Musicians | Cello Biënnale Amsterdam

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Jean-Guihen Queyras

Jean-Guihen Queyras (Montreal, 1967) has been involved with the Biënnale from the very start and has given countless memorable performances over the years at the festival. Queyras is known for his broad repertoire. He performs cello concertos by Haydn and Vivaldi just as well as he performs music by Dallapiccola, Kurtág, Ligeti, Webern, Boulez, and Gilbert Amy. He is a part of various chamber ensembles, including a piano trio with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov, and an ensemble with tombak specialists Kevan and Bijan Chemirani and kemenche player Sokratis Sinopoulos. In 2016 and 2018, he performed as soloist in Joël Bons’ Nomaden, which was composed specially for Queyras and the Atlas Ensemble. Queyras is a professor at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg and is the Artistic Director of the festival Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence. In 2022, Jean-Guihen Queyras received the Anner Bijlsma Award at the Opening Concert of the Cello Biënnale.

Andrey Gugnin

Trained at the Moscow Conservatory, Andrey Gugnin won first prizes at the international piano competitions in Sydney, and Dubai, the German Piano Award, and the second prize at the Beethoven Competition. Gugnin is a regular guest of Vienna’s Musikverein, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Victoria Hall, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, the Louvre in Paris, Tokyo Metropolitan, Verbier Festival, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and the Cziffra Festival.

Jonathan Cohen

Jonathan Cohen is a harpsichordist as well as a conductor, and he began his career as a baroque cellist. When he worked in that capacity with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, he got the chance to assist him and conduct him himself. That was also the time he transformed from pianist to continuo player. With all that, he grew into a globally renowned baroque specialist. He is currently associated with various ensembles and organisations such as Les Violons du Roy, the Tetbury Music Festival, Les Arts Florissants and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a guest, he performed with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He also conducted opera productions at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In 2010, he founded Arcangelo. It soon became one of the leading baroque companies with which he performed worldwide in venues including the Wigmore Hall in London, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Wiener Musikverein and Carnegie Hall in New York. With Nicolas Altstaedt, he recorded a CD of Bach works for viola da gamba and harpsichord in 2013.

Silvia Gira

Silvia Gira (1998), from Palermo, is currently attending a second-level Master at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Maarten Mostert and Pieter Wispelwey. Before that she studied at the A. Scarlatti Conservatory and with Antonio Meneses at the Accademia Walter Stauffer and Accademia Chigiana. She also studied at Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia in the class of Giovanni Sollima.

Charlotte Brussee

Charlotte Brussee (1999) was admitted to the Sweelinck Academy of the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2014. At this conservatory she had lessons with Monique Bartels and Maarten Mostert, and most recently with Michael Stirling, with whom she completed her Bachelor studies. From season 23/24 she continued her (master)studies at the Hochschüle für Musik Detmold, with Xenia Jankovic.

Marianne Fusenig

Marianne Fusenig (2003) started learning the cello at the age of 4. In 2017, she entered the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg to study with Claude Giampellegrini until she was accepted at the Musikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere Weimar in 2019 and continued her studies with Prof. Tim Stolzenburg. Currently, she is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in the class of Michel Strauss and Jan Ype Nota at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.

Laurens Toet

Laurens Toet (1999) began playing the cello with Frank Spronk and continued his studies with Paul Uyterlinde. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Larissa Groeneveld and Michel Strauss. He has attended masterclasses with Troels Svane and Gustav Rivinius. Additionally, Laurens sang for many years in the National Boys Choir and the National Mixed Youth Choir under the direction of Wilma ten Wolde. Laurens plays a 19th century French cello and bow made by Andreas Grütter on loan from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

Ori Ron

Ori Ron (1998) is a cellist, composer, and improviser from Israel. Began studying cello with Ms. Hilla Epstein in Givatayim Conservatory, and in age 13 started to study with Prof. Hillel Zori. Ori studied in Thelma Yellin High School and graduated from Buchmann Mehta School of Music with a bachelor’s degree. In September 2023 Ori started his master’s degree in Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the class of Pieter Wispelwey.

Margherita Maria Gianna Succio

Conservatory of Alessandria and received her bachelor’s degree in 2020. In the meantime, she also studied with Antonio Meneses at the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona, at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and at the Hochschule der Künste Bern, HKB, where she obtained her MA in Music Performance Classical in 2022 and in 2023 with Giovanni Gnocchi at the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna. She is currently a student at the Maastricht Conservatory in Gabriel Schwabe's class.

