iPalpiti Artists 2004

Stanislaw Drzewiecki, Poland
Featured soloist with I PALPITI at the Walt Disney Hall on August 1st, Stanislaw is often called “ Polish Mozart” (Time Magazine). He made his solo debut when he was five-years-old at the Grand Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.  At the age of seven, he performed at the Witold Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw, performing Haydn’s Concerto with Sinfonia Varsovia. Since then, he has performed in London (Victoria & Albert Hall), Talinn (Estonia Hall), Moscow (Grand Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory), Copenhagen (Diamenten Hall), Porto (Palacio de Bolsa), Bergen (Philharmonic Grieg Hall), New York (Carnegie Hall), Paris, Brussels, and many others,  He has toured in concert engagements in The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Japan, Estonia, U.S.A., and Canada.  At the age of ten, he released his debut CD (“Piano Concertos”).  His two subsequent CDs ("My First Gift" – Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov – and "Chopin Piano Concerto & 12 Etudes") were nominated for a “Fryderyk Award” in 1998, 1999 and 2000.  He received a Grand Prix Award in European Television 2000, and a 10^th Eurovision Grand Prix in 2001, which was viewed by 10 million people.  

Stanislaw Drzewiecki signed an exclusive recording contract with the SONY Music Entertainment Company, and his “Liszt, Schumann – Romantic Piano Recital” was released in 2002 on SONYClassical.  He has been awarded grants from the Ministry of Culture, as well as Ewa Czeszejko-Sochaka’s Foundation “The Promotion of Talent.”  The international telecommunications company NETIA S.A. is a patron and sponsor of the young artists.

Stanislaw soloed with I PALPITI in Los Angeles at the Zipper Hall with Chopin Concerto(2002). In January 2003, Stanislaw Drzewiecki's sensational debut at Carnegie Hall in New York was met with the highest acclaim from the critics and audience.

Amanda von Goetz, USA
Amanda von Goetz has been making her mark on the musical world since 1996 when at the age of 13 she became the youngest first prize winner ever of the New Jersey Symphony’s Young Artist Auditions performing the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No.2.
“She astonished with her beauty of tone, ear for color, and vitality of  phrasing.”  -  N.J. Star Ledger 
The success of that concert led to her immediate engagement for a subscription series with the Orchestra in 1997 and was then re-engaged for the State premiere of a new piece by Pulitzer Prizewinning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.  Subsequent performances followed and she will perform several concerts in the orchestra’s ‘Family Series’ during the Spring of 2004. 
“No less awesome was pianist Amanda von Goetz… powerful hands stroked the keys with remarkable agility and versatility. She played like a veteran concert performer: with humor, exuberance, romance, and surprising calm.”  -  Classical New Jersey.  In the summer of 1997, Miss von Goetz joined Yuri Bashmet and The Moscow Soloists in Russia and the Republic of Georgia to great success playing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.1 which she has since performed numerous times. 
A highlight of her young career was her Carnegie Hall debut at age 15 performing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the New York Pops Orchestra under the baton of Skitch Henderson.  She was honored with a standing ovation.  Her most recent seasons have included numerous orchestral and recital performances including playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 with The Long Island Philharmonic.   As a collaborative artist she worked with  violinists Ilya Gringoltz and David Garrett. Since age 15, Amanda is represented by ICM .

Violinists                                                                         

Daniel Austrich, Germany
Daniel Austrich, born in 1984 in St. Petersburg, Russia, began to study violin at the age of five. He entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory Academy in 1993, where he studied with Alla Aranovskaya, the leader of the acclaimed St. Petersburg String Quartet.  Two years later, he was selected to perform with the St.Petersburg Camerata in the Grand Philharmonic Hall.He has performed Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with the St.Petersburg State University Orchestra, and has performed in city's most prestigious concert venues, including the Hermitage Museum Theater and the Yusupov Palace. Daniel and his family moved to Hamburg, Germany in 1997, where he studied with Roland Greutter, the concertmaster of the NDR Symphony Orchestra. From 1999 until 2001, Daniel attended Hamburg's Musikhochschule, where he studied with Albrecht Breuninger. After winning First Prize at the Hamburg Instrumental Contest in 1999, he was invited by the famous cellist David Geringas to perform in the Festival of Russian Music in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria, where he shared stage with Bruno Canino and Ulf Hoelscher.  As the first prize winner at the German competition "Jugend musiziert" (2001), he was invited to record for the NDR (North German Radio) and Berlin’s "Deutschlandradio".  In August of 2001 Daniel received a full scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he now studies with Ms. Aranovskaya.   Recent and future engagements include solo performances in Europe with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in the Tonhalle Zurich , Jena Philharmonic under Mika Eichenholz, (which booked him for an additional performance in December under Fabrice Bollon), Hamburg's Mozart Orchester under the baton of Robert Stehli in the Musikhalle Hamburg, and in the US with Charleston and Auburn Symphonies. Recitals in well-known music series include "St.Petersburg Dagen" in Holland (celebrating the 300^th anniversary of Daniel’s native city), Arizona Friends of Chamber Music in Tucson (where he also taught his own Masterclass), “Piccolo Spoleto” in SC, South Shore Music in CT and Davos International Music Festival of Switzerland, where the "Neue Zurcher Zeitung" praised "his noble tone".

