Artists

At the age of eight, Nicola Colafelice began his musical studies on the cello under the guidance of Maestro Vito Paternoster. In 2009, he obtained his Diploma in Singing, and in 2017 he graduated in Orchestral Conducting with top marks and honors under Maestro Giovanni Pelliccia.

From 2009 to 2012, he served as Stage Conductor at the Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari. In August 2016, he took part in the masterclass on Verdi’s La Traviata held by Maestro Riccardo Muti at the Italian Opera Academy.

In February 2017, he won a scholarship to the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., where he earned his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting. In May 2017, he also attended, as an active participant, the conducting masterclass led by Maestro Donato Renzetti at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan with the Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali.

In 2018 and 2019, he worked as Resident Conductor at the State Opera House of Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), where he conducted three chamber operas: Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny – Ein Songspiel and Die sieben Todsünden, and Paul Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück. In May 2019, he conducted Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Stara Zagora Opera House.

Later that year, he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Leonardo Colafelice for the Piano and Friends Festival in Molfetta, conducting the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese (OFP).

In September 2019, he conducted the Bari Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with violinist Maria Serena Salvemini, performing works by Beethoven, Tartini, Saint-Saëns, and Haydn.
Since October 2019, he has collaborated with Maestro Simeone Tartaglione at the Music Center at Strathmore in Maryland as Assistant Conductor of the MCYO Orchestra.

Saleem Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an exciting international career. Recent and future concerto highlights include the Bamberger Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de Valencia, Konzerthaus Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Copenhagen Philharmonic. In autumn 2021, he toured Germany with the Kammerakademie Potsdam performing Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 and the world premiere of David Coleman‘s Piano Concerto.

Previous seasons have seen him perform with the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw, the Detroit, St Louis, Vancouver and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras and on a three-week tour to Australia. Saleem has a close relationship with many leading conductors including David Afkham, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kazushi Ono and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, Saleem has a particularly strong reputation as a Beethoven specialist and has performed a complete Sonata cycle in Prague, Duisburg and at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Recent and future highlights include recitals at Oslo Opera House, Wigmore Hall in London, Queen’s Hall in Copenhagen, Milan Verdi Conservatory Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Boulezsaal Berlin and Musikverein Vienna.

Born in West Ukraine in 1976, she began her musical studies at 7 years of age. She studied in the Special School of Music in Kiev, and from 1996 to 2001 she attended superior studies in Bratislava at the Music and Theatre Academy, where she obtained the “Magister d’Art” Diploma in piano. In Slovakia she has participated in numerous festivals, holding concerts and collaborating as soloist with the Slovakia Chamber Music Orchestra and the Cappella Istropolitana.

Subsequently, she attended refinement studies at the Schola Cantorum in Paris in Eugen Indjic’s class (student of Artur Rubinstein). At the same time, she studied orchestral conducting at the National Conservatoire in Rueil-Malmaison, obtaining the First Prize Diploma (Gold Medal) in May 2004. In June 2007 she obtained, unanimously, the Orchestral Conducting Superior Diploma at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris in Dominique Rouits’ class. In 2008 she graduated in piano with full honors at the Musical Institute of Teramo in Italy.

Since 2002 she collaborates with the International Festival “Duchi d’Acquaviva” of Atri (Te) as a pianist and conductor. She is artistic consultant of the Association “Amici della Musica 2000” di Atri (Te). She was assistant of the principal conductor of the Opera of Massy (Paris) for the 2006/07 season.

She has worked as conductor with internationally renowned soloists such as violinist Marco Rogliano and Ida Bieler, pianists Pasquale Iannone, Eugen Indjic and Yevgeni Moguilevski, cellists Ivan Monighetti and Maria Kliegel, flutist Angelo Persichilli, clarinetists Calogero Palermo and Patrick Messina, bassoonist Valentino Zucchiatti, etc. She regularly performs in duo with the pianist Algino Battistini.

Michel Beroff was born in France in 1950. After graduating from the Paris conservatoire in 1966, he won the following year the first prize at the first international Olivier Messiaen piano competition. He has since been considered one of the most outstanding interpreters of Messiaen’s music. He then went on to play with the most prestigious orchestras around the world under the direction of such conductors as Abbado, Barenboim, Bernstein, Boulez, Dohnanyi, Dorati, Dutoit, Eschenbach, Gielen, Inbal, Jochum, Leinsdorf, Masur, Ozawa, Previn, Rostropovitch, Sinopoli, Solti, Tennsted, Tilson-Thomas, Zinman.

As a chamber music partner, he has been very active playing with Martha Argerich, Barbara Hendricks Jean-Philippe Collard, Augustin Dumay, Pierre Amoyal, Lynn Harrell. As a conductor, Michel Beroff has been conducting the chamber orchestra de la Scala de Milano, the Russian state Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Cannes chamber orchestra, the Berkeley symphony, the Montréal youth orchestra.

