Born in Budapest in 1992, Agnes Langer began playing the violin at the age of 7, studying with Ágota Béres. At a very early age, she showed great talent and after only 2 years of study, Agnes won second prize at the 10th János Koncz National Competition for Young Violinists. Since then, Agnes has gone on to win First Prize at the 2003 Eduard Zathurecky Competition and at the 8th Zoltán Kodály National Solfege Competition in 2005.

In 2005, Agnes moved alone to Germany to study with Prof. Anne Shih at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz, at the same time attending the Waldorf School there. Her study in Germany is made possible by financial support from a source impressed with her talent and potential. She went on to win first prize at the 2006 Bartók National Violin Duo Competition and especially, the coveted Körösföi – Kriesch Aladŕr Prize for promising young artists in 2007. Just recently, Agnes won First Prize as well as a special prize for best performance of a Hungarian work at the Zathureczky National Violin Competition in Budapest.

Agnes has been invited to perform with orchestras in such repertoire as Saint – Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, his Third Concerto, and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. She has also been invited to perform in recitals in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and England. She accomplished the amazing feat of learning all 24 Paganini Caprices. She won First Prize and a special prize for the best performance of a Hungarian piece at the Zathureczky National Violin Competition for young violinists.

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Born 1984 into a family of professional musicians in Moscow, Igor Tsinman began playing the violin at the tender age of 3. In 1999, he became a protégé of the Spivakov Foundation,given the opportunity of performing in many cities in Russia, Croatia and Germany.

In 2002, he graduated from the Central Music School in Moscow, class of Leonid Lundstrem, and continued his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music, class of Prof. Sergey Kravchenko, also in Moscow. In the same year he attended master classes with Prof. Klaus Arp and Prof. Wolfgang Guttler and took First Prize at the Classical Heritage International Competition in Moscow. In 2005, he participated in the International Vaclav Huml Violinist Competition in Zagreb/Croatia.

Since 2006, Igor has studied at the Hochschule für Musik Rheinland-Pfalz, class of Prof. Anne Shih. He was awarded special scholarships to attend the Casalmaggiore International Festival near Cremona/Italy in 2006 and 2007. He was also chosen to play the first solo part in Arvo Pärt’s Tabula rasa with the Orchestra of the Hochschule f. Musik and invited later to work with the composer himself in this work which led to a performance in Switzerland at which the composer was in attendance. Igor Tsinman has also played under conductors such as Alexander Lazarev and Fuat Mansurov, and given recitals in Germany, Italy, England and Austria. In 2007, he was a semifinalist at the International “George Enescu” Violin Competition.

Igor plays on a ca.1678 Francesco Ruggieri from the State Collection in Russia.

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Pavel Kolesnikov was born on 25.02.1989 in Novosibirsk, Russia.
He began study of both piano and violin at the age of six. From 2004 till 2007 he studied at the college of Novosibirsk State Conservatoire with Professor Mary Lebenzon. Now he continues his piano education at the Moscow State Conservatoire with Professor Serguei Dorensky.

Pavel is the first-prize winner of numerous piano competitions, such as the International Piano Competition in Andorra(2001), International Piano Competition in memoriam E.Gilels in Odessa(2006) and others.

He plays recitals and concerts with orchestras in cities and towns in Russia and abroad. In 2005 and in 2006 he took part in the Casalmaggiore International Festival(Italy). In 2007 he participated in the Verbier International Festival &Academy and in the Ars Longa International Music Festival in Moscow.

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Mstislaw Rostropowitsch described Kronberg im Taunus as the „cello world capital“ – and this is the very town where László Fenyö gained entrance into the cello elite. In September 2004, he not only won First Prize at the Pablo Casals World Contest, but also received a special prize for the best first performance of Graziane Finzi´s Variations, composed specifically for the contest.

In Hungary, his home country, László Fenyö has been one of the most popular soloists lately. Most of his concerts – around twenty per year – are recorded or broadcast live by the Hungarian Radio, whether solo performances, chamber music evenings or concerts with a grand orchestra. The 32-year-old musician has already played with all major Hungarian ensembles. Additionally, in March 2005 he received the highly prestigious Franz-Liszt-Prize as a state award.