Daniel is a recipient of special grants from the "Lyra" Foundation in Zurich, and "Die Zeit" foundation in Germany. He was invited to record for “Energia”, the new album of José Carreras, where he plays in a duet with a great tenor. As a prize-winner of the Deutsche Musikinstrumentenfonds contest in Hamburg, in 2002, Daniel Austrich was granted the use of a rare Andrea Guarneri violin from 1663.

Karina Canellakis, USA (Assoc. Concertmaster)
Karina Canellakis, born in 1981, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she held the Robert Ehrman Fellowship, studied with Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo, and was Concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.  A versatile young musician, she has performed as a soloist with orchestra, recitalist, and chamber musicians in the US and abroad. She was featured on CBC-Radio-Canada in a live performance of the Bartok Sonata for Solo Violin from Montreal in 2003, was invited to open the 2002 summer season of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Concerto, and performed the Sibelius Concerto with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony as well as the Barber Concerto with the Westmoreland Symphony.  She regularly performs at Barge Music, the prestigious chamber music series in New York City. She performed at the St. Barth’s Music Festival, where she was the recipient of the St. Barth’s Scholars Award and will return for her third season.

Karina is the recipient of a National Foundation ARTS Award for outstanding achievement and promise, First Prize Winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters Violin Competition and the Friday Woodmere Music Club Competition, and a top prizewinner of the Stulberg String Competition and the Queens Symphony Newsday Competition. As a winner of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society’s Young Musicians Competition, she performed in Alice Tully Hall and has been featured on the WQXR radio station in New York as soloist in the Sibelius Concerto and Ravel’s Tzigane.

Karina has performed in Switzerland at the Verbier Festival, in Israel at Isaac Stern’s International Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters, Spoleto festival in Italy, and participated in prestigious summer programs in USA such as Taos Music Festival in New Mexico, Aspen Music Festival, Meadowmount and the Encore School of Strings. Karina has performed in the masterclasses of Igor Oistrakh, Ida Haendel, Miriam Fried, and David Cerone. At age fifteen, she was chosen to be a member of the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall, led by Jaime Laredo. Karina grew up in Manhattan, where she graduated from Stuyvesant High School and the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division and made her debut as soloist with orchestra in New York City at the age of twelve.

Catharina Chen, Norway
Born in Oslo, Norway in 1985, Catharina started playing violin at age of five with her father. She continued her studies with Alf Richard Kraggerud and since 1997 with Stephan Barratt-Due.
A soloist since 8 years old, she performed with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, The Oslo Philharmonic orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Tromso Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Camerata, the ZKO-Zurcher Chamber Orchestra and in 2004 with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.  A Grand Prize-Winner of the 3^rd International Gnessin Violin Competition in Moscow, Russia, Catharina is a recipient of numerous awards in Norway such as Prize of Honour by the Norwegian Music Publisher Union in 2002 and Karoline Prize in 2003, national violin competitions in Norway 1996- 2002, and Sparre Olsen competitions in 1997, 1998 & 2002. A musical celebrity in Norway, Catharina is also known to Norwegians through the television and radio broadcasting. Among the TV programs are Penguin (1995), Bravo Bravissimo from Italy (1996), NRK’s  Big Stage with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (1998),  Arve Tellefsen with soloist (1999),  Young Musicians (2001), Eurovision with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2002) and at the Norwegian Prime Ministers New Year Speech (2003).  Catharina participated in master classes and summer courses with professor Detlef Hahn from England, Are Tellefsen and Henning Kraggerud from Norway, Prof. Camilla Wicks, Prof. Stephen Shipps, Prof. Almita Vamos and Prof. Eduard Schmieder from the USA. Every year, she participates in different international arts festivals in Norway and internationally. She gave several solo and chamber concerts in Norway (e.g. North Festival, Stavanger International Music festival, Oslo Chamber Festival, Bergen International Festival etc) as well as in Italy, China, Malaysia, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, France and South Africa.

