Aleksandr Poliykov

Ukrainian pianist, conductor and pedagogue, Poliykov earned B.M. and M.M. from National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky first as a pianist, then as an orchestral and operatic conductor. He also completed an Artist Diploma program from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Currently he resides in Boston where he is a piano faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The winner of more than 20 international competitions (including Franz Liszt International competitions in Germany 2009 and the Netherlands 2011), Poliykov is concertizing all over the world in the major venues of the USA, Europe and South America. An active chamber musician and his numerous collaborations with symphony orchestras include Radio-Philarmonic Orchestra of Holland (Jaap van Zweden) and National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Allin Vlasenko and Volodymyr Sirenko). He is frequently invited to music festivals and to judge competitions. As an active educator, Poliykov provides concert-lectures, appears on television and gives masterclasses in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to his career as a performer, Poliykov has worked with 17 orchestras as a guest conductor. He frequently leads opera productions and enjoys collaborating with vocalists.

John Lidfors

Born to American parents living in Germany, John Lidfors learned piano and violin from a young age. As a violinist in the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra he played under maestros such as Mariss Jansons-experiences that were defining for his musical interest and which awakened a fascination for conducting. He completed his conducting studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in 2010 finishing with top marks and his debut in the Vienna Musikverein. For his outstanding success as a student he was awarded the Janeczek Foundation scholarship for conductors. He is Assistant Conductor of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra and Director of the Bochum Philharmonic Choir. In addition, he is the conductor and artistic director of the Orchester Ventuno – a chamber orchestra he founded in the Nuremberg metropolitan region. Having been awarded the 2016 cultural advancement awards of the Region of Middle Franconia and the City of Fürth he is recognized as an “exceptionally talented and capable musician” with a “formidable intellect” captivating audiences and orchestral musicians alike. Apart from his primary work with symphony orchestras he also has performed with some of the top choirs of Germany. His concert performances include among others the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the South Denmark Philharmonic, the Magdeburgische Philharmonie, the Berlin Radio Choir and the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir. Through the International Conducting Academy Berlin he worked with orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Staatstheater Cottbus and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt.
In 2016 John Lidfors was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Conducting Academy and assistant conductor of the Aspen Opera Company. He has
also participated in masterclasses with Jorma Panula, Simon Halsey and with Neeme Järvi at the first Gstaad Conducting Academy. In 2015 the
German Music Council accepted him into their Choral Conductors’ Forum.

Pak Lok Alvin Ho

At the age of 25, Alvin Ho is a young conductor from Hong Kong who is currently based in Indiana, United States. He is currently assistant conductor at the Indiana Opera and Ballet Theater, and was seen as music director for The Celebration of Pas de deux at the company. He has conducted Luzern Festival Strings, Das Kritische Orchestra Berlin, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, MÁV Symphony Orchestra (Budapest), Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Orchestra. Recently, Ho was invited to participate in the Donatella Flick London Symphony Orchestra Conducting competition 2018. Earlier, he was invited as one of the eight young conductors around the globe to study with Bernard Haitink and Lucerne Festival Strings at Easter Lucerne Festival 2018. He was also named a Mahler Conducting Fellow at Colorado Mahler Festival 2018. Ho was also chosen as one of the semifinalists at the “Das Kritische Orchestra Berlin” 2017 edition by members of major German orchestras such as Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin and Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, among many others. His mentors include Bernard Haitink, Neeme Järvi, Daniele Gatti, Ludovic Morlot and Lothar Zagrosek. As a keen educator, he has served as assistant conductor at the National Youth Orchestra of China 2017, preparing the newly formed ensemble for their Carnegie Hall debut. Ho is currently a Doctoral student and holds a Masters’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying under Arthur Fagen, David Neely and Thomas Wilkins.

Wilbur Lin

Wilbur Lin is a Taiwanese-American conductor and pianist currently based in Indiana. His recent highlights include an appearance with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, guest conducting El Salvador’s National Youth Orchestra, performances at Indiana University (IU), and the conclusion of Chamber Philharmonic Taipei’s 7th concert in its Bach Cantata Series. Wilbur had held the position of Lord Rhode’s Scholar from 2013-2014, was the two-time recipient of Mortimer Furber Prize for Conducting at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), and is a doctoral candidate (ABD) at IU Jacobs School of Music. He is currently the Artistic Director of Chamber Philharmonic Taipei and Wabash Valley Youth Symphony, and choir director and organist at Immanuel United Church of Christ, Indianapolis. With his father active in amateur choral conducting, Wilbur began his musical education at the age of five. He founded his own orchestra, the Chamber Philharmonic Taipei, in 2008. Started as a student orchestra, the Chamber Philharmonic Taipei is now a professional chamber orchestra with active annual summer seasons funded by both the Arts Council of Taipei and the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture. Briefly holding assistant conductor positions at Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Taiwan Symphony orchestras, he worked closely with conductors Andrew Manze and Fusau Kajima. Wilbur’s conducting engagements have taken him to prominent international stages including National Concert Hall of Taipei, Southbank Centre, Wigmore Hall, and the British Museum in London, Manchester’s BBC MediaCityUK studios, among others.

