Participants :: JĀZEPS VĪTOLS International Piano Competition ::

Aleksandrs Kalējs has performed across EU and on concert tour through the Midwest of the USA. He has won Grand Prix at the III Alion Baltic Music Competition, 1st place at XXIV Brussels International Music Competition, Finalist Diploma at the George Gershwin Piano Competition in New York, sharing stage with conductors R. W. Butts and V. Lukočius. His most important mentors are Sergejs Osokins at Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) and Avedis Kouyoumdjian at University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW), as well as important to mention Mikhail Voskresensky, Shunske Sato, François Killian, Boris Berman, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Yefim Bronfman, Ellen Corver, Konstantin Lifshitz, Lauma Skride, Shuann Chai and Eliso Virsaladze.

Born in Riga. Graduated from Endijs Renemanis piano class at the Competence Centre of Art Education "Ventspils Music Secondary School", while optionally studying composition with Andris Dzenītis. He is currently studying piano performance at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music with Associate Professor Juris Žvikovs.

Laureate of a number of piano and composition competitions, participated in masterclasses with such artists as Asia Ahmetjanova, Antoine Bouvy, László Fassang, William Goldstein, Ivari Ilja, Tatyana Korsunskaya, Igor Lazko, Peter Máté, Sandra Mogensen, John Mortensen, Andrejs Osokins, Reinis Zariņš and other.

He begins studying piano at 10 years old. Currently finishing his Bachelor degree at Conservatorio di Musica “G. Verdi” in Milan with Pier Francesco Forlenza, he is winner of an Erasmus scholarship at LMTA in Vilnius, studying with Jurgis Karnavičius.

He participated in many masterclasses and lessons by great musicians, such as Constantin Sandu, Alexander Kobrin, Antonio Ballista, Alexander Romanovsky, Yaron Rosenthal, Jasminka Stancul, Petras and Lukas Geniušas. Soloist and chamber musician, he played in many important halls and festivals at Teatro Sociale in Como (White Hall), Giuditta Pasta Theatre in Saronno, Sala Verdi in Milano, Festival Viotti, Piano City Milano and Pordenone. Since 2022, he plays in Duo Ánemos with cellist Michele Mazzola. He also studied Jazz with Sandro Savino.

In May 2023, he debuted with the Youth Orchestra of Conservatorio di Milano conducted by Daniele Moles with L. van Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, op. 15.

Daniils started learning the piano at the age of 7 at P. Jurjāns Music School (teacher Ludmila Kiselenko). From 2018 to 2022, he studied at Emils Dārziņš Music Secondary School which is the Competence Centre of Art Education and School of National Arts (teacher Ilze Treija). He is currently a 2^nd year student at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, majoring in the piano performance (Prof. Sergejs Osokins). For 13 years, Daniils has been actively participating at national and international competitions and festivals, as well as actively performing at various concert venues in Latvia and abroad, for example in Lithuania, Germany, Serbia, Russia, and Estonia. Daniils has performed with a number of well recognized orchestras in Latvia, as well as with the European Youth Symphony Orchestra. Daniils has perfected his piano playing with a number of world-renowned pianists and teachers, such as Yefim Bronfman, Matti Raekallio, Pavel Nersessian, Anna Malikova, Eva Kupiec, Pēteris Jablonskis and other. At the same time, Daniils actively participates in various concerts and projects with young Latvian vocalists, as well as in chamber ensembles.

Edvin Svaikovski is a prize winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Narva, 1st prize in International Chopin Piano Competition in Marianske Lazne in 2019 and 3rd Prize winner at the 17th International Mozart Piano Competition in Aachen in 2021.

He has performed in Lithuania, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, France, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Czech Republic, Japan and China. As a soloist he performed with Philharmonic Orchestra in Tallinn, Narva, Kielce, St. Petersburg,Moscow, Polish Radio Orchestra, Chopin University Symphonic Orchestra, Zapadocesky Symphony Orchestra, Vilnius Philharmonic Orchestra and Simfonietta Köln.

