French-Swiss composer and pianist Michel Runtz was born in Paris and lives mainly in Switzerland. He is a former professor and dean of piano classes at the Music Conservatory of Regions (Switzerland), founding president of the International Piano Competition of Fribourg (Switzerland) and co-founder of the International Sino-Swiss Piano Competition of Shanghai (both competitions dedicated to the repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries, for young pianists).

Michel Runtz has already performed his works in China, France, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Russia and Switzerland. His compositions are increasingly featured in international competitions and in the programmes of renowned performers such as such as Irina Kataeva, Fanny Clamagirand, Vanya Cohen, Jay Gottlieb, William Chen, Simone Keller, Boris Baraz...

The new creation Notes and Light, a Michel Runtz concert emphasizing a new concept of a performance with lights was presented in Düdingen, during the Festival Murten Classics 2009 (Switzerland) as well as in China (Shanghai, Shenyang). In the year dedicated to France/Russia, Michel Runtz composed the imposed works for the Competition Festival 2010 of piano ensemble Concertino of Nizhny Novgorod (Russia). These consist of pieces for piano(s) for 4, 6 and 8 hands.

Michel Runtz has been invited several times by the composition department of the Shanghai Conservatory to give lectures on his writing and his works. A concert of his compositions was presented by various Chinese chamber musicians and soloists.

In 2018, Michel Runtz was awarded the Claude Blancpain Foundation Prize (Switzerland) for the foundation of the Jeune Musique Association, for the continuation of the Fribourg International Piano Competition and the new international influence of Fribourg through its Fribourg - Shanghai innovative project. This project took shape in 2019 with the 1st Sino-Swiss International Competition of Shanghai and the creation of an exchange network between China and Switzerland, activated by the 1st Prize winners who have become ambassadors for the contemporary musical heritage of both countries. Michel Runtz has just finalised the composition of an opera based on Yasmina Khadra's work, Cousine K. In 2025, Michel Runtz was the guest composer at the Iitti Music Festival in Finland.

The works of Michel Runtz are published by Runtz Music Edition.

Tang Jin, a renowned Chinese pianist and educator, is a piano professor of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Pujiang Scholar, the Artistic Director of the Shanghai Chopin International Piano Art Week, and a visiting professor at Guangxi Arts University.

She became the first pianist from mainland China to earn a Master's Degree in piano performance from Mozarteum University Salzburg, Austria with top honors, and also obtained an artist's Diploma from the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media, Germany with outstanding results. She has studied under famous mentors such as Russian piano master Alexei Lubimov and German piano professor Markus Groh.

As a soloist, she has performed in major concert halls across Europe, Japan, and China. She was the first Chinese pianist to present the recital "Bach Dialogues with Chinese Music" at the Leipzig Bach Music Festival and has been invited to perform at numerous important music festivals both domestically and internationally.

She has collaborated with orchestras such as the China National Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai City Symphony Orchestra, the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum University Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg-Munich Joint Symphony Orchestra, the Wernigerode Chamber Symphony Orchestra, and the Osaka Forte Symphony Orchestra.

She has received many awards and honors for her performance and teaching. Her debut solo album “Yang Liqing Piano Works Performance Album” has been published and released by Shanghai Music Publishing House. Several of her academic papers and articles have been published in national core journals.

Recognized by the international piano community, she often serves on the jury for international piano competitions: A. Scriabin International Piano Competition in Italy, Pozolli International Piano Competition in Italy, Sanremo Russian Piano Music International Competition in Italy, Nordic International Piano Competition in Sweden, Neue Sterne International Piano Competition in Germany, International Piano Competition of Hamburg Composers in Germany, International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Russian etc. Currently, over 40 of her students have won prizes in many important international and domestic competitions. 

The German pianist and music manager Florian Koltun studied at university of music in Cologne and at the University of Music Trossingen by Prof. Ilja Scheps and Tomislav Baynov. He had Masterclasses also with prestigious teachers like B. L. Gelber or G. Rosenberg. His active concert work started at the age of 14 when already calling attention to himself by winning several first prizes at the German competition Jugend musiziert as well as the national Bach Competition in Köthen.