He started his musical education in Hungary. He was only 13 years old when in 1988 he was accepted at the Franz Liszt Music Academy, Budapest, from his local music school. Between 1994 and 1998, he studied in Lübeck under the instruction of David Geringas. He expanded his horizon at master courses with Miklós Perényi and Siegfried Palm, among others. At present, his mentor is Bernard Greenhouse, the doyen of chamber music.

His unusually wide repertoire ranging from Bach to Krenek and Haydn to contemporary composers, his accurate sense of style, and his technical brilliance are responsible for his long record of successes at different contests. As early as 1987, he won First Prize at the Hungarian National Cello Contest; then he achieved success in Paris, Budapest and Christchurch; he earned the Pierre Fournier Special Prize in Geneve, and in Kronberg he also managed to convince the illustrious jury, consisting of renowned members like Rostropowitsch, Natalja Gutman, Kurt Masur, and others.

His rich orchestral experience and the delight of re-discovering rarely played solo pieces bring his musical profile to a whole. After having the principal cello position by the Radio Symphony Orchestra Budapest and the Philharmonia Hungarica, he is at present principal cellist of the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt (Germany). He is regular guest on all important stages in Europe, the USA, in Asia, as well as at major music festivals, such as the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, where he played together with Leonidas Kavakos and Boris Berezowski.

Besides engagements in Hungary and Germany, László Fenyö is planning to play in Seoul, in Sofia, in Cyprus and in Finland in 2007/2008. He will play concerts under the baton of K. Penderecki. Two of his new CD-recordings are released in 2007, one at Aulos/Musikado on which he plays chamber music together with pianist Oleg Pollianski, and the other at hr.music.de with the cello concertos by J. Haydn (D Major) and D. Shostakovich (No. 1), where he is accompanied by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Grant Llewellyn. László Fenyö plays a Matteo Goffriller cello of year 1695.

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Born in Alberta, Canada in 1968, Anne is the eldest of three sisters all renowned for their musical excellence. They were featured in the 1986 gold medal winning doc - film "Which Way to Carnegie Hall?"

Anne studied piano with Lee Kum - Sing and violin from 1986- 91 with her beloved mentor, Josef Gingold, at Indiana University. In 1988, she was awarded the International Academic Achievement Scholarship and later graduated with a MM with highest distinction. She was Josef Gingold's last teaching assistant and sometime class pianist. She also served on the Student Advisory Committee while at IU. During the summers, she worked with and assisted Denes Zsigmondy in Europe.

In 1991, at the age of 22, Anne became a visiting professor at Oberlin Conservatory, and later professor as well as Chair of the Strings Department at Lawrence University. In 1997, Anne became one of the youngest tenured C4 professors in Germany, at the Hochschule fuer Musik Mainz, a position she still holds. An international jurist, her students have been laureates of international competitions in Europe and have had successes in leading orchestral and teaching posts.

Anne both teaches and plays, as violinist and pianist, at various international festivals, including the International Beethovenfest in Bonn, Casalmaggiore Festival, Euro and Auer Festivals and gives masterclasses throughout Europe, Asia and North America. From 1989-1994, Anne performed throughout North America and Europe as part of the "Sisters Shih" Trio. She was cofounder of the Wisconsin Virtuosi Artist Series in 1996, and has conducted various chamber ensembles in both USA and Europe. Presently she is Artistic Director of Norfolk Concerts UK and Isis-Concert-Group.

In April 2003, Anne had a successful debut as violinist and pianist ( in Trout Quintet of Schubert) at the Wigmore Hall and returned in November to perform the Grieg Violin Sonatas. Anne has appeared regularly in the UK and Europe in both recital and chamber music, as violinist, violist and pianist, and in company of renowned colleagues.<

Anne plays on a 1711 Joseph filius Andrae Guarnerius known also as the "Wurlitzer".

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James Lisney sustains a distinguished international career as both soloist and collaborative pianist. He was a prize-winning graduate of the Royal College of Music, London where he studied with Phyllis Sellick and John Barstow – and early success was achieved after he gained representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust.
He has been featured as soloist with many orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the European Community Chamber Orchestra and the Enescu Philharmonic and has toured extensively throughout Europe and into the USA. His discography features a wide range of music recorded for companies such as Olympia, Bis, Somm, Carlton and now his own label, Woodhouse Editions.

