Press Release

17th INTERNATIONAL

PHAROS CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL

2 – 20 JUNE 2017

CYPRUS 2 & 9 JUNE / THE SHOE FACTORY, NICOSIA

15 – 20 JUNE / ROYAL MANOR HOUSE, KOUKLIA    

“The stunning locations of the Pharos Ch“The stunning locations of the Pharos Chamber Music Festival attract topamber Music Festival attract top musiciansmusicians year year after year”after year”

BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 Since its inception 17 years ago the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival has established itself as the

most important annual classical music event in Cyprus, and has gained an international reputation for its

quality concerts and magnificent settings. Guided by a visionary spirit and dedicated to artistic excellence, the

Festival is now recognised as one of Europe's preeminent music festivals, having placed Cyprus on the

international cultural map and garnering enthusiastic acclaim from music lovers all over the world, while it has

made chamber music more accessible to the general public by presenting exciting programmes and

performances of the highest level by some of the world’s most renowned soloists. The Festival also maintains a strong tradition of community service, with educational concerts organized for students of public schools and a

number of master-classes for young instrumentalists.

Organized between 2 and 20 June 2017, the 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival welcomes to

Cyprus some of the most remarkable artists on the international music scene, for an extensive fortnight of

music-making in two unique venues in Cyprus: the Royal Manor House in Kouklia – one of the finest surviving

monuments of Frankish architecture in Cyprus and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and The Shoe Factory, a

contemporary recital venue situated in Ermou Street near the buffer zone in Nicosia. Exploring the many forms

of the chamber music genre, the Festival will encompass an impressive array of instrumental combinations and repertoire, ranging from the Baroque to the 20th century, as well as a number of rarely performed masterpieces.

THE 2017 EDITION:   The 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will open on Friday 2 June 2017, at The Shoe Factory in Nicosia, with a voice and piano recital by the renowned Danish coloratura soprano Susanne Elmark. In great demand around the world for the last twenty years, Elmark has been engaged in houses like Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Opera Oslo, Oper Frankfurt, Oper Cologne, Opernhaus Zürich, and Royal Opera Copenhagen. For her recital in Cyprus, Susanne Elmark will join forces with the international repetiteur Christian Westergaard, winner of the 2015 International Lied Duo Competition, in a programme of songs by Debussy, Berg, R. Strauss, Prokofiev and Grieg. A week later, on Friday 9 June 2017, The Shoe Factory will welcome the return visit of the sensational young pianist Vitaly Pisarenko, winner of the First Prize in the 8th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition and Third Prize winner at the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition. His recital, which is organised in collaboration with the Keyboard Charitable Trust in London, will include works by Schubert, Schumann and Liszt. After an intensive week of educational activities and master-classes for students from all over the world, the 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will move to the Royal Manor House of the ancient village of Kouklia near Paphos, which is specifically transformed by the Festival to a first class recital hall. Some of the world’s greatest musicians will join forces for six concerts, between 15 and 20 June 2017, in an impressive array of works. The Festival will host one of the most renowned names of the great Russian piano school, Sergei Babayan, claimed for the immediacy, sensitivity and depth of his interpretations, the rare emotional intensity and bold energy of his performances and his extraordinary mastery in exploring stylistically diverse repertoire. Babayan was the first pianist from the former USSR who was able to compete without government sponsorship after the collapse of the system, and immediately after his first trip outside of the USSR, he won consecutive first prizes in several major international competitions including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Hamamatsu Piano Competition and the Busoni International Piano Competition. The Festival will also feature one of the most musically dynamic and technically gifted performers of the new generation of pianists, the Gold Medallist of the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Vadym Kholodenko, who is internationally recognised for his powerful and exhilarating performances that “show the guts of a true super-artist”. Alongside them, the Festival is thrilled to present the return visit of the amazing Yevgeny Sudbin, hailed by The Telegraph as ‘potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century’ and by the International Record Review as ‘one of the most important pianistic talents of our time’. Besides the Festival’s regular guests – distinguished cellist and artistic director of the Festival Alexander Chaushian, the impressive Russian violinist Boris Brovtsyn, violinists Levon Chilingirian and Monika Urbonaite,

violists Diemut Poppen and David Abrahamyan, and cellist Tim Park, this year’s Festival will also host for the first time the exceptional violinist Alena Baeva, who is fast emerging as one of the finest violinists of her generation, having already carved out an impressive career to date working regularly as a soloist with some of the world’s most important orchestras, one of the most brilliant and engaging French violinists of our times – Nicolas Dautricourt, who has been voted "Classical Discovery of the Year" at the Midem in Cannes and awarded the Sacem Georges Enesco Prize, the prodigious violinist Clara-Jumi Kang, prize winner in several major competitions, including, Tibor Varga, Seoul, Hannover and Indianapolis violin competitions, and the fascinating violist Jennifer Stumm, recognised as one of the world’s dynamic and creative advocates for her instrument, whose TED talk “The Imperfect Instrument” was named editor’s pick of all talks on ted.com. The 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will also welcome the return visits of French cellist Marc Coppey, who was discovered by Lord Yehudi Menuhin at a very early age and who is nowadays considered one of the leading cellists in the world, the renowned Italian flutist Massimo Mercelli, who is the dedicatee of numerous works by some of the most important contemporary composers including Philip Glass, Giovanni Sollima, Sofia Gubaidulina and Krzysztof Penderecki, and the newly founded Cyprus Guitar Trio, which comprises three renowned classical guitarists from Cyprus – Vasilios Avraam, George Christofi and Socrates Leptos.

