Saša Gerželj-Donaldson
After beginning her studies at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor in Slovenia, at the age of 16 Saša passed the piano performance entrance exam for University for Performing Art and Nusic Graz, where she took her BMus and MMus with Dr. Walter Kamper. She then left for Canada to study for a fully-funded Artist Diploma with John Perry at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto, where she met and was also tutored by Leon Fleisher. Her studies were enriched by masterclasses with Pascal Rogé, Rudolph Kehrer, Marc Durand , Robert Mcdonald, Julian Martin, Evelyne Brancart and others.
While studying in Austria, she performed as a soloist with the Ensemble for New Music Graz, and went on to numerous international venues and festivals, including World Music Days, Ciclo de Primavera Boadilla del Monte Madrid, Lange Nacht der Musik Graz, International EPTA Luzern, Roy Thompson Hall Toronto, Rising Stars Toronto, Yamaha Canada Showcase ROM, Festival Lent, Mozart Gala RCM Toronto, Rising Stars Toronto, Glasbeni September, National Hall Maribor – Orchestral Cycle, Studio 14 RTV Slovenia, Piano Marathon Rogaška, Minoriten Saal Graz, and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh.
She played Strauss’ Burleske, Op. 1 with the Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra under Conrad von Alphen and SNG Maribor Orchestra, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Scottish Sinfonia under Neil Mantle MBE and Schumann Piano Concerto with GCO. She has recorded for several radio stations: Radiotelevizija Slovenija, Österreichischer Rundfunk, Radio Nacional de España and the CBC Canada.
Saša’s awards include the Zois Scholarship Slovenian government programm for gifted students Slovenia (1994-2003), the Martha Debelli Prize for most prospective student of University for Music and performing arts Graz and the Ministerium für Kultur Austria Prize. Her study Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School of music at the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto was funded by the Jun Fujimoto scholarship (2004, 2005) and the Margaret Phillips Award (2004, 2005). She was also a prize winner at the Pianello Val Tidone International Piano Competition. In 2013 she received the Dr. Roman Klasinc Award from Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor– Slovenia for exceptional achievements in music.
Saša has taught at both the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor and University for performing Arts and Music Graz. She has conducted piano masterclasses and sat on the jury for national and international piano competitions in throughout Europe. She is the artistic director of the Carinthian International Piano Competition and the PAMT Summer Academy for young pianists.
Her students have been successful on winning piano competitions international level. She was also invited as piano judge for BBC Young Musician for Scotland which was a very joyous experience. Saša has been part of Royal Conservatory of Scotland keyboard staff since 2014 and is great admirer of Richard P. Feynman’s work and his way of teaching and learning.
Teguh Sukaryo
Indonesia’s leading pianist, recording artist, adjudicator, and music educator, Teguh Sukaryo studied with Jon Kimura Parker, Peter Takacs, Michael Gurt, and Carmel Lutton. He has been coached by Byron Janis and Einar-Steen Nokleberg, and had masterclasses with Christopher Elton, Piers Lane, Lee Luvisi, among others.
His conducting teachers included Paul Polivnick, Anton Krager, and Frank Wickes. Teguh Sukaryo graduated with a BMus degree in Piano Performance from Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, NSW, Australia, in 1998 where he always received the coveted High Distinction for his recitals.
He received full scholarships to study at Oberlin Conservatory, Ohio, where he graduated with the Artist Diploma (2001); Rice University/Shepherd School of Music, Houston, Master of Music (2003); and Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, where he studied for his Doctorate course (2003-2004). He received a Beethoven Prize in the Grieg International Competition for Pianists, held in Oslo, Norway 2005.
A sought-after teacher, Teguh has been granted numerous pedagogical awards, such as “Great Piano Masters Pedagogical Award” from Great Masters International Piano Competition Vladimir Horowitz Edition; “Honorary Diploma Best Teacher” VI Geneve International Music Competition; “Best Teacher Award” Music and Stars Award; “Teacher’s Award” Chopin Avenue International Competition; “Teacher of The First Prize Winner” 2nd World Piano E-Competition Napolinova; “Outstanding Teacher Award” Global Genius Music Competition; “Outstanding Teacher Award” Khemsiri Music x DFC Music International Piano Competition; “First Prize Winner” Charleston International Music Competition; and “Teacher Diploma” 1st International Piano Competition Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Once a Joseph and Ida Kirkland Mullen Fellow, who served as a faculty member at Rice University Preparatory Program, Teguh Sukaryo is now the founder and the director of Teguh Sukaryo International Music School – TSIMS, Jakarta.
