JULY 11 TO 20
2020 GUEST ARTISTS
OUR STORIES
LANZO LUCONI
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNITED STATES/COSTA RICA
Born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, Lanzo Luconi has been the recipient of multiple scholarships, competition prizes, and festival awards around the world. He has performed in prestigious concert halls of Costa Rica, Europe, and the United States, where he made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2008 and was honored with the International Outstanding Professional Artistic Performance Award.
He has been invited to perform in many notable events including the Scarlatti World Marathon, the Kosciuszko Foundation Winner’s Recital, and the 6th Musical Composition Seminar, where he performed music by Costa Rican composers. Other engagements include performances at MusicFest Perugia in Italy and with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Lanzo belongs to one of the earliest generations of concert pianists from the Instituto Superior de Artes, the premier pre-college arts academy of Costa Rica. His formal music studies began under the guidance of Dr. Alexandr Sklioutivsky, Dra. Tamara Sklioutovskaia, M.M Ludmila Melzer, and Dr. Luis Monge. After completing his undergraduate studies at the National University of Costa Rica, Lanzo moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he obtained his master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University under the guidance of the renowned pianist and professor Enrique Graf.
Mr. Luconi is a devoted educator, continuously making extraordinary efforts to provide top quality educational opportunities, proving the undeniable positive impact in our society. He believes that the talent and passionate dedication of young musicians must be celebrated and shared with audiences worldwide. His students have won numerous national and international competitions, scholarships, college auditions, festivals and special performances.
Beyond the stage and teaching studios, Luconi has a great passion for learning and developing new projects, continuously pursuing studies in the fields of psychology, pedagogy, communication, business, and entrepreneurship.
In 2014, Lanzo founded the Costa Rica Piano Festival, which is the first of its kind in Central America, created to provide international musicians with the best learning opportunities through lessons with world renowned artists, competition, solo and orchestra performances, and valuable seminars, while enhancing Costa Rica’s growing music culture. This successful initiative led him to create other successful international projects such as the Costa Rica Chamber Music Festival, Music Entrepreneurship Seminars and consult as a business and cultural advisor for several companies, music studios and independent events.
He has taught masterclasses and participated as a speaker in numerous events from prestigious institutions like MTAC, HSPVA Houston, Booker T. School for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Lone Star College Montgomery, University of North Texas and the Music Entrepreneur Conference at Harvard University. He is also a frequent guest in the world famous podcast The Authenticity Show.
Lanzo is a faculty member at the Opus119 Conservatory of Music and teaches privately in his home studio.
LUIS MONGE
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
COSTA RICA
His career includes solo concerts and recordings with classical music and chamber music collaborations with recognized artists of modern Latin American music and Latin jazz. As a co-founder of the modern music and jazz quartet Swing en 4, he has recorded four CDs and has toured South America, Cuba, Canada, and Europe.
He has been continuously researching on African roots in the music cultures of the Americas, and obtained his Music Ph.D. in 2015 from the National University of Costa Rica. He was also the president of the Association of Composers and Authors of Costa Rica (ACAM) from 2009 to 2017 and is co-founder and board member of the Latin American Composers Alliance (ALCAM).
His compositions have received awards in Costa Rica and Belgium. He has ongoing audio productions with a variety of his piano solo compositions and other orchestral works.
Luis Monge is a Costa Rican pianist and composer with academic studies in Mexico, Costa Rica, Germany, and New York. Among his tutors are Karl-Heinz Diehl, Wilhelm Killmayer, Ludwig Hoffmann (Superior School of Music-Munich) and Gyorgy Sandor (Julliard School-NY). His early sensitivity and affinity for diverse Latin American music styles and jazz allowed him to develop, not only improvisation, but also arrangement and composition skills.
He has taught at universities in Germany, New Jersey, the United States, Costa Rica, and given master classes at universities in Guatemala, Mexico and Vilnius/Lithuania. Currently, Mr. Monge teaches piano and improvisation at the National University of Costa Rica and the Higher Institute of Arts. He is an active soloist, accompanist, and composer, as well.
