Katerina Chatzinikolau was hailed by the Rheinische Post as a musician with “sparkling vitality and virtuosity”. Since 2023 she holds the concertmaster position of the Athens State Orchestra. She has served as concertmaster in the Duisburger Philharmoniker Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Bergische Symphoniker. As a soloist she made her debut with conductor Christoph Eschenbach in 2022. She has performed at the Cologne Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Tonhalle Düsseldorf and rbb-Rundfunksaal Berlin. She has worked with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bremerhaven Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, State Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki etc. She is a winner of the Golden Classical Music Awards, International London Music Competition, eMuse Ιnternational Music Competition, Thöne Violin Competition and the Panhellenic Competition for Young Soloists. Katerina started her musical studies in Goumenissa (Greece) and continued her studies at the Pre-College at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf with Alexander Kramarov. She holds a master’s degree in music and musicology from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, where she studied with Ariadne Daskalakis. Since January 2025 Katerina is guest professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the Department of Musical Studies. Since January 2025 Katerina is Youth Ambassador of the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy.

Violinist Florian Donderer is highly valued as chamber musician, soloist, concertmaster and conductor, collaborating with distinguished musicians such as Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Viktoria Mullova, Tanja Tetzlaff, Julian Steckel, Kiveli Dörken, Alexander Lonquich, Sharon Kam, Matthias Görne and Paavo Järvi. Florian Donderer is frequent guest at major festivals such as Bergen Festspielen, Beethovenfest Bonn, Festwochen Berlin, Schwetzinger Festspiele and is core member at Spannungen Music Festival, founded by the late pianist Lars Vogt. He is artistic director of Rottweil Musikfestival, one of Germany’s longest standing chamber music festivals, and first violin of Signum Quartet, one of the most adventurous and outstanding string quartets of today. Florian Donderer is especially renowned as an artistic leader, directing orchestras from the concertmaster’s desk. He was longstanding concertmaster of Germany’ s leading chamber orchestra The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Top orchestras such as the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra invite him as director and soloist. He made his debut as conductor with Ensemble Oriol and Christiane Oelze at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, followed by a CD recording with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Tanja Tetzlaff. He has conducted among others the Kammerakademie Neuss, the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim and Festival Strings Lucerne. He was a professor at Hanzehogeschool Groningen and regularly gives masterclasses teaching violin, chamber music and orchestra playing. He plays a violin built by German violinmaker Peter Greiner in 2003 and bows by Nico Plog from Antwerp.

“Is the young pianist the discovery of the year?” asked the classical music magazine Crescendo and answered in the affirmative. The reviewers of the magazine Concerti also consider her to be “on her way right to the top”. The German-Greek pianist Danae Dörken belongs to the elite of a new generation of internationally sought-after artists and captivates audiences and fellow musicians alike with her breath­taking technique, exceptional stage presence and musical depth. The 2025/26 season was full of highlights for Danae Dörken. She embarked on two extensive tours of the USA. As a piano soloist, she performed with the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (Oder) in the Philharmonie in Cologne.  With the multimedia project “Bach in Space” she appeared in the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, as well as in Göttingen and Bonn. As part of a piano duo with her sister Kiveli, she once again gave numerous concerts in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. She also performed with her chamber music partners Annelien van Wauwe in Belgium and the Netherlands and with Benedict Klöckner in Switzerland. At the end of 2024, the album GLASS TWO, a collaboration with Luxembourgish vibraphonist and composer Pascal Schumacher, was released. The two artists received the Opus Klassik award in October 2025 for this album, which features works by Philip Glass and Schumacher himself. The programme has been performed at the award ceremony, as well as at the Beethovenfest Bonn and in Luxembourg. Of Greek descent, Danae Dörken founded the Molyvos International Music Festival (MIMF) in 2015 together with her sister on the island of Lesbos.

Kiveli Dörken’s temperament, passion and dedication to music is palpable in every one of her concerts. With her infectious enthusiasm and captivating presence, she values close contact with her audience, often addressing the listeners first, before sitting down at the piano and pushing the boundaries of sound diversity and artistic expression. Kiveli began her musical path as a seven-year-old student of the renowned piano pedagogue Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, who taught her until his death, ten years later. She continued her musical education with Prof. Lars Vogt, with whom she studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover until his recent death in September 2022.

