During and after winning numerous prizes, including the 53rd International Music Competition of ARD (2004), violist Τomoko Akasaka has performed as a soloist and chamber musician worldwide. She has appeared as soloist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Japan Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Raman Kofman and Kazuki Yamada. In chamber music her artistic partners include Mstislav Rostropovich, Gidon Kremer, Vilde Frang, Mischa Maisky, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Quatuor Ébène, Jerusalem and Kuss Quartet. Tomoka Akasaka regularly appears at international music festivals such as Salzburg, Lockenhaus, Bad-Kissingen Sommer, Saito-Kinen, Luzern, Verbier, Kronberg, Schubertiade etc. She has performed at concert venues including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Zurich Tonhalle, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Shanghai Grand Theater, the National Centre for the Performing Αrts in Beijing.  She was a guest professor at the Conservatory of Geneva, and a faculty member at the Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf and Leipzig. She currently holds a position of Viola Professor at the Musikhochschule Münster.

One of the most sought-after performing Scandinavian artists, Andreas Brantelid has worked with distinguished conductors including Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philippe Herreweghe, Vasily Petrenko, Thomas Dausgaard, Pablo Heras-Casado, Andrew Manze, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Robin Ticciati, and Heinrich Schiff. He was strongly inspired and played with pianist Bengt Forsberg and violinist Nils-Erik Sparf, and has collaborated with artists such Daniel Barenboim, Gidon Kremer, Joshua Bell, Vadim Repin, Nikolaj Znaider, Lawrence Power and Paul Badura Skoda. Recently he has formed a trio with violinist Benjamin Schmid and pianist Christian Ihle Hadland. Together with Hadland he holds the artistic direction of Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival (Norway) since 2018. Andreas Brantelid has appeared in venues such as Dortmund Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, Palau de la Música, Mozarteum, Tonhalle Zurich, and the Metropolitan Theatre in Tokyo. He also performs at festivals including Verbier, Lockenhaus, Jerusalem, Stavanger, Bergen, Risør, Kuhmo, and Wiener Festwochen, and has been a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. His debut disc of the Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Saint-Saëns cello concertos with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra was released by EMI in 2008. Recently (2021) he released a much-acclaimed CD with both Haydn cello concertos with the period ensemble Concerto Copenhagen led by Lars Ulrik Mortensen. His latest release 48 Strings (2022) features music for 1, 2, 4 and 12 celli. Andreas Brantelid won first prizes in the 2006 Eurovison Young Musicians Competition, the 2007 International Paulo Cello Competition and, in subsequent years, received music awards and fewllowships including the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship (2008) and the BBC’s New Generation Artist (2008-2011). Since 2022 he has been teaching at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. He plays the 1707 Boni-Hegar Stradivarius, which has been made available to him by the generous support of Norwegian art collector Christen Sveaas.

The Animato Choir (the musical term animato means “with movement”) was founded in January 2009 in Mytilene, on the initiative of conductor and music educator Antonis Ververis, and is part of the North Aegean Center for Music Education and Practice. It is an amateur mixed choir open to everyone, regardless of age or musical background. Starting with the works of the great classical composers, the Choir’s repertoire extends to other genres, such as vocal music from different musical cultures, spirituals, pop song arrangements, and more. The Choir has given numerous concerts on Lesbos and Chios, and outside Greece has performed in Ayvalık (2013), Venice (2017), and Sofia (2018). Since 2015, it has collaborated regularly with Dr. Therees Hibbard of St. Olaf College in the United States, who teaches in the music education and choral conducting seminars. In 2023, the Animato Choir participated in the “Theodorea” Festival, organised by the Municipality of Mytilene, becoming the first polyphonic choir to perform in the iconic church of Saint Therapon. Its activities are hosted in a space kindly provided by the Lesbos Ephorate of Antiquities. Since 2022, the mixed Animato Choir has been conducted by maestro and composer Dimitris Chatzigiannakis.

“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.

