PROFESSORS
Anne-Sophie Mutterviolin, Germany
Anne-Sophie Mutter is a musical phenomenon: for nearly five decades the virtuoso has now been a fixture in all the world’s major concert halls, making her mark on the classical music scene as a soloist, mentor and visionary. The four-time Grammy® Award winner is equally committed to the performance of traditional composers as to the future of music.
Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of the most acclaimed violinists of our time — a living legend whose performances combine flawless technique, profound expression, and visionary artistry. For over four decades, she has captivated audiences around the globe and shaped the course of classical music with her interpretations and initiatives.
Born on June 29, 1963, in Rheinfelden, Germany, Mutter showed remarkable musical talent from an early age. She began with piano but soon gravitated toward the violin, which became her true passion. At age nine, she entered the Munich Conservatory. Her career took a transformative turn in 1976 when, at just 13 years old, she was discovered by Herbert von Karajan. He invited her to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic — a debut that catapulted her into international stardom.
Soon after, she signed with Deutsche Grammophon, launching a celebrated recording career. She has since performed in the most prestigious concert halls — Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Salzburg Festival — and collaborated with maestros such as Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, and Andris Nelsons.
Her repertoire spans the great composers — Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms — but her commitment to contemporary music is equally significant. Mutter has championed and premiered works by Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sofia Gubaidulina, André Previn, Sebastian Currier, Thomas Adès, and John Williams. Several of these pieces — such as Gubaidulina’s “Anne-Sophie” or Penderecki’s “Markings” — are now modern classics.
In 1997, she established the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, a platform supporting young musicians through scholarships, mentoring, and performance opportunities. Her commitment to the next generation of artists reflects her deep responsibility to music’s future.
Throughout her career, Mutter has received numerous accolades: four Grammy Awards, the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, Praemium Imperiale, the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, and high honors from Germany, France, Austria, Japan, and Spain, including the French Legion of Honour and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Her concerts are more than performances — they are emotional journeys, rich in depth and nuance. Anne-Sophie Mutter continues to set the standard for violin performance in the 21st century.
She performs on the Antonio Stradivari “Emiliani” violin from 1703.
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidtcello, Germany
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt was born in Freiburg (Germany) in 1971. During his studies with Aldo Parisot at the Juilliard School in New York and with David Geringas at the Musikhochschule Lübeck, he won First Prizes at the German National Music Competition in Bonn, at the 1st International Adam Cello Competition in New Zealand, and at the International Music Competitions in Bayreuth and Markneukirchen, Germany. He was awarded the “Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris” at the International Rostropovitch Competition in Paris where the international jury was headed by Mstislav Rostropovitch (also the prize for contemporary music ). He is also a prize winner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and at the International Leonard Rose Cello Competition.
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt has performed in Europe, Asia and the USA as soloist with such prestigious orchestras as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Paris, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Slovenian RTV Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Houston and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras as well as the Prague Philharmonia under the batons of Charles Dutoit, Marek Janowski, Yutaka Sado, Gerd Albrecht, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jiri Belohlavek, Vassili Sinaiski, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Andrey Boreyko, Hugh Wolff, Michael Sanderling, Gabriel Feltz, Fabrice Bollon and Markus Poschner.
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt has also performed in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Philharmonie am Gasteig and the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Theatre du Champs Elysee, the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, the Wigmore Hall London, the Carnegie Hall and the Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Rudolfinum Prague as well as in the Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
He devotes himself to chamber music and has already performed together with such renowned artists as Lang Lang, Christoph Eschenbach, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Leonidas Kavakos, Kyoko Takezawa, Miriam Fried, Edgar Meyer and David Shifrin. From 2000-2002 he was a member of the Chamber Music Society Two of Lincoln Center in New York and together with Jens Peter Maintz he forms the cello duo “Cello Duello”.
