Competitor Selection Jury

• Janice Weber, USA
  Chair
  

Janice Weber is a summa cum laude graduate of the Eastman School of Music. She has performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the National Gallery of Art, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and has appeared with numerous orchestras throughout North America and China in a notably eclectic career.

 Her performances reflect her penchant for the unusual as her repertoire includes concertos by Hanson, Sowerby, Stenhammar, Bernstein, and Leroy Anderson as well as the standard repertoire. Ms. Weber’s interest in the uncommon avenues of the piano literature led to a world premiere recording of Liszt’s 1838 Transcendental Etudes. Time Magazine wrote, “Liszt later simplified these pieces into the still ferociously difficult Transcendental Etudes (1852 version) for fear that no one else could play them. There may now be several fire-eating piano virtuosos who can execute the original notes, but few can liberate the prophetic music they contain as masterfully as Janice Weber does here.”

Her recordings include Rachmaninoff’s complete transcriptions; with the Lydian Quartet, Leo Ornstein’s vast Piano Quintet; flute and piano works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert; waltz transcriptions of Godowsky, Rosenthal, and Friedman; Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time; solo piano works of Leo Ornstein; Ross Lee Finney’s Chamber Music; and A Cascade of Roses. Her most recent recording, Sea Pieces, features a unique selection of water music by Blumenfeld, Bloch, Alec Templeton, and others.

A member of the piano faculty at the Boston Conservatory, she has given master classes and recitals at conservatories throughout America and China and has been a member of the jury for the Hilton Head International Piano Competition several times.

Locally, Miss Weber performs with the South Coast Chamber Music Society.  Miss Weber produced the tones for Ivory, the worldwide bestselling virtual piano software.

Ms. Weber is a Steinway Artist.  

Mykola Suk, Ukraine

Ukrainian-American pianist, Mykola Suk gained international recognition as the winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal at the 1971 International Liszt-Bartok Competition in Budapest, Hungary.

 Mr. Suk has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras, from the Russian National Symphony under Mikhail Pletnev to the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under Roman Kofman. He has collaborated artistically with renowned conductors, among them Charles Bruck, Janos Ferencik, Arvid Jansons, Stefan Turchak, James DePreist and Carl St. Clair. 

Since his first public appearance at age eight, Mykola Suk’s international career has spanned four continents and performance venues from the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory to Carnegie Hall in New York.  His passion for chamber music has brought him to many distinguished chamber music festivals and collaborations with the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Kiev International Music Festival (Ukraine) and International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York.

Mr. Suk holds both a combined Bachelor/Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Pedagogy and Chamber Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from the Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied with Lev Vlasenko.

Before coming to the United States, Mr. Suk served as professor of Piano at the Kiev State Conservatory and Moscow State Conservatory.  He taught as an adjunct faculty member at the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Columbia University, and the University of Southern Alabama.  Mykola Suk has given master classes at many festivals and music schools around the world. 

In 2001, Mr. Suk settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, heading keyboard studies at the Music Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  

• Nelita True, USA

Since Nelita True made her debut at age seventeen with the Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall and her New York debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, her career has taken her to the major cities of Western and Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Iceland, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, Canada, India, and to Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as to all fifty states in America.

 A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan, she went on to The Juilliard School to study with Sascha Gorodnitzki, and then earned the DMA with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory. Her students have won top prizes in national and international competitions, and many of her former students now serve on the faculties of major schools around the country.

Nelita True has been a jury member for the China International Piano Competition (Beijing), Dublin International Piano Competition, Queen Sonja International Piano Competition (Oslo), National Piano Competition in Brazil, Horowitz Competition (Kiev), Concours de Musique (Canada), PTNA (Tokyo), Lev Vlassenko Competition (Australia), and the Gina Bachauer, New Orleans, Hilton Head, and William Kapell International Piano Competitions (USA).

Formerly Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, Ms. True is currently Professor of Music at the Eastman School of Music. She was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, the Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching at Eastman, the 2002 Achievement Award from the Music Teachers’ National Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Graduate Education from the University of Rochester, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Keyboard Pedagogy Conference.

Competition Jury

• Peter Takács, Romania/USA
  Chairman

Peter Takács was born in Bucuresti, Romania and started his musical studies before his fourth birthday.  After his debut recital at age seven, he was a frequent recitalist in his native city until his parents’ request for emigration to the West, at which point all his studies and performances were banned.  He continued studying piano clandestinely until his family was allowed to emigrate to France, where, at age fourteen, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National de Paris.

Arriving in the U.S., his outstanding musical talents continued to be recognized with full scholarships to Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, and a three-year fellowship for doctoral studies at the Peabody Conservatory, where he completed his artistic training with renowned pianist Leon Fleisher.

Mr. Takács has received numerous prizes and awards for his performances, including First Prize in the William Kapell International Competition, the C.D. Jackson Award for Excellence in Chamber Music at the Tanglewood Music Center, and a Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.  His performances have been hailed by audiences and the press for their penetrating intellectual insight as well as for emotional urgency and communicativeness.

 Mr. Takács has performed as guest soloist with major orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, as well as at important summer festivals including Tanglewood, Music Mountain, Chautauqua Institution, ARIA International, Schlern Music Festival in the Italian Alps, Tel Hai International Master Classes in Israel, Sweden’s Helsingborg Festival, and Musicfest Perugia 2014.  Since 2008, he has been a member of the faculty at the Montecito Summer Music Festival in Santa Barbara, CA.  He has performed and recorded the cycle of thirty-two Beethoven Piano Sonatas, which were released on the CAMBRIA label in July 2011.

Mr. Takács’ success as a teacher is attested to by his students’ winning top prizes in competitions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South Africa.  They have been accepted at major graduate schools including the Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, and Peabody Conservatory.  Mr. Takács has given master classes in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and has been a jury member at prestigious competitions including San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, Canadian National Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition, and Hilton Head International Piano Competition.  Since 1976, Mr. Takács has been Professor of Piano at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

• Miyoko Nakaya Lotto, Japan

Born in Japan, Miyoko Nakaya Lotto began her music studies at the age of 5 at the Toho School of Music.  Having studied in Chicago with Saul Dorfman, and in Tokyo with Aiko Iguchi, Ms. Lotto won Third Prize at the age of 17 in the prestigious Mainichi-NHK Music Competition of Japan. 

Ms. Lotto completed her B.M., M.S and Post-Graduate Degrees at The Juilliard School.  After just 3 years, she was chosen by her mentor, Sascha Gorodnitzki, to become his assistant.  She went on to teach at the same institution for 18 years as assistant to Sascha Gorodnitzki. 

Ms. Lotto was a Finalist in the Kosciuszko Chopin, the Concert Artist Guild, the Young Concert Artist, and the Italian F. Busoni International Piano Competitions; she won Second Place in the Juilliard Orchestra Concerto Competition, and First Prize in the Sterling Staff Competition.  She has performed throughout the U.S, and made her New York City debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1970.

She has given master classes in Japan, the U.S., Israel, China, Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, and has served as juror for the Gina Bachauer, the Hilton Head, and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions.  During the summers Ms. Lotto is on the faculty of Euro Arts Festival in Germany, the International Academy of Music in Italy; and the Cliburn Summer Institute, the Summit Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Music Program in the US. 

Miyoko Lotto has been on the faculty at NYU, and currently teaches at SUNY Purchase, Manhattan School of Music, and the Perlman Music Program.  Her students have been prizewinners at the prestigious Leeds, Van Cliburn, Gina Bachauer, Hamamatsu, and the International Chopin piano competitions.

Ms. Lotto worked as music consultant and editor with pianist/conductor Daniel Barenboim in creating the documentary “Barenboim on Beethoven”, which was the Gran Prix winner in the 2008 Cannes Music Festival.  Ms. Lotto also was the moderator for a documentary film, “Mahler: The New York Years”, interviewing Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, and Mahler specialist, Henry de La Grange.    

Miyoko Lotto is Vice-President and Director of the Sascha Gorodnitzki Foundation, and is currently writing a book on Sascha Gorodnitzki. 

• Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russia

In 2005, Vladimir Ovchinnikov received Russia’s highest award for musicians: the title National Artist of Russia. The only pianist ever to win the top prizes at both the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1982) and the Leeds International Piano Competition (1987), Mr. Ovchinnikov is also a laureate of the Concours International de Montréal (1980).   It was his success in Leeds that established his international career, beginning with a triumphant debut performance in London in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. 

Mr. Ovchinnikov’sconcerto appearances include the Chicago Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Princeton Symphony, all the major London orchestras, Bournemouth Symphony, Hague Residentie Orkest, Hallé Orchestra (Manchester), Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Zurich Tonhalle.  Heappears frequently with leading Russian orchestras including the Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra.

Vladimir Ovchinnikov has collaborated with many renowned conductors, among them Vladimir Ashkenazy, Matthias Bamert, James Conlon, Alexander Dmitriev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Neeme Järvi, Yakov Kreizberg, Libor Pesek, Valery Poliansky, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Thomas Sanderling, Maxim Shostakovich, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Sir Georg Solti.   Festival appearances include Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Singapore, Hollywood Bowl and Van Cliburn (Fort Worth).  He has also appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious venues: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Vienna Musikverein, Théâtre de Champs-Elysées in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Great Hall of Moscow’s State Conservatory, and the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.

AmongMr. Ovchinnikov’s recordings are compilations of Liszt, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov for EMI Classics; Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and the Shostakovich First Piano Concerto (with Maxim Shostakovich) for Collins Classics; and Rachmaninov’s Etudes-Tableaux Op. 33 and 39 for Olympia. 

A graduate of the Moscow Conservatory where he studied with Alexey Nasedkin, Vladimir Ovchinnikovis resident professor of piano at the Moscow Conservatory and guest professor of piano at Sakuyo University in Japan.

“Ovchinnikov is an immaculate performer with impeccable taste and a sense of deep repose, even when confronted by the most extravagant technical demands.”                                                                       THE INDEPENDENT (London)

• Santiago Rodriguez, Cuba/USA

Santiago Rodriguez has performed with leading orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Weimar Philharmonic, the Tampere Philharmonic of Finland, the Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore Symphonies, among others. Mr. Rodriguez has appeared in recital at the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Rodriguez has performed over 65 concertos and solo works during his 35 year career, including unusual works by Khachaturian, Strauss, Saint-Saëns, MacDowell, de Falla, Albéniz, and Previn.

A renowned interpreter of the music of Sergei Rachmaninov, Mr. Rodriguez is currently recording The Rachmaninov Edition, which will encompass the entire catalog of Rachmaninov’s original solo piano compositions.

Mr. Rodriguez has recorded numerous world premieres, including Piano Concerto No. 1 by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco; the Concertino for Piano, Strings, and Cymbals of Carlos Surinach; and the Piano Sonata No. 2 of Alberto Ginastera, which was premiered by Mr. Rodriguez at Alice Tully Hall. 

Mr. Rodriguez was born in Cárdenas, Cuba, but at age 8, his parents sent him to a Catholic orphanage in New Orleans with a note begging the nuns to continue his musical education. Two years after his arrival, he made his concert debut at age ten performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 with the New Orleans Philharmonic.  In 1981, he won the Silver Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and a special prize for the best performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Touches, a work commissioned for the competition and which he later recorded.

Santiago Rodriguez completed his undergraduate studies magna cum laude at the University of Texas and holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School.

Mr. Rodriguez is also active as a judge for major piano competitions. Most recently, he was Chair of the Jury at both the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition and the 2012 San Antonio International Piano Competition.

In 1980 Mr. Rodriguez joined the faculty at the University of Maryland as a Professor of Piano and Artist-in-residence where he remained until 2009 when he became Chair of the Keyboard Department, Professor and Artist-in-residence at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami.

• Lori Sims, USA

Internationally known pianist Lori Sims received the Gold Medal at the 1998 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, where she also won the prize for the best performance of a work by Brahms.  Ms. Sims’ other awards include first prize co-winner of the 1994 Felix Bartholdy-Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin, Germany; winner of the 1993 American Pianists’ Association Competition with outstanding distinction from the jury; and the silver medal winner in the 1987 Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition. 

She has performed throughout North America, Europe, and China including engagements with the NordDeutscheRadio Orchester in Hannover, the Israel Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Spokane Chamber Orchestra, the Denver Chamber Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Rockford Symphony and the Kalamazoo Symphony.  She has made seven appearances at the prestigious Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, where she has been featured as solo-recitalist, Master Class artist, and chamber artist.   

Her recent two recordings “American Classics” and “Lori Sims: Romantic” have received wide critical acclaim. In addition, Ms. Sims has recorded an all-Chopin CD and a live CD recording of the works of Brahms and Clara Schumann.

Ms. Sims has been at Western Michigan University since 1997.  In 2003, she was named the John T. Bernhard Professor of Music at Western Michigan University, one of thirteen named chairs at the University. Ms. Sims began her studies with her parents, and as a teen studied with Larry Graham at the University of Colorado.  She received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory as a student of Leon Fleisher, her Master’s Degree from the Yale School of Music as a student of Daniel Pollack and Claude Frank, and a “Solistendiplom,” or artist diploma, from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany, as a student of Arie Vardi.  Ms. Sims is returning to the Hilton Head International Piano Competition after previously serving on the Competitor Selection Jury for the 2007 competition, and as a member of the Competition Jury in 2008.