Since 2001 he has been Artistic Director of an innovative series of concerts at London`s South Bank Centre called Schubertreise in which he is performing a complete cycle of the Schubert sonatas - with chamber music and song by a wide range of composers and featuring many distinguished artists. In recent years he has been involved with a Beethoven Project that has included recordings and performances at major halls throughout Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and London`s Wigmore Hall. His integral recordings of the Beethoven duos with cellist Alexander Baillie and violinist Paul Barritt have received the highest critical acclaim - and he is currently presenting his first cycles of the complete solo sonatas.

The forthcoming season includes Schubert cycles in various important European centres, the release of the first volume of his Beethoven sonata cycle and a debut at New York`s Carnegie Hall.

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Originally, Emma Kirkby had no expectations of becoming a professional singer. As a classics student at Oxford and then a schoolteacher she sang for pleasure in choirs and small groups, always feeling most at home in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. She joined the Taverner Choir in 1971 and in 1973 began her long association with the Consort of Musicke. Emma took part in the early Decca Florilegium recordings with both the Consort of Musicke and the Academy of Ancient Music, at a time when most college-trained sopranos were not seeking a sound appropriate for early instruments. She therefore had to find her own approach, with enormous help from Jessica Cash in London, and from the directors, fellow singers and instrumentalists with whom she has worked over the years.

Emma feels privileged to have been able to build long-term relationships with chamber groups and orchestras, in particular London Baroque, the Freiburger Barockorchester, L'Orfeo (of Linz) and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and now with some of the younger groups such as the Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium.

To date she has made well over a hundred recordings of all kinds, from sequences of Hildegarde of Bingen to madrigals of the Italian and English Renaissance, cantatas and oratorios of the Baroque, works of Mozart, Haydn and J. C. Bach. Recent recordings include: Handel: Opera Arias and Overtures 2 for Hyperion, Bach wedding cantatas for Decca, Bach Cantatas 82a and 199 for Carus; and four projects for BIS: with London Baroque, one of Handel motets and one of Christmas music by Scarlatti, Bach and others; with the Royal Academy Baroque Orchestra the first recording of the newly-rediscovered Gloria by Handel; and with the Romantic Chamber Group of London, Chanson d'amour: songs by the American composer Amy Beach, who died in 1944.

More recent recordings: an anthology, Classical Kirkby, devised and performed with Anthony Rooley, on the BIS label, 2002; Cantatas by Cataldo Amodei, also for BIS, 2004; with Fretwork, consort songs by William Byrd, for Harmonia Mundi USA, 2005.; Scarlatti Stabat Mater with Daniel Taylor, for ATMA, 2006; Honey from the Hive, songs of John Dowland, with Anthony Rooley, for BIS, 2006: and Musique and Sweet Poetrie, also for BIS, 2007; lute songs from Europe with Jakob Lindberg.

In 1999 Emma was voted Artist of the Year by Classic FM Radio listeners; in November 2000 she received the Order of the British Empire, and in June 2007 was delighted to be included in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for appointment as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. BBC Music Magazine, April 2007, in a recent survey to find “The greatest sopranos,” placed Emma at number 10. While such things are inevitably parochial, partial, controversial, and outdated as soon as they appear, she is pleased at the recognition this implies for an approach to singing that values ensemble, clarity and stillness alongside the more obvious factors of volume and display.

Despite all the recording activity, Emma still prefers live concerts, especially the pleasure of performing favourite programmes with colleagues; every occasion, every venue and every audience will combine to create something new from this wonderful repertoire.

