Winter season 2023-2024

Sergey Ostrovsky is a solo violinist, conductor, founder and first violin of the Aviv String Quartet for 27 seasons, founder and Artistic Director of the ‘Ensemble Symphonique de Genève’ and has taught violin at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève and Neuchâtel since 2009. He was First Solo Violin of the ‘Orchestre de la Suisse Romande’ from 2007 to 2012. He was also First Solo Violin of the ‘Orquesta de la Communidad Valenciana’ from 2012 to 2015.

Sergey Ostrovsky won the Grand Prize at the 3rd Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. He is a laureate of the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, 2nd Prize winner of the ‘Schubert and Modernity’ International Competition in Graz (Schubert Prize), as well as a laureate of the ‘Prague Spring’ International Competition and the Rodolfo Lipitzer Prize.

As a soloist, Sergey Ostrovsky plays with prestigious orchestras such as the ‘Orchestre de la Suisse Romande’, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra (Poland), the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the ‘Orquesta de la Communidad Valenciana’, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the ‘Luzerner Sinfonieorchester’ and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

A passionate conductor, Sergey Ostrovsky is regularly invited to conduct in Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Latvia and Israel.

In 2015, Sergey Ostrovsky created a string ensemble, the ‘Solistes de Neuchâtel’, and in 2023 the ‘Ensemble Symphonique de Genève’. Sergey Ostrovsky's role as artistic director of the’ Ensemble Symphonique de Genève’ is multifaceted, both as an ‘artistic manager’ and as a musician ‘involved’ in the performances. From the latter point of view, he will be able to conduct the orchestra from the podium but also conduct the violin as a soloist.

As a chamber musician, Sergey Ostrovsky has played in the world's most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Louvre Auditorium, the ‘Théâtre du Châtelet’, London's Wigmore Hall and the Sydney Opera House. His ‘Aviv String Quartet’ has also made numerous recordings (Hoffmeister, Dohnanyi, Shostakovich, Schubert, Schulhoff, etc.), some of which have received critical acclaim.

Noémie Bialobroda has been the violist of the Aviv Quartet since 2014, leading an active international career with the ensemble. Their performance of Beethoven’s complete string quartets at the Ansermet Studio in Geneva in 2018-2019 was a great success and strengthened their presence in French-speaking Switzerland.

Noémie Bialobroda, passionate about teaching, is since 2025, viola professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon. She is also Chamber Music Professor and Chamber Music Coordinator at the Haute École de Musique de Genève. Previously, she taught at the Conservatoire de Lausanne and the Conservatoire de Genève. During the summer, she teaches at the Flaine International Music Academy. Her students have won prizes in prestigious national and international competitions.

In recognition of her contributions to music, Noémie Bialobroda was awarded the Leenaards Foundation cultural grant in the music category in 2024.

As a performer, she is invited to renowned concert seasons and festivals, including Wigmore Hall (London), the IRCAM Manifeste Festival, and the Cité de la Musique (Paris), among others. She performs with artists such as Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Yovan Markovitch, Luis Claret, Boris Garlitsky, François Guye, Philippe Müller, Tedi Papavrami, Jean Sulem, Jean-Pierre Wallez, and the Rosamonde Quartet, giving concerts across Europe, Israel, and the United States.

Dedicated to contemporary music, Noémie has premiered two solo viola pieces at IRCAM: Caprice for Solo Viola and Electronics by Japanese composer Keita Matsumiya (2012) and Drifting by Pierre Stordeur (2013). She is also regularly invited to perform with the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt and the Contrechamps ensemble in Geneva.

Noémie Bialobroda studied with Nobuko Imai and Miguel Da Silva at the Haute école de Musique de Genève and later at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she completed an Artist Diploma (third cycle) with Professor Jean Sulem.

Noémie Bialobroda is the co-founder and artistic director of the Geneva International String Academy.

