Martin BEAVER Canada www.montrosetrio.com

Canadian violinist Martin Beaver was First of the world-renowned String Quartet from June 2002 until its final concert in July 2013. As such, he appeared to critical and public acclaim on the major stages of the world including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

As a member of the Tokyo String Quartet, Mr. Beaver was privileged to perform on the 1727 Stradivarius violin from the “Paganini Quartet” set of instruments, on generous loan to the quartet from the Nippon Music Foundation. Recordings of the Tokyo String Quartet during his tenure notably include the complete Beethoven quartets on the Harmonia Mundi label.

Mr. Beaver’s concerto and recital appearances span four continents with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, the Symphony, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and under the batons of Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Raymond Leppard, Gilbert Varga and Yannick Nézet-Séguin among others. Chamber music performances include collaborations with such eminent artists as Leon Fleisher, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Sabine Meyer and Yefim Bronfman.

Mr. Beaver is a regular guest at prominent festivals in North America and abroad. Among these are: the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla SummerFest, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Edinburgh Festival (U.K.) and Pacific Music Festival (Japan).

Mr. Beaver’s discography includes concerti, sonatas and chamber music on the Harmonia Mundi USA, Biddulph, Naim Audio, René Gailly, Musica Viva, SM 5000, Toccata Classics and Naxos labels. His recorded repertoire ranges from Bach, Beethoven and Brahms to the music of living composers Alexina Louie, Gerard Schurmann and Joan Tower.

Following his early studies with Claude Letourneau and Carlisle Wilson, Mr. Beaver was a pupil of Victor Danchenko, Josef Gingold and Henryk Szeryng. He is a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal and Indianapolis competitions. Subsequently, he has served on the juries of major international competitions including the Queen Elisabeth and Montreal violin competitions, the Osaka International Chamber Music Competitions and the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Beaver has been the grateful recipient of generous support from the for the Arts. This includes Arts Grants for his studies at Indiana University, Career Development Grants and the 1993 Virginia-Parker Prize. In 1998, through the generosity of an anonymous donor, the Canada Council awarded Mr. Beaver the loan of the 1729 “ex-Heath” Guarnerius del Gesù violin for a four-year period.

A devoted educator, Mr. Beaver has conducted masterclasses throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has held teaching positions at the Royal Conservatory of Music, the University of British Columbia and the Peabody Conservatory. More recently, he served on the faculty of New York University and as Artist in Residence at the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded its highest honor - the Sanford Medal. He joined the faculty of the Colburn School in Los Angeles in August 2013 where he is currently Professor of Violin and Chamber Music.

Martin Beaver is a founding member of the Montrose Trio with pianist Jon Kimura Parker and cellist Clive Greensmith.

Mr. Beaver performs on a 1789 Nicolo Bergonzi violin.

Esther HOPPE Switzerland www.estherhoppe.com

The Swiss violinist Esther Hoppe is amongst the most interesting artists of her generation. Over the recent years she has made a name for herself as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue.

After studying in Basel, Philadelphia (Curtis Institute of Music), London and Zürich she went on to win 1st Prize at the 8th International Mozart Competition Salzburg. Soon after she founded the Tecchler Trio with whom she concertized intensively for several years. The trio won several first prizes at important competitions, such as 1st prize at the ARD- competition in Munich in 2007. Since 2013 Esther Hoppe is professor for violin at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She leads an exciting concert calendar and performs as a soloist with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchener Kammerorchester, Orchestre Les Siècles , Kammerorchester Basel, Zürcher Kammerorchester amongst others, and her chamber music partners include Ronald Brautigam, Christian Poltéra, Francesco Piemontesi, Clemens and Veronika Hagen and Vilde Frang. Esther Hoppe is a regular guest at festivals such as Lockenhaus, Ernen, Luzern, Gstaad, Salzburg, Delft, Prussia Cove, Styriarte etc. After her first CD for Claves records (2014, with works by Mozart and Strawinsky with pianist Alasdair Beatson) was highly acclaimed by the press, a second CD with sonatas by Mozart and Poulenc was released by Claves records in January 2017, again together with pianist Alasdair Beatson. Also this CD got the best reviews. She has also recorded with Virgin Classics, Neos, Concentus Records, and Ars Musici.