At the age of eight, she gave her orchestral debut. She has since performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Hamburger Camerata, the Camerata Bern and the Athens State Orchestra. In 2019, Kiveli Dörken gave her debut with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen playing Ceasar Francks Variations symphoniques under the direction of conductor Alondra de la Parra. In 2025 she performed Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in the big Hall of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She has performed in most European countries, China, Japan, Korea and the USA, in some of the most famous halls, the Elbphilarmonie in Hamburg, the Mariinsly-Theater in St. Petersburg, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Alte Oper Frankfurt, to name just a few and is a regular guest at many prestigious festivals, like the Kissinger Sommer, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Spannungen Festival in Heimbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Kiveli  Dörken dedicates a considerable amount of her time to playing chamber music. She performs regularly with artists such as Christian Tetzlaff, Sharon Kam, Julian Steckel, Antje Weithaas and Tanja Tetzlaff. Together with her sister Danae Dörken, she has been playing as a piano duo since the age of five. She is a member of the Franz Ensmeble, that won an OPUS Klassik for their debut CD featuring works by Ferdinand Ries. In 2015 together with her sister Danae they founded and co-direct until today the Molyvos International Music Festival (MIMF) on the Greek Island Lesbos, of which she is also the artistic director. The MIMF brings the tradition of classical music to Lesbos and has become a symbol of hope for the entire region. In 2020 Kiveli recorded her debut cd with the label ARS featuring solo and chamber music works by Josef Suk.

Hasan Işıklı was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1982. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bilkent University, Department of Graphic Design in Ankara. Following the master’s degree of graphic design specialised in colour theory at Jean Jaurès University in Montauban, he returned to Izmir and created the Hillustration Studio brand focusing on graphic design projects for cultural events. He earned his PhD of arts from Ghent University, Department of Art, Music and Theatre Studies. While moving between Ghent and Izmir he visited and wrote on various festivals for the website of European Festivals Association (EFA) and taught theoretical and practical courses at Yaşar University. Currently he positions himself at the intersection of graphic design and social anthropology in memory studies. He teaches comics and illustration workshops for children, he makes illustrations on nostalgia, gender, dreams and desire and he organises creative urban events in Hi Journey Art and Education Studio of which he is the founder.

Georgy Kovalev, born in 1990 in Tiflis (Georgia), studied at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai and later with Tabea Zimmermann at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He is a prizewinner of prestigious competitions, including the Yuri Bashmet International Competition in Moscow and the Tokyo International Viola Competition, and received the 2011 Neva Foundation Prize awarded by the Verbier Festival. As a soloist, Georgy has performed with renowned orchestras such as Kremerata Baltica, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and New Japan Philharmonic. His chamber music partners include Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, and Steven Isserlis at major festivals like Schubertiade, Verbier, and Ravinia. Since 2020, he has been the principal violist of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.  His recordings include The Art of the Fugue with the Delian Quartett, nominated for an Opus Klassik award, and a viola concerto by Sperger with the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim for the CPO label. Georgy plays a 1650 viola by Antonio Mariani.

Christian-Pierre La Marca has distinguished himself by his radiant presence in the world’s leading concert halls and his award-winning recordings. After making his debut in Aix-en-Provence, he studied in Paris with Jean-Marie Gamard, Philippe Muller and Gary Hoffman before continuing with Frans Helmerson in Cologne and Steven Isserlis in London. His trajectory was crowned with success at international competitions in Osaka, Frankfurt, London (Philharmonia), New-York (YCA) and Vienna (Haydn). Christian-Pierre has performed in prestigious venues across the world and plays with leading orchestras: Philharmonia Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, musicians from Orchestre de Paris, Brussels Philharmonic, Münchener Kammerorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg to name few. Christian-Pierre has appeared in major festivals (Verbier, Ravinia, Santander, Schleswig-Holstein, Bad Kissingen, Mecklenburg, Schwetzingen, Trondheim, Oxford, Pablo Casals de Prades, Aix-en-Provence). He actively collaborates with composers including Jörg Widmann, Pēteris Vasks, György Kurtág, Thierry Escaich. Equally at ease on the chamber music platform, he plays regularly with prestigious artists: Itzhak Perlman, Veronica Eberle, Vilde Frang, Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Kit Armstrong, Milos and Quatuors Ébène a.o. Christian-Pierre La Marca records exclusively for naïve. He initiated in 2018 the Concert for the Planet with the GoodPlanet Foundation and photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a solidarity event intended to raise funds for the environment. He has a class at the Conservatoire Paul Dukas, Paris XIIe for advanced students. Christian-Pierre La Marca is a Larsen Strings Official Artist and an Ambassador for Gewa and Henle Verlag. He plays a unique Neapolitan cello (ca 1830) with a rare Jacob Eury cello bow (thanks to Vocation Foundation) and a F.L. Lamy cello bow from the legendary André Navarra (thanks to Anima Foundation).

Born in Congo (DRC), Esther is a passionate artist, songwriter, actress, and screenwriter. Music has been central to her life since the age of six, serving to express, connect, and explore emotions. Trained in classical and traditional instruments, she blends poetry and melody to inspire and awaken souls.

