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Ivan Skanavi was born into a family of musicians in Moscow. At six he started the cello and entered music school, where his teachers were Olga Galochkina and Tamara Alekseeva. Later, he studied with Alexey Seleznev at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He is now a student of Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar. Ivan is a prizewinner of several international competitions and a Semifinalist of the Tchaikovsky International Competition (2019). Ivan plays a cello made by the Italian maker David Tecchler from 1698.
Thomas Prechal is a student at the Academie Muzikaal Talent (Utrecht) where he receives lessons from Jan-Ype Nota and Michel Strauss. He is a multiple prize winner: winner of the Bohuš Heran International Cello Competition in the Czech Republic (2017), First and Second Prize winner at the Princess Christina Composition Competition (2017 and 2020), First Prize winner of the Concours de Violoncelle ‘Edmont Baert’ in Brussels and Third Prize and Special Prize winner winner at International Cello Competition ‘David Popper’ in Hungary. In addition to playing the cello, Thomas likes to compose and regularly receives commissions.
Roger Morelló Ros performs regularly in well-known concert halls such as Philarmonie Berlin, Beethoven Hall of the Redoute Bonn, Kerkrade Theater, Pau Casals Auditorium, Josep Carreras Auditorium, Palau de la Música Catalana and La Pedrera/Casa Milà, where he was an Artist in Residence in 2018/19. He first studied in Spain with Carolina Pineda (Salou), David Blay (Vila-seca), Damian Martínez (Musikene) and then moved to Germany to pursue a Master and a Soloist Diploma with Maria Kliegel at the University of Music in Cologne, finishing with honors and with the financial support of the Deutschslandstipendium and the Güell Scholarship. He is now pursuing a Master of Chamber Music with Anthony Spiri and Harald Schoneweg.
Irena Josifoska performs as soloist and chamber musician across Europe and the United States. She has received more than 40 awards and recognitions, among them, First Prize winner of Berlin’s Gabrielli Cello Competition in 2021, the same year that she was named co-recipient of the Prix Jean Nicolas Firmenich, recognising the Verbier Festival Academy’s most promising cellist. She was also winner of the Silver Medal at the Vienna International Music Competition (2018) and a Gold Medal at the Manhattan International Music Competition (2019), and was the youngest Semifinalist at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2017. Irena began playing the cello at age five with her mother, finished Bachelor studies in Detmold in the class of Xenia Jankovic, and now, pursues her Masters at the Universität der Künste Berlin, in the class of Jens Peter Maintz.
Anouchka Hack, recipient of the Prix Jean-Nicholas Firmenich at the Verbier Festival Academy (2021) and the Leyda Ungerer Prize (2022), performs both as a soloist and in duo with her sister, pianist Katharina Hack. Recent concert engagements include solo appearances with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, and duo recitals at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As a chamber musician, she has performed at the Casals-Forum Kronberg, the Rheingau Musikfestival and in Belgium, France, Switzerland and Ireland. A tour with Gautier Capuçon in 2022/23 brings her to the Konzerthaus Vienna, Fondation Louis Vuitton and Victoria Hall Geneva. In 2020, her duo’s first album was released on GENUIN classics; it was nominated for the German Record Critics Award and the Opus Klassik. Together with her sister, Anouchka is also Artistic Director of the meetMUSIC Festival (Germany). She plays on a cello by Bartolomeo Tassini, Venice 1769.
Indira Grier completed a Masters degree with Alexander Chaushian at the Royal College of Music London, where she held an RCM Scholarship. Previously she was taught by Melissa Phelps and and then Troels Svane at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. Indira has won Making Music’s 2019 Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artist Award, the 2019 RCM Unaccompanied Bach Prize, the 2018 RCM Concerto Competition performing the Elgar Cello Concerto and a Gold Medal in the 2019 Vienna International Music Competition. She has also won awards from the Hattori Foundation and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. A keen chamber musician, Indira has enjoyed working with artists including Simon Crawford-Phillips, Andrew Marriner, Clio Gould, Matthew Truscott, Rebecca Gilliver and the Castalian Quartet.
Hyazintha Andrej received her first cello lessons from Martina Trunk in 2000. From 2007 to 2014 she studied in Graz, at the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts, with Andrea Molnár, Kerstin Feltz and Rudolf Leopold, and from 2014 to 2019 she continued her studies with Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zhdk in Zurich, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts with distinction. It was also at ZHdk that Hyazintha expanded her repertoire of contemporary music in the improvisation class of Lucas Niggli. Since 2019 she has studied with Clemens Hagen at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Hyazinta has a trio for improvised music and a quartet called ‘Menschenstoff’ where she blurs the boundaries of vast music styles and expands musical expectations.
Otoha Tabata began her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Boris Kucharsky before going to the Royal College of Music in London, where she was a student of Andriy Viytovych. She continues her studies now at the RCM with Nathan Braude. Otoha performs internationally and across Europe, having appeared as soloist at the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, and Queen Elizabeth Hall. She was awarded Third Prize at the Windsor Festival International String Competition (2021), the Promotion Prize at the Anton Rubinstein Viola Competition (2018), and an Honorary Mention at the Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition (2010). She regularly performs in festivals such as IMS Open Chamber Music, is a regular participant at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy, and took part in the Verbier Festival Academy in 2021, where she received a Special Prize of Merit. Otoha is a member of the renowned LGT Young Soloists, performing in numerous concert tours around the world and making several recordings. Most recently she recorded Paganini La Campanella with the ensemble in Abbey Road Studios, and recorded a new disc in Teldex Studios to be released in 2023. Otoha performs on a Charles Boullangier viola, kindly loaned by the Royal College of Music.
Born into a family of musicians, Anna Sypniewski began viola at the Conservatoire de Toulouse with Valérie Apparailly and entered Conservatoire national Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in Jean Sulem’s class in 2016. At 15, she won First Prize at the Concours National des Jeunes Altistes and received the Prix de la ville de Ciboure at the Académie Ravel. She performs regulary with her sisters in the Trio Sypniewski and has collaborated with musicians including Adam Laloum, Théo Fouchenneret and Alexandre Kantorow at numerous festivals. Anna is a member of the Centre de Musique de Chambre de Paris and has performed in the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Evian Chamber Orchestra.
Sarah Strohm began viola at age 7 at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève with Noémie Bialobroda. She quickly joined the intensive programme of the conservatory, which introduced her to chamber music projects under the direction of prominent artists like Leonardo Garcia Alarcón. She perfected her skills by taking part in masterclasses led by Frédéric Kirch and Garth Knox, as well as with Jean Sulem at the Cervo Summer Academy. Sarah was the winner of the Concours suisse de musique pour la jeunesse in 2018 and gained international attention by winning the Aims Foundation Competition to perform as a soloist with orchestra in Solsona in 2019.