Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Born in the Soviet Union, he has held Icelandic citizenship since 1972 and has been a resident of Switzerland since 1978. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, he has recorded a large repertoire of classical and romantic works. His recordings have earned him five Grammy awards and Iceland's Order of the Falcon.
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an American composer, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration, but by the late 1980s, she had shifted to a postmodernist, neoromantic style. She has been called "one of America's most frequently played and genuinely popular living composers." She was a 1994 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Zwilich has served as the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor at Florida State University.
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, he announced his resignation from the San Francisco Symphony upon the expiration of his contract in 2025.
The Sibelius Academy is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities with roughly 1,400 enrolled students.
Lowell Liebermann is an American composer, pianist and conductor.
Eric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher.
Pekka Kuusisto is a Finnish musician.
Phillip Ramey is an American composer, pianist, and writer on music.
Josu de Solaun is a Spanish-American classical music pianist, composer and conductor. He is also a solo piano free improviser, playing solo improvised piano recitals, as well as a published poet and a published composer. He holds citizenships from both Spain and the United States. In 2019 he was given the title of Officer of Cultural Merit, a state decoration, by Klaus Iohannis, president of Romania. In both 2021 and 2023 he was awarded an International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) Award, once for chamber music and once for solo playing.
Samuel Jones is an American composer and conductor.
Margaret Brouwer is an American composer and composition teacher. She founded the Blue Streak Ensemble chamber music group.
Avner Dorman is an Israeli-born composer, educator and conductor.
Ara Malikian is a Lebanese-born violinist of Armenian descent. He was educated in Germany and was later based in Spain. He has a wide repertoire and includes music from many cultures. He has played in over 40 countries and has won numerous prizes in international competitions. Milikian has recorded nearly 30 albums over a period of 25 years.
Enrico Pace is an Italian pianist of international renown.
Thomas M. Sleeper was an American composer and conductor. He was the Orchestra Conductor at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida from 1985 to 1993, and Director of Orchestral Activities and Conductor of the University of Miami Frost Symphony Orchestra until his retirement in 2018. He was also the director of the Florida Youth Orchestra from 1993 to 2020.
Olli Mustonen is a Finnish pianist, conductor, and composer.
Konstantin Petrossian is a composer, pianist and conductor.
Valentin Gheorghiu was a Romanian classical pianist and composer. He is regarded as a leading Romanian pianist of the twentieth century, focused on both piano concertos of the Romantic period and chamber music. He won the prize for the best performance of Enescu's Violin Sonata No. 3 at the first George Enescu International Competition in 1958, with his brother Ștefan as the violinist. He made recordings with international orchestras and conductors.
Philip Edward Fisher is an English classical pianist.
Jack Gallagher is an American composer and college professor. His compositions include orchestral, chamber, piano and choral works. He has written two symphonies, which have both been recorded.
