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Charles Sigel is a Swiss radio presenter and cultural commentator, formerly of RTS/Espace 2. Known for his eloquent interviews and deep knowledge of classical music, he has engaged with many of the world’s leading artists. A longtime friend of the Verbier Festival, he has introduced performances, moderated public talks, and brought the Festival’s spirit to airwaves and audiences alike
Tim Carroll began his career with the English Shakespeare Company before becoming Associate Director of the Northcott Theatre in Exeter. From 1999 to 2005, he was Associate Director of Shakespeare’s Globe. His ‘original practices’ productions of Shakespeare transpose the natural habitat of the Elizabethan outdoor theatre into 21st century spaces. This approach earned him success on Broadway in 2013, when his Tony-nominated Globe productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night starring Oscar-winner Mark Rylance earned ecstatic raves in The New York Times and The New Yorker. He is also known for creating edgy productions at the Factory Theatre in London. Since 2015, Carroll has been Artistic Director of Canada’s Shaw Festival.
Italian singer Barbara Frittoli is considered today as one of the greatest lyrico-spinto sopranos of her generation. Born in Milan, Frittoli graduated with the highest honour from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where she studied with Giovanna Canetti. She later was the winner of several international competitions. Among her career’s most remarkable performances have been Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa d’Almaviva) in Ferrara, Otello (Desdemona) at the Salzburg Festival and at Teatro Regio in Turin with Claudio Abbado, Così Fan Tutte (Fiordiligi) at the Wiener Staatsoper and at Ravenna Festival with Riccardo Muti. In addition to Abbado and Muti, she has worked with a long list of distinguished conductors: Lorin Maazel, Georges Priêtre, Daniele Gatti, Antonio Pappano and Riccardo Chailly.
Thomas Enhco, born in Paris, France in September 1988, is a French pianist and composer (jazz and classical music). He starts playing the violin and the piano at the age of 3, gives his first concerts and writes his first compositions at 6. At the age of 9, Didier Lockwood invites him to perform on stage with him at the jazz festivals of Antibes Juan-les-Pins, Vienne and Marciac. He studies jazz at CMDL and classical piano with the great master Gisèle Magnan. At 16, he enters the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP), from which he is expelled two years later. Since then, he has released 8 albums as a leader and has been playing an average of 100 concerts per year around the world, both in classical and jazz venues and festivals.
His first album Esquisse, written and recorded at the age of 15 with his trio (and featuring drums-legend Peter Erskine) comes out in 2006. Thomas becomes then Laureate of Fonds d’Action SACEM.
In 2008 he is spotted by the great Japanese producer Itoh “88” Yasohachi, who makes him record three albums (Someday My Prince Will Come, The Window and the Rain in Japan and Jack and John with Jack Dejohnette and John Patitucci at Avatar Studios in New York) and invites him for ten tours in Japan, in solo, duo and trio.
In 2012, he moves to New York where he plays in jazz clubs and collaborates with many artists, and he releases this same year on Label Bleu his self-produced album Fireflies (winner of Victoires du Jazz 2013).
In 2014 he signs with Universal Music and records for label Verve his solo piano album Feathers (nominated for « Best album » at Victoires du Jazz 2015).
Parallel to his jazz career, Thomas Enhco develops in the classical music world. In 2016 he releases on legendary label Deutsche Grammophon the album Funambules, in duo with percussion virtuoso Vassilena Serafimova. Their explosive duet without borders tours worldwide and wins the 2nd Grand Prize at Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2017 (Japan).
In 2017, he makes his debut as a soloist with symphony orchestras in Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue, Mozart’s Piano Concerto K.491 (no. 24), Ravel’s Concerto in G, John Adam’s Eros Piano, Bach’s Concerto for Four Keyboards (BWV 1065), Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and his own first Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, with Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lorraine, Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn, Orchestre Régional Avignon Provence, Ensemble Appassionato, Geneva Camerata, Orchestre de Cannes, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, under the baton of conductors Julien Masmondet, Pierre Dumoussaud, Samuel Jean, Mathieu Herzog, Jean-Claude Casadesus, David Greilsammer, Junichi Hirokami, Benjamin Lévy, James Gaffigan and Fayçal Karoui. He is also invited as a soloist by Radio France Choir (dir. Sofi Jeannin) and Spirito Choir (dir. Nicole Corti) in programs around Brahms and his own compositions.
