Daniel BLUMENTHAL

Born in Landstuhl (Germany), Daniel Blumenthal is of American origin.

He began his musical studies at the age of 5 and graduated from the University of Michigan (Bachelor of Music) and the Juilliard School in New York (Master of Music, Doctor of Musical Arts).

Daniel Blumenthal is a prizewinner of several international competitions: Sydney and Leeds in 1981, Geneva and Busoni in 1982 and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1983. Internationally recognized as a soloist, concert musician and chamber musician, he is also professor of piano at the Brussels Conservatory and the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark.

He has been a member of the jury of the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition. Daniel Blumenthal is an honorary member and musical advisor of the non-profit cultural organization Icons of Europe, and has recorded more than 80 CDs.

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Valère BURNON, Belgium

Born in 1998 in Marche-en-Famenne, Belgian pianist Valère Burnon is the winner of the 3rd Prize and the Audience Prize at the prestigious 2025 Queen Elisabeth Competition. He also won first prizes at the Épinal (2019) and Bremen (2021) competitions, as well as the second prize at the Viotti Competition (2023). His passionate and nuanced interpretations, marked by great musical maturity, captivate audiences worldwide. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Liège (2018, class of Jean Schils and Marie-Paule Cornia) and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (2021, class of Florence Millet), he further refined his artistry at the Accademia Incontri col Maestro in Imola with Leonid Margarius and at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Frank Braley and Avo Kouyoumdjian. He has also participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned pianists, including Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Claudio Martinez-Mehner, Yury Martynov, Jean Bernard Pommier and Bertrand Chamayou. As a versatile musician, Valère performs as a soloist, in chamber music, and with orchestras such as the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Sinfonia Varsovia, and the Brussels, Liège, Antwerp, Milan, and Metz orchestras. He has played in prestigious venues including the Philharmonies of Liège, Cologne and Luxembourg, Salle Cortot in Paris, Flagey and Bozar in Brussels, the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp, and the Yamaha Ginza Hall in Tokyo. His repertoire, spanning from the Baroque era to contemporary works, reflects his curiosity and versatility. He has also released two recordings, demonstrating his commitment to presenting lesser-known composers alongside the standard repertoire.

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​​​​​​​​​Cordula HEILAND, Germany

Leo Kestenberg Musikschule, Berlin​

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​Cordula Heiland took her first piano lessons in the age of six. She studied at the Music Academies of Heidelberg-Mannheim, Luebeck and Rostock and received her final qualifications with honourable mention from Professor Bernd Zack.

She regularly gives concerts, either solo, with orchestral accompaniement (including with the Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra Potsdam) or chamber music concerts. Her repertoire covers works from all epochs, including contemporary music which she performs at festivals and premieres.

This includes the Kings Lynn Festival and Beaminster Festival in the UK, the Syddansk Festival in Denmark, the Kammermusiksaal / Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Goetheinstitut in Athens and lots of other places in Europe and the US.

In addition to her teaching activities at the Leo-Kestenberg Musikschule in Berlin, Cordula coached the main actor for her performance as a pianist in the cinema film „Blueprint", worked as a ballet accompanist and received several scholarships.

Aside from that she made recordings with piano music published at Cavalli-Records and Pamafon.

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Anaït KARPOVA, Russia

Académie intercommunale de  Court-St. Etienne - Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve

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Born in a family of eminent musicians (i.a.Ilya Satz), Anaït Karpova spent most of her childhood in the State Musical Theater of Natalia Sats (her great-grandmother), and studying piano with her parents, both pianists. Anaït studied music in the Gnessin School of Moscow with professor Anna Arzamanova, then joined the class of professor Victor Merzhanov at the P. Tchaïkovsky Conservatory of Moscow where she graduated with honours. She then pursued her studies in Brussels Conservatory of Music from which she graduated with Great Distinction in 2002, specializing in chamber music and as a soloist, under the tutorship of V. Spanoghe and Daniel Blumenthal. Throughout and after her studies, Anaït’s success was unanimous in National and International competitions.

Since 2002, Anaït Karpova has been a soloist in the Philharmonic Society of Moscow, and performed in most concert halls of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other russian cities. She performs in recital, with chamber ensembles or orchestra on a regular basis in Belgium, but also in the Netherland, Greece, Italy, France and USA.