Bruno Tobon

Bruno Tobon (1999) is a graduate of the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, where he studied under Denis Brott, Bruno has taken masterclasses with renowned cellists like Johannes Moser and Mischa Maisky. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague with Jan Ype Nota and Michel Strauss

Mudrė Buckutė

Mudrė Buckutė (2004), born in Lithuania, has lived in the Netherlands most of her life. She studied at the Young Talent Department of the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague. Now she is studying at the same school in her third year of Bachelor at the same school, studying with Lucia Swarts.

Beste Yıldız

The Turkish cellist Beste Yıldız (2001) began his musical journey at the age of 9 under Viatcheslav Kainov. In 2019, he started his bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague under the g…

Hattie McGregor

Hattie McGregor (2003) studies at Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag with Lucia Swarts. She previously studied cello with John Myerscough (Doric String Quartet) and baroque cello with Jonathan Manson at the Royal Academy of Music, and with Matthijs Broersma at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Efstratia Chaloulakou

Efstratia Chaloulakou graduated cum laude from Thessaloniki’s Conservatory and University with Dimitris Patras. She was an intern of the Rotterdam Philharmonish Orchestra for the 2023/24 season, principal cellist of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra, and has participated in masterclasses with Konstantin Heidrich, Leonid Gorokhov, and Claudio Bohórquez. Since September 2024 she follows her Master studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Ella van Poucke.

Thomas Prechal

From a young age, cellist and composer Thomas Prechal has been captivated by music. A former student of the Academy for Musical Talent in Utrecht Thomas has been studying cello at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) since September 2022, where he also receives intensive education in musical analysis, harmony, and orchestral conducting.

Thomas Larichelière-Banken

Thomas Larichelière-Banken started to play cello at the age of 5 and is now at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the studio of Mick Stirling. Thomas has received coachings from numerous cellists such as Xenia Jankovic, Rudolph Leopold, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Lynn Harrell, Michel Strauss and Lluis Claret. Thomas is playing on a Benjamin Banks cello from 1785 and a W.E. Hill & Sons bow, generously loaned by the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds. Thomas wants to thank the Foundation Jeunesses Musicales Canada for their financial support.

Andrej van Brakel

Andrej is currently studying at the Conservatory of Lübeck under Prof. Troels Svane, having previously received instruction from Prof. Godfried Hoogeveen and Prof. Gabriel Schwabe. From 2020-2022, he served as principal cellist of the Dutch Youth Orchestra and plays on a cello crafted by Mathijs Heyligers which is being provided by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

Joshua Hassler-Forest

Joshua Hassler-Forest developed a passion for the cello at a very young age. After several years in the young talent class at the Prins Claus Conservatorium, where he studied with Corine ’t Hoen, he studied for six years at the Sweelinck Academy at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Maarten Mostert. Since September 2024 he started his Bachelor Studies with Pieter Wispelwey.

Irene Kok

Irene Kok completed her master's studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2016 where she studied with Jeroen den Herder and baroque cello with Viola de Hoog, after which she continued her education with postgraduate studies at The University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Reinhard Latzko and a chamber music master's with Johannes Meissl. Irene Kok was successful at several competitions; among others, she won first prize at the Princess Christina Competition. She was laureate of ‘The 17th Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music competition’ in Poland and the York Early Music Competition. She also won first prize at the Euroconcours cello in 2012. Since 2017, Irene Kok has been a stipendiate of the Yehudi Menuhin ‘live music now’ Foundation in Vienna. Irene Kok is part of Trio Immersio in Austria and the Chimaera Trio in the Netherlands. She plays a Capicchioni cello from Cremona made available to her by the National Musical Instruments Fund.

Gary Hoffman

Rembrandt Trio

The Rembrandt Trio is internationally renowned for their artistic curiosity and innovative collaborations, which continuously keep moving jazz forward. Their album “It’s Still Autumn” – hailed by the press as ‘groundbreaking’ – opened the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2019. A true working band, they rehearse weekly and tour all over the world. Recent highlights for the trio included a double bill concert with Chick Corea at legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in London. They were also the opening act at the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan, where they played for 60.000 enthusiastic jazz fans. The Rembrandt Trio also plays a pioneering role in collaboration with numerous European musicians, teaming up with Paolo Fresu, Vincent Peirani, Norma Winstone, Verneri Pohjola Kayhan Kalhor, Sylvain Rifflet, and Perico Sambeat. Rembrandt Frerichs – piano & composer Tony Overwater – acoustic bass Vinsent Planjer – drums

Antony Hermus

Few conductors have achieved the amount of success that Antony Hermus (The Netherlands, 1973) did at such a young age. After receiving his degrees in piano and orchestral conducting from the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg, he was appointed director of the opera and symphony orchestra in Hagen, Germany. He was the General Music Director of the Anhaltische Theater in Dessau (Germany) from 2009 to 2015, where his performances as conductor included parts of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen. When he left, he was named honorary conductor for his great services. He has since directed opera productions at the Paris Opera and the Dutch Touring Opera, among others, and has performed as a guest conductor with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberger Symphoniker, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. After his time as the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra’s primary guest conductor, the orchestra named him honorary conductor. Since 2022, Antony Hermus has been the chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, with which he accompanied the 12 violinists in the Finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels this year.

