Bert Koch - Piano

Bert Koch (°1986) is a Belgian pianist, mostly active as a chamber musician. He already concertized in a lot of Belgian concert halls such as the Flagey in Brussels, the Academy Hall in Sint-Truiden, the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, the Concert Hall of the Brussels Conservatory, the Concert Hall in Bruges, AMUZ in Antwerp and a diverse range of cultural centres. Moreover, he was a guest at different festival and cultural days as IedereenKlassiek (Bruges), Cultuurmarkt (Antwerp), KlaraFestival (Brussels), BumaClassical (Utrecht) and Festival van Vlaanderen (Kortrijk). 

As a pianist he made recordings for radio stations Musiq3, Klara, Radio 4 (NL) and he was a host at television stations Cultuur7 and Canvas. As a soloist he performed the third and fourth piano concerto of Ludwig von Beethoven with the Limburg Orkest Jeugd en Muziek and the Symfonieorkest Lemmensinstituut. Beethoven is a composer which is of great importance to him. Bert is active as a pianist-accompanist and a teacher accompaniment at the Stedelijke Academie voor Kunsten Maaseik. Every year he accompanies the Vlamo soloists competition. 

His discography consists of the cd Mockingbird (2015) with music by Wilfried Westerlinck, the cd Fingerprints 2 (2016) in collaboration with ComAV and Radio Klara and the cd Timelapse, the debute cd of the Kugoni Trio. This extraordinary trio (piano – saxophone – violin) was established in the Royal Conservatory in Brussels in 2010. The trio is a very welcome guest on national and international stages and was the first prize winner of Supernova (2013) and Forte (2015). 

Bert cooperated in numerous creations of works from prominent composers such as Jan-Hendrik Van Damme, Paul Steegmans, Jeroen d’Hoe, Benjamien Lycke, Erik Desimpelaere, Wilfried Westerlinck, Hanne Deneire and Jan Van Landeghem. He used to compose a lot of works in which he showed his preference for the variation series. His work Thema met variaties in fis for piano was awarded in 2002 for the Aquarius-composers competition in the Concert Hall in Bruges. 

In 2011 Bert achieved his Master of Arts in Music with the highest distinction in the class of Jan Vermeulen at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven. In June 2012 he also completed a post graduate piano accompaniment in the Royal Conservatory Brussels with great distinction. He followed master classes with a.o. Leon Fleisher, Norma Fisher, Paul Komen, Tamara Poddubnava, Bart van de Roer, André De Groote, Nata Tsvereli, Rian de Waal and Bart van Oort. 
 

Keiko Shichijo - Piano & pianoforte

Pianist & fortepianist Keiko Shichijo is a special voice in both the Classical and new music worlds. Her traditional Japanese sensibilities have combined with her knowledge of European historical performance practices to shape her unique vision, and this is reflected in her feeling for the music, the instruments and the story behind them. 

©Michel Marang

Hailing from Japan and residing in the Netherlands for more than a decade, she is active around the world playing both solo and chamber music. She is a prizewinner in many international competitions, including twice the International Early Music Competition (solo and duo) in Brugge, Belgium, the International Early Music Competition "A Tre" in Trossingen in Germany and the Minkoff Prize from the music publisher, Edition Minkoff, and has performed in many international festivals such as the festivals Printemps Des Arts (France), Utrecht Oude Muziek Festival (Holland), MA Festival (Belgium), La Folle Journée Tokyo (Japan). In 2012, the Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments in Japan released her first fortepiano solo CD of works by Schubert.

Her second solo CD “6 Dances by Komitas Vardapet”, released in 2016, earned unanimous praise in the international press and was featured on the national Dutch TV program Vrije Geluiden.

Keiko Shichijo has a violin/fortepiano duo with renowned violinist Cecilia Bernardini which performs regularly throughout Europe.

As a specialist in contemporary music Keiko has worked with many composers, including Helmut Lachenmann, Tom Johnson, Johannes Kalitzke, Jürg Frey, Roscoe Mitchell en Bernhard Lang. Recently she premiered a concerto with the Janacek Philharmonic.

“..purity of sounds-breathtaking…”

“..Her sound filled the hall as one huge warm blanket…”

Since September 2017 she teaches piano and fortepiano at the Fontys Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Tilburg. She is appointed as one of the juries in International Competition Musica Antiqua pianoforte category in 2019.

Keiko Shichijo studied fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland and organ with Pieter van Dijk at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and specialized contemporary music with Daan Vandewalle in Royal Conservatory of Ghent in Belgium.

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Keiko Shichijo
presented her
album
"W.A. Mozart Solo Keyboard Works"
in 2021!

More info

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Keiko Shichijo
presented her
album
"Beethoven 1802"
in 2019!

More info

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Vitaly Pisarenko - Piano

NEW YORK TIMES - Vitaly Pisarenko is an "...Immensely gifted pianist...with prodigious technique, myriad shadings and scrupulous accuracy..."

After winning some of the most important international awards including the First Prize at the 8th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht and the Third Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition (2015), London-based Russian pianist Vitaly Pisarenko has been steadily gaining worldwide recognition.

Critically acclaimed as a pianist of unusually soft touch, prodigious technique and captivating expressiveness, Vitaly has performed in over 30 countries, including solo recitals at Wigmore Hall, Musikverein in Vienna, Bozar in Brussels, Moscow Philharmonic Recital Hall, National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Concert Hall, Mozarteum in Salzburg, de Singel in Antwerp, Toyota Concert Hall in Japan, Hong Kong City Hall, Salle Cortot in Paris and Palace of Arts in Budapest.

He has also played with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Noord Nederlands Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra on tour in Japan, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Het Gelders Orchestra, the YMSO and others performing at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Cadogan Hall in London, Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire,Tokyo Opera City, Seoul Arts Center, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Sala San Paulo in Brazil and De Doelen in Rotterdam among others.

The Association of Music Critics of Argentina recently presented Vitaly with the '2018 Revelation Award'.

Since January 2020 Vitaly teaches at the Purcell School of Music and in September 2021 he has been appointed as Assistant Professor at the Royal College of Music in London.

Concerti

W.A. Mozart               Concerto No.23 K. 488 in A Major
                                 Concerto No.27 K. 595 in B Flat Minor

L.V. Beethoven         Concerto No.2 in B Flat Major
                                 Concerto No.3 in C Minor
                                 Concerto No.4 in G Major

J. Haydn                   Concerto in D Major

F. Mendelssohn        Concerto No.1 in G Minor

F. Liszt                      Concerto No.1 in E Flat Major
                                 Concerto No.2 in A Major
                                 Totentanz
                                 Malédiction S121

C. Saint-Saëns          Concerto No. 2 in G Minor

J. Brahms                 Concerto No. 1 in D Minor

P. Tchaikovsky          Concerto No.1 in B Flat Minor

S. Rachmaninov       Concerto No.2 in C Minor
                                 Concerto No.3 in D minor
                                 Concerto No.4 in G Minor
                                 Paganini Rhapsody

S. Prokofiev              Concerto No.2 in G Minor

R. Strauss                 Burleske