Aisha Dossumova, Kazakhstan
Aisha was born in 1980 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She started studying violin in 1987 at K.Baiseitova under Professor Alma Abatova.  From 1998 - 2002 she continued her studies at Kazakh National Academy of Music where she studied with Peoples Honored Artist, Professor Aiman Mussakhodjayeva. Currently she is a student of Dr. Eduard Schmieder at the Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas.  In 2002, Aisha won the 2^nd prize in the Michallangello Abbado International violin competition in Italy, and the 1^st prize in the International Competition ‘Shabyt’ in Kazakhstan. In 2002 she received a diploma in Austria at the W.A. Mozart International competition. Aisha played with the Kazakh National Symphony Orchestra as the principal from 1998 until 1999, and with Kazakh Chamber Orchestra ‘ Academy of Soloists’ from 2000-2002.

She played solo recitals in Austria, Italy, France, England, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Ordabek Duissen, Kazakhstan
Ordabek Duissen won his first prize in 1993 at the International Competition of Central Asia, followed by Grand Prize of National Competition 1999, diploma at the M. Abbado International Competition Milan,1999  and the 1^st prize in Ovada, Italy, at the Franz Schubert Chamber Music Competition. In Kazakhstan, he was a member of the ‘Academy of Soloists’ Kazakh Chamber Orchestra.
A virtuoso violinist, Ordabek performed 24 caprices by Paganini in Italy, France and Austria.

Born in 1981, Ordabek studied from 1988-1999 at Almaty High Music school and continued his studies from 1999-2003 at Kazakh Academy of Music. His major professors were S. Abbusadykovoi and Aiman Mussakhodjayeva.  In 1992 he was among 10 young musicians selected to perform solo and chamber ensembles in the International Arts Day at the Kravis Center, Palm Beach, Florida. Currently, he is in the Artist Certificate Program at the Meadows School of Arts in Dallas, studying with Professor Eduard Schmieder.

Yulia Fedorova, Russia
Yulia, born in Russia in 1978, attended College of Moscow Conservatory from 1993-1997 where she earned an Artist Diploma. She continued her studies at the famed Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory from 1997-2002 where she was a recipient of the Boris Yeltsin Scholarship. Yulia studied with professors Sergei Girshenko, Irina Kandisky and Ulrika Direck.  In 1997, Yulia won first prize at Moscow Chamber Music Competition. After that, in 1999, she won the Special Prize on Caltanissetta Chamber Music Competition. She participated in number of international music festival performing as a soloist and in chamber ensembles. Currently,Yulia lives and studies in Germany at Saarbrucken Hochshule. In Russia, Yulia performed in major concert halls such as the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Rachmaninov Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Maly Hall of Moscow Conservatory.

Nora Hapca, Romania
Nora is the winner 20 national and international competitions including 2^nd Grand prize at the Remember Enescu International Competition in 2003. Born in Romania in 1986, she attended The Music High School in Baia Mare from 1992-2000 where she studied under Professor Ludovic Gebe. Currently she studies at the George Enescu Music High School in Bucharest under Professor Mihaela Tomescu.

Nora played concerts and recitals in Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania and had a concert tour with the Lyceum Strings Chamber Orchestra in France. She was invited to play in Master Classes for Liviu Ghitea 1997 and 1998 (Romania), Sherban Lupu 2001(USA), Sekion Yaroshevich 2002 and 2003 (Israel) and for Alexandru Tomescu 2004 (Romania).

