Born in the United States in 1970, Nicholas Angelich began studying the piano at five with his mother. At the age of seven, he gave his first concert with Mozart’s Concerto K. 467. He entered at 13 the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini, Yvonne Loriod, Michel Beroff and Marie Françoise Bucquet. He won the First Prize for piano and chamber music.

Nicholas Angelich followed master-classes with Leon Fleisher, Dmitri Bashkirov, and Maria Joao Pires. In 1989 he won the Second Prize of the International Piano Competition R. Casadesus in Cleveland and in 1994 the First Prize of the International Piano Competition Gina Bachauer. In 1996 he was invited as a resident of the International Piano Foundation of Cadennabia (Italy). In 2002 he received the “International Klavierfestival Ruhr – Young Talent Award” (Germany) from Leon Fleischer where he performed in June 2003.

He made his debuts in May 2003 with the New-York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur at the Lincoln Center in New-York. Valdimir Jurowski invited him to open with him the 2007/08 season of the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow.

He also performed with the Orchestre National de France under Marc Minkowski and Joseph Pons, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Paavo Järvi, Orchestre National de Lyon and David Robertson, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under Jesus Lopez-Cobos and Kenneth Montgomery, Saint-Petersbourg Symphony under Alexandre Dimitriev, Strasbourg and Montpellier orchestras under Jerzy Semkow, Toulouse Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden in Amsterdam and Yannick Nezet-Sequin in San Sebastian, the Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne and Christian Zacharias, the SWR Baden-Baden orchestra and Michael Gielen, the Francfort Radio orchestra under Hugh Wolff and Paavo Jarvi, the Swiss-Italian Radio Orchestra and Charles Dutoit, the Tonkünstler Orchester and K. Järvi, the Seoul Philharmonic under M.-W. Chung, the London Philharmonic under Kazuchi Ono and Vladimir Jurowsky, as well as recitals in London, Munich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Rome, Lisbon, Brescia, Tokyo, Paris. He is a regular guest of the Verbier Festival and Martha Argerich’s festival in Lugano.

Recent engagements include concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal and Y. Nezet-Seguin, the Montreal Symphony, Atlanta Symphony (E. Krivine), Seoul Philharmonic (M.-W. Chung), Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and Roger Norrington, a tour with the London Philharmonic under V. Jurowski, and chamber music in North America with R. and G. Capuçon (New-York, San Francisco, Québec, Montréal, Ottawa…). He will make his debuts at the BBC Proms in July 2009 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Y. Nezet-Seguin.

Great interpreter of classic and romantic repertoire, Nicholas Angelich played all Beethoven Sonatas and Liszt’s Années de Pélerinage in different countries. He is also very interested in 20th century music such as Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Chostakovitch, Bartok, Ravel, as well as Messiaen, Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Eric Tanguy and Pierre Henry, who dedicated to him the Concerto for piano without orchestra.

Always enthusiastic about playing chamber music, his partners are Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Maxim Vengerov, Akiko Suwanai, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Joshua Bell, Julian Rachlin, Gérard Caussé, Alexander Kniazev, Jian Wang, Paul Meyer, the Ysaye, Prazak and Ebène Quartets.

Violinist, violist and conductor Julian Rachlin is one of the most exciting and respected musicians of our time. In the first thirty years of his career, he has performed as soloist with the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. Mr. Rachlin is Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. He also leads the “Julian Rachlin & Friends Festival” in Palma de Mallorca.

Highlights of Mr. Rachlin’s 2018/19 season include performances with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Mariss Jansons, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Juanjo Mena, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck, as well as the KBS Symphony Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung. Alongside soloist Sarah McElravy and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, he will perform the UK premiere of Penderecki’s Double Concerto for Violin and Viola, which is dedicated to him. Additionally, Mr. Rachlin will conduct among others the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Essen Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Slovenian Philharmonic, Zagreb Philharmonic and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

Julian Rachlin’s recent highlights include a residency at the Prague Spring Festival and his own cycle at the Vienna Musikverein. He also performed with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov, Filarmonica della Scala and Riccardo Chailly, Munich Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, Philharmonia Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale and Vladimir Ashkenazy, as well as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Lahav Shani. As conductor, he toured Europe with the English Chamber Orchestra, and led the Royal Northern Sinfonia across South America and Japan. Additionally, he conducted the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, and made his USA conducting debut at the Grand Teton Music Festival.