His students have won over one hundred Grand Prix, Absolute First Prizes and Gold Medals from all around the world, i.e from Moscow to Salzburg, from Paris to New York City. His students have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall NYC, Salzburg Mozarteum, and Rachmaninoff Hall Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, among others.
Teguh has made a few albums entitled: “Teguh Sukaryo – Brahms, Mompou and Mussorgsky”, “Scenes of Childhood” (works by Schumann, Debussy, Turina and Mompou), Burgmuller Op. 100, and Burgmuller Op. 109. In 2012 he received a MURI award (Museum of World Record of Indonesia) for “The most popular show of all time” in Classical Music Discovery, USA.
He was named “Artist of The Week” by Radio Arts Indonesia. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with violinist Rudolf Koelman, former Concertmaster of Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and several other international musicians.
Dr. Adriana Janse van Rensburg
Dr. Adriana Janse van Rensburg completed her music studies at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa obtaining the degrees B. Mus (Ed), B. Mus Honors, M. Mus and a doctorate in music education. She also holds Piano Performance Licentiates from UNISA and the Royal Schools of Music (London).
She continued her studies at Georgia State University in the USA where she obtained a second Masters degree in music education. After 26
years in the classroom teaching elementary, middle, high school and college level students in various capacities, she served as Program Manager for a.r.t.s.APS, an initiative in the Fine Arts of Atlanta Public Schools.
She formerly served on the adjunct faculty of Georgia State University, USA, served on the Education Board of Spivey Hall at Clayton State University and is a member of GMTA, GMEA and The Piano Guild of America.
Adriana currently lives in the USA and serves as Executive Director for IYMC, International Youth Music Competitions, manages a full piano studio, presents professional development nationwide, and continues her piano education at Oxford University in the UK at the Piano Summer Academy and Festival.
Her students continue to win and excel at national and international piano and voice competitions.
Her students have performed debut recitals at Carnegie Hall in New York, have medaled in local and statewide competitions, have won first place in international competitions, and many have gone on to study music at various conservatoires.
Tatiana Kozlova
Mrs.Tatiana Kozlova is a part of the piano faculty of the Israel Conservatory of music in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Mrs.T.Kozlova graduated from chaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev, Ukraine and since moving to Israel in 2000 she effectively implemented her professional knowledge and experience in her work in Israel and abroad.
Her students constantly win prizes at the International and National competitions.
Mrs.Tatiana Kozlova teaches constantly around the glob in different masterclasses ( E.Cobb music festival, Music Fest Perugia, Carmel Clavier) , she also is giving a lot of masterclasses in Israel. Mrs.T.Kozlova serves as a jury membre in various international piano competition in Belgium,
Ukraine, USA, Serbia, Italy.
She had been working as an artistic director of the Scherzo International piano competition in Tel-Aviv until 2023 and now she is launching her new project Stretto International piano competition in Tel-Aviv-Yaffa.
Ekaterina Katie Gueorguieva Ledford
Katie Gueorguieva Ledford has a B.A. Degree from The State Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a M.M. Degree in Piano Performance from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied piano with Professor Mack McCray, himself a graduate of Julliard School of Music.
She has participated in Master classes with distinguished pianists , among them Andre Watts and John Perry.
In 2003, Ms. Ledford was awarded an Outstanding Musician Diploma at the Ibla International Music Competition in Ibla, Italy. In the same year, she also became a recipient of the prestigious Three Sponsors’ Prize at the International Duo Piano Competituon in Tokyo, Japan.
During her concert career, Ms. Ledford has performed at recitals and concerts in the USA, Europe, and Asia. She is also an active piano pedagogue.
A number of her students have won prizes at international piano competitions.
A select few have been invited to perform at prominent concert venues, including the renowned Carnegie Hall in New York, NY.
Dragomir Bratić
Dragomir Bratić graduated from the Piano department with prof. Ninoslav Zivkovic and master’s degree in chamber music – piano duo in the class of prof. Zorica Cetkovic at the Faculty of Music Art in Belgrade – FMU. In addition, he attended master classes with professors Arbo Valdma, Igor Lazko, Pavel Nersesian and Natalia Trul. He is currently teaching at the Davorin Jenko School of Music in Belgrade.