Esther Hoppe plays on a 1690 Gioffredo Cappa violin. She lives with her family in Zürich.

Dong-Suk KANG South Korea Hailed for his outstanding artistry, musicianship and virtuosity, violinist Dong-Suk Kang has performed on five continents to extraordinary acclaim. Dominic Gill, a London music critic, describes Dong-Suk Kang in his book « The Book of the Violin », as « one of the world’s great violinists. His flawless technique and perfect bow arm certainly produce one of the most beautiful violin tones to be heard anywhere today ». Ormandy, Serkin, Menuhin, Francescatti, and other eminent musicians also have praised him as one of the most outstanding violinists of his generation and a musician of the highest order. Born in Korea, Dong-Suk Kang went to New York to study at the Juilliard School and later at the Curtis Institute with Ivan Galamian. He first came to the attention of the American public when he created a sensation by winning both the San Francisco Symphony Foundation Competition and the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington D.C.. Following a debut at the Kennedy Center and an appearance with Seiji Ozawa, he went on to win top prizes in a number of international competitions including the Montreal, the in London and the Queen Elisabeth in Brussels. Since then, he has appeared with many great orchestras of the world including those of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington and Montreal in America, and Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, BBC Orchestras, English Chamber, Halle, Birmingham, Scottish National, Munich, Stuttgart, Gewandhaus, French and Belgian National Orchestras, Gothenburg, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Polish National and Rotterdam in Europe. Tours of Asia have brought performances with the orchestras of NHK, Yomiuri, Tokyo Metropolitan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Beijing, Shanghai, KBS and Seoul Philharmonic with whom, he has toured the U.S.A. and Europe. He has also performed with all the major Australian orchestras.

The conductors he has worked with include Dutoit, Ozawa, Masur, Jarvi, Menuhin, Salonen, Slatkin, Chung, Barshai, Jansons, Norrington, Foster, Svetlanov, Berglund, Lazarev and Herbig. He has performed at major music centers and festivals throughout the world and his concerts, such as London Proms, were frequently televised and broadcast on the radio in many countries. His strong interest in chamber music has resulted in his participation at various chamber music festivals including those in Spoleto, Santa Fe, Kuhmo, Korsholm, Seattle, , Newport and Australian Festival of Chamber Music. As a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center he has performed in New York and toured throughout the country.

Dong-Suk Kang’s wide-ranging repertoire includes all the standard works as well as many unusual and neglected works. He has given the premiere of the « Mistral » by Alan Hoddinott in Great Britain which was commissioned by BBC as well as the Asian premier of the the Third Concerto by Isang Yun at the opening concert of « World Music Days » Festival after having performed Isang Yun's First Concerto earlier. In the field of recording, in addition to the well-known works, such as Vivaldi Four Seasons (with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields), he has recorded Nielsen and Elgar concertos, complete chamber music of Honegger and Alkan, and Furtwängler Sonata. His recordings have won critical acclaim and awards among which are the Grand Prix du disque from both the Académie Charles Cros and the Nouvelle Académie du disque. His Walton Concerto CD was chosen as the CD of the month by the Gramophone magazine and nominated for the « Gramophone Award ». He has served on the jury for the major international competitions, the Queen Elisabeth, Indianapolis, Montreal, Wieniawski, Long-Thibaud, Menuhin, Michael Hill, Sendai, Tibor Varga, Qingdao and others.

Dong-Suk Kang is a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul and artistic director of both « MusicAlp Festival » in France and « Seoul Spring Festival » in Korea. He is « Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres », a distinction received from French government

Sergey MALOV Russia/Hungaria https://sergeymalov.com

Sergey Malov is a creative artist. He brings music of different styles and epochs to his audience in an authentic way.

He performs on 4 instruments: violin, viola, violoncello da spalla and baroque violin.

