Jadwiga Padjas (Austria)
Justas Šervenikas (Lithuania)
Martin Oboňa (Slovakia)
Martin Oboňa studied trumpet playing at The Conservatory of Žilina. He studied at Žilina University, faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Humanities – trumpet playing and music.
He grew up many great trumpet players and interpreters during his 20 year long conservatory work. Some of his famous students are eg. Lukáš Oravec (the leader of Oravec quartet), Tibor Ďuriak (the first trumpet player in Slovak National Theatre orchestra). The most of his students play in orchestras across whole Slovakia.
Mr. Oboňa provided many trumpete masterclasses in Bratislava and Kosice. Mr. Oboňa often takes part in the jury of several international competitions, his students are recognised on Competitions in Slovakia and abroad.
He is a member of Žilina Conservatory, The biggest success of this orchestra is the first place and the absolute winner in International competition of Big Bands in Děčín, Czech republic,as many first prizes in many other competitions.
“The Pianist as always fascinated with his expressivity, drive, intensity of colors and characters, ability to get sonorous sound on the whole dynamic scale, manage the audience. Especially while listening to Chakona one could feel creative search for a distinctive tempo, colors and character. The audience was especially fascinated by artistic performance of S. Rachmaninov’s opus.”
(“Culture Park” )
Justas Šervenikas was born in 1987 into a family of musicians. The pianist graduated Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis School of Arts’ – the oldest and most prestigious school of arts in the country. He continued his studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, with the prominent pedagogue Prof. Veronika Vitaitė. In 2008-2009 he studied in Hanover University of Music and Theater, at the class of well known professors Beatrice Berthold, Alexander Ivanov.
Justas Šervenikas is a winner of numerous international competitions and had been invited to state presidency for his musical achievements. Justas Šervenikas has played in Lithuania’s opera and ballet theatre, Lithuania’s National Philharmonic, Klaipėda Concert Hall, Kaunas Philharmonic, in the theaters of, Teatro de la Paz San Luis Potosi, Brest, Vitebsk, Steinway hall Aarchus, Yanni Kirik St.Petersburg and other concert halls in Europe. He has performed together with Lithuania’s National Symphony Orcestra, Lithuania’s Music Academy Orchestra and Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra, San Luis Potosi symphony orchestra, Concerts that has not only received great feedback from the audience, but also favorable reviews from the critics.
Since 2015 Justas Šervenikas is actively involved in playing chamber music, his regular partners on stage are world acknowledged musicians like French violinist Philippe Graffine and Dutch tenor Marcel Beekman. Also from 2019 together with Estonian pianist Johan Randvere they formed piano duo, that is regularly performing in Lithuania and Estonia.
Chris Sies (USA)
Chris Sies is a percussionist and sound artist who seeks to bring visceral sonic and performative experiences to diverse audiences. A unique performer with “virtuoso flair" (Detroit Free Press), Chris has appeared with such groups as New Music Detroit, The National Arab Orchestra, Man Forever, So Percussion, The Black Earth Ensemble, My Brightest Diamond, and the Fulcrum Point New Music Project, among many others. As a composer and collaborative artist, Sies has worked in many facets including dance, performance art, and multimedia with works presented by the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), The Percussive Arts Society, The American College Dance Association, The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Detroit’s Strange Beautiful Music, the Princeton Sound Kitchen, and The Bowling Green New Music Festival. Chris’s music lives at the crossroads of the academic avante garde, DIY rock, and power electronic genres with his music being described as an "aural assault" (TEMPO), possessing a "searing intensity" (College Music Symposium) while focussing on the audience's listening experience and psychoacoustic phenomenon that sound can elicit. Chris is the percussionist and technical director with the cross-continental powerhouse ensemble Latitude 49, with recordings on New Amsterdam Records, Furious Artisans, and New Focus Recordings. His additional projects include ARCHISMS with long-time friend and producer Sam Cooper, and the Willo Collective, a percussion-heavy venture dedicated to creating collaborative and interdisciplinary work. Chris also performs under the moniker S[K]IES - a solo project dedicated to psychedelic noise-metal through relentless experiments with percussion and electronics, focussing on sounds and structures inspired from altered states of consciousness.
As a passionate educator over the years, Chris has instructed a wide body of students, holding faculty positions at Triton College (River Grove, IL), The People’s Music School (Chicago, IL), The Chicago Academy for the Arts, Baylor University (Waco, TX), and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), where he directed the Modern Percussion Lab from 2020-2022. Previous students have won international competitions, attended various music festivals, and gone on to become educators at universities, public schools, freelancers, and creators forming their own projects and original work while investing in their communities. Chris is currently based in Calgary, Alberta where he is on the music faculty at the University of Calgary and appears regularly with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
www.chrissiesmusic.com
Miroslav Hanáček (Slovakia)
Miroslav Hanáček graduated from the Conservatory in Žilina (Slovakia), and the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia) and obtains his masters from the Academy of Music in Kraków (Poland).
He runs his flute studio at the Conservatory of Music in Žilina, beside his pedagogical activities he is also an active performer, he regullary appears as well as soloist and with different orchestras.
