a composer, he won numerous prizes (1st prizes in Germany, China, Italy, Turkey, USA, etc.), he was also scholarship holder of Slovenian Culture Ministry and of Gallus Foundation.
His music has been performed by himself and/or other musicians in various venues, including Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Washington National Gallery of Art, Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Slovene Philharmonic Hall, etc. His commissions include those by the Washington National Gallery of Art, Frankfurt Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, LiGITa, Hong Kong and Sarajevo Guitar Festivals, Signum Saxophone Quartet, guitarist Mak Grgic, organist Stephen Ackert, Four Aces Guitar Quartet and others.
Kuhar’s works have also been published by the renowned publishing houses, such as Les Production d'Oz/Doberman-yppan (Canada), Trekel (Germany) and Berben (Italy), some of which are recorded on his debut CD from ZKP Label, entitled "String modulations", featuring guitar virtuoso Mak Grgic.
Mirjam Schröder is Professor at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Before she was teaching at Hochschule für Musik Weimar.
The harpist Mirjam Schröder was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, and started her harp studies with Renie Yamahata in Stuttgart. When she was just 15, she debutated with Mozart´s Concierto for harp, flute and orchestra. Since then, she is giving concerts as soloist and chamber musician in all of Europe.
Mirjam Schröder accomplied her studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel with Susanna Mildonian and at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold with Catherine Michel and Godelieve Schrama. She is prizewinner of multiples international harp competitions, among them the Arpista Ludovico Harp Competition, Madrid, International ARD Music Competition Munich, International Reinl-Competition Vienna/Munich.
In her solo-recitals, Mirjam Schröder shows all the multiple different possibilities and colours of her instrument. She is performing in different chamber music groups too - duos with the guitar player Maximilian Mangold, the percussion player Rie Watanabe and the flutist Kaori Fujii. As she is also interessted in the music of our time, she inspires composers to create works for the harp and her chamber music partners.
Numerous radio and CD-recordings are documenting her work.
Website: www.mirjamschroeder.com
Cellist Nan-Cheng Chen’s performance was recently described as “personable and smile-inducing” and “fine playing” by Washington Post and praised for his “Beautiful Tone” by New York Concert Reviews; nan-cheng is passionate about sharing music with music lovers.
As an active chamber musician, Nan-Cheng currently serves as the executive director of the New Asia Chamber Music Society (NACMS), which he co-founded in 2009; he is also the principal cellist of the Solisti Ensemble and was a member of award-winning trios Sonic Escape and Neptune Trio. As an active soloist, Nan-Cheng has collaborated in cello concertos with renowned orchestras such as Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Vienna International Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Metro-West Symphony, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Quincy Symphony, and Symphony Pro Musica, which received a review that states: “It was the kind of performance one might hear live only once a decade,” from Worcester Telegram and Gazette.
A Native of Taiwan, Nan-Cheng has earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and is currently a doctoral candidate at CUNY Graduate Center. Nan-Cheng has taught at CUNY Queens College and currently holds adjunct professorships at Feitian College in Middletown and Mahanaim School in Long Island. Nan-Cheng is a CME Artist under the Center for Musical Excellence roster.