Carolina Kurkowski Perez, Colombia/Germany
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Carolina received her first lessons from her mother at the age of four. Her major teachers were Ina Stolterfoot, Professor Igor Ozim and since 2000 Professor Rosa Fain. Carolina is a first prize and special prizes winner in the German National competition Jugend Musiziert, in the categories of violin solo, piano trio and string sextet, which  followed by numerous concerts, including the Concert Hall Berlin, Hanover on the EXPO, and with Cologne Philharmonie. In 2003, Carolina was a 1^st prize winner in the Bundeswettbewerb Jugend Musiziert, received the Braunschweig Classix Festival Award and the Special Prize in Leopold Mozart Competition.
Since her debut in the National Theater of Coburg at the age 5, Carolina has been performing as a soloist in Colombia, Japan, at the Liesborner music festival, in the Cologne Philharmonie among artists like the Alban Berg quartet and Sir Peter Ustinov, for the 10^th anniversary of the Cologne Philharmonie.  A regular soloist with the Jugendsinfonieorchester der Rheinischen Musikschule Köln, she performed with this orchestra in Spain at the XIX festival Internacional de orquestas jóvenes Murcia and in the well-known television late-night-show "Harald Schmidt". She also soloed with such orchestras as the Philharmonia Hungarica under Achim Fiedler, the Amadeus chamber ensemble Dortmund under Felix Reimann, the Collegium Musicum Jülich under Raymond Janssen and the national youth chamber orchestra of North-Rhine/Westphalia under Celso Antunes and Fernando Eldoro. Carolina’s performances are broadcast on the Colombian and German television (WDR) and CD Productions for the WDR.
An active participant in summer festivals, Carolina performed chamber music with artists like Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Emmanuel Pahud and Gérard Caussé. She was concertmaster of the youth symphony orchestra of Cologne, and as a member of the Gustav Mahler orchestra toured under the direction of Claudio Abbado.  Award recipient of the Jürgen Ponto Stiftung and the Stiftung of Art and Culture Düsseldorf, Carolina received a French instrument from the 11^th competition of the German Music Instrument Fund.

Isabelle Lambelet, Switzerland
Born in Lausanne in 1981, Isabelle Lambelet began her first violin lessons at the age of four. In 1994, she is accepted in Tibor Varga’s class in the ‘Ecole Supérieure de Musique de Sion’.   In 1999 she received Teaching Diploma at the Swiss Music Pedagogy Society. Since October 2000, she studies with Professor Kolja Blacher in the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Hamburg. Isabelle has won several prizes and competitions, such as the 1^st prize at the Swiss Youth Competition in 1996, the special prize at the 1999 Concour des Jeunes Interprètes in Wattrelos, France, and was a finalist of the 2000 ‘Grand Prix Eurovision’.       
                                                                                                         Isabelle is very involved in chamber music and has been invited to perform in various festivals. After receiving prize at the 1999 Chamber Music Competition of the Migro Cultural Foundation, she created the Trio l’Académie Varga, giving numerous concerts. Since 2001 she plays in the Trio Zéphyr, a piano trio supported by the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, the Masefield Foundation in 2002, and won the first prize at the 2003 Charles Hennen International Music Competition in Heerlen, Holland. As a soloist, Isabelle Lambelet has performed with many orchestras, including the Budapest Chamber Orchestra, the Sir Georg Solti Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonietta Lausanne and the Neues Orchester Basel. She premiered Laurent Mettraux’s 2^nd concerto, which was dedicated to her. Isabelle has participated in master classes with professors such as Yehudi Menuhin, Herman Krebbers and Thomas Brandis and has made many television- and radio broadcasts as well. Professional tours have lead her through several European countries, including Hungary, France, Germany and Italy.

Maria Machowska, Poland
Maria Machowska was born in 1987 in Warsaw, Poland. A daughter of famous Polish actor Ignacy Machowski, she began playing a violin at the age of 6. Currently she studies at the Brzewski Music School in Warsaw, in a class of Professor Miroslaw Lawrynowic.  As an eight-year-old girl Maria gave a concert in the Vatican, playing for the Pope John Paul II. A photographer took a picture of a little girl with a violin embracing the Holy Father. It became recognizable round the world, and this event initiated numerous engagements. Maria has played in famous halls in Japan, Canada, Switzerland, France, Austria, Sweden, Germany, Yugoslavia, Russia and Poland.
Maria has made many recordings for the Polish Radio and Television, as well as for German and Swiss Televisions. From 1997-2002, she was a winner of numerous national violin competitions, and in 2003, Maria received 3^rd prize in the IX H.Wieniawski International Young Violinists Competition.
Maria is a grant holder of The National Fund for Children and The Talent Promoting Foundation of Ewa Czeszejko-Sochacka, and scholarship recipient of the Ministry of Culture and Art.

