* Artists

Brannon Cho is the First Prize winner of the prestigious 6th International Paulo Cello Competition, and is also a top prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth, Naumburg, and Cassadó International Cello Competitions. 

Most recently, Brannon Cho is the recipient of the 2020 Janos Starker Foundation Award, the Landgraf von Hessen Prize from Kronberg Academy, the 2019 Ivan Galamian Award previously held by James Ehnes, and is a scholarship holder in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. 

Brannon Cho has appeared as a soloist with many of the top orchestras around the world, including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Belgian National Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Brussels Philharmonic. Born in New Jersey, Brannon Cho received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music under Hans Jørgen Jensen. He was awarded the Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Laurence Lesser. He also completed the Professional Studies program at the Kronberg Academy, under the tutelage of Frans Helmerson. Brannon Cho performs on a rare cello made by Antonio Casini in 1668 in Modena, Italy, and is sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld.

First Prize at the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in Hannover, and prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and at the Singapore International Violin Competition, Alexandra Conunova has been hailed by her virtuosity, warm tone, impressive range of color, and flawless technique. She also received the prestigious Fellowship by the Borletti-Buittoni Trust in London.

Conunova has appeared with many of the leading international orchestras, such as the Orchestre de Paris, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and many other. 

Alexandra’s first recording of Prokofiev Violin Sonatas with Michail Liftis, on Aparté, was received with great acclaim: “This recording reveals Conunova as a major artist – in terms of both technical assurance and interpretative daring… I can’t recommend their freshly considered, vividly recorded interpretations highly enough” (Gramophone); “…this is already a candidate for one of the best discs of the year” (The Strad).

In the last years Alexandra has had the pleasure of working under the guidance and mentoring of one of the world’s leading professors, Edouard Wulfson, in Geneva. Alexandra currently plays on Giovanni Batistta Guadagnini, ca. 1785 ex “Ida Levin”, on a kind loan from a music lover.

Giuliana Gianfaldoni is an Italian soprano, specialist in Belcanto.

She began studying opera singing very early and won international singing competitions such as ASLICO and Ottavio Ziino and Renata Tebaldi.

She performs on Italian and international stages and is present in Festivals and lyric-symphonic Foundations such as the Rossini Opera Festival, the Verdi Festival of Parma, the Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia, the Rai Orchestra of Turin, the Teatro Regio of Turin, the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa, the Teatro Perez Galdos in Las Palmas, the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, the Opera Municipal de Marseille, the Opera de Lyon, the Theatre du Capitole of Toulouse, the Opera Montpellier, to name a few.

He plays leading roles in operas such as Rigoletto, La Fille du Regiment, Tancredi, Il Viaggio a Reims, Il Turco in Italia, Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra, Don Pasquale, Il Diluvio Universale, Le convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali, Gianni Schicchi, Turandot, Zaide, Don Giovanni, Idomeneo, Beatrice di Tenda and many others.

As a symphonic composer he includes titles such as Stabat Mater by Rossini, Mozart and Pergolesi, Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini, Il Gloria by Poulenc, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, L'exultate Jubilate by Mozart, La Nuit by C.Saint-Saens, Cantata in morte di Dido.

In 2023 he sang in the Christmas concert at the Senate live on Rai1.

Among the upcoming engagements/debuts: Donna Anna in Don Giovanni by W. A. ​​Mozart Las Palmas, Lucia di Ammermoor by G.Donizetti in Toulouse, Falstaff at the Verdi Festival in Parma, Rossini Opera Festival concert with Orchestra, Rigoletto at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Concert in Classical Forms.

Leonidas Kavakos is recognized across the world as a violinist and artist of rare quality, acclaimed for his matchless technique, his captivating artistry and his superb musicianship, and the integrity of his playing. He works regularly with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and plays as recitalist in the world’s premier recital halls and festivals.

Kavakos has developed close relationships with major orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Kavakos also works closely with the Dresden Staatskapelle, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Munich Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, as well as the major US Orchestras.

Kavakos is an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classics. Releases have included the Beethoven Violin Concerto which he conducted and played with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the re-release of his 2007 recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Enrico Pace, for which he was named ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the year. Born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber-music masterclass in Athens, which attracts violinists and ensembles from all over the world. He plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivarius violin of 1734.

Georgy Kovalev was born in Tiflis in 1990 and is one of the leading violists of his generation.
After studying with Yuri Bashmet and Nobuko Imai at the Kronberg Academy, he is furthering his studies with Tabea Zimmermann at HfM Hanns Eisler in Berlin.
Georgy has performed as soloist with major orchestras such as Kremerata Baltica, New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has been a finalist and prizewinner at the Moscow Yuri Bashmet International Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition. In 2011 he received the Neva Foundation Prize from the Verbier Festival.