Tarmo Peltokoski

The young Finnish pianist and conductor Tarmo Peltokoski (2000) studied piano at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and has performed as a soloist with almost all Finnish orchestras. He started his conducting studies at age 14 with the renowned conducting pedagogue Jorma Panula. In 2023, Peltokoski was named principal guest conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for four years. He is also the Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and, from the start of the 2025-2026 season, will be the chief conductor of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Charlotte Spruit

Charlotte Spruit (Netherland, 2000) began her violin studies aged 4 with Coosje Wijzenbeek. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music with David Takeno, and with Ying Xue at the Royal Academy of Music. She is currently pursuing her Master's degree at the Royal Academy of Music with Rachel Podger, Pavlo Beznosiuk, and Ying Xue. In 2022, Charlotte won the first prize as well as the audience prize and the Genuin Classics prize at the Leipzig International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. In 2023, Charlotte was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International Auditions held at Wigmore Hall. Charlotte is also prize winner at many other national and international competitions, such as the Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition, Concours International Arthur Grumiaux, and the Oskar Back Violin Competition. In 2020, Charlotte received the Anton Kersjes Violin Prize. As a soloist, Charlotte has played with numerous orchestras, including the Residentie Orkest The Hague, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pauliner Barockensemble, and Ensemble Esperanza. Charlotte plays an 18th-century anonymous Italian violin, kindly on loan from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

Gregory Charette

Gregory Charette (Los Angeles, 1987) is a conductor and programmer deeply committed to the performance and promotion of new music. He is currently music director of Oerknal, a contemporary music collective dedicated to reimagining and reinvigorating the concert experience. He studied with Pierre Boulez at the 2011 Luzern Festival and has served as conductor in the Holland Festival’s John Cage Centennial as well as the Aldeburgh Festival’s Emerging Composers Program, where he has worked closely with Oliver Knussen and Colin Matthews. He made his debut with Asko|Schönberg in the opening concert of the 2012 Gaudeamus Festival. Gregory earned his Bachelor of Music in composition from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Lewis Nielson and participated in master-classes with Helmut Lachenmann, David Lang, and Rebecca Saunders. He moved to The Netherlands to study orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. His primary teachers were Jac van Steen and Kenneth Montgomery. Engagements have included concerts with Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Residentie Orkest, RTSH Orchestra (Albania), Kosovo Philharmonic, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Asko|Schönberg, Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble Contrechamps, Britten-Pears Ensemble and SONEMUS Ensemble (Bosnia).

Kalle de Bie

Kalle de Bie (1994) started playing the cello aged 6. From 2008, he studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Jeroen den Herder, Jelena Očić, and Dmitri Ferschtman. Kalle finished his studies at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, studying with the acclaimed cello pedagogue Reinhard Latzko. In October 2016, Kalle was awarded the Start-in-Splendor Prize at the National Cello Competition, thus winning a carte blanche in Splendor Amsterdam. He created a musical and visual journey through the surrealist world of French composer Henri Dutilleux. Previously, Kalle has also been a part of other various projects that included film, poetry, and dance. He is the cellist of the Brackman Trio and the Marigold Piano Quartet. Kalle also plays with the collective Pynarello.

Mila Baslawskaja

Mila Baslawskaja was born in Moscow and studied at the Central Music School and the Conservatory in Moscow. She gave many recitals in Russia from an early age. She has performed with musicians such as Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Gidon Kremer, and Yuri Bashmet. In 1978, she left the Soviet Union with her husband, cellist Dmitry Ferschtman, and settled in The Netherlands. She has performed with him in various countries and together they have recorded works by Nikolai Myaskovsky, Alfred Schnittke, Dmitri Shostakovich, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann, César Franck, as well as Russian romances. Baslawskaja has been a piano professor at the Conservatories in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. She is currently a professor at the young talent department of the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Matthias Pintscher

Matthias Pintscher (Germany, 1971) became successful as a composer at a young age. His work has been performed numerous times by orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. In The Netherlands, his compositions were regularly included in the programming of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has been on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York since 2014. Matthias Pintscher was appointed Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony in 2024 and is the principal conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra. He was the chief conductor of Ensemble intercontemporain from 2013 to 2024. He has appeared as a guest conductor with numerous orchestras in Europe, the United States, and Australia; recently, he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Genevieve Verhage

