The chamber orchestra "Symphonyetta of St. Petersburg" was founded and led by the violin virtuoso, the concertmaster of the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Chingiz Osmanov.
The chamber orchestra appeared in 2014 as part of the state orchestra, attracting musicians of other ensembles and young teachers of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Both the art director of the ensemble and the orchestra musicians believe that a musical dialogue is the basis of quality, professional music making, capable of convincing the most demanding audience. That’s why the "Symphonyetta of St. Petersburg" performs most compositions of its repertoire without a conductor. A complete mutual understanding of the orchestra musicians, a perfectly co-ordinated performance allows them to cope with the most complicated pieces of the compositions written at present and in the past.
Today the ensemble performs not only in the best halls of St. Petersburg - the Great and Small Halls of the Philharmonic Hall, the Academic Capella Hall, the Tauride Palace and the Hermitage, but also outside the city. The recent tour of the orchestra in South Korea was a great success.
The musicians believe that one of their most important tasks is to popularize the creativity of St. Petersburg composers, and include works by Shostakovich, Arapov, Banshchikov, Salmanov, Portnov and other authors in their programs.
In addition, the "Symphonyetta of St. Petersburg" cooperates with other musicians and takes part in a variety of crossover projects.

Alexey LUDEVIG (Viola)
Alexei Ludevig was born in St Petersburg, Russia, where he studied viola with Yuri Bashmet, Dmitry Shebalin (of the Borodin Quartet) and his father Alexei Ludevig Sr. In addition, he studied conducting with Maris Jansons.
He has performed in over a dozen countries on four different continents. As a soloist with orchestras including: the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Camerata St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Orchestra etc. As a soloist and chamber musician he has appeared with internationally renowned musicians including: Arnold Katz, SauliusSondezkis, Michaela Martin, ArtoNoras, MarttiRousi, Alexander Rudin, Mark Drobinsky and Sergei Stadler at prestigious festivals such as; Rancontres Musicales d’Evian, Schlezwig-Holstein, St. Petersburg White Nights Festival, Radio France Festival, Davos Music Festival, St. Petersburg Palaces International Chamber Music Festival, of which he also served as co-artistic director with Constantine Orbelian. He is Artistic Director of “New Silver Age Music Festival”.
Alexei Ludevig’s repertoire spans three centuries. He has made world premieres of several works of Russian composers (Slonimsky, Uspensky, Sapozhnikovetc), as well as pieces by modern American and French composers. Some of these works were written especially for him.
Alexei Ludevig plays Antonio Mariani’s viola 1661.
Alexei Ludevig divides his time between work as a soloist and chamber musician performances mostly with the St. Petersburg Chamber Soloists (which he founded) and teaching at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire and St. Petersburg Music College.

Peter LAUL (Piano)
Peter Laul was born into a musical family in St. Petersburg, Russia and received his education at the St.Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with Prof. Alexander Sandler, and where he has since become a faculty member. He won the 3rd prize and special prize for the best Bach performance in the Bremen International Piano Competition in 1995 and again, in 1997, he won the 1st prize and special prize, this time for the best Schubert sonata performance. In addition to that, in 2000 he won 1st prize at the Scriabin International Piano Competition in Moscow and, in 2003, he was awarded the honorary medal “For achievements in the Arts” by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
Peter Laul has performed as a soloist with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow State Kapella Orchestra, as well as numerous other Russian orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Maxim Shostakovich, Valery Gergiev, VassilySinaisky, EriKlas, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Nikolai Znaider and Nikolai Alexeev among others. He has also performed with the NordwestdeutschePhilharmonie, the Dessau, the Bremerhaven and the Oldenburg Theatre Orchestras (Germany), the Brasilian National Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestras (Estonia) and the ‘Les Si?cles’ (France) under Fran?ois-Xavier Roth.
Peter Laul’s recital performances have taken him to the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Halls, the Symphony Hall of the Mariinsky Theater, the Moscow Conservatory Halls, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall and the new Moscow International House of Music. Abroad he has performed in the Auditorium du Louvre, the Th??tre de la Ville, Th??tre du Ch?telet and the Mus?e d’Orsay in Paris, Salle Moliere and Opera Lyon, the Lincoln Center in New York, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vredenburg in Utrecht, Casino Basel, Die Glocke in Bremen, the Montpellier Corum, the Opera City Hall in Tokyo, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Hall, Le Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels and in numerous venues and festivals throughout Russia, Europe, Japan and the USA. His most recent performances have been at the Serresd’Auteuil festival in Paris, the Schubertiade and Beethoven Festivals in Colmar, The Stars of White Nights (St.Petersburg), Art November (Moscow), the Kamchatka Spring Festival, the Saint-Riquier Festival, the Lancut Spring Festival in Poland, and Le Printemps des Arts in Monaco.
Mr. Laul is a consummate chamber musician. His chamber music partners include Dmitry Kouzov, Marc Coppey, Ilya Gringolts, Graf Mourja, Sergey Levitin, Valery Sokolov, Alexander Ghindin, DiemutPoppen, Francoise Groben, Gary Hoffmann, David Grimal, Laurent Korcia and Tedi Papavrami.
Peter Laul has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Aeon, Onyx, Naxos, Marquis Classics, Querstand, Integral Classics, King Records, Northern Flowers and numerous TV and Radio stations in Russia and abroad.

