YSAYE
International Music Competition
Edition 2025
Violin Junior - Senior
PRESELECTION February 24 - 28, 2025 Vise, Belgium
SEMIFINAL April 28 - Mai 1, 2025 Vise, Belgium
FINAL July 7 - 9, 2025 Liege Philharmonic Hall
Rules
Program
Jury 2025
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF YIMC
ASHOT KHACHATOURIAN
Belgium
Ashot Khachatourian is widely regarded as one of the most inspiring and accomplished artists of his generation.
Known for his exceptional artistry, technical brilliance, and deep musicality, he has become a prominent figure in the world of classical music.
Ashot began his piano studies at the age of five at the Charles Aznavour Music School in Armenia, under the guidance of Valentina Melikyan and Elena Galustova. He continued his education with renowned teachers Gerard Wyss in Basel, Switzerland, Eliso Virsaladze in Fiesole and Munich, and was mentored by the esteemed Maria João Pires, who recognized him as one of the most promising young talents of his time.
As the creator and artistic director of the YSAYE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION, Ashot has also played a pivotal role in nurturing the next generation of classical musicians.
His interpretations of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concertos No. 2 and No. 3 have been particularly lauded. Ashot’s career took off with his first-place victories at the Rachmaninov Piano Competition and the Martha Argerich Piano Competitionin 2007. He also won the 2nd Prize at the Top of the World Piano Competition in 2011 and the Concours d'Epinal in 2013.
Ashot Khachatourian has performed with leading orchestras across Europe, including the London Chamber Orchestra, the Norway Radio Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonie, and the Lausanne Sinfonietta. He has also appeared in prestigious concert venues such as Salle Pleyel, Cortot, Berliner Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Salle Molière, Musis Sacrum Arnhem, and the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonie, among others. His collaborations include performances with world-class conductors and musicians such as Jan Caeyers, Daniele Gatti, Augustin Dumay, Rodolfo Fischer, and Christopher Warren-Green.
Ashot's chamber music collaborations are equally distinguished. He has shared the stage with celebrated artists like Misha Maisky, Maxim Vengerov, Cho-Liang Lin, Liana Issakadze, Zakhar Bron, Gary Hoffman, and many others.
His first solo album, released in 2013, was a tribute to Haydn and Beethoven, followed by a highly praised recording of Chopin in 2019. His recordings have received widespread acclaim from the international press for their emotive depth and technical precision. His next album, featuring works by Schubert and Beethoven, is slated for release in 2022 on the Azur Classical label.
In addition to his solo career, Ashot frequently performs in duo with the legendary Maria João Pires, showcasing a profound musical partnership that highlights his artistry and commitment to sharing music at its most intimate and pure.
CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY
SEMIFINAL
Belgium
Alexandre was born in the centre of Belgium in 1985. He started playing the violin at the age of eight with music teacher Benoit Meulemans, from whom he took lessons until entering the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory in 2001.
At the age of 16 he integrated the class of prof. Adam Korniszewski and graduated two years later with high distinction, obtaining the first prize for violin and chamber music in 2003.
In 2006 he received his Master in music with the highest distinction as first nominee (instrument and chamber music). Afterwards he studied two years in the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe (Germany) with the highly distinguished prof. Ulf Hölscher.
He is the first laureate, among others, of the following prizes: Edouard Bastin, Horlait-Dapsens, Van Straelen, Maurice Lefranc and de Bisschop-Matthyssens.
Alexandre has been passionate about chamber music since very young age and has not stopped performing in Belgium and abroad (France, Luxembourg, Spain, Austria, Poland, Romania, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, United Kingdom, the Netherlands...) either in recital, duo, piano trio or string quartet.
In 2001 Alexandre Feye founded the CoryFeye quartet together with his cellist brother Raphael. He played first violin in the quartet until 2018.
The quartet was first formed around the members of Danel Quartet, then they honed their craft during two years under the aegis of Artemis Quartet in the Queen Elisabeth Musical Chapel Brussels. The quartet has also the opportunity to work with the members of Alban Berg, Pražak, and Talich quartets.
As a chamber musician, soloist or concertmaster, Alexandre has performed in the majority of the concert halls in Belgium, namely Bozar, Flagey, de Singel, Bruges Concertgebouw etc. as well as in many prestigious European concert places such as Berlin Philharmony, Munich Philharmony, Berlin Konzerthaus, Rome Opera, Luxembourg Philharmony, Polish Baltic Philharmony Gdansk amongst others.