Peter Rainer, Germany (Concertmaster)
A concertmaster of the Kammerakademie Potsdam since 2000, Rainer has developed an active career as a chamber musician, soloist and teacher in his native Germany. He is the  founder and  leader of the popular Persius Ensemble, focusing mainly on a repertoire written for the classical nonett, releasing two CDs. With this group of mixed string and wind players he is touring throughout all Europe. As a concertmaster and soloist he appeared also with the Ensemble Oriol Berlin, Deutsches Kammerorchester, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim and Berlin Chamber Orchestra. His musical interests are very broad. He is as well continuously experimenting together with specialists of period music as also premiering new music. Last year he performed „La Beauté“, a violin concerto written for him by Gerhard Rosenfeld and a baroque concerto by Franz Benda with the Kammerakademie Potsdam. Peter studied violin in the United States at the Meadows School of the Arts with Professor Eduard Schmieder, where he received the Artist Certificate in 1994 and Master of Violin Performance in 1995. Upon return to Germany he was concertmaster of the Brandenburgische Philharmonie in Potsdam from 1996 until 2000. Peter has been a member and leader of I PALPITI since 1994. He is on faculty at the Universitat Potsdam since 1997 and worked as assistant to Professor Schmieder at the Holland Music Sessions, and at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Jan Syrovatka, Czech Republic
Jan Syrovatka, born in 1979, started studying the violin at the Music School in Ceske Budejovice (1986-1993) and continued there at the Conservatory through 2001.
From 2000-2002 he studied at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava (Slovak Republic) and since 2002 he attends the Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts.
A Laureate of the Kocian International Violin Competitions in 1991 & 1993, he was a semifinalist in the International Violin Competition of Karol Lipinsky and Henryk Wieniaswski in Lublin (1997). In 2002, Jan was the 3^rd prize in The International Beethoven Competition.
Jan participated in international master classes and violin courses of Vaclav Hudecek and Bohumil Kotmel (1997-99), Summer Master Courses of Pavel Sporcl ( an I PALPITI alumnus) Roznov pod Radhostem (2000-01), and in 2002 The International Holland Music Sessions with Professor Eduard Schmieder.

Violists                                                                           

Rumen Cvetkov, Bulgaria (Principal)
Bulgarian-born violist Rumen Cvetkov started his studies at age of four and made his concerto debut four years later as a soloist of Thrakia Orchestra with his father as a conductor for a special radio and TV broadcast. In 1997 Mr. Cvetkov graduated from ‘Dobrin Petkov’ Special Music School. The same year he was accepted to the Plovdiv Academy for Music and Dance where he was one of the few students of the late Professor Georgy Naidenoff (pupil of renowned Feodor Druzhinin). In Plovdiv he was principal of the viola section of symphony and chamber orchestras of the Academy, and was engaged professionally as principal of the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra and Collegium-Musicum.
Mr. Cvetkov took master classes in viola and chamber music with Mincho Minchev (Bulgaria), Yuri Bashmet (Russia), Matthew Dane (USA) among others. As a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles he has appeared in Bulgaria Concert Hall, Alacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), St. Micheli Cathedral (Brussels), De Singel Concert Hall (Antwerp), performed with eminent artists such as Mikhail Muntan, Mincho Minchev, Stoika Milanova, Petko Radev, and participated in numerous international festivals.       Rumen gave the premieres of several pieces such as Capriccio for viola solo dedicated to him by the Bulgarian composer Dimitre Shatrowski as well as the world premiere of Kostas Nikitas’s Sonata for violin and cello (as violinist). 2004 performances will include premieres of Sonata for viola and piano by Graham Justice and Trio for two violas and piano by Yuri Blinov. From 1999-2001 he was a member of the Monterrey Philharmonic in Mexico. In 2002  Rumen moved to the USA where he continues his studies at TCA with Misha Galaganov (an I PALPITI alumnus & a soloist in 1999 International Laureates Festival).

