Born in Moscow to a family of professional pianists Anastasia Voltchok began piano studies at age 4. She studied with Evgeny Malinin and Larissa Dedova at the Moscow Tschaikowsky Conservatory, with Rudolf Buchbinder at the Academy of Music in Basel, Switzerland and with Santiago Rodriguez at the University of Maryland, USA (Doctor of Musical Arts). Since her orchestral debut with Haydn piano concerto at age 8 Anastasia Voltchok has performed extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe and the United States. Recently Anastasia Voltchok appeared as a soloist with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra St. Petersburg, Mario Venzago and the Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev and the Bamberger Symphoniker. As a recitalist she has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, Tonhalle Zurich, Santa Cecilia in Rome and Victoria Hall in Geneva. She was a guest artist at the Moscow Easter Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron Piano Festival in France, and the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Piano Festival in Bergamo and Brescia, Italy.
Current highlights are collaborations with Mikhail Pletnev, Mario Venzago, John Neschling, Valery Gergiev, Michal Nesterowicz and Dennis Russell Davies. Among her many awards are the First Prize at the International Piano Competition in Senigallia, Italy. First Prize and the Gold Medal at the International World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, USA in 2003.
Ms. Voltchok’s performances have been broadcast by Swiss National Radio, RAI TV, Italy, France Musique, in Russia, United Kingdom, Germany and in the United States.

The Trio Viennarte was founded in the summer of 1996. Its debut concert took place in the series “Musica Iuventutis” on the Vienna Konzerthaus and was enthusiastically received by both the public and the critics. After its appearance in the series “Podium of Youth” in the Vienna Musikverein there followed concerts in Austria, Germany, Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Holland, as well as an extended concert tour in South America. Took part in the “Bonheur Musical” festival (France). Chamber music master classes at the Sandor Vègh Academy with Menahem Pressler and members of the Alban Berg Quartet. The Trio Viennarte was a prize-winner in the Charles Hennen Concours” International Chamber Music Competition (Netherlands) in 1997 and 1998, and a finalist in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1998. First CD-recording with works by Beethoven and Brahms in 1990.

Veronika Schulz, violin

Born in 1973 in Vienna. First violin lessons with Alfred Staar at the age of six. From 1988 studied with Gerhard Schulz at the Hochschule für Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. Graduated with distinction in 1996. In 1985 first prize in the national “Jugend musiziert” competition, further prizes in 1991 at Leoben and Vienna. Many appearances as a member of the Schulz Quartet in Austria as wellas Britain, France, Egypt and Turkey. Has taken part in chamber music concerts in Japan, Germany, Belgium with, among others, the Bartòk Quartet and the Salzburger Solisten. Appearances as a solost with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Jeunesse Children’s Orchestra. Recital in the “Youth Forum” series in the Vienna Musikverein.

Julia Schreyvogel, violoncello

Born 1974 in Vienna. Began studying the violoncello at the Vienna City Coservatory at the age of seven with Cecilie Ottensamer. Master classes with Boris Pergamenchikov and Janos Starker. Chamber music course with Menahem Pressler. Diploma with distinction in performance at the Vienna City Conservatory in 1995. 1999 Diploma at the Berlin Hochschule der Kuenste and currently continuing her studies towards the Concerto Examination with Wolfgang Boettcher. Several prizes at “Jugend musiziert”; 1994 scholarship from the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden-Baden. Since 1989 solo work at home and abroad with, among others, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra and the Consrvatory Orchestra. Has taken part in “Musica Iuventutis” and the “Young artists Forum” in the Vienna Konzerthaus.

Maria Rom, piano

Born in Vienna in 1970. Began piano lessons at the age of four. From 1986 studied at the Vienna City Conservatory with, among others, Roland Batik, Julika Behar and David Lutz. 1994 State Examination in Instrumental Pedagogy. 1995 Diploma in Vocal Accompaniment and in Chamber Music. 1999 Concerto Diploma, all with distinction. Chamber music master classes in Oxford, Canada, with Janos Starker and Menahem Pressler. Currently studying with Julika Behar. Since 1991 active chamber music work with various ensemble in Europe, Japan, India Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many appearances in concerts in “Musica Iuventutis” in the Vienna Konzerthaus and in the Vienna Musikverein.

