The masters at the keys
Peter Friis Johansson is known for his passionate performances, nuanced approach, and profound programming. He has gained international recognition through his performances with leading ensembles and his award-winning successes in numerous international piano competitions.
The story, however, began anything but glamorously. At the age of nine, Peter Friis Johansson enrolled in a free public music school in a suburb of Stockholm. His musical talents began to blossom with Inger Flyckt as his teacher. He later studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, with Anders Kilström and Mats Widlund. Outside of academia, he continued to develop his musicality under the guidance of Konstantin Bogino.
During his studies, Friis Johansson's career flourished. He undertook several Scandinavian tours and recorded a CD with Jakob Koranyi, which was later named Album of the Year by MusicWeb International magazine. He was discovered by Swedish Radio, which appointed him as an artist in residence, and embarked on a European tour with clarinetist Emil Jonason, performing at venues including the Musikverein and the Concertgebouw.
But in the summer of 2012, misfortune strikes. Peter's career is derailed by a finger injury, and suddenly everything is different. For a year, he gives concerts with nine functioning fingers, and when the injury finally heals completely, he is a changed artist and person. Peter makes his international comeback at the 2014 Alaska International Piano-e-Competition. The competition is a triumphant success for Peter, who wins first prize, the gold medal, and takes the first step toward his US career.
Mr. Friis Johansson is currently performing cycles of Franz Schubert's eleven completed piano sonatas and will also record these cycles in the coming years. He has premiered concertos by Sven-David Sandström and Andrea Tarrodi with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2020, he completed and performed Laura Netzel's Piano Concerto with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his solo career, Peter is a passionate chamber musician who has embarked on long-term projects with cellists Andreas Brantelid and Jakob Koranyi, among others. With Emil Jonason, he forms the duo Emil&Peter, whose current project, "Worst of Emil&Peter," seamlessly combines music with acting and spoken word. The same concept can be found in Peter's solo project, "The Final Frontier," a concert with a science fiction theme that, through the use of modern technology, further develops the piano recital into an art form for contemporary society.
Born in Vienna, Manfred Schiebel received his first musical training with the Mozart Boys' Choir. After graduating from high school, he studied conducting with Prof. Karl Österreicher, accompaniment with Dr. Harald Goertz, and piano with Prof. Thomas Kreuzberger at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (mdw).
Since 1991 he has been teaching at the MUK (Music and Arts University Vienna), where he has held the title of University Professor since 2017, and since 2002 also at the mdw, in both vocal departments.
In addition to his successful work as director of the choir association “Jung-Wien”, with which he enjoyed great success in Europe and Asia and even performed before the Thai royal family, he gave master classes for singers and pianists in many parts of the EU (Estonia – University of Music in Tallinn, Finland – Metropolia University in Helsinki, Greece – Ionian University of Music on Corfu, Poland – Jan Paderewski University in Poznan, …), as well as in Tehran, Havana and Moscow.
The now highly sought-after accompanist has performed in concerts and song recitals with well-known artists such as Edita Gruberova, Elina Garanča, Grace Bumbry, Mara Zampieri, Eva Lind, Mojca Erdmann, Daniela Fally, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Leo Nucci, Jewegenij Nesterenko, Samual Ramey, Peter and Paul Edelmann, Rainer Trost, the Vienna Boys' Choir and many more in concert halls such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Opera House in Pilsen, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Chimes in Singapore, the Seoul Arts Center, the Chiang Kai Shek National Concert Hall in Taipei, the Sydney Opera House and many more.
Since 2011, he has directed the chamber music festival "Klassik im Advent" in Carinthia, where he has frequently performed with his duo partner Marcin Kozieł, with whom he has given concerts throughout Europe. He also works extensively with theater music, Viennese lieder, and cabaret chansons, which has led him to a close collaboration with KSCH Elfriede Ott, with whom he has performed repeatedly.
His last four CDs with soprano Simona Eisinger and Rainer Trost are dedicated to the songs of the still living composer Guntolf Palten.
Japanese pianist Yuna Hotozuka began her piano lessons at the age of five with Miyuki Daicho, then with Ryoko Watanabe. She completed her Bachelor's degree in piano performance with honors at the Toho University of Music in Tokyo under Iku Miwa in 2018.
In October 2019, she completed her master's degree in piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), specializing in concert piano with Wolfgang Watzinger, chamber music with Stefan Mendl, and accompaniment with Meinhard Prinz and Srebra Gelleva. In June 2023, she completed a postgraduate university course in piano at the mdw.
Yuna Hotozuka is a prizewinner of several Japanese piano competitions, including 3rd prize at the 1st K Piano Solo Competition, 4th prize at the 9th Tokyo Piano Competition, and 5th prize at the 11th Beten Music Competition, as well as a finalist in the 2023 Dr. Josef Dichler Competition in Vienna.
She has performed as a soloist and in chamber music at venues including the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Old Town Hall, and the Society for Music Theater. She has attended master classes with Matti Raekallio, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Pascal Devoyon, Christoper Hinterhuber, Mikhail Voskresensky, and Frantisěk Malý.
Since 2023 she has been a répétiteur at the Allegro Vivo Summer Academy and since 2024 at Vienna Master Classes and at the Showa University of Music.
Zsuzsa Bálint comes from a Hungarian family of musicians from Transylvania and made her orchestral debut as a soloist at the age of eleven. After studying with Prof. Boris Bloch (Folkwang, Essen) and Prof. Georg Sava (UdK, Berlin), she was awarded numerous international prizes. While still a student, she received a teaching position at the UdK Berlin, which she still holds today, and later taught at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, as well as in Mainz and Hanover.
As a sought-after soloist and chamber musician, she has made a name for herself, particularly as a duo partner with renowned double bassists such as Ovidiu Badila, J. Saksala, M. McDonald, E. Laine, and W. de Boevé. Together they give highly acclaimed duo recitals, conduct masterclasses, and record CDs. She also serves as the official accompanist at major competitions such as the ARD International Music Competition, the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition, and the German Music Competition.
Zsuzsa Bálint is the resident pianist at the Carl Flesch Academy (Baden-Baden) for double bass masterclasses and festivals such as Ljubljana and Namur. Since 2021, she has also been conducting her own open masterclasses. Concert tours have taken her to major concert halls throughout Europe and North America. Her artistic versatility is reflected in numerous radio and CD productions, including her own arrangements of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Swan Lake suites.
In addition to her teaching and concert activities, she is passionate about South American music, especially tango. Through collaborations with composers from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Germany, she creates her own arrangements, enriching her creative spectrum.
Dunja Robotti was born to Italian-German parents in Brussels and received her first lessons from Piotr Lachert and then at the Conservatoire Royal. At the Berlin University of the Arts, she studied piano with Hans Leygraf and Georg Sava, as well as song interpretation with Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Masterclasses with Vitalij Margulis, György Sebök, György Sàndor, and Lev Naumov complemented her education.
During her studies, Dunja Robotti was already a tutor for song accompaniment at the Berlin University of the Arts. After several years as a lecturer for cello accompaniment at the Berlin University of the Arts in the classes of Wolfgang Boettcher and Jens Peter Maintz, she has been a lecturer for the string classes at the Nuremberg University of Music since 2009. In 2016, she was appointed honorary professor.
Dunja Robotti is a prizewinner of several international competitions. She won first prize at the Claude Kahn and UFAM competitions in Paris and received third prize at the Pontoise International Pianists' Meeting. She was also a prizewinner and finalist at the Città di Marsala competition in Sicily and the competition "F. Schubert and the Music of the 20th Century" in Graz.
Since the age of ten, she has performed regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist with outstanding musical partners and singers in Europe's most prestigious concert venues, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Munich Herkulessaal, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Schubertiade in Feldkirch, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, and in North and South America. Radio productions for WDR and Radio Bremen, as well as for Bayerischer Rundfunk and SFB, document her extensive work, as do various CD recordings.
As a long-time accompanist at the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden-Baden, the Liechtenstein Master Classes in Vaduz, and as an audition accompanist for numerous orchestras, Dunja Robotti continually demonstrates her expertise at the highest level of piano accompaniment. She is also a regular guest with the chamber music groups "Ensemble Mediterrain" and "Duo Viennese."
In addition to her pedagogical interests, she finds balance and constant inspiration in experimental projects such as the three-piano ensemble “Xinowa Sej” with Zsuzsa Bálint and Kyoko Hosono and the pocket operetta “Mann trifft Frau”, of which she is a founding member.
