Attending a concert by the Quatuor Ébène is a musical and sensual happening. In the past two decades the quartet has set standards by making familiar repertoire accessible in new ways beyond perfection, and by constantly seeking the exchange with the audience. After studies with the Quatuor Ysaÿe in Paris as well as with Gábor Takács, Eberhard Feltz and György Kurtág, the unprecedented and outstanding success at the 2004 ARD Music Competition followed. Quatuor Ébène’s albums, with recordings of Bartók, Beethoven, Debussy, Haydn, Fauré and the Mendelssohn siblings, have received numerous awards, including Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and the Midem Classic Award. In January 2021, the quartet was appointed by the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich to establish a String Quartet class as part of the newly founded „Quatuor Ébène Academy“. Highlights of this season include concerts at the Salzburg Festival, Berliner Philharmonie, Megaron Athens, Wigmore Hall London and Carnegie Hall in New York City, NY.
The pianist Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. His passionate interest in song has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall, London; The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; 92nd Street Y, New York; and the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin. Julius Drake’s many recordings include a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion Records of which ‘Songs by Samuel Barber’, ‘Schumann: Dichterliebe & other Heine Settings’ and ‘Britten: Songs & Proverbs of William Blake’ won the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Awards; recordings with Ian Bostridge and Alice Coote for EMI; with Joyce DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Matthew Polenzani for Wigmore Live; and with Anna Prohaska for Alpha. Julius Drake is Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London and he is regularly invited to give masterclasses worldwide.
As violinist and director Hugo imbibes all possible forms of creativity, whether it be performing premieres in Carnegie Hall, improvising with monks in India, or devising innovative programmes for O/Modernt, which he founded in 2011.
Alongside his passion to discover and learn from music of all ages and traditions, Hugo embraces the world of contemporary music. Over thirty works have been written for Hugo by composers such as Erkki-Sven Tüür, Peteris Vasks and Judith Weir. He is artist in resident with the Manchester Camerata and principal guest conductor of the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia.
Hugo regularly gives masterclasses and seminars on violin teaching, and lectures on music-related subjects all over the world. A recent highlight of the past years was a two-week stay in an ashram at the foot of the Himalayas chanting by day and playing Bach by night. Hugo still lives in the blissful state of mobilephonelessness and has recently been captivated by the work of the French philosopher, Henri Bergson.
The Swiss clarinettist and improviser Reto Bieri has been playing solo and chamber music for over 20 years. This former artistic director is currently bringing a fresh concept to the classical music scene with his brilliant, poetic theme evenings ‘à la DAVOS FESTIVAL’ in cooperation with various chamber orchestras and accompanied by long-standing chamber music partners – in particular violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Reto Bieri regularly performs with renowned orchestras, and at various festivals and prestigious institutions. He releases CD recordings with the Munich-based cult label ECM, most recently the highly praised album ‘quasi morendo’ with string quartet meta4 from Finland.
Reto Bieri grew up with Swiss folk music. Following formative experience playing dance music in taverns and training as a primary school teacher he initially attended music academies in Basel and Zurich, before studying at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York. He was particularly influenced by the composer György Kurtág and his encounters with the writer Gerhard Meier, musician Eberhard Feltz and the clown Dimitri.
Reto Bieri served as Artistic Director of the Swiss DAVOS FESTIVAL – young artists in concert between 2013 and 2018. During 2012 to 2022, he was professor for chamber music at the University of Music in Würzburg, Germany. In 2022, he accepted a position at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, Germany, where he is now Professor of chamber music. He lives with his family in a remote Swiss Alpine location in the Bernese Oberland.
Natalie Clein, born in the UK won both the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and the Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians at the age of 16. As a student, she received the Queen Elizabeth Prize and the Queen Mother Scholarship from the Royal College of Music before completing her studies with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna. She now teaches at the Royal College of Music in London and at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre. As a soloist, Natalie Clein has performed with all the major British orchestras, including the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, the Orchestre de Lyon, the New Zealand Symphony and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires. As a chamber music partner, she works with artists such as Martha Argerich, Ian Bostridge, Imogen Cooper, Lars Vogt and Pekka Kuusisto. In 2015, Natalie Clein was appointed Artist in Residence and Director of Music Performance at the University of Oxford for four years, taking a leading role in concert programming, developing new artistic projects and introducing new teaching methods.
Guy Johnston is one of the most exciting British cellists of his generation. His early successes included winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year, and significant awards, notably the Shell London Symphony Orchestra Gerald MacDonald Award, Suggia Gift Award and a Young British Classical Performer Brit Award. He has performed with many leading international orchestras including the London Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra,BBC Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and St Petersburg Symphony. Most recently, he has been the featured soloist of Taverner’s ‘The Protecting Veil’ for Britten’s Sinfonia 2024 UK and Ireland tour receiving critical acclaim in The Guardian and the Arts Desk. Guy is Associate Professor of Cello at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and a guest Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was awarded an Hon. ARAM in 2015.
Polina Leschenko was born in St. Petersburg into a family of musicians and received her first piano lessons with her father at the age of six. Just two years later, she made her debut with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra in St. Petersburg. At the age of 12, Polina made her debut at London’s Barbican Hall with Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto. Since then, Polina Leschenko has worked with major orchestras such as the Salzburg Camerata, the Hallé Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, the Orquesta de Euskadi and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Polina has given concerts in renowned concert halls such as the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Cité de la musique in Paris and the Sydney Opera House. As an accomplished and admired chamber musician, Polina Leschenko also appears frequently at many festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, the Progetto Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano, the Verbier Festival, the Risor Festival of Chamber Music, in Stavanger, la Roque d’Anthéron Aldeburgh, Oxford, Cheltenham, Stift, Istanbul, Lockenhaus and at the Musiktage Mondsee.
Donate