German Chamber Orchestra (Frankfurt am Main) (Germany)
The German Chamber Orchestra Frankfurt am Main (Deutsches Kammerorchester Frankfurt am Main) was founded in 1989. It is composed of first chair string players from Germany's leading orchestras, and prize winners from international competitions. The result is a ripe body of sound achieved by the harmonization of masterful individual musicians fulfilling the highest expectations played by an orchestra of superb quality. Since its foundation the orchestra has performed internationally all over the world: it met with enthusiastic response in famous concert halls in Germany, Belgium, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Austria, Croatia, South Korea, North Korea, Egypt, Switzerland, Slovenia, Spain, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
The German Chamber Orchestra Frankfurt am Main has played its way into the top ensembles of its kind and is recognized internationally. Since its foundation, it has performed regularly with renowned soloists such as Maurice Andre, Boris Belkin, Stanislav Bunin, Eugen Indjiz, Mark Kaplan, Mischa Maisky, Sergei Krylov and Uto Ughi, just to name a few.


Rista Savic, chief conductor of the "Deutches Kammerorchester Frankfurt am Main" since 2001, began his musical career as an instrumentalist studying violin and piano. He enjoyed extensive training as a violinist from Saschko Gawriloff at the music academies in Detmold and in Essen.
Already at a young age, Savic demonstrated a strong interest in composing and conducting.
As a guest conductor he travelled to many European countries, to Japan (Tokyo), China (Peking) and Korea (Seoul), to North Africa (Cairo), the USA (Houston), Canada (Toronto), Mexico (Mexico City) and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
Renown soloists like Maurice Andre, Boris Belkin, Stanislav Bunin, Barry Douglas, Eugen Indijic, Christian Lindenberg performed under his direction.
CD recordings were made in cooperation with the Austrian (ORF) and the Mexican Broadcasting company.

Lucas and Arthur Jussen, piano Duo
Lucas and Arthur JUSSEN, Piano duo (The Netherlands) "It is like driving a pair of BMWs" remarked conductor Michael Schonwandt, after directing the Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Despite their young age, they have been taking part in the international concert world for years. Whether they perform as a duo or as soloists, Lucas and Arthur are praised by both the press and audience.
They received their first piano lessons from Leny Bettman in their native town of Hilversum. In 2001, Lucas (1993) reached the finale of the Three-day Rotterdam Piano Festival and in 2004, Arthur (1996) was chosen as \"Young Musical Talent of the Year\" at the National Contest of the Young Musical Talent Foundation. In 2005, the brothers studied in Portugal and Brazil for nearly a year at the invitation of Portuguese master pianist Maria Joao Pires. In the following years they took lessons from both Pires and two renowned Dutch teachers: Piano pedagogue Jan Wijn took them under his wing, and with Ton Hartsuiker they broadened their knowledge of 20th-century music. In 2011, Lucas and Arthur received the first ever Concertgebouw Young Talent Award and in 2013 they won the Audience Award of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Lucas and Arthur have performed with nearly all Dutch orchestras, among which the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam and The Hague Philharmonic orchestras and the Radio Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. They have also performed with acclaimed international orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras, both conducted by Jaap van Zweden, and the London Chamber Orchestra, MDR Sinfonie Orchester and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. They have worked with conductors such as Claus Peter Flor, Elihu Inbal, Jan Willem de Vriend, Stephane Deneve, James Gaffigan and Frans Brueggen. Moreover, they have collaborated with several renowned musicians such as Chinese star pianist Lang Lang, with whom Lucas shared the stage during the Prinsengracht Concert in Amsterdam in 2006. In October 2013, Lucas and Arthur performed the world premiere of Together, a work for two pianos that was written for them especially by Theo Loevendie.
Besides their orchestral concerts, the brothers are also known and celebrated for their recitals. They performed in both the Master Pianists and Robeco series of the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and have performed for the former Dutch queen Beatrix on several occasions. In June 2014, Lucas and Arthur accompanied Dutch king Willem-Alexander and queen Maxima on their first official visit to Poland. They have performed in most concert halls in the Netherlands and have given recitals in concert halls and festivals across Europe, such as Munich (Herkulessaal), Schloss Elmau, Rheingau Music Festival and the famous Festival de Piano de La Roque d'Antheron. International tours also brought them beyond Europe to Japan (2012), China (2013) and South Korea (2014).
In the 2014/2015 season, Lucas and Arthur will undertake several recital tours in the Netherlands, as well as recitals in Seoul (South Korea), Herdecke (Germany), and a series of recitals for the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This season, they will also make their solo debuts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (Lucas) and the The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra (Arthur), as well as a duo tour with Amsterdam Sinfonietta in the spring of 2015.
In 2010, Lucas and Arthur signed a long-term record deal with Deutsche Grammophon. Their debut CD with Beethoven, released the same year, received platinum status and was awarded the Edison Klassiek Publieksprijs (audience award). After a successful Schubert recording (gold status), they dedicated their third CD to French piano music, with works by Faure, Ravel and Poulenc. After studying with Menahem Pressler in the US for two years, Lucas is currently studying with Dmitri Bashkirov at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid, where he was presented with the prize for \"Best piano trio school year 2013/2014\" by the Spanish queen Sofia. Arthur is studying with Jan Wijn at the Amsterdam Conservatory.