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE:   Friday 2 June @ The Shoe Factory, Nicosia: A voice and piano recital with coloratura soprano Susanne Elmark and pianist Christian Westergaard Friday 9 June @ The Shoe Factory, Nicosia: A piano recital with Vitaly Pisarenko in works by Schubert, Schumann and Liszt Thursday 15 – Tuesday 20 June @ Royal Manor House, Kouklia: Six chamber concerts with some of the world’s most renowned soloists in a wide-ranging programme. **Concerts start at 8.30pm

THE VENUES: The Royal Manor House, Kouklia is one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture on the island and an unparalleled venue for intimate chamber music performances. The building also houses an archaeological museum, which records the rich history of human activity in the region from about 2800 BC to the present day. The Royal Manor House, which is part of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s “Aphrodite’s Cultural Route”, is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Palaipaphos, or Old Paphos, was a city-kingdom of Cyprus and one of the most celebrated pilgrimage centres of the ancient Greek world. It was the site of a famous sanctuary of Aphrodite, the oldest remains of which date back to the 12th century BC. Join us in a leisurely exploration of the history and cultural heritage of the western region of Cyprus. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia is situated in the old part of Nicosia, near the buffer zone. Through it, the Pharos Arts Foundation is helping to revitalize this beautiful and historic section of the capital city by attracting a wide and diversified younger audience. All concerts are characterized by a unique feeling of intimacy and music is performed in an exceptionally inspiring setting: a modern venue decorated with contemporary art by mainly local artists; a venue situated in the “run down” part of Nicosia that offers the audience the unique opportunity to sit within an amazing proximity to world famous artists and experience performances in a venue like no other.

THE ARTISTS: Piano: Sergei Babayan, Vadym Kholodenko, Yevgeny Sudbin, Vitaly Pisarenko, Christian Westergaard Violin: Boris Brovtsyn, Alena Baeva, Nicolas Dautricourt, Clara-Jumi Kang, Levon Chilingirian, Monika Urbonaite Viola: Jennifer Stumm, Diemut Poppen, David Abrahamyan Cello: Alexander Chaushian, Marc Coppey, Tim Park Flute: Massimo Mercelli Guitar: Cyprus Guitar trio Soprano: Susanne Elmark  

INFORMATION: PHAROS ARTS FOUNDATION Tel: +357 22-663871 Website: www.pharosartsfoundation.org

TICKETS:     Tickets: €10 Box Office: Directly from the Foundation’s website www.pharosartsfoundation.org or Tel. 9666-9003 (Monday - Friday 10:00am-3:00pm) Tickets also available from: KYRIAKOU FULLPAGE BOOKSHOPS: 30 Ellados Ave., 8020 Paphos, Tel. 26-822850

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME:  Friday June 2 – The Shoe Factory, Nicosia Voice & Piano Recital with Susanne Elmark / soprano & Christian Westergaard / piano Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Quatre chansons de Jeunesse (1881-4) Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) Geheimnis from Lyric Pieces Op.57 (1880) R. Strauss (1864-1949) Selected songs from Opp. 10, 17, 27 and 68 (1885-1918) Alban Berg (1885-1935) Sieben frühe Lieder (1905-8) Niels Gade (1817-1890) Andante from Sonata for piano in E minor, Op.28 (1840) Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) The Ugly Duckling, Op.18 (1914) Friday June 9 – The Shoe Factory, Nicosia Recital with Vitaly Pisarenko / piano Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Drei Klavierstucke D.946 (1828) Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Fantasiestücke, Op.12 (1837) Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Ballade No.1 in D-flat major, S.170 (1848) Ballade No.2 in B minor, S.171 (1853) Hungarian Rhapsody No.10 in E major, S.244 (1847) Hungarian Rhapsody No.13 in A minor, S.244 (1847) Thursday June 15 – Royal Manor House, Kouklia W.A Mozart (1756-1791) Duo for Violin & Viola No.1, K.423 (1783)

Clara-Jumi Kang / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.49 (1839) Sergei Babayan / piano, Tim Park / cello, Clara-Jumi Kang / violin Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, Op.25 (1861) Vadym Kholodenko / piano, Alena Baeva / violin, Jennifer Stumm / viola, Marc Coppey / cello Friday June 16 – Royal Manor House, Kouklia