In recital and chamber music, Mr. Rachlin performs regularly with Itamar Golan, Denis Kozhukhin, Denis Matsuev, Mischa Maisky, Sarah McElravy, Vilde Frang and Janine Jansen.

Born in Lithuania, Mr. Rachlin immigrated to Vienna in 1978. He studied violin with Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatory and with Pinchas Zukerman. After winning the “Young Musician of the Year” Award at the Eurovision Competition in 1988, he became the youngest soloist ever to play with the Vienna Philharmonic, debuting under Riccardo Muti. At the recommendation of Mariss Jansons, Mr. Rachlin studied conducting with Sophie Rachlin. Since September 1999, he is on the violin faculty at the Music and Arts University of Vienna. His recordings for Sony Classical, Warner Classics and Deutsche Grammophon have been met with great acclaim. Mr. Rachlin, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, is committed to educational outreach and charity work.

Julian Rachlin plays the 1704 “ex Liebig” Stradivari and a 1785 Lorenzo Storioni viola, on loan to him courtesy of the Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung. His strings are kindly sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld.

Cellist Leonard Elschenbroich has performed as a soloist with the world’s leading orchestras.

He gave his Vienna Musikverein debut on a European Tour with the Staatskapelle Dresden, his US debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, his Asian debut at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and appeared five times at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms.

A committed performer of contemporary music, Elschenbroich has commissioned several new works from composers including Mark-Anthony Turnage, Luca Lombardi, Arlene Sierra and Suzanne Farrin. He gave the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s first Cello Concerto – written for him – with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Bridgewater Hall, and Brian Elias’ first Cello Concerto at the BBC Proms.

In 2012 he co-founded the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bolivia, the first orchestra to perform a Mahler Symphony in the nation’s history. Elschenbroich returns to Bolivia on a regular basis to lead educational projects and develop the orchestra. This commitment led Elschenbroich to explore the field of conducting with various orchestras across Latin America and the UK. He gave his London conducting debut, leading The Telegraph to write “Elschenbroich gave a performance of Brahms’ 1st Symphony that at times touched the heights.”

Elschenbroich has worked with a number of eminent conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Mark Elder, Charles Dutoit, Manfred Honeck, Kirill Karabits, Dmitri Kitajenko, Andrew Litton, Juanjo Mena, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Vasily Sinasiky, and Edo De Waart. As soloist he has performed with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Royal Liverpool Phiharmonic, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Dresden Staatskapelle, Swedish Radio Symphony, Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Pacific Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Elschenbroich’s first three albums for Onyx Classics focused on 20th century Russian repertoire, from Rachmaninov to Schnittke. 2016 saw the release of “Siécle”, a portrait of a century of French music from Saint-Saëns to Dutilleux, recorded with the BBC Scottish Symphony. They have received 5-star reviews from The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Financial Times, as well as receiving Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. This year, after a decade worldwide performances together with Alexei Grynyuk, Onyx Classics released their recording of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas. The album received wide critical acclaim, including Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, Album of the Month in BBC Music Magazine, and is also available on vinyl.

His many awards include the Leonard Bernstein Award, Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk and Borletti Buitoni Trust Award. In 2012 he was named BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, he was Artist-in-Residence of Deutschlandfunk for the 2014-15 season, and Artist-in-Residence at the Philharmonic Society Bremen from 2013-2016.
Born in 1985 in Frankfurt, Elschenbroich received a scholarship, aged ten, to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. He later studied with Frans Helmerson at the Cologne Music Academy.

He plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller “Ex-Leonard Rose-Ex-Alfredo Piatti’ (Venice, 1693), on private loan.