Marina Yakovleva, Claudius Herrmann und Oliver Schnyder bilden seit kurzem das Trio opus100. Im Jahre 2009 erfolgte das erfolgreiche Debut mit Schuberts op. 100 in der Philharmonie St. Petersburg. Auf Einladung des Tschaikowsky-Symphonieorchesters des Moskauer Rundfunks wird das Ensemble im Januar 2011 solistisch unter Chefdirigent Vladimir Fedoseyev in Moskau auftreten.

Marina Yakovleva, Violine

Schon in früher Jugend tritt Marina Yakovleva als Solistin mit verschiedenen Orchestern in ganz Russland auf.
2001 erwirbt sie an der Musikhochschule von Sion als Assistentin von Tibor Varga das Konzertdiplom mit Auszeichnung. Im gleichen Zeitraum wird Marina Yakovleva als Preisträgerin verschiedener Wettbewerbe, so u. a. am Allrussichen Wettbewerb der Russischen Föderation in Moskau und am Festival Tibor Varga ausgezeichnet.
In der Philharmonie St. Petersburg interpretiert sie 1999 das Violinkonzert Nr. 2 von Sergej Prokofjew und 2000 das Violinkonzert von Peter I. Tschaikowsky. 2004 erhält Marina Yakovleva als Schülerin von Pierre Amoyal am Konservatorium von Lausanne das Solistendiplom und wird im darauffolgenden Jahr in der Meisterklasse für Kammermusik ausgezeichnet. Rezitale von Marina Yakovleva in Genf wurden kürzlich von Radio Suisse Romande aufgezeichnet und europaweit ausgestrahlt.

Claudius Herrmann, Violoncello

Der Cellist Claudius Herrmann ist seit 1992 Solocellist im Orchester der Oper Zürich. Daneben ist er als Kammermusiker in den letzten Jahren u. a. im Wiener Musikverein, dem Concertgebouw Amsterdam, der Wigmore Hall London, dem Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, der Kölner Philharmonie, dem Berliner Konzerthaus und im März 2001 in der Carnegie Hall in New York aufgetreten.
Als Solist war er u. a. mit den Orchestern der Hamburger, Stuttgarter, Kieler und Lübecker Philharmonikern sowie dem Orchester der Oper Zürich („Don Quixote“ unter Franz Welser-Möst) zu erleben.
Claudius Herrmann ist auf zahlreichen CD-Aufnahmen zu hören. Neben über 15 Einspielungen mit dem Amati Quartett, die mehrere internationale Preise gewannen (u. a. den „Choc de la musique“ in Frankreich), hat er auch mehrer CDs mit Cello-Sonaten von Brahms, Reinecke und Herzogenberg veröffentlicht.
Er spielt ein besonders klangschönes Instrument von Giovanni Paolo Maggini (um 1600), das ihm von der Maggini-Siftung Langenthal zur Verfügung gestellt wird. Claudius Herrmann studierte an der Musikhochschule Lübeck bei David Geringas.

Oliver Schnyder, Klavier

Der Pianist Oliver Schnyder verfolgt seit seinem Debut als Solist beim Tonhalle-Orchester unter David Zinman bei den ORPHEUM Musikfesttagen 2002 eine intensive weltweite Konzerttätigkeit.
Als Solist und Kammermusiker tritt er in ganz Europa, in Nord- und Südamerika, Israel, Japan und China auf und ist zu Gast auf vielen der wichtigsten Bühnen (Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Moscow Great Hall, Kennedy Center, Herkulessaal) sowie bei Festivals wie Lucerne, Menuhin Gstaad, Ruhr Piano, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwetzingen oder Festwochen Zürich. Dabei arbeitet er mit führenden Orchestern, Dirigenten und Kammermusikpartnern zusammen.
Zahlreiche CD-, Rundfunk- und Fernsehaufnahmen sind entstanden.
Oliver Schnyder hat nach seinem vielbeachteten CD-Einstand bei Sony RCA Red Seal (dem Mozart-Doppelalbum „Contrasts“ mit Klavierkonzerten zusammen mit der Camerata Bern sowie sämtlichen Klavierwerken in Moll) 2010 eine Aufnahme mit Klavierwerken Schumanns nachgelegt. Bei Labels wie Avie Records, ClassicO, Musiques Suisses, Phoenix Edition oder Telos Records sind weitere CDs realisiert und von der internationalen Fachpresse hoch gelobt worden.
Schnyders Lehrer waren Emmy Henz-Diémand, Homero Francesch und Leon Fleisher.