Jesús Guridi (1886-1961) Ala Baita & Alabatua from Canciones Vascas (1956) Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000) Csángó szonatina for 3 guitars (1977) Máximo Diego Pujol (b. 1957) Fin de Siglo pour 3 guitarres (1995) Cyprus Guitar Trio César Franck (1822-1890) Piano Quintet in F minor (1879) Vadym Kholodenko / piano, Nicolas Dautricourt / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Jennifer Stumm / viola, Marc Coppey / cello Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) String Octet in E-flat major, Op.20 (1825) Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Alena Baeva / violin, Nicolas Dautricourt / violin, Clara-Jumi Kang / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, David Abrahamyan / viola, Marc Coppey / cello, Tim Park / cello Saturday June 17 – Royal Manor House, Kouklia Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) Concerto for Violin, Piano & String Quartet in D major, Op.21 (1892) Vadym Kholodenko / piano, Alena Baeva / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Clara-Jumi Kang / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Tim Park / cello Philip Glass (b. 1937) Chaotic Harmony (Arrangement for flute and cello by Massimo Mercelli) (2006) Massimo Mercelli / flute, Alexander Chaushian / cello Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) Quintet for Piano & Strings in G minor, Op.57 (1940) Sergei Babayan / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Alena Baeva / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello Sunday June 18 – Royal Manor House, Kouklia Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Flute Trio No.16 in D Major, Hob.XV:16 (1790) Massimo Mercelli / flute, Vadym Kholodenko / piano, Marc Coppey / cello Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Quintet for piano & strings in A minor, Op.14 (1855) Sergei Babayan / piano, Nicolas Dautricourt / violin, Clara-Jumi Kang / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Marc Coppey / cello Franz Schubert (1797-1828) String Quintet in C major, D.956 (1828) Clara-Jumi Kang / violin, Nicolas Dautricourt / violin, Jennifer Stumm / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello, Tim Park / cello Monday June 19 – Royal Manor House, Kouklia Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Transcendental Étude No.11 in D-flat, "Harmonies du soir" (1851) Yevgeny Sudbin / piano Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Nocturne Op.19, No.4 in D minor (1873) June (Barcarolle) Op.37, No.6 in G minor (1876) November (Troika) Op.37, No.11 in E major (1876) Yevgeny Sudbin / piano

W.A Mozart (1756-1791) Flute Quartet No.4 in A major, K.298 (1787) Massimo Mercelli / flute, Levon Chilingirian / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello W.A Mozart (1756-1791) Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, K.478 (1785) Yevgeny Sudbin / piano, Levon Chilingirian / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Tim Park / cello W.A Mozart (1756-1791) Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in D major, K.381 (1774) Yevgeny Sudbin / piano & Sergei Babayan / piano Tuesday June 20 – Royal Manor House, Kouklia J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, BWV 1052 (1734) Sergei Babayan / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Monika Urbonaite / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello, Tim Park / cello W.A Mozart (1756-1791) Piano Concerto No.25 in C major, K.503 (1786) Arrangement by Johann Nepomuk Hummel Sergei Babayan / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Monika Urbonaite / violin, Alexander Chaushian / cello Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) String Sextet in A major (1876) Levon Chilingirian / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Jennifer Stumm / viola, David Abrahamyan / viola, Tim Park / cello, Alexander Chaushian / cello

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

SERGEI BABAYAN / piano Claimed for the immediacy, sensitivity and depth of his interpretations, the rare emotional intensity and bold energy of his performances and his extraordinary mastery in exploring stylistically diverse repertoire, Sergei Babayan is one of the most renowned names of the great Russian piano school. Student of such legendary musicians and teachers as Gornostayeva, Naumov, Pletnev and Vlasenko in the Moscow Conservatory, he was, however, not permitted to leave the country and be free to compete and study in the West. He was the first pianist from the former USSR who was able to compete without government sponsorship after the collapse of the system. Immediately after his first trip outside of the USSR, he won consecutive first prizes in several major international competitions including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Hamamatsu

Piano Competition and the Busoni International Piano Competition. He has given recitals in important venues, among them Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg, Tchaikovsky Conservatory Bolshoi Zal in Moscow, Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, and countless others. Sergei Babayan has appeared with many major orchestras throughout the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Orchestre Nationale de Lille, Warsaw Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, New World Symphony and he has collaborated with such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Neeme Jarvi, Hans Graf, Kazimierz Kord, David Robertson, Michael Christi. In 2006, Sergei Babayan was invited by Valery Gergiev to perform the Lutoslawsky piano concerto in the XIV International Festival “Stars of the White Nights” in St. Petersburg with the orchestra of Mariinsky Theatre: the performance was highly praised in major Russian publications and was enthusiastically received by the audience. Many other invitations came from Gergiev, to perform Prokofiev‘s Third Piano Concerto in his Easter Festival, in London Barbican in 2010 with the LSO, and again in St Petersburg with the Mariinsky Orchestra in 2011 playing Mozart and the Rachmaninov Third Piano concerto. In 2015, Babayan performed two Prokofiev concertos at BBC Proms with Valery Gergiev and London Symphony Orchestra.