Fedor Belugin, Russia
Fedor Belugin was born in 1982 in Zheleznogorsk, Russia and began to study violin with his father. In 1995, he became a laureate and Grand-prix winner of Young Violinists Competition in Russia and was awarded the State Youth Grant for High Achievements in Culture and Art. From 1995 - 1998 Fedor studied in the Musical Liceum at Krasnoyarsk State College of Art with Professor Michail Benumov. During this period, Fedor received numerous awards: in 1996, he became a laureate of 4th regional competition “Nadejda-96” in Krasnoyarsk; in 1997, he became a laureate of the 3^rd competition for young violinists in Novosibirsk and received “Governor of Krasnoyarsk Region Grant”.

Currently Fedor continues his studies at the famed Moscow State Conservatory, with Honored Artist of Russia, Professor Galina Odinez. Fedor leads a wide concert activity, performing in Moscow and in some of the best halls of Russia. At the support of the Rotary Club, he performed concerts in Germany, Belgium and France, and soloed with chamber and symphony orchestras under conductors Piero Belugi, Michail Arkadiev, and Lin-Tao. A serious and promising musician, he masters large & most difficult repertoire for viola, including Chromatic Fantasy by Bach-Kodaly, Bartok concerto, including Paganini’s violin caprices #2,14,16,21,24.  In 2003, he became award recipient from the “Russian Performance Art” foundation.

Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Canada
Juan-Miguel Hernandez was born in Canada in 1985.  He began to study violin at the age of seven and changed to viola at twelve. Currently a student of Ms. Jean MacRae in Montreal College Vincent-D’Indy, he has been invited to play in master classes for Pinchas Zukermann, Roberto Diaz, Paul Neubauer, Steven Dann, James Dunham, Andre Roy and Sydney Humpreys. Juan-Miguel participated in prestigious summer programs in Canada such as the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts (Alberta) and Domaine Forget (Quebec).   Recipient of many scholarships and prizes, Juan-Miguel was a Second Prize winner in the National 2002 Canadian Music Competition.  Among numerous solo recitals and as a soloist with orchestras, he was invited to play in the two Gala concerts at Pollack Hall. In March 2004 he gave a recital that will be broadcasted by Radio-Canada. An avid chamber musician, Juan-Miguel studied with Lorand Fenyes, Laurence Lesser. As a member of the Trio Lamoureux- Hernandez-Pelletier  he won  First Prize in Canadian Music Competition, Sillery Music Competition,  and Clermont-Pepin Competition.

Thomas Weilbach, Germany
Thomas Weilbach, born in 1972 in Munich, received his first violin lesson in 1979. He began his viola studies in 1989 with Professor Urs Stiehler, and from 1991 continued to play both violin and viola under professorship of Dorothea Ebert and Urs Stiehler at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, which he graduated in 2002. In 2003 he studied with Professor Renata Koeckert. He also received Diploma of Arts of the Munich College of Music and university degree of “Diplommusiker”. Expanding his performance and repertoire, Thomas participated in numerous master classes as soloist and chamber musician with Professor Eduard Schmieder, USA; Sandor Devich, Budapest; Madeleine Mitchell, London; and M.A. Rhode, Munich. Thomas pursues his career as chamber & orchestral musician, as well as a violin & viola teacher at the Erdling School of Music. 
As orchestral musician Thomas performed nationally and internationally with the German Federal Youth Orchestra, Young German Philharmonic Orchestra, Young Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and in youth concerts with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician he performs with the Amati Ensemble Munich, and the Augsburg Chamber Soloists.

Cellists                                                                          

Abraham Feder, USA
Cellist Abraham Feder, a graduate of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, studied with Richard Hirschl of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in master classes with The Ahn Trio, Yehuda Hanani, Eleanore Schoenfeld, Wolfgang Laufer, and Janos Starker.   In December 2003, Abraham was chosen to serve as principal cellist of the New York String Orchestra Seminar under Jamie Laredo at Carnegie Hall. Abraham received the Merit Award in cello from the National Foundation for the Advancement in Arts.  As a chamber musician he performed with the Jupiter Piano trio, piano quartet Octobre and with the Praxis piano quartet at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The Praxis piano quartet recently was a second-prize winner in the Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition and was featured on WFMT’s “Impromptu” program. Abraham has been featured on “From the Top,” the NPR Classical Music Program and has been presented in recital with “Music in the Loft.”  In 2003, he joined cellists of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in a live performance of all six Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello at the Barnett Foundation. From the Fall 2004, Abraham will be attending the Curtis Institute of Music studying with both Peter Wiley and David Soyer.