Anaït works in close collaboration with numerous distinguished vocal artists such as Elena Okolysheva (Mezzo-soprano, soloist at Bolshoy Theatre), with whom she has been recorded on Radio Classique Orphée, has accompanied for recitals Laura Claycomb (France 2006), Irina Samilova (Soloist at Bolshoy and La Monnaie) and Jodie Devos in 2015. Anaït is also a member of contrasted chamber ensembles such as Het Rode Pomp, specialized in contemporary music; the Krocus Trio, formed in 2011 with Marie-Noëlle de Callataÿ and Sophie de Tillesse, and has formed a piano trio with Viviane Spanoghe (cello) and Alexei Moshkov (violin) performing numerous concerts from 2012 to this day. For the past few years, Anaït has followed the program The International Certificate for Piano Artists lead by Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri et Philippe Entremont, in collaboration with the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris and the University of Florida - College of Fine Arts-School of Music, all of which alongside her position as piano teacher (Since 2006) in Intercommunal Academy of Court-Saint-Etienne and Ottignies. She has been invited as guest teacher for the annual piano masterclasses MusicA Braine l’Alleud, for the Summer Academy of Mérignac, France and for The Paris International Summer Session.

She's also a member of the jury for Médoc Aquitaine International Competition in Mérignac.

Having coached, and worked with, numerous singers throughout competitions and concerts, Anaït has revealed to be truly passionate and dedicated to the vocal arts, bringing together her musicianship and her experience, to ultimately reveal the true colours of a voice. She has lately been the initiator of opera projects such as the production of “The Little Sweep” in the Braine-l’Alleud Academy of music (April 2016) and the creation of «Cieguecita de Bélen », an original opera by E. Granados.

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Elodie VIGNON, France

Ecole "En blanc et Noir", Bruxelles

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On February 2024, Elodie Vignon will present her first concertant album, Songes.

After three solo albums, she pursues studying the French aesthetic and its connections. Under the baton of the Belgian conductor Eric Lederhandler, she recorded with the Czech Virtuosi, for the label Cypres. Vignon released her last solo album Dans l’air du soir in November 2021 (Franz Liszt: Sonnetti di Petrarca, Etudes de concert/ Isaac Albeniz: Spanish Suite), which was very much appreciated by the audience, as well as the critics. Jean-Yves Clément gave her 5 Diapasons, and the CD was a « Choice of the month » on the Belgian broadcast Musiq3 RTBF. It was also awarded by a « Joker absolu » by the magazine Crescendo.

A few months later (Octobre 2022), Elodie Vignon published an album on the same label, with the French contralto Sarah Laulan. Together, they got invited at the Avignon Opera, and many festivals in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

After the release of her first Debussy album in March 2018, Elodie was awarded as part of Debussy Best Performers by the german Pianist Magazine. She performed her album program all over the globe: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, North Carolina, Florida, Christ Church Cathedral of Montreal, as well as the Steinway Hall of New York City.

During the year 2020, Elodie presented her second album D’ombres (Cypres) with a commission of Claude Ledoux, during the Flagey Piano Days Festival in Brussels. This concert came right after the Festival Propulse, hosted in Flagey too, where she played with the dancer and choreographer Nono Battesti their new show « Entre Temps ».

Later this year, she was invited for the Festival du Hainaut in the Palais Des Beaux Arts de Charleroi, and was asked to make the last video of the Festivals de Wallonie 2.0.

As an artist in residence of the Bell’arte foundation for 12 years, created by Nelson DelleVigne Fabbri, Elodie Vignon enjoys an extending of her activity as a soloist and chamber music in both Europe and the USA. Mrs. Vignon has played as a soloist and under direction of such distinguished conductors such as Ramon Tebar or Philippe Entremont, and notably has performed both Frédéric Chopin’s Concerti for piano at the Palm Beach International Piano Festival.

After the classical studies in Lyon (Conservatoire Régional de Lyon), Vignon obtained a Gold Medal in 2001. She moved to Brussels to study with Daniel Blumenthal (Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels), where she obtained two Master degrees (piano and chamber music) with a special mention. Consequently, Elodie was invited by many music festivals through Europe. She is also regularly invited as a guest teacher or jury member (Clichy-la Garenne Conservatory, Suzuki Workshop in Brussels, Dudelange Conservatory in Luxembourg, MusicA Braine in Belgium, Concours Andrée Charlier de Charleroi, International Piano Masterclass Festival of Manilla, BAK Middle School in Florida…).

