ZF Music Award 2026 | 25 Years of the ZF Music Award (2001–2026)

Peter Vogel studied piano, organ, and composition, among others in the masterclass of Homero Francesch at the Zurich University of the Arts. Alongside his classical training, he has engaged extensively with jazz music. His intensive concert activity is accompanied by numerous awards as well as radio, television, and CD recordings. He has performed at European festivals such as the Kultursommer Nordhessen, the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, the Festival van Vlaanderen in Belgium, as well as in Ukraine at the Lviv Chamber Music Festival Szymanowski Quartet and Friends and the SoNoRo Festival in Kyiv. He has given masterclasses at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and performed at the Grand National Theatre there. His works have been premiered in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Konstanz, Beijing, Bregenz, and Linz.

As founder of the International Concert Association Bodensee e.V. and managing director of birdmusic, he has directed the International Festivals of Young Masters, the Langenargen Castle Concerts, the Konstanz Music Festival, and the international competition for the ZF Music Award since 1995. In 2020, he established a new format with the International Music Competition for the Creative Music Award of RC Friedrichshafen-Lindau.

The Turkish-American pianist Özgür Aydin made his major concert debut in 1997, performing Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, he won the International ARD Music Competition and the Nippon Music Award in Tokyo.

He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the BBC Concert Orchestra in London, the Slovak Philharmonic, and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. He frequently performs at summer festivals, including Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, the Ravinia Festival, and Edinburgh. His concert appearances have taken him to venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Herkulessaal in Munich, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

He is also active as a chamber musician and has collaborated with artists including Midori and Kolja Blacher. He has recorded solo piano works by Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Chopin for the European labels Videal and Yapı Kredi. His interpretations of the complete cycles of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas and five piano concertos, as well as Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, have received extremely positive critical acclaim.

Yuka Imamine, born in Kobe, Japan, initially studied Western history before pursuing piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Prof. Klaus Schilde and Prof. Michael Schäfer.

She has won numerous awards, including first prize at the International Schubert Competition in Dortmund (1993) and the International Alessandro Casagrande Piano Competition (1996) in Terni, and was also a prizewinner at the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich (1997).

As a soloist, she has performed with renowned orchestras and given recitals throughout Europe and Asia. She has appeared with the Munich Symphony Orchestra at the Herkulessaal, at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, and at the Zurich Tonhalle as part of the Stress International Festival. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with artists including Lorin Maazel. Her solo recordings featuring works by Schubert, Ravel, and Beethoven have received particular critical acclaim.

At the age of 32, Yuka Imamine accepted a professorship for piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. Masterclasses and jury engagements in Europe and Asia further complement her professional activities.

Seonghyeon Leem won the International Pro Musicis Award in 2023, first prize at the International Piano Competition Istanbul Orchestra’Sion, and is a prizewinner of the International Competition for the ZF Music Award 2024.

She has given concerts in France, Germany, and Turkey, including at the José Carreras Gala, which was broadcast live on MDR television. She has performed with orchestras such as the Mozarteum University Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Musikalische Komödie Leipzig, and the Orchestra Giocoso. At the 34th Chopin Festival in Gaming, Seonghyeon Leem stepped in for Paul Gulda. At the International Piano Concert of Young Masters 2025, she impressed audiences with Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. After studying at Seoul National University and with Prof. Jacques Rouvier at the Mozarteum Salzburg, she is currently completing her Meisterklasse (postgraduate performance degree) at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre under Prof. Christian A. Pohl.

She is a young faculty member of the Musica Mundi Chamber Music Course and Festival and serves as a teaching assistant at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre.