About Us Past Events Calendar Membership Testimonials Contacts
 
Crescendo International Competitions
Little Mozarts Festival
Music Carnival & Asian Music Festival
Jazz'n Light
 

Membership of Crescendo Festivals is Free.
We don't charge for the friendship.

Alex Babayev, Ph.D, (President)

Began his career as a concert pianist in age of 5 when performed his very first compositions on the stage of State Conservatory of Russia. Laureate of most comprehensive competitions in Russia, Poland, Austria and Germany.
Education: State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (professor Zakharov), La Sorbonne de Paris, Academy of Science of Russia. Music scientist, pianist, composer and conductor, Dr. A.Babayev has numerous of articles published in prestigious scientific magazines. Alex Babayev, as a concert pianist , performed in 18  countries. Recently Dr. Alex Babayev performes with Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor  Erno Potaki (Hungary).  As a composer Alex Babayev is author of 3 Symphonies, sonatas, variety of chamber music, number of movie music scores.
Membership includes European Concert Musicians Alliance (Europaisches Konzert-Musiker-Bundnis),  Theodor  Leschetizky Association, Russian Composer Association,  Music Teacher National Association, Music Educators Association,  Crescendo Festivals International.
Certified by US Board of Education.

 
 
 

Lawrence Rosen, M.S.   

Lawrence Rosen entered the Pre-College Division of the Julliard School at the age of eight, later earning B.S. and M.S degrees in composition and piano at Julliard while holding the Richard Rodgers Scholarship. He was awarded a Teaching Fellowship, and subsequently joined the regular facilities of both of Julliard School and The Manhattan School of Music for a short time.  He was also a Student/Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. His New York debut at Carnegie Hall included music by Bach, Ives, Cole Porter, and Rosen. Following graduation, he accompanied his teacher, Luciano Berio, to Italy for a year as a composer and musical assistant. 

Mr. Rosen has edited and compiled for publication the works of composers from Mozart to Jelly Roll Morton, and served as a Principal Editor for Solo Pino of the Schirmer Library. Several dozen of his transcriptions have been published, including a series of concert paraphrases of the songs of Stephen Foster, publisher by G. Schirmer in 2001. 

In the theater, Mr. Rosen has been Musical Director and Composer In Residence at the Williamstown Theater Festival. He has composed the music and lyrics for nearly a dozen stage musicals, several of which have received major production, as well as movie and PBS presentation. He contributed orchestrations for the Elton John/Tim Rice musical Aida; and his 2005 musical, 06808: The Musical played at both the Samuel Beckett and York Theaters in New York, after opening in Westport, Connecticut. It received the 2005 Moss Hart Memorial Award of the New England Theater Conference for best musical. 

Mr. Rosen is currently Editor-In-Chief of The CD Sheet Music Library; a comprehensive library of scores available in digital format, published by Subito Music Corporation. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, a member of the Special Classification Commitee at ASCAP, and co-founder of American Theatrical Publishing, a licensing company for new musicals and plays.    

Alla Iovel, M.A., (Vice President)

Honor graduate of the Master’s degree program in Music of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (Russia, professor T.Berhadsky), and has completed her second Master’s in music Pedagogy at the Pedagogical University in Ukraine. Graduated from N.Rimsky-Korsakov State College at St. Petersburg Conservatory for gifted students (Russia, professor S.Belkina).
Former permanent member of Ukrainian Government Inspection of the Board of Music Education for control of teacher’s qualification of all music colleges.
Developed and published a Curriculum for teachers of all music colleges and Universities throughout Ukraine. Author of pieces for piano and piano duets.A member of Music Teachers National Association, the “Golden Circle of Teachers” of America, Piano Teachers Society of America, The Leschetizky Association, American College of Musicians, Recognized by the Music Educators Association of New Jersey as a High Honor Teacher.
Appeared in Marquis Who’s Who in America.

Ronn Yedidia. Ph.D, (Board of Trustees)

Ronn Yedidia was born in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1960. His compositions have galvanized the attention of performing artists worldwide during the last two decades. His works have been featured in major concert halls and documented on film, radio and television. He has won high critical acclaim from leading newspapers around the world, as both composer and pianist.