Clémence de Forceville is one of the most compelling French violinists of her generation, recognised for the breadth of her musical activities and her refined artistry. She currently serves as first concertmaster of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and is regularly invited as guest concertmaster with various ensembles, reflecting her strong leadership and orchestral experience. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras including Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and several European ensembles, exploring a repertoire that ranges from major classical concertos to contemporary works. She appears regularly at festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron, La Folle Journée in Nantes, or Les Flâneries Musicales in Reims, and shares the stage with renowned artists including Renaud Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Anna Fedorova, Shani Diluka. A dedicated chamber musician, she has been a member of Trio Sōra, with whom she recorded the complete Beethoven piano trios to critical acclaim. Her collaborations extend to numerous distinguished musicians, and she is particularly engaged in ensemble work. In 2025, she released her debut album with pianist Ismaël Margain, devoted to works by Maurice Ravel and Mel Bonis, which received enthusiastic critical acclaim. Alongside her performing career, she is also active in teaching at the Paris Conservatoire. She performs on a 1777 violin by Lorenzo Storioni, generously loaned by the Boubo-Music Foundation.

Known for his “laid-back, postmodern sensibility” (The Times), Sven Helbig composes music for choir, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. A multi-instrumentalist, he blends classical composition techniques with subtle, experimental electronics, creating a distinctive sonic universe that bridges tradition and innovation. Born in Eisenhüttenstadt, a planned city in eastern Germany, he discovered his passion for music amid brass bands, his parents’ record collection, and the few radio stations he could receive with self-built devices. These early experiments with electronics shaped his creative approach and remain a defining element of his work. Helbig initially studied clarinet and guitar, later adding drums and piano to his repertoire. His debut album, Pocket Symphonies, released on the renowned Deutsche Grammophon label, introduced the self-taught composer to an international audience. He regularly performs his concert programmes on international stages, combining classical ensembles with live electronics and percussion. Key venues include London’s Barbican Centre and Southbank Centre, Madrid’s Reina Sofía, Rome’s Accademia dei Lincei, the Prague State Opera, St. Petersburg’s Alexandrinsky Theatre, the Bolshoi Theatre Minsk, Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and Baden-Baden’s Festspielhaus. His works have been performed by leading ensembles and artists such as the BBC Singers, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Fauré Quartet, cellist Jan Vogler, and conductors Wilhelm Keitel and Kristjan Järvi. Crossing genre boundaries, Helbig is also a sought-after collaborator for extraordinary projects. He has worked with artists including the Pet Shop Boys, Snoop Dogg, Rammstein, Heaven Shall Burn, and many more international figures. Since 2017, he has hosted the weekly radio show “Schöne Töne” on Berlin’s Radio Eins, passionately sharing music history and introducing new sounds. He is a recipient of the Art Prize of the City of Dresden; he received the title Maestro Honorario of the National University of San Martín in Buenos Aires and regularly gives guest lectures at John Cabot University in Rome.

One of the outstanding artists of his generation and prizewinner of numerous international competitions, Benedict Klöckner performs as a soloist with prestigious orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Radio Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Kremerata Baltica, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. He collaborates with renowned conductors, such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Sanderling, Ingo Metzmacher, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Joana Mallwitz, Sir Simon Rattle.   He has performed in prestigious concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Suntory Hall Tokyo, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Tonhalle in Zurich and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He is also a regular guest at international festivals, sharing the stage with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Gidon Kremer and Anne-Sophie Mutter. Since 2014 he has been the artistic director and founder of the Koblenz International Music Festival, where he recently invited legendary conductor Myung Whun Chung, and performed with Augustin Dumay, and the Modigliani Quartet.  In 2025/26, he played as a soloist and in recitals in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Philharmonie Berlin, the Philharmonie Cologne, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Suntory Hall Tokyo and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. His recordings have been acclaimed by the press and have won awards such as the OPUS Klassik Award and the Supersonic Award. Benedict Klöckner studied at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Martin Ostertag and at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman. He is a professor at the École Normale de Musique Paris.

