Alavillamo Ahti is a 22-year-old classical pianist, who is currently studying towards a Bachelor’s degree in Music at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. Born in Vaasa, Finland, Ahti started playing the piano at the Toivo Kuula Music Institute at the age of six. At the age of 16, Ahti moved to Espoo to further pursue his music career. In December 2021, he graduated from the Tapiola Upper Secondary School for Music, as well as the Espoo Music Institute, where he was studying with Junio Kimanen. Ahti studied for a year at the Youth Piano Academy of Finland until he was admitted into the Sibelius Academy in 2022. He will finish his Bachelor’s degree in 2025 and his Master’s degree three years later.

During his studies, Ahti has collaborated with numerous musicians, as well as participated in piano competitions with success. For example, he won a first prize in the Lakeus Soi Piano Competition in 2019, and in 2022 he earned a second place in the 12th national Leevi Madetoja Piano Competition. Ahti has performed in a wide range of concerts and music festivals around Finland, and he has also taken masterclasses with some of Europe’s leading piano pedagogues such as Konstantin Bogino, Gergely Boganyi, Graham Scott, Henri Sigfridsson and Paavali Jumppanen.

Cristina Tomescu was born in Craiova, Romania on 1 September 2003. She studied at the ‘Marin Sorescu’ High School of Arts in her hometown under the guidance of Prof. Mihai Ungureanu. Additionally, she has attended masterclasses of Daniela Andonova, Viniciu Moroianu, Antonio di Cristofano, Vincenzo Balzani, Andreas Frolich, Petras Geniusas, Graeme McNaught, and Jean-Bernard Pommier. Currently, Cristina is a third-year bachelor’s degree student at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, in the class of Erik T. Tawaststjerna.

Cristina has received prizes in national and international competitions, including 1st prize at the National Olympiad (2014-2022), 1st prize in the Craiova Piano International Piano Competition (2015-2022), 1st prize in the Margareta Sterian Piano Competition (Romania), 1st prize in the Irina Şaţchi piano competition (Romania), a Finalist at the 14th Recontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes (Belgium, 2018), 1st prize at the Orbetello Piano Competition (2019), and the 1st prize in the Grand Prix Smederevo Piano Competition (Serbia 2021). Cristina has performed numerous recitals in Germany, Romania, Italy, Austria, and Poland. She has also performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor and Franz Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major with the Oltenia Philharmonic Orchestra.

Gabrielė Agilė Bajoraitė (b. 2001) graduated from M. K. Čiurlionis National School of Arts in 2020, where she studied piano with Aidas Puodžiukas. She continued her studies at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy. Presently she is a student at the Sibelius Academy in the class of Niklas Pokki. Gabriele has participated in national and international competitions such as the XVI National Balys Dvarionas Competition for Pianists and Violinists, “Golden Taste‘‘ in Germany (Frankfurt am Mein), International Competition Virtuosi per musica di piano forte (in Usti nad Labem, the Czech Republic), the X International Balys Dvarionas Competition for Young Pianists and Violinists (Kaunas, Lithuania), and the IV International Piano Competition in Aarhus, Denmark. In 2019 she participated at one of the most prestigious competition in the Baltic states: the VIII International M. K. Čiurlionis Piano and Organ Competition. Her competition success includes a second place in the Nijolė & Jonas Dėdinai Piano Competition at LMTA, and the Yamaha Foundation Scholarship held in Finland in 2024. Gabrielé has participated in masterclasses taught by Pavel Nersesiyan, Mūza Rubackytė, Ana Malikova, Philip Gusiano, Andrius Žlabys, Vera Nosina, Erik T. Tawaststjerna, and William Fong, among others.

Jan Škrobánek’s musical journey began at the age of three when he first touched a piano. This early start led to his enrolment in a music school at five, and soon after, he began earning recognition at various children’s and youth competitions. For further musical education, Jan studied at the Prague Conservatory under Libor Nováček and continued at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Martin Kasík. Alongside the formal education, he sought guidance from a renowned Czech pedagogue Marta Toaderová. Later, his pursuit of excellence led him to the Sibelius Academy through an Erasmus exchange, where he now studies under Hamsa Juris.

Jan has won prizes at several international competitions, such as the International Piano Competition of Bedřich Smetana, and the International Piano Competition of Fryderyk Chopin in Mariánské Lázně. He has collaborated with orchestras like the Podkrkonossky Symfonicky Orchestr, and he was selected as a soloist to perform at the Talent Music Summer Festival in Brescia. Jan’s artistic journey has been enriched by playing in masterclasses of renowned pianists like Elisabeth Leonskaya, Matti Rautio, Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy, and Lilia Zilberstein.