Pianist has performed at the 69th and 70th Fryderyk Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, M.K.Čiurlionis Festival in Lithuania, 62th Chopin Piano Festival in Marianske Lazne.

She studied piano at the Jūrmala Music School, later graduating from Emīls Dārziņš Music School with teacher Ilze Treija. Successfully competed in a number of international pianist competitions: 2^nd place in the XII International N. Rubinstein Competition (France, Paris, 2014); 1^st place at the Online Royal Sound Music Competition (Canada, 2021), as well as other awards. She also participated in a few masterclasses: Francesco Attesti masterclasses (Italy, 2018); piano accompaniment masterclasses with Professor Tatyana Korsunskaya at the University of Arts in Bern (2022); chamber ensemble masterclasses with Professor Indre Bykstite at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Alongside with competitions and masterclasses, Evelīna actively performs concerts as a musician of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (since 2022). As a soloist, she participated at the “Jūrmala Festival. Born in Latvia" (2022), where she was playing solo with the orchestra (conductor A. Rubiķis) and in a duo with the cellist Margarita Balanas. She has given solo concerts in various venues in Latvia – at the Milk Manor - Berghof (concert "An Evening of Tenderness" 2021), at Ungurmuiža and at the Artissimo Concert Hall. She is currently studying at Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music with the Lecturer Andrejs Osokins.

Erika Jākobsone started learning the piano at the age of 6 at the Ogre Music School with teacher Elga Klipa. From 2012-2020, she continued her studies at Emīls Dārziņš Music Secondary School with teacher Lelde Paula. She is a laureate of a number of international and national competitions in solo, chamber music and composition. Participated in the summer courses "Yaro Summer School" in Rostock with Stephan Imorde, in the Riga Jūrmala Festival with Leif Ove Andsnes, in the international project of the Baltic States and Finland "Crossing Keyboards" festival. She has attended masterclasses with such pianists as Naums Gruberts, Hamsa Al-Wadi Juris, Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist and other. Currently, Ērika is studying at Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music with Professor Sergejs Osokins, and also actively performs concerts both as a solo artist and as a chamber musician in Latvia and abroad.

Hailong Zhang studied piano since the age of four. He received his bachelor's degree in Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Music Academy under Prof. Toms Ostrovskis and continued his Master's study in Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Prof. Ronan O’Hora. During his career, Hailong attended Concours international de piano Nice Côte d’Azur (2009), Concours International de Piano de la Ville de Gagny (2013), Franz Liszt Center Auditori de la Mediterrània - La Nucia, Spain(2021),   Elevato Piano competition concerto category - Porto Portugal(2023), winning respectively the 3rd, 1s, 2nd and 1st prize, he had also won the annual great award in JVLMA in 2022. Hailong Zhang has attended actively in masterclasses and given concerts in many places in Europe such as Latvia, Italy, Germany, etc. In frames of Daugavpils Piano Masterclasses he has collaborated with Daugavpils Festival Orchestra, performing piano concertos by J. Haydn, L. van Beethoven, F. Chopin and F. Liszt. He has honed his professional skills in masterclasses of Joanna MacGregor, Graham Scott, Steven Osborne, Pascal Nemirovski, Leif One Andsnes, Matti Raekallio and others.

Jan Škrobánek (born 1998 in Ostrava) started playing the piano at the age of three and soon after that he started to attend ZUŠ Viléma Petrželky in Ostrava. In 2015 he got accepted to the Prague Conservatory where studied under Libor Nováček and after graduation continued his studies at The University of Performing Arts in Prague under Martin Kasík. After one year of exchange program at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he is currently persuing his degree studies at the above metnioned school under the guidance of Hamsa Juris. He has participated in numerous international competitions so far, gaining prizes for example at: Piano Talents in Milan (3rd prize), Valsesia Musica in Varallo (1st prize), Smetana International Piano Competition (3rd prize), Chopin International Piano Competition in Mariánské Lázně (4th prize). He has also participated in masterclasses under the guidance of Elisabeth Leonskaja, Toms Ostrovskis, Ivari Ilja, Rena Sheresevskaya, Lilya Zilberstein, Wolfram Schmitt Leonardy and others.

Rapidly developing a reputation as one of the most innovative pianists of his generation, Julian Chan has given performances at a number of prestigious venues across the UK, including Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, St John’s Smith Square, and the Sheldonian Theatre. Performing music by a particularly diverse range of composers, he has given alluring recitals featuring works by figures from Sweelinck to Messiaen, from Alkan to Rzewski, unifying these various styles in a captivating manner.

Recently, Julian has been awarded First Prize and Sonata Prize at the Nanyang International Music Competition, Singapore, First Prize at the Norah Sande Award, and First Prize at the Coulsdon and Purley Festival with his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

A passionate composer and performer of new music, Julian has collaborated with eminent composers such as Howard Skempton, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Hans Abrahamsen, Deborah Pritchard, Michael Berkeley, and Peter Seabourne. Julian is currently recipient of the Ronald and Rita McAulay Award at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with Ian Fountain and Michael Dussek.

She studied piano at the Augusts Dombrovskis Music School under Ieva Sāre, at the Jāzeps Medins Riga Music Secondary School under Gunta Boža, and in 2019 she obtained the Master's Degree at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, graduating from the piano class of professor Juris Kalnciems.

She is a laureate of a number of international pianist competitions, among them: "Torre Ratti Musica" (1^st place), "Don Vincenzo Vitti" (2^nd place), "Gianluca Campochiaro" (1^st place), as well as online competitions "Valencia Awards Music Competition 2021" (2^nd place) and the "World Art Games" (twice the 1^st place).

Kristīne has attended masterclasses with many prominent pianists – N. Jvania, W. Garcia, H. Y. Liu-Tawastjerna, S. Bojsten, M. Tezza, R. Zubovas, J. Karnavičius, A. Osokins and other. In 2018, she completed a two-month historical improvisation course with Prof. J. Mortensen.

She has given some solo concerts, as well as played a lot in chamber ensembles performing  also as a concertmaster. Kristīne performed as a soloist with the Jāzeps Mediņš Riga Music Secondary School Orchestra. Along with playing the piano, she also studied organ with K. Adamaite and L. Tsarkova for eight years. In addition to performing on stage, she has been working as a piano teacher for nine years.

My name is Maksym Trotsenko, I'm from Sumy, Ukraine. I started my musical education in Hlukhiv school of art named after M.Beresovskyi where I studied for 8 years. Then I continued my education in Sumy High School of Art and Culture. During the years in college I participated in competitions. In 2022 I started my studying in National Music Academy in Kyiv in class of national artist, professor Yuriy Kot. I had to leave my country after beginning of the war, currently I'm studying in Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, my teacher here is professor Mati Mikalai.

Mantas Šernius was born in 1994 in Lithuania.

In 2001, he began his piano studies at the music school in Druskininkai (Lithuania) under the tutelage of Natalia Sokolenko. At the age of fifteen, he moved to Kaunas where he studied with Birutė Kumpikienė. After graduation, he continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Prof. Fali Pavri. Since 2015, Mantas is studying at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof. Ivari Ilja where he is currently doing his PhD studies.

He is a laureate of many International Piano Competitions including the International Piano Competition "Music Without Limits" (Lithuania, 2005) - Grand Prix;

International Piano Competition "Kaunas Sonorum" (Lithuania, 2011) - II prize; European Music Competition „Citta di Moncalieri“ (Italy, 2012) - I prize; International Music Competition eMuse (Greece, 2018) – I prize, International Piano Competition in memorial of P. I. Tchaikovsky (China, 2019) – I prize, 9th Estonian Piano Competition (Estonia, 2019) - I prize.

Mantas has performed with EMTA, ERSO and Pärnu symphony orchestras and collaborated with conductors Arvo Volmer, Jaan Ots, Paul Mägi and Mikk Murdvee.