Miki Aoki (Piano, Japan)
Miki Aoki made her London Royal Festival Hall debut at the age of 12 and has since continued to perform in international venues. Recognized for her diverse abilities as pianist and as a collaborative artist, Ms Aoki combines her career performing solo recitals and chamber music, with working alongside young violinists.
Ms Aoki is currently appointed as senior lecturer at Graz University for Music and the Performing Arts, in Austria. Ms Aoki is recording exclusively for German Label Haenssler Profil. Her first CD of Z. Kodaly's piano works was released in the fall of 2011 and won critical acclaim. BBC Music magazine called it "...a genuinely memorable performance". The second CD, The Belyayev Project, featuring fascinating compositions varying from solo piano works by Liadow, Glazunov and Blumenfeld to the Piano Trio by Rimsky- Korsakov will be released in 2013. Her third CD, Melancolie is planned for release in 2015.
Ms Aoki has performed on the stages of such prestigious venues as St. Martin-in-the Fields, St. John's Smith Square, the Royal Festival Hall and the Purcell Room at South Bank Centre, the Barbican center (U.K.), Laeizhalle, Philharmonie Essen (Germany), Munetsugu Hall (Japan), Wiener-Saal Salzburg, as well as in festivals such as Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Salzburger Festspiele, Rheingau Festival (Germany), Menuhin Festival in Gstaad (Switzerland), Beaulieu-surla Mer (France), Tembi Festival (Inodnesia), Phnom Penh International Music festival (Cambodia) and International Classical Music Festival. (Myanmar). She has performed with National Symphony, London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, Hamburg Camerata and Washington Sinfonietta.
The legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman invited Ms Aoki to his Chamber Music festival in Long Island, USA in 2006.
Ms Aoki's performances have been broadcasted on NDR-North German Radio, RBB-Radio Berlin Brandenburg, BR Classics, WDR, Radio Suisse Romande and Hessicher Rundfunk, 98.7 WFMT Chicago.
Ms Aoki started playing the piano at age 4 and moved to London at age 9 where she joined the Purcell School of Music. She holds degrees from Indiana University and Yale University. In 2007 Ms Aoki obtained a distinction in the Konzertexamen degree at Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater Hamburg.
Her main teachers were Roshan Magub, James Gibb, Reiko Neriki, Gyorgy Sebok, Boris Berman and Evgeni Koroliov.


