Katharine Gowers studied with David Takeno at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Guildhall School of Music, with Roland and Almita Vamos at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and with Joey Corpus in New York. Her concerto appearances have included performances with the Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras, and with the BBC Big Band and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. She has also toured with Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra playing Bach's Double Violin Concerto. Katharine has performed extensively throughout Britain and abroad in recital and as a chamber musician, collaborating with artists such as Alfred Brendel, with whom she played in a piano quartet on a worldwide chamber music tour, Imogen Cooper, Denes Zsigmondy, Steven Kovacevich and Steven Isserlis. Katharine has appeared at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Aldeburgh Proms, and at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Salzburg, Bath, Lucerne, Delft, Vancouver, City of London, Heimbach, Spoleto and Oxford festivals, and in 2003 and 2005 was a featured artist at the Presteigne Festival. She regularly attends the Open Chamber Music seminar at IMS Prussia Cove. A keen interest in the similarities between music and drama has led Katharine to participate in workshops run by the theatre company Complicite, working with Pascal Lecoq and Krikor Belekian of LEM (Le Laboratoire d’Etude du Mouvement), and with one of Europe's foremost theatre teachers, Monika Pagneux. Katharine was recently involved in an experimental opera project, combining onstage soprano, aerialist and violinist. It was performed at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre as part of their Firsts season.
Israeli pianist Noam Greenberg studied at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv and at Yale University, before moving to London to study with Maria Curcio. His life was changed by his visit to the International Musicians’ Seminar Prussia Cove in 2001, for Master Classes with Ferenc Rados and András Schiff. Many lessons with Ferenc Rados followed in Budapest, and regular visits to the Open Chamber Music Seminars at IMS Prussia Cove. Noam now enjoys a busy concert schedule as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in both the traditional repertoire and new music and has appeared on many European stages including the Wigmore Hall in London, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berlin Konzerthaus and Parco della Musica Roma. An avid performer of contemporary music, he has given many Israeli premieres including Ligeti’s Piano Concerto, in a performance broadcast live by the European Broadcasting Union. He is also a founding member of the Ulysses Ensemble, dedicated to 20th century and contemporary chamber music repertoire. He has participated in the festivals of Lucerne, Aldeburgh, Banff, Norfolk, Lapland, Orlando, Schleswig-Holstein, Stage-Barcelona, and IMS Prussia Cove. He is a member of the Waldstein Ensemble together with Gerhard Schulz, Guy Ben-Ziony, and Lilia Bayrova.
Born in 1976, Armenian cellist Mikayel Hakhnazaryan began his studies at the age of nine in Armenia and won his first competition at the age of 13. He graduated from the State Conservatory, continued his studies at Academie de Musique Tibor Varga in Sion with Marcio Carneiro and completed his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel with Ivan Monighetti. During his studies in Switzerland Mikayel Hakhnazaryan regulary appeared in concerts as soloist and chamber musician. He has been principal cellist of Schleswig-Holstein festival orchestra in 1999 and member of Australian Chamber Orchestra in summer 2000. The Basque National Orchestra (Spain), the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester (Switzerland), the Camerata Bern (Switzerland) and the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn (Germany) invited him as guest solo- cellist in the year 2008. From 2001- 2004 he played in the Zurich String Trio which he had toured with extensively and made numerous recordings including the complete recording of Beethoven string trios and string quintets. 2004 Mikayel Hakhnazaryan became member of the Basler Streichquartett and played with them until joining the Kuss Quartett in 2008. He has been very inspired by Steven Iserliss, played in his master classes numerous times and has subsequently become a regular participant at IMS Prussia Cove's Open Chamber Music Seminars. Teaching experience including master classes given at Levin School of Music Washington, Universities in Durban and Johannesburg as well as in Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh. Mikayel plays on a C. G. Testore cello built in 1690.
At the age of fifteen Chen Halevi’s debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta created a sensation. Haaretz wrote: “This boy is blessed with a wonderful fusion of artistic musicality and amazing playing technique, all in the service of the muses.” Since then he has performed with several of the most important orchestras in the United States, Europe, and Japan, including the Israel Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the European Soloists, the Heilbronn Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Jerusalem Radio Orchestra, the MDR Philharmonic Leipzig, the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, and the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. A frequent participant in summer festivals, Chen Halevi has appeared at the Marlboro, Ravinia, and Santa Fe Festivals in the US, while his European appearances have included stops at Schlesswig‑Holstein, Colmar, Forcalquier, IMS, Davos, and Verbier Chamber Music Festivals, as well as the PMF Festival in Japan and the Perth International Arts Festival. A great lover of chamber music, Chen Halevi has performed with Pinchas Zuckerman and Christoph Eschenbach, as well as numerous well-known string quartets, including the Keller, Szymanowski, Fine arts, Miro, Prazac, and St. Lawrence. He is internationally acknowledged as a master specialist in the performance of contemporary music. Teaching and giving master classes feature as important priorities in his career. He is currently the Clarinet Professor in the Trossingen Hochschule for Music in Germany and has travelled all over the world to give Master Classes to spread his school of teaching and playing.
Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto is one of the most versatile and distinctive musicians working today. Always demonstrating his extraordinary individuality and imagination, Pekka is unusually fluid in his approach and has been acclaimed for the spontaneity of his playing. Pekka is increasingly seen directing ensembles from the violin, including the London, Scottish, Irish and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. Last season, he returned to the Australian Chamber Orchestra and this season, he directs the Britten Sinfonia in a major tour of the Netherlands and UK, as well as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Munich Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Nordica. Other highlights of this season include a performance of the Thomas Adčs Violin Concerto under the baton of the composer himself, and his role of Resident Artist at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s “Sibelius Festival” in April 2010. Setting Pekka apart from most other violinists of his generation is his desire and ability to improvise and his love of playing many different styles of music, channelling the same intensity into each genre. “Playing folk, jazz, electronic music and improvising as well as classical music has really given me the relationship I have with my violin."