2006 Vendome Prize for Piano
Stephen Beus
First Prize
“Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage” (Salt Lake Tribune). In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis).
As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.
Equally active as a soloist, Mr. Beus has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot (Paris), Merkin Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Central Conservatory (Beijing), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), the Queluz Palace (Lisbon) and has performed for the Dame Myra Hess and Fazioli Salon series (Chicago), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York City), and has given recitals across the United States as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Georgia, China, France, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Morocco.
Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Mr. Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Mr. Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner. His playing is strikingly original and, despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.”
Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, and his teachers have included Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, and Paulette Richards. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records labels. Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist and currently teaches at Brigham Young University.
Andreï Korobeinikov
Second Prize
“ Like Evgeny Kissin a few years ago, Andreï Korobeinikov is an out of lines person, an outsized musician and a great intellectual” Judith Chaine, Télérama, January 2010
Andrei Korobeinikov was born in Moscow in 1986. This outstanding pianist all over the world and was rewarded more than 20 prizes in national and international competitions among them Alexander Scriabin International Piano Competition and Rachmaninov Piano Competition in Los Angeles in 2005 where he received a special public prize. At the age of 19, he graduated with honors from the Moscow Conservatory (Best musician of the decade) and pursued his studies at the Royal College of Music in London.
Being regularly invited over the world, he appeared with prestigious orchestras such as Philharmonia Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Konzerthausorkester Berlin, Orchestre National de France, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow…
In chamber music, he plays with distinguished musicians such as Vadim Repin, Alexander Kniazev, Dmitri Makhtin, Borodin Quartet.
In 2008, he recorded his first CD for Mirare, devoted to Scriabin. The recording brought him extraordinary success and awards : Diapason d’Or of the year of Diapason Magazine, Choc of Classica magazine and was followed by two CDs : a selection of Beethoven Sonatas and Bagatelles and one dedicated to Shostakovich Preludes op.34 and the 2 Concertos (with Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Okko Kamu). The latest was acclaimed by the international press (Gramophone, Diapason d’or, BBC Music Magazine…). The pianist recently completed for Mirare Scriabin solo cycle that he recorded at the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich and is now considered to be one of the finest Scriabin interpretation.
This exceptional artist of multiple talents also graduated at the age of 17 from the Law European University of Moscow. He composes his music and writes poetry.
His recent appearences with Maestro Ivan Fisher and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin in Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto, with Maestro Yuri Temirkanov and the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Tchaikovsky 1st Piano Concerto and Rachmaninov Paganini Variations were marked by extraordinary succes.
Highlights of 14/15 season also include concerts with Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra/Pinchas Steinberg, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio/Vladimir Fedoseyev, NHK Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Fedoseyev, recitals (Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Taipei National Concert Hall…), two special japanese and canadian tour with the violonist Vadim Repin and an upcoming UK tour with Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.
https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/orchestra/piano/andrei_korobeinikov/
Roman Rabinovich
Vendome Virtuoso Prize
Praised by the New York Times for his “uncommon sensitivity and feeling”, the eloquent young pianist Roman Rabinovich is the winner of the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. He has performed throughout Europe and the USA in such prestigious venues as Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Cité de la Musique in Paris and the Millennium Stage at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center.
Dubbed “a true polymath, in the Renaissance sense of the word” (Seen & Heard International, 2016), Rabinovich is also a composer and visual artist. In summer 2016 he embarked upon the Haydn Project, encompassing recitals of Haydn’s complete keyboard sonatas at Lammermuir Festival in Scotland and the Tel Aviv Conservatory, as well as artwork inspired by Haydn. After his recent debut recital at Lincoln Center the New York Times hailed Mr. Rabinovich’s Haydn Sonatas as “admirable interpretations, performed with a rich, full-blooded sound, singing lines and witty dexterity.”
Highlights of Rabinovich’s 2016-17 season include Mozart’s Concerto K.466 with Tre Roma in Rome, Beethoven’s Concerto No.3 with the Calgary Philharmonic in Alberta, and recitals at the Shriver Concert Hall series and the Gilmore Keyboard Foundation Rising Stars series. He will return to Europe for recitals in summer and autumn 2017, including a Mozart concerto with Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington and a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall.