In parallel to his musical career, Alexandre has been passionate about history and ancient languages which he teaches since 1999 in the International School for Greco-Latin Classical Humanities - Schola Nova (Walloon-Brabant, Belgium), of which he is also a co-director since 2017.
ALEXANDRE FEYE
CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY FINAL
PHILIPPE KOCH
Belgium - Luxemburg
In addition to being leader of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippe Koch is a professor of violin at the Luxemburg Conservatoire and the Liège Royal Conservatoire, a soloist, a chamber musician and a co-founder of the Koch Trio with his daughter Laurence (violon) and his son Jean-Philippe (piano): they played together all over the world, especially at the Berliner Philharmonie, in London,Tokyo, Paris, Dublin, and in many famous festivals… One of their recording was nominated at the Classical Awards. They received the distinction of "Export Artist Luxemburg" and were also chosen by the grand-ducal Court as Representative Artist for the official visit at the imperial Court in Japan.
As a descendant of the famous Belgium School of Violin (H.Vieuxtemps, E.Ysaye, A.Grumiaux, H.Koch…), after perfecting his craft with master violinists C. Ferras, P. Amoyal and mostly during 6 years with A. Grumiaux, he embarked on a solo career in Europe, Japan, Canada, Korea (Center of Art), the United States and Latin America, performing concerti and other works with many famous orchestras and conductors as P. Jaarvi, Y. Ahronovich, A.Dmitriev, E. Krivine, M.Stern, B.Towey, G.Gimeno, K. Min... He played more than 30 different concerti from Bach to Korngold, through Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovski, Brahms, Dvorak, Kachaturian, Piazzola, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy and concerto. He has recorded more than 35 CDs, many of which have won prestigious awards (including twice the Diapason d’or, Choc de la musique, Recommandé par Répertoire, Classica and Pizzicato). He has served as a judge at the Concours Grumiaux, Concours Vieuxtemps and twice for the famous Queen Elisabeth Competition (violin). Philippe Koch is also chamber musician, performing with the Trio Grumiaux, the Brussels String Quartet, the Quatuor Louvigny, G. Caussé, A.R.El Bacha, F.Moguilevski, J.C.Vanden Heyden, S. Wieder-Atherton, P. Gililov, L. Devos, M. Kliegel, and many others.
As a teacher he regularly gives master classes around the world (Japan, Korea, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Latin America…) and a lot of his students are now members of different orchestras in many countries (Belgium, Holland, Chile, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Luxemburg) or teachers through Europe, Asia and South America.
Philippe Koch is also "Chevalier avec la Couronne de l’Ordre civil et militaire de la famille de Nassau" and "Officier de l’Ordre de Léopold" (Belgique).
TATIANA SAMOUIL
Belgium - Russia
Tatiana Samouil, Belgian by adoption and Russian-Moldavian by origin, leads a multifaceted career: she performs as a soloist with the most prestigious orchestras, participates in festivals worldwide as a chamber musician, and is a renowned professor.
Born in St. Petersburg, Tatiana studied in Moldova and then continued her education in Moscow. After meeting the legendary maestro Igor Oistrakh, she became his student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels and settled in Belgium. A laureate of seven of the most renowned international competitions (including the Queen Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius competitions), she is regularly invited to serve as a jury member for competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth, Eugène Ysaÿe, and the Solo Violin Competition in Korea.
Having recorded over 20 CDs for labels such as Sony Classical, Indesens, Onyx, and Cypres, Tatiana has received numerous awards, including the Diapason d’Or, Choc de Classica, Prix Caecilia, and Crescendo Joker, among others.
Her latest recordings include Il Mondo Felice with her sister Anna Samuil and the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia for Cypres, a collection of Rachmaninoff’s chamber music with Andrei Korobeinikov and Pavel Gomziakov for Onyx, and sonatas by Vieuxtemps, Vierne, and Fauré with Johan Schmidt for Cypres.
This season, she made her debut in Peru and Colombia with the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra ; in May 2025 Tatiana will create the new Violin concerto by Jean-Luc Fafshamps and will perform recitals in Brussels, Milan, Berlin, and Bucharest, among other cities.
