Ivry Gitlis (violin)
1922 - 2020
Tribute to our dear friend, Ivry
Ivry Gitlis was not just a guest artist in Musica Mundi. Since his first performance in 2003, he dedicated his wide knowledge and experience as a performer and most of all, as a human being, to the young generation. Musica Mundi became a home for Ivry and Ivry became an integral part of the Musica Mundi family. He was, and still is, our mentor, the joke teller, the philosopher, the teacher but above all, our friend. A friend to all of us. He dared to share with us his heart and his soul. Ivry always took us further, beyond the understanding or not understanding. He played for us a melody of an eternal love and dedication to music and human heart. Thank you Ivry! We will carry on your message to the generations to come… !!!
Maxim Vengerov (violin)
At just 45 years of age, Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world’s most exciting violinists and recently he started a promising conducting career, as well. In May 2000 Vengerov signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics, with whom he made his debut in April 2000. In 1996 he received two Grammy nominations for Classical album of the Year and Best Instrumental Solist with Orchestra. Vengerov received the Edison Award in 1997 in the Best Concerto Recording category, for his Shostakovich and Prokofiev concertos N° 2 recording. In 1997, at the age of twenty-three, Vengerov was appointed Envoy for Music by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the first classical musician to be appointed in this role. He says: “I understood what miracles you can bring back to children with music; this is a universal language that everyone understands, it goes from heart to heart”. Another passion of Vengerov’s musical and personal life is his involvement with young people through giving Masterclasses to aspiring musicians. One such event was recorded by Channel Four Television in the UK as part of a documentary about Vengerov, called ‘Playing by Heart’ shown at the Cannes Television Festival in 1999. Maxim Vengerov performs regularly with all the major orchestras and the most eminent conductors. He is a professor of violin at the University of Music Saarland, Germany and was appointed visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London during 2005. Mr Vengerov wishes to express his gratitude to Mrs Yoko Nagac Ceschina for all her continued support, advice and great help, which made possible the purchase of his unique ‘Ex-Kreutzer’ Stradivarius violin.
Vladimir Perlin (cello)
Vladimir Perlin, started his cello studies at the age of 7 in the music school of Minsk, Belarus. In 1960 he was accepted to the conservatory into the class of the exceptional cellist and musician- Alexander Stogorsky, with whom he finished his cello and chamber music studies. Since 1971 Mr. Perlin dedicates his time for teaching and developing young talents. He is touring regularly with his students and giving master classes in Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, England, Poland, the Vatican, Spain and the U.S.A. His students occupy places in some of the world’s major orchestras and music schools . Two full length documentary films were made about Vladimir Perlin and his class and were broadcasted in different countries. In order to award his life achievements in education, the French government granted him with the title of “Officier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques”.
Alexandra Soumm (violin)
French violinist Alexandra Soumm is a multi-faceted artist who is equally at home in concerto and chamber repertoire. Orchestras with which she has collaborated in recent years include Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Helinski Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Tokyo Symphony. As a chamber musician, she has given recitals at the Auditorium du Louvre (Paris), Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), and Wigmore Hall (London). She has also appeared at international festivals such as the City of London Festival, Deauville, Montpellier, MDR Musiksommer, Schleswig-Holstein, Verbier, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad and Varna. Born in Moscow, Alexandra started to learn the violin with her father at the age of five and gave her first concert two years later. She later moved to Vienna to study with the renowned pedagogue Boris Kuschnir and won the Eurovision Competition in 2004. Now based in Paris, she, along with two friends, founded non-profit organisation Esperanz’Arts in 2012, which was the culmination of four years’ involvement in charity projects aimed at creating opportunities through the arts. In January 2013, Alexandra was named Godmother of the newly established El Sistema France. The violin Alexandra plays on is made by Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini in Turin c.1785 and is known as the ‘ex-Kavakos’. The loan of the instrument by a benefactor is a part of the London Music Masters Award and has kindly been arranged through Florian Leonhard Fine Violins, London.