His first CD for Sony Classical French Impressions was released in autumn 2001. The second in 2004 – all cello concertos by Sergei Prokofiev followed by the cello concertos by Schumann and Elgar in April 09 (Sony Classical). For Capriccio he recorded Bloch’s “Voice in the Wilderness” with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. In 2013 he won the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” and the Diapason d’Or for his recording of Carl Maria von Weber’s piano quartet (together with Isabelle Faust, Boris Faust and Alexander Melnikov).
For the past few years Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt has increasingly focused his activities on conducting, a devotion towards what was already part of his studies at the Juilliard School in New York. He has received invitations to the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the Göttinger Symphonieorchester and the Hofer Symphoniker, the Kammerorchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, the Staatskapelle St. Petersburg, the INSO Lviv, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Württembergische Philharmonie and the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester. Guest conductorships have taken him to Switzerland, Poland and Spain.
As principal conductor of the chamber orchestra Metamorphosen Berlin which he also founded, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt has led the ensemble in numerous concerts in German, Spain and Switzerland as well as in concerts at the Elbphilharmonie and the Konzerthaus Berlin, where the orchestra has also found its artistic home with its own concert series. In addition to his performances as a conductor, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt also regularly appears in a dual capacity as soloist and conductor simultaneously.
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt plays on a cello made by Matteo Goffriller which previously belonged to Hugo Becker. He teaches as a professor at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” Weimar, the Berlin University of the Arts and, since 2017, at Kronberg Academy.
Marc Bouchkovviolin, Belgium
"Marc Bouchkov’s artistry is driven by expression. The closeness of the violin’s sound to the singing human voice is his main inspiration to bring emotions and images as close as possible to his audience."
Belgian violinist Marc Bouchkov, a sophisticated artist of impeccable aplomb, is proving to be one of the most unique and multifaceted musicians of the new generation.
His orchestral appearances included performances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Mariss Jansons, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Philippe Jordan, HRSinfonieorchester and Christoph Eschenbach, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala and Lorenzo Viotti, the Verbier Festival Orchestra under Gábor Takács-Nagy, and the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. He has also appeared with the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI in Turin, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège, the Orchestra di Milano Giuseppe Verdi among others, collaborating with conductors such as Stanislav Kochanovsky, Michael Sanderling, Andrey Boreyko, Ludovic Morlot, Dmitry Liss, Christian Arming, Lionel Bringuier, Maxim Vengerov, James Judd, to name but a few. Mr. Bouchkov has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Teatro alla Scala, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Dresden Frauenkirche, Tonhalle Zürich, Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Paris’ Theatre de la Ville, Maison de Radio France, and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. In great demand as a recitalist, he is a regular guest of the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Tsinandali Festival in Georgia, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival in Israel, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival and the Schubertiade in Hohenems. A fine chamber musician, his music partners included Evgenij Kissin, Mischa Maisky, Lahav Shani, Klaus Mäkelä, Behzod Abdurahimov.
Recent highlights include concerts as artist-in-residence of the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw under the batons of Lorenzo Viotti, Ryan Bancroft, and Hannu Lintu, Brahms’ Double Concerto with cellist Mischa Maisky under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, appearances with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under Michele Mariotti and with the Barcellona Symphony Orchestra under Lodovic Morlot, and the complete cycle of Beethoven Violin Sonatas at the 2023 Verbier festival with pianist Mao Fujita.
Upcoming highlights include the continuation of his artist-in-residency with Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw as well as his debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, a return to Barcelona Symphony and a tour of Asia with the Verbier Chamber Orchestra.
Marc’s recordings for Harmonia Mundi include an album featuring two premieres by Eugène Ysaye and two works composed by himself. The album was awarded a Diapason d’Or and a Diapason Découverte as well as nominated for the ICMA 2018 and received tremendous acclaim on Gramophone reviews. The English magazine featured him as “One to Watch “.
