Voted ADAMI Classical Discovery of the Year at Midem in Cannes, awarded the Sacem Georges Enesco Prize, guest artist at the 23rd Victoires de la Musique in Toulouse and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, Nicolas Dautricourt is one of the most brilliant and engaging French violinists of his generation.
In January 2019 he made his debuts at the Paris Philharmonie with Orchestre National d’Ile de France, performing Prokofiev second violin concerto under british conductor Jamie Philipps, and appears regularly at major international venues, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Wigmore Hall, Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Salle Pleyel, Cité de la Musique and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées among others. He also appears at many classical and jazz festivals such as Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest, Festival Enesco in Bucharest, Music@Menlo, Pärnu, Ravinia, Sintra, Davos, Tokyo and Nantes Folles Journées, Jazz à Vienne, Marciac Jazz Festival, Jazz à la Grange, and has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, SWR Saarbrücken, BBC Wales National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Aachen Symphony, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Quebec Symphony, Oulu Sinfonia, Liège Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Novosibirsk Philharmonie, International Players Busan, Mexico Philharmonic, NHK Tokyo Chamber Orchestra and the Kanazawa Orchestral Ensemble, under conductors Leonard Slatkin, Paavo Järvi, Fabien Gabel, Yan- Pascal Tortelier, Tugan Sokhiev, Frédéric Chaslin, Maxim Emelyanichev, Stanislas Lefort, Philippe Auguin, David Niemann, Dennis Russell Davies, Wolfgang Doerner, Carlos-Miguel Prieto, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Yuri Bashmet, Michaël Francis, François-Xavier Roth, Kazuki Yamadaand Vahan Mardirossian.
In January 2025, will be released a recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto with BBC Wales National under great conductor Frederic Chaslin, and a Schumann Violin Concerto with the Manchester Camerata under conductor and former leader of the legendary Takacs Quartet, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, is also under process.

Awarded in numerous international violin contests, such as Wieniawski, Lipizer, and Belgrade, he has studied with Philip Hirschhorn, Miriam Fried, and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, and since September 2023, is a member of the Ensemble Midtvest based in Herning (Danemark).

Artistic director of the Fêtes Musicales de Corbigny, Nicolas Dautricourt plays a magnificent instrument by Antonio Stradivari, the "Château Pape-Clément" (Cremona 1704), on loan from Bernard Magrez, and in January 2021, has received from the French Ministry of Culture, the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

Born into a musical family in Cape Town in 1978, Xandi van Dijk received his first violin lessons at age 4 and has been playing the viola since 1990.
Since the end of 2007 Xandi has been a member of the internationally renowned Signum Quartet. With them he has been a laureate of international competitions, and from 2011-2013 they were BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. Their recordings have received universal acclaim, and in 2014 the quartet was awarded an International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for their album “No.3”.
Concert appearances have led the Signum Quartet from the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall and the Berliner Philharmonie to the the Aldeburgh Festival, the Festival Aix-en-Provence and the BBC Proms. The Signum Quartet has recorded for Capriccio, harmonia mundi and Sony Classical, and currently records for Pentatone.
Xandi has been principal viola of the Munich Chamber Orchestra since 2017. He is a regular guest principal with i.a. the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Orchestre de chambre de Paris and the Estonian Festival Orchestra.
To further his artistic development as both chamber musician and soloist, van Dijk has had classes with i.a. Wolfram Christ, Lawrence Dutton and Yo-Yo Ma, and has worked together closely with the Alban Berg Quartet, the Artemis Quartet and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. He has had conducting masterclasses with Leonid Grin, Neeme Järvi and Paavo Järvi.
As a conductor, Xandi has worked with all the major South African orchestras. He premiered P.L. van Dijk’s opera earthdiving at the Spier Summer Festival, conducted the William Kentridge production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Cape Town and Johannesburg, recorded the soundtrack to the Philip Noyce blockbuster Catch a Fire and premiered Denis Goldberg and Matthijs van Dijk’s Moments in a Life at the SICMF 2016.

Anna Vasileva was born in 1986 in St-Petersburg into a family of musicians and started playing violin at the age of four. In 1994 she entered the special music school of St-Petersburg Conservatory where she studied with Lev Ivaschenko, Elena Zaitseva and Vladimir Ovcharek. She continued her education at the St-Petersburg Conservatory and simultaneously at the Basel Music Academy (with Thomas Füri) and later at the Lausanne Conservatory (with Pierre Amoyal). During 2005-2008 Anna was a member of Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (under the artistic direction of Claudio Abbado) and during 2005-2007 of the Verbier Festival Youth Orchestra (under the artistic direction of James Levine). Later, Anna regularly performed as a member of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Orchestra of Opernhaus Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and since 2012, has been a member of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Anna participated in the master classes of Christian Altenburger, Rainer Kussmaul, Zakhar Bron and Friedemann Eichhorn. As a soloist, Anna appeared with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, St-Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Lausanne University Symphony Orchestra and Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Anna participates regularly in the festivals of Verbier and Gstaad.

After graduating from The Academy of Music in Podgorica and taking his M.A. at The Faculty of Musical Art in Belgrade, the double-bass player Zoran Marković continued his studies with renowned pedagogues in Venice, Cremona, Munich, Salzburg.