As a violinist Sergey Malov won international prizes at the Paganini Competition in Genova, Mozart Competition in Salzburg, Heifetz Competition in Vilnius and Michael Hill Competition in Queenstown. On the viola he was a prize winner at the ARD Competition in Munich and the Tokyo Viola Competition. As a soloist on both instruments he performed with BBC Symphony Orchestra London, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Enescu Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

In the 2017-18 season he will perform the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Helsinki Philharmonic and the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with Tampere Symphony Orchestra.

Sergey Malov received a special prize at the Bach Competition in Leipzig and plays a baroque violin by Gioffredo Cappa from the “Jump Start Junior” Foundation Amsterdam. As a soloist and conductor he performed with AKAMUS, Venice Baroque Orchestra, “Musica Viva” Orchestra Moskow, Camerata Salzburg, Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Sevilla Baroque Orchestra.

Malov’s videos featuring his Violoncello da spalla were watched over a million times online. Apart from the 6 Cello Suites by J.S.Bach, he performs a large scale of solo and chamber repertoire on this rare instrument.

In his performances he combines elements of composed music and free improvisation. He combines several instruments in his unique multi-track recordings.

In September 2017 Sergey Malov was appointed as a Professor at the Zürich University of Music.

Malov’s recordings were released by DECCA, EASonus, Hännsler Profil, Alba and Pan Classics. His newest album “Hommage á Ysaÿe” will appear in September 2017.

Equally fluent in Russian, German, English and Hungarian he also speaks French and Spanish.

Marianne PIKETTY France www.mariannepiketty.com

Solidity, ardour, virtuosity, profundity and generosity – these are the words with which the press describe acclaimed violinist Marianne Piketty, an artist who has developed a career playing an eclectic discography ranging from Bach to Piazzolla, and including recitals, chamber music concerts, original duos, classical repertoire, and contemporary compositions.

Piketty was only seven years old when she made her solo debut at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and the Juilliard School, where she was taught by Dorothy DeLay, she also studied with world renowned Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin.

Her debut at Carnegie Hall was highly praised and she went on to pursue an international career. Invitations to perform as a soloist took her from Paris to Saint Petersburg, where she worked with conductors such as Pascal Verrot, Pascal Rophé, Georges Pehivanian, Eric Bergel, and Jean Jacques Kantorow.

A passionate chamber music player, Piketty has been fortunate to have had pianists, Dana Ciocarlie, Eric le Sage, Silke Avenhaus, Sofya Gulyak, cellists Xavier Philips, Emmanuelle Bertrand, Ophélie Gaillard, Jean-Guihen Queyras, clarinetists Paul Meyer, Chen Halevi, accordeonist Pascal Contet and marimbist Vassilena Serafimova among her musical partners.

Dedicated to showcasing contemporary music creations, she has commissioned pieces from numerous contemporary composers and performed the world premier of Renaud Gagneux’s concerto in Kiev with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. She is also dedicated to the works from Graciane Finzi, Edith Canat de Chizy, Laurent Mettraux, Renaud Gagneux, Javier Torres Maldonado, Jean- Pierre Drouet, Tomas Bordalejo and Benjamin Attahir.

In collaboration with Odile Edouard and Olivier Fourés, Piketty is researching performance of historical music compositions, a testament to her commitment to early music. She has a particular interest in rare French music from the 19th and 20th centuries and has continuously supported the work of women composers.

Always eager to perform new works, Piketty assembled the Le Concert Idéal ensemble in 2013 and they are still touring with their acclaimed Vivaldi - Piazzolla, Four Seasons show. The ensemble released their first recording under the Harmonia Mundi’s Little Village label in April 2016.

In artist residency for three years at the Noirlac Abbey, Le Concert Idéal is currently working on new creations including their latest, Arianna, a mix of Locatelli’s emblematic works, such as the concerti grossi, and contemporary music by Alex Nante. Directed by Olivier Fourés, Arianna will be recorded this June and released in March 2019 on the Aparté label.

Her discography is prodigious, with CDs notably including the complete works for violin solo by Eugène Ysaÿe and the complete works for violin and piano by both Gabriel Pierné and Guillaume Lekeu. Her latest recording, Bohemia, with pianist Dana Ciocarlie, has been praised by the press. Le Monde wrote, “They are a truly exceptional duo. There is a touch of Paganini at the tip of Marianne Piketty’s bow and there are Romany genes in the strings.”