He is first prize winner of several international piano competitions, like the piano competition in Caraglio / Italy, the international piano competition for young pianists in Luxembourg, the Henri Herman Concours in Maastricht / Netherland or the international piano competition “Notes in harmony” in Bettona / Italy.

Florian Koltun is regularly a welcome guest at diverse well-known concert places in Germany, Belgium, Netherland, Italy, France, Spain or China. He performed recitals in prestigious places such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Berliner Philharmonie, Thürmer-Saal Bochum or Schloss Koethen.

He is artistic director diffrent concert series and festivals in Germany (Heinsberg, Aachen, Windeck, Geilenkirchen, Boltenhagen and Monschau) and gave several masterclasses at different music universities in China and Europe since 2012. From 2015 until 2017 he was teaching piano at the music university Cologne.

Xin Wang established herself in spite of her young age as one of the leading pianists of the inner Mongolia China. She came into public attention when she won a special prize at the national Piano Competition China with the age of seven and has since gone on to give piano concerts an recitals in concert halls all over China. She studied with Jolio Largacha and Gabriel Rosenberg in Cologne and Nurnberg. During her study she got a scholarship of the DAAD. Xin Wang has won numerous honors and prizes including the piano competition Lengano Italy, the piano competition Bettona Italy and many others.

She is regularly a welcome guest at diverse well-known concert places in Europa and Asia like Berliner Philharmonie, Schloss Elmau in Germany, Qintai Concert Hall in Wuhan, Concert Hall in Xiamen, Henan Art Center in Zhengzhou, Concert Hall in Ningbo, Poly Grand Theatre in Hohhot and many others. As a soloist Xin Wang appeared with many famous orchestras, among them Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Aachen, Sinfonia Rotterdam, Kammerphilharmonie St. Petersburg, Marchigiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Karlsbad Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists and Berliner Camerata under the baton of famous conductors like Kazem Abdullah, Christopher Ward, Conrad van Alphen, Marek Štilec, James P. Liu, Juri Gilbo, Eduardo Strausser and Fuad Ibrahimov.

She is a regular guest at international festivals such as Skrjabin Piano Festival Grosseto Italy, Piano Festival „federi musica“ Neapel Italy, International Piano Festival Salerno Italy, „IBLA Claasic“ Sicilia Italy, Piano Festival Orbetello Italy, „Friday Nights with Yury Revich“ Wien Austria, International Art Festival Kotor Montenegro, International Music Festival Deià Spain, Festival „Palau March Museu“ Palma Spain, „Festival de musique classique a Pompignan“ Toulouse France, Palais Sommer Dresden Germany, „Monschau Klassik“ Germany, „International Piano Festival Wuhan" China and many others. As a passionate chamber musician she regularly works with colleagues like Echo-Klassik prize winner Yury Revich or Alexandre Debrus in China and Europe.

Xin Wang is founder and artist director of the international piano festival in Geilenkirchen Germany and jury president of the international piano competition "Euregio Piano Award". She is often inivited as a jury member in many international piano competitions such as Campillos Spain, „Isidor Bajic Piano Memorial Competition“ Novi Saad Serbia, „Neue Sterne“ Wernigerode Germany, „Mauro Paolo Monopoli Prize“ Barletta Italy, „Notes in Harmony“ Bettona Italy, „Academy Award“ Rom Italy, Asian Youth international piano Competition Hongkong, and many others.

Since 2012 she teaches as a guest professor at different music universities in China and gave several master classes in China and Germany with prestigious teachers from well known music universities in Europe.

Polish pianist Urszula Stanczyk graduated with honors in 1967 from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where she studied piano under Prof. Marta Furmanik. She then pursued further studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Prof. Erika Frieser, where she subsequently began teaching. Since 1967, Urszula Stanczyk has been closely associated with the Academy of Music in Katowice, where she continues to serve as a professor to this day. In addition, she has led numerous international music master classes in Weimar, Salzburg, Vaduz, Linz, Altenseig, and others. Urszula Stanxzyk’s international concert career, which remains active to this day, has taken her throughout Europe, including Poland, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, England, Italy, Denmark, and Liechtenstein. Urszula Stanczyk is particularly highly regarded as a piano accompanist for international violinists, cellists, singers, and ensembles.

More jury members will be published soon.