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Born in Athens (Greece), in 1980, the Lyric Coloratura Soprano Alexandra Samouilidou began her music studies in Greece and completed her diploma in 2005 with all-round excellence in the class of Rossitza Troeva.
Since April 2008 she is studying at the class of Prof. Claudia Eder at the Musikhochschule in Mainz.
As member of the"Junges Ensemble" of the State Theatre of Mainz, she is currently performing in productions such as:
C. W. Gluck’s "La Semiramide riconosciuta", (as Tamiri), J. Strauss’ "Die Fledermaus", (as Ida) and W. A. Mozart’s "Le nozze di Figaro" (as Barbarina).
She has been winner of the 2008 "Meistersinger" competition in Neustadt (public's prize) and the Rheinsberg Chamber Opera Festival, (2007: participation in the vocal ensemble in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amor and 2008 in Schumann's “Myrten” ), and taken part in many concerts in Greece and Germany, among others with the Villa Musica in Schloss Engers.

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Felix Koch studied cello with Michael Flaksman in Mannheim, with Martin Ostertag in Karlsruhe and with Rainer Zipperling (Baroque cello) in Frankfurt, where he also studied music education. He received the Saarbrücken Cultural Prize for Young Musicians, the prize of “early music” by the Federation of German Industry and the “Telemann-Chamber Music Prize” Magdeburg. Since 2007 he has been the artist director of “Forum Alte Musik Frankfurt am Main”. He has performed both as chamber musician and soloist at international festivals, broadcasts and concerts of NDR Hamburg, DeutschlandRadio Kultur, Hessen Radio (HR), the Leipzig Bach Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, the festival Resonanzen in Vienna and was invited to Milano, Yaroslavl (Russia) and New York. He has performed on CDs with the Baroque orchestra La Stagione Frankfurt and his own ensembles “Mediolanum” and “Neumeyer Consort”. Since 2008 he has been the director of the Neumeyer Choir of the academy of ancient music Saarbrücken. Felix Koch teaches concert pedagogics/ music mediation at the College of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main.

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Markus Stein studies harpsichord in Frankfurt with Prof. Harald Hoeren and organ with Prof. Martin Lücker. In 2005 he gets a scholarship of
the Academy of ancient music in Saarland/Germany. He was member of masterclasses with Jesper Christensen, Prof. Michael Schneider, Prof. Petra Müllejans and Prof. Karl Kaiser. In 2003 Markus Stein founded the Chamber Choir “Collegium Cantorum Merzig” and is the artistic director of this choir, which mainly perform the great baroque oratorios of Bach and Händel.

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Born in June 1990 in Burnaby, B.C. Canada, Jonathan began piano and violin lessons at the age of 4. His prodigious talent has been recognized by many prominent musicians and his already great experience as a performer belies his young age of 18.

Jonathan’s performing experience began at the age of 5. 3 years later, he had his first performance with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Since then he has appeared as a concerto soloist in both violin and piano with numerous orchestras in North America. At the age of 15 he performed the Paganini 24 Caprices and at the age of 16 performed the 6 Solo sonatas of Ysaye; monumental works which are rarely heard in complete performances by virtuosos of any age because of their transcendental difficulty and extreme demand for endurance and concentration.

Amongst his numerous prizes and awards for violin, piano and chamber music, Jonathan is a three-time, National First Grand Prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition with overall highest marks. In 2000 and 2003, he was invited to perform for the former Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien. The second concert was a retirement concert for Mr. Chrétien at the Air Canada Center in which he shared the stage with renowned artists such as Oliver Jones, Paul Anka, and the late legendary pianist, Oscar Peterson. In 2004 Jonathan and a young pianist, Kit Armstrong, replaced an ailing Daniel Barenboim for the Vancouver Recital society’s opening concert of the season at the Orpheum. Since that date, he was re-invited to perform many times for the VRS in solo concerts and chamber projects. Jonathan’s other accomplishments include First Place in the National Strings of the Performing Arts BC and Second Place in the Morningside Music Bridge International Concerto Competition in Shanghai, China where he performed Khachaturian Violin Concerto with the Shanghai Opera Symphony.

Jonathan began his violin and piano education at the Vancouver Academy of Music in BC., Canada, under the tutelage of Taras Gabora, Laurie Hill and Lorraine Ambrose. Upon high school graduation, he was awarded the Arts Bowl in recognition of his outstanding contribution to visual and performing arts.

As a scholarship winner of the Max Jaffa Violin Fund, he is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music Honours at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama studying violin with David Takeno and piano with Caroline Palmer.

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