She is currently a professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Musikene Superior Center for the Arts in San Sebastián.
KIRILL TROUSSOV
Germany
Kirill Troussov
Founder & Artistic Director of the Sarasate Academy
Founder & Director of the Engers Academy in Frankfurt
Chairman & Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Young Musicians Competition
Vice President & Artistic Director of the Carl Flesch Competition
Artistic Director of the Festival International de Musica Pago de la Jaraba
Artistic Advisor of the Kaposvar International Music Festival
Supported and guided by Sir Yehudi Menuhin from a young age, Kirill Troussov is now widely recognized as one of the leading violinists of his generation. The international press describes his playing as "impressively elegant, with irreproachable technique, exceptional musical sensitivity, and sonorities of immaculate beauty."
A regular guest at prestigious concert halls and renowned international music festivals around the world, Troussov has collaborated with celebrated conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniele Gatti, Lawrence Foster, Jiri Belohlàvek, Michail Jurowski, David Stern, Christoph Poppen, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikko Frank, and Louis Langrée. His engagements have taken him to major orchestras, including the Staatskapelle Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de France, Hessischer Rundfunk Radio Orchestra, Baden-Baden Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. His performances have been heard in iconic venues such as the Tonhalle Zürich, Berliner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, De Doelen, NCPA Beijing, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, the Verbier Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and the Menuhin Festival Gstaad.
Kirill Troussov is deeply passionate about chamber music and maintains close friendships with fellow artists including Sol Gabetta, Yuja Wang, Daniel Hope, Joshua Bell, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Julian Rachlin, Christian Zacharias, and Natalia Gutman.
Some of the highlights of his career include substituting for Gidon Kremer in Paris, touring Asia with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, a remarkable performance at the BBC Proms, and serving as a jury member at international competitions such as the Schoenfeld International String Competition.
His numerous international awards include the European Cultural Award "Pro-Europa", the Davidoff Prize at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Yamaha International Prize, and the Reuters Prize at the Verbier Festival.
Kirill Troussov regularly teaches master classes at prestigious institutions such as the Mozarteum Salzburg, Colburn School Los Angeles, Beijing and Nanjing Central Conservatories, European Music Institute Vienna, and in cities like Cremona, Milan, Madrid, Dublin, Berlin, Munich, Oslo, Budapest, New York, Hong Kong, and Japan. Since 2021, he has served as Chairman and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Young Musicians Competitionand Vice President and Artistic Director of the Carl Flesch Competition in Hungary.
His CD recordings, released by labels including EMI Classics, Warner Classics, Dabringhaus & Grimm, Naxos, and Farao Classics, have been consistently praised by the international press. In 2023, Orchid Classics began releasing the "Kirill Troussov Live" series, featuring over 40 of his celebrated live performances. The series has reached over 2.5 million streams on audio streaming platforms.
In 2024, Troussov founded the Sarasate Academy in Madrid (Spain) and the Engers Academy near Frankfurt (Germany). He also became the Artistic Advisor of the Kaposfest International Music Festival in Hungary and Artistic Director of the Ammerseerenade Festival near Munich (Germany).
Kirill Troussov completed his studies with Zakhar Bron and Christoph Poppen. His mentors have included Igor Oistrach, Herman Krebbers, and Sir Yehudi Menuhin.
He plays the Antonio Stradivari violin "Brodsky" of 1702, the same violin on which Adolph Brodsky performed the world premiere of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto on December 4, 1881.
ALEXEI MOSHKOV
Belgium
Alexei Moshkov trained at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow under Professor Igor Bezrodny, where he obtained degrees in solo performance and chamber music. He is a laureate of the USSR National Competition and the Shostakovich International Chamber Music Competition.
In 1992, Alexei began working as the concertmaster of the "Moscow Soloists" ensemble under the direction of Yuri Bashmet, touring Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Central Asia, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, and more.
As a chamber musician, Alexei Moshkov has distinguished himself through performances with some of the world's best interpreters, including S. Richter, Y. Bashmet, N. Gutman, V. Tretyakov, B. Berezovsky, M. Portal, A. Dumay, G. Danguin, M. J. Jude, V. Repin, and many others.
Since 1993, Alexei Moshkov has participated in numerous festivals across Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He is a regular guest at festivals in Belgium, including the Beloeil Festival, Wallonia Festival, Flanders Festival, and Ostbelgienfestival, among others.