In addition to being a member of the Delian Quartet, he is a very active chamber musician and collaborates with Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Steven Isserlis, Yuri Bashmet, Fazil Say, Frans Helmerson, Emanuel Ax, Jörg Widmann, Viviane Hagner, Claudio Bohorquez, Lawrence Lesser, at major festivals such as Schubertiade, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, Rheingau Festival, Kronberg Academy Festival.

Georgy has played in the most prestigious halls around the world such as Victoria Hall (Geneva), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), Philharmonie in Cologne, Kioi Hall (Tokyo), Prinz Regent Theater Hall (Munich), Gordon Bennett Hall (Chicago), Great Hall of the Moscow Consrvatory. He also recorded for German Radio together with his quartet Bach's The Art of Fugue.His future engagements will take him to the USA, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Korea, Holland, France, Austria and Italy.

Born in 1994, he won the competition for Violino di Spalla of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia at the beginning of the year. Recognized as an “enfant prodige,” he began studying violin and piano at age six and made his debut as a soloist with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at 12.

Winner of prestigious international competitions, including the “ARD International Violin Competition 2017” in Munich (with special prize for the best premiere), the Prix Ravel 2017 (1st Prize and Audience Prize), and 2nd Prize at the “XI A. Khachaturian International Violin Competition 2015.”

He debuted at the Berlin Philharmonie with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, at the Kremlin Palace with the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and Vladimir Spivakov, at the Shanghai Symphony Hall, and in Latin America. In 2017 he performed at the Herkulessaal and Gasteig in Munich with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

In 2019 he graduated from the prestigious “Curtis Institute Of Music” in Philadelphia with masters Aaron Rosand and Midori Goto. From 2005 to 2015 he studied at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana with Boris Belkin, continuing at the Maastricht Conservatory. At only fourteen years old, he graduated from the Palermo Conservatory with honorable mention.Andrea Obiso plays a “Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù 1741” violin granted by NPO “Yellow Angel” and an “E. Pajeot” bow from “Nippon Violin Co. Ltd.” in Tokyo.

Ettore Pagano is the winner of the prestigious Abbiati Prize as ‘best soloist’ awarded by the Italian Music Critics, and of the authoritative Classeek Award at the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards). Born in Rome in 2003, he began studying the cello at the age of nine. A pupil of the Accademia Chigiana under the guidance of Antonio Meneses and David Geringas, he attended the Accademia W.Stauffer in Cremona, graduating from the Conservatorio di S.Cecilia in Rome with top marks, honours and mention. He currently attends Jens Peter Maintz's courses at the Universitaet der Kuenste in Berlin.

Since 2013 he has been awarded first prize in over 40 national and international competitions, including first prize at the Khachaturian Cello Competition 2022 in Yerevan, and second prize (as well as two special jury prizes) at the Enescu Cello Competition 2024 in Bucharest. He has already been invited to play on major international stages in recitals and as a soloist with orchestras in Europe, Asia and the USA. Particularly noteworthy are his debut in March 2025 in the season of the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia at the Parco della Musica in Rome, and the invitations from the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI as soloist on three singular occasions: at the Auditorium Toscanini in Turin with live coverage on Radio3 and Raicultura video, at the Royal Opera House in Muscat (Oman) and at the Republic Day Concert at the Quirinale in the presence of the Head of State with live coverage on Raiuno TV.

Also during 2025, the invitations to the concert festivals ‘Stars & Rising Stars’ in Munich and ‘Stars von Morgen’ at the Brucknerhaus in Linz are of considerable international importance. Ettore Pagano plays an Ignazio Ongaro cello (Venice-1777) entrusted to him by Setaro Fine Instruments.

Born in 1995 in a family of musicians, Ludovica started her soloist career at a young age, performing in recitals for prestigious concert societies, including Società dei Concerti di Milano, Cremona Mondo Musica, Fazioli Concert Hall, Accademia Filarmonica di Messina, Varignana Music Festival, I concerti del Quirinale, Festival Classiche Forme, as well as a soloist with many orchestras, such as Orchestra ICO di Lecce, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana. 

As a chamber musician, she had numerous collaborations with the sister Beatrice Rana, Enrico Dindo, Pablo Ferràndez, Giovanni Sollima, Bruno Giuranna, Oleg Kaskiv, Francesco Libetta, Massimo Quarta, Danilo Rossi, Alessandro Taverna, Pavel Vernikov.

After graduating with honors in 2014 at the Istituto Musicale “Giovanni Paisiello” in Taranto, in the class of Andrea Agostinelli, Ludovica continued her studies with Enrico Dindo at the Pavia Cello Academy and at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, where she achieved her Master in Music Performance, and with Giovanni Sollima at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where she graduated with honours. At the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia she also completed with honours the Chamber Music course with Carlo Fabiano.

