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Helena Ricci is a trailblazing classical harpist from Switzerland who is making waves as a creative entrepreneur. In recent years, she has had the privilege of performing at prestigious venues such as St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Royal Opera House, and the Wigmore Hall, as well as playing for King Charles III. Before coming to Verbier, Helena took part in the Encuentro de Santander and the Britten-Pears Young Artist programme. She is a Master alumna of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she honed her skills and developed her unique artistic vision. She is passionate about merging classical music with technology and art through her innovative MUS!LUX project, which aims to create immersive concert experiences for audiences. In addition to her work as a musician, she is also a talented videographer. Her film on Brian and Roger Eno’s Cerulean Blue was selected as its official video for Deutsche Grammophon, showcasing her versatile talents in both music and visual arts.
Jan Olejniczak is a graduate in Sound Engineering from the Łódź Academy of Music and is currently in the final year of his Master’s studies in Classical Music Sound Engineering at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. As the author of interactive multimedia installations showcased at events such as the Musica Moderna Festival in Lodz and the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music, Jan is looking for different ways of representing movement in sound. He has been associated with the Lodz Film School for many years, working on film sets and in post-production. His interests span classical and contemporary music recordings and sound creation in audiovisual forms. He is also fascinated by interactive sound and sonification, which he explores in his scientific work.
Christian Aylward, a German/British audio engineer, grew up playing piano, drums and guitar, which expanded into songwriting and audio engineering. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague with a Bachelor of Music ‘Art and Sound’ with a minor in composition. During his studies, he increased his audio engineering and language skills through an exchange semester at the CNSMDP in Paris. In 2019, Christian completed a six-month audio engineering practicum at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, further honing his engineering craft and professionalism. Since September 2023, he has been pursuing his Master of Music degree in Sound Recording at McGill University in Montreal. During the 155th Audio Engineering Society convention, Christian successfully represented McGill University, earning a ‘Gold’ award in the Student Recording Competition.
Victoria Barroso, born and raised in Toulouse, France, began her musical journey at 12, focusing on piano and music theory. At 14 she began Conservatory studies in double bass While majoring in music in high school, she broadened her interests to include music production. In 2021, she enrolled in McGill University’s Sound Recording programme, graduating from the Qualifying Year in 2022 and advancing to the Master’s program in 2023. That same year, she showcased her skills as a sound and video engineer at the soundSCAPE music festival in Blonay, Switzerland. Victoria’s dedication and creativity continue to shape her impactful career in music production.
Baritone Lewei Wang, a native of Beijing, is currently in his third year as an undergraduate student at The Juilliard School, studying under Cynthia Hoffmann. Lewei has displayed his talent in various roles, including the Notary and the Chief of Police in Juilliard’s production of Gianni Schicchi and Amelia al Ballo. He has also been featured as a soloist with iSING and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Lewei recently made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in the Chinese Young Artists Showcase Concert on October 8, 2023. This season, he has taken on the roles of the Narrator and Buff in Juilliard’s productions of I Due Timidi and Der Schauspieldirektor.
Daria Brusova, a native of Salsk in the Rostov region of Russia, obtained her degree from the Academic Musical College at the Moscow State Conservatory, specializing in vocal performance. Currently in her fifth year of study at the Moscow State Conservatory, Daria is also a member of the prestigious Bolshoi Theater Young Opera Program since 2022. In October 2023, she achieved the 2nd Prize at the esteemed 56th International Vocal Competition’s-Hertogenbosch (IVC) in the LiedDuo category. Possessing a lyrical coloratura soprano voice, Daria’s repertoire includes a variety of classical, chamber, and baroque works. She has already portrayed roles such as the Queen of the Night, as well as having Gilda and Musetta in her repertoire.
Sofia Anisimova is a Ukrainian mezzo-soprano, member the Opéra National de Paris academy since September 2023 and resident at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium. She made her debut during the 2024-2025 season of the Opéra National de Paris in the role of Kate Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly directed by Robert Wilson. She plays the role of Costanza in Haydn’s L’isola Disabitata. In the 2025-2026 season, she will perform the role of Ramiro in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera. In August 2025, she will sing the role of Olga in Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin at the Verbier Festival. That same month, she will participate in the production of Cosi fan tutte in the role of Dorabella at the Castel Artès Festival.
In June 2024, Sofia played the title role in the opera La Victoire de Karima, created by Edwin Baudo, at the Philharmonie de Paris. In September 2024 at the Salle Cortot in Paris, she presented her narrative show l‘Invitation au voyage, based on the story of her forced journey from Ukraine to France due to the war. She is supported by the Orphée Musique Foundation and has taken part in several masterclasses with major opera figures such as Michel Plasson, Sophie Koch, Thomas Quasthoff, Susan Graham, Karine Deshayes, Zoryana Kushpler, Maciej Pikulski and others. Sofia is also socially and politically committed. For several years she was a deputy on the Kharkiv Youth Council, and has been deputy head of the Department of Cultural Development since 2019
Winner of the 2022 SWR Junge Opernstars competition, mezzo-soprano Valerie Eickhoff is quickly establishing herself as an artist of intense musicality and brilliant vocalism. The 2023/24 season sees several important house and role debuts for her including as Ramiro in La finta giardiniera with Theater an der Wien and as Driade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Bayerische Staatsoper. She will also return to Deutsche Oper am Rhein as a guest artist to debut the roles of Angelina in Cenerentola and Marylou in Märchen im Grand Hotel. Concert work includes Poème de l’amour et de mer with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Orchestra della Toscana Italy, and a concert of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Respighi’s Il Tramonto with the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchestra. Ms. Eickhoff also records the complete Hans Eisler Hollywood Songbook with pianist Eric Schneider this season, which is released on the Ars Production label.
German soprano Felicitas Wrede started her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy with Brigitte Wohlfarth. Since 2022 she has studied with Amanda Roocroft at the Royal College of Music in London as an ABRSM scholar. She won the Second Prize as well as the Audience Prize at the Sollima International Competition 2016 in Enna (Sicily). In concert, she has performed at the Thomaskirche, Nikolaikirche, Gewandhaus and at the Händelfestspiele Göttingen. On the opera stage she has appeared as Pamina in The Magic Flute, as Clomiri in Imeneo, as the title role in Die Kluge and as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel.
English baritone Redmond Sanders studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he was a member of the Opera School and studied with Susan Waters, supported by the Countess of Munster Trust and the Drake Calleja Trust.
A finalist in the Guildhall Gold Medal Competition 2025 and semi-finalist in the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, he was also a member of the 2024 Atelier Lyrique at the Verbier Festival, where he received the Thierry Mermod Prize.
His operatic roles include Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro at the Verbier Festival, Corporal in The Daughter of the Regiment at Grange Park Opera, and a Cappadocian in Salome with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano.
He has taken part in masterclasses with artists including Barbara Frittoli, Leo Nucci, Sir Thomas Allen, Sandrine Piau and Anne Sofie von Otter.