Jacques Rouvier (piano)
Born in Marseille in a musicians family, Jacques Rouvier studied with Vlado Perlemuter, Pierre Sancan and Jean Hubeau at the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music, where he obtained first prizes in Piano and Chamber Music. He also completed his education with harmony and orchestra conducting. He owes Pierre Barbizet and Jean Fassina a great pedagogic and human enrichment. Prize winner of several competitions including the Viotti, Maria Canals, European Union of Radios and Long-Thibaud, he created in 1970 the Rouvier-Kantorow-Muller piano trio with whom he performed during 35 years. He participated as a soloist or chamber musician in many festivals and academies (Prades,Spoleto, Aix- en- Provence, Kuhmo, Holland Music Sessions... ) and was invited to do master-classes all around the world. His recordings of complete works for piano by Maurice Ravel and sonatas for violin and piano by Ravel and Debussy were awarded „Grand Prix du Disque“. He also recorded the complete works by Claude Debussy (DENON) and more than 30 other CDs. Invited to participate in the juries of many prestigious international competitions (Tschaikowsky, Montreal, Marguerite-Long, Dublin, Leeds, Hamamatsu, Santander, Seoul, Geneve...) he has been teaching at CNSM de Paris since 1979 and also at UdK Berlin since 2006. He is now professor at Mozarteum-Salzburg and in the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo, Belgium.
Jérôme Pernoo (cello)
Born in Nantes, Jérôme Pernoo studied with Germaine Fleury, Xavier Gagnepain and Philippe Muller at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris. In 1994, he was prize winner at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow as well as at the Rostropovitch Competition in Paris and, in 1996, he won the Pretoria Competition. Jérôme Pernoo has performed with most of the major french symphony orchestras as well as with the Deutsches-Symfonie Orchester Berlin, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich, the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, the National Orchestra of Spain in Madrid. He appears in recital with the pianist Jérôme Ducros on some of the world’s most renowned stages : the Wigmore Hall in London, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. His others partners in chamber music are : Alina Ibragimova, Renaud Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Antoine Tamestit, Henri Demarquette, Christophe Coin, Frank Braley, Nicholas Angelich, Eric Le Sage, Bertrand Chamayou, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, quatuors Ebène, Modigliani, Chiaroscuro… The season 2014/15 was highlighted by his premiere in Berlin Philharmonie and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Marc Minkowski. Jérôme Pernoo is founder and artistic director of the music festival “Les vacances de Monsieur Haydn” in La Roche Posay, which first edition took place in September 2005. He plays a baroque cello and a piccolo cello. Both instruments are Italian and were built in the 18th century by the Milanese School. He also plays a modern cello made for him by Franck Ravatin.
Andreas Frölich (piano)
German pianist Andreas Frölich studied with Stefan Askenase , Vitaly Margulis in Freiburg and Pavel Gililov in Cologne . He was prizewinner of several international piano competitions , as in Senigallia , Finale Ligure, Milano ,Vienna....He concertises in the most famous venues in Europe, South America, Asia, South Africa and Australia like Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Solitär Salzburg, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Cologne Philharmonie, Munich Philharmonie "Gasteig",Konzerthaus Berlin, Hamburg Musikhalle, Bielefeld Oetkerhalle, Stuttgart Liederhalle, Wiesbaden Kurhaus, Teatro municipal Rio de Janeiro, Teatro Alfa y Cultura artistica Sao Paolo, de Doelen Rotterdam , Vredenburg Utrecht, Salle Gaveau Paris,Caroussel de Louvre Paris, Mozarteum Salzburg and many others as well as in the most important music fertivals , such as Rheingau Musikfestival, Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, Salzburg, Emilia Romagna Festival, Schubertiade Roskilde and many other Festivals worldwide. As a soloist Andreas Frölich appeared with many famous orchestras , among them Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Wiener Kammerphilharmonie, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, Münchener Kammerorchester, Colegium instrumentale Halle, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz ,Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, Würtembergisches Kammerorchester , Suk Chamber orchestra Prag ,orquesta sinfonica de Monterrey /Mexico , Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic Moskau, Radio Symphonique Luxembourg and many others Andreas Frölich is pianist of the Mendelssohn Trio Berlin and he often performed with Ensemble Wien led by the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. He is professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln -Aachen He is often inivited as jury member in many international piano competitions (Madrid, Beethoven competition Bonn, Valencia, Ferrol, Granada , Enschede/NL, Brussels , Japan piano open / Tokyo ,Campillos/ Spain, Larnaca/Cyprus, Gorizia/ Italy , Skrjabin, Grosseto, Hongkong /Guanghzhou, La Rioja/Spain, Russian Int.piano Competition)Andreas Frölich is an official Steinway Artist.