Ilya IOFF (Violin)
As early as in his school days, Ilya Ioff attracted the audience of Leningrad. The warm and rich sound, masterful handling of his instrument, and mature interpretations unusual for a child were noticed even then by both the public and professors of the Leningrad Conservatoire, and primarily by the outstanding Soviet violinist Professor B. Gutnikov.
As a student of the St.Petersburg Conservatory (1984-1990) he emerged as a mature musician with a well-established set of techniques and individual musician's outlook, while during his postgraduate studies with Professor V.Ovcharek he earned the reputation of a talented teacher.
The uncommon personality and mobility in instrumental stylistics make Ilya Ioff attractive not only for audiences but also for contemporary St.Petersburg composers. Some of them, as National Artists B.Tischenko, S.Slonimsky, G.Korchmar and L.Desyatnikov, entrust the premiere performance of their new compositions to him.
As soloist and ensemble musician, he has performed with such remarkable musicians as M.Argerich, M.Yansons, Y.Temirkanov, S.Stadler, A.Rudin, etc. in many European countries and in the United States.
The repertoire of Ilya Ioff is enormous. He performs works by all of the most prominent authors in the history of music who wrote for violin, from I.S.Bach to Leonard Bernstein. Among his awards are the Special Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich, Germany and the First Prize at the G.Viotti Competition in Vercelli, Italy.
The very first season of his work with the DIVERTISSEMENT ensemble as its Artistic Director proved the obvious gift of Ilya Ioff in this area, too. The careful attitude towards the ensemble's traditions developed in previous years by Professor E. Komarova (former Artistic Director) goes hand in hand with establishing an absolutely individual criterion of the ensemble's sound and its own repertoire policy.
The recent years' concerts featured compositions of the last three centuries, from Vivaldi and Bach to Schnittke and Chaplin. Such an ample repertoire and the sound 'all-absorbing' approach of the ensemble have won well-deserved success with Russian, European, Japan and American audiences. Ilya Ioff has recorded several compact disks in different functions. Among the recordings are Paganini's Concerto No. 1, sonatas of Mozart, Tartini and Brahms, trios of Schubert and Tchaikovsky, chamber music of Dvorak, Brahms, Arensky and Borodin, Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No. 1 etc.
Apart from his performing activities, he teaches violin at the St.Petersburg Conservatory. In 2002, Ilya Ioff was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

Alexei MASSARSKY (Cello)
Alexei Massarsky was born in a musicians family in 1965. He graduated from the St.Petersburg State Concervatory in 1990 and since then he has been teaching in this Academy. He is a winner of many prestigious international competitions. Since 1987 he has given concerts in Russia and abroad. He has participated in different Festivals in Japan, the USA, South Korea, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Finland, Poland, Lithuania and Denmark. He has collaborated with such famous musicians as I. Musin, V. Chernushenko, M. Jansons, D. Sondescis, J. Domarkas, M. Shostakovich, S. Stadler, T. Mynbaev, F. Mansurov, R. Martynov, A. Katz, K. Orbelian, A. Boreyko, V. Ziva, M. Argerich and others. As a soloist he has concerted with Deutsche Radio Orchester, Opernhaus Z?rich, St.Petersburg Philharmonic, State Capella, Moscow State Chamber Orchestra.He has realized more than 10 CDs.

Frederieke SAEIJS (Viola)
"...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 Born and bred in The Hague (The Netherlands), the young Frederieke started her violin education with StienekeVoorhoeve according to the Suzuki method. After entering the Royal Conservatoire in her hometown at age thirteen, she studied consecutively with professors Mireille van der Wart, Lex Korff de Gidts, Peter Brunt and JaringWalta. Scholarships allowed her to attend additional masterclasses by Herman Krebbers and Boris Kuschnir.
During her study in The Hague, Saeijs won prizes at the Princess Christina Competition, National Violin Competition Oskar Back, Vriendenkrans Competition of the Concertgebouw, the Elisabeth Everts Prize, Georges Enescu International Violin Competition and the Grachtenfestival Conservatoire Competition. After completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with the highest marks and a special distinction for ‘creative musicality’, FrederiekeSaeijs continued studying the violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington (USA) with professor Mauricio Fuks. She concluded her study years with the Performer Diploma, Artist Diploma and was given the Performer’s Certificate ‘in recognition of outstanding musical performance.’ While studying in Bloomington, Saeijs won the International Violin Competition Long-Thibaud in Paris. Besides the First Grand Prize, she was awarded extra prizes for the best interpretations of the violin concerto and the mandatory contemporary work. Also she received special distinctions from the Orchestre National de France and the Conservatoires of Paris.
As a result, 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, Britten Sinfonia, 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, Neëme Järvi, Oliver Knussen, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Friedemann Layer, AleksandarMarkovic, Christoph Poppen, VassilySinaiski, Vladimir Spivakov and Jaap van Zweden.
Passionate about chamber music, Saeijs has joined with pianist Nino Gvetadze and cellist Maja Bogdanovic to form the Arosa Trio, which performs in such distinguished venues as the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and Tonhalle, Dusseldorf. She also regularly plays with colleagues and friends at international chamber music festivals.
One of the highlights in her career was her encounter with former Queen Beatrix during the award ceremony of the ZilverenAnjer awards at Noordeinde Palace. The conversation she had after her performance with the Queen inspired Frederieke to set up a chamber music and dance project together with others, including Zapp4 (a modern string quartet).
FrederiekeSaeijs was Artist in Residence at the Dr. Anton Philips Hall (The Hague) and during the NJO Music Summer (Gelderland) in The Netherlands. To the Canadian Festival of the Sound she was invited as Stockey Young Artist.
Ms Saeijs performed live for Radio France in Montpellier and Paris; for Radio Suisse Romande in Switzerland, and for Radio 3 and 4 in The Netherlands.
Moreover, producer Siety Boerhave made a short documentary about Saeijs’s passion for the violin, which was broadcast by NTR television in her home country.
Saeijs's recording of sonatas by Ravel, Respighi and Granados, recorded for Naxos with Maurice Lammerts van Bueren (piano), received enthusiastic reviews: ‘Her playing has the power to move you and make you want to hear more' (International Record Review). Her recent recording of the sonatas for solo violin by Eugene Ysaee, recorded for Linn Records, was described by Gramophone as follows: 'Saeijs's is a memorable interpretation. She smoothly negotiates the works' fiendish challenges without once compromising her lustrous tone.'
In addition to performing, Saeijs enjoys mentoring new talent.She has acted as a main subject teacher at both the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio in Madrid. Furthermore, she taught masterclasses in Germany, Spain,Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands and the USA. For the German organization Rhapsody in School she has regularly visited German elementary and secondary schools to teach and play together with the students. Also, she served as a member of the jury at the Princess Christina Competition and the Davina van Wely Violin Competition in The Netherlands.
‘To me,' she says, ‘it is vital to pass on the spirit. Not only the passion I have for my profession, but also the craft itself, and every aspect of it.'
Frederieke plays on the unique ‘Ex-Reine-Elisabeth’ violin, crafted by Pietro Guarneri (Venice, 1725), which was given on loan to her by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation. www.frederiekesaeijs.com

