Piano at Aloni

In particular, this festival is organized in order to give the chance to young talented pianists to present their art, share their talent with the audience and experience along with it the beauty of music in this majestic theatre which hosts ideally performances of the greatest composers’ masterpieces, thanks to its excellent acoustics. While at the same time, the festival revives the rich cultural tradition of the area where, throughout the centuries, its inhabitants were particularly familiar with European music and every mansion had its own piano.

Efstathios (Stathis) Chomatsas Efstathios (Stathis) Chomatsas was born in 1993 and began his piano studies at the age of 5. He holds two Bachelor Degrees in Music and Piano Performance from the American College of Greece and the Open University of UK with Summa cum Laude, having received a full tuition scholarship (H. C. Krentzman) with tutor, Dimitri Toufexis. The American College of Greece has also awarded him a prize from the music department in a special ceremony for his outstanding performance. Currently, he is a Postgraduate student at the Royal Northern College of Music, holding a full tuition scholarship from the prestigious Onassis Foundation of Greece, with tutor Frank Wibaut. His awards include the 1st prize in the 2nd UNESCO Pan-Hellenic Competition, 1st prize in the X.O.N. Competition of Athens, 2nd prize in the 1st ‘State Conservatory of Larissa’ Competition and 3rd prize in the 1st ‘Thessaloniki Piano Festival’ Competition. His repertoire consist of works by Bach and Scarlatti to contemporary works of Lowell Liebermann, Carl Vine and Greek contemporary composers. In addition, his repertoire includes numerous piano concerti, and he has appeared several times as a soloist with orchestras. Notable performances were with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (E.R.T.), Thessaloniki State Conservatory Orchestra, Anagennisi Conservatory’s Orchestra, and the Ioanna Sygkelaki Conservatory’s Orchestra. Stathis has participated in numerous masterclasses and academies such as the 5th International Piano Academy of Poros 2013, the Val Tidone International Music Summer Camp (with Prof. A. Delle Vigne) and the 1st and 2nd Annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposiums held in 2015 and 2016 organized by the American College of Greece as well as the Un Voyage des Impressions chamber music festival held on RNCM. Tutelage has been received from J. E. Bavouzet, A. Delle Vigne, B. Frith, V. Viardo, D. Blumenthal, R. Hayroudinoff, P. Cassard, Y. Bogdanov, A. Kapelis, A. Leimoni, I. Petrin, D. Petralia, R. Boldorini, Y. Admony. His education includes a Piano Degree with Honors and Distinction from the Anagennisi (Renaissance) Conservatory with Prof. Eleni Kokolaki, a Piano Diploma and First Prize with the highest grade that the Conservatory has ever awarded with Prof. Dimitri Toufexis, and a Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue-Orchestration Diploma with honors with Prof. Fotios Pappas and G. Malefakis. Stathis has also studied orchestral conducting with Miltos Logiadis in Athens and Prof. Mark Heron in RNCM, and in the September of 2015, he was offered the position of the principal conductor of the Anagenissi (Renaissance) Conservatory Orchestra. In addition, he has studied composition with Prof. Adam Gorb at the RNCM and currently studies with Dimitri Economou; his original piano sonata has been premiered in the Royal College of Music.

1) D. Scarlatti Keyboard Sonata in C major, K 159 2) S. Chomatsas Piano Sonata 3) Glinka-Balakirev The Lark 4) C. Vine Piano Sonata No. 1

Nefeli Mousoura - Pianist

Greek Pianist Nefeli Mousoura was born in Athens, and started taking piano lessons at the age of four. She currently shares her time between Athens and Salzburg ,where she gives recitals and chamber music concerts. As a soloist she has performed with orchestras such as the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Greece, the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra Bacau, the Municipality of Athens Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Patras, the Orpheus Kammerorchester Wien, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and the Sinfonieorchester der Universitaet Mozarteum. With this orchestra she participated as a soloist in a DVD production with Bach's Concertos.

Nefeli has performed in Greece, Austria, France, Italy and Germany. She has appeared, among others, in piano festivals such as the "Nafplion Festival”, the “Thessaloniki Piano Festival”, the "Piano at its forte" in Athens and the renown piano festival "Klavierfrühling" in Deutschlandsberg, Austria. Nefeli is also an ardent chamber musician. Highlight of her chamber music concerts is her collaboration with violonist Ivry Gitlis.