He is also frequently invited as a soloist by many orchestras, performing concertos by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and others.
Passionate about teaching, Alexei has given masterclasses in Belgium, France, and Japan (at the Musa Shino and Ondai Conservatories in Tokyo). From 2012 to 2018, he served as a violin professor at the Conservatory of Cambrai, France. Since September 2021, he has been invited as a violin professor at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp.
Since 1995, Alexei Moshkov has been a member of various chamber music ensembles in Belgium and France.
As concertmaster (first violin) of the Belgian National Orchestra since 1998, Alexei Moshkov regularly performs as a soloist with the orchestra.
ROBERT STEPANIAN
France
Robert Stepanian in 2021 was nominated four times for the prestigious Opus Klassik Awards (formerly Echo Klassik), sharing the spotlight with renowned musicians such as Andrea Bocelli and Yo-Yo Ma.
Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Robert began playing the violin at the age of seven under the guidance of Tatyana Vorobyova (a student of Boris Goldstein) in Moscow. He continued his studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Zoria Shikhmurzaeva and later at the Moscow State Conservatory with Professor Ara Bogdanyan (a student of David Oistrakh). A laureate of numerous international competitions and awards in Switzerland, Spain, Russia, and Ukraine, Robert has established himself as a distinguished violinist on the global stage.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Robert has performed in over 40 countries, gracing prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Salle Gaveau (Paris), the Danish Radio Concert House, Oslo Konserthus, Tchaikovsky Hall (Moscow), Pablo Casals Concert Hall (Spain), the Moscow International Music House, and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
He has participated in celebrated festivals, including the Mendelssohn Festival, Erl Festspiele (Austria), Midis de Minimes (Belgium), Great Names of Art (Russia, honoring Kogan, Gilels, and Rostropovich), Juventudes Musicales (Spain), Beethoven Festival (Germany), Pupligne Classique (Switzerland), Tyrolean Beethoven Days (Austria), Matthias Kendlinger Festival, Festival Internacional de Música de Esmeraldas (Ecuador), and the Guadalajara International Music Festival (Mexico), among others.
Robert has received several prestigious grants and awards, including the Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Award, support from the Russian Performing Arts Foundation, the World Music Fund, and the Irina Arkhipova Foundation’s medal prize in 2010. He was also honored with a diploma for “Achievements in Musical Art” by the President of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev.
In 2006, Robert founded the Classicus Trio, where he performed as a member until 2014. His recording of Beethoven and Franck sonatas was released under the Azur Classical label in 2015. His works have since been broadcast on major platforms, including BBC Radio, France Musique, Espace 2, and ARD.
Robert is an esteemed educator, conducting masterclasses in Germany, France, Austria, the United States, and South America. He has served as an adjudicator in various violin competitions.
In 2019, composer Matthias Kendlinger dedicated the violin concerto Galaxy to Robert, with its recording released by the Austrian label DaCapo in 2020. In 2021, composer Eduardo Florencia composed Souvenirs d’Artsakh, Op. 98, for violin and orchestra, also dedicated to Robert.
In 2024, Robert performed a recital at the Royal Palace in Belgrade at the invitation of HRH Crown Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine of Serbia. The same year, he was officially endorsed as a Thomastik-Infeld Artist.
Robert performs on a Bergonzi violin.
MARC BOUCHKOV
Belgium
Belgian violinist of Russian-Ukrainian heritage, Marc Bouchkov, a sophisticated artist of impeccable aplomb, is proving to be one of the most unique and multifaceted musicians of the new generation.
His orchestral appearances included performances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Mariss Jansons, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Philippe Jordan, HRSinfonieorchester and Christoph Eschenbach, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala and Lorenzo Viotti, the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, the Verbier Festival Orchestra under Gábor Takács-Nagy, and the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. He has also appeared with the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI in Turin, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra di Milano Giuseppe Verdi among others, collaborating with conductors such as Stanislav Kochanovsky, Michael Sanderling, Andrey Boreyko, Ludovic Morlot, Dmitry Liss, Christian Arming, Lionel Bringuier, Maxim Vengerov, James Judd, to name but a few.
