müriaadKLAVER. “Crossing Keyboards”

Astri Aareskjold is a Swedish/Norwegian pianist from Stockholm, and a prize winner in several competitions, for example Stockholm International Music Competition and the Norwegian youth music championship. She regularly performs in solo- and chamber music settings in festivals and has premiered works by composers Andrea Tarrodi and Ylva Skog. Astri recently was awarded the Joseph Martin Kraus music prize with the motivation: ”Astri conveys her musical ideas in a fantastic way. Her choice of phrasing is clear to the audience and her music making is touching. She shows vast rhythmical control, has convincing dynamics and nice transparency in voicing in her piano playing. The music comes alive and breaks free from the score.”

Sebastian Iivonen (b.1997) was born in Stockholm, Sweden where he began his piano studies at the age of six with Natalia Kazimirovskaia and Tamara Poddubnaya. He has then received his Bachelors degree at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm/Edsberg Manor studied under Mats Widlund.

At the age of 9, Sebastian was the winner of 2007 Steinway Piano Competition in Stockholm. A year later, he made his concerto debut at the at the Stockholm Concert Hall with the Stockholm Youth Symphony-Orchestra (SUSO) performing Kabalevsky Piano Concerto No.3 where the magazine “RUMBA” wrote; “It is touching to see a ten-year-old handle the piano on that level”. Then at the age of 12, Sebastian made his sold-out solo recital debut at the Centro Cultural in Los Cristianos, Tenerife in 2010. In the same year, he was also awarded with the prestigious “Mai von Rosens Scholarship” in Stockholm. In 2012, Sebastian was invited by ”The Vladimir Spivakov Foundation” to perform at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. Since then, he has won first prizes at 2008 Concours International de Piano “Simone Delbert Fevriér” in France, 2009 Concours International de Piano Côte D’azur in France, Stockholm International Music Competition in 2010/2011/2012/2015, 2016 “Young Artists” Stockholm and 2016 Nilüfer Piano International Music Competition in Turkey.

Sebastian is both active as a soloist and a chamber musician in various important national and international music festivals in Europe and U.S.A. He has received masterclasses with internationally recognized artists and professors such as Rena Shereshevskaya, Stephen Kovacevich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Konstantin Scherbakov, Sergei Edelmann, Paul Roberts, Erik T. Tawaststjerna, Roland Pöntinen et al.

Last year, Sebastian represented Sweden in two major international piano competitions in both 76th Concours de Genève and 64th Busoni International Piano Competition.

In June 2023, Sebastian achieved a remarkable feat by securing a spot as a semifinalist in the highly acclaimed ITURBI International Piano Competition held in Valencia, Spain. With an initial pool of 185 talented applicants, Sebastian emerged as one of the selected few to make it to the semifinals, where only 10 coveted spots were available.

Since 2020, Sebastian has been the Artist-in-Residence at the Ingesund Piano Center in Arvika, Sweden where he is currently studying with Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist. This year, he has been appointed as the ambassador for 2022-23 EPTA-Sweden (European Piano Teachers Association) where he is described as a “…young rising star in the very beginning of his career who is for the upcoming years, going to be the face outwards for EPTA Sweden and a positive role model for upcoming generations.

Adi Neuhaus

“This is a top-class debut CD.” – Pizzicato

“In the Neuhaus family music is in one’s blood. […] Time has come with Adi and his golden fingers.” – Auditorium du Louvre

“Added to his masterful pedal playing is an eminently subtle touch and a rare musical intelligence. […] A pianist to follow absolutely” – Utmisol

Pianist Adi Neuhaus is quickly building an international reputation as a young virtuoso with outstanding potential – praised for his virtuosity maturity, unique balance and musicality.

Neuhaus has performed in some of the major venues in Europe and in the USA as a soloist with orchestra and in chamber music. He made his European debut at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris, his Asian debut at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and his Russian debut at the Philharmonic Hall in Saint-Petersburg.

In recital, Adi’s recent and forthcoming highlights include some of the major international concert halls : Carnegie Hall (Weill recital hall) in New York, Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland, St. Petersburg Philharmonie, Auditorium du Louvre, Salle Cortot and Maison de la Radio in Paris, Henry Crown Symphony Hall in Jerusalem, Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Société de la Musique de la Chaux-de-Fonds, Great hall of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin.

Hailed by the New York Times as a pianist “whose playing combines clarity, elegance and abundant technique,” Aristo Sham has performed for dignitaries such as King Charles, and collaborated with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. He has won many international prizes including the Grand Prix at the Monte-Carlo Music Masters most recently, and was featured in the documentary ‘The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies’, broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK. He holds a Bachelors of Arts from Harvard University and a Masters in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory, and has given masterclasses in USA, Sweden, Italy, Argentina and Brazil among other countries.