András Keller is the world-renowned violinist and founder of Keller Quartet. In the course of his concert tours, Keller has taken to the stages of nearly all prominent concert halls of the world, such as the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican in London, the Berliner Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. Since 2007, he has been music director of Concerto Budapest. In addition to dozens of international awards, Keller was a recipient of the Liszt Prize in 1995 as a member of Keller Quartet, in 2012 he was awarded the Bartók-Pásztory Prize and Meritorious Artist Honour, and then in 2021 his work was recognized with the Kossuth Prize, the most prestigious state award in the field of Hungarian culture. In 2022 he received the Prima Primissima Prize in Music Art. For the last two decades, Keller has taught at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and has been a regular guest of Yale University’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove. Between 2012 and 2015, he served as the head of the Chamber Music Department at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Since 2016, András Keller has taught at the violin faculty of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, which also appointed him as Béla Bartók International Chair in 2018.
Born in France, to a French father and Korean mother, Irène Duval grew up in Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong before returning to France at the age of 11. Having graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris and Kronberg Academy, Irène is now firmly establishing herself as a compelling and versatile performer with a strong interest in combining little-known works with works central to the repertoire.
Praised for her mastery of phrasing and of the dramatic dimension (Diapason), astonishing virtuosity (Revelation Classiques) and her infinite delicacy (Le Populaire du centre), Irène has won multiple international competitions and is an active performer of concerti, recitals and chamber music.
Recent highlights include her debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in the inauguration concert of the Casals Forum in Kronberg, her debut with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and her return with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jamie Phillips.
This season, she gives recitals at Perth Concert Hall (broadcast by BBC Radio 3), the Bath, Brighton, and Lammermuir International Festivals, and in Budapest at Kamara.hu Festival. Irène records a new album with pianist Angus Webster, celebrating Fauré and his friends Saint-Saëns, Enescu, and Hahn, to be released by Capriccio in Spring 2024.
Sought after as a chamber musician, she collaborates with Khatia Buniatishvili at Klavier Ruhr Festival and Rheingau Festival, and with Steven Isserlis at Hindsgavl Festival in Danemark, and Cervo in Italy. She will make her debut in Australia beginning of the year 2024.
Irène has performed widely in Europe, giving recitals at major venues and festivals including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Salle Gaveau, Dresdner Kulturpalast, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Fondation Singer-Polignac, Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron and Les Folles Journées à Nantes et au Japon.
Solo highlights include collaborations with the Dresdner Philharmonie, Orchestre d’Auvergne, Sinfonia Varsovia at the National Forum in Tokyo, Kremerata Baltica, working with such conductors as Maxim Emelyanychev, Michael Sanderling, Robert Trevino, and Roberto Fores Veses.
Chamber music holds a big space in Irène’s heart and she feels lucky to have had the chance to play with musicians Gidon Kremer, Olli Mustonen, Ferenc Rados, and Christian Tetzlaff. She participates with great pleasure in Open Chamber Music d’IMS Prussia Cove in Cornwall, Krzyzowa Chamber Music Festival in Poland, Norsjo Chamber Music Festival in Norway and Chamber Music Connects the World Festival at Kronberg Academy.
Irène plays a beautiful Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, which is kindly on loan to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society.
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Irène began studying the violin at the age of seven in Hong Kong. Back in France in 2003, she studied with Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Suzanne Gessner, and at CNSM of Paris with Roland Daugareil and Daria Hovora. In 2013, she completed her Masters degree with distinction, and received the award of Révélation classique de l’Adami.
In 2009 and 2010, Irène won the 1st prize and the public prize at the International Violin Competition of Avignon and two special prizes at the 1st edition of the International Violin Competition in Mirecourt: the prize for most exceptional personality and the prize for the best interpretation of a French sonata for her performance of the Poulenc sonata. In May 2011, Irène was awarded the 1st prize at the 46th International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen for her performance of the Beethoven violin concerto, as well as the Manfred-Scherzer prize for her outstanding interpretation of a piece by Reger. Her performance of the Beethoven concerto received accolades, the German Free Press noting that ‘it was a Beethoven in heaven. Her sound in the second movement was like the music of the angels.’ (16.05.2011 Beethoven im Paradies, Deutsche Freie Presse).
In 2012, Irène received the Appassionato Joël Klépal prize in Caen and was given a generous grant from the Meyer Fondation. In 2014, she went at the Kronberg Academy in Germany to study with Mihaela Martin in Further Master Studies, and received artistic advice from internationally renowned musicians until 2017.
She has been supported by Fondation pour la vocation Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, Fondation SAFRAN pour la musique, la Fondation de l’Or du Rhin, la Fondation d’Entreprise Banque Populaire, ArteMusica Stiftung, and Günther Caspar Stiftung.
In 2021 Irène was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust International Auditions.