Rabinovich was the first of three young pianists to be championed by András Schiff, who selected him for his Building Bridges series in Zurich’s Tonhalle, Berlin, Ruhr Piano Festival, and New York’s SubCulture. Last season’s highlights included Rachmaninov Concerto No. 3 with the KBS Orchestra and Yoel Levi and Bartok Concerto No.2 with the Dohnanyi Symphony in Budapest, recital engagements at Vancouver Recital Society, Chopin Society in St Paul, MN, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Walter Reade Theatre and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. In spring 2014 Mr. Rabinovich toured with the Haifa Symphony throughout the United States, performing as soloist on four different piano concertos in 30 concerts.
Rabinovich began drawing at age 10, and though he never took formal lessons, it has been a passion of his ever since. Since 2010 he has created art on his iPhone and iPad, which are much easier to transport when traveling internationally for concerts. Technology is frequently also a feature of his concerts, as he performs from an iPad rather than sheet music.
Rabinovich, “whose mature, self-assured playing belies his chronological age” (San Francisco Classical Voice) made his Israel Philharmonic debut under Zubin Mehta at the young age of 10, having immigrated to Israel a year before from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Rabinovich’s parents are piano teachers and his earliest lessons were with them, before studying with Arie Vardi in Israel. He attended Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Seymour Lipkin and achieved his Masters Degree at The Juilliard School, where he was taught by Robert McDonald.
An avid chamber musician, Rabinovich frequently collaborates with the violinist Liza Ferschtman, among others. He has performed the complete Beethoven Sonatas for violin and piano with Ferschtman, as well as a marathon of Brahms’ chamber music in Tel Aviv. He recently recorded ballets by Ravel, Prokofiev and Stravinsky for the Orchid Classics label to critical acclaim.
Matei Varga
Vendome Virtuoso Prize
“The greatest young Romanian pianist before the public today” (Enescu Festival News) Matei Varga is hailed as a true heir of an incomparable pianistic tradition that includes Dinu Lipatti and Clara Haskil. Critics have found his performances “impressive” (Gramophone), “magical” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), “colorful, vivacious [and] engaging” (Le Diapason).
Prize winner of the “George Enescu”, “Maria Canals” and “Lory Wallfisch” International Piano Competitions, Mr. Varga is also recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant in New York and the Virtuoso Award at the 2003 and 2006 Vendome Prize. In 2002, at the invitation of Gian Carlo Menotti, he made his debut at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He has performed in many of the world’s leading concert halls, among them Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, New York City Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Auditorium du Louvre, National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing), Victoria Hall (Geneva) and Palau de la Música (Barcelona). He has appeared frequently alongside soprano Mariana Nicolesco, and has collaborated with conductors such as Otto-Werner Mueller, Elio Boncompagni, Christian Reif, Gabriel Bebeselea and Antoine Marguier, among others. He has performed with the “George Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, Orchestre des Nations (Geneva), the Hartford Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and many others.
Matei Varga’s upcoming recording, to be released by Sono Luminus in June 2022, is an homage to salon music throughout three centuries. The CD will include staples of the piano repertoire by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Chopin, Balakirev, as well as several works by Cuban master Ernesto Lecuona. Mr. Varga’s previous recordings have been released by Naxos, Coviello Classics and AIX Records. His album of Brahms’ Cello and Piano Sonatas (with Laura Buruiana) won the 2013 Listeners’ Choice Award from The Violoncello Foundation.
Mr. Varga holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Romanian National University, where he studied with Ana Pitis, Ioana Minei and Sandu Sandrin. He earned a Master’s degree and Professional Diploma in piano performance from The Mannes School, in the studio of Pavlina Dokovska. Throughout the years he received guidance from Yefim Bronfman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Richard Goode and Murray Perahia, among others.
He has been Project Manager and Artistic Advisor of the Vendome Prize since 2008 and was appointed Director of the competition in 2020. He lives in New York City.