Baiba Osiņa is a sought-after pianist, soloist, and chamber musician. She was born in the Latvian capital, Riga, where she studied with Prof. Ilze Graubiņa and Prof. Sergejs Osokins. She continued her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) with Prof. Stefan Arnold, where she graduated with distinction from her concert studies program.
She also participated in master classes with Paul Badura-Skoda, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alexander Jenner, Dmitri Alexeev, and Vitaly Margulis. She received further important inspiration through her collaboration with Heinrich Schiff.
Baiba Osiņa is a multiple prizewinner at national and international competitions. She received first prize at the Latvian National Competition in Riga and the International N. Rubinstein Competition in Paris. She is a prizewinner at the Chamber Music Competition in Thessaloniki, the J. Windisch Chamber Music Competition in Vienna, and the Gradus ad Parnassum Competition in Linz.
She was a member of the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Foundation and a scholarship holder of the Vienna Beethoven Society and the Victor Bunzl Foundation.
Baiba Osiņa can be heard regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at concerts and festivals in Austria and abroad, including the Vienna Festival at the Musikverein, the Varna Music Festival, the Chopin Festival in Gaming, the Mondsee Music Days, the Allegro Vivo Festival, the Montecastelli Chamber Music Festival and the Ars Lituanica Festival.
Collaboration with István Várdai, Kian Soltani, Natalie Clein, Patrick Demenga, Marko Ylönen, Reinhard Latzko, Julian Steckel, Troels Svane and Maximilian Hornung, among others.
Since 2016, Baiba Osiņa has been working at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
After graduating from the "Dinu Lipatti" National College of Arts in Bucharest, Romania, Cristiana Mihart continued her studies at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Brussels, Belgium, with Jean Claude Vanden Eynden, followed by bachelor's and master's degrees at the National University of Music in Bucharest in the class of Professor Dr. Sandu Sandrin.
The pianist has participated in master classes with renowned teachers, including Dmitri Bashkirov (at the Salzburg Summer Academy, Austria), Brigitte Engerer (at the Summer Academy in Nice, France), Dominique Merlet (at the Villecroze Academy, France), Diana Ketler and Petras Genuišas (at the SoNoRo Chamber Music Workshops in Romania), and Tamás Vesmás (at the National University of Music in Bucharest).
Eager to expand her piano skills, she studied organ and harpsichord at the Early Music Department of the National University of Music in Bucharest, together with organist Dan Racoveanu.
Cristiana is also a prize winner of numerous international piano competitions such as the Concertino Prague in the Czech Republic, the Excellentia in Brussels, Belgium, the Mihail Jora National Piano Competition and the Suzana Szörenyi International Piano Duo Competition in Bucharest, Romania.
As a soloist or member of chamber music ensembles, she has performed on Romania's most important stages – the Romanian Athenaeum, the National Radio Hall, the Auditorium of the National Art Museum, the "George Enescu" National Museum, the Romanian Parliament, the Presidential Palace, the Romanian Cultural Institute, and the philharmonic halls in Brașov, Bacău, Oradea, Ploiești, and Satu Mare. Throughout Europe, Cristiana has performed in Belgium, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and France, and is invited to give a piano recital at Lewkow Castle in Poland.
Cristiana has participated in numerous music festivals, including the George Enescu International Festival, where she will make her debut as a soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto K.537 in 2021, the SoNoRo International Chamber Music Festival, the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France, the South Bohemian Festival Concertino Prague in the Czech Republic and the Young Euro Classic in Berlin, Germany.
Her repertoire ranges from solo and concert works to a variety of chamber music programs, in which she performs together with numerous partners such as the violinists Alissa Margulis, Rebekka Hartmann, Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, Nicolas Dautricourt, the violist Razvan Popovici and the cellists Kyrill Zlotnikov, Raphael Bell, Adolfo Gutierrez Arenas and Razvan Suma.
Cristiana is currently a lecturer at the National University of Music in Bucharest and is completing her doctoral studies in piano interpretation under the direction of pianist and professor Dr. Dana Borsan.
Korrepetitoren
The accompanists of the Althofen Master Classes 2025