During his study, he was awarded numerous prizes at competitions at home and abroad. As a member of the Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra he was awarded the Prešeren Fund prize (the prestigious Slovene prize) in 1999, the O. Župančič prize in 2004, and the J. Betetto prize in 2006.

Zoran Marković performs in Slovenia and abroad as a soloist, with renowned orchestras and chamber musicians. He has been successfully performing as a soloist with the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, The RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Detmolder Kammerorchester, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Nuova Orchestra Ferruccio Busoni, the Slovenicum ensemble, the Strings Chamber Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, St. George's Strings, the Niš Symphonic Orchestra, Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Britten String Orchestra…

He performed at the Aspecte Salzburg, Neuebühne Villach, Serenate nel Chiostro, Trieste Prima, I suoni delle Dolomiti, Akzente-Neue Music in Klagenfurt, Ljubljana Summer Festival, Grad teatar Budva, PAC Murska Sobota, A Tempo Podgorica, Oxford Chamber Music festival, Osnabrücker Musikfestival classic con brio, Düsseldorf ChamberJam, Stiftfestival, Gauting München, The Schloss Elmau, Holstebro “Klassiske Dage”, Storioni Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Sonoro, Stavanger, Sylt, Stradun classic Dubrovnik,

From 1990 to 2004 he was the head of double basses of the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra. From January 2004, he is employed as a senior lecturer at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He has been a permanent external associate of the RTV Symphony Orchestra as a double-bass soloist since 2006. He also acts as a professor at the International Summer Academies of Music in Austria, Italy, Holland, England, Finland and Germany.

His relentless search for better sound has also led him on a path of discovery and innovation. Many years of research and development resulted in the invention of ZMT (Zoran Marković Tailpiece), a tailpiece which enhances the acoustical properties of stringed instruments.

Violist and director Jennifer Stumm blazes a courageous creative path with diverse projects mixing sheer musical enthusiasm with boundary-breaking artistic direction and committed advocacy for social equity. Known for the “opal-like beauty" (Washington Post) of her sound, Jennifer appears on the world’s great stages like Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Kennedy Center, and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. She is winner of the William Primrose, Geneva and Concert Artist Guild competitions (and the first violist ever to win first prize.) The 2021-22 season brings appearances at festivals around the world, Jennifer’s debut in the large hall of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, solo tours of Ireland and the UK and the release of a new album. Jennifer also makes her Lucerne Festival debut, as both director and violist in a new staged program from Ilumina called “The Nature of Light.”

Jennifer is founder and director of Ilumina, the São Paulo-based artist collective and social equity initiative, which has ascended rapidly to prominence as a modern model for 21st century creativity and the advancement of diverse talent. Ilumina unites leading international soloists with the best rising talent from Latin America, working and performing side-by-side at the Ilumina festival and on tour around the world, with the goal that worthy talent receives an equal chance to shine. Ilumina young artists now study at leading music schools around the world. Jennifer’s flair for curation and stage direction has received much attention, and Ilumina concerts invite listeners to be immersed in dynamic musical worlds, steadfastly committed to interpretation, powered by the freshness and energy of cultural exchange.

Jennifer is in much demand as a speaker and regularly interacts with the innovation and technology sector about how artistic thinking can impact social progress, productivity and the world of ideas. Her viral TEDx talk about the viola and the blessings of being different, “The Imperfect Instrument,” was named an editor’s pick of all TED talks and led to a solo debut at the Berlin Philharmonie. Jennifer has released two celebrated solo albums. Her debut recording for Naxos’ Laureate Series featured works by Italian composer/violist Alessandro Rolla, hailed as "an absolutely phenomenal display of virtuoso viola playing" (The New Recordings.) She next released her album of Berlioz's Harold In Italy and performed the work in her unique staging and characterization almost fifty times.

A recipient of the prestigious BBC New Generation artist and Borletti Buitoni Trust awards for her work in chamber music, she appears at major festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro, Stavanger, Spoleto, Aldeburgh, Delft and IMS Prussia Cove and regularly appears with Spectrum Concerts Berlin and as a trio with cellist Jens-Peter Maintz and Kolja Blacher.

Jennifer Stumm is Professor of Viola at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, International Chair of Viola Studies at the Royal College of Music, London and gives masterclasses around the world. Since her school days teaching strings in the Atlanta inner city, she has devoted considerable time to supporting young musicians from developing nations, both in person and online.

Born in Atlanta, Jennifer first heard the viola when she was eight and, enchanted by its sound, began playing in her school's orchestra. She studied with Karen Tuttle at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, with Nobuko Imai in Amsterdam as well as with Steven Isserlis at IMS Prussia Cove, and also pursued interests in politics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer plays a Gasparo da Salò viola, 1589, generously on loan from a private trust.

“…a natural player who makes you listen…one is struck by his sound and his large music-making gestures” – The Strad Magazine

Andrey Baranov is the winner of the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition. He also won the Benjamin Britten and Henri Marteau International Violin Competitions, and prizes at more than twenty other international competitions including Indianapolis, Seoul, Sendai, Liana Isakadze, David Oistrakh, and Paganini (Moscow) international competitions.

Andrey is the first violinist of the David Oistrakh Quartet, an outstanding ensemble established in 2012.

