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Ava Dodd is an Irish soprano whose career has continued to gain international visibility since being named a Prix Yves Paternot laureate in 2023. In recent seasons, she has appeared with English National Opera in roles including Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Adina (L’elisir d’amore), and has performed at Oper Frankfurt, Wexford Festival Opera, Opéra national de Lorraine, and the Verbier Festival, where she returned in 2025 as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana. In 2024, she released her debut EP GEMS with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Ava Dodd is a Harewood Artist with English National Opera for the 2025/26 season and will make her Scottish Opera debut as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in 2026.
Australian cellist Benett Tsai gained international recognition after winning top prizes at the 2022 Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann Competition in Berlin. In 2023, he joined the roster of Young Concert Artists after winning First Prize and the Stern Young Artist Award at the YCA International Auditions in New York. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Sinfonia Lahti, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin, collaborating with conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen and Umberto Clerici. He has also performed in recital at major venues including the Kennedy Center, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center and City Recital Hall in Sydney. Benett studies at The Colburn School in Los Angeles with Clive Greensmith and performs on a 1719 Giuseppe Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ cello.
Petar Pejčić studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig with Peter Bruns. Winner of Fifth Prize at the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Petar also won the AENA Special Prize at the Pablo Casals Competition in Spain in 2020, Second Prize at the Anna Kull Competition the same year, and Third Prize at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in 2019. He has performed with orchestras including the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Graz Philharmonic, the Serbian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Camerata Balcanica. Keen to broaden his musical horizons, he collaborated with the choreographer Jacopo Godani and the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company on the project BACH OFF! Petar plays an instrument by David Tecchler (ca. 1707, Rome.
Korean cellist Claire Deokyong Kim earned her Bachelor of Music degree at New England Conservatory (NEC) and is now pursuing her master’s in the studio of Laurence Lesser. She previously studied with Myungwha Chung. In her first year of Bachelor of Music, Claire won the NEC Lower String Competition and was subsequently selected to perform with the NEC Philharmonia Orchestra under Hugh Wolff at Jordan Hall (Boston). She has won numerous competitions in Korea, including Third Prize at the ISANGYUN Competition (2022). She has also performed with orchestras including the Suwon, Gangnam, Prime, Gwangju, and Korean Symphony Orchestras. In addition to her appearances as a soloist, Claire has been a member of string quartets that have been selected as Honors Ensembles at NEC two years consecutively, the Nico String Quartet and the Tavola String Quartet.
Korean cellist Jaemin Han came to international attention in 2021 when he was awarded the Grand Prix of the George Enescu International Competition as the youngest prizewinner in the competition’s history. He won Third Prize at the Concours de Genève the same year and, in 2022, was awarded First Prize at the ISANGYUN Competition (Korea). Performance highlights in 2022/23 season include a recital at the Tongyeong International Festival, his New Zealand debut with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Shi-Yeon Sung, and a tour of Korea with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and its chief conductor Gustavo Gimeno. Jaemin has studied with Myung-Wha Chung and now attends the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, where he works with Kangho Lee and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. He was recipient of the 2020 Shinhan Music Award and currently holds a scholarship from the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo foundation. Jaemin plays a J. B. Vuillaume cello generously on loan from ‘the auditorium’.
From his very first public appearances in age of 9, Maxime Grizard has impressed with the maturity of his playing. Born in 2006, he has been studying cello and piano for seven years with Claire Oppert and Roustem Saïtkoulov and has aleady won several first prizes in international competitions such as Vatelot-Rampal, Flame, Jugend Musiziert and Young Ludwig. At 11, he became known to the general public in France through its programme ‘Prodiges’ on France 2 by winning its instrument category. He went on to record a CD for Warner Classics on cello and piano. Last year Maxime represented France at the Eurovision Young Musicians in Montpellier. He performs regularly in France and abroad, in duo with piano, in chamber music formations and with orchestra.
Clara Yuna began playing the cello at age seven. Despite her young age of 15, she has already received multiple prizes in national and international music competitions, including the Polstjärnepriset (Sweden, 2023), the Bundeswettbewerb Jugend Musiziert (Germany, 2022), the International Anton Rubinstein Competition for Young Cellists (Germany, 2022), Ungdommens Musikkmesterskap (Norway, 2021) and the international Young Musicians Competition in Tallinn (Estonia, 2019). Concert highlights have included performances of Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Delyana Lazarovay, and Bruch’s Kol Nidrei and Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major with several youth orchestras. Her teacher is Ole-Eirik Ree at the Barratt Due Academy in Oslo. From September 2023 Clara will be a guest student at the Kronberg Academy with Prof. Frans Helmerson. Clara plays a cello that has been generously made available by the Norwegian Dextra Musica Foundation.
Cellist Luka Coetzee made her solo debut in 2015 at age 11 with the Calgary Civic Symphony. Seven years later, in 2022, she received First Prize at the Pablo Casals International Award (Spain), First Prize at the Johansen International Strings Competition (USA), a special prize and Second Prize at the Dotzauer International Competition (Germany), and a special prize at the UNISA International Strings Competition (South Africa). She also performed last year as soloist with the University Symphony Orchestra in Dresden, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. As a member of the LGT Young Soloists, Luka also recorded the Beethoven A Major Sonata on NAXOS. She has performed in concert halls including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zürich, Victoria Hall in Singapore, and at the Rheingau Musik Festival. She is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.
In 2022 Jaren Ziegler won the BBC Young Musician Strings Final at age 16, becoming the first violist in the competition’s history to do so. In the Grand Final, he performed the Walton Viola Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Mark Wigglesworth. He has recently been awarded First Prize in the Junior Royal College Concerto Competition, Junior Academy Viola Prize and Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform and was the youngest participant in the 2021 Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition. Jaren attends the Junior Royal College of Music (London). He began playing the viola at age six and studies with Jacky Woods. He has performed in The Royal Festival Hall, St John Smith Square, Brahms-Saal Musikverein and Victoria Hall Singapore. He is a member of LGT Young Soloists, having toured internationally and recorded with them at Abbey Road Studios. he plays a Stefano Scarampella viola, kindly loaned to him by the Beares International Violin Society.
Weiyi Zeng studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Roland Glassl. She began her studies at age 12 at the Affiliated High School of the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing), where she studied with Shaowu Wang. In 2017, she was leader of the Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra at the Conservatory. After being invited to Japan for the Seiji Ozawa Music Festival in 2018, Weiyi was admitted to the Morningside Music Bridge programme in Poland under full scholarship for two years. She has had lessons with Alexander Zemtsov, Mattiha Buhholz, Paul Colletti, John Abram, Atar Arad and Ori Kam, among others.