She also studied with renowned cellists, such as Michael Flaksman, Johannes Goritzki, Antonio Meneses, Frans Helmerson, Antonio Mosca, Asier Polo, Troels Svane, Rafael Wallfish. 

Since 2024 she is the Artistic Director Festival di Pasqua in Lecce. She is Chamber Music professor at the Conservatoire “Niccolò Piccinni” in Bari.

Massimo Spada, born in Rome in 1986, began his piano studies at the age of six and graduated with honours at Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome in 2005, in the class of Pieralberto Biondi. He also studied with Boris Petrushansky, Riccardo Risaliti, Benedetto Lupo and Stefano Fiuzzi, Lazar Berman, Elissò Virsaladze, Joaquin Soriano and Andrea Lucchesini.

In 2009 he achieved his degree with honours in Music History at the Università La Sapienza in Rome. 
He regularly performs solo recitals and chamber music concerts in duo and trio formations. Among the musicians with whom he collaborated there are Beatrice Rana, Andrea Obiso, Andrea Oliva, Roberto González-Monjas, Simone Lamsma, David and Diego Romano, to name just a few. His intense concert activity led him to perform in many venues and festivals in Italy and abroad, including Parco della Musica in Rome, Festival MiTo in Turin, Festival Internazionali per la Pace in Assisi, Sagra Malatestiana in Rimini, and for several prestigious concerts series in Venice, Padua, Bologna, Cuneo, Matera, La Spezia, Sulmona, Catania, Siracusa, Campobasso, Aosta.

He promotes contemporary music and often performs pieces dedicated to him. Since 2011 he is the pianist of Ensemble Novecento, conducted by Carlo Rizzari, with whom he promoted new music of emerging composers.

He was awarded a First Prize in many international competitions, including J. S. Bach Competition in Sestri Levante, Rospigliosi Competition in Lamporecchio, Premio Sergio Cafaro.Very active as a teacher, he is piano professor at Conservatorio Morlacchi in Perugia and he is one of the founders and artistic directors of the International Music School Avos Project, where he teaches from 2020.

In 2018, at just 22 years old, Kevin won the First Prize at the Geneva International Music Competition, one of the world's most prestigious music contests. He is the youngest clarinetist ever to receive this distinguished award. As a soloist he has performed with more than thirty orchestras in Italy, abroad and as well in tours, including the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Sofia Philarmonic Orchestra, the Bruxelles Philarmonic, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Orchestre des Nations, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Regionale Toscana , Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.

Kevin has played chamber music with renowned musicians such as Beatrice Rana, Emmanuel Pahud, Stefano Bollani, Liya Petrova, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Carlos Sanchis, Chloë Ji-yeong Mun, Théo Fouchenneret, Aurélien Pascal, Lorenzo Soulès, Simone Rugani.

He has also collaborated with string quartets like Quartet Voce, Szymanowski Quartet, Quartetto Guadagnini, Quartetto Prometeo, and Quartet Terpsychordes, and with artists like Lise Berthaud, Sergey Ostrovsky, Ophélie Gaillard, and Yubeen Kim. He frequently performs in a duo with pianist Simone Rugani, and has done tours in important Festivals in Italy, including Bologna Festival, Perugia Classica, Amici dellaMusica di Firenze, Filarmonica di Rovereto among others.

Since 2021, Kevin has been regularly invited to give masterclasses across Europe, China, Brazil, and Turkey. He also teaches regularly at the International School of Music Avos Project in Rome.

Kevin has been recognized among the greatest modern clarinetists and continues to makesignificant contributions to the classical music world.

Founded in Vienna in 2019 on the principles of ‘chaos’ in art, science, and philosophy, the Chaos String Quartet has swiftly made its mark on the international music stage. Comprising musicians from Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the Netherlands, the quartet was selected as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists for 2023-2025. Through this scheme they frequently record for BBC Radio 3 and perform at some of the UK's most renowned festivals and concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, Cheltenham Music Festival, Britten Pears Arts, and the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Contemporary music holds a special place in the Chaos String Quartet's repertoire. They regularly perform works by composers such as György Kurtág, Kaija Saariaho, Helmut Lachenmann, Rebecca Saunders, Dobrinka Tabakova, and Francesca Verunelli. Several composers have written and dedicated works specifically for them, including Diego Conti’s “Une étoile dansante” (2023) and Alessio Elia’s “Voids of Inequality” for string quartet and clarinet, which premiered at the Schwetzinger Mozartfest in October 2024. Additionally, they have collaborated with composer and sound painter Samu Gryllus, creating improvisational transitions for their concert program “Chaos” and working on improvisations inspired by Beethoven’s Quartet Op.131 for their debut at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. In March 2025, they will premiere a new work by Errollyn Wallen, co-commissioned by the BBC and the Henry Barber Trust.

The Trio Concept (formerly Trio Chagall) was born in 2013 from the union of three musicians from Turin: Edoardo Grieco(violin), Francesco Massimino (cello) and Lorenzo Nguyen(piano).