Imaginative and eloquent, violinist Mari Samuelsen is known for her breath-taking artistry and adventurous approach to programming and presentation. With a technique that blends virtuosity and entrancing musical finesse, Mari presents an innovative musical universe that knows no barriers between the music of such composers as Anna Meredith, Max Richter, Hannah Peel, Caroline Shaw, Arvo Pärt, Pēteris Vasks and Jeff Mills, and that of Bach, Phillip Glass, Beethoven and Vivaldi. Her drive to not do what is traditionally expected, is what has turned Mari Samuelsen into an inspiration for a global audience.
Mari has appeared as soloist and recitalist on many of the world’s leading stages, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, London’s Barbican Centre, Berlin’s Konzerthaus and Paris’ Philharmonie and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She has recently performed with the Orchestre National de Lyon, with appearances at the Berlin Philharmonie and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, as well as the Radio France Festival in Montpellier.
Recent and upcoming highlights has seen Mari Samuelsen perform with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra alongside Alice Merton, returns to the BBC Concert Orchestra in London, as well as performances in Spain at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Bratislava, Slovakia with Slovak Philharmonia at Viva Musica! Festival; Ottawa, Canada, and visits to CC Hasselt and Leuven, Belgium with Casco Philharmonic.
In terms of collaborations, she regularly works with the British composer, Max Richter, as a soloist in concert performances of both his Recomposed and Memoryhouse, as well as on his recent Deutsche Grammophon album, Voices. Mari Samuelsen’s recent work also includes collaborations with electronic music artists Jeff Mills and Dubfire and multimedia artist Philipp Geist. Her ground-breaking explorations of contemporary art and classical music as artistic director of Oslo’s Yellow Lounge for its first two seasons reaffirm her position as an innovative artist who is reaching out to new audiences.
Mari is an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist. 2022 marks the release of her second album for the distinctive Yellow Label, named LYS, meaning “light” in Norwegian features new commissions for her from the likes of Hannah Peel, Anna Meredith, Laura Massoto and MEREDI as well as existing works from Caroline Shaw and Hildur Guðnadóttir. In 2019 she released MARI, her debut recording, and was lauded by Gramophone magazine for her ‘Seriously impressive playing…hand-crafted precision.’ As well as dominating the classical charts, MARI and her previous albums were also number 1 hits in the popular charts in her home county of Norway.
Her presence, popularity and the impact of her music among new audiences is astonishing, having reached 34 million views in her YouTube video of Summer from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons alone. Mari Samuelsen also has recorded the world premiere of James Horner’s double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra with her brother, Håkon Samuelsen, as the centrepiece of Pas de Deux, released on Mercury Classics (Universal Music). Very unusual for classical recordings, this album along-side with her first solo recording Nordic Noir as well as the 2019 release MARI were hits in the Norwegian pop charts (reaching the No.1 and No.2 spots respectively).
A classically trained violinist, her studies with Arve Tellefsen and later at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo were followed by a decade with world-renowned professor Zakhar Bron at the Zurich University of the Arts. She is an alumna of the Verbier Festival Academy.
Icelandic violinist Hulda Jónsdóttir has been playing the violin since the age of 4. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music from The Juilliard School in New York where her teachers were Robert Mann, David Chan and Laurie Smukler. Since 2018, Hulda has lived in Copenhagen, where she serves as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Other good musical friends include Ensemble Resonanz in Hamburg. Since appearing as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at age 15 she has guested in the US, Mexico, throughout Europe and Asia both as soloist and as chamber musician.
Born in Dublin to a family of musicians, Aoife Ní Bhriain has established herself as a richly versatile musician, expert in both classical and folk music. Thanks to her musical heritage combined with her classical studies she has collaborated and performed with musicians such as pianist Eliso Virsaladze, fiddle player Martin Hayes, jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and Oscar winning actor Tim Robbins. She is a member of the Goodman Trio with whom she has explored the manuscripts of the music collected around Ireland in the 1800’s by Canon James Goodman. In 2021 Aoife joined forces with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and the duo will release their debut album in October 2023.
Winner of the Bonn Óir Sean Uí Riada in 2010, Aoife has also won seven All Ireland titles as well as prizes in international violin and chamber music competitions. More recently Aoife qualified for the semi finals of the 2022 International Bach Competition in Leipzig and was awarded the Next Generation Award from the Arts Council of Ireland.
Aoife has a particular interest in solo violin works and curated a performance on the solo violin works of J.S. Bach and the improvisations of acclaimed Dublin fiddle player and soloist Tommie Potts. She graduated with first class honours from the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Leipzig in 2018 and plays on a violin by J.B. Vuillaume on generous loan as well as a Jurgen Manthey violin purchased through the Music Network Music Capital Scheme.