Charlotte Steppes studies at HMT Leipzig “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” since 2018 with Prof. Josef Christof, whose student she already became at the age of 12. She played piano concerts by Ravel, Robert and Clara Schumann, Poulenc, Beethoven and Mozart. As a highlight 2020 Steppes gave her debut with the renowned MDR symphony orchestra, playing Mozarts piano concerto C major KV 467. In 2023 a cooperation with violinist Frank-Michael Erben (1st concertmaster of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) developed in several duo recitals. Furthermore she made her debut at the chamber music festival “con spirito”. The young pianist worked together with e.g. the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Gewandhaus wind quintett, several organists and the Gewandhaus choir and played in the concert series musica nova, at Musikfest Erzgebirge and at Bachfest Leipzig.

In spring 2024, she is going to follow another invitation from the MDR symphony orchestra and play Griegs piano concerto with chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies. Also, she will perform the soloist part in Charles Ives’ 4 th symphony and Mendelssohns 1st piano concerto in the Gewandhaus Leipzig. In June, she makes her debut at Musikfest Stuttgart with a new solo recital.

Steppes is highly interested in New and Contemporary Music, Chamber Music and the playing of orchestra piano. For two concert seasons starting 2021, she has been member of the orchestra-academy of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Since 2023, she receives a scholarship by the “Oscar und Vera Ritter-Stiftung” Hamburg.

HunJu Sohnn, Korean born pianist, has been performing both solo and chamber music concerts in Switzerland, England, Germany, France, South Korea, Thailand, Costa Rica, as well as throughout the United States.

Highly appreciated for her qualities in collaborative work, HunJu has been invited to appear with various instrumentalists and performed with the wind ensemble Ensemble Five ±, as well as the European-based Varias Ensemble at the New Year’s Music Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland. HunJu has collaborated in masterclasses for world-famous artists such as Pinkas Zukerman, Nobuko Imai, Kyung-Wha Chung, Tabea Zimmermann, Yuri Bashmet, as well as Yo-Yo Ma, Franz Helmerson, and Ralph Kirshbaum. She has been the pianist/coordinator of the viola masterclass at the Verbier Music Festival and Academy. HunJu has participated in a television documentary featuring Nobuko Imai, which was distributed worldwide and performed with Ms. Imai for France Musique Radio program during the Verbier Festival.

HunJu Sohnn continues to perform in Europe and the US, while holding a teaching position at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique Danse et Théâtre in Geneva. She also participated in studio recordings, most recently in a project of complete works for piano and winds by Francis Poulenc released by Kleos Classics. HunJu Sohnn received her Master's degree from New England Conservatory and holds a Doctoral degree for Piano Performance from Rice University.

Born in 1980 in Neuchâtel (Switzerland), SIMON PEGUIRON first studied violin before turning to the piano and organ. He studied music at La Chaux-de-Fonds Conservatory, graduating with the best marks in organ and piano, and also completing a degree in music theory. He then studied organ with Guy Bovet at the Music Academy Basel, and at the High School of Music in Zurich in the piano class of Homero Francesch. He graduated in 2006 with highest honors and a soloist diploma for both instruments.

He appears regularly in concert as accompanist, chamber musician, soloist, composer, and more recently, as a conductor. He also is dedicated to arrangement and improvisation in various styles.

He has taught piano at the Conservatoire of Neuchâtel since 2006 and, after ten years of activity at the Temple du Locle, in 2009 replaced Guy Bovet as organist of the Collegiate Church of Neuchâtel.

In 2017, he was appointed as conductor and music director of the Orchestre de Chambre de La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Michelle Bushkova, born in Moscow on May 25 2004, continues the third generation of her family’s music traditions. At the age of four she started violin lessons with Prof. Galina Turchaninova, and in the following year, she enrolled in the piano studio of Prof. Tatiana Zelikman.