A major prize-winner of the Montreal and Tchaikovsky Competitions and a recipient of the Kulturstiftung Dortmund Music, Marc Bouchkov was born into a family of violinists. He received his first lessons at the age of five from his grandfather and studies with Claire Bernard and Boris Garlitsky followed. He then went on to study with Mihaela Martin, as a Young Soloist in a postgraduate course at the Kronberg Academy. For many years now he has been under the musical tutorship of Eduard Wulfson.
Mr. Bouchkov currently serves as professor on the faculty of the Conservatoire Royale de Liège (BE). From 2017 to 2019 he taught at the Kronberg Academy (DE) as Artistic Assistant.
Lisa Batiashviliviolin, Germany
“Batiashvili’s fearless playing is so tonally rich and technically immaculate.” (The Guardian)
Lisa Batiashvili, the Georgian-born German violinist, is praised by audiences and fellow musicians for her virtuosity. An award winning artist, she has developed long-standing relationships with the world’s leading orchestras, conductors and musicians.
Batiashvili is the Artistic Director of Audi Sommerkonzerte, Ingolstadt. For the 2020 festival, she originally designed a programme to celebrate the festival’s 30th anniversary year, as well as Beethoven year 2020 under the motto ‘Lights of Europe’. Due to the global pandemic, an adjusted version with streamed concerts under the motto ‘Together for Music’ featured Lisa and other leading musicians, sending out a strong message of solidarity and adaptability.
Lisa Batiashvili regularly appears on stage with orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa and Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others.
“She played with pure, gorgeous tone and fabulous technique... Could you have fairly asked for more? The audience, to judge from its standing ovation, was fully content.” (The New York Times)
Recording exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, Batiashvili’s latest album City Lights was released in June 2020. The project marks a musical journey that takes listeners around the world to eleven cities with an autobiographical connection with music ranging from Bach to Morricone, and Dvořák to Charlie Chaplin. At the internationally renowned Concert de Paris on Bastille Day in Paris in 2020 she performed the title track City Memories which was broadcast across the world.
Her previous recording – Visions of Prokofiev (Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nezet-Seguin) – won an Opus Klassik Award and was shortlisted for the 2018 Gramophone Awards. Earlier recordings include the concertos of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius (Staatskapelle Berlin/Daniel Barenboim), Brahms (Staatskapelle Dresden/Christian Thielemann), and Shostakovich No.1 (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Esa-Pekka Salonen).
Batiashvili has had DVD releases of live performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker/Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Bartók’s Violin Concerto No.1) and with Gautier Capuçon, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann (Brahm’s Concerto for Violin and Cello).
She has won a number of awards: the MIDEM Classical Award, the Choc de l’année, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana International Prize, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival’s Leonard Bernstein Award and the Beethoven-Ring. Batiashvili was named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year in 2015, was nominated as Gramophone’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2018 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Sibelius Academy (University of Arts, Helsinki).
Lisa lives in Munich and plays a Joseph Guarneri “del Gesu” from 1739, generously loaned by a private collector.
Jens Peter Maintzcello, Germany
“Jens Peter Maintz has an outstanding reputation as a versatile soloist, highly sought-after chamber musician, and committed cello teacher.”
Originally from Hamburg, he studied with David Geringas and took part in masterclasses with other great cellists such as Heinrich Schiff, Boris Pergamenschikow, Frans Helmerson and Siegfried Palm. He was further influenced by his intense chamber music study with Uwe-Martin Haiberg and Walter Levin.
In 1994 he won the 1st prize in the ARD Iternational Music Competition, which had not been awarded to a cellist for 17 years. He gathered several years of valuable orchestral experience as principal cello of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin and travelled the world as a member of the renowned Trio Fontenay.
Since 2006 Jens Peter Maintz has been principal cello of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, on the invitation of Claudio Abbado.