Born in St Petersburg in 1986 into a family of musicians, Andrey began playing the violin at the age of five. He attended the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St-Petersburg and the Consevatoire de Lausanne. He studied with L. Ivaschenko, V. Ovcharek, P. Popov, but the most important teacher for Andrey will always be the legendary French violinist Pierre Amoyal. Andrey also has taken masterclasses from B. Kushnir, L. Isakadze, and K. Kashkashian among many others.

Since making his major debut in 2005 at the St Petersburg Philharmonie hall under V. Petrenko and the Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrey has performed on renowned stages throughout the world including Bozar Brussels, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Großer Saal Mozarteum, Cadogan Hall London, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and St.-Petersburg Philharmonic halls.

Many of Andrey’s performances have been broadcast worldwide – on BR Klassik, Radio Orpheus, Espace 2 (Switzerland), YLE Radio (Finland), WFYI, WFMT Chicago (USA) and NHK Sendai (Japan).

Andrey has appeared with leading international orchestras including Luxembourg Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium, MusicAeterna Orchestra, St-Petersburg Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic London, SWR Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra,  under direction of K. Nagano, T Currentzis, V. Petrenko, N. Alekseev, M. Tabachnik, W. Weller, K. Yamashita, A. Boreyko and E. Krivine among others.

Andrey has performed alongside such renowned artists as Martha Argerich, Julian Rachlin, Boris Andrianov, Pierre Amoyal, Liana Isakadze.

At the young age of 23, Andrey was appointed as teaching assistant to Pierre Amoyal at the Conservatoire de Lausanne and has since been in demand as a teacher at many international masterclasses. He has been invited to conservatories in Bangkok, Chicago, Riga, Vilnius, Stockholm, Moscow and more.

Boris Andrianov, a renowned Russian cellist, performs in the world's top venues and at most prestigious festivals. While having an extensive touring schedule, the artist is also keen on performing in Russia, whether in big cities, small towns or remote villages that had never seen any concerts at all. He has also participated in many international and national projects aimed at expanding the country’s musical landscapes, especially in Russian provinces. Invariably enjoying great success with the public, those projects bring together internationally renowned performers along with Boris Andrianov himself.

Boris Andrianov was born in Moscow in 1976. He studied at the Gnessin Moscow Special School of Music (class of Vera Birina), Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (class of Professor Natalia Shakhovskaya) and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin (class of Professor David Geringas).

He was the winner of Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Zagreb as well as competitions in Johannesburg, Hanover (Classica Nova – In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich, as part of a duo with Alexey Goribol), Paris (Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch), and South Korea (Isang Yun Competition). He was also a prize-winner at the 11^th International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Triumph Youth Award, and was titled Honored Artist of Russia in 2016.

Boris Andrianov has performed with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yury Simonov, Pavel Kogan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alexander Vedernikov, Gianandrea Noseda, Dmitry Liss, Roman Kofman, Vasily Petrenko, Stefan Vladar, Dmitri Jurowski, and Alexander Sladkovsky. In chamber performances, he has played alongside Yury Bashmet, Menahem Pressler, Akiko Suwanai, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Itamar Golan, Denis Matsuev, Sergey Nakaryakov, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Alexey Lyubimov, Tatiana Grindenko, to name a few.

The musician has participated in the Royal Swedish Festival, as well as festivals in Ludwigsburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Edinburgh, Dubrovnik, Colmar, Davos, Irkutsk (Stars on Baikal), Trans-Siberian Art Festival and others. He is also a regular guest of the Homecoming Chamber Music Festival in Moscow.

Boris Andrianov heads The Generation of Stars, a nation-wide project that has been awarded the Prize for culture of the Government of Russia (2009). He also initiated Vivacello and Vivarte international festivals in Moscow and has been artistic director for both. In addition, he is the artistic director of Musical Expedition festival, that was founded in the Vladimir region and has been expanding every year. In 2021, the festival covered six Russian regions, including Udmurtia, Vologda and Novosibirsk regions, Crimea and Kamchatka.

Widely collaborating with contemporary composers, Boris Andrianov has repeatedly presented premieres of new works, including those by Giya Kancheli, Krzysztof Penderecki, Efrem Podgaits, Michael Berkeley, Richard Dubugnon, Alexander Rosenblatt, Giovanni Sollima, Vangelis, Alexey Rybnikov, Pavel Karmanov, Samuel Strouk, Alexey Shor and others.

The artist's discography includes a joint recording with guitarist Dmitry Illarionov, released by Delos (in 2003 the record was included in the long list of Grammy nominees in Chamber Ensemble category); Sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff with pianist Rem Urasin (named the best chamber disc of the month by Gramophone in September 2007), and sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord by J. S. Bach transcribed for cello and button accordion, recorded with Yuri Medianik (released by Melodiya, 2015). In 2020–2021 he recorded Variations on Rococo Theme by Tchaikovsky with the State Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan under Alexander Sladkovsky (Sony Classics), Gabriel Prokofiev's Cello Concerto with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexey Bogorad (world premiere of the recording) as well as the Jazz Reflections of Bach Suites with Leonid and Niсk Vintskevich, as well as all cello suites by J.S. Bach (the release is scheduled for 2022).

Since 2009 Boris Andrianov has been teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. The artist plays a cello made by Carlo Bergonzi from the State Collection of Unique Musical Instruments.