As well as performance, Aoife has recently branched out into media, and presents the Irish-language show Cúltír (‘Culture’) on Irish TV channel TG4.
Gabriel Le Magadure has been fascinated by chamber music and more particularly by the world of the string quartet since he was very young. He is the violinist of Quatuor Ébène.
As a member of the quartet, Le Magadure has performed in the most prestigious concert halls in the world: Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonic, Wigmore Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Tonhalle in Zürich, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Salzburger Festspiele, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet and Salle Pleyel in Paris. He regularly performs in Japan, the United States and throughout Europe.
Born in 1981, Gabriel Le Magadure started playing the violin at age 6 at the CNR of Nantes. In 1999, after obtaining a first prize in violin (in the class of Colette Bord) and two first prizes in chamber music, he entered the CNR of Boulogne-Billancourt in the class of Maryvonne Le Dizès. In 2001 he obtained first prize in violin with unanimous approval and the following year he entered the CNSMD in Lyon in the class of Christophe Poiget. In 2003, after winning 2nd prize (1st prize not awarded) at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition with Quatuor Ébène, Le Magadure devoted himself entirely to the quartet.
Within this ensemble he has worked with great teachers including the Ysaÿe Quartet, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Eberhard Feltz and the composer György Kurtag. The quartet has also had the chance to share the stage with renowned partners such as Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Mitsuko Uchida, Nicholas Angelich, Alexandre Tharaud, Franck Braley, Daniel Müller-Schott, Antoine Tamestit, Bertrand Chamayou, Nicolas Altstaedt, Andràs Schiff and Menahem Pressler among them.
Le Magadure has also led masterclasses throughout the world: at the Freiburg and Stuttgart Hochschule, at the Lake District Festival in England, at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, and at the CNSM in Paris. In 2021, he became professor in residence at the Munich Hochschule.
Claire Wells is the Mendelssohn-Prize First Prize and Commission Prize winner at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition (2021). She was also a prizewinner at the Indianapolis and Mirecourt International Competitions, among others. Now studying at the Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin, Claire previously studied privately with Brian Lewis, Sandy Yamamoto and Emanuel Borok. In 2017, she attended the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she worked with Lutsia Ibragimova. Claire has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jalisco Philharmonic, the Shen Zhen Symphony Orchestra, the Nancy Lyric Symphony Orchestra and the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, among others. A passionate chamber musician, she has worked alongside Nobuko Imai, Frans Helmerson, Christian Tetzlaff and Steven Isserlis, and has been coached by Ana Chumachenco, Boris Kuschnir, Andràs Schiff and Robert Levin. Claire Wells is an alumna of the Verbier Festival Academy (2023),
Mira Foron made her debut at age 14 at the Tonhalle Zürich, performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. She went on to represent Germany at the Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Edinburgh where she collaborated with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard in the Finals. Mira has given recitals at the Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommerna and Copenhagen Summer Festival, and has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus and Göteborgs Konserthus. Upon invitation of Anne Sophie Mutter, she joined ‘Mutter’s Virtuosi’ for performances at the Salzburger Festspiele and the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Mira is a student of Julia Fischer at the Musikhochschule in Munich and holds a scholarship from the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund and the Deutschen Stiftung Musikleben. Future engagements include concerts with the Dortmunder Philharmoniker and Staatsorchester Stuttgart.
Ilva Eigus started playing violin at age four with Liana Tretiakova at the Zakhar Bron School of Music in Zurich. She made her orchestral debut at age eight performing the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto. Since then, she has played as a soloist with Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Moscow Philharmonic and Novosibirsk Philharmonic, among others. She made her Tonhalle Zürich debut performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Prague Royal Philharmonic earlier this year. Other highlights include performances at the Trans-Siberian Art Festival, the Menton Music Festival, Septembre Musical in Montreux, at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Ilva was awarded First Prize at the XXI International ‘Nutcracker’ Competition in Moscow (2020) and Second Prize at the Wieniawski-Lipinski Competition (Lublin) in 2021. She is a Pre-College student of the Zurich University of Arts and plays a 1707 Omobono Stradivari on generous loan from Stradivari Stiftung Habisreutinger.
Canadian violinist Gabrielle Després has garnered numerous awards, most recently winning First Prizes at the Juilliard Concerto Competition (2022) and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition (2020). She also earned Second Prize in the 2023 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, and the 2022 Washington International String Competition. As a soloist, Gabrielle has performed with the Juilliard Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, and from 2021/22, has served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music at Juilliard as a recipient of a Kovner Fellowship, where she studies with Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein. Her former teachers include Masao Kawasaki, Joseph Lin, Robert Uchida and James Keene. Gabrielle plays on a Zosimo Bergonzi violin, generously on loan from CANIMEX INC., Drummondville, Québec, Canada. She gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation in supporting her education and career development.