From 2011 to 2021 Michelle continued studying with both of her teachers at the two most famous Moscow music schools: the Gnessin State Musical College - piano, and the Central Music School by the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory - violin (also in her father, Evgeny Bushkov’s, studio). Several days before her 6th birthday she made her solo debut performance as both violinist and pianist with the Belarusian State Chamber Orchestra in Minsk. Michelle has performed with orchestras in Moscow, Minsk, Saratov, Yaroslavl, Istanbul, and Ankara (Turkey); has appeared in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Pushkin Museum’s Museyon Hall in Moscow, Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Svetlanov’s Hall of the Moscow International House of Music, NCPA (Mumbai, India), Wiener Konzerthaus, Severance Hall (Cleveland, USA); and participated in the “Musica Mundi” Chamber Music Festival in Belgium, “Keshet Eilon” International String Masterclasses in Israel, Gstaad New Year Music Festival in Switzerland, “Stay-in-May” International World Festival in Naples, Florida, “Rheingau Festival” in Germany, “Kogan-Festival” in Yaroslavl, Russia, “Moscow Autumn” Contemporary Music Festival.

Michelle took part in masterclasses with Ilya and Olga Dubossarskaya-Kaler (USA), Pavel Vernikov and Svetlana Makarova (Switzerland) - on the violin; Stephen Kovacevich (England), Anna Malikova (Germany), and Victoria Mushkatkol (USA) - on the piano.

She is a laureate of the “Goldene Note” audition in Vienna, the Manhattan International Competition, the Berlin International competition, and the Chicago International Violin Competition. Michelle is currently studying both instruments at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Ilya Kaler and Olga Dubossarskaya-Kaler on the violin, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi on the piano. Her achievements and successes have been supported generously by Olga Kondurova.

Sofija Dodig is a Serbian violinist born on August 30th 2005 in Belgrade. At the age of 17, she became the youngest finalist in the history of International Jeunesses Musicales Violin Competition in Belgrade and won the 5th prize, and the special prize for the best domestic candidate.

Sofija has been playing the violin since the age of 7 and firstly started studying with Professor Jelena Komatina in Belgrade. At the age of 10, she started studying with Professor Ana Veskov, and studied with her till the age of 17 in Belgrade. When she was 16, she enrolled University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz in the preparatory class of Professor Emilio Percan where she then studied for the next 3 year.. She has also been studying privately with Professor Brian Finlayson in Austria, during the years 2020 and 2021.

She has had opportunities to attend masterclasses of renowned artist and musicians such as Pavel Vernikov, Gil Shaham, Svetlana Makarova, Sergey Ostrovsky, Mihaela Martin, Kirill Troussov,, Brian Finlayson, Daniel Rowland, Boris Kuschnir, Grigory Kalinovsky, Stefan Milenkovic, Nemanja Radulovic,, Kati Debretzeni,, David Bowlin, Tatyana Balashova, Savely Shalman, Igor Tkachouk, Maja Jokanovic, Robert Lakatos.

She has played chamber music with acclaimed musicians, as Peter Bruns, Daniel Rowland, Kati Debretzeni, Maja Bogdanovic, Dana Zemtsov, Nicholas Schwartz, Uki Ovaskainen. She was participant and scholarship holder of the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Stauffer Academy in Cremona, Davidsbündler Academy in The Hague and Geneva International String Academy in Switzerland. She was a participant of Lac Lemann Music Masterclasses in Blonay, Switzerland.

She had a chance to hold her solo recitals in Switzerland, The Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Macedonia and Serbia and perform in many countries around Europe. She was first on all national and international competition in Serbia, and won 3rd prize at Jeno Hubay Violin Competition in Hungary 2021 and 3rd and special prize at Ohrid Pearls Competition 2020. She was the winner of Franjo Krezma and Ludmilla Weiser Violin Competitions in Croatia 2019.