His solo career has brought him into contact with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Marek Janowski, Dmitry Kitajenko, Franz Welser-Möst, Reinhard Goebel and Bobby McFerrin. He has appeared as a soloist with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig MDR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Den Haag Residenzorchester and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
For his CD with solo works by Bach, Dutilleux and Kodaly, which was released by Sony Classical, Jens Peter Maintz was awarded the ECHO-Klassik. The label Berlin Classics released his highly acclaimed recording of Haydn's cello concertos, accompanied by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
Alongside classical repertoire, Jens Peter Maintz has performed numerous works by contemporary composers from Isang Yun to Georg Friedrich Haas.
Jens Peter Maintz started his teaching activities as an assistant to his professor David Geringas in his legendary Celloklasse at the Academy of Music Lübeck. Since 2004 Jens Peter Maintz has been a professor at Berlin University of the Arts, since 2017 he has also been teaching at the renowned Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid.
His class is now one of the successful on an international level. Among his students, there are prize winners at prestigious competitions such as the Tchaikovsky Competition, Internatinal Music Competition of the ARD, Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann, Bach Competition Leipzig, Isang Yun Competition, Lutoslawski Competition, Enescu Competition etc. Many of his former students are holding important positions in leading orchestras, like at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the German Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin and the Staatskapelle Dresden.
Jens Peter Maintz regularly holds master classes at major international festivals and academies, like at Kronberg Academy, Cello Academy Rutesheim, Summer Academy of the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Piatigorsky Festival Los Angeles, Cello Biennale Amsterdam, Academy of Music Weimar and the International Music Academy of Liechtenstein.
Jens Peter Maintz is also a highly sought-after chamber musician. He is a member of the prestigious concert series Spectrum Concerts Berlin, and performs with chamber music partners such as Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Torleif Thedéen, Hélène Grimaud, Kolja Blacher, Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit, as well as the Artemis, Carmina and Amaryllis Quartets. Important place at his biography occupies ensembe “Cello Duello”, that was created almost 30 years ago together with another talanted student of David Geringas, virtuosic cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.
Jens Peter Maintz plays the 'Ex-Servais' cello made by Giovanni Grancino in 1697.
Zakhar Bronviolin
Zakhar Bron is an inspiring and evocative violinist. Listeners, both of his many impressive CD recordings and in concert halls around the world, marvel at his faultless violin technique as well as his appreciation for the most sensitive interpretations of the entire range of classical music literature.
Zakhar Bron has been a prize winner at the world's most prestigious competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznan.
He has been studying violin in Odessa Special music school by Stolyarsky, then in Gnessin Moscow Special school of music in Boris Goldstein’s class. Then was accepted to the Moscow Conservatorium to Igor Oistrakh’s class, whose assistant he became later.
Zakhar Bron gained fame when he left the Moscow Conservatorium of Music to move to distant Siberia. Far away from political influences in the capital, he created a new world elite of violinists.
Through his silent revolution in Siberia, Bron developed the greatest violin talents of today's concert halls. Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov and Natalia Prischepenko are only a few of the illustrious names to emerge from this period of Bron's teaching.
After helping the conservatorium of music in Novosibirsk to international renown, Zakhar Bron began to work beyond the borders of Russia, teaching in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Japan. From this period of Bron's teaching come talents such as Chloe Hanslip, Daniel Hope, Daishin Kashimoto and David Garrett.
Prof. Zakhar Bron works mostly in west Europe and Japan. He is professor of Novosibirsk Conservatory, Musikhochschule Lübeck, Rotterdam conservatory, The Royal Academy of Music in London, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.
He travels the globe, performing as a soloist on the world's greatest stages and working as a juror for many international competitions. 2010 Prof. Zakhar Bron founded in Switzerland his own school for music gifted children.
Kirill Troussovviolin, Germany
Supported and guided by Sir Yehudi Menuhin at a young age, Kirill Troussov is now widely recognised as one of the leading violinists of his generation.
He works with renowned orchestras and is a regular guest at prestigious festivals. The international press describes his playing: "... impressive elegance, his irreproachable technique, his exceptional musical sensitivity and his sonorities of immaculate beauty ..."