Mirosław is a member of the State Chamber Orchestra of Žilina, the AdHoc Orchestra, and the AdLibitum baroque music ensemble. He has performed with the Avante trio at many concerts in Slovakia, in the Czech Republic and Spain. His students are winners of several international flute competitions.
In 2021 Mirosław has got his d PhD from the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica under the guidance of the world known Czech flutist prof. Václav
Prof. Zdzisław Łapiński (Poland)
Born in Kraków in 1956 he began playing the cello at the age of 7, gaining his diploma at the High School of Music (presently Academy of Music) in Kraków in 1979 and continued his studies at Yale University. In 2012 he finished postgraduated studies MBA Higher Education Management in Poznań.
He was a prize-winner of several national and international cello and chamber music competitions – in Evian, Florence, Poznań, Łódź.
He gave concerts as a soloist and performer of chamber music in France, Italy, Switzerland,
Yugoslavia, USA, Brazil, Germany and Malta among the others.
In 1979 he joined „Capella Cracoviensis” Chamber Orchestra. In 1981 he was appointed Principal Cellist of Krakow Radio&TV Orchestra and from 1989 to 2012 he hold the same position at National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.
In 1992 he founded Cello Ensemble „ CANTABILE ” and hold position of Artistic Director.
- 1997 he was also Artistic Director of Chamber Ensemble „ Primo Allegro ”.
Since 1981 until present days he teaches cello in Academy of Music in Kraków where he held position of Head of Cello&Double Bass Department. Besides giving masterclasses all over the world he also judges many international competitions and was appointed as a Visiting Professor of Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
In 2008-2012 he was the Vice Rector for International Cooperation and in 2012-2016 he hold position of Rector of Academy of Music in Cracow.
In 2012-2016 he was the Vice President of the Association of Baltic Academies of Music – ABAM.
From 2016 he is a member of Council of AEC – Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musiques et Musikhochschulen,
Patricia Shih (Canada)
Patricia Shih is recognized as one of Canada’s preeminent musicians as soloist, educator, and first violinist of the Borealis String Quartet. At 14, her mentor Josef Gingold described her as "one of the greatest talents that I have ever taught. Her great technique, inborn musicality, sense of style and virtuosity are unequalled." Since her Carnegie Hall debut in New York, Patricia has appeared as soloist with all the major orchestras in Canada and with leading orchestras worldwide such as the Royal Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra, Mexico National Orchestra, Singapore and Seattle Symphonies, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and the Polish National Radio. She has performed as soloist in some of the world’s great venues such as the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, Wigmore Hall in London, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Liszt Akademy Hall in Budapest, amongst many others, and has received rave reviews for her magnificent performances often comparing her to some of the great violinists of the past. On the Biography Channel, a half hour documentary on Patricia's career was televised across North America. Patricia made her first public debut at the age of 4 and has won numerous awards from an early age. She won the Grand Prize at both the CIBC National Music Competition and the Seattle Young Artists Competition in the USA.
As an educator, Patricia has been on faculty and as Artist in Residence at the University of British Columbia and at Kwantlen Polytechnic University for over a decade. Patricia was recently honored as a “Distinguished Fellow of BC” for the applauded presentations and lectures given as a Visiting Scholar at Green College@ UBC. Patricia is also on faculty at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy and has given innumerable masterclasses at internationally known institutions, most recently at the Szymanowski Academy in Poland and the Hochschule of Mainz in Germany.
Patricia has sat on the jury panel of many competitions and festivals including the Ekhardt-Grammate National Competition and on the Canada Council for the Arts. As a philanthropist, Patricia and the Borealis have devoted their time and art by playing hundreds of performances as part of the Health Arts Society and Concerts in Care. The Borealis also raises the awareness of young composers in the annual Jean Coulthard Quartet Readings by promoting works especially written for the event. She also performs charity concerts for many causes including Children in Need, the Red Cross and Tsunami Relief amongst others.
Since 2019, Patricia became an Associate Professor of Violin at Baylor University in Waco, Texas and was honored as guest soloist with the Baylor Symphony Orchestra at the TMEA in San Antonio, Texas. While she is not practicing the violin, Patricia can be found practicing her cooking skills, biking and hiking in the mountains of BC and more recently, in the nature parks of Waco, Texas.
Pianist and teacher, recognised as ‘’the Artist of Austria’'.
Artistic director of the International Gloria Artis Festival , President of the International Music Association Gloria Artis in Vienna.
Member of the board of the Polish Diaspora Forum in Austria.
Mrs Padjas graduated from the Academy of Music in Krakow studied with
prof. Irina Sijalowa - Vogel.
From over than 30 years Mrs Padjas lives in Vienna where she pursues lively pedagogical activities, having her own music school in Vienna she teaches and promotes talented students and pianists especially form Poland .
Her students are top prize winners on international competitions in Austria ,Italy, Russia, Poland .
Having her International Music Association Gloria Artis Mrs Padjas helped many pianits having their artsitc carrer begin , baiscally promoting their talentes in Austria. Mrs Padjas serves as jury member in many International Piano Competitions such as International Chopin Piano Competition in Vienna, International Piano Competition Chopin plus in Kraków and International Piano Competition in Moscow , Trzciana , Kielce and many others.
In September 2009 She received the prize ‘’ Meritorious for Polish culture’’ for her musical and educational contributions.