VADYM KHOLODENKO / piano Vadym Kholodenko is fast building a reputation as one of the most musically dynamic and technically gifted performers of the new generation of pianists. Gold Medallist of the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, in 2013, Kholodenko captured the attention of jury, audience, and critics alike for powerful, exhilarating performances that “showed the guts of a true super-artist” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Also taking home prizes for Best Performance of the Piano Quintet and Best Performance of the

Commissioned Work, he further demonstrated his artistry with a stunning cadenza in Mozart’s Concerto No.21 in C major, K.467 – which he composed himself on the plane to the Competition. Since then, Kholodenko has continued to build an international reputation for interpretations that are impeccable, tasteful and vibrant. Kholodenko has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Bashmet, Carl St. Clair, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Kazuki Yamada and Vladimir Spivakov. Kholodenko has appeared with some of the world’s leading orchestras including Philadelphia Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and San Diego Symphony orchestras, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, Orquesta Nacional de España. His first recording for Harmonia Mundi was released in 2013, featuring Stravinsky’s Trois mouvements de Petrouchka and the complete Liszt Transcendental Etudes. In 2015, he released the Grieg Piano Concerto and the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2 with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya, which was awarded “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone and was identified as “a truly outstanding recording”. His latest release for the label – the first instalment of his Prokofiev Concerto Cycle (Nos 2 & 5) – was praised by Gramophone for its “forthright, lithe ad virile performances”. The rest of the cycle is planned for release later in 2017.

YEVGENY SUDBIN / piano Yevgeny Sudbin has been hailed by The Telegraph as ‘potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century’. As BIS Records’ only exclusive artist, all of Yevgeny’s recordings have met with critical acclaim and are regularly featured as CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine or Editor’s Choice by Gramophone. His Scriabin recording was awarded CD of the Year by The Telegraph and received the MIDEM Classical Award for Best Solo Instrument Recording at Cannes. It was described by Gramophone as ‘a disc in a million’ while the International Record Review stated that Yevgeny’s Rachmaninov recording ‘confirms him as one of the most important pianistic talents of our time’. Yevgeny performs regularly in many of the world's finest venues and concert series, both in recital and with orchestra, including Tonhalle Zurich; Royal Festival Hall, Queen

Elizabeth Hall (International Piano Series) and Wigmore Hall (London Pianoforte Series) in London; Concertgebouw (Meesterpianisten, Amsterdam); Avery Fisher Hall (New York) and Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco). Recent engagements and tours have included orchestras such as New Zealand Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Lucerne Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. His performance of Rachmaninov's Concerto No.1 at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall was described by The Telegraph as ‘sublime.’ Yevgeny has collaborated with some of the world’s most influential conductors, such as Neeme Järvi, Charles Dutoit, Osmo Vänskä, Hannu Lintu, Tugan Sokhiev, Andrew Litton and Vassily Sinaisky.

VITALY PISARENKO / piano In 2008, aged 21 Russian pianist Vitaly Pisarenko, won the First Prize in the 8th

International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht. Vitaly's packed tour schedule, with world-­‐wide engagements, commenced straight away the morning after the Finals with an appearance at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Damian Iorio. In 2015, Pisarenko won the Third Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Vitaly Pisarenko gave his first public recital at the age of six. Since winning the Liszt Competition, his career really took off and he has performed in more than twenty-five countries. He has collaborated with such renowned orchestras as the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Brno Philharmonic

Orchestra, the KBS Symphony Orchestra, and he performed in several prestigious festivals including the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, Vilnius Piano Festival, the International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki (Poland), the Euro Music Festival in Halle (Germany), the Grachtenfestival (Amsterdam), the Diaghilev Festival (St. Petersburg), and in venues such as Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Musikverein in Vienna, De Singel in Antwerp, Palace of Arts in Budapest, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the Shanghai Concert Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, St. John's Smith Square, Royal Albert Hall and the St. James Piccadilly in London. Pisarenko began his studies in Ukraine, and continued at Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and at Oxana Yablonskaya’s Piano Institute in Italy. In 2014, he graduated with a

Mastrer’s degree with distinction and in 2015 with Artist Diploma degree from the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Dmitri Alexeev.

CHRISTIAN WESTERGAARD / piano Christian Westergaard is a Copenhagen based collaborative pianist who works with leading Danish and Scandinavian singers, including Mari Eriksmoen, Inger Dam Jensen, Bo Skovhus and many more. He has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Musikhalle, Hamborg and is a recording artist for Dacapo Records. His upcoming projects include recording series The Danish Art Song Edition for Dacapo Records, recitals with Inger Dam Jensen and Bo Skovhus and the publication of the collected songs of Herman D. Koppel on Edition S. In 2015, Westergaard was the winner of the International Lied Duo Competition together with Dutch mezzo soprano Francine Vis. He also has a keen interest in the Danish piano repertoire and has released the critically acclaimed CD Tangos, Waltzes and Cinema Music with piano music by Jacob Gade (Dacapo Records). He currently holds teaching

positions at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Opera Academy, Copenhagen and The Danish National Academy of Music, Odense.