Following her stunning recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall The Strad hailed Maja Bogdanovic for “an outstanding performance of exceptional tonal beauty and great maturity of interpretation - gloriously honeyed, fiery, eloquent and fervent.” Since then, she has taken her place among today’s foremost cellists. Concerto engagements have included the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Tokyo Philharmonic, Minas Gerais Symphony, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, and the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In the U.S., Ms. Bogdanovic made her debut at the 2017 Grand Teton Music Festival under the baton of Cristian Macelaru. She has also performed with the Forth Worth Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Portland Symphony, Columbus Symphony and Princeton Symphony.

An avid chamber musician, Maja Bogdanovic is a frequent guest at leading chamber music festivals and worlds leading venues such as Kuhmo Festival in Finland,, Amsterdamse Cello Biënnale, Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, Folle Journée/Nantes, Storioni Festival, and the Stift International Chamber Music Festival in The Netherlands, performing with artists such as Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Julian Rachlin, Nino Gvetadze, Daniel Rowland, Nemanja Radulovic and Marianna Schiriniyan. Maja has produced several internationally-released CDs for labels Lyrinx and Nimbus and her recital disc ‘Eastern wind’ (Orchid Classics), with pianist Maria Belooussova, dedicated to Glière and Rachmaninoff received rave reviews. Maja’s latest CD release (Challenge Records) with violinist Daniel Rowland, ‘Pas de deux’, includes world premiere recordings of works by Penderecki, Vasks, Sollima and Nisinman, and was described as ‘a magical meeting of cello and violin’ by leading Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad.

Within her wide repertoire, Maja Bogdanovic devotes a special place to contemporary music. She has premiered works of Nicolas Bacri, Sofia Gubaidulina, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Sawyers, Eric Tanguy, Benjamin Yusupov, Natasha Bogojević, Isidora Žebeljan, among others. Her collaboration with Krzysztof Penderecki began with the Belgrade Philharmonic in 2008, and with the Slovenian Philharmonic in Ljubljana, where she performed his Cello Concerto No. 2 under the baton of the composer. This led to several further collaborations, such as with the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, the Orchestra National de Pays de la Loire and the Krakow Philharmonic. Amongst a select group of the world’s leading artists, including Lorin Maazel, Anne-Sophie Mutter and others, she was invited to play for special performances in Warsaw and Krakow celebrating Maestro Penderecki’s 80th and 85th birthdays. In 2019, Maja recorded Krzysztof Penderecki’s Second Cello Concerto under the guidance of Maestro Penderecki, for the DUX Label.

Laureate of numerous international competitions, Ms. Bogdanovic won First Prize at the third Aldo Parisot Cello Competition in South Korea and received the Second Prize and Special Audience Award at the Gaspar Cassado International Competition in Tokyo. She was awarded the Special Prize at the Concours Rostropovich in Paris and, in the same year.

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Maja began playing the cello at a very early age, studying with Professor Nada Jovanovic in Zemun. She went on to graduate with a First Prize from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she completed her postgraduate course with Michel Strauss; while there, she also studied chamber music with Itamar Golan and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Following her studies in Paris, she pursued further training at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Professor Jens Peter Maintz, as well as Bernard Greenhouse, Alban Gerhardt, and Heinrich Schiff.

Maja’s instrument was custom made for her by French luthier Frank Ravatin. She lives in Amsterdam with her husband, violinist Daniel Rowland and their Daughter Lily.

Madeline Adkins joined the Utah Symphony as Concertmaster in September 2016. Prior to this appointment, she was Associate Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for 11 years. Adkins has also recently been appointed as the Music Director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series, in its 41st season in Salt Lake City, UT.

A sought-after soloist, Adkins has appeared with orchestras in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 20 US states. Her CD of the complete works for violin and piano by Felix Mendelssohn with pianist Luis Magalhães on the TwoPianists label was released to critical acclaim in late 2016. Additional discography includes 13 recordings with the Baltimore Symphony, where she was a featured soloist on the Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 + 4, six discs with the Utah Symphony, and recordings with Boston Baroque, Armonia Celeste, and the Adkins String Ensemble. Adkins has performed as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. She has been a guest artist at numerous summer festivals including the Sarasota Music Festival, Music in the Mountains, and the Grand Teton Music Festival, as well as a coach at the National Orchestral Institute and the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The daughter of noted musicologists, Adkins is the youngest of eight children, six of whom are professional musicians. She received her Bachelor’s summa cum laude from the University of North Texas and her Master’s degree from New England Conservatory.

She performs on the "ex-Chardon" Guadagnini of 1782, graciously loaned by Gabrielle Israelievitch to perpetuate the legacy of her late husband, former Toronto Symphony concertmaster, Jacques Israelievitch.

The Japanese violinist and violist, Maya Egashira, served as concertmaster in the Orquestra do Porto Casa da Musica in Portugal, and prior to that, played in the Sinfonia Lahti, and Kuopio City Orchestra in Finland. She has been invited as guest concertmaster by orchestras in Finland, Sweden, Portugal, South Africa and Japan.

Since 2015, she has regularly been invited to perform in the Maputo Classical Music Season and she is dedicated to working with the local music students at the Xiquitsi Project in Mozambique.

Her interests in chamber music, both as violinist and violist, extend over the regular repertoire to the contemporary era. She is a member of Ensemble Falke based in Kyushu and the contemporary ensemble “MusicaQuLacoza” in Nagoya. Her solo recital in 2014 and the concert featuring Xenakis in 2021 by Ensemble Falke were highly praised in the national music magazine “Ongaku-no-tomo”.

