2026 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
Horacio Gutiérrez, Guest Artist
Considered one of the great pianists of our time, Horacio Gutiérrez is consistently praised by critics and audiences alike for the poetic insight and technical mastery he brings to a diverse repertoire. Born in Havana, Cuba, his professional debut was in 1970 with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Since then, Mr. Gutiérrez has appeared regularly with the world’s greatest orchestras (including all the major London orchestras, U.S. orchestras, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra), and on its major recital series.
Mr. Gutiérrez has given recitals in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonie, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, as well as in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Cleveland. Mr. Gutiérrez has performed with orchestras on numerous occasions at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall, including the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Orchestre National de France, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Dresden Staatskappele. He was a frequent soloist at the Mostly Mozart Festival, appearing on its season-opening Live from Lincoln Center telecast. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Guarneri, Tokyo, and Cleveland quartets, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 1982, he was the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize.
Mr. Gutiérrez is an advocate of contemporary American composers. Of special importance were his performances of William Schuman’s Piano Concerto in honor of the composer’s 75th birthday at New York’s 92nd Street Y, and of André Previn’s Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic with Mr. Previn conducting. On his recital programs, he frequently included George Perle’s Phantasyplay and a set of Nine Bagatelles that Mr. Perle dedicated to him.
Mr. Gutiérrez’s Telarc recordings include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerti Nos. 2 and 3 with Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh Symphony, nominated for a Grammy Award. Also available on that label are separate discs of the two Brahms Concerti with André Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony. For the Chandos label, he has recorded Prokofiev’s Concerti Nos. 2 and 3 with Neeme Järvi and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His recording, George Perle: A Retrospective, was named one of the ten best recordings of 2006 by The New Yorker. His television performances in Great Britain, the United States, and France were widely acclaimed and he won an Emmy Award for his fourth appearance with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A great film and theater fan, he has performed in recital with Irene Worth and Mariette Hartley. Mr. Gutiérrez is an American citizen and resides in New York City with his wife, pianist Patricia Asher.
To Be Announced, Guest Artist
To come
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