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Lestari Scholtes

Pianoduo Scholtes & Janssens

Pianoduo Scholtes & Janssens

Lestari Scholtes (1984) and Gwylim Janssens (1985) have formed a piano duo since 2003. Today, they are recognized as one of the most promising piano duos of their generation.

Their debut at Carnegie Hall in May 2009 was praised as "it could have just as well been 25 or 30 fingers, so grand and blended was their sound. Sublime duo in top form." The duo is known for its enchanting sound, high technical prowess, and their intense and energetic performances. This has earned them concerts all over Europe and in the United States, Dubai, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Georgia, Mongolia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Chile, and Bolivia. Their concerts have been broadcast both domestically and internationally on television and radio, including Radio 4, BBC3, Kol Hamusica (Israeli radio), and Klara. They have also performed as soloists with orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, the Brabants Orkest, Sinfonia Rotterdam, and the Israel Symphony Orchestra. The duo has been heard at various festivals, including the Festival of Bath, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, TonLagen-Dresdner Festival of Contemporary Music, Braunlage May Concerts, Basilica Festival of Flanders, Klevische Klaviersommer, Almere Chamber Music Festival, Festival Classique, and the International Piano Duo Festival Poland.

The duo has won more than a dozen international competitions, including the prestigious Vriendenkrans Competition at the Concertgebouw, the Concours Musical de France, the International Chamber Music Competition Almere 2009, and IBLA Grand Prize International Music Competition. They were named Radio 4 Talent of the Year in 2010. Lestari and Gwylim regularly serve as jury members at various international competitions. They have also given many masterclasses at conservatories worldwide. They are the founders of the annual Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam, which had its first edition in October 2013. They are also the artistic directors of the Chamber Music Festival Schoorl, which celebrated its first lustrum in July 2020.

As a piano duo, they studied with the renowned piano duo Gil Garburg and Sivan Silver at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover. Together, they have taken many masterclasses from, among others, Nikolai Petrov, Alexander Tamir, Victor Derevianko, Alon Goldstein, Peter Takács, Paul Lewis, Jean-Bernard Pommier, and Menahem Pressler. Both began their training in the Young Talent Class at the Brabants Conservatorium with Ton Demmers. Lestari completed her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Jan Wijn; Gwylim completed his Bachelor's at Fontys Conservatory with Ton Demmers and followed his Master's at Codarts Conservatory with Bart van de Roer.

Their debut CD, featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Ravel, was released in November 2010 under the QuatroLive label. In May 2014, their second CD, 'Paris!', came out through Etcetera Records, featuring works by Stravinsky, Debussy, and Ravel. This CD received a Luister10 and a 5-star review in Nederlands Dagblad. Their third CD, featuring works by Mozart and Schubert, was released last January by Challenge Records International. BBC Music Magazine wrote about this CD: "They breathe together, agree on relative dynamics and tonal color, and understand the balance of the textures," awarding the CD with a full 4**** stars.

"If you listen to these two young people play music, you think that everything in the world will be all right" - Menachem Pressler, Beaux Arts Trio

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TRIO 258

TRIO 258 consists of pianist Lestari Scholtes, violinist Eduardo Paredes Crespo, and cellist Leonard Besseling—three passionate musicians with a rich history in chamber music, both domestically and internationally.

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Paredes & Scholtes

Lestari Scholtes and Eduardo Paredes met each other in 2010 during a tour through South America. Since then, they have frequently performed together.

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