www.oliverschnyder.com

SAVKA KONJIKUSIC – PIANO
Serbian Pianist studied at the Academia Superior de Arte de Novi Sad with the Professors R. Jovicic and Velislava Palacorova. She finished her studies at the Conservatório Real de Haia with the Masters Degree with the pianists Naum Grubert and Tan Crone (chamber music). During her studies she received various nacional prices. Savka participated in piano masterclasses with Arbo Valdma, Konstantin Bogino, Gyorgy Sebok and Vladimir Tropp. She is playing regulary recitals as soloist and in chamber music groups in and outside of Portugal in most renomated concert venues like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Various of her concerts had been transmitted by radio and television. In colabouration she appeard with international recognized artists like Maria João Pires, Hansjorg Schellenberger and Françoix Leleux. She participatet in various international festivals like the Laken Festival (Netherlands), Bemus Festival (Serbia) and Aix-en Provence (France). In 2008 she recorded a CD for the label P&B with musik from Chopin and Scriabin. Since 1992 she works as associated pianist at the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa. She is also teaching at the Academy of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and the Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa.

LUÍS SIMÕES MARQUES – OBOE
1973 born in Évora began his musical Studies in the age of seven Years at the Academia de Música Eborense. He joined various Summer classes and youth orchestras like the Portuguese Youth Orchestra, Orchestra of the C.E.E., Music Academy XX conducted by David Robertson und Pierre Boulez, and the swiss youth orchestra with Nello Santi. 1996 he finished his bachelor studies in Oboe at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa with professor Andrew Swinnerton and chamber music with Professor Olga Prats.He participated in Masterclasses with taechers like Emmanuel Abbühl, Omar Zoboli, Eduardo Martinez, Simon Fuchs, Jean Louis Capezzalli, Hansjoerg Schelenberger, François Leleux, Alfredo Bernardini, Lorenzo Copola, Peter Holtslag e Christian Wetzel. He played concerts in Portugal, Espanha, França, Suiça, Alemanha, Itália, Dinamarca, Finland Israel, Moçambique, China e Macao. He played as soloist with the Orquestra das Escolas Profissionais de Espinho e de Évora, Orquestra Académica Metropolitana, Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais, Orquestra de Câmara de Macao, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and the Orquestra Barroca Músicos do Tejo. 1987 recieved the 1st price in the Concurso Évora Jovem and also the 1st pricein chamber music and in 1996 the 1st price of the Concurso de Interpretação Musical do Estoril. He is invited regulary to colaborate with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Orquestra
Gulbenkian, Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, Nova Orquestra de Lisboa, Orchestrutopica Orquestras Barrocas Capela Real, Divino Sospiro, Concerto Campestre, Flores de Músiva e Músicos do Tejo. 1997, he continued with a scholarship of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian his studies in the Academy of Music in Basel/Switzerland where he finished with the “Konzertklassediplom” in the class of Professor Omar Zoboli and chamber music with the professores François Benda e Sérgio Azzolini. In the season 1999/00 he was fellow musician in the Symphonic Orchestra Basel and joined afterwards in 2000 the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa. He is teaching at the National Conservatory and Piaget Institute.

FRANZ-JÜRGEN DÖRSAM – BASSOON
was born in Mannheim, Germany and started his musical education with the Clarinet, Piano and Bassoon. He studied in Hannover with Prof Thunemann and in Mannheim with Prof. Rinderspacher. Afterwards he worked with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Symphonischen Orchester Berlin, the Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie in Herford and the “Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal”. Since 1995 he has been working as Principal Bassoon in the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and teaches Bassoon and chamber music at the “Escola súperior da Orquestra”. He has collaborated with various orchestras such as the Wiener Symphonikern, the Dortmund and Düsseldorf operas, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Kurpfälzischen Kammerorchester Mannheim. He has given various Masterclasses, includingthe “Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro, the Summer wind Academy in Mannheim and in Portugal.
He plays regularly as a soloist with orchestras such as the” Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa”, the “Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim”, the “SAP Kammerphilharmonie” with the bassoon concertos from Weber, Mozart, Hummel, Danzi, Devienne. He has also recorded the Duett-Concertino for clarinet, bassoon and orchestra by Richard Strauss for EMI with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, the concerto for bassoon by J.N.Hummel, the Mozart concerto with the SAP Kammer Philharmonie, a CD with the Duo Concertant Lisbon (Bassoon and Piano with Evgeny Ozimkevitch) and 3 CDs with his two brothers, the Trio 3D. He also works as a composer. Several of his compositions have been recorded on CD and are performed regularly. He has participated in various tours; to England, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, France, Spain, Macau, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Austria, China Brasil and Paraguay. As a soloist and teacher hes working with the Orquestra Filarmonía de Floreanopolis (Brasilien) the “Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro”, the “Associação Pu Joa” and the “Universidade de Asunción” (Paraguai).

