Teresa Trevisan (Italy)
Cristina Marton - Argerich (Romania, Germany)
Daniel Rivera (Argentina, Italy)
Tatjana Ognjanovič (Slovenia)
Manuel Araújo (Portugal, Spain)
Uroš Lajovic (Slovenia)
The Italian pianist TERESA TREVISAN was born in Palmanova and graduated “cum laude” from the Trieste Music Conservatory “Giuseppe Tartini”. She started her piano studies with Maria Puxeddu going on to learn with Professor Luciano Gante at the Trieste Music Conservatory. Afterward she advanced her studies at the Ecole normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” in Paris with Aquiles Delle Vigne, becoming then his assistant there. Teresa Trevisan was awarded various recognitions at national and international competitions performing in numerous Italian cities (Venice, Rome, Padua, Milan, Gorizia, Udine) and abroad (Paris, Brussels, Skopje, Bitola, Rotterdam, New York, Hartford, Washington, Salzburg, Ulan Bator, Vilnius, Izmir, Tirana, Novi Sad, Sofia, Cork Konservatorium and Boesendorfer Saal im Mozarthaus in Vienna, Trinity Laban College in London…). Her interest in Chamber Music was born at the courses of the International Menuhin Academy of Gstaad and the International Academy of the Trio di Trieste in Duino. Her performing debut as a piano duo with her brother Filippo was held in 1989 at the Bourg Madame Festival (France). The Rachmaninov Opera omnia recording (for two pianos and four hands) and the Bach Brandenburg Concertos (arrangement for piano duet by Max Reger, revised by Filippo Trevisan for Velut Luna) received a great critical acclaim. In 1998 the duo was awarded the “Morét d’aur” prize. Since 2002 Teresa Trevisan has been playing with the pianist Flavio Zaccaria. Aiming to discover a repertoire of less well-known works, in 2005 they recorded a CD entirely devoted to unpublished works of Max Reger (2005 Velut luna). The Duo Trevisan-Zaccaria was awarded an Honorary Mention at the Web Concert Hall Competition 2006. She recently performed with the Italian cellist Luca Fiorentini in the USA reaching Washington and New York. As a teacher, many of her students have been selected and awarded in some of the most prestigious national and international competitions, such as the Gina Bachauer-Salt Lake, the Isidor Baijc-Novi Sad, the Jeunesses Musicales-Bucarest, the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, the Stefano Marizza International Piano Competition-Trieste, the Premio Pianistico Bengalli-Val Tidone, the Concorso Clementi-Firenze-Lastra a Signa,Italy; the Chopin Piano Competition, Radovljica, Slovenia; the “Stefano Marizza”-Trieste; the Premio Pianistico Bengalli-Val Tidone; The International Piano Competition-Osimo; the Adilia Alieva-Svizzera, The Thomas & Evon Cooper International Piano Competition, USA; The Ettlingen International Competition for young Pianists, Germany; the International Piano Competition for young pianists ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN, Poland; the Aarhus International Piano Competition; the Busoni Piano Competition. She is regularly sitting in the Jury of many National and International Competitions. Teresa Trevisan is currently full time piano professor at the Music Conservatory of Trieste after successfully participating in the last State National Competition. She is regularly invited to give piano and piano-duo masterclasses. Among the most recent, the Oulu University in Finland, the Conservatorio Superior de Música” Manuel Massotti Littel” of Murcia in Spain, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, the Conservatoire Royal de Mons, the Yasar University of Izmir, the Sofia Music Academy, the CIT School of Music in Cork, the Konservatorium Wien, the Trinity Laban College in London and, through a videoconference in the frame of the LOLA project, at the Fort Worth Texas Christian University (USA). Since 1998 she has been the artistic director of the Festival Musiche in Fortezza of Palmanova and the Piano Competition “Filippo Trevisan”.
CRISTINA MARTON - ARGERICH
Born in Romania, Cristina Marton studied in Berlin wih Georg Sava. She also received lessons from Christian Zacharias, Leon Fleischer, Martha Argerich, Dmitri Baskirov, Stephen Kovacevich, Andras Schiff, Radu Lupu and Alfred Brendel. She has won numerous prizes at international competitions such as the "Arthur Schnabel" (Berlin 1994), "Geza Anda" (Zurich 1994), "Clara Schumann" (Düsseldorf 1997), "Mozart" (Salzburg 1999) and the First "Martha Argerich" International Piano Competition in Buenos Aires 1999. As a chamber musician, Cristina regularly perfoms since 1998 with violinist Barbara Doll and since 1995 with her piano duo partner Aglaia Bätzner, winning the First Prize in the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami, USA and the First Prize in the Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta. During the past seasons Cristina Marton was invited to perform in several of the most renowned music centers worldwide such the Berliner Philharmonie, Warsaw National Philharmonic Hall, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Opernhaus Zurich, Herkulessaal Munchen, Taipei National Hall, Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires, Mozarteum Salzburg, Atheneum Bucharest, Hong Kong City Hall, BAM Theater New York, Playhouse Theater Edinburgh, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Auditorium Conciliazione Roma, etc.
DANIEL RIVERA made his Italian debut in 70th thanks to some very important international competitions. He was awarded in, like the " Ferruccio Busoni", the "Dino Ciani", the "Ettore Pozzoli", the "Rina Sala Gallo", the "Cata Monti", the "Beethoven" in Wien, the "Reine Elisabeth" in Bruxelles, the "Liszt-Bartok" in Budapest and the "Paloma O'Shea" in Santander, achieving three absolute first prizes, two second prizes and several other special mentions. Afterwards he started a prestigious piano concert career, performing in the most important theatres worldwide - among them the Sala Philharmonia in Kiev, the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London, the Park Music Hall in Dallas, the Musikverein in Wien, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Nowadays Daniel Rivera is widely renowned and highly esteemed worldwide within the piano concert landscape, considered a pioneer of piano challenges and a performer of programs and works very rarely played; this interest hit the highest spots in 2002, when he presented - in a world premiere performance - his transcription of the "Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky confirming once again his extraordinary technique and interpretative skills. This impressive and worldwide unique transcription captured the interest of Martha Argerich, who personally invited Rivera to the "Progetto Martha Argerich" in Lugano, where he performed in June 2009. Since that time, the link with the legendary Argentinian pianist turned into an intensive artistic cooperation. With Martha Argerich, Daniel Rivera performed in piano duo at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, at the Politeama Theatro in Catanzaro, at the Teatro Nuovo Giovanni di Udine, at the Piano Festival of Pietrasanta and Ascoli Oiceno, up the legendary concerts on 19th and 20th October 2012, at the Teatro El Circulo of Rosario (Argentina) - four CDs have been released in June 2014, edited and distributed by IRCO in Buenos Aires - and for the inauguration of the Petrarca Theatre in Arezzo on December 2015, and the prestigious "Greek Theater" of Taormina (Sicily) in August 2019. Still for IRCO Cosentino in Buenos Aires he recorded two CDs with Franz Liszt Opera transcriptions and paraphrases, as well as the 12 Transcendental Studies. Jury member within some relevant international piano competitions, Daniel Rivera is extremely keen of teaching: besides his faculty chair at the "Istituto di Alta Cultura Musicale Pietro Mascagni" in Livorno, at "Academia Strata" in Pisa, at the "Academy of the Arts" in Sarzana and at the "Musica Ritrovata" Academy in Livorno, he is frequently invited to hold several high piano courses and master classes in Italy and abroad, such as at University of Rosario (Argentina), Conservatory of Music in Udine, Parma, La Spezia, Bari, Monopoli, Trieste, Cosenza, the Lemmeninstitut in Leuven, the "Summer Musical Holidays" in Urbino, the International Festival "Dichi d'Acquaviva" in Atri, "Via Francigena" International Arts Festival in Lucca, and the Livorno Music Festival. Born in 1952 in Rosario (Argentina). Thanks to the scholarship gained by winning the first prize "Vincenzo Scaramuzza" organized by the "National Fund for Arts" and the "Argentinian Mozarteum" in 1973 he moved to Italy where - under the direction of Alessandro Specchi - he achieved the Italian Diploma at the Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence with 10/10 cum laude grade and the honor mention. Then he completed his studies with Alessandro Specchi and Maria Tipo in Florence and with Ludwig Hoffman in Munich.
TATJANA OGNJANOVIČ's repertoire ranges from baroque to the most modern music, including baptismal performances by Slovenian composers. The concerts route led her across Europe, from Portugal to Russia, the Far East and the USA. In addition to solo recitals, she performed Piano Concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Skryabin, Prokofiev, Gershwin and Štuhec with various orchestras and conductors. She is a winner of piano competitions in Vienna, Zagreb, Porto, Valencia, Athens and Jaen, and is a three time winner of a special award for best interpretation of a Beethoven's Sonata. She has hosted numerous international festivals: Ljubljana (Ljubljana Festival), Zagreb (Biennale), Osoje (Carinthian Summer), Prague (Prague June), Kuala Lumpur (Piano Festival) and others. In addition, she was a member of the Amael piano trio for nearly two decades, with which she performed throughout Europe and the United States. Since 1993, she has been handing over her knowledge to piano students at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. As a member of professional juries, she participated in several international competitions, including the Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Ms. Tatjana conducts international piano courses.