Geneviève Verhage (1985) is a versatile cellist with a passion for chamber music, renowned for her musicality and strong personality. She is a co-founder of the Ragazze Quartet, where she was the cellist from 1999 to 2013. She is currently a member of Cello Octet Amsterdam and regularly performs with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Pynarello, and LUDWIG. In addition to classical concerts, Geneviève also gives theatre performances. She has toured with Orkater/Via Berlin, Oorkaan, the National Opera and Ballet, and Circus Treurdier, and has performed with LeineRoebana and Nynke Laverman & Sytze Pruiksma. Geneviève studied with Monique Bartels and Melissa Phelps at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Royal College of Music in London. With the Ragazze Quartet, she also completed the full-time course of the Dutch String Quartet Academy studying with Stefan Metz and Marc Danel. She has received invaluable help in the development of her playing through masterclasses with Jean-Guihen Queyras, Bernard Greenhouse, Luc-Marie Aguera, and the Kronos Quartet, as well as with directors Ria Marks and Titus Tiel Groenestege. Geneviève plays a Hippolyte Silvestre cello from 1865, made available to her by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

Kristian Bezuidenhout

Kristian Bezuidenhout was born in South Africa, grew up and began his piano studies in Australia, continued his education in New York, and currently lives in London. He studied piano with Rebecca Penneys, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, harpsichord with Arthur Haas, and basso continuo with Paul O’Dette. In 2001, he won both the first prize and the audience prize at the Bruges Fortepiano Competition. He is a regular guest soloist with ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Les Arts Florissants, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. He has guest directed – from the keyboard – the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), Tafelmusik, the Dunedin Consort, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others. Kristian Bezuidenhout has been a part of the artistic direction of the Freiburger Barockorchester since the 2017/2018 season and is the principal guest conductor of The English Concert.

Hossein Behroozinia

Hossein Behroozinia (Tehran, 1962) is a well-known barbat and oud player. Both these instruments are considered predecessors of the lute, although microtonality did not allow for the use of frets. Behroozinia studied oud with Mansour Nariman at the Conservatory of Tehran and went on to become the Music Director of the Ensemble Khaleghi. Behroozinia distinguishes himself through his virtuosity and his deep knowledge of Persian classical music as well as his country’s folklore.

Naghib Shanbehzadeh

Young skilled percussionist, Naghib Shanbehzadeh began playing music in Boushehr and Kish with his father at the age of 3 years old. He learnt traditional percussions from the south of Iran (Dammâm, Doholgap, Pipè, Kesser, Tempo) and classical ones (Zarb). Since the age of 10, he plays concerts with famous musicians as Billy Cobham, Manu Codja or Matthieu Donarier. Now, he studies occidental percussions at the Conservatoire de Créteil.

Thomas Dunford

Thomas Dunford (Parijs,1988) werd op zijn negende op het spoor van de luit gezet door zijn eerste docent, Claire Antonini. In 2006 studeerde hij in zijn geboortestad af aan het Conservatoire de Paris bij Charles-Edouard Fantin en in 2009 aan de Schola Cantorum in Bazel bij Hopkinson Smith. Masterclasses volgde hij van onder anderen Rolf Lislevand, Julian Bream en Paul O’Dette. Zijn eerste podiumervaring deed Thomas Dunford op toen hij in de periode 2003–2005 de rol van luitist speelde in Shakespeares Twelfth Night aan de Comédie française. Recitals gaf hij sindsdien van Carnegie Hall en de Frick Collection in New York tot Wigmore Hall in Londen en het Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. Ook maakte hij zijn opwachting op de festivals van Ambronay, Nantes, Saintes en Utrecht en trad hij op in Brazilië, Colombia, Chili, Mexico, Israël, China, Japan en India. Naar aanleiding van zijn debuut-cd Lachrimae (2012) noemde BBC Magazine hem de ‘Eric Clapton van de luit’.

Thomas Beijer

Thomas Beijer (Haarlem, 1988) studied with Jan Wijn at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2011. He continued his education with Cuban pianist Jorge Luis Prats and received masterclasses from Emanuel Ax, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Pascal Devoyon, Jacques Rouvier, and Elza Kolodin. Beijer also follopwed composition lessons with Elmer Schönberger in Amsterdam and Malcolm Singer in London. In addition to his career as a pianist and composer, Thomas Beijer is active as a writer and illustrator. His debut novella, Geen Jalapeños, was published in 2017 by the publisher Prometheus. Thomas Beijer has been the Artistic Director of the Young Pianist Foundation since 2019. In 2022, Thomas Beijer received the prestigious Dutch Music Prize, the highest honour bestowed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science to a musician working in classical music.