In October 2024, the group changed its name, inspired by the verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti, reflecting their artistic vision: to reveal the beauty enshrined in musical works.

The **Trio Concept** was named ECHO Rising Star for the 2025/2026 season and received the Prix Yves Paternot at the Verbier Festival 2024, the festival's highest honor.

In 2023, after triumphing in the final at London's Wigmore Hall, the Trio became YCAT Artist. The same year, it won first prize at the “Schoenfeld International Competition” in Harbin, China.

In Italy, it won second prize - with first not awarded - and three special prizes at the “Premio Trio di Trieste” in 2019, becoming the youngest chamber ensemble ever awarded in the competition's history.

The Trio has performed in prestigious halls, including Wigmore Hall (London), Verbier Festival, Konzerthaus (Berlin), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Teatro La Fenice (Venice).Edoardo Grieco plays a 1766 Pietro Antonio Landolfi violin, while Francesco Massimino plays Gaetano Sgarabotto's “Reno Gold” cello (1948).

Founded in 2016, the Werther Quartet is considered one of the most promising chamber ensembles on the national and international concert scene. It constitutes one of the rare stable piano quartets in Europe, appreciated for the deep understanding and firm cohesion of its musicians, for the vigour, vitality and originality of its interpretations aimed at authentic understanding and respect for the musical text. Values and directions that the Quartet learned from the Trio di Parma and Pierpaolo Maurizzi, heirs to the great Italian performing tradition, and from Patrick Jüdt and the Central European school of the ECMA (European Chamber Music Academy).

Since its foundation, the Quartet has collaborated with the most important Italian musical institutions and made its debut for the prestigious Kammermusik Basel at the Stadt-Casino in Basel. Institutions the Quartet has been a guest of include the Società del Quartetto di Milano, the Società dei Concerti di Milano, the Società dei Concerti di Trieste, the Fondazione Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Bologna Festival, the Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto, the Amici della Musica di Firenze, Musikamera, the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, the Società dei Concerti di Parma, the Moscow International House of Music, the Festival Musikdorf Ernen.

The Quartet's intense concert activity has been recognised both by the National Association of Italian Critics, which in 2020 awarded it the XXXIX ‘Abbiati’-‘Farulli’ Prize dedicated to the best young ensemble, and by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, which awarded it the President of the Republic's Prize in memory of Giuseppe Sinopoli, delivered directly by Sergio Mattarella during an official ceremony at the Quirinale Palace. They were in fact students of the Academy's Courses in Carlo Fabiano's class, receiving a “special mention for exceptional chamber music skills”, a recognition never awarded in more than 80 years of history of the Academy's Courses.

Over the years they have also been appreciated by international juries, winning Third Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition ‘Trio di Trieste’ 2019, Third Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition of Pinerolo 2023 and Second Prize at the International Competition ‘G. Bergamo’ 2024 in Lugano. 

Since 2018, the Werther has been a member of ‘Le Dimore del Quartetto’, a cultural enterprise that enhances the European artistic heritage. 

Werther also promotes the performance of Italian Contemporary Music, collaborating with famous composers such as Nicola Campogrande and Alessandro Solbiati, whose piece Imago, written and dedicated to the Quartet, was premiered for the Piacenza Concert Society in the 2024/25 Season.

In 2021, the Dutch label Brilliant Classics released Fauré Piano Quartets, the Quartet's first disc, which received positive critical and listening feedback and was broadcast on numerous radio programmes in Italy and beyond the Alps. 

A new recording project, representing the history and spirit of the Quartet, is being released in 2025 by the German label Genuin.

The Ensemble I virtuosi di Sansevero originated from an idea of Riccardo Zamuner, young Neapolitan violinist, who put together some of the most talented string students of the Stauffer Academy in Cremona, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and other important International Academies, to create a string Ensemble without conductor, where every member is an outstanding soloist.

The ensemble is very versatile. In its entirety it consists of 11 musicians, but repertoire written for various chamber ensembles is often programmed: this includes string trio, quartet, quintet, sextet and octet. In many performances the young musicians are joined by world renowned artists.

The project is based on the idea of excellence. In fact, the concert venues are also important artistic places of our city, such as Cappella Sansevero, the Pio Monte della Misericordia and other Churches and Museums.

Furthermore, I Virtuosi di Sansevero support the environment with their slogan “Seminiamo Cultura” (Planting seeds of culture). In every concert venue a plant symbolizes rebirth and hope for a future of natural and spiritual development.All the Ensemble members have an intense concert activity both as soloists and as chamber musicians, as well as in prestigious orchestras, and are prize-winners in important International Competitions.The Ensemble debuted in 2017 in the evocative Cappella Sansevero in Naples. Since then, they have performed in important artistic venues in Naples and in Italy.