He is currently teaching at the Paris Conservatoire. Exclusive EMI artist for over 25 years, Michel Beroff has published more than 50 recordings ; among them the complete works for piano and orchestra from Liszt, Prokofieff and Stravinsky , conducted by Seiji Ozawa and Kurt Masur. For Deutsche Grammophon, he has recorded Ravel’s left hand concerto with the LSO and Claudio Abbado. His latest recordings include the complete piano music from Debussy for the Japanese label Denon.

Michel Beroff has been awarded five times the “Grand Prix du Disque”. As a publisher, he participated for Wiener Urtext , to a new edition of Debussy’s piano music. For the japanese network NHK, he realized, in 2006, a series of fifteen master-classes on french music. During the last seasons, Michel Beroff played with the LSO under Pierre Boulez, the New-York Philharmonic and Kurt Masur, as well as the London Philharmonic for an extensive tour to England and Spain.

Born in South of Italy, she began her studies on the piano. Then she graduated in Composition, Orchestra Conducting and also in Literature and music history with a thesis on Luciano Berio.

She holds a master’s degree in onducting under the guidance of Jorma Panula, Bruno Bartoletti, Lu-Jia, Alain Lombard, Donato Renzetti e Piero Bellugi.

She has performed in venues like Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Wien, Esterazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Smetana Hall in Prague, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Surayya Opera in Istanbul. She collaborated with artists like Calogero Palermo, Omar Tomasoni, Carlo Parazzoli, Silvia Careddu, Patrick Messina, Sergey Galaktionov, Davide Alogna, Marco Rizzi, Anna Serova, Roman Spitzer, Emanuele Silvestri, Gernot Süßmuth, Felix Schwarz.

In 2018 she was nominated as Music Director of AYSO Orchestra, a youth orchestra composed by about 70 musicians from all over Italy; in just a few years AYSO has become a national reference point and a valuable trait d'union between academic training and the world of professional orchestras.

She recently led AYSO to win first prize at International Summa Cum Laude Festival in Wien against orchestras from all over the world.

Now regarded as one of the finest cellists of the younger generation, Alexander Chaushian has performed extensively throughout the world as a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Academy of St Martin-in- the-Fields, The London Mozart Players, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, The Boston Pops and The Armenian Philharmonic, and has given highly acclaimed performances in such venues as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Sala Verdi Milan, Konzerthaus Vienna, Suntory Hall Japan, the main Carnegie Hall New York, and Symphony Hall Boston.

He performs regularly in festivals throughout the world and is the Artistic Director of the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival in Cyprus and the Yerevan Music Festival in Armenia.
After initial studies in Armenia, Alexander Chaushian studied in the UK at the Menuhin School and the Guildhall School, London. He then pursued advanced studies at the Hochschule Berlin, graduating with distinction in 2005. He is a laureate prize winner of many international competitions including the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the ARD Competition in Germany. As an alumnus of Young Concert Artists, New York, he toured extensively in the USA.

Milana Chernyavska, a German artist with Ukrainian roots. Looking back at her impressive career, she established herself as one of the leading pianists and pedagogues of our times. Her critics agree with Alfred Brendel, who wrote that “Happiness was complete when one listened to Milana Chernyavska”. Since 2009 she is a piano professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. She is also a professor at the International Music Academy in the Principality of Liechtenstein and at the Reina Sofia Escuela Superior de Musika in Madrid. With her doctorate theses "The evaluation and pedagogical aspects of the theory of interpretation" she leads a discourse on insights from a perspective of musicology.

Milana Chernyavska is a sought-after teacher at international master classes as well as a jury member at various prestigious piano competitions, such as the ARD in Munich, the Busoni Competition, Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn, the Mozart Competition in Salzburg , the Santa Cecilia in Porto Competition or the Bluethner Goldaward in Vienna. Her students constantly win top prizes at important international competitions as Van Cliburn, Santander Paloma O`Shea, Ferruccio Busoni, Maria Canals, Vendome Prize at the Verbier Festival, Vladimir Horowitz and competitions in Los Angeles , Ettlingen, San Marino, Malta and many more.

After receiving the Critics' Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1990), Pietro De Maria won First Prize in other prestigious international piano competitions, such as the Dino Ciani - Teatro La Scala in Milan (1990), the Géza Anda in Zurich (1994), and the Mendelssohn Award in Hamburg (1997).

An active concert pianist, he has played as soloist with the best known orchestras, with conductors of the stature of Roberto Abbado, Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniele Gatti, Alan Gilbert, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Ton Koopman, Michele Mariotti, Ingo Metzmacher, Gianandrea Noseda, Corrado Rovaris, Yutaka Sado, Sándor Végh and Jonathan Webb.