A highly sought-after teacher, Piketty teaches at the Conservatoire National de Lyon and gives many master classes throughout Europe and Asia. She is artistic director of the Solistes de la Villedieu for the promotion of classical music, the Rencontres Internationales de Mirecourt and the Musique aux 4 Horizons in Ronchamp.

Marianne Piketty plays a 1685 Venetian violin by Carlo Tononi. Marco RIZZI Italy www.marcorizzi.info “...a first-rate violinist with a rich tonal palette, fine technique and a lovely singing vibrato.... a musician of surprising honesty and maturity” (The STRAD)

A prize-winner at three of the most prestigious international violin competitions - the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Queen Elizabeth in Brussels and the Indianapolis - Marco Rizzi has soon been recognised as one of the most interesting young violinists of his generation and was awarded the Europäischen Musikförderpreis on the recommendation of Claudio Abbado.

Marco Rizzi is regarded as one of the most appreciated musicians from Italy. He regularly appeared in leading concert halls such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Lincoln Center in New York, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonic Society of Brussels, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, the Hamburger Musikhalle, the Konzerthaus and the Tivoli of Copenhagen. He worked with such notable conductors as R. Chailly, G. Noseda, A. Ceccato, P. Eötvös, V. Jurowski, S. Denéve, G. Neuhold and was soloist with orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestre de Concerts Lamoureux, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orquesta RTVE of Madrid, BBC Scottish, Netherlands Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano 'G.Verdi', Radio Chamber Orchestra Holland, and many others.

Passionate about chamber music, Marco Rizzi cooperates with artists like A. Lucchesini, M. Brunello, E. Dindo, L. Zylberstein, G. Hoffman, N. Imai, M. Fischer-Dieskau, D. Poppen, and is dedicatee of various contemporary works composed by A. Corghi, L. Francesconi, F. Vacchi, U. Bombardelli, C. Galante and U. Leyendecker among others. Marco Rizzi recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Amadeus, Nuova Era, Dynamic, Warehouse, etc.

Marco Rizzi lead an international class at the Hochschule für Musik -Detmold (Germany) from 1999 till 2008, in October 2008 he was appointed at the Hochschule für Musik in Mannheim. He is regularly serving as juror in important violin competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Bruxelles), the Joachim Violin Competition (Hannover) or the Paganini Violin Competition (Genova).

Marco Rizzi plays on the “Baron Knoop” 1743 violin by Pietro Guarneri, owned by the foundation “Il Canale” ONLUS.

Pavel VERNIKOV www.pavelvernikov.com

Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and S. Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. Among other prizes he won the International ARD Violin Competition in Munich and the Grand Prix at the International Violin Competition “Vittorio Gui” in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome.

For the last 30 years he has been a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio.

His artistic partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, James Galway, Alain Meunier, Patrick Gallois, Maria Tipo, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Yuri Bashmet, Elisso Virsaladze, Christian Zimmermann and Anthony Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro and was the Artistic Director of the Gubbio Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival and the Eilat Chamber Music Festival.

He teaches and gives master classes around the world, in Italy, France, Finland, Spain (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia Madrid), Israel (Rubin Academy), Germany (Kronberg Academy), etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at international competitions (Szigeti, Kreisler, Gui, ARD-Competition in Munich, Sendai (Japan), Budapest, Sarasate, Wieniawski, etc.).

Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic.

He was Professor at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. At present he’s Professor at the famous Konservatorium Wien University and at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Site de Sion).

Among his many laureate students are people like Massimo Quarta (1. Prize Paganini International Violin Competition, Genua), Fumiaki Miura (1. Prize Hannover International Violin Competition), Lorenza Borrani (Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Fanny Clamagirand (1. Prize International Violin Competition, Vienna and 1. Prize International Monte Carlo Violin Competition) and Miki Kobayashi (2. Prize Wieniawski Competition).

In 2013 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland.

He plays the beautiful Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, Milano 1751, owned by the family of Tibor Varga.