Frederieke Saeijs (Violin, the Netherlands)
"...The Dutch violinist impressed not only with her flawless technique and intensity of tone, but also with her mastery of a broad palette of expressive means..." Rheinische Post
Dutch violinist Frederieke Saeijs drew international attention by winning the 2005 Long-Thibaud International Violin Competition in Paris. After taking away the First Grand Prize as well as several special distinctions, she received concert invitations from all over the world.
Saeijs's engagements as a soloist have included those with prestigious orchestras such as the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmoniker, Orchestre National de France, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra The Hague, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
She worked with such inspiring conductors as Jonathan Darlington, Antony Hermus, Neeame Jaervi, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Friedemann Layer, Aleksandar Markovic, Christoph Poppen, Vassily Sinaiski, Vladimir Spivakov and Jaap van Zweden.
Concert tours have brought Ms Saeijs to North and South America, Asia, the Middle East and many countries in Europe. She performed live for Radio France in Montpellier and Paris, for Radio Suisse Romande in Switzerland and for Radio 4 in The Netherlands.
Passionate about making chamber music, Saeijs regularly performs together with Georgian pianist Nino Gvetadze and Serbian cellist Maja Bogdanovic as the Arosa Trio. The trio made several tours, with as highlights their engagements in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Tonhalle Duesseldorf, as well as their performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Bergische Symphoniker.
Frederieke Saeijs was Artist in Residence at both the Dr. Anton Philips Hall in The Hague and the Dutch Music Summer. To the Canadian Festival of the Sound she was invited as Stockey Young Artist. Also she had the honor to perform Bach's Chaconne in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands at the Royal Palace in The Hague. Ms Saeijs plays the Ex-Reine-Elisabeth violin by Pietro Guarneri (Venice, 1725), kindly lent to her by the Dutch National Foundation for Musical Instruments.
The Naxos Label released a CD with violin sonatas by Ravel, Respighi and Granados, recorded with pianist Maurice Lammerts van Bueren. Besides performing, Ms Saeijs is dedicated to teaching young passionate musicians.
Currently she is Professor of Violin at the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio in Madrid. Previously she was a member of the Faculty at the Royal Conservatoire in her hometown The Hague. Ms Saeijs was invitated to teach violin master classes across Europe, in Asia and the USA.
For the German organization Rhapsody in School she regularly visits German elementary and secondary schools to teach and play together with the students.
Also, she served as a member of the jury in The Netherlands at the Princess Christina Competition and the Davina van Wely Violin competition.


Leonid Gorokhov (Cello, Russia)
"I was bowled over when I first heard Leonid Gorokhov in a concert a few months ago.
With a sound reminiscent of the legendary Emanuel Feuermann, Gorokhov is one of those rare artists who combine a natural communicative skill with awesome technical command."Jeremy Nicholas, Classic FM Magazine
Leonid Gorokhov was born in Leningrad, and begun his cello studies at the age of seven. His first cello teacher was S. Zagursky, from the age of 12 he joined the cello class of Prof. Anatoli Nikitin, where he stayed until graduating the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire. He also took part in masterclasses of Daniil Shafran.
Winner of Concertino Praga (First Prize) and Paris chamber music competition (Premier Grand Prix), Leonid Gorokhov is the only Russian cellist to be awarded the Grand Prix and the First Prize of the Geneva Concours. In 1995 the European Association for Encouragement of the Arts awarded the Cultural Achievement Prize to Leonid Gorokhov for "exceptional talent and outstanding artistic accomplishment".
In 1991 Leonid Gorokhov appeared as soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic conducted by Lord Menuhun, who took interest in the young cellist and invited him to join the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK as a teacher. That also provided Leonid with chances to perform under Maestro Menuhin's baton with many leading orchestras and to share a stage as a chamber music partner in Piano Trios and Beethoven Triple Concerto, which was enormously inspiring for a young musician.
Some of the highlights of this work were appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic as well as other British, Russian, Swiss, Scandinavian orchestras with a range of repertoire, from Haydn, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak to Walton and Lutoslawsky.
Leonid returns regularly to Russia to perform a range of repertoire, most recently in Moscow with the Russian premiere of Sonata Notturna by Nicholas Maw under Evgeny Bushkov as conductor and as a soloist and chamber musician with Musica Viva, a chamber orchestra conducted by Alexander Rudin.
His passion is chamber music where the main interest is to involve younger musicians alongside more prominent and experienced partners.
The other passion is teaching. Leonid is a Professor at the Hochschule Fuer Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany, since 2008.
"I am delighted and thrilled to hear artistry of such superior order..."
(Bernhard Greenhouse)