Since the age of eight she has been the recipient of many awards at piano competitions in her homeland (first prizes at the "Ministry of Education Piano Competition", at the "Young Greek Pianists' Competition" in Andros,at the "Philon" Competition in Athens, third prize at the international "Konzerteum" Piano Competition).

She has also won Prizes in International Competitions such as the Campillos International Competition in Spain and the Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition. Nefeli has also been awarded the prestigious ‘Prize for Young Pianists’ awarded by the Academy of Athens. She is also the recipient of scholarships awarded by the Onassis Foundation, the Educat ion and European Culture Foundation, the Athens Megaron Music Friends Society and the Gina Bachauer Foundation.

Nefeli has made recordings for the Greek Radio and has appeared on the greek television. She has also participated as a pianist in the documentary “Salzburg 200” of the Austrian Radio and Television of ORF.

She has received lessons from Elisso Virsaladze, Jacques Rouvier and Steven Kovacevich. Nefeli was also chosen from Mozarteum University to participate at a Masterclass with Paul Badura Skoda and play for the Inauguration of the Bösendorfer Saal in Salzburg.

Nefeli received her Piano Diploma in Athens with Honors, under the guidance of pianist Anastasios Pappas from the "Kodaly Conservatory". She continued her studies with Rolf Plagge graduating from the University Mozarteum of Salzburg with Bachelor Degree and Master Degree in Solo Piano Performance with highest Distinction. She is also a graduate of Bachelor Degree in Musicology from the Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Nefeli is currently involved in the Postgraduate Program for Piano Solo Performance in Mozarteum University of Salzburg in the class of Professor Imre Roman.

Claude Debussy : Estampes

Franz List: Venezia e Napoli

Antonio Soler : Sonata in d sharp major

Sonata in g minor

W.A Mozart: Variations in c major on the Theme "Ah vous dirais je maman"

Claude Debusse: Estampes'

Franz List: Venezia e Napoli

Handel Schubert: Barber Chaconne in G Major

Schubert: Klavierstücke D. 946 No. 1

Barber: Souvenirs

- Intermission -

Schubert-Liszt: Ständchen Gretchen am Spinnrade

Schumann-Liszt: Widmung

Chopin: Grande Valse Brillante Barcarolle

Saint-Saëns: Dance Macabre (arr. Guiraud)

Khachaturian: Sabre Dance (arr. Anderson and Roe)

Konstantinos Valianatos Biography

Konstantinos Valianatos has attracted attention as an exciting young musician of great talent in the United States, Asia, and Europe. The recipient of numerous awards, he has won eleven first prizes, six of them at International Competitions, including the International Seiler Piano Competition, the International Ibiza Piano Competition, the Senigallia International Piano Competition, the San Gemini International Piano Competition, and the Aspen Music Festival Competition. He is the recipient of the Gina Bachauer, Yamaha, Onassis, I.K.Y., George and Marie Vergottis Foundation, and Starr Foundation scholarships. In 2004, Valianatos’ artistic integrity and work ethos were officially acknowledged when the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos presented him with the highest accolade from the Athens Academy, the most prestigious academic institution in Greece.

Mr. Valianatos already enjoys an international performing career. He has appeared as a featured soloist in concerto performances with the Athens State Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the “Sinfonieta” Orchestra of Athens, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, and the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra. He has been heard both in solo recitals and as a chamber musician in numerous prestigious venues, including the Salle Cortot in Paris, Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Recital Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Thessaloniki Megaron, the Athens Megaron, and has been featured on WQXR’s McGraw-Hill Young Artist’s Showcase. Mr. Valianatos recently made this solo debut in Taiwan, giving two solo recitals to critical acclaim.

He is a founding member of the award-winning “Olympus Piano Trio”, a group dedicated to celebrating chamber music and the Hellenic spirit. The “Olympus Piano Trio” recently had its Merkin Hall debut, sponsored by the Onassis and Hellenic-American cultural foundations. Their CD with works by Mendelssohn, Ravel, and Hatzis was released by LP Classics in the Fall of 2016. In 2017, the trio was invited for a week-long teaching and performing residency at Northern Michigan State University, while in 2018 the members taught as guest artists at the C’est Bon Chamber Music Festival in California. Upcoming projects include recordings of works by Shostakovich and Weinberg.

Mr. Valianatos has participated in numerous summer festivals both as a soloist and a chamber musician, including the Aspen International Music Festival, the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, the Texas State University Piano Festival (Rising Star Series), the Banff Music Festival,and the Piano Academy in Poros, Greece. In the summers of 2012 and 2013, Mr. Valianatos and the “Olympus Piano Trio” were featured at the Music Festival in Kefalonia, under the sponsorship of the George and Marie Vergottis Foundation.

A native of Athens, Greece, Mr. Valianatos began his piano studies at the age of seven at the National Conservatory of Greece. At age fourteen, he was awarded the “Diploma of Soloist” with highest distinction (class of Agathe Leimoni). He continued his studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” in Paris with Germaine Mounier, receiving the “Diplome Superieur d’Execution”. Mr. Valianatos holds B.M. (class of Jerome Lowenthal and Veda Kaplinsky) and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard School, where he continues his studies in pursuit of a D.M.A. degree under the tutelage of Julian Martin and Veda Kaplinsky. Since August of 2017, Mr.Valianatos has joined the faculty at West Virginia University as a Lecturer in the School of Music.

Ching-Wen Hsiao Biography

Taiwanese-American pianist, Ching-Wen Hsiao, has performed throughout the North America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Hsiao gave her concerto debut in the Philippines, giving four performances of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Cebu Youth Sym- phony. Since then, she has appeared with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, New York Youth Symphony, Arts Viva Orchestra, Du Page County Youth Symphony, West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, Yi-Qi Orchestra, and Evergreen Sym- phony Orchestra.

First Prize winner of the 1995 Taiwan National Piano Competition, Dr. Hsiao has won the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition at The Juilliard School, the Steinway Solo Piano and Concerto Competitions in Chicago, the American Musician Scholarship Competi- tion, and the Music Teacher National Association’s Illinois State and Eastern Central Di- vision Piano Competitions. She is a recipient of the “New Rising Star” Award, granted by the Ministry of Culture in Taiwan. The award led to several performances at the Tai- wan National Concert Hall.

Dr. Hsiao has performed with renowned violinist Cho-Liang Lin at Alice Tully Hall and collaborated with esteemed conductors, including Kurt Masur, James DePreist, and James Conlon. She has performed at prestigious venues, such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, David Geffen Hall, Steinway Hall, Ravinia Festival, and ancient Olympia in Greece. Her performances have been broadcasted on WNIB and WQXR radios. An ad- vocate of contemporary music, she has commissioned works by Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin. In 2019, she will record Dr. Chin’s complete solo piano works. Dr. Hsiao’s performance of John Corigliano’s Etude Fantasy earned the composer’s high acclaim.

Dr. Hsiao received her B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees in Piano Performance from The Juilliard School, where she graduated with the Alan Fay “Outstanding Pianist” Award. Her principal teachers include Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jerome Lowenthal, Emilio del Ro- sario, and Juanelva Rose. She has also worked with Julian Martin, Robert Shanon, Wu Han, and Claude Frank. Dr. Hsiao has served as Itzhak Perlman’s studio accompanist and performed in Krystian Zimerman’s masterclass.

Dr. Hsiao is Assistant Professor of Piano at West Virginia University. Previously, she was a member of the piano faculty at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division and Assistant Professor of Piano at Southeastern University, where she received the “Outstanding Scholarship” Award. Dr. Hsiao has given masterclasses throughout the U.S. and Asia and taught at summer festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, Viana do Castelo International Music Festival in Portugal, and U.S.-China Piano Festi- val in China. Along with Dr. Mikylah McTeer and Dr. Erin Ellis, Dr. Hsiao is a founding member of the Lyon Piano Trio.

In addition to performing and teaching, Dr. Hsiao was the Executive Director at New York’s Geneva Conservatory of Music and has adjudicated piano competitions in NY, NJ, CT, FL, IL, and PA states. Dr. Hsiao is the Director of the West Virginia Piano Com- petition and Festival.