Mr. Bouchkov has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Teatro alla Scala, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Dresden Frauenkirche, Concert Hall of St. Petersburg, Tonhalle Zürich, Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Paris’ Theatre de la Ville, Maison de Radio France, and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. In great demand as a recitalist, he is a regular guest of the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Tsinandali Festival in Georgia, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival in Israel, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival and the Schubertiade in Hohenems. A fine chamber musician, his music partners included Evgenij Kissin, Mischa Maisky, Lahav Shani, Klaus Mäkelä, Behzod Abdurahimov.
Recent highlights include concerts as artist-in-residence of the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw under the batons of Lorenzo Viotti, Ryan Bancroft, and Hannu Lintu, Brahms’ Double Concerto with cellist Mischa Maisky under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, appearances with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under Michele Mariotti and with the Barcellona Symphony Orchestra under Lodovic Morlot, and the complete cycle of Beethoven Violin Sonatas at the 2023 Verbier festival with pianist Mao Fujita.
Upcoming highlights include the continuation of his artist-in-residency with Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw as well as his debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, a return to Barcelona Symphony and a tour of Asia with the Verbier Chamber Orchestra.
Marc’s recordings for Harmonia Mundi include an album featuring two premieres by Eugène Ysaye and two works composed by himself. The album was awarded a Diapason d’Or and a Diapason Découverte as well as nominated for the ICMA 2018 and received tremendous acclaim on Gramophone reviews. The English magazine featured him as “One to Watch “.
A major prize-winner of the Montreal and Tchaikovsky Competitions and a recipient of the Kulturstiftung Dortmund Music, Marc Bouchkov was born into a family of violinists. He received his first lessons at the age of five from his grandfather and studies with Claire Bernard and Boris Garlitsky followed. He then went on to study with Mihaela Martin, as a Young Soloist in a postgraduate course at the Kronberg Academy. For many years now he has been under the musical tutorship of Eduard Wulfson.
Mr. Bouchkov currently serves as professor on the faculty of the Conservatoire Royale de Liège (BE). From 2017 to 2019 he taught at the Kronberg Academy (DE) as Artistic Assistant.
ALISSA MARGULIS
Germany
Appreciated for her expressive and very emotional performances, Alissa Margulis regularly plays in important concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmony, the Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Cologne Philharmony, the Vienna Musikverein, Sumida Triphony Hall Tokyo, the Sage Gateshead, the Tonhalle Zurich and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall.
Born in Germany into a family of Russian musicians, Alissa Margulis studied in Cologne with Zakhar Bron, in Brussels with Augustin Dumay and in Vienna with Pavel Vernikov. She won numerous prizes at international violin competitions and was awarded with the “Pro Europa” prize of the European Arts Foundation which was presented to her by Daniel Barenboim in Berlin.
She made her first public appearance at the age of seven with the Budapest Soloists and has performed since then with numerous orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Ile de France, New Russia Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Bilkent Orchestra Ankara, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Belgian National Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Kiev, Skopje, Ljubljana, Minsk and Novosibirsk, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Moscow Soloists, and the Kremerata Baltica, amongst many others.
Alissa Margulis worked together with famous conductors: Ivor Bolton, Jacques Mercier, Arnold Katz, Jacek Kaspszyk, Dmitry Liss, Jaap van Zweden, Enrique Mazzola, Daniel Raiskin, Fabrice Bollon, Stefan Vladar, François-Xavier Roth, Lars Vogt, Howard Griffiths, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Hubert Soudant, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Christian Arming, Augustin Dumay, Mikko Franck and Gerd Albrecht to name just a few of them.Besides her solo career Alissa Margulis is an enthusiastic chamber music player and collaborates with artists such as Alexander Buzlov, Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, David Geringas, Ivry Gitlis, Gidon Kremer, Bruno Giuranna, Mischa Maisky, Gabriela Montero, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Liana Issakadze, Alexandre Tharaud, Stephen Kovacevich, Alexander Lonquich, Polina Leschenko, Paul Badura-Skoda and Lars Vogt.
She further appeared at various Festivals: at the Enescu Festival Bucharest, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, in Davos, Tours, Stravanger Festival, at the Mozartwoche Salzburg, “Spannungen”-Festival in Heimbach, “Progetto” Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Sotshi Winter Arts Festival and Verbier Festival.
