Guest Artists

Violinist / Conductor

Violinist David Kim was named concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1999. Born in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1963, he started playing the violin at the age of three, began studies with the famed pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the age of eight, and later received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School.

Mr. Kim’s 2023–24 season begins with appearances with The Philadelphia Orchestra in Bach’s Double Violin Concerto (with Principal Second Violin Kimberly Fisher) at Longwood Gardens as well as the Tchaikovsky Concerto under the baton of Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on tour in North Carolina. Winter and spring months include multiple Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the Eight Seasons of Vivaldi and Piazzolla (the former’s The Four Seasons and the latter’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires). Mr. Kim’s master class schedule sees him visit the Curtis Institute of Music, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, and the Manhattan School of Music, among others, and he gives concerto and recital appearances across the United States. Summer festival visits include Festival Napa Valley and Music in the Vineyards, also in Napa. He also continues to appear as concertmaster of the nine-time Emmy Award–winning All-Star Orchestra on PBS stations across the US and online at the Khan Academy. Mr. Kim’s first book, The Audition Method for Violin, was published by GIA Publications and released in 2022. This long-awaited collection of standard orchestral excerpts walks the reader through each work with his suggestions on execution, audition strategy, bowings, and fingerings.

Mr. Kim is a frequent touring guest of famed modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty at venues such as the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Kim serves as distinguished artist at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He frequently serves as an adjudicator at international violin competitions such as the Menuhin and Sarasate.

Mr. Kim has been awarded honorary doctorates from Eastern University in suburban Philadelphia, the University of Rhode Island, and Dickinson College. His instruments are a J.B. Guadagnini from Milan, ca. 1757, on loan from The Philadelphia Orchestra, and a Francesco Gofriller, ca. 1735. He exclusively performs on and endorses Larsen Strings from Denmark.

Pianist

Praised as “a sovereign master of her art” by the German newspaper the Süddeutsche Zeitung, we are pleased to welcome for the first time Latvian-born pianist, Dina Yoffe, to the faculty of the Academy and a guest performer of the Festival. Ms. Yoffe is the winner of the 2nd prize in the IX International Chopin Competition and VI International Schumann Piano Competition.

She completed her training at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory under the tutelage of legendary piano professor and important proponent of the Heinrich Neuhaus school, Vera Gornostaeva. Dina Yoffe has performed with notable conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Neville Marriner, Valery Gergiev, Dmitri Kitayenko, James De Priest, and Gidon Kremer. She is also an avid chamber musician and has played with many internationally renowned musicians, such as Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, and Vadim Repin, to name but a few. Ms. Yoffe has also served on the jury of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and International Cleveland, Hamamatsu, Maria Canals, and Liszt International Competitions.

Violinist

Michael Vaiman is a top prize-winner at the Wieniawski Competition in Poznan (Poland). Professor of Violin at Musikhochschule in Cologne,  EuroArts Academy and Talent Music Master Academy.

Michael Vaiman was born in Odessa (Ukraine). After graduating from the distinguished Stolyarsky School of Music in his hometown, he studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, under the tutelage of legendary violinist David Oistrach & Semyon Snitkovsky.

Early in his career Vaiman already received critical acclaim as a "poet of the violin", along with his "technical brilliance", he has particularly been lauded for his "noble and articulate tone "and his "deep understanding of music".
 
Especially noteworthy is the unusual range of his repertoire, which includes all violin sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, Prokofiev, Frank, Schumann, also all of Schubert, Shostakovich, and Szymanowski compositions for violin and piano.

In his repertoire also many violin concertos with orchestra. Michael Vaiman is also the first performer of a number works of the modern composers (B.Tischenko, L.Hoffman,D. Smirnov, E.Firsova)  He founded a chamber orchestra in Israel, which he manages and conducts (1991-96).
 
Recently he performed both as a soloist and a chamber musician in Europe, U.S.A., Japan, and Israel. Among the high points of his international career where violin concertos performed with orchestras and conductors such as the Berlin Symphony Orchestra under G. Herbich, the Moscow Philharmonic under Y. Simonov, St. Petersburg's Symphony under A. Jansons, London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra under S. Sondezkis, Tokyo Soloist Chamber Ensemble, Moscow Soloists under Y. Bashmet.

He also participated in many chamber music festivals such as Kuhmo (Finland), Tours (France), Elba Festival (Italy), Summit Music Festival (New York), playing together with well-known musician such as Paul Badura-Skoda,Yuri Bashmet, Akiko Ebi,Mario Brunello,Dina Yoffe ,etc. It is worth to mention his performances with orchestras and recitals in such venues as Barbicane Centre in London, Salle Playel in Paris, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Bunka kaikan Hall in Tokyo among others.

Michael Vaiman's activity as a teacher began in 1980 at the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow until 1989. From 1989 to 1997 he was Professor at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel-Aviv University,1995-1999 Guest professors at the Aichi Prefecture's University of Fine Art and Music in Nagoya, Japan.

Michael Vaiman was invited as a juror at various international music competitions, and he gives numerous master classes at Mozarteum Summer Academy, Royal College of Music, Liszt Academy, Toho Gakuen School, Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, South Methodist University in Dallas, "Keshet Eilon" in Israel and many others in Japan and Europe.

His students work in the different orchestras in Spain, Japan, Germany, Israel, Switzerland and USA. Many of them are winners of internationals competitions.

