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Italo-Portuguese cellist Luis Dias Canali was raised in Gran Canaria. He began playing the cello at the age of four with Alba Page in Las Palmas. He later studied at the Feuermann Konservatorium in Kronberg and has been a student of Henri Demarquette at the École Normale de Musique de Paris since 2021. Luis has performed across Europe, with appearances in Greece, Denmark, France, Portugal, and Germany, including solo performances with the Orquesta IBF, Sorbisches-National-Ensemble, and Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. He participated in the 2024 Kronberg Cello Masterclasses and studies with Frans Helmerson at the Stauffer Academy for the 2024/25 season. Luis is a laureate of the 2024 Pablo Casals International Award (2nd Prize ex-aequo and AENA Special Prize) and winner of seven first prizes at competitions including International Bach Festival, Stars-at-Tenerife, and Vatelot-Rampal. He plays a cello by Thomas Bertrand.
Maxim Calver first gained public recognition as a finalist in the BBC Young Musician 2018 competition, where he performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Since then, he has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the UK and Europe and appeared in leading venues including Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie amongst others. As a chamber musician, he has appeared festivals including the Pau Casals Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, IMS Prussia Cove and the Kronberg Academy ‘Chamber Music Connects the World’ Festival where he collaborated with Lawrence Power, Ante Weithaas and Gidon Kremer. Maxim recently completed his studies at the Royal College of Music in London with Melissa Phelps and from September he will be an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel studying with Gary Hoffman.
Pauline Boudon began playing the cello at the age of three in Lyon. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Jérôme Pernoo and is now pursuing a master’s with Marc Coppey. A dedicated chamber musician, she is a member of the Citadelles Quartet and is also completing a master’s in piano trio performance. Pauline performs regularly with the Opéra de Paris and has appeared at numerous festivals, collaborating with musicians including Ulf Wallin, Peter Bruns, Anne Gastinel, François Salque, and the Arod Quartet. She has taken part in masterclasses with Valentin Erben, Corina Belcea, Frans Helmerson, and others. She plays a Benjamin Banks cello dated 1786, generously loaned by Cordes en Partage.
Seungyeon Baik is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Berlin University of the Arts (UDK), studying with Jens Peter Maintz. She won first prize at the 2019 David Popper International Cello Competition, second prize at the Vienna Classic Strings, and third prize at the Ars Classica Competition. In 2024, she was named a Villa Musica Scholar and took part in the NDR Elbphilharmonie Academy. Seungyeon has performed at the Kronberg, Rutesheim, and Kirishima Festivals, and has appeared as soloist with the Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra and KBS Symphony Orchestra. She has participated in masterclasses with Miklós Perényi, Arto Noras, Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, and Laurence Lesser.
Born in Spain in 2005, Luis Aracama has studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music with Ivan Monighetti since 2018. He received the Diploma for Most Outstanding Student from Her Majesty Queen Sofía for the 2021/22 academic year. He is a scholar of the Liechtenstein Music Academy and in 2024 was selected to take part in the Kronberg Academy masterclasses with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Luis has received masterclasses from Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Márta Gulyás, Gautier Capuçon, Torleif Thedéen, Alban Gerhardt, Kian Soltani, Pablo Ferrández, Miklós Perényi, and Jan Vogler. He has won First Prize at the Dotzauer International Competition (with special prize for best contemporary performance), the Dobato Benavente Competition, and the Janigro Competition in Croatia (plus Soloists of Zagreb prize), and Second Prize at the Popper International Competition.
Rang Tae began studying the viola at age 12 and entered Yewon Music School (Seoul, South Korea) shortly thereafter. At 14, she gave her debut performance alongside Richard Yongjae O’Neill at the Seoul Arts Center. She has since performed solo recitals at Union City Museum, The House Concert, and Kukje Art Hall. Rang continued her musical education at Seoul Arts High School, where she focused on both solo and chamber music. Since 2021, she has studied with Professor Ensik Choi at Seoul National University. She is the first prize winner of the 2022 Dong-A Music Competition, one of Korea’s most prestigious music competitions, following earlier successes at the World Ilbo, Music Journal, and Hudson International Competitions.
Seoyeon Ryu studies viola at the College of Music, Seoul National University. She was awarded first prize and the audience prize at the 6th Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition and won first prize at the 2022 Johansen International Competition in Washington, D.C. As part of the Johansen laureates’ programme, she was invited to participate in Morningside Music Bridge in the United States. Seoyeon made her recital debut at age 16 through the 2019 Kumho Prodigy Recital Series in Korea and continues to develop her solo and chamber music performance through international competitions and festivals.
Gatien Leray is currently pursuing the Diplôme d’Artiste Interprète at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. At 17, he entered the Haute École de Musique de Genève, studying with Miguel da Silva, and in 2022 joined the International Menuhin Music Academy, where he works with Gérard Caussé and Ivan Vukčević. He completed a master’s degree in 2024, earning the Albert Lullin Special Prize. Passionate about both solo and chamber repertoire, Gatien has taken part in academies and masterclasses with Tabea Zimmermann, Lawrence Power, Nobuko Imai, and Jean Sulem, and has worked in chamber settings with Gábor Takács-Nagy, Valentin Erben, and Bruno Giuranna. He has performed at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Rencontres Internationales d’Évian, and Festival Pablo Casals, appearing alongside artists such as Renaud Capuçon, Clemens Hagen, and Daishin Kashimoto. He was a semi-finalist at the Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition.
Hiroki Kasai has performed across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States, with appearances at the Marlboro, Beethovenfest, Pablo Casals, Schleswig-Holstein, and Gstaad Menuhin Festivals. After graduating with first-class honours in violin from the Royal Academy of Music, he began studying viola on the recommendation of Nobuko Imai, with whom he now studies at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. In 2024, he won First Prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras in Europe, Asia, and America under the baton of conductors such as Ton Koopman. An active chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists including Midori, Lawrence Power, Thomas Riebl, Ivan Monighetti, and Christoph Richter. In 2025, he will tour the US and Canada as part of ‘Marlboro on Tour’.
Zofia Groblewska is a student at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She is a prizewinner of multiple viola, violin, and chamber music competitions, including the Grand Prix at the Centre for Art Education Music Competition in Poland and the viola and double bass competition in Gdańsk, as well as prizes at the Josef Micka Competition in Prague and the International Bohdan Warchal Competition in Slovakia. In 2023, she made her solo debut with the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, performing Bruch’s Romance, and returned in 2024 for a second appearance. In 2022, she joined Concertgebouworkest Young, performing under Gustavo Gimeno and collaborating with Isabelle Faust. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Penderecki Youth Orchestra in Lusławice.