GUEST ARTISTS
Piotr Oczkowski
Poland/Germany
At the age of 15, Oczkowski went to Bloomington, USA, to become a "special student" at the Indiana University, where he took piano lessons from the Chilean pianist and composer, Alfonso Montesino. He finished high school at Bloomington.
At the age of 17, he received a DAAD Bonn bursary to come to Germany and receive further education at the Northwest German Academy for Music in Detmold under Friedrich Wilhelm Schnurr. This is where he completed his piano studies in 1990.
He continued his training with a scholarship from the Venezuelan culture ministry CONAC; undertaking postgraduate studies at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in München with Russian pianist Vadim Suchanov. He took part in international master courses with Russian Professor Dimitri Bashkirov. He also participated in the Mozarteum Salzburg, as well as the Ruhr Piano Festival in Recklinghausen.
His musical career lead him to Professor Elgin Roth in Hamburg and Professor Dr Marco Antonio de Almeida, who advised him to take up studies in the subject of music pedagogy and performance practice at the Martin Luther University. He completed these studies with distinction in the autumn of 2000.
In 1995 he played in numerous concerts during the Polish Cultural Days in Bavaria. In 1999 he played in the opening concert of the festival From Chopin to Penderecki in the München Prince Regent Theatre. In May 2000, he completed the music tour Music in the Bank, organised by Schmidt-Bank, through Bavaria and Saxony. He also played in concerts in the Meistersinger Hall in Nürnberg; in Jameos del Agua; on Lanzarote and in Sao Paolo, Brazil. In 2005, 2006 and 2016 he took part in the Festival de Música de Londrina in Brazil as pianist and lecturer. He also participated in 2007. He participates at the Festival “Semanas musicales de Frutillar” in Chile in 2010, 2011 and 2017 and the Festival “Musicalia” in La Habana, Cuba 2011. Oczkowski played as soloist with several orchestras in South and North America and Europe.
In addition to his piano career he has also been very productive in an educational capacity. In 1998 he was appointed lecturer at the Martin Luther University as well as at Halle in the subject of coaching and vocal accompaniment. Since November 2000 he has been lecturing in his main subject piano and song composition. In October 2006 he took over the chair as head of the Institute for Young Students (DJI) at the Detmold University of Music.
He has won the following competitions:
• 1983 - Indianapolis Concert Competition, Indiana, USA
• 1983 - Grand Rapids International Piano Competition, Michigan, USA
• 1989 - International Chopin Competition in Caracas, Venezuela
• 1991 - VIII Latin American Piano Competition Teresa Carreño Caracas, Venezuela
Piotr Oczkowski was born to a musical family in Krakow, Poland. At the age of six his family and he emigrated to Maracaibo, Venezuela. His parents were among a large group of Polish musicians who were asked by the Venezuelan government to found the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra. He received his first piano lessons at the age of eight under concert pianist Elzbieta Sobkowicz, who had also emigrated. His debut at the age of 11 was with Joseph Haydn's Concerto for Piano in D-Major with the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra. This was soon followed by recordings for Venezuelan radio and TV as well as more performances with diverse Venezuelan orchestras.
Ian Goh
Malaysia
He has also worked with other orchestras and ensembles, including Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre Orchestra, Sixteen Strings String Quartet, DSCH String Quartet, Debonair (multi-piano ensemble), etc. He was a recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Missouri State University Music Department Performance Award for four consecutive years, Peter Collins Piano Scholarship, Keifer-Young Memorial Keyboard Scholarship and Missouri Music Teachers National Association Piano Competition for two consecutive years. In 2008, he was featured in the recital series at Bowdoin International Music Festival in Boston, USA.