Born in 1978, Philippe Jaroussky has established himself as the most admired countertenor of his generation, as confirmed by the French ‘Victoires de la Musique’ awards (‘Revelation Artiste Lyrique’ in 2004, ‘Artiste lyrique de l’année’ in 2007 and in 2010, CD of the Year 2009) and multiple Echo Klassik Awards in Germany (2005, 2008, 2011-2012 and 2015).

Jaroussky’s technique allows him the most audacious nuances and impressive pyrotechnics. He has explored a vast Baroque repertoire, from the refinement of the Italian Seicento with Monteverdi, Sances and Rossi, to the staggering brilliance of Handel and Vivaldi arias (singing more music by the latter composer than any other over the last few years). He has worked with renowned period-instrument orchestras such as L’Arpeggiata, Les Arts florissants, Ensemble Matheus, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Le Concert d’Astrée, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie and Europa Galante with conductors including Christina Pluhar, William Christie, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Marc Minkowski, René Jacobs, Jérémie Rhorer, Emmanuelle Haïm, Jean-Claude Malgoire and Fabio Biondi. With pianist Jerôme Ducros, he has looked beyond the Baroque – to fin-de-siècle French song (the album Opium), as well as premiering contemporary vocal music composed for him by Marc-André Dalbavie (Sonnets de Louise Labé, which Jaroussky sang most recently at the 2014 Salzburg Festival).

He has been praised for performances in all the most prestigious concert halls in France (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Montpellier, Opéra de Nancy, Arsenal de Metz, Théâtre de Caen) and abroad (The Barbican Centre and Southbank Cente in London, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Staatsoper and Philharmonie in Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York).

Philippe Jaroussky is signed exclusively to Erato and has received numerous awards for his recordings with the label. With Heroes (Vivaldi opera arias) and La Dolce Fiamma he achieved Gold disc status; his tribute to Carestini (with le Concert d’Astrée and Emmanuelle Haim) won CD of the year at the Victoires de la Musique and the Midem Classical Awards in 2009; his Stabat Mater with soprano Julia Lezhneva and I Barocchisti picked up the 2014 International Classical Music Awards for best Baroque Vocal Album and Best Opera Album. Of the 2013 release Farinelli: Porpora Arias, Gramophone wrote: “Jaroussky’s rapid passagework in quick heroic arias is precise…but the outstanding moments are slow arias that could have been tailor-made for Jaroussky’s sweetly graceful melodic singing”.

In recent years he has collaborated with singers including Cecilia Bartoli and Nathalie Stutzmann, as well as singing with and directing the Ensemble Artaserse, the Baroque orchestra he founded in 2002. The group takes its name from the Vinci opera Artaserse, which Jaroussky revived in its spectacular modern-day permiere as one of five exceptional countertenors in the cast.

Susan Graham – hailed as “an artist to treasure” by the New York Times – rose to the highest echelon of international performers within just a few years of her professional debut, mastering an astonishing range of repertoire and genres along the way. Her operatic roles span four centuries, from Monteverdi’s Poppea to Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, which was written especially for her. A familiar face at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, she also maintains a strong international presence at such key venues as Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, Santa Fe Opera and the Hollywood Bowl. She won a Grammy Award for her collection of Ives songs, and has also been recognized throughout her career as one of the foremost exponents of French vocal music. Although a native of Texas, she was awarded the French government’s prestigious “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur,” both for her popularity as a performer in France and in honor of her commitment to French music.

