USA

George Borisov (USA)

George Borisov received his professional training in Piano Performance and Chamber Ensembles from the Rachmaninoff State Conservatory in Rostov City (B.A., M.A.) and the Glinka State Conservatory in Novosibirsk (D.M.A.) in the former Soviet Union/Russia, and has performed in solo and ensemble concerts throughout the former Soviet Union and the United States, as well as in Austria, France, Poland, Romania, Norway, and Indonesia. George has served regularly as an adjudicator for auditions at the NJMTA, MEA, SMEA, National Guild of Piano Teachers (USA), the Chopin International Piano Competition (Hartford, CT, USA), the Rosario Marciano Piano Competition (Vienna, Austria), Rome International Piano Competition (Rome, Italy), the Alberti International Piano Competition (Jakarta, Indonesia, Shanghai, China), the West Australian Pianist Competition (Perth, Australia), and others. He is the founder of the Golden Key International Music Festival in New York, Vienna, Barcelona, and Paris. George Borisov also received a Doctorate degree in Musicology from the All-Russian Institute of Musicology (Moscow, Russia) with a dissertation on the history of musical societies in Southern Russia. He has published a variety of articles on musicological subjects in professional journals both in the United States and Russia. Dr. Borisov is author of the books “From the Past of Kuban’s Culture” (Krasnodar, Russia, 1989); “Domenico Alberti and His Sonatas” (New York, NY, USA 2007); “From the Cradle of Classical Music” (Freehold, NJ, USA 2013) For more than eight years he was the host and producer of the Russian TV program “Lost Pages of our Culture,” which was devoted to the reanimation of the both the spiritual events and the names of the abandoned artists of pre-revolutionary Russia. Recently, his scientific interests are focused on researching the legacy of prominent Russian-American composers. He published a few articles on this topic and music album “Vladimir Drozdoff, Selected Piano Miniatures” (Sydney, Australia, 2018). He has been presenting the lecture-concerts on Bulgarian (European Union) National Television as well as at some American Universities including Yale University, City University of New York, University of New Haven, and abroad (Ovidius University, Constanza, Romania; Tongji University, Shanghai, China, and others). Dr. Borisov holds an honorary professorial chair at Krasnodar State Institute of Culture, Krasnodar, Russia.

Stephan Möller (Austria/Germany)

Stephan Möller first gained prominence as a prizewinner at the 1985 International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Since then his busy concert schedule has taken him to Japan, China, North and South America as well as all over Europe. Performing all the standard repertoire, Stephan Möller has concentrated especially on the interpretation of the Viennese Classics, in particular Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, as well as on Franz Liszt’s paraphrases of Wagner opera scenes and his transcriptions of Beethoven Symphonies. Among his CD recordings, there are such rarities as Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge” and the complete piano works by Richard Wagner. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Stephan Möller studied piano and conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. From 1983 to 1989 he assisted Herbert von Karajan and other world-renowned conductors at the Salzburg Festival. In 1990, he took up an appointment at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is president of the Vienna International Pianists Association and their festival, the “VIP Academy.”

Liubov Kalmykova, (Austria/Norway)

Liuba Kalmykova was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. At the age of 12 she moved to Norway, where she entered the prestigious Barratt-Due Music Institute in Oslo to study with Professor Isaac Schuldman. From the year 2011 she continued her solo violin studies with Prof. Pavel Vernikov at the Music and Arts University of Vienna and later on a chamber music degree with Prof. Johannes Meissl at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and graduated with honors.
Liubov is a prize-winner of several national Norwegian as well as international competitions. She performed as a soloist with orchestras in Norway, Austria and Russia and took part in festivals like Sion Festival (Switzerland), Festspillene in Bergen (Norway), Kronberg Festival, Wien Modern (Austria), Festspillene Helgeland.
As a soloist and a chamber musician she played at prestigious venues such as Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Musikverein, ORF Radio Kulturhaus (Austria), Small Hall of Saint-Petersburg Conservatory (Russia). She attended master classes of among others Miriam Fried, Pavel Vernikov, Pierre Amoyal, Hatto Beyerle, Diotima Quartet.
As a founding member of the Selini Quartet (2015-2022) and later on the Ineo Quartet, Liubov is an active chamber musician. The Selini Quartet is a prize-winner of several international competitions, such as “Prague Spring International Music Competition” 2021 (Czech Republic), “Ysaye International Music Competition” 2021 (Belgium), “mdw great talent award” 2021 (Austria), “Szymanowski International Music Competition” 2018 (Poland) as well as of the “Artis Quartet Prize” of ISA Competition (Austria) 2018 and appeared in concerts across Europe and USA.
As an orchestra musician Liuba collected her experience in Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich, aswell as leading positions in many youth orchestras.
Liuba plays a Storioni violin kindly on loan from the Goh Family Foundation.
https://www.seliniquartet.com/ljubakalmykova

