2016 Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition Judges

 

EDWARD WOLANIN, POLAND

Edward Wolanin began his piano studies with Urszula Hop when he was 5 years old. He graduated from the secondary music school in Rzeszów (Krystyna Matheis-Domaszowska’s class). As the youngest student in the history of the Academy he began to study at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw when he was 15. He studied with Professor Jan Ekier, Professor Bro­nisława Kawalla and Professor Marchwiński (in his chamber music class).  Fol­low­ing his grad­u­a­tion he con­tin­ued his stud­ies with Pro­fes­sor Jan Ekier as a post-graduate student. 

 

 

 

 

 

SERGEY SCHEPKIN, USA

Sergey Schepkin has performed worldwide. He made his Carnegie Hall recital début in 1993 (at Weill Recital Hall) to an enthusiastic reception from the audience and The New York Times. He has performed for the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center; Celebrity Series of Boston; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; the LACMA and Maestro Chamber Series in Los Angeles; London’s Steinway Hall and Proms at St Jude’s; the National Concert Hall in Dublin; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; the Grand and Chamber Philharmonic Halls in St. Petersburg; and the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, to name just a few places.

 

 

 

 

NANCY WEEMS, USA

As a concert pianist, Nancy Weems has performed extensively in the United States and in Europe, Asia, Mexico, Central America, and the former Soviet Union. Selected as a United States Artistic Ambassador, Ms. Weems represented the United States in three international concert tours, and presented a solo debut recital at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She has appeared as guest artist with numerous orchestras, and has given master classes in conservatories in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the West Indies. 

 

 

 

 

 

DR. BARUCH MEIR, USA/ ISRAEL

Baruch Meir is an exceptional artist, he did a beautiful performance of my piano work entitled A LITTLE SUITE FOR CHRISTMASS which was distinguished by a deep musical insights and consummate technical skill. It was certainly one of the very finest performances this work of mine has ever received" (George Crumb, composer; 1968 Pulitzer Prize in Music; 2001 Grammy award; 2004 Musical America "composer of the year").  Pianist Baruch Meir has performed extensively in Austria, China, England, France, Israel, Portugal, Serbia and throughout the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

ROBERT HAMILTON, USA

Robert Hamilton is an internationally respected pianist and recording artist, who has had the unusual distinction of being enthusiastically reviewed by two Chief Music Critics for The New York Times. Harold C. Schonberg (who also authored The Great Pianists) wrote: “He is a very fine artist. All of Hamilton’s playing has color and sensitivity…one of the best of the million or so around.” And Donal J. Henahan reported: “It was an enthralling listening experience. We must hear this major talent again, and soon!”

 

 

 

 

 

DR. DMITRY RACHMANOV, USA

Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov is Professor of Piano at California State University, Northridge, where he serves as Chair of Keyboard Studies. Hailed as an "indisputable musician" by the Brussels' Le Soir and "suave and gifted pianist' by the New York Times, Rachmanov has been heard at venues such as New York's Carnegie Hall, Washington DC's Kennedy Center, London's Barbican and South Bank Centres, and Beijing Concert Hall, and his tours brought him to Mexico