As a composer, Thomas Enhco has written more than 100 works and regularly gets commissions from orchestras, chamber music ensembles, soloists, choirs and festivals.
He has notably composed a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and a Double Concerto for Piano, Marimba and Orchestra (premiere in February 2019) for the OPPB Orchestra, four pieces for pianist Lise de la Salle (album Bach Unlimited, Naïve 2017), a suite for Brass Quintet and Piano (for Local Brass Quintet — album Stay Tuned, Klarthe 2019), a piece for Choir and Piano (for Spirito Choir)… He has also composed the credits of radio shows “La Récréation” and “Le Grand Atelier” on France Inter, and two film scores: Aux Arts Citoyens by Daniel Schick (2010) and Les Cinq Parties du Monde by Gérard Mordillat (for which he wins the 2012 FIPA d’Or for Best Original Score).
Just before turning thirty, Thomas Enhco records for Sony Music the album Thirty, which comprises seven new solo pieces and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. (Release: February 2019 on Sony Classical, Paris concert on April 17, 2019 at La Cigale).
For the past ten years, he has been playing an average of 100 concerts per year around the world. Among the jazz venues that have invited him, are jazz festivals of Tokyo, Montreal, Vienne, Montreux, Istanbul, Gent, Middelheim, North Sea, La Villette, l’Olympia… and among the classical venues, are festivals of La Roque d’Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins, Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra de Bordeaux, Flagey in Brussels, French May in Hong Kong, Shanghai Grand Theater, Folle Journée de Nantes, Tokyo, Warsaw, New York, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Beijing Concert Hall…
The Philharmonie de Paris features him regularly, equally as a jazz and as a classical artist, and offers him a “carte blanche” at the 2017 Jazz à la Villette festival, features him at its weekend around Bach and as a soloist in his own Concerto and in Ravel’s Concerto in G in 2018. In 2019, he will participate in the performances of the complete Piano Etudes by Philip Glass, with the composer.
He is invited by the main French television and radio shows (C à Vous – France 5, Quotidien – TMC, Le Grand Échiquier, Fauteuils d’Orchestre – France 2…) and his recordings and concerts are praised by the national and foreign press.
As an educator, he gives masterclasses on improvisation, teaches jazz (piano and violin) at CMDL and since 2018 writes the jazz section of bi-monthly magazine Pianiste.
Thomas Enhco has won numerous prizes and awards, among which the 3rd Grand Prize at the 2010 Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition, the 2010 Django d’Or « New Talent », the 2012 FIPA d’Or for Best Film Score, the 2013 Victoire du Jazz « Révélation » (also nominated at the 2015 Victoires du Jazz), the 2nd Grand Prize at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, the 2017 Sacem ACEG Prize.
Collaborations with other artists include (Jazz): Didier Lockwood, Mike Stern, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jack DeJohnette, Gilad Hekselman, José James, Baptiste Trotignon, Ari Hoenig, Patrick Zimmerli, Dan Tepfer, Ibrahim Maalouf, Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani, David Enhco, Biréli Lagrène, Anne Paceo, Hugh Coltman, Peter Erskine, Daniel Humair, André Ceccarelli, Victor Lewis, John Patitucci, Hein Van de Geyn, Lew Soloff, Sylvain Luc, François & Louis Moutin, Joel Frahm, Cyrille Aimée…
(Classical): Vassilena Serafimova, Henri Demarquette, Renaud Capuçon, Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri, Jean- François Zygel, Michel Dalberto, Anne-Sofie Von Otter, the Arod, Hanson, Modigliani and Voce string quartets, Beatrice Rana, Jérôme Pernoo, Caroline Casadesus, Lise de la Salle, Déborah Nemtanu, Xavier Philips…
As well as pop singers Jane Birkin, Christophe, Oxmo Puccino, dancer and choreographer Marie-Claude Pietragalla, director Alain Sachs, cartoonist Aurélia Aurita…
Born into a family of musicians in 1985, Vassilena Serafimova is the first Bulgarian percussionist to be awarded the Second Prize of the 56th ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the First Prize of the Fifth World International Marimba Competition in Stuttgart. She won the Grand Prix of the 10th International Competition Music and Earth as a soloist as well as the First Prize as a member of the Percussion Ensemble Accent, founded by her parents Avgustina and Simeon Serafimov. She received the Young Musician of the Year Award in Bulgaria in 2008 as well as the First Prize of the Music Critics in the 18th International Festival of Central Europe in Slovakia.