Olimpia Tolan was born in Arad in Romania in 1978 and began playing the piano at the age of six. After initial studies in Romania and Hungary, she studied at the Basel Academy of Music until 2002, taking chamber music with Gérard Wyss and rehearsal piano with Albert Guttman. She attended the master classes of Sándor Falvai and France Clidat.
She won prizes at several competitions in Romania and Hungary. In 2000 and 2002 she was awarded bursaries by the Kiefer Hablitzel Foundation and the Swiss Musicians’ Society.
Olimpia Tolan regularly gives concerts in Europe and has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras.
In Budapest she has performed in the chamber music hall of Franz Liszt’s house and appeared at the Béla Bartók Memorial House, where she played music by both composers for Hungarian National Television.

In the cello duo with her husband she regularly performs at international music festivals like the Lucerne Festival, the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, the Spring Festival in Sopron (Hungary), the Festival du Jura, the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad and in concert series at the Philharmonic Hall in Bratislava and the Burghof in Lörrach. She has performed at famous venues like the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Bohuslav Martinu Hall in Prague and the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. She has also appeared at the Concertino International in Aschaffenburg and at the Swiss Expo ’02 in Murten. She has worked with Schweizer Radio DRS 2, BayerischerRundfunk, Radio Espace2, Czech Radio, Hungarian National Television and various regional Romanian television stations.

The cello and piano duo in which she regularly plays together with husband Adam Mital is in great demand.

Nikolai Tokarev wurde 1983 in Moskau geboren und entstammt einer musikalischen Familie. Sein Vater ist Konzertpianist, seine Mutter Cellistin. Er begann seine musikalische Ausbildung 1988 an der renommierten Gnessin Musikschule in Moskau, die er 2001 mit Auszeichnung abschloss. 2004 bis 2006 studierte er am Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester bei Dina Parakhina. Sein Post Graduate Studium macht er derzeit in Düsseldorf bei Prof. Barbara Szczepanska an der Robert-Schumann-Hochschule.

Bereits 1989 debütierte er mit sechs Jahren mit einem Soloabend in Moskau. Im Alter von 14 Jahren begann er in Europa und Japan zu konzertieren. Im Jahre 2000 wurde Tokarev Preisträger beim “10. Eurovision Grand Prix of Young Musicians” in Bergen, Norwegen. Im gleichen Jahr trat er in Tokyo mit dem Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra unter Gerd Albrecht auf. Im September 2006 erhielt er den “Orpheum Public Award” beim 8. Internationalen Orpheum Musik Festival in der Tonhalle Zürich.

Im gleichen Jahr erspielte er sich den 2. Preis und den Publikumspreis beim “Géza Anda – Wettbewerb” in Zürich. Nikolai Tokarev gastiert regelmäßig bei internationalen Festivals – unter anderem bei den Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspielen, beim Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, dem Rheingau Musik Festival, beim Kissinger Sommer, dem Davos Musik Festival und den Festspielen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Er konzertierte mit zahlreichen Orchestern, unter anderem mit der Camerata Salzburg, dem Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, der National Philharmonic of Russia und dem BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Im April 2007 veröffentlichte Nikolai Tokarev sein erstes Klavier-Recital mit Werken von Schubert, Chopin und Alexander Rosenblatt. Für das Album erhielt er den Echo Klassik 2008 als bester Nachwuchskünstler (Klavier). Im September 2008 erschien sein französisches Album mit Ravel, Debussy, Rameau und César Franck. Im Sommer 2009 folgte eine CD mit Klavierkonzerten von Grieg und Chopin, eine Live-Aufnahme mit dem Luzerner Sinfonieorchester unter Leitung von Olari Elts. Nikolai Tokarev lebt in Manchester.