Born in Venice in 1967, De Maria studied piano with Giorgio Vianello and Gino Gorini. Revealing a precocious talent, he won First Prize at the Alfred Cortot International Piano Competition in Milan at the age of 13. He graduated from the Conservatory of Venice and continued his studies with Maria Tipo at the Conservatory of Geneva, where he obtained the Premier Prix de Virtuosité with the highest honours in 1988.

His repertory ranges from Bach to Ligeti and he is the first Italian pianist to have played Chopin’s complete piano works in six public concerts. He has also been focusing on Bach, presenting both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier as well as the Goldberg Variations in his concerts and, more recently, he has performed Beethoven’s entire production of Sonatas and Concertos.

He has recorded Chopin’s complete piano works, The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations for Decca, Chopin’s Piano Concertos with Daniele Rustioni and the Orchestra della Toscana for Dynamic, receiving important acknowledgments from international publications of prestige such as Diapason, International Piano, MusicWeb-International and Pianiste. His next project will be to perform Beethoven’s entire production of Sonatas and Concertos.

Moscow-born concert pianist Andrey Gugnin is rapidly gaining international acclaim as a passionately virtuosic  performer, who possesses an ‘extraordinarily versatile and agile technique, which serves an often inspired  musical imagination’ (Gramophone). In 2020, the BBC Music Magazine Awards named Andrey the winner of the  Instrumental category for his recording of Shostakovich preludes and piano sonatas on Hyperion Records. Since  winning the prestigious Sydney International Piano Competition in 2016, Andrey has gone from strength to  strength in concerts and recordings which exhibit his impassioned interpretations. 

In demand as a concert soloist, Andrey has been invited to perform as a guest artist with notable orchestras  across the globe, such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky  Theatre Orchestra, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, West Australian Symphony Orchestra  and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. 

Andrey has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the world, including the Musikverein in Vienna,  Konzerthaus Berlin, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Carnegie Hall in New York, Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Auditorio  Nacional in Madrid, Sydney Opera House, the Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, Mariinsky Concert  Hall, the Louvre in Paris, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. Andrey has also appeared at a number of international  festivals, including the Verbier, Ruhr Piano, Mariinsky International, Dubrovnik Summer, Ohrid Summer and  International Chopin festivals. 

As a recording artist, Andrey has published a broad scope of repertoire, ranging from works for solo piano to  concertos. His release of Liszt’s Transcendental Studies (Piano Classics, 2018) was Editor’s Choice in  Gramophone. His recording of Shostakovich concertos (Delos International, 2007) was featured in the  soundtrack of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning film Bridge of Spies. His most recent disc, Holberg Suite - Ballade  & Lyric Pieces, was released in May 2024 with Hyperion.  

Maximilian Hornung has established himself as one of the leading cellists in recent years. His playing is characterized by great naturalness, paired with technical mastery and an enormously versatile, powerful and unique tone, which he always puts at the service of the music. His ability to connect with the audience on a deeply emotional level and his charismatic presence make him stand out. In addition to the much-performed core repertoire such as Dvorak, Elgar and Schumann, he also regularly devotes himself with great curiosity to the lesser-known cello masterpieces.

As a soloist, he has performed with such renowned orchestras as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre National de France, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, the Czech Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézét-Séguin, Paavo Järvi, Marie Jacquot, Mariss Jansons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Pablo Heras-Casado, Semyon Bychkov, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Antonello Manacorda, John Storgårds Michael Francis, Krzysztof Urbański and Robin Ticciati. His chamber music partners include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vilde Frang, Denis Kozukhin, Julia Fischer, Antje Weithaas, Hélène Grimaud, Daniil Trifonov, Hisako Kawamura, Christian Tetzlaff, Lisa Batiashvili, François Leleux, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman und Herbert Schuch. He has been invited to numerous festivals, including Schwetzingen, the Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lucerne, Verbier, Lockenhaus, Ravinia and Hong Kong. He is a regular guest at venues such as the Berlin, Cologne and Essen Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and London's Wigmore Hall. In recent years, he has also made a name for himself as a soloist and conductor and regularly conducts projects, most recently with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana..

American-Russian violinist Maria Ioudenitch captured the attention of music lovers worldwide in 2021 when she received first prizes in three international violin competitions – the Ysaÿe, Tibor Varga and Joseph Joachim – as well as numerous special prizes at these competitions, including Joachim’s Chamber Music Award, the prize for Best Interpretation of a Commissioned Work and the Henle Urtext Prize. In 2023, she won the Opus Klassik Award in the category “Chamber Music Recording of the Year” for her debut album, Songbird, on Warner Classics.

