Mõisamängud

Kammermuusikute suvefestival unustatud mõisates 2023

Hui-Ying ja Erik Tawaststjerna (klaveriduo, Soome)

Erik T. Tawaststjerna (“Ta-va-sher-na”) is Professor Emeritus at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. He began his musical education in Helsinki and then continued his studies in Moscow, Vienna, and New York. He participated in master classes given by Wilhelm Kempff and Dmitri Bashkirov. He won the second prize at the Helsinki Maj Lind National Piano Competition in 1968 and has since given concerts around the world. He has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras in Finland, performing such works as Rachmaninoff’s Concerto no. 3 and Leonard Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety. Mr. Tawaststjerna has made numerous recordings, among them the four Ballades of Chopin and a series of 8 recordings of the complete piano music of Jean Sibelius. Many of his students have received top prizes in international piano competitions. Mr. Tawaststjerna has been on the juries of several competitions, such as the Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona, the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna, and the London International Piano Competition. He has given master classes, among other places, at the Guildhall School of Music in London, the University of the Arts in Berlin, and the Tokyo College of Music. In 2006 he was named ‘Professor of the Year’ by the Finnish Professors’ League.

Taiwan-born Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna is a well-known classical pianist and teacher in Finland. Praised for her refined pianism, temperament and good taste, she has given numerous concerts in Asia, Europe, North and South America. Her Carnegie Hall debut took place as a winner of the Artist’s International Management’s auditions. As a soloist, she has performed under the baton of Okko Kamu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Eri Klas; and she has collaborated with esteemed colleagues such as violinists Jean-Jacque Kantorow, Kaija Saarikettu; flutist Patrick Gallois; cellists Steven Isserlis, Marko Ylönen, and Raimo Sariola. She has also made solo and chamber music recordings for the Finlandia Records and for the Finnish Radio, with works such as the complete Sibelius works for cello and piano, Sibelius’ violin works, Debussy’s complete Etudes, etc. 

A passionate teacher and educator, she has taught many prize winners of international piano competitions, and she has co-authored a popular Finnish piano method, the Piano Key (“Piano Avain”). She had also appeared as a master teacher on a Finnish television program “Polishing of Diamonds”. In addition, she has given lectures and masterclasses around the world, most notably, at the Guildhall School of Music in London, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the Hanns Eisler Music University in Berlin, the Music University Freiburg, the Taipei National University of the Arts, the National Taipei University of Education, and NYU Steinhardt (New York University), to name only a few. Hui-Ying holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy, a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University. Her piano teachers have included Martin Canin, Konrad Wolff, and Pierre Sancan. She had also received advice and coaching from Leon Fleisher, Karl Ülrich Schnabel, and RosamSabater, who all imparted much artistic influence and inspiration on Hui-Ying.