Miki AOKI (Piano)
Praised for “genuinely memorable performance” by BBC Music Magazine, pianist Miki Aoki iswidely recognised for her diverse abilities as pianist and as a collaborative artist. Ms. Aokicombines her career performing solo recitals and chamber music, with working alongside youngstring players. Ms. Aoki is currently appointed as senior lecturer at Graz University for Music andthe Performing Arts, in Austria. Additionally Ms. Aoki frequently plays for the prestigious KronbergAcademy as staff pianist.
Ms. Aoki is recording exclusively for German Label HunsslerProfil. Her debut album of ZoltanKodaly's piano works was released in the fall of 2011 and won critical acclaim. 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 was released in 2013. TheFanfare Magazine praised it as “graceful, expressive and transparent performance” and TheEnsemble Magazine (Germany) wrote, “…pianist Miki Aoki interprets magically”.
Her most recent CD, Melancoliewas just released in May 2016.
A frequent guest artist of prestigious concert series and festivals around the world, Ms. Aoki hasperformed on the stages of St. Martin-in-the Fields, St. John’s Smith Square, the Royal FestivalHall and the Purcell Room at South Bank Centre, the Barbican centre, Blackheath Halls (UK),Laeizhalle Hamburg, GasteigMunchen, Philharmonie Essen, Beethovenssal Hannover (Germany),Philia Hall, Munetsugu Hall (Japan), Wiener-Saal (Austria), St-Petersburg Philharmonic Hall(Russia) as well as in festivals such as Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, SalzburgerFestspiele,Rheingau Festival (Germany), Menuhin Festival Gstaad (Switzerland), International ChamberMusic Festival Silver Lyre (Russia), Beaulieu-sur-la Mer (France), Valdres Festival (Norway),Copenhagen Summer Music Festival (Denmark), Tembi Festival (Indonesia), Phnom PenhInternational Music festival (Cambodia) and International Classical Music Festival. (Myanmar).
Ms. Aoki has performed as soloist 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 broadcast on NDR-North German Radio, RBB-Radio Berlin Brandenburg, BR Classics, WDR, Hessischer Rundfunk, Radio Suisse Romande, ORF Austria, Radio France, 98.7 WFMT Chicago, MPR Classic and ABC Classic FM Australia and BBC Radio 3.
Highlights of the current season include a solo tour in South Africa as well as chamber musicperformances at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, Munetsugu Hall in Nagoya, and a solorecital at Philia Hall Yokohama. Later in the season, Ms. Aoki will make her Mexico debut with Orquesta Sinfenica del Estado de Mexico under maestro Enrique Butiz . A Re-engagement to St.Petersburg Philharmonic Hall with violinist Frederieke Saeijsis scheduled for October 2017.
Highlights of the previous season saw Ms. Aoki in the Winners&Masters Series at Gasteig Munichwith violinist Iskandar Widjaja as well as in the EssenerJugendstil Series at Essen Philharmonie.Ms. Aoki also returned to her native country of Japan for a solo tour in major cities including Tokyo,Yokohama, Osaka and Kobe. Other highlights included recital with Noah Bendix-Balgley (1stconcertmaster of Berlin Philharmonic) and live radio broadcast recital at PianoForte Foundation in Chicago.
As a collaborative pianist Ms. Aoki has been invited by International Summer Academy MozarteumSalzburg, Mattheiser Sommer-Akademie Bad Sobernheim, International Summer Academy BadLeondfelden, International Mendelssohn Summer School, International Violin Masterclasses at Kronberg Academy and KONTUREN Bruhl. Ms. Aoki regularly plays for masterclasses ofinternationally renowned musicians including Yuri Bashmet, Christoph Eschenbach, ChristianTetzlaff, MaximVengerov and Tabea Zimmermann.
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 2007Ms. Aokiobtained a distinction in the Konzertexamen degree at Hochschule for Musik und Theater Hamburg.(Mit Auszeichnung). Her main teachers were Roshan Magub, James Gibb, Reiko Neriki, GyorgySebek, Boris Berman and Evgeni Koroliov.