Her discography includes more than a dozen CDs at labels such as EMI Classics, Oehms, Novalis, Avanti Classic and CAvi. Notably two of the six EMI Classics releases of the „Martha Argerich and Friends“ series received a GRAMMY nomination, several others won the Diapason d’or. She recorded repertoire by Mozart, Shostakovich, Enescu, Beethoven, Messiaen and others as well as the complete music for violin and piano by Franz Liszt. She recorded Piazzolla’s seasons and took part in an all Klezmer recording alongside musicians such as Myriam Fuks, Roby Lakatos, Evgeny Kissin, Polina Leschenko and Mischa Maisky. Alissa Margulis will be featured in another live recording of chamber music performed at the Progetto Martha Argerich, a 2016 release by Warner Classics.
Last season she played concerts in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Russia, Luxembourg, Lebanon, South Africa, Aruba, Malta, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the USA, Italy, France at venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, the Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow and the Verbier Festival, among many others.
KARA NAM
Korea
Kara Nam, a Korean-American violinist, began her musical journey at the age of 3, starting with piano, and made her debut as a concert pianist performing Mozart’s concerto at the age of 7. At 9, she shifted her focus to violin and debuted as a violinist with the Seoul Philharmonic at the age of 11. Since then, Kara has received numerous awards and accolades throughout her career in South Korea, Europe, and the United States.
Kara's formal music education began at the Juilliard School's pre-college division, where she studied with Won-Bin Yimand Dorothy DeLay at the age of 13. She earned full scholarships for all her degrees, including a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from Juilliard, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She studied with renowned professors including Joel Smirnoff, David Chan, and Won-Bin Yim.
Her studies in solo and chamber music were further enriched by working with distinguished artists such as Masao Kawasaki, Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, the Juilliard String Quartet, Fred Sherry, Joan Kwuon, Joel Sachs, Roman Totenberg, Ilan Gronich, Dora Schwarzberg, and Abram Shtern. As a student, she received full scholarships to attend the Aspen Music Festival and numerous other prestigious festivals around the world.
Kara Nam has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Czech National Symphony, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Budapest Symphony, the Aspen Music Festival Academy Orchestra, the Korean Symphony, the Seoul Philharmonic, the Su-Won Philharmonic, the Busan Philharmonic, the Gwangju Symphony, the Prime Philharmonic, the Korea Coop Orchestra, and the Florence Symphony, among others.
She has also performed at major venues such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Smetana Hall, to name a few. Kara has won numerous first prizes in solo and chamber music competitions, including the Young Artists International Auditions, the International Grand Summer Music Academy Concerto Competition, the Korean Newspaper Competition, the Young Artists Chamber Competition, and the SYC Competition, among others.
In 2023, she was invited to serve as a juror for the Brahms International Violin Competition in Austria. In 2022, Kara co-founded the Korea International School of Arts (KISA) with her husband, conductor and pianist James Junghyun Cho, where she currently serves as the principal.
HRACHYA AVANESYAN
Belgium
Hailed as a "sensitive and highly skilled musician with expressive nuances" (Gramophone Magazine) and a "soloist with passionate power, feeling and sweet tone" (Frankfurter Allgemeine), Hrachya Avanesyan has secured his place as an outstanding violinist with first prizes at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin and Carl Nielsen competitions.
Avanesyan has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestre de Chambre de Pelléas, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Lille, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Liège Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic, the State Orchestra of the Rhenish Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. These collaborations have been led by renowned conductors such as Eliahu Inbal, Marc Soustrot, Walter Weller, Lan Shui, Christopher Warren-Green, Joji Hattori, Paul Goodwin, Paul Watkins, Joana Carniero, Alexander Vedernikov, Joshua Weilerstein, Patrick Davin and Daniel Raiskin.
Avanesyan has given stirring concerts in famous concert halls such as Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, London's Wigmore Hall, Salle Gaveau and Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Santury Hall in Tokyo, the Great Hall of the Moscow Kremlin, the Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the National Auditorium in Madrid, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Memorable performances include a joint appearance with Joshua Bell and Maxim Vengerov at St. David's Hall in Cardiff, playing with Ashley and drummer Joshua Bell. Memorable performances include playing with Ashley and drummer Joshua Bell at St. David's Hall in Cardiff, performing with Ashley Wass at the Wigmore Hall, and collaborating with Maria João Pires, Maxim Rysanov, Andreas Brantelid, Alexander Chaushian, Lise de la Salle, Marianna Shirinyan, Lily Maisky, Ashot Khachatourian, Natalia Gutman, Narek Hakhnazaryan and many others at festivals such as Montpellier, Menton, the Strasbourg Music Festival in Memory of Yehudi Menuhin, Al Bustan and the Copenhagen Summer Festival.