    

Paul Wegman Taylor Born in Cleveland 1954, Paul Taylor grew up in San Francisco and learned the violin and the horn in a family of musicians. He earned degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in horn performance at The Juilliard School. As freelance horn player, he appeared from 1975 to 1982 with the New York Philharmonic and The Metropolitan Opera
Orchestra, while also playing principal horn positions in various regional Orchestras. His interest in shaping chamber music led to conducting lessons with Maestro David Gilbert and to graduate studies in the conducting program at CCNY Queens College, Aaron Copland School under Professor Maurice Peress.
In 1988 Paul Taylor was invited to play horn in a summer opera production in Switzerland. Attending the 1992 Vienna Master Classes in conducting by Bruno Weil led to musical assistance jobs with the Wiener Operntheater in operas by Enescu, Egk, Ligeti. During this time Taylor also conducted modern repertoire workshops for string players for the Yehudi Menuhin
Academy, Berne, Switzerland, studied with Walter Hügler, Professor at the Musikhochschule Trossingen in Germany, won the Bienne Master Class competition for conductors, and guested with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zürich, 1994. In 1993 Taylor became engaged as conductor by with the Kirchgemeindeorchester, Zürich-Schwamendingen, a post he continues to hold. Further directorships during 1996 – 2008 included of the Finnish Choir of Zurich, the Zumiker Musiker String Orchestra, the youth symphony orchestra Nota Bene of Zurich, the Kammerorchester des Musik-Collegiums Schaffhausen and as Artistic Leader/ Conductor of Jakobstads Orkester in Jakobstad, Finland. As guest conductor, Taylor has led the Thuner Stadtorchester, the Kammerphilharmonie Budweis, the Pilsen Radio Orchestra, and in California the Cazadero Music Camp Symphony Orchestra. Paul Taylor has also held interviews concerning historically informed interpretation with Sir Roger Norrington focusing on orchestral sound, and with Bruno Weil concerning classical style and tempo. The Norrington interviews are published in the Podium Notes of Conductors Guild (www.conductorsguild.org). With his paul taylor orCHestra productions he realizes concert projects outside mainstream classical programming on a high artistic level.

Since its debut in the Zurich Tonhalle in September 2007, the Stradivari Quartet has made a name for itself as an ensemble of great promise and become one of the leading Swiss string quartets. Some thirty performances a year take the Stradivari Quartet to venues all over the world. Highlights include appearances at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Kioi Hall in Tokyo, the Shanghai Oriental Hall and the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, as well as such prestigious events as the Lucerne Festival, the Bad Kissingen Summer Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Rubinstein Piano Festival in Lódz, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Stradivari Festival in Cremona.
The ensemble performs a wide repertoire ranging from ground-breaking works by Joseph Haydn to contemporary compositions.
The sound ideal of the four musicians is influenced by the Alban Berg Quartet. Xiaoming Wang was a pupil of Gerhard Schulz, a long-standing member of that world-ranking quartet. Maja Weber established the Amar Quartet and brings twenty years of experience in string-quartet performance with her. Sebastian Bohren and Lech Antonio Uszynski, who were both trained in the tradition of the Russian school, complete this ensemble of four prizewinning musicians.
The Stradivari Quartet is among the few ensembles in the world performing exclusively on instruments of the famous violin maker Antonio Stradivari. Each of the four instruments has its own history and some have travelled far and wide. They are today all in the possession of the Habisreutinger Foundation and are on loan to the Stradivari Quartet.
In the near future, the Stradivari Quartet will be performing at venues like Toulouse, the Stradivari Festival in Cremona, Kings Place in London, the Rheingau Music Festival and in Lithuania. Together with the baritone Shenyang, the ensemble will perform at the major venues in China – Macau, Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin – during a two-week tour of the country. Furthermore, the ensemble will be performing with the cellists Thomas Demenga and Maximilian Hornung, the violinist Gerhard Schulz and the violist Antoine Tamestit.

The instruments

The “Aurea” violin corresponds with Stradivari’s “golden mean”, and it produces an incomparable volume of sound. Built in 1710, the precious “King George” violin even survived the battle of Waterloo intact in the saddlebag of a horse. The “Gibson” of 1734 is probably the last contralto viola the great violin maker produced. This wonderful, absolutely perfect instrument is in excellent condition after 280 years. Stradivari made the “Bonamy Dobree-Suggia” cello in 1717.

The son of a double bass player, Klaus Stoll, born in 1943, decided to dedicate himself to the double bass at the age of 12 and became an orchestral musician only three years later. In 1965 he was hired by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, where he is presently the first solo double bass player. Complementing his work in the Philharmonic, Stoll has been internationally active as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher for about 28 years now. His stature as Germany’s leading double bass player is documented on more than 40 records and CDs. About 10 years ago, Stoll began showing a special interest in the Baroque repertoire and in the music of our time. Accompanied by renowned orchestras in Berlin, Vienna, Oslo, Tokyo, Osaka, Mexico and in Switzerland, he has given the world premieres of over 50 concerto works for his instrument.