The trio was founded in 2013. One of its features is the focus on the works of Russian composers. Last season, the band took part in the large-scale project «Russian Piano Trio», the concerts were held in the Small Hall named after M.I. Glinka.
In addition to many foreign composers, the band’s repertoire includes piano trios of Alyabyev, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Arensky, Katuar, Shostakovich, Babadzhanyan. In 2016, the musicians recorded a CD with the trio of Arensky and Babadzhanyan.
Currently, the team is actively involved in the musical life of St. Petersburg, performing at the best concert halls of the city.

Dmitry PAVLIY (Piano)
He graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and did postgraduate studies (class of L.M. Zaichik). He was a grant-holder of the funds «Young talents of St. Petersburg», «Palaces of St. Petersburg» and «Wagner Society» (Bayreuth).
He is a laureate of International Competitions, a winner of more than ten diplomas in the nomination «Best accompanist». He took part in the master classes of Lev Naumov, Vladimir Mishchuk, Andrey Diev, Mikhail Voskresensky.
He gives a lot of concerts in Russia and abroad as a soloist, accompanist and as a member of various chamber ensembles.
He teaches at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At the same time, he works as a leading accompanist at the vocal faculty of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of T.D. Novichenko).

Igor ZOLOTAREV (Violin)
He graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and did postgraduate studies (class of A.M. Kazarina). He is a laureate of the competition named after A.K. Glazunov (Paris, 2003).
He is a musician of the Honored Ensemble of Russia of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society (art director and chief conductor is Yu.H. Temirkanov).
He is a concertmaster and a soloist of the Youth Chamber Singolo Orchestra. He gives a lot of concerts as a soloist and participates in various chamber ensembles.

Nikita ZUBAREV (Cello)
He is a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of A.P. Nikitin) and a laureate of various International competitions. He participated in the master classes of A. Rudin, T. Gadamovich, G. Schiffen (Germany).
He is a musician of the Honored Ensemble of Russia of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society (art director and chief conductor is Yu.H. Temirkanov). He actively participates in the concert life of St. Petersburg as a soloist and ensemble player, and regularly performs at various festivals.
He is a founder and artistic director of the Youth Chamber Singolo Orchestra. He organized a lot of premieres of cello compositions of K. Stamitz, A. Vivaldi, L. Hoffman, D. Zipoli for cello and orchestra.

Mariam BATSASHVILI
"A thousand great moments: Batsashvili creates a dark poetry, which always feels natural yet accurate. (…) Magical moments are always paired with consistency, matching her virtuosity with soul. (…) Her performance displays an objective wisdom."
(Süddeutsche Zeitung, Egbert Tholl, 08.06.2015)
At only 23 years old, Mariam Batsashvili already ranks among the most promising young pianists of her generation. She first received international recognition at the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht 2014, where she won First Prize as well as the Junior Jury Award and the Press Prize. “Winner Batsashvili turns every phrase into something special”, headlined Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, and the international Jury called her a “complete artist” with a “tremendous touch” and “sincere emotion”.
Following this success, she gained her first experiences with leading symphony orchestras, including the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of James Gaffigan in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1), the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Rafael Payare (Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1) and the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (Saint-Sa?ns Piano Concerto No. 2). Mariam has also given recitals in more than 30 countries – among these China (including the NCPA in Beijing and the Shanghai Concert Hall), South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, the United States, South Africa, France, Spain, Norway, the Baltic countries, Benelux and Germany. She has been the guest of many international festivals, such as the Beethovenfest Bonn, Pianofortissimo Festival Bologna and the Delft Chamber Music Festival.
Mariam Batiashvili has been nominated by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) as ‘Rising Star’ for the 2016/17 season, and will perform in the most significant concert halls throughout Europe, including the Philharmonies of Paris, Cologne and Luxembourg, the Vienna Musikverein, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the M?pa Budapest, L’Auditori in Barcelona, the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Southbank Centre in London, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and will return to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. She will also give her recital debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall and the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, appear with the Staatskapelle Weimar under the baton of Kirill Karabits, with the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne under G?borTak?cs-Nagy and perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen under NorichikaIimori in Munich’s Herkulessaal.
Born 1993 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Mariam Batsashvili first studied with Natalia Natsvlishvili at the E. Mikeladze Central Music School in her hometown, before continuing at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar with Professor Grigory Gruzman. In 2011 she won First Prize at the International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar, and received the prestigious Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Award in 2015. Mariam Batsashvili is a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