Soheil Shayesteh

Soheil Shayesteh is an audio-visual composer, violinist, and Kamancheh player born in Iran and based in Amsterdam. His interest in exploring the sound of the Kamancheh with live electronics has led him to develop audio processing units which are unique to the instrument. He has developed a unique style of playing the Kamancheh because he believes that his instruments extended by live electronics and visuals are new instruments that require a new vocabulary. As a composer, Soheil has achieved significant recognition for his work, including winning the first prize at the 'Tera de Marez Oyens' award with his audio-visual composition ‘Zha’ for kamancheh, live electronics and visuals.

Philipp Scheucher

Philipp Scheucher (Austria, 1993) studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz with Markus Schirmer, among others. He completed his studies in 2022 at the Royal College of Music in London. He has won various prizes at international piano competitions, such as the ARD Competition in Munich and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. Philipp Scheucher is now a professor in Graz himself and is the regular duo partner of Reinhard Latzko.

Noriko Yabe

Japanese pianist Noriko Yabe was born in Yokohama and received her first piano lessons at the age of six. Her talent was discovered soon after and it wasn’t long before she gave her first concerts. When she was twelve years old, she made her solo debut with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in the United States of America. After completing her studies at the Toho Gakuen High School and College of Music in Tokyo, she continued her education with Willem Brons at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where she graduated in 2003. She has given concerts in Japan, The Netherlands, Slovakia, het Czech Republic, and the United States of America. Noriko is currently an accompanist at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and she has been the accompanist at the International Holland Music Sessions’ Summer Academy (Bergen, NH) since 2004. She has been the principal accompanist for masterclasses from the first Cello Biënnale in 2006.

Martin Fondse

Martin Fondse (Bergen op Zoom, 1967) studied piano and non-classical music at the University of the Arts in Arnhem. He went on to study composition at the Cologne University of Music and Arts. His principal teacher was the American trombonist, composer and arranger Bob Brookmeyer. His piano teachers included Robert Vermeulen, Rob van den Broeck, and Kenny Werner. In the nineties, Martin Fondse formed the octet De Achtbaan, later known as the Martin Findse Oktemble. This ensemble includes experienced musicians as well as young talent. He went on to start a small big band, the Groove Troopers. In 2008, he founded the Starvinsky Orkestar, which was later renamed the Martin Fondse Orchestra. His compositions range from classical to jazz, and he performs himself in addition to composing: since 2009, he has performed on the vibrandoneon in solo concerts as well as in ensembles. In 2017, he received the prestigious Boy Edgar Prize. In November 2021, Martin Fondse was named Componist des Vaderlands for two years, the fourth after Willem Jeths (2014), Mayke Nas (2016), and Calliope Tsoupaki (2018). In 2012, Martin Fondse directed the Hello Cello Orchestra.

Mark Haanstra

Mark Haanstra is a versatile bass player from The Netherlands. He studied bass at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he graduated cum laude in 1997. His distinct sound, groove, and flexibility make him a highly demanded musician among bands, ensembles, and orchestras across many genres. Mark has won various prizes, including at the Dutch Jazz Competition with the Nemesis Quartet (1994), Geel (1998), and Agog (2002). He has performed with various major ensembles such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nieuw Ensemble, and Asko|Schönberg. He is also the soloist in Steve Mackay’s Grammy Award-winning work Dreamhouse, which has been performed and recorded by several renowned orchestras such as the BBC and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. Mark has an affinity with Indian music thanks to his studies of South Indian music and composition with Rafael Reina at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and he went on to study with Indian musicians in South India.

Kris Berry

Born in Curaçao in 1982, Kris Berry is a Dutch singer with Caribbean roots. Growing up, she was surrounded by many different styles of music, which strongly influenced her own sound. Berry launched her musical career with her debut album Marbles in 2012, a mix of jazz, soul, and Caribbean influences, which won her immediate success in the Dutch music scene. Her music is characterised by a warm, soulful voice and a versatile style combining element of jazz, blues, pop, and Latin. In 2013, she collaborated with singer-songwriter Perquisite to release the album Lovestruck Puzzles, which further increased her renown. Over the years, Berry has had numerous collaborations and remains a respected name in the Dutch music world. Her work is known for its deep emotion and displays a strong connection to her Caribbean roots, giving her music a unique flair.

Karel Deseure

Karel Deseure (1983) studied flute and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels and continued his education in Berlin. Deseure started his career as an assistant conductor with various orchestras, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Flanders Symphony Orchestra. He has developed into a versatile conductor, with a broad range of repertoire spanning across symphonic music as well as opera. Deseure has worked with prominent orchestras such as the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Liège Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. In addition to working with established ensembles, Deseure is also active in the performance of contemporary music and regularly works with young composers. Deseure was appointed professor of orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2019.

