Lidia Kotlova, President of the Bay Area GMO
Lidia Kotlova is a pianist and a teacher, she earned a Bachelor's degree from Sergei Prokofiev's College of Music in Moscow and Masters in Piano Performance degree at the University of Washington.
Lidia has had an international performing career for the past decade - she played in many prestigious concert halls and radio stations in the USA, India and Russia. Lidia worked with the University of Washington orchestra and Seattle Symphony with well-known maestros like David Rahbee and with the guidance of Ludovic Morlot. Her performance became a part of the documentary magazine When The War Ends, featured by the UW television and the UW magazine Three Sixty Degrees.
Lidia is often invited as a guest artist to the different shows. Recently she was featured as a visiting artist for the "World Wide Indian Idol" show- competition with the grand jury - Bollywood singer - Padma Shri Kailash Kher.
Lidia is famous for her interpretations of the Isaignani Illayaraaja classical and cinematic compositions, which shook the media recently and led to her in-depth interview by Maestro.
Alla Nagornaya, director of operations
Alla Nagornaya is a teacher and accompanist who earned a Master’s degree from the Kharkiv Conservatory of music in Ukraine. She was the winner of the Piano Performance Competition in Simferopol, Ukraine, and was awarded the diploma of the Best Accompanist at an international competition in Kyiv, Ukraine. She has also participated in an international master class project for piano students with T. Verkina (Ukraine) and Veda Zuponcic (New Jersey, USA). Many of her students have succeeded in winning competitions and participating in festivals.
Petra Persolja, director of operations
With a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance earned from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2020, Petra's academic prowess is matched only by her passion for the piano. Her doctoral research centered on the Istrian Scale, a musical phenomenon born from the vibrant fusion of Slovenian, Italian, and Croatian cultures. While armed with a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Hawaii, Petra also boasts dual Bachelor degrees in Piano Performance from Rowan University in New Jersey and a Bachelor in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Prof. Namiq Sultanov, adjudicator, San Jose State University
Dr. Namiq Sultanov is a professor of piano. He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan and served Chairman of the Piano Department and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts at Bilkent University in Turkey. He received his doctorate from the Moscow State Conservatory. Since that time, Dr. Sultanov has taught many students who have become winners in piano competitions and has been invited as a jury member in national and international competitions. He is frequently invited to give master classes.
Dr. Tamami Honma,
adjudicator,
Stanford University
Tamami Honma consistently receives acclaim as a performer and recording artist. Her energetic and sensitive appearances have attracted praise, as soloist at Bolshoi Hall with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall - ‘an eloquent, powerful performance' (New York Times), and Wigmore Hall in London - ‘an interpretation that was probably as transparent and faithful to the Goldberg Variations as it's possible to be on a modern piano' (Music & Vision). She has frequently appeared on radio and television in Europe and in the US and participated in major music festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival and the Warsaw Autumn. Her recordings ranging from Mozart, Chopin to new composers, has won high accolades in BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, International Music Review, and she has been featured in Yomiuri Shinbun, The Guardian, The Independent, and various US newspapers. She was awarded a medal by President Adamkus of Lithuania for acting as their cultural ambassador after they gained independence from the USSR in 1991 which facilitated their entry into the European Union.
A student of Byron Janis who in turn was a student of Horowitz and both the Lhevinnes, Ms Honma is firmly rooted in the great romantic tradition. She was on the academic staff at the Royal Academy of Music in London for several years before joining the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a vocal coach and rehearses the SJ Symphonic Choir, West Bay Opera and other large ensemble productions. As artistic director of the ensemble-in-residence at the Triton Museum of Art, the Cal Arte Ensemble, she presents over thirty programs per year alongside other solo performances. The mayor of Saratoga recognized her cultural contributions with a commendation from the city, and for several years she has been president of the Saratoga Education Foundation ensuring that music and other subjects at risk from government cuts remain part of the school day for thousands of students.
She was recently featured on the cover of the city’s Spotlight magazine for the 2017 Christmas edition.
Elena Yu-Jung Feng, adjudicator
Elena Feng is an accomplished piano teacher with an impressive academic background. She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature with a Cognate in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2023, where she honed her skills in both performance and teaching. Prior to that, Elena obtained her Master of Music in Piano Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in May 2018. Her passion for music began at a young age, leading her to complete her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from National Taiwan Normal University in June 2015. As an excellent pedagogue, Elena combines her exceptional training and expertise to provide highly effective and engaging piano lessons for students of all ages and levels.