Collaboration with celebrated conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniele Gatti, Lawrence Foster, Jiri Belohlàvek, Michail Jurowski, David Stern, Christoph Poppen, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikko Frank and Louis Langrée as well as with major orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de France, Radio Orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra has brought him to the most famous concert halls and festivals worldwide – Tonhalle Zürich, Berliner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux Arts Brüssel, Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, De Doelen, NCPA in Beijing, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid, Verbier Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival and Menuhin Festival Gstaad.
Kirill Troussov is a passionate and committed chamber musician who performs frequently with artists like Sol Gabetta, Yuja Wang, Julian Rachlin, Daniel Hope, Joshua Bell, Gautier und Renaud Capucon, Natalia Gutman, Christian Zacharias, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky and Elisabeth Leonskaja. Highlights of his past concert seasons include - substitution for Gidon Kremer in Paris, Asia Tour with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, his spectacular performance at the BBC Proms and his activity as jury member at international competitions. He has been awarded the European cultural award "Pro-Europa", the Yamaha Prize, the Davidoff-Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and numerous prizes at international competitions.
In 2016 Kirill Troussov gave a master class at the International Summer Academy of Mozarteum University in Salzburg and has been reinvited as a member of the jury at the "Schoenfeld International String Competition" in China. In 2017 master classes at Mozarteum Salzburg, European Music Intstitute Vienna, in St. Blasien, Berlin and Cremona follow. For many years, Kirill Troussov has been involved in the project "Rhapsody in School".
Kirill Troussov's recordings—among others for EMI Classics—were given many awards by the international press. He performs with Yuja Wang on her DVD with Kurt Masur 2011. Schwarz-Schilling's Violin Concerto with the Staatskapelle Weimar was released in 2013 and a recording of chamber music works by Mendelssohn in 2014. His CD "Memories" has been highly praised by the international press and the public—among others by "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and the french trade magazine "Diapason". His new CD "Emotions" was released in November 2016. He completed his studies with Zakhar Bron and Christoph Poppen. His mentors have been Igor Oistrach, Herman Krebbers und Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Kirill Troussov plays the Antonio Stradivari violin "Brodsky" of 1702, on which violinist Adolph Brodsky performed the world premier of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto on December 4, 1881.
Santiago Cañón-Valenciacello, Columbia
Santiago Cañón-Valencia has been praised as one of the most promising young cellists of his generation. Born in Bogota in 1995, his major musical mentors have been Henryk Zarzycki in Colombia, James Tennant in New Zealand, and Andres Diaz in the United States.
He is currently pursuing his Professional Studies degree with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Kronberg Academy for Young soloists.
Winner of the Silver Medal and “Audience Favourite” Award at the 2019 XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition and the 2018 Starker Foundation Award, Mr. Cañón-Valencia has been a fixture of the International Cello Competition scene for many years. He was awarded third prize at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Competition 2017 in Brussels. He is also a First Prize winner of the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition, Beijing International Music Competition, Gisborne International Music Competition, and Lennox International Young Artists Competition. He was also a major prize winner of the Sphinx, Casals, Johansen, Cassadó, and Adam cello competitions.
Mr. Cañón-Valencia made his orchestral debut as a soloist when he was six years old with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá. Since then, he has appeared with all the major orchestras in his native Colombia and his international solo career has taken him around the world to perform with orchestras such as the Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, Brussels Philharmonic with Stephane Deneve, St Petersburg Philharmonic with Nikolai Alexeev, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with Janos Kovacs, Moscow Soloists with Yuri Bashmet, The Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie with Frank Braley, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Münchener Kammerorchester with Clemens Schuldt and Antwerp Symphony with Muhai Tang, among others.
Highlights of his 2020-2021 season include returning concerto performances in Colombia, Japan, South Africa, the United States, and Russia, as well as debuts as a soloist with Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Christoph Eschenbach, Prague Philharmonia and Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, among others. Passionate about new music, Mr. Cañón-Valencia was responsible for Carlos Izcaray’s world premiere of his Cello Concerto “Stringmaster” alongside Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Santiago also premiered Jorge Pinzón’s Cello Concerto “Rapsodia a los 4 Elementos” at the Cartagena Interational Music Festival 2019.
