Nikolaj Lund
Jean-Baptiste Doulcet
Jean-Baptiste Doulcet was born in Paris in 1992 and is a pianist, improviser and composer. He has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Piano Nordic Competition. Alongside Alexandre Kantorow and Rémi Geniet, he is regarded as one of the rising stars of the French piano and released his first CD with works by Beethoven, Schumann and his own improvisations on themes from the public. His second album (Schumann and Liszt) was released in 2022 on the Mirare label. Jean-Baptiste is a versatile artist, known for his musical personality both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, but also for his improvisational concerts. As a composer, he has written more than twenty works for solo instruments, chamber music or larger ensembles.
© Sebastian Madej
Damian Marhulets
Damian Marhulets was born in Minsk in 1980 and was accepted to the renowned Minsk Academy of Music at the age of 6. In his early childhood he won prizes at numerous important international music competitions. His musical career took a new turn in 2000 when he moved to Germany. Following his artistic curiosity, he soon immersed himself in the underground scene of experimental music. He is known for his unconventional graphic and interactive digital scores as well as immersive musical experiences in virtual spaces. With a background equally rooted in classical music and the avant-garde tradition, enriched by his unique expertise in sound design and multimedia as well as his extensive experience in working with new technologies, he rejects conventional musical norms to create a distinctive sonic identity and embark on journeys through uncharted realms of creativity.
Rick Nickerson
John Mortensen
John Mortensen is a leader in the international rediscovery of historical improvisation. He performs frequently as a concert artist and masterclass teacher at colleges and universities worldwide and is renowned for his ability to improvise entire concertos in the historical style. He is the author of “The Pianist’s Guide to Historic Improvisation”, the world’s most widely used book in the field of historical piano improvisation, which is now used as a textbook at many leading conservatoires. He is the founder of Improv Planet, an online school of improvisation whose students include concert artists and conservatory teachers from around the world. Mortensen teaches historical improvisation at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and is a professor of piano at Cedarville University in Ohio.
Navina Neuschel
Noam Sivan
Prof. Noam Sivan is a pianist and composer and a pioneer in the revival of classical improvisation. He plays fugues and four-movement sonatas extemporaneously, leads orchestral and choral improvisations and collaborates with instrumentalists, singers, dancers and actors. His solo album Ambiro’s Journey has been described as a “new milestone in the development of improvisation”. Born in Haifa, Israel in 1978, Noam Sivan was Director of Improvisation at the Curtis Institute and taught at the Juilliard School. Since 2021, he has been a professor at the HMDK Stuttgart, where he heads one of the world’s first master’s programs for piano improvisation.
Marvin Balzer
Georg Thoma
Georg Thoma is a pianist, music theorist, piano improviser and piano teacher. He has been taught to play the violin, piano and organ since early childhood. After graduating from high school, he completed studies in instrumental piano pedagogy, music theory/aural training and artistic piano improvisation. He currently works as a full-time lecturer for music theory at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, as an academic assistant for music theory and aural training at the University of Music Freiburg and as a lecturer for piano improvisation at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. An artistic focus for Georg Thoma is piano improvisation in a wide range of styles from baroque, classical and romantic to jazz and new music.