Nicaraguan American Hungarian violinist Abigél Králik is quickly gaining attention as a “warm, pleasing, detailed, infectious” violinist (Gramophone). Her 2025 debut album, featuring Arthur Benjamin’s rarely heard Romantic Fantasy Double Concerto recorded with the BBC Wales Symphony Orchestra, received raving reviews from Gramophone and Diapason. Based in Brussels, Králik performs regularly as a soloist with top orchestras across the world and maintains an active international recital career. A prizewinner of the New York International Artists Association, Vienna International Music Competition, Talents for Europe International Competition, Králik has appeared at the Verbier, Budapest, Krzyżowa, Moritzburg, and Prussia Cove Festivals, collaborating with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Tabea Zimmermann, Vilde Frang, and others. Králik earned her Bachelor’ s and Master’ s degrees from The Juilliard School under Itzhak Perlman as a Kovner Fellow. After two years as an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Králik continues her solo career performing across the United States and Europe. In 2026, she will release a recording of works for violin and orchestra by Saint-Saëns with the Vienna ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, alongside her work as Founder and Co-Artistic Director of TARA Chamber Concerts in Brussels.

Sebastian Manz, international soloist, chamber musician and principal clarinetist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, had his big breakthrough in 2008, when he won 1st prize in the clarinet category of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Manz subsequently received the Echo Klassik Award for outstanding cd recordings three times, as well as the sought-after Emerging Artist Award in New York. During the 2025/26 season, Sebastian Manz gave solo performances across Europe, including at the Tonhalle Zurich, with the North German Philharmonic Orchestra Rostock, the Schleswig-Holstein Symphony Orchestra, and the Rheinische Philharmonie State Orchestra, and once again appears at the Music@Menlo Festival in the USA. Alongside his chamber music partners, such as Franziska Hölscher, Stephen Waarts, Felix Klieser, Andrei Ioniță, Theo Plath, he performs at various venues, including the Prinzregententheater in Munich and the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg. He is a welcome guest on renowned stages, performing with ensembles such as the Armida Quartet and the Schumann Quartet, as well as with his long-standing musical partners Danae Dörken, Herbert Schuch, Maximilian Hornung, Martin Klett and Sebastian Studnitzky.  Recent performances include concerts in Innsbruck, in Liechtenstein and at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The season culminates in the presentation of his groundbreaking project Quasi Cool at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Hohenloher Kultursommer. Manz’s enthusiasm for arranging and composing is reflected in his concert programmes and in his discography, which have won numerous awards.

Christos Papageorgiou is a composer, pianist, educator and producer of radio and television programmes (ERT). He has performed in venues such as Avery Fisher, Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonic, Barbican, Kioi and Kodira Halls Tokyo, Rudolphinum Dvorakhall, Kensington Palace and St. James’s Palace, among others. His collaborations include performances with renowned orchestras, like the Philharmonia, Odessa Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra  and National Orchestra of the Capitol of Toulouse,  State Orchestra of Munich, Málaga Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’ Emilia-Romagna Arturo Toscanini, Athens State Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Greek Radio Symphon Orchestra (E.P.T.), State Orchestras of Istanbul, Izmir and Bursa, Varna State Opera (production and premiere of the musical Callas and Onassis 2023).

He received the first prize for composition from the President of the Italian Republic, and was honored by the Greek Music Critics Association, ASCAP, and the EPA3 Cultural Contribution Award. He was Director of the Third Radio Programme and Special Cultural Advisor of ERT. He has composed music for films and documentaries in Greece and abroad and has presented numerous seminars and broadcasts on music for audiovisual media and especially cinema. He was Artist in Residence of the International Festival of the Aegean. He has been a member of the jury for numerous competitions, including Eurovision Young Artists, Murai Grand Prix-Croatia, New Soloists Volos, Franz Schubert for Piano Duo, Maria Herogiorgou-Sigara.  His works have been performed by internationally renowned musicians and ensembles, such as the guitarist Oscar Gighlia, the New York Philharmonic Chamber Soloists, Stanley Drucker (1st clarinet of the New York Philharmonic), Elmira Darvarova (the Met’s sextet), Maria Farantouri, saxophonist Theodoros Kerkezos a.o.