Jâms Coleman

Jâms Coleman (Anglesey, North Wales) is a pianist who enjoys performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and vocal accompanist. Jâms has a duo partnership with cellist Laura van der Heijden. Described as 'intriguing and beguiling' by The Guardian and as 'gently alluring, enigmatic and romantic' by Gramophone, their most recent album – ‘Path to the Moon’ - reached two million streams worldwide in the first week. Other albums include a disc of Fanny Hensel lieder for First Hand Records (recorded in Mendelssohn Haus, Leipzig), a disc of Loewe lieder with baritone Nicholas Mogg for Champs Hill, and an album of works by Pamela Harrison with James Gilchrist, Alice Neary and Robert Plane for Resonus Classics. Jâms read Music at Girton College, Cambridge, where he was also a Choral Scholar. He graduated with a Masters from the Royal Academy of Music .

Gordan Nikolic

After completing his preliminary studies in Serbia, Gordan Nikolić (Brus, Serbia, 1968) studied at the Basel Academy of Music with Jean-Jacques Kantorow. He also received lessons from Walter Levin, Hans Werner Henze, Witold Lutosławski, and György Kurtág. He was the winner of various international competitions, such as the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and the Paganini Competition. He was the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2017. He has been the musical director and concertmaster of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra since 2004. In recent years, Nikolić has performed as a guest concertmaster with orchestras such as Manchester Camerata, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of BandArt, an orchestra based in Spain which focuses on community engagement. In addition to his activities as a violinist and orchestra leader, Nikolić is a professor at the Conservatoire in Paris, the University of Music in Saarbrücken, and Codarts in Rotterdam. He plays a Lorenzo Storioni violin from 1794.

Elodie Soulard

Elodie Soulard (1986) began studying the accordion at the age of six. She entered Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (Max Bonnay’s class) where she obtained her “Premier Prix” with distinction in 2010, then was accepted in post-graduate studies under the direction of famous pianist and conductor Jean-François Heisser.Elodie was awarded three “Premier Prix” from the CRR de Paris in music theory, analysis and orchestration (Alain Louvier’s classes) and conducting with François-Xavier Roth and Jean-Sébastien Béreau. Her repertoire is wide ranging, from transcriptions of works for piano, organ or orchestra (from Bach to Prokofiev) to original works for accordion (Kusyakov, Semionov, Berio, Lindberg). In 2014 she already played with Raphaël Pidoux at the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam.

Dominique Vleeshouwers

Dominique Vleeshouwers (Weert, 1992) is a Dutch solo percussionist known professionally as DOMNIQ. He is the first percussionist to win the prestigious Dutch Music Prize and the winner of the first prize, as well as the press and the audience prize at the international TROMP Percussion Competition held in Eindhoven in 2014. He is known for his virtuosic percussion skills and out-of-the-box projects. He graduated cum laude from the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2013 with the performance Kindsoldaat (‘Child soldier’), which won him the AHK Graduation Prize of the Amsterdam University of the Arts for the best graduation presentation. That same year, he worked together Patrice Bäumel at the Amsterdam Dance Event. Dominique is also an active chamber musician and has worked with the Pavel Haas Quartet, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble. He collaborated with Ivo Janssen and Mallet Collective Amsterdam to create a live recording of Simeon Ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato, selling out the Concertgebouw’s Grote Zaal. Dominique has been a guest professor at the University of Music in Detmold and has been a teacher in the team of Percussion Friends at the Conservatory of Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Academy. He has also written two marimba methods titled Time for 4, which he will publish later this year. He has performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Asko|Schönberg, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Tokyo Sinfonietta, and Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic.

Daniel Reuss

Daniel Reuss (1961) studied with Barend Schuurman at the Rotterdam Conservatory and founded the Oude Muziek Koor Arnhem when he was 21 years old. A ‘dedicated non-specialist’, he conducts repertoire spanning across many styles, from music composed around the year 1200 to the most contemporary music. Since 1990, he has been the Artistic Director and chief conductor of Cappella Amsterdam, where he had been singing for many years prior to his appointment. He was the chief conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor in Berlin from 2003 to 2006. From 2008 to 2013, Daniël Reuss combined his work as the Artistic Director of Cappella Amsterdam with a position as chief conductor of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and has been the chief conductor of the Ensemble Vocal Lausanne since June 2015. Daniël Reuss performs as a guest conductor with ensembles all over the world, such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, MusikFabrik, Vocal Consort Berlin, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Collegium Vocale Ghent, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. At the first Cello Biënnale in Amsterdam in 2006, he conducted Sofia Gubaidulina’s Canticle of the Sun with Pieter Wispelwey as the

Christian Bakanic

Christian Bakanic (Austria, 1980) studied folk music and accordeon at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz with Janne Rättyä, James Crabb, and Geir Draugsvoll. He has won various accordion competitions and is a champion of the continuous innovation of accordeon technique, playing every possible genre in which the accordion can be heard. Bakanic plays classical music, jazz, Tango Nuevo, and new compositions including his own work. He is a part of various ensembles, one of which is a duo with cellist Marie Spaemann.