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Nezrin EFENDIYEVA, Azerbaïdjan

Académie de Musique, Braine-l'Alleud

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​Pianist and composer Nezrin Efendiyeva was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. Her grandfather, Fikret Amirov, was a renowned symphonic composer in the former USSR, and her mother is a pianist.

She graduated with a Higher Diploma in piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels (Eugène Moguilevsky’s Class), and in 2003 won the International Piano Competition in Huesca, Spain.

She is a regular guest as a soloist with the Azerbaijan Symphony Orchestra, often performing her grandfather’s concertos for Piano and Orchestra. A lover of Baroque music, Nezrin studied harpsichord with Frédérick Haas at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels between 2004 and 2006, and founded a period instrument ensemble she calls “L’Estro Barocco”. A graduate of the Master of Music Composition from the Conservatoire de Mons, she is the author and performer of more than 20 melodies in French, English and Azeri, as well as the soundtracks of Maria Ibrahimova's film "Letter to God" and 8 promotional documentaries on the history of Azerbaijan entitled "On the Road to Baku". These documentaries, directed by the same director, were created as part of the First European Games held in Baku in summer 2015. On this occasion, an advertisement entitled "Azerbaijan: Make History with Us" by Maria Ibrahimova, for which Nezrin is the author of the soundtrack, was broadcast on CNN, Euronews and BBC in June 2015. Between 2017 and 2023, Nezrin is part of the Trio Manestri, a trio based in Belgium and composed of Flute (Astrid Gallez), Violin (Marie Carmen Suarez) and Piano. Their first CD “Esprits Nomades” was released in April 2018, and the second in February 2020, entitled “Esprits Nomades Voyage continue…” As a composer and arranger, Nezrin wrote and arranged a series of works for the Trio Manestri during these 6 years (including pieces by her grandfather) and played with the trio a series of concerts in Belgium and the Netherlands. Since 2024, Nezrin has devoted herself exclusively to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and is developing a series of projects dedicated to the life and music of the composer.

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Julien LIBEER, Belgium

LUCA School of Arts, Louvain

 

Around the age of four, Julien discovered Leonard Bernstein conducting West Side Story. Is it possible to watch Bernstein in action and believe that there is a more beautiful thing than making music? Another significant influence was the pianist Dinu Lipatti, yet another person who radiated a musical truth. With Lipatti serving as a guiding light, Julien avoided any participation in competitions and charted his own path off the beaten track.

For five unforgettable years, the Franco-Polish pedagogue Jean Fassina laid the foundations of his musical and pianistic skills. He then spent another five-year cycle under the wing of Maria João Pires, regularly sharing the stage with her.

An artist in residence at Flagey in Brussels, Julien has performed at venues such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Barbican Hall in London, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Other tours have taken him to Japan, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Turkey, and the United States. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras like the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Brussels Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, and New Japan Philharmonic, collaborating with conductors such as Trevor Pinnock, Augustin Dumay, Jun Märkl, Michel Tabachnik, Hervé Niquet, Enrique Mazzola, among others. Highly sought-after as a chamber musician, he shares the stage with Augustin Dumay, Bruno Philippe, Paul Lewis, Samuel Hasselhorn, Maria João Pires, and Lorenzo Gatto. Recent season highlights include invitations from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, Flagey in Brussels, and the Steinway International Concert Series in Cardiff. He was a guest at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Miami International Piano Festival, and performed chamber music at De Doelen in Rotterdam and the Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris.

His recordings have been highly praised by the press for their originality and quality. Alongside recordings with Lorenzo Gatto (Complete Beethoven Sonatas - Diapason d'Or of the Year 2016) and Camille Thomas (Réminiscences - Echo Klassik Award 2017), he released "Bach · Bartok" for Harmonia Mundi in 2020, followed by "A Well-tempered Conversation" in 2022, a conceptual approach to Bach's legendary Well-Tempered Clavier. During the 24-25 season, he recorded a Mozart album with Pierre Colombet (Ebène Quartet) and Eckart Runge (Artemis Quartet), as well as a Ravel album. Julien is the originator of multiple projects aimed at expanding the presence of music beyond the concert hall. This includes his role as a host in Belgium’s main classical music TV show (2016) and "Salon Libeer" at the Concertgebouw in Bruges, which combines music and discussion in the hope of deepening the musical experience of the audience. He hosts "Dead or Alive," a lecture at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and is also the artistic director of Singing Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb children’s choir. Julien Libeer studied with Jean Fassina (Paris), Maria Joao Pires (Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel), and Daniel Blumenthal (Royal Conservatory of Brussels), and honed his chamber music skills with the Artemis String Quartet. He received regular advice from Dmitry Bashkirov, Alfred Brendel, Nelson Delle Vigne-Fabbri, Jura Margulis, and Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet).

