Piano Island Festival | Bangkok

Pascal Rogé exemplifies the finest in French pianism. Born in Paris, he was a student of the Paris Conservatory and was also mentored by Julius Katchen and the great Nadia Boulanger. Winner of Georges Enesco piano competition and 1st prize of Marguerite Long Piano competition, he became an exclusive Decca recording artist at the age of seventeen. His playing of Poulenc, Satie, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and especially Ravel, is characterized by its elegance, beauty and stylistically perfect phrasing.

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Mr. Rogé has performed in almost every major concert hall in the world and with every major orchestra across the globe and has collaborated with the most distinguished conductors in history, including Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mariss Jansons, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Edo de Waart, Alan Gilbert, David Zinman, Marek Janowski, Sir Andrew Davis, Raymond Leppard and others.

One of the world’s most distinguished recording artists, Pascal Rogé has won many prestigious awards, including two Gramophone Awards, a Grand Prix du Disque and an Edison Award for his interpretations of the Ravel and Saint- Saens concerti along with the complete piano works of Ravel, Poulenc and Satie.

Several years ago, Mr. Rogé began a new and ambitious recording project for Onyx called the Rogé Edition. With the Vienna Radio Symphony under Bertrand de Billy, he has recently recorded two CDs of both of the Ravel Piano Concerti and the Gershwin Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue. Recently, Pascal
 has
 enjoyed
 playing
 recitals
 for four-hands/two-pianos with
his
 partner 
in life and in music Ami Rogé.
 Together, they
 have travelled
 the
 world 
appearing at
prestigious
festivals and
concert halls and recorded
 several
 CDs
 dedicated
 to
 the
 French
2
piano
and
4
hands repertoire. In 2011 they have given the 
premiere
of a
newly commissioned Concerto
 for
 Two
 Pianos
 by
 the
 composer
 Matthew
 Hindson
 with
 the Sydney 
Symphony
 Orchestra
 conducted by
Vladimir
Ashkenazy.

Recently chairman of the Geneva Piano competition, Pascal Rogé is also dedicated to teaching and gives regular masterclasses in France, Japan, United States and United Kingdom.

www.pascalroge.net

First trained by her mother, she then went proceeded to study at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels followed by the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden’s class. Eliane promoted on to the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, to the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Hans Leygraf, the Lemmensinstituut with Alan Weiss and there after to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris under the aegis of Michel Beroff, Brigitte Engerer, Hans Leygraf and Jacques Rouvier. Ensuing her studies, she was appointed professor of complementary piano at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris.

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In the spectrum of international competitions, Eliane has won innumerable awards including 1st prize in Ettlingen, Germany and 1st prize at the Cervantes International Piano Competition in Cuba. Finalist at the Montreal International Musical Competition, the Clara Schumann International Piano Competition in Düsseldorf, where she was equally rewarded for chamber music, and at the Maria Canals International Music Competition, to mention but a few. Eliane Reyes devotes herself to a career as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician to the unanimous acclaim of the international press and audiences.

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Through her numerous performances, she has attained the absolute support of the Rheinold Blüthner, Nany Philippart, Spes, Solti and Vocatio Foundations. Amongst artists such as Martha Argerich or Vladimir Ashkenazy, Eliane has had the opportunity to be invited to give recitals and to perform alongside Augustin Dumay, Ivry Gitlis, Misha Maisky and José van Dam.

www.eliane-reyes.com

Hailing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pianist–composer Ng Chong Lim studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM), London under the tutelage of Professor Frank Wibaut.  He continued his piano studies with Professor Elza Kolodin and subsequently with Professor Beat Furrer at the Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, Austria for music composition.  Chong Lim was the Winner of Malaysian National Piano Competition 1993, Prize winner of the Royal Overseas League Competition and The Anthony Saltmarsh Junior Fellowship (RCM). 

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Chong Lim has performed both as a soloist and chamber musician in many international venues, such as England, USA, Holland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Ukraine, Macedonia, Brazil and Japan with recent appearances at ‘Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas Project’ in Singapore and The 3rdAsian Grand Piano Concert in Seoul, Korea.  In 2013, he was invited to “Evmelia” International Music Festival, Greece, “Opusfest” Antipolo 2013 International Piano and Chamber Music Festival, Philippines.  He performed at 2014 “21st New Music Festival” held in Almaty, Kazakhstan and 2018 International Taipei Piano Maestro Festival.

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Chong Lim has served as juror of international competitions, including The 5th& 6thASEAN International Chopin Piano Competition in Malaysia, The Jakarta International Piano Competition held in Indonesia and National Music Competitions for Young Artists in Philippines. 

Rena was born in Hong Kong where she received her foundation musical training under Professor Lam Hung Hee. She had shown exceptional talents since the young tender age of six and was often found to accompany and improvise for church and school choirs.  Further studies took her to the Royal Conservatory of Toronto, University of Toronto. She continued with her postgraduate studies at the University of London, UK and Paris where she studied under renowned pianist Monique Haas. She received her Master Degree from Griffith University, Australia and the Post Graduate Diploma from National Technological University. She was awarded the Licentiate Diploma from the London Royal Academy of Music and the Associate Diploma from the London Royal College of Music. She received a Distinction in Piano Performance for her Licentiate Diploma of Guildhall School of Music.

Rena sits in the Advisory Committee for National Piano & Violin Competition, National Arts Council from 2011-present. She has been Secretary/Treasurer and Committee Member for Singapore Music Teachers Association since 1984. She is the Vice President for the Chopin Society of Singapore since its inception in 2009.