BORIS BROVTSYN / violin Boris Brovtsyn studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and became a laureate of international competitions, such as Georg Kulenkampf (1994, Cologne), Transnet (1996, Pretoria) and Yehudi Menuhin (1998). In 2001 he was a finalist at the Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition and won the 2001 Reuters Prize. The following year he won the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition. In 1998, Brovtsyn made his UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rumon Gamba. As a soloist, Boris Brovtsyn has collaborated with artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Gerd Albrecht, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and Arvo Volmer to name but a few, and appeared with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Belgique, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille and Moscow State Chamber Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony

Orchestra, Basel and Bern symphony orchestras, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Utah Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at Verbier Festival, Lugano Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Oxford Chamber Music Festival, Ryedale Festival, Genius of the Violin Festival, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival and in the “George Enescu” Festival among others. As a soloist, Boris has worked with Sir Neville Marriner, Yuri Bashmet, Gerd Albrecht, Marek Janowski, Neeme Järvi, Louis Langrée, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Gilbert Varga, Antoni Wit, Alexander Lazarev, Vassily Sinaisky, Vladimir Fedoseev, Alain Lombard and Arvo Volmer to name but a few.

ALENA BAEVA / violin Alena Baeva is fast emerging as one of the finest violinists of her generation – having already carved out an impressive career to date working regularly as a soloist with orchestras including the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the German Radio Orchestra. Alena has worked with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Jurowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Paavo Berglund, Kazuki Yamada, Sakari Oramo and Pablo Heras-Casado. Her chamber music partners have included Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Steven Isserlis, Nikolai Lugansky, Misha Maisky, and Vadym Kholodenko, with whom she has established a 10-year long musical partnership.

Alena Baeva is a graduate of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire where she studied between 2002 and 2007. In 2003 she was invited by Mstislav Rostropovich to study in France where she attended classes by Boris Garlitsky and since 2007 she has participated in Seiji Ozawa’s Academy in Switzerland. Her major competition victory came in 2001 when she won the Gold Medal at the Henryk Wieniawski competition in Poznan, including the prize for the best performance of a contemporary work. In 2004 Alena won the Grand Prix at the Moscow International Niccolò Paganini Competition, giving her the right to perform on the Stradivarius violin that belonged to Henryk Wieniawski; she was also awarded the Gold Medal and audience prize at the International Violin Competition in Sendai (2007).

NICOLAS DAUTRICOURT / violin Voted "ADAMI Classical Discovery of the Year" at the Midem in Cannes and awarded the Sacem Georges Enesco Prize, Nicolas Dautricourt is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant and engaging French violinists of his generation. Dautricourt, who is appreciated for his "sensitivity and passionate manner," is particularly fond of chamber music. As a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, he appears at major venues around the world including the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Wigmore Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall, Copenhagen Concert Hall, Salle Pleyel, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra du Rhin. He has performed as a soloist with a number of leading orchestras including the Orchestre National de France, Detroit Symphony, Québec Symphony, Sinfonia Varsovia, Capitole de Toulouse Symphony, Kiev Philharmonic, Mexico

Philharmonic, NHK Tokyo Chamber Orchestra, Scala di Milano Ensemble, Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc, under the baton of conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Paavo Järvi, Tugan Sokhiev, François-Xavier Roth, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Kazuki Yamada, Dennis Russell Davis, Yuri Bashmet. Dautricourt participates in many festivals at home in France and abroad, including La Chaise-Dieu, La Roque d’Antheron, Printemps des Arts (Monaco), Folles Journées de Nantes, Rencontres Musicales de La Baule, Flâneries musicales de Reims, Lockenhaus (Austria), Pärnu Music Festival (Estonia), Ravinia (USA), Himeji/Le Pont Festival (Japan), Turina Festival (Spain), Sintra (Portugal), Davos (Switzerland), Aurora Festival and O Modernt Festival (Sweden). He is prize-winner in numerous international violin competitions, such as the Henryk Wieniawski Competition in Poznan, the Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade, the Rodolfo Lipizer in Gorizia and the Gian-Battista Viotti in Vercelli Competitions.

CLARA-JUMI KANG / violin Clara-Jumi Kang was born in Germany under a musical family and she started playing the violin at the age of three. At seven, she got accepted at the Juilliard School to study with full scholarship and at the same time she had already performed with orchestras such as Leipzig Gewandthaus, Hamburg Symphony, Nice Philharmonie, Atlanta Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic, and she released her first CD. She is prize winner in several major violin competitions, including, Tibor Varga Violin Competition, Seoul Violin Competition, Hannover Violin Competition, International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Clara-Jumi Kang has been invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras such as Dresden Kapellsolisten, Indianapolis Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Taipei National Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic

Orchestra, KBS Orchestra. For DECCA, she released in 2011 her first solo album, Modern Solo. This season she appears as a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, National Philharmonic of Russia, China NCPA Orchestra, to name but a few, under the baton of such conductors Andrey Boreyko, Valery Gergiev, Lü Jia, Gidon Kremer, Christoph Poppen and Vladimir Spivakov.