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Anna Durga DELIRE, Belgium

Institut Dalcroze, Bruxelles​

 

Born in Brussels, Anna Durga Delire discovered music at the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute where she took piano improvisation, rhythm, rhythmic choreography and classical piano classes with Nadine Delsaux. At 16, she was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Mons as a "Young Talent" in Dalia Ouziel's class. She then continued her studies in Hans Ryckelynck's class. Anna obtained also a Master's degree in piano accompaniment in Mathias Lecomte's class at IMEP (Namur).​​​​ She also detains a Master's in Didactics and a Specialized Master's in piano at the Mons Conservatory.

She has attended numerous masterclasses in Belgium and abroad, notably with Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Jean-Philippe Collard, Jacques Rouvier, Eliane Reyes and Dominique Cornil.

Since 2014, she has organized chamber music concerts, with the keyboard trio "Belesja" and the violin-piano duo "Belja" (Madrid, Murcia, Brussels, Namur), among others. She teaches piano at the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute.

 

Aarun MONTEIRO KASSAM, Portugal

Institut Dalcroze, Bruxelles

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Aarun Monteiro Kassam, Portuguese, was born in Brussels, where he began playing the piano at the age of five, first with Alice Di Piazza and later with Orit Ouziel. In October 2015, Aarun won first prize in the Andrée Charlier Piano Competition (Academy category). He enters in Daniel Blumenthal's class at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.  Aarun participated in the SIPO (Semana Internacional de Piano de Óbidos) in Portugal, where he received guidance from Paul Badura-Skoda, Luis de Moura Castro, Boris Berman, Manuela Gouveia, and Michiko Shoji.
In September 2017, Aarun was accepted into the ICPA advanced program under the direction of Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri. Through this program, he was able to interact with many great professors such as Eugen Indjic, Jerome Lowenthal, Michel Béroff, Mikhail Karpov, and others.
Graduating with distinction from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Aarun continued his training at the Royal Conservatory of Mons, where he earned a Master's degree in Didactics.

 

Nelson DELLE-VIGNE FABBRI, Italy

Artistic Director

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The Italian virtuoso Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri was born in Argentina. He was instructed by Magda Tagliaferro, Gyorgy Cziffra and Claudio Arrau.
In addition to his performing and recording career that took him to several continents, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri is also a famed international piano pedagogue.
Teaching at the Ecole Normale "Alfred Cortot" in Paris during 40 years, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri was also appointed professor extraordinaire at the Chapelle Musicale "Reine Elisabeth" in Belgium and Honorary Professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida, USA.
He gives regularly master classes in France, China, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Taiwan, Canada, USA, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, UK, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, South Korea, etc.
Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri collaborated to the festivities of the European Union Day in Seoul, South Korea, by special invitation of the European amabassador.
Cultural and pedagogical broadening is an important goal of his duties as general director of the Bell'Arte Foundation.
Mr. Delle-Vigne Fabbri, as founder and president of the Fondation Bell'Arte, is the artistic director of MusicA Braine l'Alleud, the Paris International Summer Sessions, LyricA Braine l'Alleud and of the EMS Music Group, a record company and record studio.

He's the founder and artistic director of The International Certificate for Piano Artists, a pedagogical programme in collaboration with many international institutions with sessions in the U.S., Russia, Italy, Lithuania, Taiwan, Spain, Poland, the Philippines, etc. 
After Philippe Entremont's 10-years' presidency, this programme is currently placed under the presidency of Belgian composer Jean Kluger. Jerome Lowenthal and Michel Béroff are its vice-president, preceeded by France Clidat and Lazar Berman.

Nelson Delle-Vigne is the artistic director of the present course.