This season, Graham makes her role debut as Herodias in Francisco Negrin’s production of Richard Strauss’s Salome at Houston Grand Opera and reprises her celebrated portrayal of Mrs. Patrick De Rocher, mother of the convicted murderer, in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s company premiere of Dead Man Walking. In concert, she sings Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre and excerpts from Les Troyens with Donald Runnicles and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin at the Berlin Musikfest, revisits her signature interpretation of the composer’s Les nuits d’été with the Vancouver Symphony, and headlines the Jacksonville Symphony 2020 Gala. To complete the season, she graces a “Beyond the Aria” concert in Chicago’s Millennium Park and partners with pianist Malcolm Martineau for recitals of Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder in Berkeley’s Cal Performances series and of her Schumann-inspired Frauenliebe und -leben: Variations program in Fort Worth’s Cliburn Concert Series and at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Last season, Graham joined Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony for Mahler’s Third Symphony at London’s BBC Proms and in Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, Lucerne, and Paris. She made her role debut as Humperdinck’s Witch in Hansel and Gretel at LA Opera, hosted “An Evening with Susan Graham” at Dallas’s Meyerson Symphony Center, sang Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony, headlined the Mayshad Foundation’s season-closing gala concert in Marrakech, and returned to Carnegie Hall, first with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and then with Alec Baldwin and Leonard Slatkin for the Manhattan School of Music’s Centennial Gala Concert. To mark the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death, she performed Les nuits d’été with the Houston Symphony and made her New Zealand debut in La mort de Cléopâtre with the New Zealand Symphony under Edo de Waart. Other highlights of recent seasons include starring in Trouble in Tahiti at Lyric Opera of Chicago to honor the Bernstein Centennial, making her title role debut opposite James Morris in Marc Blitzstein’s 1948 opera Regina at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and appearing alongside Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming and a host of other luminaries to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera’s five decades at its Lincoln Center home.

Graham’s earliest operatic successes were in such trouser roles as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Her technical expertise soon brought mastery of Mozart’s more virtuosic roles, like Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, Idamante in Idomeneo and Cecilio in Lucio Silla, as well as the title roles of Handel’s Ariodante and Xerxes. She went on to triumph in two iconic Richard Strauss mezzo roles, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos. These brought her to prominence on all the world’s major opera stages, including the Met, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, La Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, among many others. In addition to creating the role of Sister Helen Prejean at San Francisco Opera, she starred in Washington National Opera’s recent revival of Dead Man Walking, making her triumphant role debut as the convict’s mother. She also sang the leading ladies in the Met’s world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby and Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy, and made her Dallas Opera debut as Tina in a new production of The Aspern Papers by Dominick Argento. As Houston Grand Opera’s Lynn Wyatt Great Artist, she starred as Prince Orlofsky in the company’s first staging of Die Fledermaus in 30 years, before heading an all-star cast as Sycorax in the Met’s Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island and making her rapturously received musical theater debut in a new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

It was in an early Lyon production of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict that Graham scored particular raves from the international press, and a triumph in the title role of Massenet’s Chérubin at Covent Garden sealed her operatic stardom. Further invitations to collaborate on French music were forthcoming from many of its preeminent conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, James Levine and Seiji Ozawa. New productions of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and Massenet’s Werther were mounted for the mezzo in New York, London, Paris, Chicago, San Francisco and beyond. More recently, she made title role debuts in Offenbach’s comic masterpieces La belle Hélène and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein at Santa Fe Opera, as well as proving herself the standout star of the Met’s star-studded revival of Les Troyens, which was broadcast live to cinema audiences worldwide in the company’s celebrated “Live in HD” series. Graham’s affinity for French repertoire has not been limited to the opera stage, also serving as the foundation for her extensive concert and recital career. Such great cantatas and symphonic song cycles as Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre and Les nuits d’été, Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer provide opportunities for collaborations with the world’s leading orchestras, and she makes regular appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and London Symphony Orchestra.

Graham recently expanded her distinguished discography with Nonesuch Records’ DVD/Blu-ray release of William Kentridge’s new treatment of Berg’s Lulu, which captures her celebrated role debut as Countess Geschwitz at the Met. She has also recorded all the works described above, as well as appearing on a series of lauded solo albums, including Virgins, Vixens & Viragos on the Onyx label, featuring songs and arias by composers from Purcell to Sondheim; Un frisson français, a program of French song recorded with pianist Malcolm Martineau, also for Onyx; C’est ça la vie, c’est ça l’amour!, an album of 20th-century operetta rarities on Erato; and La Belle Époque, an award-winning collection of songs by Reynaldo Hahn with pianist Roger Vignoles, from Sony Classical. Among the mezzo’s numerous honors are Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year and an Opera News Award, while Gramophone magazine has dubbed her “America’s favorite mezzo.”

