Semjon Yakimov, Jaroslav Skalka, Denis Stefanov

Beginning in 2012, he studied at the Music School of the City of Prague, and since 2018, he has been a student of the Secondary Grammar and Music School of the City of Prague in a class taught by Doc. MgA. Libuše Tiché, PhD.

He has achieved artistic success (mostly first prizes) in a number of piano competitions: e.g. Prague Junior Note, Young Pianists on Steinway Piano, Beethoven's Teplice, Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte, Broumovská klávesa, International Novák Competition in Kamenice nad Lipou, and Young Piano of the Prague Conservatory.

He has participated in master classes under renowned pianists such as Ivan Klánský, Martin Kasík, Ivo Kahánek, and Avedis Kouyoumdjian. In the 2022/23 season, he was a scholarship holder of the MenART Academy in Ivo Kahánek’s class. At the Music Academy of Performing Arts, he participates as a model in the Teaching Practice course under the guidance of Prof. Alena Vlasáková.

In a trio with his parents, he has performed at concerts around the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, France, and Israel. With the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, he performed Ilya Hurnik’s Concertino.

In addition to piano, he is also studying organ with Vladimír Kopáček. Since 2021, he has played the organ at masses in the Church of St. Remigius in Prague-Čakovice and in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Prague-Vinoř. He also accompanies singers on the organ and has worked with the Lux Iuvenes Praga String Orchestra.

Yakimov is also a composer – he has written pieces for piano, chamber ensembles, theatre performances, and the director's cut of the film Lorik (2022). In 2021, he received 3rd prize at the Jakub Jan Ryba Composition Competition and in 2022, he was the overall winner of the Music Olympiad of the Czech Republic (he placed third at the International Music Olympiad held in Slovenia).

His non-musical interests are mainly languages (English, German, Irish, and Italian).

photo © Khalil Baalbaki

Jaroslav Skalka, born in 2010, is a member of the third generation of a musical family.

Since childhood, he has dedicated himself to playing the piano and the violoncello under the leadership of his parents. He is a pupil at the Fryderyk Chopin Arts Primary School in Mariánské Lázně and a MenArt Academy scholarship holder in Ivo Kahánek’s class. His piano successes have included victory in the Broumov Key and Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte competitions and the laureate’s title at the Mladý klavír event held by the Prague Conservatory. In 2025, he was successful at the Anton Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Düsseldorf, where he received a prize for his performance of a piece by Francis Poulenc. He has performed as a soloist with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra (Mozart’s A Major Concerto) and with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto). He has also performed at the Dvořák Prague festival. He has likewise been successful as a violoncellist (victory in the Jan Vychytil competition or in the national Arts Primary School round). He is a student at the grammar school in Mariánské Lázně. He is interested in sport and photography in his free time.

source: Concertino Praga

photo © Petr Skalka

Denis Stefanov (born in 2007 in Prague) has been a student of the Prague Music School since 2013, where he studies piano with Professor Peter Toperczer.

Throughout his studies, he has taken part in a number of piano competitions where he has received many first prizes: the Karlovarská růžička competition (2015), Prague Junior Note (2016, 2018, 2021, 2022), Amadeus (2015, 2018, 2021), where in 2018 and 2021 he received the Brno Mayor's Award for the best interpretation of W. A. Mozart, Young Pianists on Steinway Piano (2014, 2016, 2018), Central Round of the Arts School Piano Competition (2017), Broumovská klávesa (2022), and the Smetana Piano Competition in Pilsen (2023).

He has been declared the overall winner of several competitions: the Karlovarská růžička Competition, Prague Junior Note, the Regional Round of the School Arts Piano Competition (2017), Amadeus (2021). In the autumn of 2019, he also won the title of Young Piano at the international competition Young Piano of the Prague Conservatory.

In 2016, as a member of a chamber ensemble (Baroque quartet), he won first prize in the Regional Round of the Arts School Competition for chamber ensembles with a predominance of string instruments and played in the winners' concert on an authentic harpsichord in Suk Hall at the Rudolfinum.

He has attended several piano courses in Mikulov (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), Český Krumlov (2019, 2022, 2023), and the Prague Conservatory International Summer Piano Courses (2020).

In the 2021/2022 school year, he participated in the Menart scholarship programme thanks to which he performed at the Prague Spring and Smetana Litomyšl festivals.

In 2019 and 2023, he performed with the FOK Orchestra at the Municipal House in Prague as part of the Young Talents for Jozef Suk series. In 2023, he participated in the Concertino Praga competition, thanks to which he played with the Prague Radio Symphonic Orchestra in the finals at the , where he received honorary mention of the 1st degree. In 2019 and 2022, he participated in the Young Talents Concert at the International Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně. Yakimov is currently a student at the Music Secondary Grammar School of the Capital City of Prague.

photo © Igor Stefanov