Considered one of the most promising Portuguese pianists of his generation, MANUEL ARAÚJO was born in Porto. He studied in Codarts, University of Professional Arts Education in Rotterdam, in the class of the pianist Aquiles Delle Vigne. As a young pianist was awarded 1st prize in several competitions in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Macedonia and Belgium. Performed in Portugal, Spain, France, Israel, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Brazil, Austria, Macedonia, Japan and Taiwan. He was invited to participate in several Festivals. As a soloist, performed with the Oporto National Orchestra, Sinfonia Rotterdam, Rotterdam Ensemble, Macedonian Philharmonic, Orquestra de Espinho, Orquestra Sinfonica do Atlantico, Orquestra do Norte and Orquestra Filarmonica di Stato "P. Constantinescu" di Ploiesti (Romania), with the coductors Lior Shambadal, Conrad van Alphen, Claudio Cohen, Anton Nanut, José Ferreira Lobo, Marc Tardue, Manuel Pinho Maria, Roberto Beltran, Roberto Misto and Enrique Bátiz. Manuel Araújo was Assistant Piano Professor of professor Aquiles Delle Vigne in Codarts, University of Arts in Rotterdam and in Schola Cantorum Paris. Was invited to give masterclasses and lectures in Tokyo, Taipei, Madrid, Lisboa, Coimbra, Mirandela. Was a guest juror of the Taiwan International Piano Ensemble Competition.
He is presently artistic Vice-Director, Professor and Managing Director of Academia Internacional de Música "Aquiles Delle Vigne", in Coimbra and member of the artistic direction of the Coimbra World Piano Meeting and Sardoal International Piano Meeting.
O. Uni. Prof. Em., Mag. art UROŠ LAJOVIC was born on 4th of July 1944 in Ljubljana. He studied composition and conducting at the Academy uf Music in Ljubljana, graduating in 1967 and in 1969, respectively. For his outstanding achievements in both fields, he was awarded the 1968 and 1969 Student Prešeren prize. He continued his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Prof Hans Swarowsky, where he graduated with honors in 1971 and was awarded the Graduating Prize ("Abgangspreis"). In 1968 and 1969, he took part in the Salzburg Summer Academy, studying conducting with Prof Bruno Maderna.
From 1972 to 1991, he was employed in the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, first as Assistant Conductor and since 1978 as Permanent Conductor. In parallel, he led the RTV Slovenian Chamber Orchestra from 1974 to 1976, was Chief Conductor of the Croatian RTV Simpfony Orchestra from 1979 to 1981 and in 1988 founded the Slovenicum Chamber Orchestra, with which he organized an independent concert series in Ljubljana for the next twelve years and gave concerts around Slovenia. From 2001 to 2005, he was Chief Conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2009, he became the Artistic Advisor and Permanent Guest Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic. Since autumn 2015 till spring 2017 he was chief conducor of Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and since 2015 permanent guest conductor of Sofia Philharmonic and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (China).
Utoš Lajovic was appointed Professor of Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, in 1989, and, in 1991, he was promoted to Full Professor of Conducting. In his conducting class, there have been around 300 students from 58 countries. Since 2011 to 2014, he has been Full Professor of Conducting at the Zagreb Music Academy. He retired from the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts in 2012. As a visiting professor, he has held conducting master classes in Stockholm (2001), Constanta (2006), Shanghai (2012), Hong Kong (concerts and master classes in the years from 2009-2012) and Dubrovnik (2016).
In addition to his work, he has conducted orchestras across Europe, the USA, Colombia (Bogota), South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Japan. During his 40-year career he has given over 1.400 concerts, conducted more than 90 different symphony orchestras and ensembles and accompanied over 900 soloists.
His repertoire consists of symphonic and opera works. He helped stage 14 operas. In addition to the standard repertoire, he has conducted over 1.500 symphonic works and premiered 80 pieces of music of Slovenian and international composers.
His work in the field of musicology includes the transcription and publication of Missa Viennensis by Slovenian baroque composer Janez Krstnik Dolar, the editorship of Figaro by Janez Krstnik Novak (stage music for Matiček's Wedding by Anton Tomaž Linhart), and the revision and publication of Marij Kogoj's opera Black Masks.
In November 2013 Uroš Lajovic was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.
Uroš Lajovic was appointed honorary conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic in June 2023.