Georgiy Lomakov, Ukraine (Principal)
Born in 1984 in Odessa, Georgiy began to play cello in 1990 with Prof. Rymachewskaja-Balon at the Piotr Stoljarski Music School. Georgiy is the First Prize Winner of the International Antonio Janigro Competition in Zagreb, Croatia (1996), the All Union Youth Competition in Urgentch, Usbekistan (1992) and in Belorussia (1993).  In 1997 Georgiy moved to Germany to study in Nuernberg with Reiner Faupel, First Cellist of Nuernberg Philharmonic Orchestra. In the following years he won a First Prize at the All-German Youth Competition Jugend musiziert, became a winner of the International Heran Cello Competition in Usti nad Orlici (Czech Republic) and a finalist at Young Concert Artists in Leipzig.  From September 2001 to July 2003 he continued to study with Prof. Siegmund von Hausegger at Hochschule fuer Musik Nuernberg-Augsburg, which he graduated with the ‘Künstlerisches Diplom’.   In 2002, Georgiy attended masterclasses with Lynn Harrell and Gary Hoffman at the Verbier  Festival in Switzerland where he was awarded Prix Jean Nicolas Firmenich for the most prominent young cellist. In the same year, he also was selected for a course with Bernard Greenhouse at the Kronberg Academy who recommended further studies in USA. Since September 2003, Georgiy has been studying as a Graduate Student with Laurence Lesser  at NEC Boston.  Georgiy has performed in numerous recitals in Germany, Poland and Austria, soloed with orchestras such as Nuernberg Philharmony and Nuernberg Symphony, Philharmony of South Westfalia, as well as broadcasts at Bavarian and Polish Radio.  In his native Ukraine he performed and recorded with Odessa Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony. In February 2004, he had his solo debut in the USA with Richardson Symphony under Maestro Anshel Brusilow.

Eldar Saparayev, Switzerland
Winner of only first prizes in every competition he entered, beginning with 1996 Grand Prix des Republikwettbewerbes Kazakhstan fur Junge Musiker, Eldar received 1^st Prize in the International Competition  Schabyt in Kazakhstan (2000), 1^st Prize in International Anthonio Janigro Competition (Croatia), 1^st prize in Alpi-Adria Competition (Italy), and others.  Eldar performed solo concertos in Zagreb in the “Lisinski Hall”, in the “Tonhalle’ in Zurich and in Venice in “Theatro Velice’.
 Born in Kazakhstan in 1980, Eldar started playing the cello at age 6.  He studied at Bayseitowa Music School from 1987-1998 with Professor Z. Saparayev. From 2000, Eldar continued his studies at Hochschule Music und Theater in Zurich under Professor Susanne Basler. Currently, he is a member of Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich and  is under mentorship of Professor Bernard Greenhouse ( cellist of the famed Beaux Arts Trio). From the Fall 2004 Eldar accepted in a class of Professor David Geringas in Berlin.

Jonathan Koh, Korea-USA
Jonathan began taking cello lessons with Hans Jorgen Jensen of Northwestern University in 1993 and made his debut at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. at the age of fourteen.  Soon after, he has been a featured soloist in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, Kabalevsky Concerto, Lalo Concerto, Saint-Saens Concerto, and Shostakovich Concerto with numerous orchestras.
At 23, Jonathan was chosen as a substitute member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he has played under Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel Christoph Eschenbach, and Leonard Slatkin among others.  He also served as the principal cellist in summer festivals and the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestras. He received top prizes at the Hellam International Competition, Society of American Musicians, Midwest Young Artists, AACS National String Competition, Donna Reed Foundation, National ARTS Foundation, Yonsei University Young Artists, Julius Stulberg International Competition, Irving Klein International Competition, Johansen International Competition, and the Kingsville International Competition.

Outside of performing, Jonathan is a faculty member at the Naperville Artland Academy, assists Professor Jensen, and serves as a teaching fellow at the National High School Music Institute during the summer.  Jonathan’s students have already soloed with various orchestras and sat high chairs in district and all-state orchestras.  He is also the director of the North Shore Cello Choir, which he founded in 2002.  Starting this year, Jonathan will serve on the Sejong Cultural Society’s artist committee and give concerts with violinist Kyung Sun Lee and pianist Myung Hee Chung.  During his spare time, Jonathan records for Uptown Recordings, Inc. with his band as they are currently planning on giving concerts in major venues around Illinois.  Jonathan records on the Dora Classics Label.

