Seventy-eight contestants from 28 countries qualified for the live rounds for the NTD International Piano Competition, which was held at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York on September 25-28. Fifteen made it to the semi-finals, and six advanced as finalists.

Vladimir Petrov is a graduate of the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory studying under Prof. Piassetsky, Honoured Artist of Russia. He now studies at the Moscow State Conservatory of Tchaikovsky. He is currently a pupil of Professor Eliso Virsaladze, People’s Artist of Russia.  Vladimir Petrov is the First Prize winner of the V Lotar-Shevchenko International Piano Competition, the First Prize winner of the “Ciudad de Vigo” International Piano Competition, and the First Prize winner of the VI International “José Jacinto Cuevas” Yamaha Piano Competition.

Vladimir Petrov has performed with the great violinists Kristof Barati and Graf Mourzha. He has also collaborated with such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Lanfranco Marceletti, Tito Muñoz, Pavel Gershtein, Roman Revueltas, Gleb Skvortsov.

Nicolas Giacomelli graduated with honors and special mention at the Conservatory G.B. Martini of Bologna in 2015 with professors Florenta Barbalat and Francesco Dilaghi. He’s also studying composition (VIII degree) with Professor Gian Paolo Luppi. Since 2010 he has been a pupil of Leonid Margarius at the International Academy of Imola.  Since 2007, Nicolas has been the first prize winner in more than 40 competitions, receiving as well special prizes and mentions (most gifted young pianist, best performance with orchestra … ). In 2016, the jury of the prestigious Piano Campus International Competition declared him unanimously First Prize Winner of the competition and gave him several special prizes. The same year Nicolas won the Prize Alfredo Casella at the XXXIII Premio Venezia Competition. The 22nd of June 2016 during the European Music Festival, Nicolas was granted at the Deputy Chamber (Rome) by the President of the Deputy Chamber Laura Boldrini as Italian musical excellence.

Nicolas held more than 100 concerts in Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, USA, Kazakhstan, Croatia. He has been invited to many important music festivals and held recitals in famous concert halls such as Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Palazzo Vecchio (Florence), St Mary the Virgin Church (Oxford), Fazioli Concert Hall (Sacile), Church of Auvers-sur-Oise (Auvers-sur-Oise), Musée Wurth (Strasbourg).

Several of Nicolas’s performances have been recorded and broadcast by radio and television stations (Radio 3, France Musique, Rai 3, Nettuno TV). Moreover, the live recordings of Nicolas’s performances at Piano Campus Competition and Premio Venezia have been released on CDs.

Sanghie Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea and started playing the piano at the age of 5. A musical prodigy, she won the first prize in competition at age 8, and went on to attend Yewon School & Seoul Arts High School. She studied with Prof. Shin at Yonsei University, receiving scholarships and earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music. Moving to the United States for further studies, she first earned her Performer Diploma at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University, under Prof. Emile Naoumoff. She then went to the College-Conservatory of Music at Cincinnati and earned her DMA and Artist Diploma under the guidance of Prof. James Tocco, Eugene Pridonoff, and Elisabeth Pridonoff with full scholarship.

Sanghie has won first prize in many competitions, including the Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition in 2015, where she also won a special award for Best Interpretation of an American Composer’s Work. She won second prize at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition in 2014 performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1, which she also performed with the University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2016. She has been invited to the Alaska e-Piano Competition and Beethoven International Piano Competition in Bonn. Sanghie also won numerous first prizes at major competitions in Korea such as the Beethoven Piano Competition of Korea, Haneum Piano Competition, and Korea Piano Duo Association Competition.

An active chamber musician, Sanghie is a member of the piano trio Canorus, which won second prize at the 2017 OSTA (Ohio String Teachers Association) Chamber Music Competition; the trio has also won first prize at the 2016 CCM Chamber Competition and second prize in 2015. With other chamber groups, she has performed over 50 chamber recitals since 2013. At the Korea Piano Duo Association competition in Seoul, she won the Grand Prize for her piano duo recital performance.

Also in Seoul, Sanghie has been invited to perform at the Young Artist Musician’s Festival by Eumyoun, New Rising Star Debut Recital, and Young Artist Piano Recital. She performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 with the Yonsei University Symphony Orchestra as the winner of the school’s 2009 Concerto Competition.

Sanghie has participated many music festivals, including Art of the Piano; she was chosen to participate in the 2016 Gilmore Piano Festival as a top piano student in the College-Conservatory of Music, where she performed in a master class with Yefim Bronfman. She has also performed in master classes with Paul Schenly, Bruno Rigutto, Hie-Yeon Choi, Yoshikazu Nagai, Kate Soyeon Lee, Dror Biran, Michael Chertock, Ning An, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, and Roberto Diaz.

Olena Miso was born in Lviv, Ukraine where she recieved her first piano lessons from Lyudmyla Zakopets at the Lviv secondary specialized music school “S. Krushelnytska”.  After finishing it she began her study at the National Music Academy of Ukraine “P.Chaikovsky” with Prof. Yury Kot and in 2015 she got her Master’s degree.  Presently she continues her study at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria with Prof. Milana Сhernyavska.

Olena has gained musical insights by attending masterclasses held by renowned professors, such as V. Rudenko, K. Kenner, M.Voskresensky, O. Yablonskaya, G. Gruzman, U. Weyand, S. Gulyak, R. Levin.

The young pianist has won a great number of national and international competitions in Ukraine, Italy, Spain, France, Serbia, and Slovakia:  The 1st prize at the Fifth Isidor Bajic piano memorial competition; the 3rd prize at  the All-Ukrainian Piano Competition “Bechstein-prize” in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2012; the 3rd prize in Augustin Aponte International Music Competition (Tenerife, Spain, 2017); the 1st prize with the Piano Trio SoloWay in the International Music Competition “Giovani Musicisti” (Treviso, Italy, 2017) in Chamber Music category, in October 2017 she won the 2nd prize in the “XXI Stefano Marizza International Piano Competition” (Trieste, Italy) and the 1st prize in the “Lia Tortora” Piano Competition (/Perugia); in December 2017 – Gold prize in the Martha Debelli Stipendium Competition (Graz, Austria). In April 2018 she got 3 prizes: the 1st prize and the Extraordinary Prize in the “Gran Klavier“ Ciudad de Alcala Piano Competition (Madrid, Spain), the 2nd prize in the 10th International Piano Competition “Città di Treviso” (Treviso, Italy) and the 3rd  prize in the XI International Piano Competitions “Forum per Tasti” (Banska Bystryza, Slovakia). In May 2018 she won the 1st prize in the IV International Piano Competition “ClaMo” (Murcia, Spain).

During her study Olena got a Stipendium from “Clavarte Fondation” (Berlin, German) and the Gold prize at the «Marta Debelli Stipendium Competition» in Graz. Aside from her competition success Olena performed in concerts at a variety of festivals in Europe, Mexico, and China as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She was rewarded with recording sessions at KUG as well as two recording sessions for ORF1 with Piano Trio SoloWay and recording on Radio Klassik (Wien) with works of Franz Schubert and Anton Arensky.

Maxim Anikushin has given numerous solo and concerto performances at important venues in New York City such as Stern Hall of Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall, Merkin Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, and The Bruno Walter Auditorium of the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, as well as overseas at The Great and Small Halls of The Moscow Conservatory and The Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg in Russia; at Palau de la Musica, Valencia (Spain) as well as in other performance spaces in Israel, Italy, France, Canada, England, Belgium, Japan, Norway, and Germany. After Maxim Anikushin’s highly successful New York debut on May 9, 1999 at Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall, the well-known critic Harris Goldsmith of the New York Concert Review wrote: “Maxim Anikushin is undoubtedly destined to enter the annals of his generation’s important young pianists.”

After winning the Concerto Competition in 2006 at Manhattan School of Music, culminating in the performance of Barber’s Piano Concerto, the conductor of the performance, Maestro JoAnn Falletta called Maxim a “big talent” with “fabulous technique.” Mrs. Falletta subsequently invited Maxim Anikushin to perform Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for their 07/08 season. Maxim Anikushin has performed the Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 more than any other concerto in his repertoire including the memorable performance in Tours, France in 1999 with Yuri Bashmet and The “Moscow Soloists” orchestra.  After Maxim Anikushin’s solo performance at the legendary Stern/Perlman Hall at Carnegie Hall on April 5, 2012, Vivian Schwartz of the New York Times wrote “Judging by his enjoyable concert at Carnegie Hall on Thursday evening, the Russian-American pianist Maxim Anikushin has a genuine affinity for the music of Samuel Barber.”

Maxim Anikushin’s many prestigious prizes and awards include the third prize at both The International Senigallia Competition in Italy and the International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, second Prize in The International Vincenzo Bellini Competition in Caltanissetta, Italy and first prize in both the Long Island’s Five Towns Competition in Hewlett, N.Y. and The International Carlet Competition in Spain.  Recently, Maxim Anikushin was the finalist in the prestigious NTD International Piano Competition (2019).

Maxim Anikushin’s highly praised recording Saison Russe, released on the Bel Air label in 2001, includes Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1, Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka with Dmitry Yablonsky conducting the Russian State Orchestra.

Maxim Anikushin studied with L.A. Andreyeva, Y.I. Batuyev, Milton Salkind, Oxana Yablonskaya, and Solomon Mikowsky. He holds Bachelor and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School of Music and his doctorate from Manhattan School of Music. He also studied organ with Chris Johnson, Andrew Henderson, and Esther Yoon; and carillon with Casey Klipple and Dionisio Lind. As an organist, Maxim performed at the Riverside Church, Interchurch Center, OSA Lutheran Church, The Good-Shepherd church in Bayridge, Brooklyn.  As the carilloneur, Maxim has performed at the Riverside Church in New York, at Princeton, N.J., Berkeley, C.A. , Yale, C.T., at the Chicago University, IL, and at Centralia, Il.