Recognized for her innovative programmes, her first album on Warner with pianist Kenny Broberg, spans from Franz Schubert and Fanny Mendelssohn to Nikolai Medtner and Nadia Boulanger. In upcoming concerts, she performs concertos by Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Barber, as well as Vivaldi’s “Il Grosso Mogul”, while this season’s recital programmes include works by Lera Auerbach and Germaine Tailleferre, alongside standard violin repertoire.

Highlights of the 24/25 season include debuts with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as part of the Orpheum Foundation’s concert series, with Trondheim Symfoniorkester, with Sofia Philharmonic and with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, with whom she also goes on tour. She is also invited by Heidelberger Frühling, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg and Philharmonia Frankfurt. Maria will return to Dresden Philharmonic for the New Year’s concert, after a very successful tour together in the UK in 2024. Upcoming debut appearances in the USA are with the Cincinnati and Detroit Symphony Orchestras while she also returns to her hometown Kansas City Symphony.

Named „Great Talent“ by the Konzerthaus Wien, a programme that supports young artists on their way to the top of the world, she gives various recitals at the Wiener Konzerthaus. As an active chamber musician, she participates in chamber music tours with Ravinia Steans Music Institute and Marlboro Music Festival.

Known for a ravishing technique and his compelling musical conviction, pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch is part of the elite group of Cliburn Gold Medal winners, having taken home the Gold Medal at the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His profoundly warm and intelligent performances have won him prizes at the Feruccio Busoni, William Kapell, Maria Callas, and New Orleans competitions, among others.

Ioudenitch has performed at major international cultural centers including Carnegie Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Gasteig (Munich, Germany), Conservatorio Verdi (Milan, Italy), Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg, Russia), International Performing Arts Center (Moscow, Russia), The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (Moscow, Russia), Forbidden City Concert Hall (Beijing, China), International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron (France), Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris, France), Bass Hall (Fort Worth, Texas), Jordan Hall (Boston, Massachusetts), Orange County Performing Arts Center (Costa Mesa, California), and the Aspen Music Festival (Aspen, Colorado).

Ioudenitch has had the privilege to perform with the conductors James Conlon, Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev, James DePreist, Günther Herbig, Asher Fisch, Stefan Sanderling, Michael Stern, Carl St. Clair, and Justus Franz, and with orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra, National Symphony (Washington, D.C.), Rochester Philharmonic, Honolulu Symphony and the National Philharmonic of Russia. Chamber music partners have included the Takács, Prazák, Borromeo, and Accorda quartets.

First Prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2017 (the first year dedicated to cello), Victor Julien-Laferrière was described as “one of the most reliable talents of the young generation of French cellists” by Diapason magazine. He was also awarded the first prize and two special prizes at the 2012 Prague Spring International Competition, and in 2018 he was awarded the Victoire de la Musique in France as Instrumental Soloist of the Year.

The 2024/25 season sees his orchestra debut in Canada with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as well as play-direct performances with Taiwan Baroque Camerata and multiple experiences at the Music Festival Pohang. He performs chamber music recitals with Daniel Lozakovich, Alexandre Kantorow and Jonathan Fournel at London Symphony Orchestra St. Luke’s Hall as part of the BBC Radio 3 Series, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Salle de Musique de la Chaux-de-Fonds, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and a solo recital at Auditorium de Radio France. He also tours in several festivals and venues in France such as Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, la Chaise-Dieu with the orchestra he founded, Orchestre Consuelo, where he appears as conductor.

Further afield, Victor Julien-Laferrière has performed with renowned orchestras worldwide, including Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Belgium National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Les Siècles, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and with prestigious conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Kristiina Poska, Emmanuel Krivine, Karina Canellakis, Tugan Sokhiev, Mikko Franck, Elim Chan, Maxim Emelyanychev, François-Xavier Roth, Jun Märkl, Philippe Herreweghe, Nathalie Stutzmann, Stéphane Denève, Joshua Weilerstein, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Gergely Madaras and Ben Glassberg.

Born in Nishinomiya (Japan), Hisako Kawamura moved to Düsseldorf (Germany) with her family at the age of 5 where she started studying piano with Kyoko Sawano. She continued her studies with Małgorzata Bator-Schreiber in Göttingen who provided her with musical and artistic training, and Prof. Vladimir Krainev at the Hannover University of Music and Drama who nurtured the development of her artistic personality.

Kawamura's international concert career kick-started with First Prizes at the Concours Clara Haskil in Vevey, the A. Casagrande International Piano Competition in Terni, the G.B. Viotti International Music Competition in Vercelli and the European Chopin Competition in Darmstadt. She also had outstanding successes at renowned international piano competitions as a prizewinner at the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels.