LEVON CHILINGIRIAN / violin Levon Chilingirian, born in Cyprus, began violin with his great uncle, Vahan Bedelian. After emigrating to the U.K., he later studied with his uncle, Manoug Parikian, Hugh Bean, and the Amadeus Quartet. Chilingirian’s partnership with the late Clifford Benson was launched by winning first prizes in the 1969 BBC Beethoven Competition and the 1971 ARD Munich Duo International Competition. Founded in 1971, the Chilingirian Quartet is today one of the most celebrated string quartets on the international scene, its highly regarded recorded repertoire spanning classical to contemporary works. Chilingirian also performs as a soloist and with other chamber music partners. He is co- artistic director of the Pharos Festival (Cyprus) and for 14 years was Director of the Mendelsohn on Mull Festival. Other partnerships as guest director include Camerata Nordica, Gothenberg

Symphony, Armenian Chamber Orchestra, the Guildhall String Ensemble, Trondheim Soloists. He coaches chamber music at the Lake District Festival, West Dean College summer course, and has worked with El Sistema in Venezuela. Levon Chilingirian is Professor of Violin and Chamber Music Artist in Residence at the Royal Academy of Music (London) and Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). He is much in demand giving masterclasses, coaching, as a jury member around the world and is chair of the Trondheim International Quartet Competition. In 2017, he is a member of the jury of the Osaka Quartet Competition. Levon Chilingirian received an OBE in the Queen’s Honours List and the Cobbett Medal.

MONIKA URBONAITE / violin Monika Urbonaite was born in Lithuania into a musical family. From an early age she played as soloist with various orchestras and won numerous competition awards both in her native Lithuania and abroad. After having won the "Talent of Hope" award at the Heifetz competition in Vilnius, she was invited by Gidon Kremer to join the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra. She spent the next six years there, touring all over the world and collaborating with the likes of Martha Argerich, Misha Maisky, Gustavo Dudamel, Yo Yo Ma, and with the orchestra's founder, Gidon Kremer. Monika Urbonaite has recently graduated from Trinity College of Music where she was a recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including the Leverhulme, the Founders, the TCM Trust and the Tillett and Colin Keer Trust scholarships and also won the Vivian Joseph classical concerto

competition. She studied with Ofer Falk.

JENNIFER STUMM / viola Violist Jennifer Stumm is recognised as one of the world’s dynamic and creative advocates for her instrument, known both for her distinctive sound and unbridled enthusiasm for music. Hailed by the Washington Post for the “opal-like beauty” of her playing, Stumm appears on many of the world’s great stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Concertgebouw, Sala São Paulo, and the Wigmore Hall, London. Her solo career was launched after victories in three major international competitions: William Primrose, Geneva and Concert Artists Guild (where she was the first violist ever to win First Prize.) An enthusiastic speaker and writer about music, Jennifer Stumm’s TED talk about the viola and the blessings of being different, “The Imperfect Instrument,” was named an editor’s pick of all talks on ted.com and she was recently cover artist of Symphony Magazine. A

recipient of the prestigious BBC New Generation artist and Borletti Buitoni Awards for her work in chamber music, she appears at major festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro, Spoleto, Aldeburgh, Delft and IMS Prussia Cove, and her collaborative partners have included the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri, Vermeer and Alban Berg Quartets. In 2015, Jennifer Stumm founded the Ilumina Festival, a chamber music festival in the mountains outside São Paulo uniting prominent international soloists with Brazil’s most talented young artists. She is currently International Chair of Viola Studies at the Royal College of Music, London and gives masterclasses around the world.

DIEMUT POPPEN / viola Diemut Poppen is one of the finest viola players of her generation. Born in a musical family, Poppen studied in Germany, USA and Paris with some of the greatest viola players of her time, including Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian, Bruno Giuranna and Peter Schidlof. Diemut Poppen has been awarded several scholarships and prizes, among them the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the renowned European Music Prize. As a soloist, Diemut Poppen has performed in major music centres all over the world including the Carnegie Hall in New York, Barbican in London, Philharmonie in Berlin and Mozarteum in Salzburg and has worked with musicians like Claudio Abbado, Leonidas Kavakos and Viktor Tretyakov. Several composers have written new pieces for Diemut Poppen, including solo works, as well as concertos, sonatas and chamber music. Diemut Poppen

has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Cappricio, Live classics, EMI, Tudor, Ediphone, Ondine, among others. Cyprus is Diemut’s favourite country and she visits the island quite regularly.

