Laureats 2003

Severin von ECKARDSTEIN
Germany
01 VIII 1978
First Prize - Queen Elisabeth International Grand Prize, Queen Fabiola Prize
Prix Jacques Stehman - Prix RTBF Bruxelles
Klara-Sternefeld Prijs

Born in 1978, Severin von Eckardstein is a native of Düsseldorf where he began his music studies. He later studied with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Klaus Hellwig. He has won prizes at several international competitions, including the ARD Competition in Munich (second prize in 1999), the Leeds Competition (third prize in 2000) and the José Iturbi Competition (second prize in 2002). He has given numerous concerts in Germany and Great Britain, accompanied by various orchestras including the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic.

Wen-Yu SHEN
China
13 X 1986
Second Prize - Prize of the Belgian Federal Government, “Arthur De Greef” Prize

Born in 1986, Wen-Yu Shen entered Chengdu Conservatory (China) at the age of eight. In 1998, he moved to Germany to continue his training with Gunther Hauer (Karlsruhe) and then Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (Hanover). At the age of 11, he won first prize at the Shanghai Competition and two years later first prize at the Seiler Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Kitzingen. He has performed regularly in recital and with orchestra in Germany, China, South Africa, Brazil and Poland since 1997.

Roberto GIORDANO
Italy
6 V 1981
Fourth Prize - Prize of the Governments of the Belgian Communities, this year awarded by the Flemish Government

After spending some time at the Alfred Cortot School in Paris and Pesaro Conservatory, Roberto Giordano currently studies in Imola under the direction of Piero Rattalino and Leonid Margarius. He has won numerous prizes at national and international competitions and was a finalist at the Busoni Competition in 2001. He has since performed regularly as both soloist and chamber musician. He has given recitals with artists including Marie Hallynck, Feng Ning and José Van Dam. Roberto Giordano already has several CDs to his credit.

Kazumasa MATSUMOTO
Japan
27 VII 1979
Fifth Prize - Brussels Capital Region Prize

Born in Japan in 1979, Kazumasa Matsumoto studied at the University of Tokyo from 1998 to 2000. He then moved to Berlin where he received further training with Pascal Devoyon. He has won numerous prizes including third prize at the Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Kiev in 1998, first prize at the Japan Classical Music Competition in 1999, and fourth prize in the Busoni Competition in 2001. Kazumasa Matsumoto has performed in recital and with orchestra in Japan, as well as in the United States and Europe.

Jin JU
China
28 VI 1976
Sixth Prize - City of Brussels Prize

Born into a family of musicians, Jin Ju studied piano at the Beijing Conservatory. She received the diploma of honour from the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and then worked with Martin Roscoe in Manchester. She has been studying in Imola (Italy) since 2002. Jin Ju has been awarded numerous prizes at international competitions, including first prize at the International Theodor Leschetizky Competition in Taiwan, third prize at the UNISA Competition (South Africa) in 2000 and third prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002..

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The six other finatlists
Valentina IGOSHINA
Russia
04 XI 1978
Valentina Igoshina began to study piano with her mother. She has been working at the Moscow Conservatory since 1996, first with Larissa Dedova and then with Sergei Dorensky. She won first prize at the International Rachmaninov Competition in Moscow at the age of 19 and first prize at the Gorizia Competition in 2002. She performed with orchestra (the Melbourne Symphony, Hallé Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony, among others) and in recital in Russia, England and Australia. In 2001, she recorded a CD with works of Chopin and Rachmaninov.

Mako OKAMOTO
Japan
30 VIII 1977
Born in Osaka, Mako Okamoto initiated her piano training at the Toho-Gakuen School in Tokyo. She later moved to Germany where she studied with Michel Beroff in Fribourg. She has been working with Pavel Gililov in Cologne since 2000. She won first prize at the Epinal Competition in 1999 and was awarded first prize at the Chopin Competition in Cologne in 2001 and sixth prize at the Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris. These prizes have made it possible for her to perform in recital and with orchestra primarily in Germany and France.

Jong-Gyung PARK
Korea
7 IV 1976
Born in 1976, Jong-Gyung Park began her music studies in Korea and Japan. She continued her training at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Russel Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun. She has been studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich with Elisso Wirssaladze since 2001. In 1996, she won fourth prize in the Busoni Competition in Bolzano and third prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 1998. She has performed both in recital and with orchestra in the United States, Israel, Italy and Korea.

Sergey SOBOLEV
Russia
18 III 1982
Sergey Sobolev received all of his training in Moscow. He first attended the college attached to the Moscow Conservatory under Sitnova and Suslova and then at the Conservatory itself with Mikhail Voskressensky from 2000. Between 1997 and 2000, he won several prizes at competitions in Poland, Japan and Moscow. Among other awards, he won third prize at the Scriabin Competition in Moscow in 2000. He has performed with orchestra and in recital primarily in Russia and Germany.

MinSoo SOHN
Korea
26 IV 1976
A native of Korea, MinSoo Sohn received most of his training at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he worked with Wha Kyung Byun and Russel Sherman. He has won numerous prizes in international competitions including third prize at the Busoni Competition in 1999 and second prize at the Cleveland Competition in 2001. He has already given numerous concerts with orchestra, in recital as well as in chamber music ensembles primarily in the United States, but also in Spain and Italy.

Amir TEBENIKHIN
Kazakhstan
18 VII 1977
Amir Tebenikhin started his music studies in Kazakhstan. He has been studying at the Moscow Conservatory under the direction of Mikhail Voskressensky since 1996. He won first prize at the Vianna da Motta Competition in Portugal in 1999. This triumph opened the doors of Carnegie Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall (London) and Pleyel Hall (Paris) for him. He also received first prize at the Mee-sur-Seine Competition in France in 2001. That same year, he recorded a CD for Naxos with works by Brahms, Debussy and Prokofiev.

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