Described by the press as the “perfect example of a thinking musician” (Die Welt) and acclaimed for his interpretations of music from Bach to Boulez, David Fray performs in the world’s major venues as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He has collaborated with leading orchestras under distinguished conductors such as Marin Alsop, Semyon Bychkov, Andrey Boreyko, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti, Paavo Järvi, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Sanderling, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Jaap van Zweden. Orchestral appearances in Europe have included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, London Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Salzburg Mozarteum, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestre de Paris, and Orchestre National de France. David Fray made his US debut in 2009 with The Cleveland Orchestra followed by performances with the Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory in New York, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, and appears regularly at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, London’s Wigmore Hall, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, and many other of the world’s major venues.

The work of Bach has always occupied a special place in David Fray’s repertoire and this season, he continues to tour with the Goldberg Variations. Recently, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris presented a cycle of Bach’s work featuring David Fray in recital, play-directing keyboard concertos for two, three and four pianos and accompanying Renaud Capuçon in Bach’s Violin Sonatas.

In the 20/21 season, David Fray play-directs the Kammerorchester Wien-Berlin at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, followed by performances of Hamburg Ballet’s John Neumeier work “for the time of coronavirus” entitled Ghost Light, the first social-distanced production of its kind, in which Mr. Fray plays an all-Schubert accompaniment. He also tours Europe in solo recitals as well as in a duo program alongside Renaud Capuçon. Orchestral performances include the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Orchestre National de France, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Kammerakademie Potsdam to name a few.

Mr. Fray’s latest releases include the Bach Concertos for 2, 3, and 4 pianos, a “musical family affair” alongside his teacher Jacques Rouvier and his former students Audrey Vigoureux and Emmanuel Christien, and the Bach Violin Sonatas with Renaud Capuçon. In 2017, Mr. Fray released a CD of selected Chopin piano works which was followed by his first public performances of the composer’s music. The previous disc called “Fantaisie,” an album of Schubert’s late piano works, was named Gramophone Editor’s Choice and Sinfini Music called it “one of the most appealing listening experiences of present times” and “exceptionally thoughtful and touching.” Mr. Fray records exclusively for Erato/Warner Classics, and his first album featuring works of Bach and Boulez was praised as the “best record of the year” by the London Times and Le Soir. Mr. Fray’s second release, a recording of Bach keyboard concerti with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, was awarded by the German Recording Academy. An album featuring Schubert’s Moments Musicaux and Impromptus followed. Mr. Fray’s other critically acclaimed releases include Mozart piano concerti with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden, and the Bach Partitas Nos. 2 and 6 along with the Toccata in C minor. In 2008, the TV network ARTE +7 presented a documentary on David Fray directed by the renowned French director Bruno Monsaingeon. The film “Sing, Swing & Think” was subsequently released on DVD.

David Fray holds multiple awards, including the German Echo Klassik Prize for Instrumentalist of the Year and the Young Talent Award from the Ruhr Piano Festival. In 2008, he was named Newcomer of the Year by the BBC Music Magazine. At the 2004 Montreal International Music Competition, he received both the Second Grand Prize and the Prize for the best interpretation of a Canadian work.

David Fray started taking piano lessons at the age of four. He furthered his studies with Jacques Rouvier, who is also featured on his latest Schubert album, at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris.

The Ukrainian violinist, Valeriy Sokolov, is one of the most outstanding young artists of his generation. Working regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, he has enjoyed collaborations with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Cleveland Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, NAC Ottawa, Orchestre National de France and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.  He works frequently with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Zinman, Susanna Malkki, Andris Nelsons, Peter Oundjian, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vasily Petrenko, Herbert Soudant & Juraj Valcuha

He has appeared in many major European festivals including Verbier and Lockenhaus. He regularly performs in the major concert halls around the world with highlights including regular Sunday Morning series appearances in Theatre du Chatelet as well as at the Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, Mariinsky Theatre, Prinzregenten Theatre in Munich and Musikverein in Vienna.