Maya Egashira holds a Master of Music (2008, highest honors) from the Sibelius Academy and the Bachelor’s degree from the Aichi University of Arts. She studied the violin with Yoko Seto, Michael Vaiman, Jozef Kopelman and Alexandre Vinnitski, and the viola with Toby Hoffmann and Ron Ephrat. She participated master courses with P.Vernikov, G.Pauk, S.Minz, Alban Berg Quartet among others.

Maya is appearing at the 2024 SICMF with the kind permission of the Xiquitsi Project in Mozambique.

YaoGuang Zhai currently serves as the principal clarinetist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2016. Prior to that, he was the associate principal clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony in Canada and the principal clarinetist of the Shanghai Symphony in China.

YaoGuang has established himself as a sought-after soloist and orchestra player, having performed with several major orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra (Canada), the Toronto Summer Music Festival Orchestra, the Stellenbosch International Music Festival Orchestra (South Africa), the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (China), the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra (Aspen), and the Springfield Symphony Orchestras. Additionally, he has served as a guest principal clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

YaoGuang has played as the principal clarinetist during the live recording of Handel’s Messiah, arranged and conducted by Sir Andrew Davies, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the year-end 2015 performance released by Chandos Records. He has also recorded for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s exam-level commercial CD, which has been sold across North America.

As a chamber musician, YaoGuang has actively participated in various music festivals around the world, including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, The Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival, Music From Angel Fire Festival, Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Beijing International Clarinet Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Chongqing International Clarinet Festival in China, and the International Clarinet Festival in Taiwan.

YaoGuang is also a respected educator and has held teaching positions at several prestigious institutions, including guest teaching faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, Valade clarinet faculty at the Interlochen Summer Music Camp, the Curtis Institute Summer Music Camp, Master-Players Summer Music Festival, and National Youth Orchestra of China. He currently serves as an associate professor of clarinet at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

YaoGuang’s musical journey began at the age of three when he started playing the violin. He later switched to the clarinet and entered the China Central Conservatory in 1999. In 2003, he came to the United States and attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy as a full scholarship student. He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music and graduated in 2009. During his studies, YaoGuang won several competitions, including the Hellam Competition, the Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition, Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, the Spotlight Award, and the Pacific Symphony Concerto Competition. His instructors include distinguished clarinetists Yehuda Gilad, Donald Montanaro, Ricardo Morales, and Joaquin Valdepeñas.

YaoGuang Zhai is a Buffet Crampon and Vandoren artist.

Saxophonist and conductor, Liam Burden teaches saxophone and clarinet at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre where he is Departmental Head: Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion and Piano, and is the principal conductor of the Hugo Lambrechts Symphony Orchestra. He also lectures saxophone at Stellenbosch University on a part-time basis. Liam graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2020 with an MMus cum laude researching repertoire choices of youth orchestras in South Africa. During his studies, he was afforded the opportunity to study at the West Virginia University, USA on an exchange programme studying with Dr Michael Ibrahim (saxophone) and Dr Mitchel Arnold (conducting). Liam has participated in all the major instrumental as well as conducting competitions in South Africa namely, the Len van Zyl Conductors Competition where he was a finalist in 2019 conducting the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, SAMRO Overseas Scholarship and Unisa Licentiate Competitions (saxophone), and ATKV Muziq Competition (saxophone and percussion). Liam made his debut performance with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in 2022, in the South African premier of Kevin Houben's Legend of a Giant, to high acclaim. He is an avid chamber musician having performed with the Connections Saxophone Quartet and the newly formed Intonga Reed Quintet of which he is a founding member. As of 1 June this year, Liam will be taking up the position of principal conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

Ekaterina was born in Moscow in a family of scientists and athletes. She started playing music at the age of 4. As a child she performed on the historical stage of Bolshoi Theater as a part of children's choir. In 2003 Ekaterina enrolled in Central Music School of P. I. Tchaikovsky, the class of famous flute professor Dolzhikov. Since age 11, Ekaterina has regularly participated in international music festivals in France, Norway, Germany, Israel, Russia, Greece, Austria and Italy, visited master classes of the famous professors in Europe, such as Felix Renggli, Francois Laurent, Vicens Prat, Vincent Luca, Shigenori Kudo, David Formizano, Kersten McCall, Andrea Lieberkneht, Philippe Bernold and Sophie Cherie.

Ekaterina Kornishina shares the stage with no less than Denis Matsuev, Vladimir Spivakov, Alexander Sladkovsky, Christian Schultz, Arkady Shilkloper and many others. At the age of 13 she won the "New Names" competition and got a scholarship of the New Names Foundation. Since then Denis Matsuev has been constantly inviting the young flutist to perform at the festivals "Crecendo" and "Stars on Baikal".
"Ekaterina Kornishina is one of the brightest flutists of the younger generation. Ekaterina is a student of the New Names Foundation and a former student of the great Dolzhikov, a fantastic master of flute artistry. She is a modern, talented, motivated musician destroying the stereotype that a wind instrument player can only make a career in the orchestra by successfully performing solo," — said the renowned pianist.