Sándor Jávorkai (Violin)
Sándor Jávorkai received his first violin instructions at the age of three from his father and already performed in public at the age of five. He first studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest under Prof. FerencHalasz and subsequently transferred to the class of Prof. Michael Frischenschlager at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna, where he graduated with distinction in 2004. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in musicology in Vienna. He has participated in master classes with internationally renowned artists, including Isaac Stern, Tibor Varga and Vladimir Spivakov, as well as GyorgyPauk, Lorand Fenyves, Stefan Ruha, Ferenc Rados and Vera Vaidman.
As concertmaster, Sándor Jávorkai has played under the baton of Mariss Jansons and Marcello Viotti at the International Orchestra Institute Attergau, under the patronage of the Vienna Philharmonic. In addition, in 2008 he performed as concert master and soloist with the Europe Philharmonic(Germany) 2009 Concertmaster and soloist Morpfing chamber orchestra (Austria), 1. Violinist of the Mozarthaus Vienna String Quartet.
As a soloist, he has concertized with renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Symphony, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Sinfonietta Baden, the Tonk?nstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, the SuperB Orchestra Japan, the Philharmonia Wien, Bruno Walter Festival Orchestra, the Philharmonie Der Nationen with Justus Franz, the Budapest Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Gy?r Philharmonic, the North Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, the Szeged Symphony Orchestra and the Debrecen Symphony Orchestra as well asYokohama Sinfonietta and Osaka Philharmonie.
Concert travels have led Jávorkai throughout Hungary, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, Austria, Greece, England, Turkey, Japan, Malta, Tunisia, Norway, Egypt, Russia. Rumania and Israel. Regular recordings for the Hungarian radio station Radio Bart?k, the Austrian radio station O1, the Viennese classical station Radio Stephansdom and Polish radio demonstrate the young violinist’s variegated artistic activities. Sándor Jávorkai has performed at important concert halls such as the Vienna Konzerthaus, Musikverein Vienna, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Art Center
Seoul, Lotte Hall Seoul,Osaka Symphony Hall, Mirato Miria Yokohama, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Sava-Centar in Belgrade, in the “Forbidden City” in Beijing, the Warsaw Philharmonic and Opera City in Tokyo. He has performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Spring Festival in Budapest and at the Spring in Russia Festival in Moscow. Sándor Jávorkai performed to great success at a gala concert in the Vienna Konzerthaus with Roby Lakatos, Rolando Villaz?n, Julius Drake, Michel Camilo and other well-known musicians.
His rendition of Niccolo Paganini’s 1st Violin Concerto in E-flat major, Op. 6 was received very positively in the Magdeburg Volksstimme: “Sándor Jávorkai played in a technically very secure manner with many fine nuances. His playing was varied and rich in ideas. The soloist’s intensive tone production in the middle movement was convincing. The audience was so taken by Jávorkai’s playing that they could not contain themselves and applauded already after the first movement.”
Sándor Jávorkai was awarded a scholarship by the Herbert von Karajan Center in Vienna. The exceptional talent’s deep musicality and effortless virtuosic violin playing has been distinguished exclusively with first prizes in numerous international competitions: 1990-1994: consecutive first prizes at the Emil Vajda String Instrument Competition in Hungary; 1992: 1st prize at the JanosKoncz Violin Competition in Hungary; 1993: 1st prize and special prize at the International Carl Flesch Violin Competition in Hungary; 1999: special prize at the International Pablo de Sarasate Violin Com¬petition in Pamplona, Spain; 2000: 1st prize and special prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Thessaloniki, Greece; 2003: together with his brother Ádám Jávorkai, 1st place at Kod?ly Competition in Semmering, Austria; 2009: together with Ádám Jávorkai, named Artist of the Year by Jeunesse and Bank Austria. New CD recording by Gramola (austria) the Javorkai and Mozarthaus Vienna String Qurtett. Javorkai play on the violin by Pietro Guarnieri 1696 Mantova.