Double Bassists                                              

Roman Patkolo, Slovakia (Principal)
A fast-rising new star on international arena, virtuoso-bassist Roman Patkolo is a winner of two international double bass competitions: First Prize at the International Society of Bassists International Competition in Iowa City, USA in1999, and in 2002 at the J.M. Sperger International Double Bass Competition in Germany, together with 5 special prizes. Born in 1982 in Zilina, Slovakia, Roman had his first double bass lesson at age thirteen at the Zilina Conservatoire. In 1995 he became a First Prize winner of the Slovak National Competition for double bass in Bratislava. Since 1997, Roman Patkolo lives in Germany where he studied under Prof. Klaus Trumpf from 1997-2003 at the University of Theater and Music in Munich. Earlier this year Roman received two European Culture Prizes from President of Germany, Mr. Johannes Rau: as an outstanding soloist and as a leader of internationally touring renowned virtuoso Bass Quartet ‘Bassiona Amorosa’. Roman Patkolo has performed as a soloist with many orchestras including Russian Camerata of Moscow. Roman praised highly by such musicians and conductors such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Andre Previn, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, and  Zubin Mehta. A scholar of Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation since 1998, Roman plays 1725 Antonio Gagliano double bass  given to him by the Foundation in 2002.

Ljubinko Lazic, Yugoslavia
Born in Vojka, Serbia (1979), in the family of musicians, Ljubinko took his first double bass lesson with Professor Goran Kerleta in Novi Sad University of Music in 1993. In 1998 he was accepted to the Montenegro University of Music, where he studied with Professor Pavel Askamit and received his first music diploma of excellence in 2001. In the same year, Mr. Lazic has received a Third Prize in the International Double Bass Competition in Kromeriz (Czech Republic). He was also a first prize winner of four national contests in his native Serbia. In 2002 Ljubinko was accepted into a class of Professor Trumpf in the University of Music and Theater in Munich, Germany. 
 As a member of the renowned double bass quartet ‘Bassiona Amorosa’, Mr. Lazic received the Prize of the European Culture from the President of Germany Johannes Rau.  Besides the soloist appearances, Ljubinko played in such orchestras as Philharmonic of the Nations, Belgrade Plimony, Chamber Orchestra of Austria, and Symphony Orchestra of Munich.  In March 2004 Lubinko Lazic has performed in a trio ensemble with violinist Maxim Vengerov and Double Bassist Roman Patkolo.

Guest Artist                                              

Jens Lindemann, Trumpet
In only his thirties, trumpeter Jens Lindemann is easily one of the most celebrated soloists in his instrument's history. Jens has played in every major concert venue in the world; from the Philharmonics of New York, London, Manchester, Munich, Hamburg, Lucerne and Berlin to Tokyo's Suntory Hall and even the Great Wall of China. His career has ranged from appearing internationally as an orchestral soloist, recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, being heralded as an official trumpeter for the N.H.L. Stanley Cup finals to playing lead trumpet with the renowned Canadian Brass. Jens has also won major awards ranging from Grammy and Juno nominations to winning the prestigious Echo Klassik in Germany as well as receiving an honorary doctorate.

Heralded internationally as an outstanding artist, critics have stated; "one of the most memorable recitals in ITG history" (International Trumpet Guild '03), "performed brilliantly in the North American premiere of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Concerto with the Toronto Symphony (Toronto Star), "gave the virtuoso highlight of the evening on piccolo trumpet with the Montreal Symphony (Montreal Gazette), and "was absolutely riveting" in Los Angeles (LA Variety).

As one of the world's most exciting young trumpet soloists, the California based Lindemann has never forgotten his Canadian roots and, when his schedule permits, he returns to perform and teach at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts. Internationally in demand as a master teacher, Jens has most recently been appointed the youngest music 'Professor with Distinction' in the history of UCLA in Los Angeles. The only Canadian trumpet soloist endorsed internationally by the Yamaha Corporation, Jens performs exclusively on 2.4K gold plated trumpets.

The trumpet is capable of being played with the virtuosity of a violin, the tenderness of the human voice and the stylistic flexibility of the piano. It allows me an endless range of communication with audiences."-- Jens Lindemann

www.trumpetsolo.com