piano
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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clarinet
“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.
violin
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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Violin
Agnes Langer is a hungarian violinist born in Budapest. She moved to Germany at quite a young age to study with Anne Shih at the Hochschule für Musik, Mainz, where she finished her Master’s degree in 2020. Being a participant at masterclasses like IMS Prussia Cove and Casalmaggiore International Festival, she has been inspired by teachers like Gerhard Schulz, Boris Belkin, Taras Gabora and Nai-Yuan Hu.
Agnes is a prizewinner of several international competitions, such as the Bartok World Competition, the Spivakov International Competition and the Yankelevich International Competition. She has performed all over the world with orchestras like the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Liszt Chamber Orchestra and the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn. (more…)
Cello
Alice enjoys a varied performing career as a chamber musician and principal cellist of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Familiar to listeners of BBC Radio 3, she has performed at major festivals including BBC Proms chamber series, Malboro (USA), Bath International, Santa Fe (USA) and Lofoten and played concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Liverpool Philharmonic and Israel Symphony. Her discography includes the Mendelssohn cello sonatas and concertos by Howells, Patterson and Tovey.
Alice was a member of the Gould Piano Trio from 2001 to 2018 – career highlights include the complete piano trios of Beethoven, Schubert and Dvorak at the Wigmore Hall, the commissioning of new works from Sir James MacMillan and Mark Simpson, regular tours and over 25 CD releases. (more…)
Piano
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.
Julien Quentin is a keen chamber musician and has collaborated with artists such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Gautier Capuçon, Corey Cerovsek, Martin Fröst, Sol Gabetta, David Garrett, Nelson Goerner, Ilya Gringolts, Gary Hoffman, Lawrence Power, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Sayaka Shoji, Kirill Troussov, and István Várdai.
Born in Paris, Julien Quentin started his studies at the Geneva Conservatory with Alexis Golovine. He completed his Artist Diploma under the tutelage of Emile Naoumoff at Indiana University, where he held a one-year teaching position as Assistant Instructor. He then received his Graduate Diploma from the Juilliard School, where he studied with György Sándor. He has also worked with Paul Badura-Skoda, Nikita Magaloff, György Sebök and Earl Wild.
Julien Quentin now lives in Berlin. With ‘Musica Litoralis’ at Piano Salon Christophori, he has managed to create an increasingly successful concert series reminiscent of the salons of the Roaring Twenties. With visual artists, he explores new artistic visions bringing various art forms together. He also pursues his interest in other genres of music through his collaboration with pianists Kelvin Sholar, Kaan Bulak and Francesco Tristano, or producers Adrien de Maublanc and Cesar Merveille in projects ranging from improvisation to producing electronic music, most notably within their new projects Midiminuit & Les Coeurs Brisés.
piano
Olga Sitkovetsky has been part of the Hellensmusic Masterclass Programme’s team as an accompanist since 2014, backing students in their individual classes as well as in their Sunday concert.
A distinguished accompanist, she has performed alongside many of today’s leading interpreters. Originally from Russia, she moved to the UK in 1991 at the request of Lord Menuhin, who invited her to work at the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music in Surrey. She has toured extensively with many of her former students, performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Salzburg ‘Mozarteum’ and the Vienna Konzerthaus.
viola
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.
He has also played as soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, the ´Bamberger Symphoniker”, the “Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden”, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, and “Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen”
Máté has worked with prominent musicians such as Janine Jansen, Frank-Peter Zimmermann, Christian Tetzlaff, Vadim Repin, Ilja Gringolts, Vladimir Mendelssohn, László Fenyő, Kristof Baráti and István Várdai, Camille Thomas, Kirill Troussov, and Julien Quentin.