The French-Egyptian violist Sindy Mohamed is one of the most promising young musicians of her generation. As a soloist and chamber musician, Sindy Mohamed is a regular guest at major festivals such as the Moritzburg Festival, the Schubertiade Hohenems, the Kronberg Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Heidelberger Frühling. Her chamber music partners include artists such as Renaud Capuçon, Isabelle Faust, Lawrence Power, Tabea Zimmermann, Jan Vogler, Elena Bashkirova, Kian Soltani, Michael Barenboim and Julien Quentin. Highlights of the 2025 season as well as previous seasons include her debut in the Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, her debut with the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Simon Crawford−Phillips, touring with the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss under Isabelle van Keulen as conductor and violinist. It included her debut as well with the Cottbus Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Golo Berg, her debut with the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Johannes Klumpp at the Heidelberger Frühling, her debut at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and her der debut with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ahmed El Saedi. Other concerts have taken her to the Mannheim Palace Concerts and the Berlioz Festival with the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire under Pascal Rophé. Sindy regularly performs with the Boulez Ensemble as Viola-Solo under renowned conductors such as François-Xavier Roth, Zubin Mehta, Matthias Pintscher, Antonio Pappano and Antonello Manacorda. She has been a member of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of maestro Daniel Barenboim since 2013. Sindy Mohamed plays a viola by Matteo Goffriller, which was kindly made available to her by the Miller-Porter collection through Beare’s International Violin Society.

This 24/25 season sees Hyeyoon debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kristian Sallinen. She also makes her City of Birmingham Symphony debut conducted by Alexander Shelley with Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and debuts with Cape Town Philharmonic performing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. She returns to the London Philharmonic Orchestra for two performances of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a chamber version of which she also play-directs on tour with Sinfonia Cymru. With pianist Juho Pohjonen, she tours China performing a varied programme that includes Debussy’s Violin Sonata. Hyeyoon also makes a return to the award-winning Multi-Story Orchestra at the Southbank Centre for a performance of Verified, composed by Young Creatives and Kate Whitely. A passionate chamber musician, Park continues touring Europe with her long-standing Piano Quartet partners − Kian Soltani, Timothy Ridout, and Benjamin Grosvenor − with performances at Elizabeth Hall, Philharmonie Luxembourg, and Palau de la Música Catalana. Park and Grosvenor participate in a series of chamber recitals in Norway at the Risør Chamber Music Festival. Recent highlights of Park’s career include performances with the Hallé Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto alongside Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Benjamin Grosvenor. Her concerto appearances also include engagements with Stuttgart Philharmonic, Orchester Mainz, Poznań Philharmonic, Hitzacker Festival, Cologne Philharmonie, Zuger Sinfonietta, Iasi Philharmonic at the Classix Festival, and performances of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with orchestras such as the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and Mariinsky Orchestra in St Petersburg, among many others.

Cellist Tanja Tetzlaff has been one of the most influential musicians of her generation. Her playing is characterised by a powerful and nuanced sound, and her special trademark is her extraordinarily broad repertoire. Tanja Tetzlaff is particularly interested in going beyond the presentation of classical music to include other art forms and to engage with contemporary events. For her special commitment to bringing the issues of nature conservation and climate change into the concert hall, she was appointed a lifetime ambassador by the German orchestra association “Orchester des Wandels”. In September 2024, Tanja Tetzlaff received the Duisburger Musikpreis for extraordinary achievements in the field of music and musical theatre. Tanja Tetzlaff has performed with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Philharmonia Orchestra in London, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as well as Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with renowned conductors including Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Karina Canellakis, Paavo Järvi, Sir Roger Norrington, and Robin Ticciati. She is a founding member of the Tetzlaff Quartett, formed in 1994 with Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabeth Kufferath and Hanna Weinmeister. She has numerous chamber music and solo recordings that have been praised worldwide and received distinctions, such as the solo recording with Bach suites and works by Thorsten Encke, which was released in October 2019. Tanja Tetzlaff studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Since the winter semester 2021/22, she has holds a professorship in the cello department at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.  Since April 2024 she is serving as professor of cello and chamber music at the University of the Arts in Bremen. She plays on a cello by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini from 1776.

“One of the most gifted violinists of his generation” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Harald Eggebrecht). Supported and guided by Sir Yehudi Menuhin at a young age, Kirill Troussov is meanwhile widely recognised as one of the leading violinists of his generation. He works with renowned orchestras and is a regular guest at prestigious festivals and in famous concert halls of the world. Kirill Troussov regularly gives master classes at the Mozarteum Salzburg, Colburn School Los Angeles, Beijing and Nanjing Central Conservatory, European Music Institute Vienna, in Cremona, Milan, Madrid, Dublin, Berlin, Munich, Oslo, Budapest, USA, Hong Kong and Japan. Since 2021 he is Chairman and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Young Musicians Competition and Vice President and Artistic director of the Carl Flesch Competition in Hungary. Since 2023 the label Orchid Classics releases the series Kirill Troussov Live, where over fourty of his celebrated live concert performances will be available on all audio-streaming platforms. Meanwhile this series reached two million five hundred thousand streams. In 2024 Kirill Troussov founds Sarasate Academy in Madrid, Spain and the Engers Academy near Frankfurt. Furthermore, he takes over the position of Artistic Advisor of the International Music Festival Kaposfest in Hungary as well as the position of Artistic Director of the Festival International de Música Clásica “Pago de la Jaraba” in Spain and of the Music Festival AMMERSEErenade near Munich. Kirill Troussov plays the Antonio Stradivari violin “Brodsky” of 1702, on which violinist Adolph Brodsky performed the world premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Violin concerto on the 4th of December 1881.

Born and raised in Athens, Errikos Vaios studied piano and theory at the National Conservatory before leaving for Australia, where he studied composition, electroacoustic music, and conducting. After having worked as a professional in Australia, he returned to Europe and was awarded a MPhil in Music Composition at the University of Sussex under the supervision of Professor Martin Butler. He has attended many master classes with noted international composers, such as Jonathan Harvey, Paul Lansky, Gunther Schuller, Zygmunt Krauze, Arne Mellnäs, among many others. Ηe is among the most internationally performed Greek composers of his generation, and his works have been presented frequently in many cities and festivals around the world, including: Athens, London, Budapest, Brasov, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Louisiana, Busan, Heyfield, Syros, Mani (Sonnenlink), etc., in prestigious halls such as: Liszt Academy Concert Centre, City Recital Hall – Angel Place, Megaron the Athens Concert Hall, Parnassos Concert Hall, Dallas Brooks Hall, Great Hall of the University of Sydney, Enmore Theatre, Pottle Hall, etc., as well as in international broadcasts on the National Classical Radio 3 of Greece. He has composed works for orchestra, chamber, instrumental, and vocal music, several electroacoustic works, and works for theatre and TV. He has collaborated with artists of international renown, such as Theodore Kerkezos, Duo Contemporain, Tiberiu Soare, Brasov Philharmonic Orchestra, Angelica Kathariou, Vasiliki Karayanni, Yannis Christopoulos, Christos Papageorgiou, Alex Poulton, and Matheson Bayley, among others. He was one of the official composers and artistic advisors for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, and has received various honours and prizes for his compositions. He has taught several music subjects in Higher Education and has worked as Producer/Broadcaster for the National Classical Radio 3 of Greece (ERT). Vaios now serves as Vice President of the Hellenic Composers Association.

Awarded the OPUS Klassik 2025 as “Instrumentalist of the Year,” Antje Weithaas is one of the most distinguished musical personalities of our time. Her remarkable career began early: following numerous competition successes, she quickly established herself as a virtuoso young soloist alongside renowned orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the major German radio orchestras. But what makes her one of the “great violinists of our time” (FonoForum) is the depth and sincerity of an artistically mature, consciously shaped career, supported by long-standing partnerships, interpretative maturity, artistic integrity, and a wealth of experience. Antje Weithaas and pianist Dénes Várjon were awarded the 2024 Annual Prize of the German Record Critics’ Award for their complete recording of the sonatas for piano and violin by Ludwig van Beethoven. Released on CAvi-music and digitally distributed by Deutsche Grammophon, the recordings have already been presented in full-cycle concerts at the Casals Forum in Kronberg, Budapest and in China.  With an impressive discography of thirty albums and a wide-ranging repertoire that spans the most important violin concertos from the Classical era to the modern day, Antje Weithaas is a leading European authority in the art of violin playing. Her latest studio album, a recording of Antonín Dvořák’s Violin Concerto and Serenade for Strings with the Camerata Bern, was recently released on the DG partner label CAvi-music — presumably the first recording of these works led from the violin by the soloist herself. This was preceded by the OPUS Klassik award-winning recording of Vasks’s Violin Concerto No. 2, also with Camerata Bern. Antje Weithaas shares a long-standing artistic partnership with the ensemble, having served as its artistic director for nearly a decade. Today, she is a sought-after play-conduct leader with international chamber orchestras and recently toured South America as soloist with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. She teaches at Hans Eisler Academy of music and together with Oliver Wille, she serves as artistic director of the Joseph Joachim Competition. She plays on a 2001 Peter Greiner violin.

The Choir of the Cultural Association of the Moria Women of Lesbos was founded in 2014. Its members −eighteen women and men− share the same love for musical culture and choral singing, leaving their own mark on every musical activity. The Choir’s repertoire includes artistic songs by Greek lyricists and poets as well as traditional Greek songs. It has participated in many cultural events organised in Moria, especially at the monumental multiple-arch water bridge of the Roman Aqueduct. Today, in collaboration with the National Conservatory − Mytilene Branch, the Choir is conducted by maestro Pelopidas Pinellis, with pianist and coordinator Ourania Prassinou.