Sivan Magen (harp)
Praised by the press as “a magician” (New York’s WQXR) whose "brilliant sound and remarkable technical acumen shatter any stereotype of his instrument" (The NY Times), Sivan Magen is the only Israeli to have ever won the International Harp Contest in Israel. Sivan Magen is a winner of the Pro Musicis International Award and in 2012 was chosen by a committee headed by Dame Mitsuko Uchida as the winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He appeared as a soloist across the US, South America, Europe and Israel, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Vienna Konzerthaus, and with orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Sydney Symphony and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Aside from his activity as a soloist, Mr Magen is an avid chamber musician and has appeared at the Marlboro, Aspen, Rosendal, Kuhmo, Delft, and Jerusalem International Chamber Music festivals, with Musicians from Marlboro, and collaborated with artists such as Nobuko Imai, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Gary Hoffman, Emmanuel Pahud, Susanna Phillips, the Danel, Pacifica, Ariel, Calder and Dover quartets and members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets. He is a founding member of trio Tre Voci with flutist Marina Piccinini and violist Kim Kashkashian, with whom he has toured extensively in Europe and the US, and has released to great critical acclaim a CD for ECM of music by Debussy, Gubaidulina and Takemitsu. This past season, which was their 10th anniversary season, included extended tours in the west coast of the US, as well as in Canada, Europe and Israel. Mr Magen is also gaining a reputation as a sought-after teacher, presenting masterclasses in schools such as The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute, The Peabody Institute, The New England Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, London’s Royal Academy, Royal College, Guildhall School and Trinity College, as well as the summer Academy in Nice, the Kuhmo Festival Academy in Finland, and the Aspen Music Festival. Born in Jerusalem, he continued his studies with Germaine Lorenzini in France and then joined Isabelle Moretti’s harp class at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) from which he graduated with a “Premier Prix”. He has then completed a Master of Music degree as a student of Nancy Allen at the Juilliard School. Since fall 2017 he is Principal Harpist of the Finnish Radio Symphony.
Zvi Carmeli (viola)
Born 1965 in Jerusalem, Israel, Zvi Carmeli is internationally renowned as a violist and teacher. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Zvi served as Principal Violist of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and acted as guest Principal Violist of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra Roma, WDR Köln, Germany, Camerata Salzburg Austria, among others. As soloist he has appeared with the Israel Camerata Jerusalem, the European Community Orchestra, the Gorzow and Lodz Philharmonics in Poland, Kuopio Symphony in Finland, Klaipeda chamber orchestra in Lithuania, Salzburg Chamber Soloists and more. He participated in Chamber Music festivals such as the Emila Romagna and Brescia festivals in Italy, Prussia Cove and Ulverston festivals in England, the Israel Festival and the Galil Elion Festival in Israel and more. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as Vadim Repin, Homero Francesch and the Fine Arts Quartet, and was the founding member of the SoLaRe String Trio, winner of the Netherlands Impresaariat National Competition, touring throughout Europe, USA and Israel, including recordings for national radio stations in Holland, Spain and USA.
Zvi has recorded Chamber Music CDs for leading labels such as Ottavo, Divox, Ars Nova, Edel Berlin
Classics and Kontrpunkt. Zvi Carmeli is a Senior Lecturer of Viola and Chamber Music at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he also is head of the Nazarian Program of Excellence in Chamber Music.
Nathan Braude (viola)
The Belgian-Israeli violist Nathan Braude has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious concert venues including the Wigmore Hall in London, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Köln Philharmonie and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Nathan Braude has also appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the “Brussels Philharmonic”, “Orchestre National de Lille”, “Orchestra della Svizzera italiana”, «Stavanger Symphony Orchestra», “Gürzenich Orchester, Köln”, “Australian Chamber Orchestra”, “Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège”, “Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen”, “Limburgs Symfonie Orkest”, “Solistes Européens Luxembourg”… Festival appearances include “Progretto Martha Argerich” in Lugano, “Ravinia Festival” in Chicago ,‘’Festival de Radio France” in Montpellier’’, «Oxford International Chamber Music Festival», Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival» amongst many others. Nathan’s numerous chamber music partners have included artists such as Patricia Kopachinskaja, Vilde Frang, Priya Mitchell, Ilya Gringolts, Mischa Maisky, Sol Gabetta and his wife Polina Leschenko. Since September 2017 Nathan became professor of viola at the Royal College of Music in London. As of September 2022 Nathan will be a viola professor in the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo Belgium. Nathan Braude plays a viola by Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza (Milano, 1772). Benjamin Braude is the artistic director of the festival „rencontres musicales de Leotoing“ – France