In 2017, Kawamura performed Saint-Saënsʼ Second Concerto with NHK Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi. Following the success of this concert, she was invited back to perform Akio Yashiro's Piano Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Kazuki Yamada in 2019 and the Second Concerto by Rachmaninov under Fabio Luisi in 2022. 

Kawamura has performed with orchestras including Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Moscow, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductors Jiří Bělohlávek, Vladimir Fedosseyev, Junichi Hirokami, Jakub Hrůša, Eliahu Inbal, Paavo Järvi, Marek Janowski, Zoltán Kocsis, Alexander Lazarev, Mikhail Pletnev, Tatsuya Shimono, Yuri Temirkanov and Kazuki Yamada, among others.

As a soloist, Kawamura has participated in major music festivals such as Klavierfestival Ruhr (Germany), Mozartfest Augsburg (Germany), Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), Klavierwoche Ernen (Switzerland), Festival Auvers-sur-Oise (France), the Chopin Festival Duszniki-Zdroj (Poland), East Neuk Music Festival (Scotland) and Spring Festival in Tokyo.

Haik Kazazyan was born in Yerevan, in 1982. In 1989 has entered the Sayat-Nova Music school.

In 1994-1995 won several republic competitions, also won ‘Grand-Prix’ at ‘Amadeus-95’ competition and after that has been invited to Belgium and France for recitals.

In 1996 has moved to Moscow and has entered  a class of professor E. Gratch in music school named after Gnessin.

In 1997 has taken part in the international competition of violinists in Germany(in the castle ‘Kloster Shontal’) and has received II prize and special prize for masterly performance.

In 1999 at the 2-nd international competition named after A.Yampolsky has won II prize.

In 2000 at the All-Russia competition ‘New names’ with a piano trio has received ‘Grand Prix’.

In the same year entered the Moscow Conservatory, class of  professor E. D. Gratch.

In 2001 at the XII international H.Wieniawski competition in Poland has received III premium and special prize for the best performance of polonaise by Wieniawski.

In 2002 he became the laureate of XII international P.I.Tchaikovsky competition, IV prize and 3 special prizes. A prizes – from TV channel ‘Culture’, from the Moscow State Conservatory, from foundation ‘New Names’.

In 2004 at the International violin competition in Sion-Valais(Switzerland) Haik received first prize  and prize of ‘Children jury’ and also public prize.

Haik often plays in many festivals like ‘Festival de musique’ of  Sh. Mintz,(Switzerland) ‘Arts square’ of Yu. Temirkanov (S.-Petersburg), ‘Moscow Kremlin’ ,Primavera Classica’(Moscow) and many others.

Has performed in ‘Carnegie hall’(Stern Auditorium) in New-York, in Great, Main and Rakhmaninov halls of Moscow conservatory, in Tchaikovsky hall(Moscow), ‘Victoria hall’ in Geneve, ‘Barbican hall’ in London, ‘Usher hall’ in Edinburgh, etc.

Roman Kim is internationally acknowledged as one of the most innovative violinists of our time. He has been constantly contributing to the evolution of violin playing technique, expanding the boundaries of what – some years ago – had been considered impossible by even the best violinists in the world.

International career

When, in 2010, he published a video on YouTube, performing his transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's Air from the Orchestral Suite No. 3, the then 19-year-old caused a sensation. The fact that he was playing all four parts of the score on a single violin amazed experts and famous violinists. Ever since, his fresh and unconventional approach to classical music has been applauded by audiences all over the world. After winning the International Violin Competition "Valsesia Musica" (2012), Kim played concerts in Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Russia, USA, China, South Korea, Romania, Switzerland and Taiwan. Among others, he appeared in auditoriums such as the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Herkulessaal, the Beijing Concert Hall, the Bari Teatro Petruzzelli, the Seoul Arts Centre, the Franz List Music Academy Budapest and the Taipei National Concert Hall. He performed with orchestras like the NDR Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Aachen Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli, the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Aziz Shokhakimov, Dirk Kaftan, Josep Caballé Domenech, Daejin Kim, Alexandre Bloch and Alpesh Chauhan.

Composing soloist inspired by the past

As a soloist, Roman Kim is especially devoted to the works of Niccolò Paganini, fighting against the prejudice of Paganini's compositions being merely superficial virtuoso show pieces. Resuming the great and old tradition of composing soloists, Roman Kim is also a performer of his own compositions. In 2015, he started a close collaboration with the renowned German music publisher "Bärenreiter". The first edition of Kim's arrangement of Bach's Air was sold out within a few months. Roman Kim's music is romantic, tonal and melodic. While it reminds of the the great composers of the 19th century, his music is also highly original, due to his technical innovations that allow him to create absolutely astonishing sounds. Roman Kim's paraphrases "I Brindisi" on themes by Italian opera composer Verdi strengthened his reputation as a modern Paganini. Inspired by Arcangelo Corelli's “La Folia”, Kim proposed his own approach to the famous musical theme that inspired so many composers of the past.

