Artur Pizarro won first prizes in the 1987 Vianna da Motta Competition, the 1988 Greater Palm Beach Symphony Competition (invitational competition with six international competition winners) and the 1990 Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, which marked the beginning of his great international concert career. From 1974 to 1990 he studied with Sequeira Costa, in Portugal and the U.S.A., having previously studied also with Aldo Ciccolini and Bruno Rigutto. Pizarro performs internationally in recital, chamber music and with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. He has recorded extensively (almost 50 CDs), most recently the integral works of Sergei Rachmaninov for Odradek Records. He was awarded several Portuguese distinctions as well as the Albéniz Prize by the Albéniz Festival in Camprodon, Spain. At present he teaches in his private studio in Oeiras and often gives masterclasses in various countries.

Marta Zabaleta completed her musical studies in San Sebastian at the age of 16, receiving first prize in piano. She then went on to continue her studies at some of the most prestigious European academies: the National Superior Conservatory of Music in Paris under Dominique Merlet, the Reina Sofía College of Music in Madrid with Dmitri Bashkirov, and the Marshall Academy in Barcelona with Alicia de Larrocha. She received many prizes at international competitions such as the Santander ‘Paloma O’Shea’, Darmstadt, Premio Jaén and the Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition. She has made a number of recordings, which include the works of Rodrigo, Larrocha, and Granados. Marta is currently professor of piano at Musikene (the Higher Academy of Music of the Basque Country), and, at the wish of her predecessor Alicia de Larrocha, she is the current director of the Granados-Marshall Academy in Barcelona. In this prestigious Academy, Marta gives regular piano masterclasses in interpretation and virtuosity, and in particular the Spanish piano repertoire. She was recently awarded the Albéniz Medal by the Fundación Isaac Albéniz.

Robert Andres is a graduate of Zagreb Music Academy (Croatia), having afterwards studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He continued his studies in Vienna and in the U.S.A., where, on a Fulbright scholarship, he studied with Sequeira Costa at the University of Kansas, receiving a doctorate in musical arts and a master’s degree in musicology. He performed recitals, concertos with orchestra and chamber music in many countries. Andres teaches at the Conservatory – School of Arts of Madeira and is the artistic director of the Madeira PianoFest. He has written for many specialized music magazines, encyclopaedias and journals in various countries, and his book on the beginnings of the scientific approach to piano technique was published by Scarecrow Press in the U.S.A. in 2001. He regularly gives masterclasses and has been on juries of more than twenty international competitions.