Arcadia Quartet (String Quartet)

"...The playing has such intensity... The result is an assault on the senses, piercing the heart of this unsettling music" The Financial Times, September 2013
Winners of the 2014 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, the 2012 Wigmore Hall London International String Quartet Competition, the 2011 Almere International Chamber Music Competition in 2011 and the International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg in 2009, the Arcadia Quartet is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most exciting string quartets of their generation.
Formed in 2005 while students at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Romania, the quartet has performed across the world including performances at the Budapest Spring Festival, George Enescu Festival in Heidelberg, Cite International des Arts in Paris, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Pollack Hall in Montreal, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Q'arto Mondi Festival in Poland, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Tel-Aviv, Portugal, Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival, Kammermusiktage Mettlach, Zeist Music Days Festival in The Netherlands, throughout the United Kingdom and and in Beijing.
The 2014/15 season includes a 12 concert tour of Japan and concerts throughout Europe including at the Wigmore Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Aldeburgh Festival, Grafenegg Festival, Silver Lyre Festival in Saint Petersburg, Berlin Konzerthaus, Norwich Festival, Enescu Festival and in Madrid.
The Arcadia Quartet's debut disc of works by Mendelssohn and Brahms was released by Fontenay Classics in 2009 attracting critical acclaim. Ensemble Magazin wrote of "their intimate performance", "their exceptional sonority" and their "expressive power which leaves a deep impression on the listener". Their recording of Janacek Quartet No 1 and No 2 was released on the Orchid Classics label in October 2013. The Sunday Times wrote of of "a beauty that pierces the heart" that "both works are played with searing intensity by the fine young Romanian quartet". The Financial Times wrote that the quartet "create a mood of edgy expressionism that, in its violent swings and chromatic stresses, is shockingly direct and dramatic, like an opera - or a nightmare", that "the result is an assault on the senses, piercing the heart of this unsettling music."

Ekaterina MECHETINA (piano)
Born into a family of musicians in Moscow, Ekaterina Mechetina began her musical studies at the age of four. The pianist received musical education at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory in the class of T.L. Koloss and the Moscow Conservatory under the tuition of associate professor V.P. Ovchinnikov). In 2004, E. Mechetina completed the post-graduate school of Moscow State Conservatory in the class of professor Sergey Leonidovich Dorensky.
The pianist gave her first solo concert at the age of 10, and two years later she toured the cities of Japan, where she played 15 solo concerts with two different programs within one month. Since then, she has performed in more than 30 countries around the world.
The pianist actively performs in the cities of Russia. In the 2008/09 season, a series of Ekaterina Mechetina's concerts "Anthology of Russian Piano Concerto" was performed on the stage of the Nizhny Novgorod State Philharmonic Society named after M. Rostropovich, and in the season 2010/11 the pianist presented "Anthology of Western European piano concerto."
Ekaterina Mechetina is a winner of many international competitions. At the age of 10, the pianist was awarded Grand Prix of the "Mozart Prize" Competition in Verona (the highest award of the competition, piano Yamaha), and at the age of 13 she won the 2-nd prize at the first Youth Piano Competition named after Fryderyk Chopin in Moscow, where she received a special prize "For artistry and charm". At the age of 16 she became the youngest winner of the International Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, where she was awarded a prize for the best performance of Liszt, "Wandering lights". At those days, the Italian press wrote: "Young Ekaterina is already on top of the world's pianism". Then followed other achievements: in Epinal (2-nd prize, 1999), Viotti in Vercelli (2-nd prize, 2002), in Pinerolo (absolute First Prize, 2003), in Cincinnati at the World Piano Competition (first prize and gold medal, 2004).
Ekaterina participated in major international festivals, including "December Nights of Svyatoslav Richter" in Moscow, the festival in Dubrovnik (Croatia), Consonances Festival and the Festival in Lille (France), Europalia in Belgium, Moscow Rodion Shchedrin music festivals (2002, 2007, 2012) and Crescendo Festival in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Pskov, Tyumen, Paris, and Riga. In summer 2010, Ekaterina Mechetina performed in Stockholm at the reception on the occasion of the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.
E. Mechetina often plays music in different ensembles. Her partners on the stage were Rodion Shchedrin, Vladimir Spivakov, A. Utkin, A. Knyazev, A. Gindin, B. Andrianov, D. Kogan, N. Sts, S. Antonov, G. Murzha. For several years, Ekaterina Mechetina has been combining concert activity with teaching as assistant in the class of professor A.A. Mndoyants at the Moscow Conservatory.
In 2003, Ekaterina Mechetina was awarded the prestigious youth award "Triumph". In 2007, the National Committee for Public Awards awarded the artist the Order of Catherine the Great of III degree "For merits and personal contribution to the development of national culture and art". In June 2011, the pianist was awarded the prize of the President of Russia for young cultural workers of 2010 "for personal contribution to the development of musical traditions of Russian art and a high level of performance". In the same year, Ekaterina Mechetina joined the Council for Culture and Arts under the President of Russia. The pianist is a prize-winner of the Russian Muses to the World Foundation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation "For building up an objective image of Russia on the world arena".