Svetlana Makarova was born in Moscow in 1981. She started to play violin at the age of 5 in a class of Honoured Artist of Russia Ludmila Egorova.

At the age of 10 she won the first prize at the Moscow International Youth Tchaikovsky Competition. Hereafter she won different prizes at numerous state and international competitions.

In 2005 Svetlana graduated the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and in 2008 finished her postgraduated studies with professor M. Glezarova.

Svetlana actively plays and gives concerts as a soloist and as a part of different chamber ensembles.

She also made several CD recordings (with pieces of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Shubert, Schönberg) as a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles.

Since 2003 Svetlana is a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, and from 2006 - of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, where she collaborate with such a great musicians as J. Levine, V. Gergiev, M. T. Thomas, Y. Bashmet, D. Sitkovetsky, M. Vengerov, Y. Temirkanov etc.

She takes part in different Festivals such as Verbier Music Festival (Switzerland), Miyazaki Music Festival (Japan), Musical Spring (Moldova), Musical Festival in LA (USA), Eilat Chamber Music Festival (Israel), Festival "Paganiniana" (Italy) etc.

In 2005-2008 she was teaching at famous Gnessin's Music College in Moscow.

In 2008 she was invited by Prof. Vernikov to collaborate with him in numerous master classes in Italy, Israel and Austria.

From 2008 to 2011 she was co-pricipal in the Orquestra Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia (Spain), where principal conductors were Maestri L. Maazel and Z. Mehta.

Since 2010 she teaches at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy.

Until 2013 she worked as an Assistant of Prof. Pavel Vernikov at the Haut Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Site de Sion) in Switzerland and at many Master Classes in Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland and Japan.

She also performed as a violinist at many festivals in Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland and Japan.

Since 2014 she works as a Professor for Violin at the Haut Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in Switzerland.

She plays a violin by Nicola Gagliano made in 1738.

Born in Chieti, Giuliano Mazzoccante studied under the guidance of Lucia Passaglia at the Conservatory “L. Cherubini” in Florence graduating with highest honours ande later, he studied with Lazar Berman. With him, his concert repertoire deepened and improved with particular attention to the music of F. Liszt. He perfected Chamber Music at the International School of Chamber Music in Duino under the guidance of “Trio of Trieste” achieving a “Diploma with Merit”.

Winner of more than 50 national and international competitions, including “M. Clementi” in Florence, “Agorà 80″ in Rome, “F. Liszt” in Lucca, and “Città di Stresa”, he was awarded in prestigious competitions such as “International Music Tournament” in Rome, “Prix Venice”, “Ecomusic” in Monopoli and he is the winner of the 40th International Piano Competition “Arcangelo Speranza” in Taranto. In 2009 he was awarded in the “4th International Tbilisi Piano Competition” in Georgia (WFIMC).

Mazzoccante has been engaged in a remarkable concert activity both as a soloist and as a chamber musician at major Italian venues and overseas in Europe, USA and Asia. He is regularly invited to hold concerts and master classes at international venues and festivals such as “Mozarteum” in Saltzburg, “ClaviCologne Festival” in Germany, the “Malta International Music Festival”, “VIPA” International Music Festival, ecc.

He has been a regular guest of the “International Sommer-Akademie Schloss Pommersfelden” (Germany) where he has performed as a soloist and in chamber music performances and where he teaches chamber music since 2010. He has appeared as a soloist with different orchestras such Camerata Baltica, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonica Abruzzese, Sinfonica di Lecce, Sinfonica di Bari, Solisti Aquilani.

He plays with prestigious musicians such Karl Leister (historical 1st clarinettist of the Berlin Philharmonic), Francesco Manara and Fabrizio Meloni (1st violinist and 1st clarinettist of Teatro alla Scala in Milan), Dora Schwarzberg,  Pavel Berman,, Romain Garioud, ecc.

Fabrizio Meloni, since 1984, is the first solo clarinet chair of the Orchestra and the Philharmonic of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He has finished his clarinet studies at Milan’s Conservatorio G. Verdi with summa cum laude and the special mention for his artistic achievement. Winner dozens of national and international prizes (ARD Munchen-1987- Prague –1987-, among all).