Maria Virki - the 1st year student of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music where she studies with professor Juris Kalnciems. Maria started playing piano at the Pardaugava School of Music and Art in Riga and continued her studies at Jazeps Medins Riga Music Secondary School.

In the spring of 2023 she played her first solo concert, which took place in the Riga Latvian Society. Maria is the owner of the Prize of the Latvian Ministry of Culture, which she received twice - in 2022 and 2023.

Over the years of study, her archive has accumulated many music awards in various competitions. Recent ones include: Grand Prix at the Mikhail Kazinik competition "Rising Stars", a second place at the Latvian Competition "Ineses Galantes Talanti"; 1st prize at national competition “Theodor Reiter Prize”, 1st prize in the International Competition "Musical Bridges" in Lithuania.

Maria successfully played in the "Talent for Latvia" competition, in the International Mediņu Brothers competition for young pianists, the International Peter Tchaikovsky Competition in Koknese, at various concerts,  festivals and masterclasses, for example with Professor Matti Raekallio of the Juilliard School.

Mykyta (Nikita) was born in a family of musicians in Donetsk,Ukraine.

Since 2008 he has studied in Special Music for Gifted Children in Donetsk in the class of the prof. N.Chesnokova (Donetsk,Ukraine).

In 2015 received Full Scholarship in Wells Cathedral School and studied with prof. John Byrne (UK,Somerset).

In 2017 received Full Scholarship in Donetsk State Conservatory (Donetsk, Ukraine) with prof. Nataliya Chesnokova.

In 2017 received a Double Scholarship which includes the Milstein Medal Award Holder supported by International Students House at the Royal College of Music (London,UK).

In 2020 started to be a student of Dmitrii Alexeev at the Royal College of Music. In October 2021 was awarded to be a Talent Unlimited scholar (London,UK).

In November 2021 he became to be a scholar of Piano Charitable Trust which supports young pianist around the world (London, UK)

In December 2021 received the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) Overseas Postgraduate Scholarship which covers full tuition fees for each year of "Masters" course at Royal College of Music (London, UK).

In 2022 and 2023 he became a scholar of Drake Calleja Trust (London,UK).

Niilo Ruotsala (2002) started his musical education in East Helsinki Music Institute with Eero Manninen as his teacher. He later on continued his studies in Helsinki Conservatory of Music in the class of Antti Hotti and graduated from there in 2021. On that same year Ruotsala started his studies at the Sibelius Academy.

Ruotsala was part of the Youth Piano Academy of Finland from 2018 to 2021. During his time there he participated in the masterclasses of Aquiles Delle-Vigne, Nikolai Lugansky, Marc-André Hamelin and Antti Siirala, to name a few.

Ruotsala has been awarded in many competitions in Finland and abroad, including Steinway Piano Festival (2nd prize) and Golden Classical Music Awards (1st prize and Rachmaninov special prize). Ruotsala and his lied partner Johan Krogius were awarded the first place in the Helsinki Lied competition.

Notable performances include performing in Iittala Music Festival, Juuka Music Festival and Mänttä Music Festival (as a young artist). He has also performed as a soloist of Camerata Vihti and Taso Orchestra.

Ruotsala’s playing has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Majaoja Foundation and Pro-Musica Foundation.

Nils Hansson Meng (b. 1998 in Stockholm) grew up in a musical environment and began his piano studies at the age of seven for Kira Khalfine, and later for Victoria Power. Since 2017, he has been studying at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, under the guidance of Tuija Hakkila and Ilmo Ranta. During 2021-2022, Nils completed his exchange studies at Universität der Kunste Berlin, for Lucas Blondeel.

Nils has received awards for his playing such as 1st Prize Stockholm International Piano Competition, prize winner in Helmi Vesa Piano Competition ,grants from “Mai von Rosen”, Wegelius foundation, JAA- foundation ,Anna Whitlock foundation and Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien. He has also performed in venues such as Stockholm Concert Hall, Berwaldhallen, The Royal Palace, The Swedish Parliament and participated in various piano festivals. Last season, Nils performed as soloist together with Sakari Oramo and Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra, as well with Erkki Lasonpalo and Lappeenranta City Orchestra. Besides being a pianist, he is also an active painter. He is often mixing his two passions, combining visual arts and music.