In 2014, Vassilena made her debut in Carnegie Hall of New York. One year later, together with Thomas Enhco (piano), she was the first marimba player in history to perform at the French Awards Ceremony Victoires de la Musique. In 2016, the duo recorded their first album titled Funambules for Deutsche Grammophon.
She has recorded for Radio France, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Bulgarian National Radio, and the Slovakian National Radio. Vassilena has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall (New York), Théâtre de Champs Elysées, Théâtre de Châtelet, Salle Pleyel (Paris), Hermitage Theater (Saint-Peterburg), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam and Eindhoven), Herkulessaal (Munich), and Bulgaria Music Hall (Sofia). She has been invited to numerous festivals including Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Classique au Vert (France), Middelheim Jazz Festival (Belgique), REpercusionES (Costa Rica), Focus! 2011 Festival (Etats-Unis), and TransART (Bulgaria)). She has been invited to teach masterclasses in Europe, Central and North America, and Asia.
In 2013 Vassilena co-founded the Paris Percussion Group with Jean-Baptiste Leclère – a new ensemble of twelve percussionists uniting the young French generation of percussionists. She is also the artistic director and co-founder of the International Marimba And Percussion Festival in Bulgaria (2009, 2012, 2014).
Vassilena’s inspiration, mentors and teachers include the following musicians: Simeon Serafimov, Sylvio Gualda, Keiko Abe, Bogdan Bacanu, Momoko Kamiya, Chantal Stigliani, Katarzyna Mycka, Michel Cerutti, Florent Jodelet, Gordon Gottlieb, Daniel Druckman, Tatiana Koleva, Nebojsa Zivkovic, Jeff Malarsky…
Her curious nature lead her to participate in the Pyxis transdisciplinary project, searching and discovering a dialog between different art forms. This complex work significantly developed her imagination and is reflected in her way of performing.
Vassilena performs on ADAMS Alpha Series Marimbas. She is a Zildjian artist since 2014, and has created her own marimba mallets series with Vibrawell Mallets France.
Born in Italy of Russian origin and with Argentinian and German nationality, Ana Chumachenco started playing violin at the age of four under the supervision of her father – a disciple of Leopold Auer – and later took lessons from Ljerko Spiller in Buenos Aires.
After enjoying considerable success in her early years in Argentina, she returned to Europe at the age of 17 to continue her studies. Just one year later she was awarded the gold medal at the Carl Flesch Competition in London and, not long afterwards, the silver medal at the international Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Her musical mentors in those years included Joseph Szigeti, Sándor Végh and Yehudi Menuhin.
Besides her recitals and performances as a soloist with leading orchestras, Ana Chumachenco devotes much of her time to chamber music. For more than 20 years she has played in the Munich String Trio with violist Oscar Lysy and cellist Walter Nothas.
Chumachenco has been a member of the faculty at Kronberg Academy since 2008.
As Pablo Casals once did before, Khatia Buniatishvili places the human being at the centre of her art. The fundamental values handed down from the Enlightenment are not up for discussion. Were there a fire and a choice to be made between child and painting, she would not hesitate for a second. Yet, once she had pulled the child from the blaze, she would take it to the Museum of Fine Arts so that it might become a painter. No need to save “the fire” (as Cocteau replied) because it already burns her eyes, rages in her fingers and warms her heart.
Khatia, born in Batumi, Georgia, by the Black Sea, on the longest day of 1987, knows the price of freedom and independence, and understands the energy needed to stand tall in life. The example set by her parents did not go unheeded. During the chaotic period her country went through, Khatia’s parents had to display great resourcefulness to keep poverty at bay. Her mother, who introduced her to music, sewed together magnificent dresses for both her daughters from bits of cloth that she scavenged here and there. The sisters saw before their very eyes a model of creativity for smiling in the face of adversity.
The piano, however, has never posed a problem for Khatia. She has been blessed with impressive ability, giving her first concert at the age of six. For fun, her mother would leave a new musical score each day on her piano and, hungry, Khatia’s long, octopus-like arms would devour them. As she has never had to struggle with her instrument, she has always considered pianos from the whole world as friends from whom she must draw the best, respecting the oddities of their characters and sampling the charms of their personalities; while at the same time never looking to change them or make them her martyrs. Her sister Gvantsa is an excellent pianist too. Together they make a quite complementary duo as one has her feet on the ground and the other is supersonic.