Elena Davis
Pianist and Composer,
UK, Bisley,
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Elena Davis is one of the world's most loved composers, whose music continues to touch many hearts. Her pieces are much favorite among many piano teachers and performed in more than 100 countries. Currently, Elena has 50 compilations, mostly for the piano itself, but also for the violin, cello, accordion, flute, synthesizer, harp, and voice.
Elena knows the peculiarities of the piano art, her pieces are a wonder to play - very pianistically comfortable and characteristically diverse. They are suitable for anyone, from a little pianist to a mature virtuoso. In her music, Elena loves to accentuate story-telling and imagery, and those qualities are the ones, which make her music absolutely unparalleled.
Anthony Tam,
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National College of London
Anthony Tam, pianist, examiner, competition adjudicator and pedagogue, holds the Fellowship Diploma in Piano Performance from the National College of Music, London, and the Fellowship Diploma in Piano Teaching from the Victoria College of Music, London. At the same time, he is also the holder of piano performance diplomas from the Australian Music Examinations Board and the University of West London. He is appointed as a member of the Academical Board of the National College of Music and becomes the first non-British to be chosen to join as a member in the College's history of more than 120 years. He is also the first Chinese to be appointed as a music examiner for both the National College of Music and the Victoria College of Music. In 2012, he was further appointed as a senior examiner for the National College of Music, London and will be responsible for further administration of the College. He was the past examiner of the British Columbia Conservatory of Music, Canada. In 2017, he joins as a music examiner for the Con Brio Examination Board. He is the first and only one worldwide to hold the position as a music examiner for four different examination boards at the same time. He has wide experience in assessing piano examination candidates. On top of being as a music examiner, he is appointed by National College of Music to be the piano duet examination syllabus coordinator and from 2014, he was also responsible for coordinating and rewriting the piano syllabus. He is a member of the American Liszt Society and through some contribution, he has earned the title as a 'Lisztian". He is also a member in good standing of the Australian Guild of Music and Speech. He is an associate member of the European Piano Teachers Association. In 2018, he is named as the Hong Kong President of the World Piano Teachers Association. He is also invited to join as the juror in piano competition and composition competition organised by the World Piano Teachers Association. In 2020, he is named as the Chief Examiner of the Italian Music Assessment Board System which is an examination board based in Italy.Born, raised and totally trained in Hong Kong, he started to take up piano lessons when he was at the age of 5. He appeared on television one year later performing a whole programme of Beethoven. His teachers included Madam Kam-Mui Deng and Madam Wo-Ping Law who were famous pedagogues in Hong Kong. He also studied briefly with Mr. Colin Kingsley. He has played in masterclasses given by the American pianist Malcolm Frager and the great Shura Cherkassky. Under the full recommendation from Madam Law, he has got a chance to learn under Cherkassky for some time.He is a pianist, teacher, juror and clinician and has been on the jury of some local and international competitions. He was the Jury Chairman of the Steinway PIano Competition in 2014 and was the President of Jury of the Mozart International Piano Competition. He has also judged the World Piano Pedagogy Conference Competition in USA and last year, he was the President of Jury of the Euterpe Competition in Italy and in 2018, he has judged an international piano competition in Venice organised by the Debussy Society. This year, he will judge the Merci Maestro Competition in Belgium. He is also the Artistic Director of the Neapolitan Masters Competition in Asia. He has concertised in many countries including UK, Canada, USA and some countries in Europe.Since obtaining the Doctorate degree in Music Education, he has taught in many countries. He is a sought-after teacher in many Asian countries and is a teacher with many award-winning students. He has given lectures, masterclasses, workshops for different organisers on different occasions. He is keen on presenting teacher training programmes for music teachers worldwide. Years ago, he was appointed as a representative of the Victoria Piano Summer School in Canada. In 2015, he was appointed as the Director of International Studies (Pedagogy and Masterclasses) of the Ultimate Music Theory of Canada. UMT will issue a series called "Masterclasses by Anthony Tam' in the near future.He is also the Hong Kong Director of the Cambodia Support Group (Canada) which promotes music education in Cambodia. He travels to Cambodia on a regular basis to give intensive courses to teachers and students.Right now, he is on the way to create a new piano summer school programme in the city of Kimberley, Canada in cooperation with the Canadian Brahms specialist Arne Sahlen. He is now the Artistic Director of the PianoFocus Summer Camp in Canada. He is also a column writer in music education and music learning for some child-related publications and is interviewed widely on different occasions by the press. He is also a writer writing on subjects about piano education in different magazines. His book about music study has been published by Dynamic Publications in 2020.