Bas Treub

Bas Treub (The Hague, 1987) studied at the Royal Conservatoires of The Hague and Brussels with Peter Brunt and Philippe Graffin. He received his Master’s degree summa cum laude in 2013. For many years, he was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, where he was concertmaster for his last few seasons. He has been principal 2nd violin in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra since 2014 and the concertmaster of Phion since 2023. He has also performed as a guest concertmaster with Philharmonia Orchestra, Orpheus Sinfonia, and the LUDWIG collective. He plays a French violin from 1891 by Emile Germain, made available to him by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

Chieko Collective

Chieko Collective is a young, multicultural collective that plays original compositions inspired by jazz, classical impressionism and Latin American music. With their warm, colourful sound with adventurous improvisations, they write groovy Brazilian rhythm and heartfelt songs. The group consists of multi-talented musicians and composers that each give a unique sound and personality to their improvisations. In 2022 they were winner of the Dias Latinas Award. Chieko Donker Duyvis – cello, voice Theo de Blasis – guitar Udo Demandt – percussion Joshua Lutz – piano César Puente – double bass Angelo Ursini – flute, clarinet

Woodcraft

Joshua, Noah, Wouter, Reinout, and Ischa first met as kids in 2010, at a football field during De Muziekdagen in Orvelte. This marked the beginning of a close friendship and the point from where their first band name was born: Lang Leve de Lol (“Long Live the Fun”). Today, the fun is visibly still there – but the boys are making serious steps under the name Woodcraft. From their roots in classical music, their music has taken its own unique path over the past years; a path on which they have found new possibilities for their traditional instruments. Because of their unusual setting of three cellos and two violins, they rely on their creativity and inventiveness, and it suits them well. Their untitled debut album, released in 2023, is full of their own unique compositions and improvisations. Woodcraft’s music is typical of the time in which they grew up: a genre-transcendent, outspoken style. By playing solely their own compositions, Woodcraft won the Best Band Prize and the Audience Prize at the Dutch Jazz Competition in 2022, and they have performed at festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Grachtenfestival, and the Cello Biënnale. Woodcraft’s second studio album will be released in 2024. Noah Hassler-Forest – violin Reinout de Vey Mestdagh – cello Joshua Herwig – cello Ischa Kooistra – cello Wouter Torringa – violin

jongNBE

The young Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, or jongNBE, is an ensemble consisting of young, talented musicians from Dutch concervatories – some already graduated, others still studying. The ensemble is made up of ten musicians (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, saxophone, (bass) trombone, percussion, and double bass/bass guitar) and is coached by experienced musicians from NBE. JongNBE accompanies young composers at the showcases of the composition competition Op weg naar het Nieuwjaarsconcert (“On the way to the New Year’s Concert”) and performs programmes all over The Netherlands. JongNBE has performed at the Grachtenfestival, in ‘De Nacht van Ramses’ (“The Night of Ramses”) in the DeLaMar Theater, at ‘Vroege Vogels’ (“Early Birds”) in the Hoge Veluwe Park, at lunch concerts in the Concertgebouw, as well as on the Uitmarkt, on Radio 4’s Opium, at the Oranjewoud Festival, at the hockey World Championship, at the Cello Biënnale, and in the Holland Opera productions ‘The Day After’, ‘STYX’, and ‘Kersentuin’ at Fort Rijnauwen.

Nederlands Blazers Ensemble

The Nederlands Blazers Ensemble (NBE or Dutch Wind Ensemble) is a group of more than twenty top musicians who come together around eighty times per year to play unique programmes in The Netherlands as well as abroad. Driven by their shared passion and hunger for adventure, the NBE creates theatrical music programmes which can hardly ever be captured in a single musical term; the NBE combines contemporary and early music of all shapes and sizes in programmes that speak to the senses and the imagination. The NBE is always searching for interesting collaborations with musicians from other cultures and exciting combinations with other disciplines. Through their innovative programming, the NBE wants to surprise, capture, move, and stimulate a wide audience. In addition to the concert series at the Dutch venues, such as the Concertgebouw and the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, NBE is also the ensemble that gives the well-known New Year’s Concert, which is broadcast every year on national TV by BNNVARA. The ensemble is also regularly asked for special events, including performances at state visits in India, Thailand, and Turkey, the famous London Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and the programming and performance of the Celebration of Thanks for H.R.H. Princess Beatrix in February 2014.