In 2009 was released several recordings: the DVD « Duets »(Warner), the Francaix/Nielsen/Copland’s Clarinet Concertos (Amadeus), and « Ol ari Nyiro Diary ». He is author of the book « The Clarinet », published by Zecchini Editore, and prefaced by Riccardo Muti. The tv channel Sky-Classica has devoted a documentary to his artistic life. In Summer 2015, the Meloni-Yoshikawa duo went on tour in Japan and performed at the prestigious Suntory Hall – Tokyo, an event that has produced a documentary published by NHK (Japanese National Television Channel) in the ‘Classic Club’ series and subsequently broadcasted by NHK-FM radio ‘Best of Classic’ program. In 2015, DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON released the cd ’VIEF ET RYTHMIQUE’ entirely devoted to the French repertoire for Clarinet and Piano (with T.Yoshikawa).

Having begun his career as a concert pianist, Marios Papadopoulos founded the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998 and has continued at its helm as Music Director ever since. Under his direction the Orchestra has gone from strength to strength, performing regularly in Oxford and beyond, and forging a strong relationship with the University of Oxford.

Described by The Times at his 1975 piano recital debut as having ‘all the attributes of one of the world’s greatest players’, Papadopoulos has gone on to enjoy an international career both as pianist and conductor.

He has appeared as soloist with and conducted many of the world’s greatest orchestras and worked with a host of eminent musicians including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Hélène Grimaud, Nicola Benedetti, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maria João Pires, Menahem Pressler, Maxim Vengerov, Renée Fleming, Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich and Lang Lang. His recordings of the Beethoven sonatas have been set on a level with Schnabel, Brendel, Barenboim and Wilhelm Kempff (Daily Telegraph, Classic FM Magazine Critics’ Choice).

Papadopoulos has conducted the complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies and directed from the keyboard the five piano concertos on three separate occasions so far – at the Oxford Philharmonic’s 2008 Beethoven Festival, at the Orchestra’s 15th anniversary celebrations in the 2013/14 concert season, and throughout the Oxford Beethoven Festival 2020 which celebrated the composer’s 250th birthday across two seasons.

Marios Papadopoulos has appeared as guest conductor and soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, European Union Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a 2015 UK tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Alison Balsom. In March 2018, Papadopoulos appeared with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra at the prestigious Xinghai Concert Hall in China, where he directed a Mozart Piano Concerto Cycle from the keyboard over the course of three weeks. Marios Papadopoulos has appeared as guest conductor and soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, European Union Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a 2015 UK tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Alison Balsom. In March 2018, Papadopoulos appeared with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra at the prestigious Xinghai Concert Hall in China, where he directed a Mozart Piano Concerto Cycle from the keyboard over the course of three weeks. In June 2022 he conducted the Oxford Philharmonic in their Carnegie Hall debut in New York City.

Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and S. Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as a virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. Among other prizes he won the International ARD Violin Competition in Munich and the Grand Prix at the International Violin Competition “Vittorio Gui” in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome.

For the past 30 years he has been a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio.

His artistic partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, James Galway, Alain Meunier, Patrick Gallois, Maria Tipo, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Yuri Bashmet, Elisso Virsaladze, Christian Zimmermann and Anthony Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro and was the Artistic Director of the Gubbio Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival and the Eilat Chamber Music Festival.

He teaches and gives masterclasses around the world, in Italy, France, Finland, Spain (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia Madrid), Israel (Rubin Academy), Germany (Kronberg Academy), etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at international competitions (Szigeti, Kreisler, Gui, ARD-Competition in Munich, Sendai (Japan), Budapest, Sarasate, Wieniawski, etc.).

Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic.

He was a Professor at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. At present he is a Professor at the famous Konservatorium Wien University and at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Site de Sion).

Among his many laureate students are people like Massimo Quarta (1. Prize Paganini International Violin Competition, Genua), Fumiaki Miura (1. Prize Hannover International Violin Competition), Lorenza Borrani (Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Fanny Clamagirand (1. Prize Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition, Vienna and 1. Prize International Monte Carlo Violin Competition) and Miki Kobayashi (2. Prize Wieniawski Competition).

In 2013 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland, and in 2023, he was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition, whose inaugural edition is set to take place in 2025 in Dubai, UAE.

Pavel Vernikov plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, 1757, violin.

Severin von Eckardstein, one of the leading German pianists of his generation, has an already lengthy record of solo concerts and concerto performances on major stages around the world.

He has delighted the public with many highly acclaimed concerts, for example in Berlin, Munich, Milan, Moscow, Madrid, London, Paris, New York, Amsterdam, Budapest, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul. His talent could be enjoyed at great music festivals, including Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Aldeburgh / UK, the Gilmore Festival in Michigan / USA, La Roque d’Anthéron / France, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Husum Festival (“Raritäten der Klaviermusik”) and the Miami International Piano Festival, where he played the opening concert in 2009. He has performed with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Philippe Herreweghe, Lothar Zagrosek and Marek Janowski, and made important debuts, among others in 2007 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden in 2012 and the Hungarian National Philharmony under Zsolt Hamar in 2017.
In 2018 he made his debut at the Thompson Art Center in New York with two different recitals.