Khatia’s great career has come quite naturally, without a struggle. The sun has no need to move mountains to exist for it rises and shines for all. And these are the words that spring to mind when one sees her bursting onto the stage or in life: her hair flowing, her fine figure quite the Parisian, her lips smiling, her light sylph-like steps and her feline body. But the rose will show its thorns if it feels what it holds dear to be threatened. She won’t be made to give up a humanitarian project. She won’t be prevented from helping the country in which she was born and raised. She won’t be forced to play in a land that pours scorn on her values. She won’t have playing partners forced upon her who do not inspire human respect and great artistic admiration in equal measure. For that matter, nothing can be imposed on this young lady of the air whose wing-beats pollinate works and who sprinkles a musical cloud of golden powder to the four winds.
Franz Liszt is one of her heroes. He was the one with whom she wanted to venture first into the world of discography. Liszt is constantly pushing back the boundaries of what is possible. He innovates and is generous, bringing together popular and academic styles, the profane and sacred, nature and poetry – he transcends whatever he touches.
Khatia Buniatishvili avoids representation and self-intellectualisation. She could very well make her own the motto of her friend Martha Agerich, “Live and let live” – she too is a Gemini. She likes the complexity of things, not complication; paradoxes, not rigid oppositions that often prove to be sterile. She is at ease creating and less interested in reaction. Stimulated by the dialogue between the arts, she breathes the oxygen of imagination and finds balance in musing.
When it comes down to it, she remains this child fascinated with life and with beings who was already reading Dostoevsky and Chekhov at the age of nine, and for whom it was already quite clear that beauty would save the world. With no distinctions made: whatever is just will sound just and will make its own mark.
It is in just such a way that she approaches all styles from Baroque to modern in her CD “Motherland”, to demonstrate that true music has no need of barriers and that all styles fade into the one true all-linking, all-revealing style that can be summed up in Mozart’s words: “Love, love, love, therein lies the soul of genius.”
Khatia Buniatishvili, shining pianist at the height of her abilities, came into this world in a shower of light during the summer solstice. On a human level, she is attracted more to equinoxes, being smitten by justice and seeking day and night in equal share. By lifting one’s eyes skywards one might notice her playing hide-and-seek with either Venus or Mercury. The cosmos is her garden and it is in its movement that she feels alive, astride a comet.
Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams is widely admired for his profound musical intelligence, and for the expressive and communicative nature of his interpretations. An acclaimed performer of Beethoven, he has several complete sonata cycles under his belt, including at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, while in May 2020 a planned full cycle at the Festival Cultural de Mayo in Guadalajara, Mexico was recorded as live by Signum Records from his home in Wrexham and broadcast by the Festival.
Nobuko Imai studied at the famous Toho School of Music in Tokyo and then at Yale University and the Juilliard School.
She is the only violist to have won the highest prizes at both the Munich and Geneva International Viola Competitions, and she was formerly a member of the esteemed Vermeer Quartet. Miss Imai is now established as a distinguished international soloist, and as well as appearing regularly in the Netherlands, where she now lives, her career takes her to major cities in Europe, the USA and Japan.
She has worked with major orchestras all over the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra. Nobuko Imai is a regular guest at the Marlboro Festival and has also appeared at the Lockenhaus, Casals, Aldeburgh and South Bank Summer Music Festivals, the International Viola Congress in Houston and the BBC Proms.
Nobuko Imai has been awarded many prizes, including the Avon Arts Award (1993), the Education Minister’s Art Prize of Music by the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs (1994) and the Mobil Prize of Japan (1995). In 1996 she received Japan’s most prestigious music prize, the Suntory Hall Prize, awarded to her by a unanimous jury. She is Professor at the College of Music in Detmold, Germany.
Having collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, Sir András Schiff now focuses primarily on solo recitals, play-directing and conducting. Since 2004 he has performed the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas in over 20 cities, including Zurich where the cycle was recorded live for ECM. In recent years, his Bach has become an annual highlight of the BBC Proms. Schiff founded the chamber orchestra Cappella Andrea Barca in 1999, and enjoys a close relationship with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Orchestra of the Age Enlightenment—becoming an Associate Artist of the latter in 2018. He regularly performs at the Verbier Festival.