Ádám JÁVORKAI (Cello)
The Hungarian cellist ÁdámJávorkai, born in Gyor, attended the Hans Richter Conservatoire in his native city and the B?laBart?k Conservatoire in Budapest, which he completed with distinction. From 1996 to 2004, he studied in the classes of Prof. Angelika May and Prof. ReinhardLatzko at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna. He completed his M.A. with unanimous distinction. Currently, he is pursuing a doctorate in musicology in Vienna. For further perfection, he has attended master classes held by Mikl?sPer?nyi, Ina-Esther Joost, Tobias K?hne, FerencRados and Anner Bijlsma.
Ádám Jávorkai has ended many competitions with honours. As a teenager, he won the Hungarian Emil Vajda Stringed Instruments Competition for three years in succession after 1991 and the first prize of the National Cello Competition in Hungary in 1990, 1993 and 1996. 1998: BohuslavMartinu Prize of the International Summer Academy Prague-Vienna-Budapest; 2000: Appreciation Prizes ‘Cellist of the Year’ and ‘Best Interpreter of Slovenian Compositions’, awarded by the Association of Slovenian Composers; 2002: Bart?k Prize, Semmering, Austria; 2003: Kod?ly Prize for the duo with Sándor Jávorkai, Austria; 2008: in a duo with Clara Biermasz first prize at the international competition ‘PremioCitt? di Padova’, Italy, category chamber music, and at the same place awarded the ‘Primo Premioassoluto’ together with Clara Biermasz as the overall winners of all categories; the same year, first prize at ‘Soloist and Orchestra’, Italy. In 2009, Sándor and Ádám Jávorkai were together honoured as ‘Artist of the Year’ by Jeunesse and Bank Austria.
From 2001 to 2003, Ádám was a scholarship-holder of the Annie Fischer Foundation in Budapest, in 2002 he received a scholarship from the Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna and scholarships from the Nippon Foundation, Tokyo, in 2003 and 2004.
Ádám Jávorkai regularly holds master classes in different countries, e.g. at the Asahikawa International String Seminar in Japan, at the Orpheus Academy in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, at the Judenburg Summer in Austria, at the Music University in Bogota, Colombia, and at the Kod?ly Society in Wales.
As a soloist, Ádám Jávorkai regularly appears with the Budapest Philharmonic, the PhilharmoniaGyor, the North Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Youth Symphony Orchestra in Genoa, the Sinfonietta Baden, the Savaria Symphony Orchestra, the Szeged Symphony Orchestra, the Sofia Soloists, the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona and other orchestras as well as with the concert organizer National Philharmonia Budapest.
As a cello soloist, he has worked together with conductors such as Marcello Viotti und MarissJansons. He has made many recordings for international radio and television stations (including for the Austrian classical channel O1 and Radio Stephansdom and for the Hungarian Radio Bart?k). He has also collaborated in an ORF television production. In 2002, he produced a CD with works by Brahms (Double Concerto), Saint-Sa?ns and Tchaikovsky with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gyor under ÁdámMedveczky. In 2009, he made a second CD with the Concerto for Cello op. 104 by Dvo??k (Gramola 98865) and in 2011 a further CD with duos for violin and cello by Bart?k, Kod?ly etc. (Gramola 98916). In 2013, a third CD was released under the aegis of the Mozarthaus String Quartet with two string quartets by Mozart (Gramola 99000) and in 2014 a further CD with cello sonatas by Brahms and Grieg.
Ádám was a representative of Austria at the International Jeunesse Festival in Brussels in 2005 and at the EU Music Festival in Warsaw on the occasion of the EU’s eastward expansion. In 2003, he followed an invitation from the Tokyo Foundation and took part in the Sylff Africa/Europe Regional Forum in Cairo in 2003 as a representative of Vienna Music University.
As a soloist or chamber musician, he has held concerts in Tokyo Opera City, the ‘Forbidden City’, Beijing, the Suntory Hall, Tokyo, the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berlin Konzerthaus, at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, in the New Philharmonia in Luxembourg, at the ‘Settimanemusicali al TeatroOlimpico’ in Vicenza, at the Chopin Festival in Gaming, at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, at the Cello Festival in Dordrecht, in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest and many other places.
Concert tours have also taken him to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Oman, Colombia, Austria, the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Kosovo, France, Turkey, Japan, Norway, Egypt, Germany, Spain, China, Siberia, Italy, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Greece and Russia.
In 2014, in recognition of his work against discrimination and for international understanding he was awarded an Honorary Membership of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation by Baruch Tenembaum.
‘What the cellist got out of his instrument bordered on wizardry’ (Franz Patocka, Festival der Kl?nge Vienna, 2009)
‘One of the most outstanding duos that I actually know’ (Matthias Naske on the duo Ádám&Sándor Jávorkai)
‘Two exceptional talents with brilliant technical and refined interpretative skills’ (PadovaCultura on the Duo Ádám Jávorkai& Clara Biermasz (2008)

Polina Osetinskaya
The life of pianist Polina Osetinskaya can be divided into two stages. The first – that of “wunderkind” (a word that Polina herself cannot abide) – was when Polina performed as a girl in huge halls filled with excited sensationalists. The second, which has continued to the present day, is essentially her victory over the first. It is both a reference to serious performing and to exacting audiences.
Polina Osetinskaya began to perform at the age of five. At the age of seven she entered the Central School of Music of the Moscow Conservatoire. Polina gave her first concert at the age of six at the Great Hall of the Vilnius Conservatoire in Lithuania. Together with her father who accepted the role of manager, the young Polina began to undertake frequent tours throughout the former USSR to packed halls and ovations. In her own country Polina was possibly the most famous child of her time and her relationship with her father was portrayed by the mass media as some kind of soap opera after the thirteen-year-old Polina decided to leave her father and study music seriously at the school of the Leningrad Conservatoire under the acclaimed teacher Marina Wolf.
Polina began to tour once again while still a student at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. (The pianist subsequently completed a postgraduate course at the Moscow Conservatoire under Professor Vera Gornostayeva.) She has appeared with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Weimar National Opera, the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St Petersburg Philharmonic (Honoured Ensemble of Russia), the State Academic Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi and the New Russia orchestra among other ensembles.
Polina Osetinskaya’s onstage partners have included conductors Saulius Sondeckis, Vassily Sinaisky, Andrei Boreiko, Gerd Albrecht, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Thomas Sanderling. Polina Osetinskaya has performed at the Wallonie Festival in Brussels, the Mainly Mozart festival, the Frederic Chopin Festival in Miami, the Stars of the White Nights festival and the December Evenings festival among numerous others.
The pianist has been awarded the Maly Triumph prize. In 2008 she wrote her autobiography Farewell, Sadness, which became a bestseller.
Polina Osetinskaya generally creates unusual and frequently paradoxical solo programmes. She almost always includes works by contemporary composers, frequently justaposing them with traditional classical works: “Contemporary music is not just a continuation of older music. It also helps us discover ideas and beauty in older music that have been lost over decades of the blind museum generation and mechanical and often soulless performing.”
Polina Osetinskaya often performs works by post-avant-garde composers such as Valentin Silvestrov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Vladimir Martynov, GeorgsPelecis and Pavel Karmanov.
The pianist collaborates with many recording companies including Naxos, Sony Music and Bel Air.

Amid PELED (Cello)
From the United States to Europe to the Middle East and Asia,Israeli cellist Amit Peled, a musician of profound artistry andcharismatic stage presence, is acclaimed as one of the mostexciting 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 surprisesaudiences with the ways he breaks down barriers between performers and the public, making classical music moreaccessible to wider audiences. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun reflected on a recent performance: “Peled did a lot ofjoking in remarks to the audience. His amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type everyone says we’ll need moreof if classical music is to survive.”
During the 2016/17 season, Mr. Peled will continue sharing with audiences around the world the sound of the historiccello of Pablo Casals. Mrs. Marta Casals Istomin, the widow of Maestro Casals, personally handed him the instrument, aGoffriler ca. 1733. Some of the upcoming highlights with this historic cello include a Bach Suite program at the RaviniaFestival, a new Naxos installment with the Tempest Trio, performances with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Das Junge Orchester, Fairfax Symphony, Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, and the Palm Beach Symphony. In addition to the previous engagements, Amit will make his debut with both the Warsaw Philharmonic andthe Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria. He will also be recording Nadia Boulanger’s “Three Pieces for Cello andPiano” and will also make a return trip to Russia to perform and teach at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Mr. Peled has performed as a soloist with many orchestras and in the world’s major concert halls such as: Carnegie Halland Alice Tully Hall, New York; Salle Gaveau, Paris; Wigmore Hall, London; Konzerthaus, Berlin; and Tel Aviv’s MannAuditorium. 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 thatmade you want to hear him again.” In the fall of 2016, Amit will release his fifth Centaur Records CD, “Casals Homage” which features the legendary 1915Pablo Casals program that Amit has been performing around the world since 2014. Amit also released a recording of theSchumann Cello Concerto with the Washington Chamber Orchestra earlier in 2016. These records follow four immenselysuccessful installments, “Collage”, “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 disk ever!” The Tempest Trio returns to the recording studiothis fall to record another CD for Naxos.
Mr. Peled is also a frequent guest artist, performing and giving master classes at prestigious summer music festivals suchas the Marlboro Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International MusicInstitute, Schleswig Holstein and Euro Arts Festivals in Germany, Gotland Festival in Sweden, Prussia Cove Festival inEngland, The Violoncello Forum in Spain, and the Mizra International Academy and Festival in Israel.
As a conductor, Mr. Peled won both conducting competitions at Yale Univeristy under the tutelage of Maestro ShinkHahm and at the New England Conservatory under the late Maestra Tamara Brooks. Ever since he has enjoyedcombining his solo performances as a cellist with his conducting. As part of Peled’s position as a cello professor at thePeabody Insitute of the John’s Hopkins University, Mr. Peled established the Peabody-Peled Cello Gang; a celloorchestra that is critically acclaimed for their performances and recordings around the United States.One of the most sought after cello pedagogues, Mr. Peled is a Professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music of theJohns Hopkins University.

Stefan PETROV (Piano)
With arresting interpretations and broad musical versatility, American-Bulgarian pianist Stefan Petrov has captivated classical music audiences as a soloist and a chamber musician in venues across Europe, North America and the Caribbean. His performances have been broadcast on CBC (Canada), WDAV (NC), WFMT (Chicago), WMRA(VA) and Bulgarian National TV and Radio. He has appeared in Steinway Hall (New York, NY), Steinway Series at the Smithsonian Museum (Washington D.C.), the Bulgarian National Palace of Culture, Teatro Nacional (Dominican Republic), Chicago Cultural Institute and others. Equally at home as a collaborative pianist, Stefan partners frequently with Israeli-American cellist Amit Peled in recitals across the U.S., while also serving as head of the collaborative piano department at the prestigious Heifetz International Music Institute.

The “Alliage Quintett” is one of the most creative and successful saxophone ensembles in Germany and Europe. Its characteristics are a huge diversity in style, but also the blending of different epochs and ways of playing. This is also represented in their name: alliage is the French physical term for “alloy“, thus referring to the saxophone being an alloy of copper and zinc. In the broader sense, it describes the musical ideal of the five musicians forming one homogeneous whole and their perfectly attuned play.
The quintet was founded by Daniel Gauthier, who has been the first professor for classical saxophone in Germany (at the Hochschulef?rMusik Cologne) and the ensemble‘s leader and soprano saxophonist. He is joined by three of the presently best soloists on the saxophone: Koryun Asatryan, alto, Simon Hanrath, tenor, and Sebastian Pottmeier, baritone. The quintet is completed by the Korean pianist Jang Eun Bae, experienced and well-versed chamber musician.
The quintet‘s core repertoire consists of well-known masterpieces of all epochs, exceptionally sesitive and cleverly arranged for the ensemble. Current programmes include Bernstein’s Ouverture to Candide, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, excerpts from Nyman’s The Piano, Liverpool Fantasy by Johannes Mayerhofer and Gershwin's An American in Paris. Furthermore, original works of the standard repertoire for classical saxophone quartet hold an important position for Alliage. These include the grand quartets of Alexander Glazunov and Florent Schmitt as well as contemporary composers such as Georges Aperghis and Iannis Xenakis.
With its unique programme, the Alliage Quintett performs successfully on the narrow ridge between subtle chamber music and sophisticated entertainment and can fill the major concert halls throughout Germany and Europe.
Besides several radio broadcastings, the ensemble has so far published 5 CDs. In 2011 the quintet started its fairy-tale journey through Russia with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and „Scheherazade“by Rimsky-Korsakov. With „Dancing Paris“ – a coproduction of Deutschland- funk and SONY – the artists were successful in creating a sweeping album which captures the magic charm of the music in Paris around the turn of the century. Compositions by Erik Satie, Darius Milhaud, George Enescu, Germaine Tailleferre, George Gershwin and Aaron Copland were specially arranged for the unique quintet and its virtuosity spreading guest, the violinist Jozsef Lendvay. This CD production was honoured with the renowned ECHO Klassik award in October 2014 which is already the second one since the recording of „Una voce poco fa“ in 2005.
For their current CD project which has been released in Spring 2016 the Alliage Quintet obtained top-class support of the famous clarinetist Sabine Meyer and released the CD “FANTASIA” (SONY).
The musicians play on instruments by Henri Selmer Paris and reeds by Vandoren.