Since 2005, he has been a member of the Association of Music Artists of Serbia. In the period between 2011 and 2020, he was the director of the Republic Competition of Music and Ballet Schools of Serbia, and since 2015, Professor Bratić has been the president of the Belgrade Piano Section.
He is active as a lecturer at seminars in many European countries: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Great Britain and Russia.
Due to the originality of his approach in working with children, he is one of the most talented piano pedagogues. He has won numerous awards for his teaching work in Serbia and abroad. He is the author of many lessons that emphasize an individual approach to solving music performance problems. His students played in all prestigious halls around Serbia as well as in the most famous concert halls abroad: Carnegie Hall in New York, Muzikverein in Vienna, Hamburg, Dresden, Tbilisi, Prague, Bologna, Stockholm, Moscow and elsewhere…
Students of Prof. Bratić received over 720 first and special prizes at domestic and foreign competitions in Slovenia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, France, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Austria, Germany, Russia, and in America.
He is often a member of juries, namely at almost all domestic competitions, as well as at numerous competitions in Slovenia, Italy, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Georgia, Austria, Kazakhstan, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary and Russia.
He gives a lot of concerts in a piano duo with Katarina Krpan, with whom they won first prizes at competitions in Vienna, Budapest and Moscow.
He is an official collaborator – piano accompanist of the Kolibri children’s choir of Radio Television of Serbia.
At the invitation of the Ministry of Education and the Institute for Education (improving education and upbringing), he participated in the development of new piano curricula for primary and secondary music schools. He is the author of the textbook Music culture for the first grade of primary school, published by BIGZ.
Since 2018, he has been a member of the sectoral department for music art at the National agency for qualifications.
The publishing house KLET included him in the list of “1000 most successful Serbian creators in the field of pre-university education”.
Marija Maksimova
M.Mus Marija Maksimova is a pianist and well-recognized piano& chamber music pedagogue who has received more than 400 international and national awards with her students. Half of them are first prizes, then special awards, Laureates…
She finished her piano studies at the University “St. Kiril and Metodi” in the class of Prof. Stela Slejanska-Stojanovska and completed her
post-graduating studies in piano pedagogy in the class of Dr. Ana Gaceva in Macedonia. After 25 years in the classroom teaching elementary, middle, high school, and college- level students in various capacities, she has accomplished many activities in the culture field.
Currently, she teaches in the National Educational Music Centre “Sergej Mihajlov” in Macedonia. Maksimova is the winner of the award “Best Pedagogue”, given by the Association of Music-Balet Pedagogues in Macedonia. In 2019 she got the title: “Best teacher in Ex – Yugoslavia” given by the Association “ANN_EX_YU”, Belgrade, formed by the educational leaders in the region.
In 2015 she received the highest Award “St. Nicholas” for exceptional professional achievement, given by the Municipality of Stip. Also, Maksimova received the Award “Oscar of the East” from the Association of Journalists of the East for Piano Pedagogy, in 2018.
She is the winner of the Award “8th November”, an award of the Municipality of Stip and Mayor for an achievement in education and art as a pedagogue and an artist. Since 2021, Maksimova has been a part of the executive team of the International Music Youth Competition in the USA as a global outreach ambassador and a Jury member.
She was awarded a Diploma for Honors in Italy, an Honorable Teacher Diploma in Belgium in 2020, and Extraordinary teachers diplomas in Canada, USA, Serbia, Italy, France, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia, Netherlands.
ke
Her students regularly perform in many concerts, festivals, and competitions. She was also a mentor of lectures for new teaching methods, organized by USAID and the Macedonian Ministry of Education.
Marija Maksimova is a member of the jury in numerous International competitions in Italy, the USA, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, Bosnia& Herzegovina, and Macedonia.
Currently, Marija Maksimova is an artistic director of the Golden Piano Talents Competition & Festival and a President of the International Association for Cultural Development and Education.
Natividad Ballarin
Born in Huesca, she began her studies at the Sariñena School of Music (Huesca), later she trained with teachers Sayá Sanguidorj and Perfecto García Chornet (Joaquín Rodrigo Superior Conservatory of Valencia) obtaining the Piano Professional Degree and Higher Degree awards. respectively. A descendant of the Russian School of H. Neuhaus, she has received advice from great performers and soloists, such as E. Nebolsin, M. Fedorova, D. Bashkirov, L. Morales, V. Balzani, G. González, J. Soriano, F. Clidat or O Yablonskaya among others.