He was also responsible for the Colombian premiere of Ginastera’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia as well as premiering Gulda’s Cello Concerto in Auckland, New Zealand with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra.
Recording for the Atoll label in New Zealand, his debut CD “Solo” has been internationally acclaimed by the Strad Magazine. Recent recordings include Russian cello sonatas and popular pieces of the cello repertoire with pianist Katherine Austin. His next release will be sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert with pianist Andrea Lucchesini for the Egea label.
Mr. Cañón-Valencia has been sponsored by the Mayra & Edmundo Esquenazi Scholarship through the Salvi Fundation since 2011.
Fedor Rudinviolin, Austria
“A brilliant display of artistry on the violin.” says the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger about Fedor Rudin. Appointed Concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra / Vienna Philharmonic in 2019, prizewinner of prestigious competitions such as Premio Paganini in Genoa and George Enescu in Bucharest, the French-Russian violinist Fedor Rudin is quickly establishing himself as one of the most unique and polyvalent concert artists of today’s generation. In 2019 he was awarded the Ivry Gitlis Prize in Paris. His newest album “Reflets” was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards.
In the 2020-2021 season, Fedor Rudin will make his debut with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (conductor Vladimir Jurowski), the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (conductor Petr Popelka), the Baltic Neopolis Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (conductor Kirill Karabits) and the Deutsches Kammerorchester in the Berliner Philharmonie. Earlier solo debuts have already taken the violinist to prestigious concert halls like Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in New York, Berlin Konzerthaus, Paris Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein & Tonhalle Zurich, with many world- renowned orchestras including the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of the Opéra Bastille, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has played under the baton of conductors such as Lorenzo Viotti, Darrell Ang, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Christoph Poppen, Maxim Vengerov and Conrad van Alphen. A devoted chamber musician, Fedor is a founding member of Fratres Trio, hailed as “a new generation of classical music” by the press for their unusual combination of violin, saxophone and piano. The ensemble is a prizewinner of the Illzach international chamber music competition in Mulhouse and has received the Supersonic Award by Pizzicato Magazine for their CD “Couleurs d’un Rêve”.
Further chamber music appearances have taken Fedor Rudin to festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Pietrasanta in Concerto, Crans Montana Classics, ArtenetrA and others. Passionate of operatic and symphonic repertoire as well, Fedor Rudin regularly works as a conductor. He has been serving as a guest conductor of the Georgian National Philharmonic during the 2012-13 concert season at the age of 20, and has had the chance to conduct orchestras such as the Petrobras Symphony Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Lviv Philarmonic, the Orchestra of the Szczecin Opera and the Orquestra Reino de Aragon. Fedor is now finishing his conducting diploma in the class of Simeon Pironkoff at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Born in Moscow in 1992 and raised in Paris, Fedor’s grandfather was the famous Russian avant-garde composer Edison Denisov. A graduate of Zakhar Bron at the Cologne High School of Music and Pierre Amoyal at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, he is currently enrolled in a postgraduate program at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in the class of Boris Kuschnir. Fedor plays the “ex-Benecke” violin by Antonio Stradivari, made in Cremona in 1694, generously loaned to him by the Austrian National Bank.
Edgar Moreaucello, France
Edgar Moreau was born in Paris on 3 April 1994. He began studying the cello at age four with Carlos Beyris as well as the piano, instrument for which he obtained his First Prize at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Boulogne-Billancourt in 2010.
After following the teaching of Xavier Gagnepain, he continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris in the class of Philippe Muller in cello and Claire Désert for chamber music. At the age of 15, he won the Young Soloist Prize at the Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch and at 17, the second prize of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
In 2013 he signed an exclusive contract with Erato, and his first recording, a recital of pieces for cello and piano with Pierre-Yves Hodique, was published in 2014.
