Kazuhiro Takagi

Violinist/Japan

FEATURED SOLOIST 2017

Kazuhiro Takagi enjoys an international career and reputation as violin soloist, recording artist, and leader of orchestras. He has served tenures as concertmaster of the Tokyo Symphony (2007-2013), Chicago Civic Orchestra (under Daniel Barenboim), and solo concertmaster of the Yamagata Symphony and Wuerttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in Germany. As a soloist, he has played with a number of national and international orchestras including prestigious orchestras in his native Japan such as Osaka Philharmonic and Osaka Symphony Orchestras, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Takagi has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Europe and Japan. He is a laureate of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition and the prizewinner of the 54th Geneva International Music Competition. As first violinist of the Eusia String Quartet, he received First Prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in Indiana. For his performances, he has also received the coveted Aoyama Music Award of Kyoto Baroque Saal. Born in Osaka, Japan, and currently a resident of Tokyo, Mr. Takagi returns to Dallas frequently as concertmaster of the Dallas Chamber Symphony, since he established deep roots in the North Texas community while studying violin with Eduard Schmieder at Southern Methodist University. He is a graduate of the prestigious Deuxieme Academie de Musique Francaise de Kyoto where he was a pupil of Pierre Dukan, and the Conservatoire National Superieur in Lyon, France, where he was mentored by Yuko Mori and Eduard Wulfson. In addition to his solo and concertmaster duties, Mr. Takagi holds soloist positions with the Nagaokakyo Chamber Ensemble in Kyoto, Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka, and the alternative music group A Hundred Birds. Mr. Takagi's solo recordings with the Osaka Philharmonic are widely distributed on the Naxos label. His most recent album features the twentieth-century works of composer Hiroshi Ohguri. Kazuhiro joined iPalpiti in 1995, and was featured as a soloist in 1996 in Dallas and in 1999 at the iPalpiti Festival in Los Angeles. As a distinguished alumnus, he returns this season as a soloist with iPalpiti at Soka Performing Arts Center (Los Angeles) and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. www.kazuhirotakagi.com

Jacopo Giacopuzzi

Pianist/Italy-USA

 As a soloist as chamber musician, Jacopo has performed at major festival and venues throughout the U.S. and Europe. He is a winner of 14 international competitions including the International Piano Competition San Dona` di Piave, Ibiza International Piano Competition, International Liszt Competition in Los Angeles, and the Beverly Hills National Auditions. Jacopo has taught at the Conservatory of Verona E.F. Dall’Abaco, worked as collaborative pianist at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, has been performing regularly in collaborative duos with international instrumentalists, and, most recently, formed Solo Due with pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski with a premiere at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center Protostar Series in the fall of 2021.  Born in Italy to a family of pianists, Jacopo studied in Weimar at the Liszt Hochschule, earned his first Master`s Degree in Piano performance, Master`s in Sound Design (with Mauro Graziani) at the Conservatory of Verona in 2012, obtained his Diploma at the International Piano Academy of Imola Incontri col Maestro with Leonid Margarius, and completed his studies in Piano Performance from University of Southern California (2016) with Kevin Fitz-Gerald. After attending the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Jacopo found himself embraced by this loving community and makes Santa Barbara his home, surfing at sunrise before heading to his piano. Verona is still his home as he continues his international career. His most recent musical engagements take him every year to Harmos Festival in Portugal, iPalpiti festival in Los Angeles, Pianofest in the Hamptons and at the Maui Chamber Music Festival in Hawaii. He  has  been  invited  to  serve  on  competition  juries  and  to  give  presentations, masterclasses and concerts throughout the world.  Jacopo was selected as an iPalpiti artist for the 2016 iPalpiti Festival of international laureates in Los Angeles and since, has been an active member as a musician as well as great web and graphic design staff.  He is also a talented photographer and film maker.