He is frequently invited to serve as an adjudicator for international piano competitions and music festivals, including the Macao Piano Competition (Macau), the La Pianista International Piano Competition (Indonesia), the International Classical and Traditional Music Compeition (Taiwan), the Putra International Piano Competition (Malaysia), Malaysian Piano Competition (Malaysia), the HKYPAF Hong Kong International Youth Performance Arts Festival (Hong Kong), GMC Music Festival (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific Arts Festival (Singapore), SunMusic Piano Festival (Vietnam), and many other music competitions held in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia. He is also a juror of World Piano Teachers Association – International Piano Competition (Serbia) for both Piano Performance and Piano Composition categories. Other than his involvement as an adjudicator, he is also very much in demand as a teacher, and has given lectures, workshops and piano masterclasses throughout Asia. He is also regularly invited as a guest examiner by music institutes and universities.
As a versatile composer, he has composed works of different genres, from classical to contemporary. His most recent commissioned work include “Loving Life” for Choir and String Orchestra (premiered at opening ceremony of Asia Pacific Arts Festival 2018, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; this work has also been performed in Vietnam and Cambodia), and “Wind Gust(s)” for Piano Solo (specially commissioned by the Kingsburg International Piano
Competition 2018, Yantai, China).
His principal mentors include Ng Chong Lim and Dr. Wei-Han Su. He also studied with renowned pianists including Julian Martin, Barry Synder, Enrico Elisi, etc. He graduated from Missouri State University in Piano Performance, and also holds the Fellowship Diploma in Piano Performance from Trinity College of Music, the Licentiate and the Recital Diplomas from Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Ian Goh is the President of World Piano Teachers Association Malaysia (WPTA Malaysia), the Artistic Director of Putra International Piano Competition (PIPC), the Artistic Director of the Ossia International Music Competition & Festival (OIMCF), the Founder and Artistic Director of The Fathomage Project (a project that organizes recitals, concerts, masterclasses, and workshops internationally), the founding member of Debonair (a multi-piano ensemble), the Artistic Director in Southeast Asia of Chicago International Music Competition & Festival, and the Chairman of Jury for Asia Pacific Arts Festival. Ian Goh is also the Vice-principal and Head of Piano at Clavier Music Studio (Malaysia).
A native of Malaysia, has appeared in recitals as soloist and chamber musician in United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia. He made his piano concerto debut at Juanita K. Hammons Hall (USA) after winning the Missouri State University Concerto Competition in 2008, and premiered Fantasy Variations for Piano and Orchestra by Patrick Brown under the baton of Dr. Robert Quebbeman at the Original Composition Festival in the same year.
VLADIMIR KHOMYAKOV
United States/Russia
He has concertized internationally in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, China, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Holland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, performing in major concert halls such as those of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, St. Petersburg Conservatory, Seoul Arts Center, Dresden Semper Opera House, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Mozarteum Hall in Salzburg, Concert Hall of the Artists in Rome, Flagey Studio Four in Brussels, Zipper Hall and Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Miller Theater in Houston to name a few. Since 2013 Vladimir Khomyakov is officially represented by the Classical Music Artists Management (Moscow - New York).
Vladimir Khomyakov is a top prizewinner of numerous prestigious piano competitions, including St. Petersburg Open Piano Competition (Russia), Anton Rubinstein International Piano Competition (Germany), Emil Gilels International Piano Competition (Ukraine), ISAM International Piano Competition (Germany), Maria Canals International Piano Competition (Spain), Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition (USA), Hilton Head International Piano Competition (USA), and Ima Hogg International Competition (USA).
He has several published recordings on CD and DVD. His performances are frequently broadcast on radio and television in Germany, Belgium, Russia, South Korea, China, Canada, and the United States.
Vladimir Khomyakov was born in Kirovograd (USSR) into a family of professional musicians. As graduates of the Odessa State Conservatory, Vladimir’s parents were a great influence and inspiration in his musical upbringing. He began his first piano lessons at the age of four with his mother, and in two years he continued his music studies at the Chelyabinsk Special Music School. At age ten, Vladimir performed his first solo debut at the Chelyabinsk State Philharmonic Hall, Russia.
He is a graduate of the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory (St. Petersburg, Russia) where he studied under the tutelage of Professor Alexander Sandler. Thereafter he received a Doctorate degree from the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory (Moscow, Russia), in the studio of Professor Yuri Martynov. Subsequently, Khomyakov moved to Los Angeles, California, where he obtained, with honors, an Artist Diploma and Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, in piano performance under legendary pianist and professor Daniel Pollack; and in instrumental conducting under Professor Larry Livingston.