DAVID ABRAHAMYAN / viola From a very young age, David Abrahamyan has collaborated with the Luxemburg Philarmonic, OSPA in Oviedo Spain, Lagen Laden in Brussels where he was solo viola or Salzburg Chamber Soloists under the artistic direction of Lavard Skou Larsen. He has performed under the baton of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitnk, Roberto Benzi, Jesús López Cobos or Plácido Domingo, amongst others. Between 2005 and 2009, he was the founder and artistic director of the master-class series "Musical Improvement" in Felechosa (Asturias- Spain) inviting teachers like Dora Schwarzberg, Liviu Prunaru, Alexander Chaushyan, Ashley Wass, Wolfgang Meyer, Gunter Pichler, Gustav Rivinius, Mikhail Kopelman or Boris Belkin. Abrahamyan’s chamber music partners have included Boris Belkin, Alba Ventura, Daishin Kashimoto, Boris Andreanov, Ashley

Wass, in concert halls like Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Koncerthaus in Berlín, Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, Sala Mozarteum in Salzburg, KKL in Lucerne, Royal Festival Hall in London, Queen Elisabeth Hall in London, Auditorio Nacional

in Madrid, Salle Playel in París, Palais de Bozar in Brussels, Sala Sao Paolo in San Paolo or Teatro Manzoni in Bologna. Has recorded a DVD performing Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht in the Singel in Antwerpen, a collaboration project between Europe and South Korea, also has recorded two CDs for Dutch Records Company with the Dutch composer Wim Zwaag, who dedicated his Adagio for Viola to David.

ALEXANDER CHAUSHIAN / cello Regarded as one of the finest cellists of his generation, Alexander Chaushian has performed extensively throughout the world as a soloist with orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra at Vienna’s Konzerthaus and at the Bruchnerhaus in Linz, the London Mozart Players and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Royal National Orchestra of Belgium, Les Solistes Européens de Luxembourg in a gala concert conducted by Yehudi Menuhin, the Boston Pops Orchestra at Boston Symphony Hall, and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He has given highly acclaimed performances in such venues as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Sala Verdi Milan, and Suntory Hall Japan. Chaushian has won the Third Prize in the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition in

Moscow and the Third and Special prizes given by the Munich Chamber Orchestra at the ARD Competition in Germany in 2005. Amongst the many distinguished musicians whom he has collaborated with are Yehudi Menuhin, Julia Fischer, Levon Chilingirian, Yuri Bashmet, François-Frédéric Guy, Emmanuel Pahud. His regular chamber music partner is Yevgeny Sudbin. Alexander’s recordings include several highly acclaimed CDs for the BIS label in which he is partnered by Yevgeny Sudbin, and his recently released concerto CD with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, also on BIS, received rave reviews and was selected ‘Album of the Week’ by the Independent.

MARC COPPEY / cello French cellist, Marc Coppey, winner of the two highest prizes at the 1988 Bach competition Leipzig at the age of 18 is considered to be one of the leading cellists of today. Lord Yehudi Menuhin discovered Marc’s talent at an early age, and subsequently invited him to make his Moscow and Paris debuts by performing the Tchaïkovsky Trio with himself and Victoria Postnikova, a collaboration documented on film by famous film director Bruno Monsaingeon. In 1989 Mstislav Rostropovitch invited Marc to the Evian Festival and from that moment on his solo career took off. A frequent soloist with the leading orchestras of today, Marc Coppey has collaborated with many distinguished conductors such as Eliahu Inbal, Emmanuel Krivine, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Asher Fisch and has appeared in some of the most prestigious concert halls of the world. He is the dedicatee of a number

of works by composers such as Christian, Durieux, Fedele and Fénelon, and his numerous recordings have received critical acclaim worldwide, including Télérama’s ffff, Diapason d’Or, a “Choc” from the Magazine Le Monde de la Musique and BBC Magazine five stars.

TIM PARK / cello Cellist Tim Park has been praised for his energetic and exhilarating performances as well as for his expressive and beautiful sound. Concerts as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician have brought Tim to many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. Tim has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the New York Chamber, Detroit Symphony, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional de Venezuela, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonie-Orchestra, Berliner Symphoniker, Lithuanian National Chamber Orchestra, Tel-Aviv Camerata, Berliner Camerata. An avid chamber musician, Tim performs frequently at music festivals such as the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Bach Festwochen Ansbach, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Lucerne Festival, S&R Foundation’s Evermay International Chamber Music Festival at the

Evermay Estate (Washington DC) and the Kennedy Center, and regularly collaborates with such distinguished artists as Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova, Alessio Bax, Andras Schiff, Michael Barenboim, Paul Meyer and Emmanuel Pahud. Born to Korean parents, Tim grew up in New York and began cello lessons at the age of eight. He entered the Juilliard School at eleven and continued studies at Yale University with Aldo Parisot. He finished his degrees in Germany studying with David Geringas at the Musikhochschule Lubeck and the Hochschule fur Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ Berlin. Tim has also studied with Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikov, M. Rostropovitch and Janos Starker in masterclasses.

MASSIMO MERCELLI / flute Massimo Mercelli became, at the age of 19, the first flute of the Teatro La Fenice of Venice, and won the Francesco Cilea Prize, the International Competition Giornate Musicali and the Stresa International Competition. As a soloist, he appears regularly in the most prestigious concert halls in the world – Carnegie Hall in New York, Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Saint Martin in the Fields and Wigmore Hall in London, Parco della Musica in Rome, Philarmonica in Warsaw, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow – and collaborates with musicians such as Yuri Bashmet, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Massimo Quarta, Ennio Morricone, Luis Bacalov, and Peter-Lukas Graf, and orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Prague Philarmonia, Wiener Symphoniker, Solisti della Scala

and the Franz List Chamber Orchestra. Mercelli has premiered a number of works which are dedicated to him, including, Facades by Philip Glass, Ennio Morricone’s Cantata Vuoto di Anima Piena, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by Michael Nyman, and Contrafactus by Giovanni Sollima. In September 2012 the CD Massimo Mercelli plays Philip Glass was released, and recent engagements include the recording of J.S. Bach’s sonatas with Ramin Bahrami under the DECCA label, the world premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s new concerto, dedicated to him, his participation in the concert for the celebration of Krzysztof Penderecki’s 80th birthday at the Warsaw Philharmonic and the exclusive performance of his Sinfonietta for Flute and Strings.

CYPRUS GUITAR TRIO The Cyprus Guitar Trio was founded in 2015. Comprising three renowned classical guitarists from Cyprus – Vasilios Avraam, George Christofi and Socrates Leptos, the Trio is dedicated to the promotion of the important yet unexplored repertoire of the combination of three classical guitars, as well the creation of new works for this combination, and the arrangements and transcriptions of existing works. Vasilios Avraam studied at the Ferenc Liszt Conservatory in Hungary, at the National Conservatoire of Region in Strasbourg and at the Academy of Music in Bratislava where he received his Musical Doctoral Degree in classical guitar under the supervision of Jozef Zsapka. He has participated in a number of festivals, including the Zempléni Festival and the Spring Festival of Eger, and he is the First Prize winner of the National Guitar Competition in Hungary in 1998. Several of his solo

recitals and orchestra performances in guitar concertos were recorded by television channels and radio stations of Hungary and Cyprus. He published theoretical articles on the classical guitar in such international guitar magazines as the Classical Guitar Magazine (England), the Soundboard (USA), the Guitarra Magazine (USA), Gitarr och Luta (Sweden), Gendai Guitar (Japan). George Christofi is a holder of a BMus (First Class), and MMus in Guitar Performance (Distinction) from the University of Hull and an MA (Distinction) and a PhD in Composition from the University of York. Considered one of the most important and talented composers of his generation, Christofi has composed music for world renowned soloists and ensembles, including, Mario Caroli (flute), Sarah Leonard (soprano), Harry Sparnaay (bass clarinet), Rohan de Saram (cello), Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, Ensemble 10/10, Orchestre National de Lorraine, The Endymion, Kreutzer Quartet, Ensemble Cairn, Ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion, L'Opéra National du Rhin. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and presented in Festivals such as ‘Clarinet baix i electronica’ by Phonos – Fundació Música Contemporània (Spain), International Music Festival Heidelberger ‘Frühling 2007’ (Germany), ‘Pescara Fiera Festival (Italy), Seoul International Computer Music Festival (Korea), Culturale San Fedele – Electrobag on Tour (Italy), amongst others. Christofi is a Composition Lecturer at the European University Cyprus. Socrates Leptos studied guitar at the New England Conservatory in Boston. In 2000 he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at Yale University under Ben Verdery, and in 2009 he was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Peabody Institute. During his studies, Leptos won three awards

and performed extensively in the US. He participated in masterclasses with Manuel Barrueco, Sharon Isbin, Jorge Morel, Paul O’dette, David Tannenbaum, Gordon Crosskey, and John Duarte. Leptos has recorded music for radio and television and he has contributed to various recordings, both as guitarist and composer. He is currently a member of the guitar faculty at the University of Nicosia. SUSANNE ELMARK / soprano

The Danish native, in Copenhagen educated coloratura soprano Susanne Elmark has been in great demand in the opera and concert houses around the world for the last twenty years. With the roles of Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Queen of the Night (Zauberflöte), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Lulu (Lulu), Fiakermilli (Arabella) and Marie (Die Soldaten) Susanne Elmark has been engaged in houses like Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Opera Oslo, Oper Frankfurt, Oper Cologne, Opernhaus Zürich, and Royal Opera Copenhagen under the baton of such conductors as Gary Bertini, Sir Colin Davis, Marcello Viotti, Peter Schneider. Also an advocate of contemporary music, Susanne Elmark has given numerous first performances and several pieces are dedicated to her. She has appeared in major festivals all over Europe and she has collaborated with ensembles such as Ensemble Modern in alte Oper Frankfurt and Ensemble Intercontemporain of Pierre Boulez at The Lucerne Festival. Recent highlights include the leading part of Claudia (a role written for her) in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s opera Stilles Meer at Staatsoper Hamburg under the baton of Kent Nagano, concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Luxembourg Philharmonie with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kazushi Ono, her debut in South America at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as Marie in a new production of Zimmermann’s opera Die Soldaten.