Exclusively signed with Erato records (formerly EMI Classics) Valeriy has developed a strong and varied catalogue of recordings, releasing Enescu’s Sonata No. 3 for them in 2009.  His first concerto DVD was of the Sibelius Violin Concerto under Vladimir Ashkenazy and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Bruno Monsaingeon’s film “un violon dans l’âme / Natural Born Fiddler”, a record of Valeriy’s recital in Toulouse in 2004, received much praise from the critics and continues to be frequently broadcast on ARTE TV. In 2010 Valeriy recorded violin concertos of Bartok and Tchaikovsky under the direction of David Zinman and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. Since 2016 Valeriy teaches regularly at the International Masterclasses in Schaffhausen (Switzerland).

Valeriy has recently given performances with the St Petersburg Philharmonic, NDR Hamburg Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra, Singapore Symphony & the Bournemouth Symphony amongst others.  He has also recently completed a successful tour of a chamber music project with Lisa Batiashvili and Gautier Capuçon throughout Europe including venues in Paris, Vienna, Cologne, Amsterdam and London. Highlights of the 2017-18 season include debuts at the Lucerne Festival and with the MDR Leipzig, as well as Valeriy’s subscription debut with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. This season also sees Valeriy return to the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, MDR Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk as well as the Concertgebouw with the Noord Nederlands Orkest. Valeriy will begin his role as Artist-in-Residence with the Weimar Staatskapelle, in which he will embark on an extensive US tour with the orchestra and its Music Director, Kirill Karabits.

Born in 1986 in Kharkov, Ukraine, Valeriy is one of the leading violinists to come out of Ukraine in the past twenty years. Valeriy left his native country age 13 to study with Natalia Boyarskaya at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. He continued his studies with Felix Andrievsky, Mark Lubotsky, Ana Chumachenko, Gidon Kremer and Boris Kushnir. He was the first prize winner of the 2005 George Enescu International Violin Competition in Bucharest, Romania

Valeriy Sokolov has had a violin concerto (2014 ) and a sonata (2017) written for and dedicated to him by Ukraine’s most significant composer Yevhen Stankovich.

Nelson Goerner is one of today’s greatest classical pianists. He is heralded for his performances of the highest art and poetry, while at the same time possessing exhilarating and masterful conviction.

In the 2019-20 season Nelson Goerner will give recitals on some of the world’s most important stages, including Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, London’s Wigmore Hall, Brussels’ BOZAR and Toulouse’s Cloitre des Jacobins, and give concerto appearances with La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Alain Altinoglu, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Myung-Whun Chung, and the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester under Lawrence Foster.

Nelson Goerner has performed with many of today’s major orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Hallé Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and NHK Symphony Orchestra, and with several of today’s leading conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philippe Herreweghe, Neeme Järvi, Sir Mark Elder, Paavo Järvi, Vassily Sinaisky, Jonathan Nott, Fabio Luisi and Esa-Pekka Salonen. His festival appearances include today’s most prestigious engagements, including Salzburg Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron, La Grange de Meslay, Edinburgh International Festival, Festival de Verbier, La Folle Journée (Nantes and Tokyo), Schleswig-Holstein, Warsaw’s ‘Chopin and his Europe’ and the BBC Proms.
A keen chamber musician, Nelson Goerner has collaborated with artists such as Martha Argerich (in repertoire for two pianos), Janine Jansen, Steven Isserlis and Gary Hoffman. The 2019-20 season will include a series of duo recitals with Sol Gabetta in Italy and Renaud Capuçon in Switzerland.
Nelson Goerner has a strong relationship with the Mozarteum Argentino in Buenos Aires and enjoys a long association with the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, where he is a member of the artistic advisory committee. He has released several albums of unusual repertoire on the Institute’s own record label, the latest, in 2019, featuring works by Godowski and Paderewski, including the latter’s monumental Variations and Fugue op.23. His recording of the Chopin Ballades and Nocturnes was recognised with a Diapason d’Or.