Additionally, Vladimir Khomyakov has participated in a number of international performance courses, including those by Dmitry Bashkirov (Mozarteum University, Salzburg, Austria), Mikhail Voskresensky and Jan Marisse Huizing (Holland Music Sessions, Bergen, Holland), Arie Vardi (Tel Aviv University, Israel), Alexey Nasedkin, Naum Shtarkman, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Vera Nosina, and many others in Europe.
Dr. Khomyakov is an on-going jury-member of ISAM International Piano Competition (Michelstadt, Germany), Pacific Musical Society Music Competition (San Francisco, CA), Yuri Yegorov Open Piano Competition (Kazan, Russia), LANSUM International Music Festival and Competition (Los Angeles, CA), numerous national MTNA competitions in the United States. He regularly teaches Master Classes in Russia, China, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Vladimir Khomyakov is a visiting faculty at the University of Southern California and assistant to Professor Daniel Pollack, as well as music faculty of the Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, CA).
Vladimir Khomyakov performs over fifty recitals a year as a concert pianist, conductor, chamber musician, and soloist with the world’s best symphony orchestras, such as Houston Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Tomsk Symphony, Novosibirsk Symphony, among others.
PABLO GALDO
Spain
Pablo Galdo is considered as one of the most renowned Spanish pianists and most outstanding of his generation. Some of the world's greatest pianists and masters have been unanimous in highlighting his talent and musicianship.
He studied at the “Vigo Superior Conservatoire” ,where he graduated with special distinction and extraordinary prize, at the “University de Alcalá de Henares”, at the “Zoltán Kodály Institute”, at the “Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest” ,at the “Mozarteum University in Salzburg”, where he obtained his Postgraduate Diplom, and at the “Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow” (Russia) . His professor included Nicasio Gradaille, Ferenc Rados, Rita Wagner, András kemenes, Imre Rohmann and Elisso Wirssaladze.
Besides he has received classes and advices from many renowned and prestigious international masters, including Alicia de Larrocha, Zoltán Kocsis , Tamás Vasáry, Dimitri Bashkirov, Várjon Dénes, Heinz Kämmerling, Alexei Volodin, Marta Gulyás, Haewon Song, and Almudena Cano, among others.
He has performed in more than 35 countries: France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, Iceland, China, South Korea, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Oman, Kuwait, Italy, Kazakhstan, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, Republic of Iran, Lithuania, Turkey, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and the United States. He has performed with different orchestras in Spain, Hungary and Austria, and he has been finalist and awarded in various piano competitions.
He has represented Spain abroad on numerous occasions, being invited to inaugurate the "Aula Cervantes Reykjavik", performing for the President of Iceland, performing within the "Spanish Language Week" in Slovenia, to celebrate the National Day of Spain in Hungary, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and Kazakhstan, and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of new relations between Spain and Russia.
He has played 4 hands and 2 pianos with pianists as Zoltán Kocsis, Stephen kovacevich, Lilya Zilberstein, Tamás Vásáry, Cyprien Katsaris, Jorge Luis Prats, Imre Rohmann, or András kemenes, and with cellist Asier Polo or violist Rocío Gomez, among others.
Also he was selected to participate in young performers concert cycles and festivals such as ¨Jeneusses Musicales" (97.98), "Teresa Berganza Association"(99), "Young talents of Budapest in the Buda Castle” (01) “Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation" (04) and the "Juan March Foundation" (07).
He has currently recorded a DVD, produced by IRIS, of works by Albéniz, Liszt and Rachmaninoff, a CD produced by MANS with works of Bach, Chopin and Liszt, and other CD produced by the same discography with works of Albéniz. He has also recorded for the Spanish Television, Galician Television and Hungarian Radio. The composer Saúl Chapela has dedicated to him his piano work “22 variations on two cells”.
