Few artists have made an impact on so many others as Masahiro Kawakami. He is known as one of the premiere artists and scholars on the music of Nikolai Kapustin and Nikolai Medtner, per-former and educator at festivals both domestic and international, recording artist for NHK-FM radio and television programs in Japan and for almost 20 years, the teacher of Nobuyuki Tsujii, 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition winner.
Atsuko Okada was born in Tokyo in 1954. After graduating from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music(Currently – Tokyo University of the Arts )in 1976, she advanced to further graduate studies at the University and earned the Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Western Music of the recognition of recital and thesis on A. N. Scriabin. Ever since, she has built a career to became a widely respected pianist and music critic. Professor Okada is an internationally acclaimed Japan’s premier interpreter of Scriabin’s legacy. She has been invited to various festivals and conferences, including the music festival on Scriabin’s 125 birth anniversary(Moscow, 1997)and the 2nd International Congress commemorating Chopin’s 150th death anniversary(Warsaw, 1999, during which she held recitals and delivered lectures. Dr. Okada’s portfolio as a researcher/writer/editor includes such desired items as ‘Scriabin, the Complete Works for Piano’(Shunju-sha, Tokyo) and ‘A moment is of itself eternity – pianism at the end of the century’(Sakuhin-sha, Tokyo), a collection of awn critical essays.
Hiroshi Arimori obtained Mater’s degree at Tokyo University of the Arts (the former Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music) in 1992 and furthered his study in Moscow. He studied under Toshiko Nogami, Yuzo Mizumoto, Hitoshi Kobayashi and Natalia Suslova. He received the Best Performing Award at the12th Chopin International Piano Competition in1990, Okayama Prefecture’s Art Award in 1991, the 4th prize at the 5th Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia in 1992 and a prize at the 10th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1994.
Born in Chieti, he studied under the guidance of Lucia Passaglia at the Conservatory "L. Cherubini" in Florence graduating with highest honours. He participated as a student performer on a three-year piano perfection course at the “Accademia Musicale Umbra” where he achieved a "Diploma of Excellence”. Later, he participated in the "International Master Classes" in Klaipeda (Lithuania), held by Lazar Berman. With him, his concert repertoire deepened and improved with particular attention to the music of F. Liszt, at the European Academy of Music, Erba (CO). He perfected Chamber Music at the International School of Chamber Music in Duino under the guidance of "Trio of Trieste" achieving a "Diploma with Merit". He has won national and international competitions, including "M. Clementi" in Florence, “Agorà 80" in Rome, "F. Liszt" in Lucca, and "Città di Stresa". In 1997 he won second prize at the 'T. I. M. " - International Music Tournament; in 1998, he was awarded the prestigious "Prix Venice"; in 1999 he won second prize at the international competition "Ecomusic" of Monopoli (BA); in 2002 was the winner of the 40th International Piano Competition "Arcangelo Speranza" in Taranto. In 2009 he was awarded in the “4th International Tbilisi Piano Competition" in Georgia (WFIMC).
Cordelia Höfer was born in Munich. She started her piano lessons with 6 years and completed her studies in piano at the conservato¬ries in Salzburg (Hans Leygraf) and Munich (Klaus Schilde) with highest honors. In Salzburg she also studied conducting (Gerhard Wimberger). She acquired further valuable inspiration from Wilhelm Kempff, Sandor Vegh, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tatjana Nikolajewa and Elisabeth Leonskaja. Her extensive concert experi¬ence involving solo appearances with renowned orchestras and chamber music took her to many countries in Europe, to the USA , Chile, Korea, Japan and China. She has appeared in numerous festivals: “Mostly Mozart” in New York, “Kontrapunkte” at the Salzburger Osterfestspiele, the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, the Mozart-Woche in Cluj (Romania), the Summer Festival in Portogruaro (Italy) , the Eurasia Music Festival in Seoul (Korea), Shanghai Piano Festival (China), among many others.