Nelson Goerner records predominantly for Alpha Classics and his discography for them includes works by Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Schumann, Fauré and Franck. Many of Goerner’s albums have been named “reference” recordings. Accolades include: Diapason d’Or of the Year for his recording of Debussy; BBC Music Magazine’s Recording of the Month for his album of works by Schumann; Choc de Classica and Diapason d’Or for his Chopin Preludes album; plus resounding critical acclaim for his recording of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata Op 106.
Details of Nelson Goerner’s complete discography can be found here.

Nelson Goerner was born in San Pedro, Argentina, in 1969. After studying in Argentina with Jorge Garrubba, Juan Carlos Arabian and Carmen Scalcione, he was awarded First Prize in the Franz Liszt Competition in Buenos Aires in 1986. This led to a scholarship to work with Maria Tipo at the Geneva Conservatoire, and in 1990 Nelson Goerner won the First Prize at the Geneva Competition.
Nelson Goerner lives in Switzerland with his wife and son. He is a proud and active supporter of the humanitarian organisation, Ammala.

Adam Laloum received an international recognition by winning 1st Prize at the prestigious Clara Haskil Piano Competition. In 2017, he won the Victoires de la Musique in the category “Instrumentalist of the Year”.

Adam has the opportunity to perform in concerto with some prestigious orchestras and conductors such as the Mariinsky Orchestra/Valery Gergiev, the Orchestre de Paris/Cornelius Meister, the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin/Nicholas Collon at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne/Joshua Weilerstein at the Festival de Saint-Denis, the Orchestre National de Belgique/Hugh Wolf, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Sir Roger Norrington, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo/Alain Altinoglu, the Orchestre National de Lyon/Gabor Takacs-Nagy, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège/John Neschling, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Jonathan Nott, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg/Jesus Lopez-Cobos, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester/James Gaffigan, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse/Joseph Swensen, the KBS Symphony Orchestra/Yoël Levy, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux/Jaime Martin, the WDR Orchestra of Stuttgart, etc.

Adam Laloum is the guest of the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Wigmore Hall, Herkulessaal de Munich, Tonhalle Zürich, Auditorium du Louvre, Piano à Lyon, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Grand Théâtre d’Avignon, Société Chopin de Bern, Palais des Beaux-arts de Bruxelles, Bilbao, Japon. He performs at the Klavier-Festival-Ruhr, Verbier Festival, Lucerne Festival, Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron, SWR Schwetzinger Festspiele, Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Folles Journées de Nantes, Festival de Colmar, Menton Festival, Festival du Périgord Noir, Festival Piano aux Jacobins, Lille Piano Festival, Festival de Pâques de Deauville, Zermatt Festival, Bad Kissingen Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, etc…

After a first album with Brahms works (Mirare), Adam Laloum recorded another one dedicated to Schumann: Humoresque op.20 and the Sonata n°1, op.11. This recording has received the « Diapason d’or of the year 2014 », the « Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros », « ffff » of Télérama and 5 stars by Fono Forum in Germany. Adam Laloum then released a CD devoted to Schumann/Schubert (Mirare), and the Two Brahms piano Concertos with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Kazuki Yamada (Sony Music Worldwide, 2018). His last recording, released in 2020 for the label Harmonia Mundi and dedicated to two Schubert Sonatas, has been acclaimed by critics.

A very fine and passionate chamber music partner Adam Laloum founded a piano trio – Trio les Esprits – with the cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière and the violinist Mi-sa Yang. Their last recording (Sony Music Worldwide) has received The Strad « Recommends ». His chamber music recording (Brahms both clarinet Sonatas and Trio with clarinet) with clarinettist Raphaël Sévère and cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière also received a Diapason d’or and ffff in Télérama. With the violist Lise Berthaud, he released an album devoted to Schumann, Schubert and Brahms, which received a Diapason d’or.

He is the artistic director of the festival “Les Pages Musicales de Lagrasse” since 2015, a festival dedicated to the chamber music repertoire.