Pablo Galdo has given master classes at the ¨Tchaikovsky Conservatory“ in Moskow, “ Frederick Chopin University” in Warsaw, “Academy of Arts of Iceland”, Buchmann-Mehta school in Israel, “Istanbul State Conservatory”, Tbilisi State Conservatory, Music academy of Baku, at the “Baremboim-Said Foundation” in Palestine, at the the “National Conservatory of Jordan”, “National Conservatory of Lebanon”, “Verona Conservatory of music”, at the “Academy of Music and Theater of Vilnius” (Lithuania), “Yahsar University in Esmirna” (Turkey), “Macedonian University in Thesalonika” (Greece), “National Music Academy of Estonia", "National University of Kazakhstan", "Superior School of Music of Neuquén" (Argentine) , and in different Music Institutions across Spain. He has been invited , since 2013 and everyear, to teach masterclasses at the International Music Academy “Forum Musikae” in Madrid. He is jury member in several international competitions and among his students are prize winners of international competitions.
He is the new artistic director, since January 2016, of the Galitian Classical Music Association, founder of “Vigo international music Festival” and artistic director and president jury at international Vigo competition “City of Vigo”. Recently he was awarded with the “Gregorio Baudot prize” to his artistic career, silver medal at the Global music awards to the category of classical pianist and instrumentist (years 2017 and 2018), and with the Gold badge of his city of birth in January 2018.
He currently combines his concert activity with his position as piano professor at the “Vigo Superior Conservatory of Music” (Galicia, Spain) and at the "Alfonso X el Sabio" of Madrid.
Gerardo Duarte
Costa Rica
From an early age, Mr. Duarte showed a deep interest in music, so he explored several musical instruments, among which percussion instruments, marimba, accordion and later the piano. It is precisely with this later instrument that he has developed a wide and successful artistic career. His performances demonstrate a solid classical training combined with folk, traditional and popular music experience. His numerous presentations, both solo and chamber music, have been held in Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador, United States, Germany and Italy.
One of his main interests and major contributions is the recovery and promotion of Costa Rican music, which he edited and recorded. Some of these recordings include “Y se arrulla con el mar” (Lulled with the sea), for soprano and piano, recorded by the Duo Barquero-Duarte; 100 años de Música Costarricense (100 years of Costa Rican Music) for violin and piano, recorded with the Mora-Duarte Duo; Canto a mi tierra (Song to My Land) and Parranderas Guanacastecas (Guanacaste Celebration), both recorded with the Marimba Diriá; as well as the edition of the Antología para Violín y Piano (Anthology for Violin and piano); and another with piano music by Julio Fonseca published by the University of Costa Rica.
He studied at the University of Costa Rica, later specializing in Germany and the United States.
He is currently an emeritus professor at the University of Costa Rica.
Ana María Orduz
Colombia
Colombian pianist Ana Maria Orduz-Espinal had her debut in Carnegie Hall in 2016 as part of the Amazonas Concert Series. She has also performed in several national and international festivals and has been the recipient of many scholarships and awards, including first place in the Città di Padova international competition (Italia) with the Betancur-Orduz piano duo. Dr Orduz has performed as a soloist with the Medellín Philharmonic, Eafit Symphony Orchestra, the University of Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Amadeus, UdeA Chamber Orchestra, UdeA Symphony Band, and the IMDE chamber Orchestra. She has also performed as a chamber musician and solo pianist in Colombia, USA, Chile, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, Malaysia and Singapore.
Her music education started at the instituto musical Diego Echavarria in Medellín, latter she was awarded full scholarships to obtain her undergraduate at the University of Memphis where she graduated Suma Cum Laude, and her Masters and Doctorate degrees at the University of Iowa. Her interest in piano pedagogy has allowed her to lecture in the USA, Malaysia, Brasil, Panama, Chile, Spain and Colombia. She is the founder and director of the Pianissimo Foundation (pianissimo.com.co), the Orduz-Garcia duo(orduz-garcia.com) and along with Rene Lecuona the Piano Festival of the Americas. Dr Orduz is an associate professor and the head of the Piano area at the University of Antioquia and a professor at EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia. Orduz is a Yamaha Artist since 2017.