Amit Peled (cello, Israel)
From the United States to Europe to the Middle East and Asia, Israeli cellist Amit Peled - a musician of profound artistry and charismatic stage presence - is acclaimed as one of the most exciting instrumentalists on the concert stage today. At 6'5" tall, Peled started life as a basketball player and was called "larger than life" when he enveloped his cello and "Jacqueline du Pré in a farmer"s body." Peled often surprises audiences with the ways he breaks down barriers between performers and the public, making classical music more accessible to wider audiences. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun reflected on a recent performance: Peled did a lot of joking in remarks to the audience. His amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type everyone says we'll need more of if classical music is to survive.
During the 2014/15 season, Peled will continue sharing with audiences around the world the sound of the historic cello of Pablo Casals. The instrument, a Goffriler ca. 1733, was personally handed to him by the Maestro's widow, Mrs. Marta Casals Istomin. Some of the upcoming highlights with this historic cello include a 20-city US recital tour entitled "Homage to Pablo Casals" culminating in a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, recording the Miaskovsky Cello Concerto for Naxos, and a return trip to Asia for recitals and performances with the National Symphony of Taiwan to name a few. As an advocate of modern music, Peled will also premier a solo piece written especially for him by composer Lera Auerbach.
Peled has performed as a soloist with many orchestras and in the world's major concert halls such as: Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, New York; Salle Gaveau, Paris; Wigmore Hall, London; Konzerthaus, Berlin; and Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium. Following his enthusiastically received Alice Tully Hall concerto debut playing the Hindemith cello concerto, the New York Times stated: Glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing that made you want to hear him again.
During the 2011/12 season, Mr. Peled embarked on an extensive concerto debut tour in the US and Germany with the Nordwest Philharmonie, performing both Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 and Victor Herbert's Cello Concerto, visiting nineteen different cities. Moreover, Peled joined the legendary Krzysztof Penderecki for his cello concerto in Chicago's Millennium Park; performed the Elgar and Shostakovich concertos with Maestro Michael Stern and the IRIS Orchestra; performed Haydn's C Major Cello Concerto with Nicola Luisotti and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra; and, performed the Schumann Concerto with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. After an enthusiastic recital debut at the Kennedy Center, Mr. Peled will return to that prestigious stage in the 2012/13 season.
As a recording artist, Mr. Peled will release his fourth Centaur Records CD following three hugely successful installments "The Jewish Soul," "Cellobration", and "Reflections". As an active chamber musician, Peled is a founding member of the famed Tempest Trio with pianist Alon Goldstein and violinist Ilya Kaler. Their Dvorak CD on Naxos has been described as "The best "Dumky" on disc ever!"
Mr. Peled is also a frequent guest artist, performing and giving master classes at prestigious summer music festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, Schleswig Holstein and Euro Arts Festivals in Germany, Gotland Festival in Sweden, Prussia Cove Festival in England, The Violoncello Forum in Spain, and the Mizra International Academy and Festival in Israel.
Amit Peled has been featured on television and radio stations throughout the world, including NPR's "Performance Today", WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, Deutschland Radio Berlin, Radio France, Swedish National Radio & TV, and Israeli National Radio & TV.
One of the most sought after cello pedagogues, Mr. Peled is a Professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University.