Violinist, baroque violinist, and composer Simos Papanas was born in Thessaloniki and studied violin with Eric Friedman, Taras Gabora, Marilyn McDonald, and Petar Arnaudov, and he also holds a master’s degree in mathematics from Yale University. He has appeared as a soloist with many prominent orchestras, including the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bolshoi Orchestra, the Zurich and Basel Chamber Orchestras, the Geneva Camerata, the Sofia and Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestras, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the State Orchestras of Thessaloniki and Athens, the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Symphony, the North Rhine Symphony, the New Brandenburg Philharmonic, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and others. He has recorded as a soloist for the record labels Deutsche Grammophon, BIS, and Centaur Records. He collaborates regularly with violinist Daniel Hope, with whom he has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and at festivals (Carnegie Hall, Elbe Philharmonic Hall, Verbier Festival, etc.).  His compositions are regularly performed by leading soloists worldwide. He has been concertmaster of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra since 2003 and its music director since 2022.

Kalliopi Rigou was born in Athens in 2003. She began her musical studies in violin at the age of six, under Dimitris Semsis. In June 2022, she was awarded her Violin Diploma with highest distinction and First Prize, performing, among other works, the Greek premiere of Apostolos Darlas’s composition Circe (Op. 105). From 2010 to 2021, she was an active member of the Camerata Junior – Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music, participating regularly in concerts and performances, and appearing as a soloist. To further her artistic development, she has attended seminars with Apollon Grammatikopoulos, Thibault Vieux and Nicolas Dupont, as well as masterclasses with Daniel Blumenthal and Ariadne Daskalakis. Between 2021 and 2025, Kalliopi studied at the Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.She graduated in June 2025 with a major in archaeology and history of art. In November 2022, following a successful audition, she joined the Athens State Orchestra as a member of the first violins, a position she held until June 2024, performing in numerous concerts throughout Greece. Since September 2025, she has been residing in Brussels, where she studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel in the class of the internationally acclaimed violinist Yossif Ivanov. She holds the position of principal second violin in the Conservamus Symphony Orchestra of Brussels. For her studies abroad, she has been awarded a scholarship from the Athens Conservatoire (L.&P. Baroutaki Scholarship), following a successful audition. Kalliopi also holds diplomas in harmony and counterpoint, both with highest distinction.

Rachel Roberts is one of Europe’s leading violists, performing internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Toppan Hall in Japan, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin and London’s Wigmore Hall. Prizes and accolades for her chamber music recordings including three Diapason d’Or awards (2009, 2021, 2023), BBC Chamber Choice, and FonoForum CD of the month for Brahms’ viola sonatas with Lars Vogt. She is a regular guest at international chamber music festivals, such as Salzburg Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Heimbach Spannungen in Heimbach and Mecklenburg Vorpommern. She has recorded chamber music for Hyperion, Champs Hill Records, Signum Classics, CAvi-music, Deutsche Rundfunk, Alpha Classics, Orchid Classics and BIS Records. She recorded Edward Gregson’s Viola Concerto “Three Goddesses” with the BBC Philharmonic, which was released by Chandos Records in 2025. Rachel is Professor of viola at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Recent projects by Luxembourgish composer, vibraphonist, and improviser Pascal Schumacher include a Philip Glass–inspired triptych: Glass One (solo EP, 2024) and Glass Two (2024) with pianist Danae Dörken, with an orchestral third chapter planned for 2027, including an adaptation of Glass’s First Violin Concerto for vibraphone. Alongside this work, he co-founded the jazz trio Singülar with Sebastian Studnitzky and Edward Perraud; their debut album was released in March 2026. He also composes for film, dance, and theatre, focusing on musical structure in time and its relationship with image and movement. Schumacher’s music moves between minimalism, jazz, and contemporary music. Across around twenty albums, his writing favours clear form, pulse, and colour—bridging acoustic and classical roots with jazz language and electronic sound design—and is often shaped by improvisation. He studied classical percussion at the Luxembourg Conservatory, continued in Strasbourg and Brussels, and completed master’s degrees in jazz vibraphone (The Hague) and musicology (University of Strasbourg). Since 2001, he has been teaching at the Conservatoire and directs the Reset Festival at Neimënster (Luxembourg).

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.