Pianist

We welcome Professor Wojciech Świtała to our Academy for the first time. Prof. Świtała has graduated from the Katowice Academy of Music under iconic Polish professor Józef Stompel. In the years 1991–1996, he honed his pianistic skills with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Andre Dumortier, and Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden. He won prizes in a number of international piano competitions, most notably in Paris (Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud) and Montreal. Professor Świtała was selected as the best Polish participant in the 12th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, when he received the prize for “the best performance of a polonaise” among a number of other prizes. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician in most countries of Europe and the Americas.

Świtała has recorded up to twenty discs for Polskie Nagrania, Bearton, DUX, Sony Music Polska and IMC, with music by Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, Debussy, Chopin, Szymanowski and Zarębski. In 2000 and 2005, his discs won twice the Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin, and in 2002 and 2009 he won a Polish “Grammy” award, the prestigious “Fryderyk” award by the Polish music industry. Since 1998, he has also pursued pedagogical work. From 2008 to 2012, he was deputy vice-chancellor for learning and didactics at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, where he has been the Chair of the Piano Department since 2012. Prof. Świtała has been a juror of many competitions, including of the Long-Thibaud (Paris) and Paderewski (Bydgoszcz) international competitions, and the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. In 2014, he was appointed to the Program Committee of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. His recordings for the Institute include Chopin’s Ballades for their “white series” and the Chopin Preludes on a period instrument, which received accolades from BBC Classic.

Pianist

Ted Rosenthal is one of the leading jazz pianist/composers of his generation.  He actively tours worldwide with his trio, as a soloist, and has performed with many jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and James Moody.

Winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, Rosenthal has released fifteen CDs as a leader.   Rhapsody in Gershwin, which features his arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue for jazz trio, reached #1 in jazz album sales at iTunes and Amazon. Wonderland, was selected as a New York Times holiday pick, and received much critical praise: “Sleek, chic and elegant” – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune.  Impromptu, showcases his reimaginings of classical themes for jazz trio.  "A serious listen to Impromptu will be a mind-changing experience...sit back and enjoy these wonderfully creative takes on ten compositions from the classical canon that have never sounded so cool." - Elliott Simon, AllAboutJazz

Rosenthal’s solo album, The 3 B's, received 4 stars from DownBeat magazine.  It features music of Bud Powell, Bill Evans and his improvisations on Beethoven themes.  “In Rosenthal's hands all this music sounds as though it sprang from the same muse, and that's the sign of a skilled, imaginative artist.”  - David R. Adler, All Music Guide.  

A recipient of three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Rosenthal regularly performs and records his compositions, which include jazz tunes and large-scale works.  Rosenthal’s jazz opera, “Dear Erich,” was commissioned and premiered by New York City Opera in 2019.  “Dear Erich” attracted much press and critical acclaim:  "Compelling...tells a true, wrenching story. Rosenthal's score conveys regret and fragility, with scenes that invite real breakout jazz" – A. Tomassini, New York Times.   "Leaves the listener ready to explode with applause" - D. Salazar, Opera Wire

Rosenthal has also been commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.  "The Survivor," his concerto for piano and orchestra, has been performed by the Manhattan Jazz Philharmonic and the Rockland Symphony Orchestra, with Rosenthal at the piano. Rosenthal premiered his second jazz piano concerto, “Jazz Fantasy,” with The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.

Rosenthal was artistic director of Jazz at the Riverdale Y and Jazz at Dicapo Theatre, both in New York City.  He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band.  In addition, Rosenthal has been the pianist of choice for many top jazz vocalists including Helen Merrill, Ann Hampton Callaway, Kurt Elling and Barbara Cook.  He appeared on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio and performed with David Sanborn on NBC's Night Music.

Rosenthal’s orchestral performances include solo and featured appearances with The Detroit Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony The Boston Pops, The Grand Rapids Symphony, The Rochester Philharmonic, The Pittsburgh Symphony and The Fort Worth Symphony.  Rosenthal performed Gershwin's Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue for the opening concert of the 92nd Street Y's 2015-16 season. The New York Times called his playing "notable both for its flair and languid, sultry expressive gestures." In 2014 Rosenthal performed Rhapsody in Blue at Town Hall in a concert celebrating the 90th anniversary of its premiere. 

Rosenthal received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Manhattan School of Music.
Active in jazz education, he is on the faculties of The Juilliard School, and Manhattan School of Music, where he also served on their Board of Trustees and received the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Faculty Service.  Rosenthal presents jazz clinics throughout the world, often in conjunction with his touring.   He was a contributing editor for Piano and Keyboard magazine and has published piano arrangements and feature articles for Piano Today, The Piano Stylist and The Juilliard Journal.  Ted Rosenthal is a Steinway Artist.  His website is www.tedrosenthal.com

Teaching Artist

Professor John Rink of University of Cambridge is a frequent guest of the Academy, having offered us highly popular workshops since 2019. He is one of the world's foremost authorities on the music of Fryderyk Chopin and a prize-winning author. Prof. Rink is an expert on the manuscripts and printed sources for Chopin's works, as well as the performance history of Chopin’s music over the past two centuries. He is Editor in Chief of “The Complete Chopin – A New Critical Edition”, published by Peters Edition London, and has directed three major online projects focused on Chopin (www.chopinonline.ac.uk), in addition to producing acclaimed editions of the two piano concertos. Much of his recent work as a performer focuses on period instruments, including the Pleyel pianos that Chopin himself favored. Prof. Rink served on the jury of the last two International Chopin Competitions in Warsaw. In addition to his post as Professor of Musical Performance Studies at the University of Cambridge, he is also Visiting Professor at prestigious institutions in London, Singapore, and China.