Noreen Cassidy-Polera (piano, USA)
The pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera ranks among the most highly-regarded and diverse chamber artists performing today, and maintains a career that has taken her to every major American music center and abroad to Europe, Russia, and Asian centers of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul. Recent performances include those at Alice Tully Hall, Zankel Hall, Weill Recital Hall, 92-nd Street Y, Jordan Hall, Gardener Museum, Kennedy Center, Salle Cortot, and appearances at Caramoor, Bard, Grand Teton and Cape Cod Chamber Music festivals, as well as engagements at the Chamber Music Societies of Philadelphia and La Jolla. She has recorded for Sony, EMI, Audiophon and Centaur Records.
Noreen Cassidy-Polera has collaborated with leading soloists including David Shifrin, Matt Haimovitz, Carter Brey, Antonio Menesis, Aurora-Natalie Ginastera, Yo-Yo Ma and Leonard Rose. Winner of the Accompanying Prize at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, she regularly collaborates with laureates of the Queen Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky and Naumburg international competitions.
Ms. Cassidy-Polera's mastery and affection for the complete standard cello-piano repertory is well-known, as is her attention and dedication to the works of living composers. In recent seasons she performed Elliott Carter's venerable Sonata for Cello and Piano on tour in Paris, New York and Philadelphia, along with new works by Lowell Liebermann, Benjamin C.S. Boyle and Kenji Bunch to critical acclaim. Her CD recording Sound Vessels (with cellist Scott Kluksdahl) features the recording premiere of Richard Wernick's Duo, and works of Robert Helps, Augusta Read Thomas as well as Elliott Carter.
Noreen Cassidy-Polera holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Martin Canin.

Razumovsky Quartet
The Razumovsky Quartet was initiated in 2005 by four musicians stemming from Austria, Russia and the UK in celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven`s Razumovsky Quartets op. 59 1, 2 & 3. Since its creation, the quartet has enjoyed the patronage of Gregor Razumovsky, president of the Razumovsky Society for Art and Culture, as well as his relatives`. The unbroken tradition of musical events and musicians staged and supported by the Razumovsky family spans more than 250 years. Apart from Beethoven and other Western composers, Dimitri Bortnjanskyi counts among the proteges of the family at the height of its cultural contribution.
Due to the support by the Alban-Berg-Foundation of Vienna, the ensemble was given the opportunity to study not only the conventional classical repertoire but also largely unknown or forgotten masterpieces of the last three centuries. Thanks to the Razumovsky Quartet, works of Mjaskovsky, Veinberg and Shebalin, to name but a few were presented for the very first time to a Western public. To achieve this, the Razumovsky Quartet has gone down hitherto untrodden paths and found the way to a synthesis of Eastern and Western European playing styles and tradition. The Repertoire includes works dating from Bach or Boccherini up to the 21st Century.
The masterclasses of Valentin Berlinskyi of the Borodin Quartet had great impact on the development of the ensemble, as well as the example given by the Amadeus Quartet, the Hagen Quartet and the Emerson Quartet.
In 2014, the chamber music salon in the "new" Palais Razumovsky built by Count Camillo Lvovich Razumovsky in 1903, was restored and re-inaugurated with the Razumovsky Quartet playing the 2-nd of Beethoven`s Razumovsky Quartets. Since then, numerous concerts have held place for a distinguished and distinguishing public, as for instance with Elisabeth Leonskaya or Evgeni Sinaiskyi, to name but two.
In this season, the Razumovsky Quartet celebrates its tenth anniversary under the auspices of the Razumovsky Society for Art and Culture.

SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet
Blaz̆ KEMPERLE (Soprano Sax)
Erik NESTLER (Alt Sax)
Alan LUZ̆AR (Tenor Sax)
David BRAND (Baritone Sax)

With youthful energy, persuasive talent and unusual ideas the SIGNUM saxophone quartet has brought a much fresher wind of change to European concert halls and festivals for several years. No matter where the SIGNUM quartet is playing either in the Carnegie Hall New York or on the snow-covered mountain peaks of the Dolomites the SIGNUM's experimental joy and versatility is certainly not only reflected in their extraordinary program. The four young musicians are to be heard in classical quartet formations and keep on creating exciting, never seen joint arrangements with inspiring sounds. Playing with superior ease and mostly without notes this young ensemble uses this gain in freedom also for creative choreography and productions within its sphere of activity. As fair players the saxophonists support in an honorary capacity the Education project "Rhapsody in School"- for the audience of tomorrow.
The four musicians Blaz ̆ Kemperle, Erik Nestler, Alan Luz ̆ar and David Brand met in Cologne where they founded the SIGNUM saxophone quartet in 2006. The saxophonists have studied in Cologne, Vienna and Amsterdam; the quartet is particularly influenced and inspired by the Quatuor Ebene, Artemis Quartet and Gabor Takacs-Nagy.
Award-winning at international competitions amongst others in Lugano and Berlin SIGNUM nowadays plays in concert halls and on festivals all over Europe. In 2013 they made their debut in the Carnegie Hall. A very special and remarkable achievement was the prize "Rising Stars 2014/2015" awarded by the European Concert Hall Organization (ECHO).
Since the season 2013/14 SIGNUM has worked with Folkert Uhde (ION/Radialsystem Berlin) in a production of Bach's Art of Fugue as well as with the cellist Mario Brunello. Furthermore they have made solo arrangements with various orchestras (Bob Mintzer, Rhythm of the Americas). A special concern of the quartet is focussed on the cooperation with the Grammy winner Chilly Gonzales.
In 2015 SIGNUM will give concerts in venues like: Barbican Centre London, Konzerthaus Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux-Arts Bruxelles, Teatro della pergola Florence, Gulbenkian Lisbon, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Philharmonic Hall Luxembourg, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Philharmonic Hall Cologne, then in Porto, Birmingham, Ljubljana, Belgrade and Budapest, by the end of the year at the BASF, in the Grand Philharmonic Hall St Petersburg, Philharmonia Moscow and Tonhalle Zurich. In 2015 they are also present at the "Folle Journee" in Nantes with a total of 18 concerts, as well as at the Schwetzingen Festival, MDR Musiksommer, Schleswig Holstein Festival and the Art Festival Weimar. The first CD of the quartet "DEBUT" was launched in 2011 including works of Grieg, Ravel, Bartok and Schostakovich realized by the label ARE; a second CD will be released in 2015. The group SIGNUMfive (=SIGNUM saxophone quartet + accordion + drums) having its roots in classical music, folklore and jazz shows the open-mindedness and experimental joy of the young artists. Influenced by Latin and Balkan folk the young musicians develop their own individual style. Thanks to this recipe for success the "young and wild" artists bursting with energy enchant the audience with a unique performance whenever they appear on stage! The first CD of SIGNUMfive was released in December 2014.


Saint Petersburg's Saxophones
Art Director
Gennady GOLSHTEIN
Yana RADION, Irin BOUSHET, Liza BERTOLUCCI (vocal)
David GOLOSCHEKIN (trumpet, vibrohard)