Specialized in Management and Organization of Musical Events, master’s degree in Music Therapy, Music Coaching and Community Manager from the Cervantes University. She is a Doctor in Knowledge and Action in the Fields of Education, Communication, Rights and New Technologies.
Repertorist, permanent activist, collaborator of associations and entities for the creation, promotion of young musicians and promotion of national music. She organizes didactic concerts for the musical and cultural approach to different groups, such as children and adolescents, the sick, people with different types of therapies in mental health centers, autistic people, the elderly…
She is a regular jury in prestigious international competitions, such as: César Frank IPC, Danubia Talents, Orbetello IPC, Euregio Piano Awards, Krystian Tkaczewski International Piano Competition Busko-Zdrój, Concorso Internazionale Pianistico “Fausto Zadra”, “Vila de Xàbia” IPC, International Competition Competition “Città di San Donnà di Piave”, International Piano Competition PianoArt, Golden Piano Talents IPC, among others. Nati frequently gives master classes in piano technique and performance all over the world.
She has been awarded in different international competitions. As an Aragonese, she knows and studies the piano work of the Teruel composer, maestro Antón García Abril. Her varied repertoire includes works from all periods and styles, both for solo piano and for chamber and orchestra repertoire, specializing in Spanish music.
Innovative and promoter in the celebration of concerts in different natural and architectural enclaves to promote the union of the arts and support the fight against the depopulation of rural areas, as well as the realization of charity concerts for humanitarian purposes for the promotion of all areas of Rotary International.
She has played in various venues in France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Mexico, Dallas, Manila, … as well as in important Spanish venues in Aragon, the Basque Country, Galicia, Toledo or the Valencian Community…; Her critics praise her for her great communication skills, artistic quality, elegance and humility.
She has taught piano at the CEM Tchaikovsky (Huesca), at the Silla Professional Conservatory of Music and at the C.EM Vicent Vera de Sueca, Xàbia Professional Conservatory of Music (Alicante), currently director of the International Piano Academy “88 Teclas” and the Nati Ballarín Piano Studio. She is a researcher of new teaching methodologies, sociological experiments, artificial intelligence, local folklore, rescue of composers and forgotten pieces among others.
She is the creator and member of the artistic duo Dúo Ballarín-Szlapa, together with the Polish violinist Emilia Szlapa. Creator and member of the “Dúo Piavocce” Monegrin (soprano and piano) with Nelly Rodríguez.
Creator and Artistic Director of the International Piano Competition “Rotary Villa de Xàbia”, of the Riurau International Music Festival, International Jury of the WPTA IPC, Founder and Honorary President of the World Association of Piano Teachers in Spain (WPTA Spain), creator and artistic director of the “Monegrarte” International Piano Competition and Festival; creator and artistic director of the Winter Music Festival in Sariñena (Huesca) and the M88K International Piano Competition. President of the Monegros 88 Keys Musical Cultural Association. Founder and artistic Director of World Music Connecti-on Festival with Ernest So. Founder of Monegros Sonoro IPC which will take place in the last quarter of 2024. Director of the 88 Keys International Pianistic Academy, currently recognized Trinity Examination Center.
Jekaterina Rostovtseva
Born November 4, 1979, studied piano at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with prof. Peep Lassmann in 1998-2006 receiving a Master’s Degree. She has participated in the master courses of L. Berman, A. Hewitt, J. MacGregor, K. Randalu, V. Meržanov, V. Novikov, A. Valdma. Since 1998, Jekaterina Rostovtseva works as a piano teacher.
Jekaterina Rostovtseva was announced as the best young piano teacher of the year 2014 which was organized by the Estonian Piano Teacher Association. In 2022 Jekaterina got the Pedagogical recognition from Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
The students of Jekaterina Rostovtseva have won in various republican and international competitions in Italy, France, Latvia, Serbia, Slovenia, USA, China, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Israel.
Her students have been participated in some important musical festivals such as Lille Piano Festival, Piano City Milano, Festival Brin d´Herbe in Orleans, France.
Jekaterina Rostovtseva also has been a member of the jury of international competitions for young pianists.
Jekaterina was awarded many teacher’s prizes in different piano competitions in Europe.
She is currently a lector of the Institute of Interpretation Pedagogics in the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, a piano teacher at Tallinn College of Music and Ballet (MUBA) and the Old Town Music School in Tallinn.