For decades, Elisabeth Leonskaya has been one of the most celebrated pianists of our time. While still a student, she won a number of international piano competitions including the Enescu, the Marguerite Long and the Queen Elizabeth. Her musical development was unmistakably shaped by her collaboration and friendship with Sviatoslav Richter.

Elisabeth Leonskaya left the Soviet Union in 1978 and made her home in Vienna. Since then, she has performed as soloist with almost all of the first-class orchestras in the world. She makes regular appearances at festivals in Vienna, Schleswig Holstein, Schwarzenberg and Hohenems. With her solo recitals she also features in the piano series at the great musical centres – from Paris and Vienna to Tokyo. Despite all her solo activities, chamber music still retains an important place in her work.

In her adopted home of Austria, this pianist is an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 2006, Elisabeth Leonskaya was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour, First Class, for Science and Arts. In 2016 in Georgia, she was appointed Priestess of Art, the country’s highest artistic award. In 2020 she was awarded the International Classical Music Award for her life’s achievement. Her numerous recordings are also testament to her outstanding artistic success. Her highly acclaimed album of Mozart sonatas was released in February 2022.

Described by the Tagesspiegel newspaper as a »once-in-a-century talent«, Tarmo Peltokoski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen in January 2022, thereby becoming the first conductor in the orchestra’s history to hold this position. In May 2022, he was appointed Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and was later appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Since the 2025/26 season, this Finnish conductor has been Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. From the 2026/27 season, Peltokoski will become Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, having served as Designated Music Director in 2025/26. In addition, Peltokoski will begin his three-year residency as ›Exclusive Artist‹ at the Konzerthaus Dortmund in the 2025/26 season.

Peltokoski has already conducted numerous orchestras of note worldwide, including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and The Los Angeles Philharmonic. He conducted his first complete ›Ring Cycle‹ at the age of 22 at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. His upcoming Wagner opera productions include ›Tristan und Isolde‹ (Dutch National Opera), his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with ›Parsifal‹,  and ›Lohengrin‹ with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.

In 2023, he received the OPUS Klassik award for his recording with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen. In October of the same year, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon; his debut album was released in May 2024.