Martha Argerich was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She began her first piano lessons at the age of five with Vincenzo Scaramuzza. Considered a child prodigy, she soon performs in public. In 1955, she moved to Europe and continued her studies in London, Vienna and in Switzerland with Bruno Seidlhofer, Friedrich Gulda, Nikita Magaloff and more. In 1957, she won the Bolzano and Geneva Piano Competitions, in 1965 the Warsaw International Chopin Competition. Since then, she has been one of the most prominent pianists in the world both in popularity and ability.

Though she is permanently invited by the most prestigious orchestras, conductors and music festivals in Europe, Japan and America, chamber music takes a significant part of her musical life. She regularly plays and records with Nelson Freire, Gidon Kremer or Daniel Barenboim.

Martha Argerich has recorded for EMI, Sony, Philips, Teldec, DGG. She has received awards as the Grammy for Bartók and Prokofiev Concertos, the Gramophon – Artist of the Year award or the ›Best Piano Concerto Recording of the Year‹ for Chopin concertos. Her most recent recordings are the Mozart concertos K466 and K503 with Orchestra Mozart and Claudio Abbado, duo recital with Daniel Barenboim (Deutsche Grammophon).

Since 1998 she is the Artistic Director of the Beppu Festival in Japan; in 1999 she created the International Piano Competition and Festival Martha Argerich in Buenos Aires, and the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano in 2002.

Martha Argerich has received numerous distinctions, such as the ›Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres‹ (1996, France), the ›Musician of the Year‹ by Musical America (2001, USA) or the ›Praemium Imperiale‹ by the Japan Art Association (2005).

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow in 1972, and completed the first part of his musical studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany, continuing his studies at the Musikhochschule of Dresden and Berlin.

From the 17/18 season on he will be the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming the orchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2007. He also holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival, Bucharest.

Vladimir Jurowski enjoys close relationships with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the orchestras of New York, Chicago and Boston as well as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, and festivals like the BBC Proms, the George Enescu Festival of Bucharest, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival