Described as “a magnetic presence” and “a constantly fascinating sound technician” (New York Classical Review), violinist Alena Baeva is considered one of the most exciting, versatile, and alluring soloists active on the world stage today.

Baeva’s career as an international soloist of the highest renown has grown at an extraordinary pace over recent seasons. Highlights of the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 seasons include debuts with the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Ensemble Resonanz, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, as well as returns to such leading ensembles as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Gävle Symfoniorkester, Orchestre National de Lille, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tonkünstler-Orchester.

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A deeply passionate and sensitive pianist, Christian Blackshaw is celebrated for the incomparable musicianship of his performances. His playing combines tremendous emotional depth with great understanding.

Following studies with Gordon Green at the Royal College Manchester and Royal Academy London, winning the gold medals at each, he was the first British pianist to study at the Leningrad Conservatoire with Moisei Halfin. He later worked closely with Sir Clifford Curzon in London.

He has performed worldwide and in festivals as recitalist and soloist with many renowned conductors and was Founder Director of the Hellensmusic Festival which was established in 2013.
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“With over ninety concerts a year, Nicolas Dupont (1992) is one of the most active Belgian chamber musicians of his generation.” (El Diario Montanes).

As a member of Kugoni Trio, Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, Urban Piano Quartet, Carousel Ensemble, Ensemble K and Duo Andaluza, he has premiered over eighty pieces in close collaboration with composers and has made recordings for Belgian, Danish, French, Swiss, Italian, English, Scottish and Dutch radio and television.

Based in Brussels since 2017, Nicolas frequently travels as a soloist or with his chamber music partners across Europe and beyond. Amongst the concert halls that have shaped his career are Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields (UK), BOZAR, Flagey, deBijloke, AMUZ, deSingel, Concertgebouw Brugge (BE), la Seine Musicale (FR),…

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“Throughout the piece the out-of-this-world clarinettist shone star-like from above” Salzburg Festival

‘The clarinettist played so beautifully it was as though he wished to make the very air melt”  Tokyo Times

One of Europe’s leading clarinettists, Matthew Hunt is a distinctive musician, renowned for the vocal quality of his playing and his ability to communicate with audiences. Matthew enjoys an international career as both soloist and chamber musician, and currently holds the position of Solo Clarinettist of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bremen,

As a soloist, Matthew has recently collaborated with the conductors Paavo Jarvi, Trevor Pinnock, Clemens Schuldt, Alexei Ogrintchuok and Reinhard Goebbel, and with orchestras including the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the Estonian Festival Orchestra and as a guest of the Berlin Philharmoniker in their series at the Berlin Philharmonie Kammermusik Saal.

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Maya Iwabuchi began violin lessons at the age of two. Her main teachers were Ms. Alice Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Rodney Friend MBE at the Royal College of Music in London.

Maya Iwabuchi has enjoyed an international career as a solo violinist, chamber musician and orchestral leader since her first concert at age five. Her playing has been hailed by critics as ‘simply brilliant’ (Strad), ‘gorgeous’ (Times) and ‘absolutely stunning’ (HeraldScotland), and she continues to receive the highest praise from the press. Her performances have taken her to concert halls, such as London’s Royal Festival and Wigmore Halls, Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, New York City’s Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall.
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Alexander Jones is Assistant Principal of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and a member of the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. Hailing from Manchester, Alexander began learning the double bass with Gethin Griffith at the age of seven, and has since studied with Ronan Dunne, Tom Goodman, Graham Mitchell, Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE, Dominic Seldis, and has partaken in masterclasses with Edicson Ruiz, Sławomir Grenda, Jiří Hudec and Božo Paradžik.

He undertook his undergraduate studies at the University of Cambridge and his postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was generously supported by the Christopher Hogwood Scholarship and a Munster Trust Derek Butler Award.

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Praised by the New York Times for her “probing introspection”, and by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “a star” with “a voluptuous tone,” violist Vicki Powell has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Aspen Festival Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and has been a featured artist at the Verbier, Spannungen, and Marlboro Music Festivals, among others.

Vicki is the recipient of a Gold Award in Music from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Other awards include Third Prize and the Sonata Prize at the 2011 Primrose International Viola Competition, as well as First Prizes of the Philadelphia Orchestra Greenfield Competition, the Johansen International Competition, and the Aspen Low Strings Competition.

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French pianist Julien Quentin has established himself as a versatile and sensitive musician, exhibiting great maturity and poise. His remarkable depth of musicianship and distinct clarity of sound coupled with flawless technique, make him an artist in demand as both soloist and chamber musician.

Touring internationally in America, Australia, Japan, the Middle East and throughout Europe, he has appeared at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Louvre in Paris, the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, in Avery Fisher, Alice Tully and Carnegie Halls in New York. He has recorded for EMI, Channel Classics, Sony RCA, Hungaroton, Decca & Deutsche Grammophon.

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Sophia Rahman made the first UK recording of Florence Price’s piano concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, broadcast on BBC Radio 3. She has recorded Shostakovich’s piano concerto Op. 35 with the Scottish Ensemble for Linn Records and over thirty-five chamber music discs for a host of international labels including CPO, Guild, Resonus, Dutton/Epoch, ASV and Champs Hill.

Sophia has appeared in recital with distinguished musicians including cellist Steven Isserlis, violinist Augustin Hadelich, oboist Alex Klein, clarinettist Karl Leister and tenor Mark Padmore, as well as working frequently with her partner the violinist, violist and conductor Andres Kaljuste.

Sophia has coached junior chamber music at the Sibelius Academy, Finland and Lilla Akademien, Sweden, and on courses she has specially designed at the Arvo Pärt Centre for young Estonian chamber musicians and for those entering the brand new Tallinn Music and Ballet School, MUBA. She is also known for her work as a class pianist at IMS Prussia Cove where she has played for the classes of Kim Kashkashian, Atar Arad, Thomas Riebl, Hartmut Rohde and, for more than a decade, Steven Isserlis. Her interest in this field began as a class pianist for the legendary William Pleeth at the Britten-Pears School.

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Hungarian born Máté Szücs is an award winning viola soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. He was first principal viola at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra between 2011 and 2018, where he has appeared as a soloist playing the Bartók Viola Concerto in September 2017.

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