Chao Tang (China)

Pianist Chao Tang received his early professional training in Shanghai. He came to the United States to complete a Master of Music degree with distinction and Clark Scholarship at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, studying with Dr. James Goldsworthy. By recommendation of the Dean of Westminster Choir College he also studied at Princeton University. After leaving New Jersey, Mr.Tang completed his Artist Diploma at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with Professor Emile Naoumoff, former student of the legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger. Tang won a number of competitions both in China and the United States, including first prize at the 2011 Changjiang Competition in Shanghai, Princeton Festival Piano Competition in 2013, and the 2014 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. Since 2015, Tang becomes piano faculty at Tongji University Arts and Media College, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music Adult Education Department. He continues his work on translating the legendary pianist Alfred Cortot editions of the music of Frédéric Chopin into Chinese, published by Shanghai Education Publishing House.

Anna Leyerer (Austria)

Anna Leyerer-Pavlova is a concert pianist living in Vienna, Austria. She pursued and completed her graduate degree at the Saratov State Conservatory L. V. Sobinov under Prof. L. I. Shugom. After a short stint as lecturer at the Saratov State Conservatory she moved to Austria to continue her piano performance studies with Prof. Oleg Marshev at the Anton Bruckner University where she graduated with distinction in 2016. Anna also holds a Master of Arts degree in Pedagogy from the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, which she finished under the tutelage of Prof. Michael Korstick in 2019. Her artistic formation was also influenced greatly in masterclasses foremost by Prof. Michael Korstick and Albert Mamriev as well as such renowned musicians as A. Greene, Ch. Hinterhuber, E. Kupie, W. Nabore, N. Petrow, S. Pochekin, N. Trull and M. Voskresensky.
https://www.annaleyerer.com

Aida Kalcher (Austria)

Pianist, organist, and piano teacher, Aida Kalcher is a laureate of international piano competitions in Austria, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, and the United States. She serves as the Artistic Director of the Golden Key Music Festival in both the USA and Austria. Born in Kazakhstan, Aida began her early professional development there before moving to Austria to further her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education for Voice and Instruments (Piano) and both a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Piano Performance. At mdw, she was mentored by Prof. Stephan Möller (piano), Mag. Ines Schüttengruber (organ), and Prof. Konstantin Semilakovs (piano pedagogy). Aida has performed on prestigious international stages, including the Wiener Konzerthaus (Austria), Carnegie Hall (USA), the Concert Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (Russia), and the Astana Opera House (Kazakhstan). Her artistic development has been greatly influenced by renowned musicians such as Michail Woskresensky (Russia), Gabriele Kupfernagel (Germany), Aquiles Delle Vigne (Argentina), Zhania Aubakirova (Kazakhstan), Amir Tebinikhin (Germany), and Elena Lapizkaja (Germany).


 In addition to her active concert career, Aida is a dedicated piano teacher. She runs a piano studio in Vienna, where she helps young musicians in their development. Her students regularly win prizes in international competitions in Austria and the United States.

Vyacheslav Gryaznov (USA)

Vyacheslav Gryznov graduated with honors from the Central Music School of the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Professor Manana Kandelaki and the Moscow Conservatory (class of Professor Yuri Slesarev). He continued at the Moscow Conservatory as a post-graduate student, and recently is on the teaching faculty of the Moscow Conservatory’s Piano Department.

Since 2012 Vyacheslav has been conducting master classes as a visiting professor of piano at Kurashiki Sakuyo University(Japan) and at International music festivals in France, Italy and Austria. In 2016 he accepted Yale University’s invitation to fulfill the Artist Diploma program under tutelage the Yale School of Music’s Professor Boris Berman. Mr.Gryaznov is a member of the Moscow Philharmonic Society (Russia) and an Artist-in-Residence with The Drozdoff Society (the United States).

Gryaznov’s 2016-2017 performances include the Berliner Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall as winner of the 2016 New York Concert Artists Debut Audition; San Jose, California; four performances with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra; multiple engagements for The Drozdoff Society’s Impromptu! Classical Music Recital series in New York City as well as engagements in Russia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Austria, and France. He will also record a CD on the Steinway & Sons label.

Vyacheslav Gryaznov is the author of more than 30 concert arrangements and transcriptions. His works have been performed by Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Ghindin, Nikita Mndoyants, Tomoharu Ushida, the Messiaen-Quartet, the Moscow State Chamber Choir, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, and by many other musicians and collectives. They are heard in concert halls all over the world, and are chosen for prestigious international music contests like the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

https://gryaznoff.com/about