2025 Faculty and Guest Artists
Martin Labazevitch, Faculty
Praised by critics for his lyricism, virtuosity and an intensity of performance, pianist Martin Labazevitch has appeared in many concert halls and festivals in Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Peru and the United States.
Born in Poland, Mr. Labazevitch studied at the Odessa Conservatory in Ukraine and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2019 he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Rome School of Music, Drama and Art in Washington D.C. His main teachers and mentors include Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Dmitri Bashkirov, Bella Davidovich and Jorge Luis Prats. He has been a soloist with orchestras in Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and the United States. Of his debut album release on the Delos label, of the Chopin Concerto with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra lead by Ewa Strusinska, the Fanfare Magazine wrote: “His way of Chopin is fluid and convincing. He plays with a superb control of rubato and has the most beautiful way of melting a phrase.” Of the same album, ConcertoNet wrote, “…he pleasantly refrains from overtaxing Chopin’s conclusive Allegro vivace with shimmering grandeur and eloquent precision that could even rival that of Arthur Rubinstein.”
An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with Isidore Cohen, Lukas Foss, Ruth Laredo, Andres Cardenes, Amit Peled, Ju-Young Baek, Michael Mermagen, as well as the Spokane and Vilnius String Quartets. After his piano trio debut at Carnagie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Strad Magazine wrote: “ … exuberant, multi-faceted, …gripping from first note to the last.”
Performance highlights of the recent seasons include: Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Damme Myra Hess Series in Chicago, Chopin Foundation in Miami and the Philharmonic Society of Lima, Peru.
An enthusiastic educator, Mr Labazevitch has been sharing his passion for teaching with students at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C. He is also the Co-Founder of the Puerto Rico International Piano Festival, in San Juan as well as the Artistic Director of the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition and Chopin Piano Academy in Washington D.C. In 2022 Mr Labazevitch co-founded The Paderewski Academy, a pioneer hybrid piano academy based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Mr. Labazevitch is a Steinway Artist. www.labazevitch.com
André Laplante, Guest Artist
André Laplante, who in 2005 was honored to be named an Officer of the Order of Canada, garnered international attention after winning prizes at the Geneva and Sydney international piano competitions, then capturing the silver medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Critics have compared him with Ashkenazy, Horowitz and Rudolph Serkin, placing him in the elite circle of virtuoso pianists who do not hesitate to take risks.
In recent years, Mr. Laplante has appeared as orchestral soloist with many of the great orchestras including the Montreal and Chicago symphony orchestras, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Sir Neville Mariner and has toured in Europe with the Toronto Symphony under Andrew Davis. He also appeared with the Royal Philharmonic under the baton of the late Sir Yehudi Menuhin during their extensive North American tour.
Recent seasons have also included a major concert tour of the People’s Republic of China, recital tours of the Far East, Australia and North America and appearances at major music festivals, including the Debussy Festival in France, the Pecs Festival in Hungary, the Orford Festival in Canada, the Cascais Festival in Portugal, the Salzburg Festival in Austria and America’s TCU-Van Cliburn Institute.
Mr. Laplante has served as a jury member of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, the International Music Festival in Australia, the CBC National Competition, the Honens International Piano Competition, the William Kapell International Piano Competition and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs.
An active recording artist, André Laplante’s releases on the Analekta label include works by Liszt which garnered a Félix Award in 1995 and a recording of Ravel and Rachmaninov, as well as an award winning Brahms album which won another Félix in 1996. He has also recorded for CBC and Melodia. His recording of Tchaikovsky No. 1 Concerto with Yoav Talmi and Quebec Symphony was nominated for the 2001 Felix Award. His performance of Jacques Hetu’s Piano Concerto No. 2 for CBC Records won the 2004 Juno award for orchestral recordings, as well as the Western Canadian Music Award. In 2010, Mr. Laplante received an Opus Awards for live performance: “Best Concert in Quebec Province.”
Mr. Laplante has been a faculty member of the Orford Academy for over ten years. He is as an artist-in-residence at the New England Conservatory for 2024-2025.
Jeffrey Swann, Guest Artist
Jeffrey Swann enjoys an international performing career which has taken him throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. He won first prize in the Dino Ciani Competition sponsored by La Scala in Milan, a gold medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and top honors at the Warsaw Chopin, Van Cliburn, Vianna da Motta and Montreal Competitions, as well as the Young Concert Artists auditions in New York City. His large and varied repertoire includes more than 60 concertos as well as solo works ranging from Bach to Boulez.