Cello Unlimited

Cello8

Cello8 is a cello octet from Paris, consisting of seven ‘young professionals’ and ‘master’ Raphaël Pidoux. The young talents all play on newly built instruments, specially made possible by donors and sponsors. Through their concerts, they aim to promote the exceptional richness of French violin making, as well as trying to find new foundations where possible. The Cello 8 cellists With and led by Raphaël Pidoux: Albéric Boullenois Rafaèl Arreghini Yanis Boudris Noé Drdak Eliott Leridon Léo Ispir Soni Siecinski

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra distinguishes itself through its intensely energetic concerts, its world-renowned recordings, and its innovative audience engagement. Founded in 1918, it has an important place among Europe’s most eminent symphony orchestras. After its first pioneering years, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra developed into one of the most prominent Dutch orchestras from 1930, under Eduard Flipse. Under Jean Fournet, Edo de Waart, and James Conlon, the orchestra continued building its international reputation in the 70s and 80s. The appointment of Valery Gergiev marked a new period of flourishing, which continued in 2008 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Since 2018, Lahav Shani has been the chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2023, Tarmo Peltokoski has been their principal guest conductor. The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra’s homebase is concert hall De Doelen, but the orchestra regularly performs at a variety of venues, including Rotterdam-based venues as well as the most renowned halls in The Netherlands and abroad. For example, the orchestra has been a resident at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris since 2010.

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Concertgebouw Orchestra barely needs an introduction. In honour of the 10th Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, the orchestra will play at the Biënnale for the first time in a programme with a new cello concerto by Liza Lim as well as the second cello concerto un despertar by Matthias Pintscher, who will also conduct the orchestra. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was founded in 1888 and was given the title “Royal” in 1988. The orchestra’s homebase is the Concertgebouw, and the orchestra only performs outside of the Concertgebouw a few times a year. The orchestra also regularly performs in top concert halls all over the world. Its chief conductor from 2027 will be Klaus Mäkelä, who made his Dutch debut in 2018 during the Cello Biënnale in the Muziekgebouw.

Alejandro Cantalapiedra

Alejandro Cantalapiedra (Spain, 1994) started his conducting studies with Juan María Esteban and Miguel Romea, before moving to the Netherlands where he continues to study at Codarts Rotterdam with Hans Leenders, Sander Teepen, and Wiecher Mandemaker. He attended masterclasses of Antony Hermus and Karel Deseure, among others. As of the 2023–2024 season, he is assistant conductor to the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and to Dutch National Opera. Alejandro won the first prize at the II International Conducting Competition in Estoril, conducting the Orquestra de Camara de Cascais e Oeiras as guest conductor, as well as the Varna Symphony orchestra.

Vincent Courtois

Vincent Courtois studied cello at the Conservatoire in Aubersvilliers, first with Erwan Fauré and later with Roland Pidoux en Frédéric Lodéon. His curiosity led him increasingly to play with major jazz musicians. In his playing, he always tries to find the connection between jazz, improvisation, and classical music. His deep interest in the phenomenon of sound can be heard in his duo with Éric-Maria Couturier, and his trio with Dutch (bass) clarinettist Fie Schouten and pianist-composer Guus Janssen is a great example of the bridging between these apparent contradictions. His newest duo is formed together with pianist Colin Vallon. Vincent Courteois’ most distinguished band with saxophonists Daniël Erdmann and Robin Fincker has existed for years, and they have made various CDs. Every year in Paris, Courteois organises les Ateliers du Violoncelle, where all different styles are featured. He has been a professor of the Conservatoire in Lyon for two years.

Ülker Tümer

Ülker Tümer (Turkey, 1998) is one of the four cellists selected for the Roadtrip with Jean-Guihen Queyras – a project funded with Anner Bijlsma Award prize money – which will be presented on Monday 4 November. Since 2021, she studies at the Reina Sofía School of Music’s Aline Foriel-Destezet Cello Chair, first with professor Ivan Monighetti and currently with professor Jens Peter Maintz. She began her cello studies in 2009 with Viacheslav Kaynov at the University of Çukurova’s State Conservatory and furthered her training with Dilbağ Tokay between 2013 and 2016 at the Istanbul State Conservatory of the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts and, until 2021, at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Germany under the guidance of Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Truls Mørk

Truls Mørk studied with the renowned cellists Frans Helmerson and Natalia Shakhovskaya. Throughout his extensive career, which launched with a qualification for the finals of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1982, he has worked with major orchestras such as Philharmonia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has given numerous recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He was the founder and, for thirteen years, the director of the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival. His extensive discography includes various CDs awarded with Gramophone, Grammy, Midem, and ECHO Klassik awards, and covers almost all major cello concertos, as well as Bach’s cello suites. Truls Mørk is an important champion of contemporary repertoire. He has given over 30 world premieres for works by Penderecki, Thoresen, and Rautavaara, among others.

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