This unusual orchestra, which has no equal anywhere in the world, was established in 1998 by the legendary St. Petersburg musician Gennady Golshtein. Here is how he describes this event:
"The Saxophones of St. Petersburg emerged in my life most mysteriously and unexpectedly. In 1998, on the occasion of the anniversary of a musician friend of mine, I decided to assemble all of my current and former students of the Faculty of Jazz at the Mussorgsky Music School and combine them by the choral principle. In this way, a choir of saxophones was created. Out of my favorite tunes I selected Star Dust, My Melancholy Baby and It had To Be You and arranged them for 20 saxophones and talented singer Yana Radion. The effect was overwhelming and unexpected. Many of my friend musicians were moved to tears by the sounds of the Chorus and the music of My Melancholy Baby. For many years already, we have been opening our concerts with this exact tune.
Since then, our choir-orchestra has been performing at jazz festivals, in the St. Petersburg Jazz Philharmonic Hall and in other concert halls. Our repertoire naturally consists of the masterpieces of American music of the 1920ies - 1940ies. This is a tremendous legacy!"
Here is what Gennady Golshtein writes about the Street Of Dreams program and the soloists of his orchestra:
"Our program represents a triumph of memories over the reality. It is dedicated to music written in the US in the mid-20ies to mid-50ies of the twentieth century by a group of sensitive dreamers. This unique time yielded an unimaginable number of beautiful melodies. Each good tune is a monument, capturing the best and happiest moments of life of its author, and each new artistic interpretation or arrangement of these tunes is like a blood transfusion, evidence of their eternal life.
As regards the Saxophones St. Petersburg, this is a natural and living being, which has been breathing and staying alive for 16 years already solely on the principles of voluntary poverty and recklessness. It is a kind of a homeopathic structure, a plant, growing though supported by nothing. And I am very happy with that, as this is a good sign. Even I, the founder, always remain on the periphery, purely pointing at where weeds must be removed or some fertilizer should be added, so to say. In other words, it is a true people's patriotic organization in the country under the name of Music. And we are all true patriots of this country!
A few more words about our wonderful singers.
Oh, Yana Hansen-Radion! She has been our absolute star from the very first concert. Yana has a temper and a deep warm voice of her Greek grandmother, a strong will and reliability of her Dane grand-grandfather Hugh Hansen, a collection of Nat King Cole's records of her father, and businesslike manners of her mother. All these add up into a harmonious bouquet of talents, which makes her an irreplaceable participant of our every program.
Irin Boucher and her family have been through a difficult path of emigration to Russia from a former French colony in North Africa. She grew up in Russia and received musical education in St. Petersburg. Today, the only things that remind her of that former French colony are the packages of dates touchingly sent to her by her father, who stayed in Algeria.
Lisa Bertolucci has lived through an even more dramatic story. Her mother, beautiful Bianca Bertolucci, fled from persecution to Russia with little Lisa in her arms. Lisa grew up to become a multi-talented music-lover, who graduated from the Medical Academy, but her love for jazz and singing logically lead her to the Saxophones of St. Petersburg. Her musicality and style are simply impeccable. Solos on vibraphone and trumpet performed by David Goloschekin inspire sincere admiration. His logical melodic phrases and style never cease to delight and amaze me. And of course, the solos of saxophone players Yuri Bogatyrev, Kirill Bubyakin, Andrey Polovko, Oleg Kuvaytsev and Konstantin Maminov are true remnants of the greater times! Their talent, taste and sense of style are super-temporal, and I believe that we will have plenty of time in the future to enjoy and savor them."

Gennady Golshtein (artistic director and arranger)
Born in 1938 in Leningrad, as a child, he learned to play the clarinet, and later independently mastered the saxophone. He began his career of a jazz musician in 1956. In the 1960-ies, he became known as a soloist, arranger and concertmaster of a group of saxophones in the legendary saxophone jazz orchestra of Joseph Weinstein, where he worked from 1959 to 1967.
From 1967 to 1972, he participated in the performances of jazz orchestras of Eddie Rosner and Vadim Lyudvikovsky. From 1972 to 1976, he was the leading saxophonist in the jazz orchestra of Oleg Lundstrem.
Along with concert performances, he had been giving saxophone classes in various music schools of Leningrad. In particular, from 1974 to 1978, he worked at the Rimsky-Korsakov School; and from 1978 to the present day, he has been working at the Mussorgsky School.
In 1977, he founded the famous early music ensemble Pro Anima, where he played the flute and viola da gamba. The repertoire of the ensemble consisted mainly of Western European music of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
In the 1990ies, he returned to jazz music and founded the orchestra Saxophones of St. Petersburg, which he still runs, and The Distant Joys quartet.
Students of Gennady Golshtein include many famous jazz musicians, Igor Butman among them.