Adam Laloum starts the piano at the age of 10 and makes his musical studies at the Toulouse Conservatory, before starting at the Paris National Conservatoire in 2002 in the class of Michel Béroff. During his scholarship, Adam met and attended master classes of such personalities as Dmitri Bashkirov or Paul Badura-Skoda. He received his Diploma in June 2006 and continued at the Lyon CNSM in Géry Moutier’s class. He then joined the class of Evgeni Koroliov in Hamburg who is himself 1st Prize Clara Haskil 1977.

Precise vocal control, clear diction, intelligent musicality and an ability to get to the heart of everything he sings all ensure Christoph Prégardien’s place among the world’s foremost lyric tenors. Especially revered as a Lieder singer, he kicks off the 2019/2020 season with concerts at the Schubertiade Hohenems and the Oxford Lieder Festival. He then performs in the US on tour with pianist Julius Drake, before the pair give joint recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall and in Madrid. In the spring he will tour with Le Concert Lorrain, followed by recitals in Hong Kong with Roger Vignoles and in Zurich with Hartmut Höll and Udo Samel, among others, with additional appearances at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and at the Konserthuset in Stockholm.

Christoph Prégardien regularly appears with renowned orchestras the world over. He has worked with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as well as the Boston and San Francisco Symphonies, along with conductors such as Barenboim, Metzmacher and Thielemann. His wide orchestral repertoire includes the great baroque, classical and Romantic oratorios and passions, as well as works from the 17th and 20th centuries. In opera, his roles have included, among others, Tamino, Almaviva, Fenton (Falstaff), Don Ottavio, Titus, Ulisse and Idomeneo.

His extensive experience singing the Evangelist roles, together with his close working relationship with conductors such as Nagano, Chailly, Herreweghe, Harnoncourt, Luisi and Gardiner have provided him with the perfect basis for his increasing work conducting the works of Bach. Following the success of his conducting debut in 2012, leading Le Concert Lorrain and the Nederlands Kammerkoor in Bach’s St. John’s Passion, he has also become in-demand as a conductor of this repertoire. In 2015 he led Le Concert Lorrain and the Balthasar-Neumann Choir, this time in the St. Matthew’s Passion, and in the following years returned to lead Le Concert Lorrain and the Dresdner Kammerchor on tour with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. In 2019 he made his debut leading a symphony orchestra, conducting the Duisburg Philharmonic in works including Mozart’s Requiem, and also led the Collegium Vocale Gent at a celebration concert for Philippe Herreweghe’s 70th birthday; together with the ensemble he will take part in a major European tour of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in December.

The singer has recorded much of his repertoire on a discography of over 150 records, which have received awards such as the Orphée d’Or of the Académie du Disque Lyrique, the Edison Award, the Cannes Classical Award and the Diapason d’Or. For the label Challenge Classics he has recorded Schubert’s Schwanengesang with Andreas Staier and Die schöne Müllerin with Michael Gees – selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine and awarded the MIDEM Record of the Year – followed by Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with Julia Kleiter, Between Life and Death, Wanderer and the Grammy-nominated Winterreise disc – all with Michael Gees – as well as Father and Son with his son Julian Prégardien. His Schubert CD Poetisches Tagebuch (with Julius Drake) was awarded the German Critics’ Award 2016. His most recent CD releases include A Matter of Heart – songs for voice, horn and piano with Olivier Darbellay and Michael Gees – as well as a recording of passion cantatas by Telemann and Bach with the Vox Orchester for Sony (where he appears as a baritone for the first time), along with Auf den Flügeln des Gesanges with Cyprien Katsaris for Challenge, featuring Romantic songs and their piano transcriptions. In autumn 2019, also for Challenge, a new recording of Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Wagner’s Wesendonck Liedern (with Michael Gees) will be released.

Teaching remains an important part of Christoph Prégardien’s musical life. Following many years at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich, he gives masterclasses for young singers the world over and since 2004 has been a professor at the Academy of Music in Cologne.