In addition to presenting lecture/recitals worldwide, Mr. Swann has performed with the symphonies of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Indiana, Dallas, Saint Louis, Houston, Baltimore, San Antonio, New Jersey, Louisville, New Orleans, Honolulu and Minneapolis; and in Europe with the orchestras of Rotterdam, The Hague, Belgian National and Radio, Warsaw Philharmonic, La Scala, Santa Cecilia, RAI Turin and Rome, Czech Philharmonic, Radio France de Montpellier and the London Philharmonia, among many others. The conductors with whom he has performed include Zdenek Macal, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Marek Janowski, Kazimirz Kord, Myung-Whun Chung, Roberto Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti and Leonard Slatkin. In addition, he continues to lecture regularly at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, and at Wagner Societies in the United States and Italy. Mr. Swann has also served as a judge at many competitions, most recently the Premio Venezia in Venice, Italy.
A native of Northern Arizona, Jeffrey Swann studied with Alexander Uninsky at Southern Methodist University and with Beveridge Webster and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School, where he received his B.M., M.M. and D.M.A. Degrees. Mr. Swann can be heard on Ars Polona, Deutsche-Gramophon, RCA-Italy, Replica, Fonit-Cetra, Music & Arts, and Agorá recordings. His CD, “The Virtuoso Liszt” (Music & Arts) won the Liszt Society’s Grand Prix, and his first volume of the Complete Beethoven Sonatas (Agorá) was chosen one of the Best of the Year by Fanfare magazine. His most recent release features works for piano and orchestra by Chopin with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano.
Jeffrey Swann is Professor of Piano at New York University. Since 2007, he has been the Music Director of the Dino Ciani Festival & Academy in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, since 2008 the Adel Artist-in-Residence at Northern Arizona University, and since 2013 the Artistic Director of the Scuola Normale Concert Series in Pisa, Italy. Other teaching experience includes the International Keyboard Institute at Mannes College of Music (2002-Present), Master Classes at Texas Christian University, University of Minnesota, Imola Academy (Italy), University of Virginia, San Diego State University, Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, University of Tennessee, Arizona Piano Teachers’ Federation, University of Iowa, and Stanford University, as well as Piano Master Courses in Milan, Udine, La Spezia, and Weimar.
Golda Vainberg-Tatz, Faculty
“A pianist with wonderful firm, clear touch” (New York Times), “fascinating interpreter” (Tagblat, Germany), “artist of depth and virtuosity” (The Time Argus, USA), GOLDA VAINBERG-TATZ performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (the Tchaikovsky Grand Hall in Moscow), Shanghai Symphony, Lithuanian National Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, St. Kristoforas chamber orchestra, Kaunas State Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania, Ann Arbor Symphony in Michigan, Cincinnati Symphony. As a recitalist and chamber musician she was heard in Europe, Russia, Israel, USA, Canada, and China, including numerous collaborative recitals with the Vilnius (Lithuania) String Quartet.
She was a guest artist in Mozarteum Festival in Salzburg, Vilnius Festival in Lithuania, St. Petersburg Palaces Festival in Russia, International Academy in Italy, Shanghai Conservatory International Festival, and the Shanghai Himalayas International Piano Festival, (performing, with Andre-Michel Schub and Shanghai Philharmonic, the Mozart two-piano concerto.)
Golda Vainberg-Tatz received her musical education in native Lithuania at the Čiurlionis School of Arts, Israel’s Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, Manhattan School of Music, and The Juilliard School. She won the first prize in the Lithuanian State Competition for Young Pianists, full scholarships with distinction from the America Israel Cultural Foundation, Maurice Clairmont awards in Israel, top prizes in Young Keyboard Artists Competition in Michigan, the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, Chopin Competition finalist in New York, the Prix du Disque from French Piano Institute in Paris, the Palm Beach Invitational International Competition.
An associate faculty member at the Juilliard School, she serves on the faculty of the Pre-College Division at Manhattan School of Music, New York City, Tel Hai International Master Classes in Israel, Puerto Piano International Festival (puertopiano.org), Adamant Summer Music School in Vermont, and Morningside Music Bridge summer program.
She has been giving master classes at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University, Shanghai Conservatory, Čiurlionis School of Arts (Vilnius, Lithuania), judging auditions and competitions, including the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, Malta International Piano Competition 2018, Chopin National Canadian Competition in 2019, Classical Artists LLS, DMA recitals at Manhattan School of Music and concerto competitions at the Juilliard School Pre-College division. Her students have won national and international competitions.
Ms. Vainberg -Tatz is a Steinway Artist. Her recordings include Mozart piano concerti K.453, K.466 with Constantin Orbelian conducting, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, in digital availability on all music platforms, chosen in @idagioofficial’s Editors Pick Playlist in August 2022 via listen.fm/gvmozart, Spotify popular releases (Delos label, USA). “The Portrait” (a solo recital, on FPI label) French violin-piano sonatas with Raimundas Katilius (VSCD label, Lithuania). Her CD with piano music by Robert Schumann (3D, France) received highest critical acclaim by Fanfare and American Record Guide magazines. Moisei Vainberg’s piano Quintet with Vilnius String Quartet was released on Delos Label.
In 2003 she was appointed by Mme. Rosalyn Tureck to serve as the director of the Tureck International Bach Competition in New York, www.tureckbachcompetition.com