In 2010 Ekaterina made a debut at the Brahms hall in Vienna with Mozart's concerto and Wiener Concert-Verein orchestra. At the age of 18 after graduating from the Central Music School Ekaterina was invited by Vladimir Spivakov to become a soloist of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. Spivakov also gave her a a great instrument as a gift. In 2016 Ekaterina received Hyundai scholarship for her academic success at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky conservatory. In 2018 Ekaterina finished the Conservatory, class of Professor Alexander Golyshev and enrolls in Reina Sofia Academy in Madrid, class of Jacques Zoon.

Ivy Ringel is the Principal Bassoon of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Prior to her time in Indianapolis,
she was the Principal Bassoon of the Atlanta Opera and the Des Moines Metro Opera. She has served as guest
Principal Bassoon with the Atlanta Symphony, and has joined the orchestras of Houston, Buffalo, Rochester,
Louisiana, Jacksonville, Chattanooga, and Syracuse. Ms. Ringel has served as adjunct professor of bassoon at
Indiana University, Butler University and Morehouse College, and has taught masterclasses at Indiana
University, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Columbus State University and the Meg Quigley
Bassoon Symposium. Ms. Ringel is a prize winner of the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and the Yamaha
Young Performing Artists Competition.

Ivy is a passionate advocate for chamber music and commissioning new works. In addition to joining the
Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival this summer, she has spent summers with the Grand Teton
Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Round Top Music Festival and Chautauqua Music Festival. Ivy
has also collaborated with the Ronen Chamber Ensemble, Slee Sinfonetta and Ensemble Signal. Ivy also works
with the Rossini Club, a chamber music organization based on Nantucket Island that uses multidisciplinary
presentations, innovative programming, and commissioning new works to share classical and contemporary
music with the Nantucket community every summer. Ivy, through the Rossini Club, has commissioned works by
Derek David, Nick Davies, Sarah Gibson and Theo Chandler.

Originally from Hillsborough, North Carolina, Ivy grew up in a musical family, starting the violin before
switching to the bassoon. With her family, she is a founding member of threeplustwo, an unlikely cross-genre
band that blends classical, jazz and folk to create a lively and intimate sound. Her primary teachers include
Benjamin Kamins, Michael Burns, Charlie Bailey and John Hunt. Ms. Ringel holds degrees from Rice
University and the Eastman School of Music. When she is not playing the bassoon or making reeds, Ivy enjoys
cooking, traveling, live music, and hiking.

PAMELA KIERMAN graduated with a BMus in Musicology from the University of Port Elizabeth in 1983 and MMus from Stellenbosch University in 2009. She taught brass at Alexander Road High School from 1986-1987 and at Hoërskool Voortrekker, Cape Town, in July 1987. She participated in the upgrading of the SACC Band in Wynberg, Cape Town, and in 1991 was appointed as brass teacher at Plumstead High School. In 1998, she was appointed as the Head of Brass at the Beau Soleil Music Centre where she remained until her appointment at Stellenbosch University in 2004. At the University she co-ordinates and lectures in the brass department, conducts the University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and works with the Rural Engagement Programme of the Certificate Programme. As an ad hoc horn player, she has performed with the Cape Sinfonia, the Cape Town Chamber Orchestra, Windworx Symphonic Wind Orchestra, Con Spirito Symphony Orchestra, the Namibian Symphony Orchestra and former CAPAB orchestra. She has also been active as a chamber musician, performing in brass quintets and horn quartets. Kierman has worked extensively in the sphere of community music and is chairperson of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Community Interaction and Service-Learning Committee. In 2011 she received the Rector’s Award for Excellence in Community Interaction. She is currently pursuing PhD studies at Stellenbosch University.

Marco Silva was born in Porto, Portugal, and began his studies at the Conservatory of Maia in 2004 with Helder Magalhães. In 2007 he joined the class of Professor Paulo Silva at the ARTAVE School and continued with a Bachelor’s Degree in 2013 at the Superior School of Music of Lisbon with Stephen Mason and David Burt. In 2014 he entered for a soloist’s Master’s Degree at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste with Frits Damrow where he enrolled at the Zurich Opera Orchestra Akademie in which he participated until 2016. In 2012 and 2013 he regularly deputised in the Ochestre de Jeunes de la Méditerranée (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'zur.) having already performed in recitals in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland and other countries. In 2013, he participated in the national debut of Marc-André Dalbavie's Axiom, as part of the Debussy Festival under the auspices of the French Institute of Portugal and the Caloust Gulbenkian Foundation. In addition to prizes at numerous national competitions, Silva was a finalist at the 2017 Girolamo Fantini International Trumpet Competition in Rome, Italy and in 2022, won the Special Prize in the 7⁰ Maurice André International Trumpet Competition in Paris. He has worked with several orchestras including the Bern Symphonie Orchester, Zürich Opera Orchestra, Santa Siccilla Orchester, Caloust Gulbenkian Orchester and Portuguese Symphony Orchestra.

