The Directors

Ella Connolly and Marco Nannini

 Ella attended piano lessons at the City of Belfast School of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Before completing her piano performance degree at the Royal Northern College of Music, she decided to change her career plans to work in the legal profession. Now gradually moving back to the world of music and teaching piano part-time, she, together with her partner Marco, whose background comprises project management, finance and off-shore yacht-racing, has created an opportunity open to pianists from all walks of life: the Open Piano Competition.

Italian-born Marco's project management expertise and passion for fulfilling life-long ambitions, together with Ella's musical backgroundare the driving force behind the creation of Appassionati Ltd, the organising body of the Open Piano Competition.

The Open Piano Competition is only in its first edition. The Directors hope that the Competition's fresh approach and format, combined with enthusiasm they aim to achieve from the musical community, will give rise to an exciting event, which, in time will establish itself firmly among today's best piano competitions.

Artistic Directors

Tamara Lorenzo Gabeiras

Tamara Lorenzo Gabeiras recently moved to London to round out her education with a MA in Music Business Management at the University of Westminster and an internship at Decibel Music Systems. She also holds a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music (NY) where she studied under Nina Svetlanova, a postgraduate diploma from the Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie (Poland) and a Doctoral degree from IE University (Spain). Grand Prix at the XXI Tournament of Foreign Pianists in memory of Prince Antoni Radziwill in Kalisz (Poland) she was awarded with different prizes and scholarships from private foundations like the Galician Institute of Music and Scenic Arts (now AGADIC), the Fundación Pedro Barrié de la Maza, the Ibercaja Foundation, the Fundación Segundo Gil Dávila, the Deputación Provincial de A Coruña (Spain) and the Spanish Ministery of Education that supported her studies. Tamara participated in different master classes around the world with distinguished professors such as Michel Beroff, Adam Harasiewicz, Leslie Howard, Andrzej Pikul, Shoshana Rudiakov and Staffan Scheja . She is very enthusiastic to join the OPC team sharing the idea that music is all that matters regardless what musical background you may have, who you are or where you are coming from!

Marianna Prjevalskaya

Marianna Prjevalskaya is one of the leading Spanish pianists of her generation. She has won major prizes at numerous international piano competitions including Dudley, Paderewski, Seoul, Jose Iturbi, Takamatsu, Sendai and Jaen International Piano Competitions among others. Praised by the critics as a "master of piano" and "a grand pianist", her performances captivated audiences with the emotional intensity, maturity, richness and beauty of tone. Marianna appeared at major festivals and in important venues such as the Grosser Saal of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Academia Santa Cecilia of Rome, Yokohama International Piano Concert Festival at Minato Mirai Hall in Japan, Norwich and Norfolk Festival or Weill Recital Hall of New York. Her major teachers have been Boris Berman, Alexander Toradze, Kevin Kenner and Irina Zaritskaya. Marianna holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, Indiana University and Royal College of Music of London. Her first CD of Spanish Romantic chamber works have been released in 2002 by BOA recordings and in 2012 a new CD of solo piano works will be released by Naxos. Marianna is extremely happy to join OPC. She deeply believes that music can unite many exceptional professional artists and wonderful amateur musicians, and that mutual collaboration can open new and wide horizons. Find out more about Marianna at: www.prjevalskaya.com

Coady Green

 Coady Green is acknowledged as a major rising talent on the international concert circuit, having been described as “a virtuoso pianist with sensitivity, intelligence and charm”, and “accurate and exhilarating”, (Musical Opinion, London), with “a strong and versatile technique capable of the most delicate colouring and tonal brilliance, rising to the challenges of extreme virtuoso demands with relish” (The Advertiser, South Australia). Before relocating to London in 2006 from Australia, Coady completed his Bachelor of Music Performance and Masters of Music Performance at Melbourne University. In 2005 he won almost all of the most prestigious competitions and awards his native Australia had to offer, including a British Council Award, Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship Award, Sir Ian Potter Award, three prizes from the Australian Council for the Arts and the South Australian Arts Council, first prize in the City of Sydney piano competition, and awards from the Masonic Foundation, the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia and the University of Melbourne. Since living in London, he has been the recipient of the Geoffrey Parsons Trust Award and a prize winner at the International Grieg Two Piano Competition in Norway. 

Since early 2006 Coady has been based in London. He regularly performs in Europe and abroad and most recently has given critically acclaimed recitals throughout Europe in Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom, Austria, France and Italy and in China, Africa and Australia, in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Beijing and Shanghai Concert Halls, the Salzburg Mozarteum, Linder Auditorium, Johannesburg and St Martin in the Fields and Wigmore Hall, London. He will be making his debut at Royal Festival Hall in London in January 2012 and at Queen Elizabeth Hall Purcell Room in May 2012.

Event Promotion & Management

Rupert Cheek

Rupert is a musician through and through. He works as a composer, pianist,  teacher and drummer. He has performed as a solo pianist and collaborated with other artists as part of Transit Station in London, Berlin and Edinburgh.  As an accompanist he has worked in primary schools and is currently performing under the PianoTalent banner with singer / songwriter Nix Nugent, in London.  He has composed music for film and is currently working on an opera.  He loves promoting music and musicians, and sees his involvement with the OPC as another opportunity to do this. "I am enjoying helping to make it happen and look forward to hearing a range of music performed by a range of pianists", says Rupert. Find out more about Rupert at www.waktm.com