He began his musical career as a child prodigy pianist, winning 1st Prize at the Young Concert Artists' Competition of Israel at the age of eight.
In 1984 he entered the Juilliard School from which he holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in composition. During his studies there under David Diamond and Milton Babbitt he received all the major prizes in composition, including the Lincoln Center Scholarship, the Irving Berlin Scholarship, the Henry Mancini Prize, and the Richard Rodgers Scholarship. He also won the Juilliard Composition Competition twice - in 1987 & 1989 - and as result had his works performed at the Juilliard Theater and at Alice Tully Hall.

In 1993 Ronn founded the concert series 20th Century Music & On which presents a diverse cross-section of contemporary music in New York, and for which he has been composing his recent large-scale chamber works.
In 1994 Ronn Yedidia was invited by Thomas Frost and Wanda Toscanini-Horowitz to edit and record the unpublished piano compositions of the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz.

In the fall of 2009 Ronn Yedidia was appointed Resident Composer of "The Concert Meister Series" held at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in Manhattan. The series presents solo & chamber appearances by concertmasters and principal instrumentalists of some of the world's leading orchestras, such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Yedidia's compositions are featured amongst traditional works on each program.

Stella Xu, (Board of Trustees)

Stella Xu, as a concert pianist has won more than a dozen prizes and awards. These include first prize in the Young Keyboard International Competition and International Stravinsky Awards Competition; the gold medal in the International Piano Recording Competition, England; the grand prize in the Bellini International Piano Competition, Italy; Best accompanist award in the Jean Sibelius international violin Competition, Finland; first place in the Illinois Young Performer's Concerto Competition, and first place in the Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra's 29th Annual Young Artist solo competition.

Stella Xu was also the winner of the 1990 Chicago Chopin Competition and the Grace Walsh Piano Competition. In 1989, she received the "Farewell Award" from Chicago Musician Club of Women, and in 1991 she received "The Most Promising Young Artist" Award from the Holland Music Academy. She holds the Ruth Ramis Music Scholarship, the Hennessy Cognac Performing Arts Scholarship in New York for Chinese-Americans, and the Frances Schuman and Vladimir Horowitz Scholarships from The Juilliard School.

Svitlana Fiorito, MA, (Board of Trustees)

Svitlana Fiorito began studying piano at 5 years old. She has a versatile background in teaching, accompanying, performing and music education. She received her Bachelors Degree from Liatoshinsky Music College and Masters from National Academy of Arts, Kharkov, Ukraine.

Svitlana has been an adjudicator in several national and international piano competitions and festivals. She has served as a faculty member at the prestigious Greenwich Academy, in Greenwich, CT. At this time Mrs. Fiorito holds position as a Musical Director at the Long Ridge Music School in Stamford, CT.

Svitlana’s students have won awards at state, national and international piano competitions; including Washington International Young Artist Competition in Washington, DC, "Musica Classica" Music Festival in Spain, Honors Recital from Piano Teachers Congress of New York, Connecticut International Young Artist Competition, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, American Protégé International Competition, Renee B. Fisher Competition, Crescendo International Competition, Schubert Club of Fairfield County, Audrey Thayer Piano Competition from CSMTA and Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey. They have been invited to perform at the U.S. State Department, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space and Historique du Bon Pasteur in Montreal, Canada. In addition, her students have performed with the Greenwich Symphony, Ridgefield Symphony, and Plainfield Symphony Orchestras. Her students have also appeared on television and radio stations across the country.

Tatyana Dudochkin, Ph.D

Tatyana Dudochkin, a distinguished pianist and teacher, graduated and post graduated with honors from St. Petersburg and Kiev Conservatories where she remained on the faculty for sixteen years. She is currently the Chair of the Piano Ensemble Preparatory and Continuing Education Department at the New England Conservatory. Ms. Dudochkin is on the faculty of Puigcerda Music Festival in Spain, Director of Russian- American Music Association, Co-founder of International Chamber Music Competition at Chamber Music Foundation of New England as well as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Annual Celebration Composer’s Anniversary Extravaganza at New England Conservatory Jordan Hall since 1991.

Ms. Dudochkin is a winner of the Grand Medal at the prestigious Early Music Festival-Competition in Lithuania, as well as numerous awards including Ukrainian Chamber Music Competition, All-Union Music Competition, Ukrainian National Music Competition, National Music Competition at Tallinn, Estonia. She continues to pursue excellence in her multifaceted career. Ms. Dudochkin is sought after to perform, teach and coach chamber music in festivals in Nova Scotia, Spain, Italy, New York and many others. Ms. Dudochkin often accepts invitations to teach master classes at conservatories in Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Holland and Japan.

Evgueni Tchougounov, Ph.D.

Dr. Tchougounov has a Ph.D. in Piano Performance ( University of Montreal), and a Ph.D. in Music Education (Moscow State Pedagogical University). His first Ph.D. is focused on Piano Pedagogy from the perspective of Music Psychology and Psychology of Music Education. His research concentrated on working with gifted children, on the nature of the creative act, and on the holistic development of a student's personality through contact with music. Dr. Tchougounov later broadened his research to include various aspects of motor control in piano technique.

Before coming to Montreal, he worked as a Lecturer in Methodology and Psychology of Music Education at the Music Faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical University. Upon arrival and the outset of his doctoral studies, he taught Piano Performance at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montreal.

Dr. Tchougounov performs as a concert pianist, both as a soloist and collaborator, also touring with different programs in the U.S.A., Canada, Russia, and Switzerland. He is currently a Piano Instructor at the McGill Conservatory of Music.

Margarita Sturman, M.A.

Holds Diploma of State Conservatory of Kiev, Ukraine in performance of Piano, Soloist, Accompanist and Teacher. Margarita Sturman is a nominee and winner of numerous awards and prizes. She is an Honorary Judge of Brooklyn Art Council (BAC). Soloist of Chamber Ensemble of Institute DATI of Music, Teacher of Shostakovich School of Music (Brooklyn) and Suburban Community Music Center.

Anna Vozhik

Anna Vozhik in St. Petersburg, Russia as a teacher and an accompanist. Ms. Vozhik earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Modest Mussorgsky, St. Petersburg, Russia. She earned her Master of Arts degree from the East Ukrainian State University, in Ukraine.

Ms. Vozhik's other roles included: piano and music instruction at The School of Music in Lugansk, Ukraine; Adjunct Professor of Piano at Kean University and faculty member of Judith Wharton Music Center.

Ms. Vozhik has compiled several pedagogical publications including "Piano Lessons in Elementary School", Ukraine, 1986, and "Enjoy Your Music Lessons: Great Music for Small Hands", Ukraine, 1991. She is a member of the Music Educators Association, the Golden Circle of Teachers and the Berkshire Choral Festival.

Ms. Vozhik holds a National Pedagogy Certification from the National Music Certificate Program.    

Miriam E. Lerner, M.A.

Professor Lerner majored piano at the Hartt School and graduated from Barnard College and Teachers College, Columbia University.
Miriam E. Lerner has been certified by the Music Teachers National Association, American College of Musicians.

Nedim Katgi, M.A.

Graduated from the Istanbul Technical University, State Conservatory of Turkish Music where he studied vocal training, violin and oud. Nedim Katgi also worked as a teacher at the ITU State Conservatory of Music.
As a conductor, pianist and singer he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Kennedy Center, MTV. As a teacher he demonstrates phenomenal knowledge of Easter and European music. Professor Nedim Katgi fluently speaks 10 languages what helps in study of different musical cultures. In 2007 he was invited as a Chairman of Jury in Asian Music competition of Crescendo Festivals. Recently Professor Katgi teaches at Ataturk School in New York City.

Sophia Agranovich, M.A.

At fifteen, Ms. Agranovich was entered the Juilliard School in New York City as a scholarship student of professor Sascha Gorodnitzki. While at Juilliard, she also studied with Nadia Reisenberg, David Diamond, Felix Galimir and Samuel Sanders. There she earned her Bachelor and Master Degrees while holding a teaching Fellowship, and later joined the faculty of the Town House International Music School in New York City.


Sophia is a first prize-winner of the Bergen Philharmonic Competition in Piano and has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative pianist internationally as well as in the United States. She is a member of the Private Teachers directory of the Juilliard School, Music Teachers National Association, National Association for Music Education, Music Educators Association of New Jersey, where she serves as a Program Chair, and a lifetime member of Madison ‘Who’s Who among Executives and Professionals’.

Olena Korotayeva

Andre Lefebvre, Ph.D. (France)

Phillipp Buttey, Ph.D. (Belgium)

Irina Nesterivska, M.A.

Luba Vasilyeva

Olga Bakina

Petra Shemmann

Chloris Li, M.A.

Wendy Wu          

Anthony Moriarti, Ph.D. (Switzerland)

Emin Tagiev (Australia)                              

Alla Nesterenko (Russia)