Avanesyan's notable discography includes his premiere recording of Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 2, released in a comprehensive box set of Vieuxtemps' concertos with the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra and Patrick Davin. His highly acclaimed album of music by Dvorak, recorded with Sinfonia Varsovia and Augustin Dumay, was also highly praised. in 2017, his CD of masterpieces by R. Schumann and J. Brahms, recorded with Boris Brovtsyn, Diemut Poppen, Alexander Chaushian and Yevgeny Sudbin, was released on the BIS record label and was named an iTunes A-List recording and BBC's Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year. in 2018, a video recording of his concert with Maria João Pires was released on Imagine Clarity and reached millions of views on the platform.
Born in Armenia, he moved to Belgium at the age of 17 and studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels under the direction of Igor Oistrakh. He continued his training at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music with Augustin Dumay and at the Cologne Hochschule with Mihaela Martin. During his studies at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, he also honed his chamber music skills under the direction of the esteemed Artemis Quartet.
Avanesyan plays on a remarkable 1864 J.B. Vuillaume violin, which enhances the beauty and depth of his performances. With his extraordinary talent and passion, Hrachya Avanesyan captivates audiences around the world and contributes to his ever-growing reputation as one of the most important violinists of his generation.
FAN TING
China
One of the most in-demand conductors based in Asia, a highlight of Fan Ting’s recent career was his February 2024 concert directing the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in thefamed Grosses Musikvereinsaal in Vienna, home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. On the same European tour he directed the Euro Sinfonietta Wien in Vienna’s new Muth Concert Hall, the North Czech Philharmonic in Prague’s two main concert venues – the celebrated Rudolfinum Dvořák and Municipal House Smetana Concert Halls, and the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra of Szolnok in cities in Hungary and Austria. This tour included a concert at Joseph Haydn’s home in the beautiful Haydnsaal of Esterhazy Palace outside Vienna.
During the 2024-25 season he will return to Europe for a tour to cities in Germany and Austria with the Thüringen Philharmonic Orchestra, including a concert in the Salzburg Mozarteum. He will also conduct the Adana State Symphony in Turkey and the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais in Portugal.
Fan is particularly sought after in Vietnam where he is raising the standards of the Saigon Philharmonic of which he is Music Director and Chief Conductor, and in Hanoi where he is Principal Conductor of the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet companies. He will be conducting during the Third Anniversary of the International Classical Music Festival in Hanoi which also features the Baltic Neapolis Chamber Orchestra, winner of the 2015 Fryderyk Award named after Poland’s most celebrated composer Fryderyk Chopin, and eight international soloists. He has recently conducted performances of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana leading the Manila Philharmonic. Future Asian engagements will see him conducting the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and an opera gala concert in Singapore. With little spare time from his international commitments, Fan is committed to working with Hong Kong’s young professional musicians by giving them the opportunity of performing a variety of core orchestral works in one of Hong Kong’s major concert halls. A mark of his devotion to helping younger musicians was his becoming a founding faculty member of the orchestral technique class at Hong Kong’s celebrated Academy for Performing Arts.
Following studies at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and then at New York’s famed Juilliard School of Music where his teachers were Joshua Brodsky, Joseph Fuchs and the legendary Ivan Galamian, Fan Ting returned to his native Hong Kong as Principal Second Violin in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, awarded in 2019 by the distinguished Gramophone magazine as its Orchestra of the Year. For more than 30 years with the Philharmonic, he also served as Assistant Concertmaster and Acting Concertmaster. During his time as a major violinist, he founded the Tononi String Quartet, the New Art Quartet and the Canzone Trio. With these ensembles he premiered a number of previously unperformed works on tours in China including by Benjamin Britten and Leos Janáček. They also toured to the USA, Canada, England, Italy, Japan and Taiwan. In his later years with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Fan realised that his long-term ambition lay in conducting. At Juilliard he had also studied conducting with Jorge Mester. He now joins a distinguished list of violinists who turned to conducting later in their careers including
Yehudi Menuhin, Pinchas Zuckerman and Jaap van Zweden.