Révélation soliste instrumental de l'année at the Victoires de la musique classique 2013, he was Soliste instrumental de l'année at the 2015 edition. From 2015 to 2018, Edgar Moreau was an artist of the "Junge Wilde" concerts at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. On 27 November 2015, he played the sarabande of the 2nd suite by Johann Sebastian Bach during the ceremony held at Les Invalides in tribute to the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks.
Alexandra Conunovaviolin, Switzerland
Born in 1988 in Moldavia, Alexandra Conunova won the First Prize at the Joseph Jochim Violin Competition in Hanover in 2012, the jury greeted unanimously her virtuosity, impressed by her technique and musicality. In 2015 she was awarded by the International Competition in Singapore and won the Third Prize at the Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow (the First prize was not awarded). In 2016 she is the fellowship winner of the prestigious Borletti-Buittoni Trust in London.
Alexandra performs as soloist with the major orchestras such as Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra de la Svizzera Italiana, NDR Hannover, Radio Saarbrücken, Mariinsky Orchestra Sankt Petersburg, Camerata Bern, Orchestra di Teatro Regio Torino, Sevilla Orchestra, Toulouse Orchestra, Vienna and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, under Valery Gergiev, Theodor Curentzis, John Axelrod, Vladimir Spivakov, Gianandrea Noseda. She toured Japan with Moscow Philharmonic/Yuri Simonov and Europe with Insula Orchestra/Laurence Equilbey (Budapest, Aix, Paris, London…).
She plays at the prestigious festivals : Verbier, Montreux Septembre Musical, Gstaad, BBC Londres, Ferrara Musica, Accademia Santa Cecilia Roma, Hamburg Martha Argerich Festival, Bonn, Colmar, Menton, Radio France Montpellier, Aix-en -Provence Easter Festival, Folles Journées in Nantes and Tokyo… and collaborates as chamber music partner with Michail Lifits, Renaud Capuçon, Edgar Moreau, Denis Kozhukhin, David Kadouch, Andreas Ottensamer, Gérard Caussé, Boris Brovtsyn, Jean Rondeau… In summer 2018, great success for her recital with Denis Kozhukhin at Verbier Festival (broadcasted on Medici.tv), as well as Gstaad Menuhin Festival playing Bach Concerti with Basel Chamber Orchestra and Jean Rondeau, « Baïkal Stars » Festival in Russia under Vladimir Spivakov and Besançon Festival.
Highlights of the Season 2018/19 : debuts with orchestra at the Paris Philharmonie playing Berg Concerto « A la mémoire d’un ange » with Orchestre Pasdeloup conducted by Wolfgang Doerner, concerts with Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Mozart Concertante) in Verona, Marseille Orchestra/Lawrence Foster (Bartok 2), Hamburg Symphoniker/Sylvain Cambreling (Wieniawski), Lyon Orchestra (Vivaldi/Piazzolla), Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg/Joana Mallwitz (Sibelius), Luzern Symphonie (Arthur Lourie Concerto)… and recitals in Paris Salle Cortot, Geneva, Lausanne… Nominated « Maître ès Arts » by the Moldavian President, she founded a charity Foundation « ArtaVie » in her home town Chisinau to help disabled young music students. Alexandra’s first recording of Prokofiev Violin Sonatas with Michail Lifits (for Aparté) was acclaimed by international critics : « This recording reveals Conunova as a major artist – in terms of both technical assurance and interpretative daring… I can’t recommend their freshly considered, vividly recorded interpretations highly enough. » (Gramophone). She has recorded Beethoven Triple Concerto with Insula Orchestra and Laurence Equilbey for the prestigious label Erato.
For the last 3 years Alexandra has had the pleasure to work under the guidance and mentoring of one of the worlds leading professor, Edouard Wulfson in Geneva. Alexandra currently plays on Giovanni Batistta Guadagnini, ca. 1785 ex “Ida Levin”, on a kind loan from a music lover.