At NAFA (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (新加坡南洋艺术学院) she has held essential roles as Member of the NAFA Scholarship & Financial Aids Panel (2007-2010, 2012-present), Vice Dean at Office of Academic Affairs (2006 – 2010). She has been Head of Keyboard Studies and Senior Lecturer of Piano Studies, Department of Music since 2004 – 2015. She has developed a full progressive Keyboard Studies program which emphasize on the keyboard musicianship skill.  This focus has contributed substantially on raising the Piano Performance standard at NAFA.

Poom Prommachart, a Steinway Artist, was born in Bangkok and is regarded as one of the most accomplished Thai pianist today. 

Poom graduated from the Royal College of Music (RCM), London where he earned the prestigious International Artist Diploma in 2014 and a Master's Degree in Performance (Distinction) in 2013, which received an exceptional high distinction for both solo piano and chamber music. Recently, he was awarded the most prestigious Tagore Gold Medal for his great contribution to RCM, which was presented to him by HRH The Prince of Wales on May 2014. He also recieved his Bachelor of Music (Honours) with Hopkinson Gold Medal and the Sarah Mundlak Memorial Prize for Piano from the RCM for the best fourth year Graduation recital in 2011. Other important awards at RCM have included the John Chisell Schumann Award (2009) and 1st prize in RCM Concerto Competition where he performed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no.2 in G minor, op.16 with RCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Phillip Ellis (2011).

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In addition to an outright win in Novi Sad, Poom also have won many prizes including 1st prize and audience prize at the UK Intercollegiate Sheepdrove Piano Competition (2009), 1st prize at Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Soloist Competition (2008), 2nd prize and a special prize for the best performance of Liszt at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Budapest (2008), 1st prize of Thailand International Piano Competition (2011). Most recently, he was awarded First Prize in the Grand Final of Sussex International Piano Competition (2013) where he performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 3 with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Gibbons in the final round.

www.poomprommachart.com

Hailed as a “complete musician – a sensitive artist and an extremely talented young pianist”, Congyu Wang is an internationally renowned pianist. Born in Singapore, Congyu Wang studied with renowned pianists Jean-Marc Luisada, Gabriel Tacchino, Erick Heidsieck and Francois Weigel.

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Ever since youth, Congyu Wang has enjoyed phenomenal success in international piano competitions, ultimately winning the Grand Prize in Berlin and Bordeaux. His other prizes include Vulaines-sur-Seine, Lagny-sur-Marne, Merignac, Paris, ASA Jakarta, Tallinn, and most recently the Cle d'Or in Reunion Island. Wang is a Young Steinway Artist, and records exclusively for the KNS label.

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Congyu Wang has made appearances in over 500 recitals in France, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Serbia, Sweden, Reunion Island, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries. 

He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Piano Island Festival, Piano Concerto Festival and the Association des Jeunes Musiciens - A foundation which sponsors young talents and organizes numerous concerts throughout the world. 

www.congyuwang.com

Alberto Firrincieli is an Italian pianist, harpsichord player, composer and scholar. He will debut on May 2019 at Carnegie Hall performing Frescobaldi masterpieces. Winner of the second prize in the International Contest “SIMM 2018 – New Music for Harpsichord” with the composition 13 New Variation upon Folia theme. He is currently full-time lecturer of the Department of Music Performance at the Assumption University of Thailand where he teaches Composition and Harpsichord Major. He is also piano and harpsichord teacher at Siam Kolkarn Ratchadapisek Music School. He established the IKA - International Keyboard Academy (www.ika.website), and he is the artistic director of Bangkok International Piano Festival, of the early music festival Note Barocche, and of the ITYO – Italian Thai Youth Orchestra. Moreover, he collaborates with the Italian Embassy of Thailand in the realization of artistic and cultural events.

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He is regularly invited as guest speaker, scholar and performer from international institutions in Italy, Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar in order to hold recitals, conferences, masterclasses, workshops.

He began to play the piano when he was eight. He studied with Sebastiano Cannizzo in “Vincenzo Bellini” Conservatory, Caltanissetta (Italy) and graduated at the age of twenty. Then he started to dedicate himself to the study of ancient keyboard instruments, studying Organ with Enrico Viccardi and graduating in Harpsichord with Maria Pia Jacoboni. Meanwhile he studied Composition with Giorgio Tosi and Electronic Music with Francesco Giomi and Marco Biscarini at the “Arrigo Boito” Conservatory in Parma (Italy), where he graduated. He also studied Harpsichord with Francesco Baroni, and for four years attended the course “Ars et Labor”, an advanced Piano and Chamber Music Course, with Christa Bützberger and Marina Rossi in Vicenza (Italy). During these studies he attended masterclasses with Enrico Baiano, Bob van Asperen, Michele Barchi and Emilia Fadini.

 He continued his education, graduating in Musicology in the University of Pavia (Italy) with a dissertation about Carlo Antonio Marino – italian baroque composer - and his music.

In 2013 he published “Tribute to Br. Martin”, his own composition dedicated to the President Emeritus of Assumption University. In 2017 he recorded a CD with the harpsichord player Mario Tonda (with whom he established the duo Harpsichord for two) for TACTUS, including all Italian works written for harpsichord four hands. In the same year he established the Duo Mistretta-Firrincieli with the theatre actor Maurizio Mistretta.

www.albertofirrincieli.it