Geoffrey Pilkington was appointed principal horn of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in 2014, after ten years of holding the fourth horn position in the same orchestra. Pilkington completed his degree at The Juilliard School studying with Julie Landsman, and spent a year abroad at the Royal Academy of Music in London studying with Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins. In 2011, he joined the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra as associate principal/third horn and was featured as a soloist, performing Schumann’s Konzertstuck for four horns and orchestra. An accomplished recitalist, Pilkington has been awarded grand prizes at the International Horn Competition of America, The Florida Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Additionally, he has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and as guest principal horn with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was featured as a soloist in the 2016 Wagner Ring Cycles at the Kennedy Center, and has joined the San Francisco Opera for six complete Ring Cycles in 2011, and 2018. Pilkington met his wife, Kathryn, while they were studying at Juilliard. She is a founding member and co-artistic director of Washington, D.C.’s modern dance troupe, Company E, as well as a modern dance instructor at George Mason University. They live in Northern Virginia with their sons Gavin and Colin.

Mark was born in Bletchley, England in 1971 and started his musical studies aged 6 with the piano. He took up the euphonium when he was 11 and quickly became involved with the brass band movement playing with the most important London brass bands at the time . He took classes at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama junior department with John Clark and started playing the bass trombone here under the guidance of Roger Harvey.

In 1991 Mark started his formal studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London studying euphonium under John Clark and later bass trombone with Ron Bryans, Eric Crees and Simon Wills. He went on to continue his studies with Hans Rueckert and Andreas Kraft when he moved to Mannheim in Germany.

Mark was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra from 1993 to 1996 where he played under Claudio Abbado, Ricardo Chailly and Sir Neville Marriner receiving coaching here from Denis Wick. He was also a member of the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra during this period.

Professionally Mark worked for two years as a tenor, bass and contrabass trombonist at the National Theatre in Mannheim 1995-1997 and went on to join the Gran Canaria Philharmonic from 1997 where he continues to be a member. He is also a founder member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra having played their first major Project with Claudio Abbado in Aix en Provence in 1998. He continues to be an active member of this ensemble where he has also been a member of the orchestra board for 9 years with special responsibility for education and outreach. He is also a founder member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in its present form having played every year since its establishment under Claudio Abbado in 2003. He is also a founder member of the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra in China where he lived for the season 2016/2017 and was involved in recruitment, management consultancy and playing as leader of the wind section in this orchestra.

Since beginning these Projects Mark has enjoyed a diverse and active career playing in many of the top orchestras in Europe including Bavarian Radio Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,Tonhalle Zuerich, Deutsche Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen ,Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and many others, including many  Spanish ensembles. He has also had the pleasure of performing under many of the world’s most famous conductors including, Claudio Abbado, Ricardo Chailly, Lorin Maazel, Pierre Boulez, Kurt Mazur, Daniel Harding, Daniele Gatti, Herbert Blomstedt, Fabio Luisi, Gustavo Dudamel, Bernard Haitink, Andris Nelsons,Gustavo Dudamel to name but a few.

Mark has had an active international teaching career in the last ten years having taught across the globe in such institutions as the Australian National Academy of Music, Griffith University and Sydney Conservatory in Australia, the YST school of music at the National University of Singapore, Beijing Central Conservatory and China Conservatory and Shanghai Conservatory in China, South Africa National Youth Orchestra, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy and Royal Northern College of Music in the UK, Dortmund Orchesterzentrum, and Stuttgart Musikhochschule in Germany, and many establishments in Spain.

He is presently on staff at Essen Folkwang Musikhochschule, Franz Liszt Musikhochschule in Weimar, Superior Conservatory of Music of Aragon in Zaragoza and the Alicante Brass Academy.

He holds positions as artistic consultant at both the Youth Philharmonic of Columbia and the Global Youth Orchestra (China). Furthermore he is a tutor at the Alicante Brass Academy, Superior Conservatory of Aragon in Zaragoza, MpMusic academy in Valencia and Gustav Mahler Academy in Bolzano amongst others.

Mark has also been engaged extensively as an adjudicator and jury member globally having worked with the Corpus trombone competition in Hungary and the Beijing Central Conservatory amongst others.

Whatsmore he is active as a conductor have founded the South Africa National Youth Brass Ensemble and Colombian National Youth Brass Ensemble and regularly directs concerts of brass and wind music at the Gustav Mahler Academy in Bolzano and the Orchesterzentrum in Dortmund.

Mark is also active as a soloist having performed at the Portuguese National Trombone Festival in Braga in July 2018 and the Brazilian National Trombone Festival in Belem in September 2019. He will also undertake a tour of teaching and solo playing in China during the Autumn of 2019.

Jauvon Gilliam was named principal timpanist of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2009 at age 29.

Since 2011, Gilliam performs regularly as guest principal timpanist of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. He is also timpanist of the All-Star Orchestra, a made-for-PBS group comprised of players from orchestras across the United States.

Gilliam has previously performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as well as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He was also timpanist of the Bear Valley Music Festival for three seasons.

Prior to his NSO appointment, Gilliam was timpanist of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for seven years. While in Winnipeg, he was also timpanist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and, for a time, played drum set for the WSO pops series.

As an educator, Gilliam has taught clinics at universities and institutions across Canada and the United States, including the Interlochen Arts Academy, New World Symphony and at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He is currently co-director of Percussion Studies/artist-in-residence at the University of Maryland, co-founder of the annual Washburgh Timpani Seminar and is a timpani coach for the National Youth Orchestra of the USA.

A native of Gary, Indiana, Gilliam began his musical career playing piano, winning his first national competition at age 11. He received a full scholarship in piano performance to attend Butler University, but later changed to full-time percussion study. He graduated with honors with a degree in arts administration and then continued his graduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Jauvon proudly endorses Remo Drumheads, Yamaha Musical Instruments, Innovative Sticks and Sabian Cymbals.

---

“Next it was Gilliam’s turn to take the limelight…he delivered with a virtuosic performance. It was refreshing to see and hear this gifted musician emerge from the back of the orchestra.” -Winnipeg Free Press, 2005, Kraft Timpani Concerto

“Special mention must be made of timpanist Jauvon Gilliam, who pounded the skins right off their kettle drums.” -Winnipeg Free Press, 2007, Rite of Spring

Megan-Geoffrey Prins, from Riversdale, South Africa, has performed as soloist and collaborative artist in North America, Europe, Africa, and Hong Kong. Prins featured in various local and international piano competitions, including the Honens International Piano Competition, the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the UNISA National and International Piano Competitions, and the Midwest International Piano Competition. Prins made his concerto debut at the age of 11. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Germany, the USA, Botswana, and South Africa. His performances of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 were praised by German and South African critics for “technical precision,” “artistic expressivity,” and “transcendent” interpretation. In 2019, Prins was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Music. He was included in the Mail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans list in 2021. During Stellenbosch University’s centennial celebrations, Prins was featured as one of the hundred most notable graduates from the institution.

Prins currently serves as full-time piano lecturer on the faculty of the University of Pretoria: School of the Arts. He pursued postgraduate studies with Antonio Pompa-Baldi at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was awarded the Sadie Zellen Piano Prize, the Arthur Loesser Memorial Prize, and the Maurice and Judith Kaplow Prize for Uncommon Creativity. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Local achievements include first prizes at the UNISA 120th Anniversary Competition, the inaugural Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Competition, the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition, the 2016 Muziq Instrumental Competition, and the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition. He has been nominated for and won numerous local festival awards including a Woordtrofees for best instrumental classical music production at the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees and a KKNK Kanna award for best upcoming artist in 2009.

Emanuil Ivanov attracted international attention after receiving the first prize at the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Italy. This achievement was followed by concert engagements in some of the world’s most prestigious halls including Teatro alla Scala in Milan and Herculessaal in Munich. Emanuil Ivanov hails from Pazardzhik, Bulgaria. He regards the presence of symphonic music, especially that of Gustav Mahler, as tremendously influential in his musical upbringing. He started piano lessons with Galina Daskalova at the age of seven and later graduated from the Bertolt Brecht language high school in Pazardzhik. Ivanov studied with renowned Bulgarian pianist Atanas Kurtev. He is currently studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under Pascal Nemirovski and Anthony Hewitt, and is due to continue his studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music as a recipient of the prestigious Bicentenary Scholarship. He has received artistic guidance from Dmitri Bashkirov, Dmitri Alexeev, Sir Stephen Hough, Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Peter Donohoe. In 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ivanov performed a solo recital in Milan’s famous Teatro alla Scala. This live-streamed concert was a major highlight in the artist’s career. In 2022, he received the honorary silver medal of the Musician’s Company, London and the generous Carnwath Piano Scholarship. Emanuil Ivanov has given critically acclaimed recitals and concerto performances in Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, South Africa, the UK and Poland. In 2023, he recorded an album of Scarlatti sonatas for Naxos. Ivanov’s performances have been featured on BBC Radio 3, Italy’s Rai Radio 3 and Japan’s NHK Radio. Emanuil has continually shown affinity towards some of the more rarely performed works in the repertoire and in 2024 is scheduled to perform Busoni’s piano concerto.
Emanuil Ivanov has given critically acclaimed performances and tours in Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Poland and has played with leading orchestras in South Africa, Bulgaria and Italy. In the summer of 2023, he recorded an album of Scarlatti sonatas for the renowned Naxos label. Ivanov’s performances have been featured on BBC Radio 3, Italy’s Rai Radio 3 and Japan’s NHK Radio. This year Emanuil is also making his debuts on the stages of Wigmore Hall and Konzerthaus Dortmund. He has continually shown affinity towards some of the more rarely performed works in the repertoire and in 2024 is scheduled to perform Busoni’s mammoth piano concerto. Apart from playing the piano, he also displays great interest in composition and has composed regularly since childhood.

Pieter Bezuidenhout is a multi-award-winning composer, choir-conductor, instrumentalist, and producer whose musical voice, has come to be recognizable as truly unique and innovative (The Sunday Times). Constantly striving to bridge the gap between the younger and older generations of musicians across the cultural spectrum, he creates without the baggage of the past (Die Beeld).
Invested in the world of choral, chamber and theatre music, published internationally by Helbling Verlag Publishers in Germany his works have been performed on five continents. He has received awards in composition from the European Academy of Choral Music as well as the Stefans Grove Composition Award.
He was selected as one of the University of Johannesburg’s 2023 Artists in Residence and produced a large-scale isiZulu theatre work based on the poetry of Benedict Wallet Vilakazi for this programme; the first work of this nature to be produced on Vilakazi’s poetry. In August 2023 he also released his first solo Afrikaans Electro Pop album, SOEKER, an exploration of the Jungian Archetypes.
Further, as conductor of seven choral ensembles, he is committed to developing the South African choral genre. Most notably his adult chamber choir, The Horizons Project Choir, has premiered more than seventy new works by South African composers.