Many of Von Eckardstein’s concerts have been recorded and broadcasted by major broadcasting corporations. As a frequent guest of the concert series “Meesterpianisten” at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, von Eckardstein opened the gala concert celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary in 2012. In 2020 he was reinvited to this extraordinary series for the 8 th time.

Born in Duesseldorf, Germany, in 1978, the pianist won prizes at numerous noteworthy international competitions, e.g. “Ferruccio Busoni” in Bozen (1998), the “Leeds International Piano Competition” (2000), “José Iturbi” in Valencia (2002), the ARD- Competition in Munich (1999) and was awarded first prize at the “Concours Reine Elisabeth” in Brussels (2003).
On several occasions he has been awarded special prizes for the “Best Interpretation of Contemporary Music.”

Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko was born in Kharkiv in 1999.

He studied at the Kharkiv Special Music School for gifted children with Ludmila Varenina. During  his school years Dmytro was awarded numerous prizes at international competitions and was invited to perform at international festivals.

At the age of 14 Dmytro Udovychenko was admitted in the class of Professor Boris Garlitsky at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany.

His success at the international competitions continued with victories at Jascha Heifetz International Violin Competition in Vilnius, Odesa International Violin Competition in Odesa, and The Grand Prix of 2018 Andrea Postacchini Competition in Fermo.

In October 2018, Dmytro Udovychenko has won the 2nd Prize, the Audiences Prize and the Internet Community Prize at Josef Joachim Competition in Hannover.

Most recently, Dmytro was awarded the 3d Prize at the XII Jan Sibelius International Violin Competition ,1st Prize at the III Singapore International Violin Competition, 1st Prize in Montreal International Violin Competition and 1st Prize in Queen Elisabeth Competition.

Dmytro participated in master classes with Ana Chumachenko, Christian Tetzlaff, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Stephan Picard, Leonidas Kavakos.

He is supported by Ukrainian VERE MUSIC FUND, Villa Musica Rheinland Pfalz, and Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

In October 2022 Dmytro was accepted to Kronberg Academy Professional Studies Program in the class of Christian Tetzlaff.

Currently Dmytro Udovychenko is Antonio Stradivari 1708 “Huggins” Violin kindly provided by Nippon Foundation.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider is one of those rare musicians who has “transitioned uncommonly well to the podium, bringing his violinist’s insight and profound musicality” (Cleveland.com). The 23/24 season marks his fourth as Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon, a partnership that has already been extended until 26/27.

Szeps-Znaider regularly features as guest conductor with some of the world’s leading orchestras, with recent and forthcoming performances with the New York Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic and Bamberg Symphony. An imminent return to the Chicago Symphony continues a flourishing relationship with the orchestra: ‘his mastery showed in a thousand details[…]. An almost steely clarity marked every measure of the performance, and yet the conductor never lost sign of the music’s essential humanity, its vitality and warmth (Chicago On The Aisle). On the operatic front, following an outstandingly successful debut conducting ‘The Magic Flute’ at the Dresden Semperoper, Szeps-Znaider was immediately re-invited to conduct ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ in Autumn 2019. He also recently made his debut with the Royal Danish Opera and the Zurich Opera House with new productions of ‘The Magic Flute’ and will also be conducting that title at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Also a virtuoso violinist, Szeps-Znaider maintains his reputation as one of the world’s leading exponents of the instrument with a busy calendar of concerto and recital engagements. This season, he makes return appearances with the London Philharmonic as well as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, where is notably taking part in the Shostakovich Festival, held on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death, and will perform works alongside Daniil Trifonov and Gautier Capuçon.

Distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling, Itamar Zorman is regarded as a singularly soulful and evocative artist. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust award, Itamar Zorman was also a laureate of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Louvre Recital Series in Paris, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips in Eindhoven, the HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt and the Kolarac Hall in Belgrade, and at festivals including the Kronberg Academy, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Delft and the Copenhagen Summer Festival, as well as Marlboro, Classical Tahoe and Chamberfest Cleveland in the US.

Itamar Zorman’ solo career encompasses four continents. He has appeared with orchestras in the USA, Europe, Asia and South America, including the American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Belgrade Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica, Het Gelders Orkest, Israel Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony, the KBS Symphony Seoul, as well as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra “Novaya Rossiya. A committed chamber player, he has led the Mahler Chamber Orchestra  play-directed Camerata Nordica and is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project.  He is also a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, with which he won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition.