Brief Curriculum Vitae of some of the musicians
that performed in the past editions of
the Florence International Music Festival
Young talented musicians of the world

TAE-HYUNG KIM - COREA
Tae-Hyung Kim was born in May 22, 1985. He started piano when he was 6 years old. Four years later, he won the Grand Prize in National Students Music Competition. Since then, he has continued studying piano with various teachers. Among his many awards are E-Wha Kyung-Hyang National  usic Competition, Teenager National Competition, Samick National Piano Competition and Dona-Ah Music Competition. In April of 2004, he made his first appearance by winning the 2nd Prize in the Jeunesses Musicales International Piano Competition in Belgrade. Most recently he has won the first Prize in the City of Porto International Piano Competition with the Best Interpretation Prize of Beethoven’s Sonata. Wide appearances of his solo performances include recitals in Kumho Prodigy Concert Series and Kumho Artist Series in Seoul. He has appeared as soloist with Seoul Art High School Orchestra. After he graduated from the Seoul Art High School with top honours, he is currently studying with Professor Choong-Mo Kang at the Korean National University of Arts.

AYANO SHIMADA - JAPAN
Shimada was born in 1978 in Kanagawa and began her musical studies at the age of four with Prof. Sachiko FUKUOKA. She won several important competitions in Japan, as the All Japan Music Competition. She studied with Prof. Mamiko SUDA at the Toho High School of Music where she acquired her diploma as excellent piano student in 1997. In the same year, she won the fifth prize at the Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition (Macao). After she played with Machida Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo, she moved to Paris in the fall of 1997. Ayano SHIMADA entered with the highest marks at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, the class of Prof. Jean-François HEISSER in 1998. She won the third prize at the Mascia Masin International Piano Competition (Italy) in 2000 and the first prize at the Jean Françaix International Music Competition (France) in 2001. She acquired her diploma (Diplôme de Formation Supérieur) with attestations of Piano and Chamber Music at CNSM of Paris in 2002. In 2003, she won the first prize at the Trani International Piano Competition (Italy), and was semi-finalist at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium. She has been student of the Cycle de Perfectionnement (3rd cycle) at the CNSM of Paris since October 2002 and also student at the Rotterdam Conservatory, the class of Prof. Aquiles DELLE-VIGNE. She gives recitals, concerts with orchestra as soloist, and chamber music concerts in Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Japan.

MANILA SANTINI – ITALY
Santini was born in Rimini in 1981. She began playing the piano at a very young age graduated from the Pescara “L. D’Annunzio” conservatoire with the highest marks. She distinguished herself in several competitions from the age of eight and won many prizes at national and international piano competitions: “Città di S. Gemini” (Mascia Masin prize), “Gino Gandolfi” (Salsomaggiore Terme), “Città di Trani”, “Città di Ravenna”, “Remigio Paone” (Formia), “Dino Caravita” (Fusignano), “Coppa pianisti d’Italia” (Osimo), second prize at the “Premio città di Pisa” competition. She attended many courses in Italy and Europe with teachers of great renown such as Roberto Szidon, Alfredo Speranza, Roberto Cappello, Piernarciso Masi, Franck Wibaut and Aquiles Delle Vigne. She also studied at the Sommerakademie in Salzburg where she played in the prestigious Wiener Saal of the Mozarteum with great success. Santini performed as soloist and chamber musicians. She also played at the “Salle Gothique” in Brusselles and in the “Juriaanse saal” at the Doelen, in Rotterdam during the festival gergiev 2003 selected from the Hogeschool of music and dance of Rotterdam where she’s actally studying. Following worldwide auditions, she has been selected for participation in the 2004  Sydney International Piano Competition.


VICTORIJA YERMOLJEVA - UKRAINE
Yermoljeva is an award-winning classical pianist with long-term experience of public appearances as Concert Performer solo and with Symphonic Orchestras, Accompanist and Artist of Chamber Ensemble. She has studied and perfected her skills at numerous prestigious institutions, amongst which are the Kiev Lysenko Specialized Music High School, National P.Tchaikovsky Music Academy of the Ukraine, International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro”, Rotterdam’s Conservatory and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar (Germany). Her maestros include Igor Ryabov, Lazar Berman, Peter Waas, Aquiles Delle-Vigne and Leonid Chizhyk. The long list of prizes and awards include well-known events such as the 35th International Competition “Vincenzo Bellini” (1st prize),  the 20th International Piano Competition “Città di Marsala” (1st prize), te International Piano Competition “Citta’ di Trani” (1st prize), the 4th Sigismund T.halberg International Piano Prize (1st prize) and many more. In 2001 Viktoriya was offered a grant by Ruth Westen Pavese, Giovanni Doria and by the Inter-Cities Performing Arts Foundation. In 2002 followed a scholarship granted by the Franz Liszt Music Institute in Weimar (Germany) and in 2003 another one by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Viktoriya has been performing regularly for many years on a national and international basis. To mention just a few of her recent performances: Recital in the concert hall of Geschw.-Scholl-Gymnasium, Stadtlohn, Germany (2004); Concert in Liszt-Salon in Altenburg, Donnerstag, Germany (2004); Concert in the Weimar’s German National-Theater, Weimar, Germany (2002); Recital in the “Sala Assemblee della Banca popolare Commercio e Industria”, Milan, Italy (2002); W.A. Mozart, Concerto No. 20, KV 466 with Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, conductor Fabiano Monica, Sanremo, Italy (2001).