Alessandro Boeri

Born in Moncalieri in 1997, Alessandro began studying piano with Claudio Voghera before joining the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory in Turin in 2010, from which he graduated in 2018 with a first-level Diploma. While still studying, he took part in the seminars and master classes of Michel
Béroff and Aleksandar Madzar. He also studies Composition with Alessandro Ruo Rui, under whose guidance he has already completed the first five-years programme (Compimento Inferiore). In the academic year 2017/2018 he also started taking Conducting classes with Mario Lamberto. From 2009 to 2011 he participated in the summer training courses of the Rivoli Symphony Orchestra, and in 2013 he joined the summer piano programme of the Pinerolo Academy of Music with Claudio Voghera. In 2015 and 2017 he also took part in Marco Zuccarini’s preliminary summer courses for Conductors, also at the Pinerolo Academy. In the 2009-2012 period, Alessandro successfully took part in several competitions, and won the first prize at the “Città di Ozegna” National Piano Competition, and the third prize in the “D” category at the XXVII “Johann Sebastian Bach” National Piano Competition in Sestri Levante. He has often performed at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory in Turin, featuring in the “Unione Musicale” season at the Palace of Venaria: he performed in the Serate Musicali and Wednesday concerts programmes with a solo recital in March 2017, a piano-violin duet in November, and a concert in April 2018. In 2016, he featured in a concert for the Milan Conservatory within the programme of MiTo Settembre Musica. In December 2017 Alessandro was admitted to an internship for répétiteurs at the Teatro Regio in Turin, which took place in the following spring.

Jieun Jeong

Born in Daegu (South Korea) in 1986, Jieun Jeong got her piano Diploma in 2009 from the Kyoungpook National University, where she had also been working as a pianist with the choir since 2007. She later covered a similar position with the Hyosung Choir in 2010. In 2009 she worked as a répétiteur for the Daegu Opera House in Le nozze di Figaro and Traviata. After moving to Italy, in February 2016 she graduated with honours from the “Giuseppe Verdi“ Conservatory of Milan, and in March 2017 she completed a two-year specialization course for répétiteurs at the Scala Academy. In 2014 she collaborated in the master class of Giacomo Aragall as the répétiteur. After winning the First Prize at the 12th “Ottorino
Respighi” International Competition for accompanying pianists, Jieun worked for the master classes of Bianca Maria Casoni and Carlo Gaifa from 2011 to 2016. In the meantime she took part in several productions, including Rossini’s Barber of Seville conducted by Massimo Zanetti (Accademia
Project 2015), and The Magic Flute for Children, a reduction of Mozart’s Zauberflöte repeatedly staged at La Scala in October 2015 and April 2016.
In 2016 she had a role in a production of Der Rosenkavalier conducted by Zubin Metha, and then in The Magic Flute (Accademia Project 2016) conducted by Adám Fischer and directed by Peter Stein. Jieun also took part in some children productions of Teatro alla Scala: Seraglio, conducted by Michele Gamba, and Cinderella, conducted by Pietro Mianiti. She has accompanied a number of opera recitals in London, Seattle, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Milan, Parma, Bergamo and others.

Andrea Chinaglia

After a high school diploma in classical studies, Andrea Chinaglia graduated in piano from the “Antonio Buzzolla” Conservatory in Adria, and in orchestra conducting from the “Arrigo Boito” Conservatory in Parma, always with top marks and honours. In the meantime, he specialized in the piano with Konstantin Bogino and Filippo Gamba, and in conducting with H. Lendeers (Conservatory of Rotterdam), J. Van Steen (Conservatory of Amsterdam), N. Thomson, M. Guidarini, L. Gay, R. Gessi and L. Shambadal (European Conducting Academy in Vicenza- Berlin).
He regularly collaborates with the Mitteleuropa Orchestra of Friuli Venezia Giulia, with which he conducts symphonic programmes after serving as an assistant to Philippe Entramont. In June 2017 he made his début with the Toscanini Philharmonics of Parma, conducting two symphonic concerts. He also conducted the “Filarmonia Veneta” Regional Orchestra and the Solo d’Archi Ensemble Orchestra, collaborating with several international artists. As a pianist, he has won or ranked among the best participants in a number of national competitions since he was very young. Andrea is also active as a choirmaster, and his performances were recorded by RAI and the Vatican Radio. He has been working as a choir conductor and a répétiteur for several theatres and institutions. More specifically, he was the choirmaster at the Teatro Verdi Foundation in Pisa, the répétiteur at Regio in Parma, and the harpsichord master in several projects of the High School of Music of Lausanne-Sion-Friborg. He has been at the head of the “Giuseppe Verdi” Choir in Parma since 2016, with which he has an intense concert activity. In June 2017 he was a member of the jury in the final of the “Voci verdiane” International Competition, Busseto. He also obtained a degree in Italian Literature from the University of Padua, where he specialised in the history and the aesthetics of Italian opera.

Luca Spinosa