"The Faure Quartet is right up there with the best ensembles you can listen to today" (Harald Eggebrecht, S?ddeutsche Zeitung)
The requirements have changed. Whoever is playing chamber music today can’t be limited to the rules from decades ago. The expectations regarding the diversity of repertoire have changed, which creates room for ensembles like the Faure Quartett, which has established itself as one of the world’s leading piano quartets within just a few years. Dirk Mommertz (piano), Erika Geldsetzer (violin), Sascha Fr?mbling (viola) and Konstantin Heidrich (cello) use the opportunities arising from these developments. They discover new sound fields in chamber music and perform compositions outside the mainstream repertoire.
They are visionary in their approach and highly regarded for their experiments and discoveries; be it performances with the NDR Big Band, collaborations with artists like Rufus Wainwright or Sven Helbig, appearances in clubs like the Berghain, Cocoon Club or “Le Poisson Rouge” in New York or TV shows in KIKA or “Rhapsody in School”, getting children excited in chamber music. When they released their album “Popsongs” in 2009, there was a great deal of buzz in the press and audience. In the following year, the ensemble was awarded the ECHO Classic for their album “classic beyond borders”, their second award after their recording of Brahms’ piano quartets (Chamber Music recording of the year, 2008). Other prizes include the German Music Competition, the ensemble prize from Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, international competition and recording awards, Music Prize Duisburg and Brahms prize Schleswig Holstein.
The musicians of the Faure Quartett are pioneers in many ways. After they met during their studies in 1995 in Karlsruhe for the 150th anniversary of Gabriel Faure, they quickly realized, that this combination offered new insights into undiscovered repertoire. In 2006, they signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon, promoting them to the Champions League of the classic music business. They made highly regarded benchmark-recordings with works by Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn and pop songs from Peter Gabriel and Steely Dan. Sony Classical has just released works from Mahler and Richard Strauss.
Worldwide tours raise their profile abroad and international masterclasses are part of their work with students. The members teach at the universities of Berlin and Essen. Moreover, they were Artistic Directors of “Festspielfrühling Rügen” as well as ‘Quartet in Residence’ at the University of Music Karlsruhe. During their tours, the musicians appear in the world’s most important chamber music venues; including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Berlin Philharmony, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires and Wigmore Hall London. All these mosaics form a unique profile for this defining chamber music ensemble.

Nadezhda KUCHER (Soprano)
In 2003, she graduated from the Minsk Musical College named after M.I. Glinka with a major in «musicology». For several seasons, she sang in the choir of the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus.
In 2006, she won the first prize of the Vocalists Contest at the International Festival of Sacred Music «Magutny Bozha». In 2007, she won the first prize at two International Competitions - Bibigul Tulegenova’s in Kazakhstan and Irina Bogacheva’s in St. Petersburg. In the same year she made first appearance as an opera singer on the stage of the Opera and Ballet Theater of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Two years later, while studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, N. Kucher was singing on the stage of the St. Petersburg Mikhailovsky Theater.
During her studies at the Conservatory she took part in many projects, performing leading parts in a number of infrequently performed operas. In October 2010, her first solo concert took place on the stage of the Beijing Concert Hall. The piano part was performed by the permanent partner of the singer, St. Petersburg concertmaster Dmitry Pavliy.
In 2011, N. Kucher graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with a degree in solo singing (class of T.D. Novichenko). A year later, as part of the 6th Diaghilev Festival in Perm, under the guidance of Theodor Curentzis, she played a leading role in the premiere Russian production of Pascal Dusapin’s opera «Medea», awarded with the Golden Mask. In the same year, together with the Music Astern orchestra and under the guidance of T. Curentzis, she recorded a program composed of works by Rameau for Sony Classical, and also won the Grand Prix and the audience award at the International Vocal Competition in Holland.
In 2014, she made her debut in the role of Elvira in the Bellini opera «Puritans» at the Municipal Theater Santiago (Chile), and released a CD with the music of Rameau at Sony Classical.
In 2015, for the second time, she won the Golden Mask for her role of DonjaIsabel in Purcell’s opera «The Queen of Indians», staged at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater. In the same year she won the International Opera Singers Competition in Cardiff, where she represented Belarus, her motherland, and also made her debut as Matilda in Rossini’s opera «Wilhelm Tell» at the Grand Theatre de Geneve. And finally, at the very end of the year she performed the role of Violetta in Verdi’s «La Traviata» at the Berlin opera on the stage of Schiller-Theater, staged by Dieter Dorn together with conductor Daniel Barenboim.
Currently she is a soloist of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater.

Dmitry PAVLIY ( Piano)
He graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and did postgraduate studies (class of L.M. Zaichik). He was a grant-holder of the funds «Young talents of St. Petersburg», «Palaces of St. Petersburg» and «Wagner Society» (Bayreuth).
He is a laureate of International Competitions, a winner of more than ten diplomas in the nomination «Best accompanist». He took part in the master classes of Lev Naumov, Vladimir Mishchuk, Andrey Diev, Mikhail Voskresensky.
He gives a lot of concerts in Russia and abroad as a soloist, accompanist and as a member of various chamber ensembles.
He teaches at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At the same time, he works as a leading accompanist at the vocal faculty of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of T.D. Novichenko).