Juan-Miguel Hernandez

Violist/CANADA

FEATURED SOLOIST 2017

“…tender, lyrical, loaded with personality” (Atlanta Journal Constitution), violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez is also recognized for drawing “...the sweetest, most sonorous tone...”  (Washington Post).   Juan-Miguel is a member of the legendary Fine Arts Quartet and the youngest Professor of Viola at the Royal Academy of Music in London.  As a founding member of the Harlem Quartet he performed with them from 2006 to 2012.  Winner of the First Prize at the 16^th International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria in 2009, Juan-Miguel is delighted to join as a juror for its 2017 edition.  Other top prizes include the National Canadian Music Competition, and the 9th National Sphinx Competition in 2006.  As a featured soloist, Juan-Miguel has appeared with orchestras in Atlanta, Seattle, Colorado, Rochester, and Chicago.  Performances in recent seasons have brought Juan-Miguel on tour throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America, Canada, and the United States.  Juan-Miguel has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell, Kim Kashkashian, Gérard Caussé, Nicolas Dautricourt, Misha Dichter, the Weilerstein trio as well as Jazz living legends Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Stanley Clark and Paquito D’Rivera.  Recent festival and program appearances as guest artist and teacher include the Festival Pablo Casals (Prades, France), the Festival Des Arcs (France), the Amalfi Coast Music Festival (Italy), Orford Academy (Canada), Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (South Africa), the Salzburg Festival, the Brevard Summer Institute, the Mozaic Festival, Festicamara (Colombia), Montreal Jazz & Panama Jazz Festivals and Musica Mundi International Festival (Belgium).  His strong commitment to educate and engage new audiences all around the globe have brought him to reach young musicians and various communities through art convoys in South Africa and Venezuela, various music festivals in South America and outreach projects in Europe and North America.  He has appeared on NBC’s Good Morning America, the Today Show and the Telemundo Network.  His discography includes three quartet CDs as well as multiple collaborations with Chick Corea, Gary Burton and Norah Jones.  In 2010, he was honored with the medal of the National Assembly of Quebec.  As a distinguished alumnus of the iPalpiti (2005 to 2010), he returns this season as a soloist in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), and the Mozarteum (Salzburg).www.jmhernandez.com

Conrad Chow

Violinist/Canada

Born and raised in Toronto, Conrad has established himself as a foremost performer and teacher in his native Canada.  A review in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald praised “the full, sweet, seductive intensity of Chow’s sound”, and his performance alongside Ani Kavafian with the Columbia Festival Orchestra was hailed as “ornate and satisfying”.  He is a prize-winner of the 2006 International Stepping Stone Competition in Quebec and the David G. Whitcomb Foundation’s Young Artist of 2003. 

Conrad began his violin studies at the age of three at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.  His Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are from Indiana University’s School of Music, studying with Miriam Fried. Conrad completed his DMA from the State University of New York, Stony Brook (under noted violinists Pamela Frank, Ani Kavafian, and Philip Setzer), and later pursued further post-doctoral work with Eduard Schmieder at Temple University in Philadelphia. He studied chamber music with the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet and is appearing in chamber music performances with Paul Biss, Christina Dahl, David Finckel, and Miriam Fried.  His string quartet was winner of the Indiana University Kuttner String Quartet Competition, performing as the quartet-in-residence for the 2001-2002 seasons. 

  As soloist, he appeared with numerous orchestras, in recitals, broadcasts, and on international stages including Mozarteum in Salzburg, Qingdao Music Hall in China, and 2010 Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall debut. As a member of the prestigious iPalpiti orchestral ensemble of international laureates since 2008, he performed at Carnegie Zankel Hall, Disney Hall in LA, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, and Israel.  

Being a teacher of one of the leading precollege private violin studios in Canada; his students are winners in many important national and provincial competitions and have made solo debuts with Canadian orchestras, in 2010 he has been appointed to a faculty position at the Canadian Royal Conservatory of Music's elite pre-college academy.  He was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the 2006-2007 seasons, and was a member of the faculty at the Summit Summer Music Festival in New York in 2010.  Conrad has served as jury member and adjudicator of various Canadian competitions, at the international “Remember Enescu” competition in Romania, and gives master classes in Canada, the United States, and Asia. A member of iPalpiti since 2010, Conrad has been serving as Associate Concertmaster, Principal 2^nd Violins, and featured in solo and chamber ensembles.

Jaani Helander

Cello/Finland

Member of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and a faculty member at the Sibelius Academy, Jaani is an active and passionate soloist, chamber musician and teacher.  Graduate of the Sibelius Academy in 2013, he has been a  laureate of many competitions: in 2010 he was the first prize winner in the string competition at the ISA-festival in Austria and a second prize  winner in the Turku National Cello Competition in Finland.  He has been a soloist with many orchestras in Finland and in Austria with the Spirit of Europe.  In 2013, he gave the Finnish premiere of Uljas Pulkkis’s “Dragonfly”concerto with the Nya Tidens Ensemble.  Jaani has studied with Prof. Martti Rousi in Finland, Prof. Christoph Richter in Essen, Germany, and Prof. Natalia Gutman in Florence, Italy.  Chamber music is Jaani’s true passion and he has performed at several festivals in Finland and abroad, in the USA and Greece, among others.  He joined iPalpiti in 2016 as an “emergency” cellist, after being recommended by iPalpiti’s Finnish violinist Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä; “plucked” from his vacation in Zagreb, arriving on a day’s notice, Jaani was an instant, perfect fit.  He and Kreeta-Julia launched the Helsinki Chamber Music Festival with its first season July 2017.  Jaani Helander plays a Vincenzo Postiglione cello (1914), on loan to him from the Finnish-Swedish Instrument Foundation. WEBSITE