Olga studied at the Ventspils Music Secondary School with teacher L. Kamiševa. As of 2022, she is studying at Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in the piano class with Prof. J. Kalnciems. Olga has been a participant and a laureate of a number of international and national pianist and organist competitions in Latvia and abroad, as well as a participant in various piano and organ festivals. She won the 1^st place in the 7^th International Piano Competition "Young Virtuoso" (2018), the 2^nd place in the International Pianist Competition "Piano Frequency" (2019). She participated in the XXIII International Competition "Jūrmala 2022" as an organist (2022). Olga has participated in masterclasses with such pianists as A. Osokins, J. Žvikovs, A. Bouvy, Xu Ning, N. Zhvania, Z. Ibelgauptas, J. Muller, etc.

Rose Thomas began playing the piano in 2007 in Angers, in Joëlle Lemée's class.
In 2017, she entered the advanced cycle at the Conservatoire de Région in Paris, with
Romano Pallottini, and obtained her advanced diploma with congratulations from the jury in
2021. Until 2020, Rose worked regularly with Hortense Cartier-Bresson and Elena Rozanova
in master classes. Between 2020 and 2022, she studied with Hélène Tysman.
She won second prize at the national piano competition in Mayenne in 2017.
In 2017, Rose also won the concerto competition at the CNR in Angers to play the Grieg
concerto with the youth orchestra.
During her studies in France, she regularly took part in concerts organised by Gabriella
Torma in the Paris region, as well as in Provence in Marseille under the direction of Hermine
Forray.
Since September 2021, Rose has been studying for a Bachelor's degree at the Estonian
Academy of Music and Drama, with Age Juurikas and Peep Lassmann.

Tiit Tomp started his piano studies at six years old and has now been playing piano for already 13 years. While living in Brussels at the time, he started studying piano with a private teacher. After returning to Estonia he entered Tallinn Music High School to study with Martti Raide. From autumn of 2021 he also started studying with Mihkel Poll with whom he is studying to this day at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Tiit is active as a soloist and as a chamber musician. He has received prizes from both national and international competitions, performed in many concert venues all around Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Germany. Tiit has been a finalist at the international chamber music competition-festival In Corpore and has taken part of KRATT festival as a symphony orchestra pianist. Tiit has performed as a soloist with Tallinn Music High School symphony orchestra twice. In 2022 he recieved the title of "Tallinn Talent" which came with a scholarship to support his studies. Tiit has taken part of the masterclasses of Eteri Andjaparidze, Fali Pavri, Jonathan Powell, Aaron Shorr, Hui-Ying Liu-Tawastsjerna, Erik T. Tawastsjerna, Ivari Ilja, Peter Máté and others.

After autodidactic beginnings, Tobias Dietrich took his first piano lessons at the age of 14.

At the age of 18, his musical studies were on the horizon: a two-years stay in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria where he studied with Florian Glemser, subsequently brought him to Carmen Piazzini's piano class at the „Akademie für Tonkunst“ in Darmstadt where he started his Bachelor’s degree. Since 2020, he has been studying in Hanover with Prof. Alexander Schimpf, where he plans to complete his Bachelor's degree in 2024. From 2022-2023, a one-year stay abroad took him to the renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he was educated by pianist Teppo Koivisto.

Tobias Dietrich has taken part in several master classes with professors such as Grigory Gruzman, Roland Krüger, Konrad Elser, Fabio Bidini and many more.

He was awarded prizes at competitions, as well as the Wolfgang Metz Memorial Prize and the Audience Award at the International Summer Academy in Radolfzell. Tobias recently became a prize-winner at the Helmi Vesa Piano Competition in Helsinki.

Besides that he always enjoys playing chamber music and sharing music with his students as well as with his fellow human beings.