Sofija received a number of awards for her successes in music field - she is a stipendist from “Dobar glas” Foundation, which supports the best young musicians from Serbia, as well as the scholarship holder of the Fund for Young Talents of the Republic of Serbia. She has also received the “Dositeja Prize” from the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Sarah studies viola at the Geneva Conservatory of Music (CMG) under the tutelage of Noémie Bialobroda. Her rapid integration into the intensive course of the Conservatory allowed her to benefit very early on from the advice of professors from the HEM-Geneva such as García Alarcón. Today, she continues her career in the CMG pre-professional cursus.

In order to complete her training, Sarah participates in high-level international academies such as the Lac Leman Music Masterclasses (2021 and 2022), 2022), the Geneva International String Academy (2021, 2022, 2023),, the Verbier Festival Soloists Academy (2021) and the Kronberg Academy Workshops (2021). She was thus able to perfect her skills with renowned artistic personalities such as Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Jean Sulem, Antoine Tamestit and Tabea Zimmermann.

At the age of 20, she wins the first Prize at the 79th edition of the Concours de Geneve 2025. In addition to sharing the main prize with Brian Isaacs, Sarah Strohm received most of the other awards. The Victoria Hall audience also strongly supported her, granting her the Audience Prize, the Young Audience Prize, and the Students’ Prize. These distinctions mark a new step in her remarkable journey.

Despite her young age, she has also obtained various distinctions on the national and international scene, including the EMCY prize (2022), the second prize in the Johannes Brahms competition (Pörtschach/Austria, 2021) and the first prize in the competition of the Aims Foundation to play as a soloist with symphony orchestra (Spain/Solsona, 2019). She is also multi-laureate of the Swiss Youth Music Competition (2016; 2018; 2022) and has just qualified for the final of the Valiant Forum competition which will take place as part of the Murten Classics 2023 festival.

Sarah performs regularly as a soloist: she has just performed the concerto for viola, clarinet and orchestra by Max Bruch under the direction of Alexei Ogrintchouk and Hummel's Pot-Pourri with the Trois-Chêne orchestra. Finally, her involvement in the field of chamber music has allowed her to perform alongside established musicians such as Garth Knox and Antje Weithaas.

Sarah is supported by the Ruth and Ernst Bürkhalter Foundation.

Brian Isaacs, 23, grew up in Queens, New York City and started playing the violin at age four. After switching to viola in 2014 and graduating from LaGuardia High School in 2018, Brian began his studies at Yale University, where he received his B.A. cum laude in Sociology with Distinction in the Major, and his M.M. in Viola Performance as a student of Ettore Causa. Starting September 2023, Brian will be based in Berlin as a member of the Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker.

An aspiring viola soloist, Brian most recently won both the Yale School of Music Woolsey Hall and Yale College William Waite Concerto Competitions. As a result, he performed the Walton Viola Concerto with the Yale Symphony Orchestra in April 2022, conducted by William Boughton, and will return to New Haven in April 2024 to perform the Martinu Rhapsody-Concerto with the Yale Philharmonia, conducted by Peter Oundjian. Brian was one of eight semi-finalists at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, a semi-finalist at the 2022 Kodaly International Music Competition, and a prizewinner in the 2019 Anton Rubinstein International Viola Competition. At Yale, he has also received the Wrexham Prize in Music, “awarded annually to that senior who, as a performer, has best exemplified the standards of Quincy Porter”, the Joseph Lentilhon Selden Memorial Award, given “to students especially notable for their contribution in the field of music” as well as the Terry E. and Irene A. Sharp Prize, awarded “to the most outstanding performer in the junior class in recognition of their fine musicianship and potential in the field of classical music”. He has performed as a soloist in masterclasses for artists including Misha Amory, Yuri Bashmet, Noemie Bialobroda, Alfred Brendel, Isabel Charisius, Nobuko Imai, Jeffrey Irvine, Lawrence Power, Thomas Riebl, Nadia Sirota & Nico Muhly, Steve Tenenbom, and Lars Anders Tomter. His pre-college teachers include Barbera Berg, Molly Carr, Caeli Smith, and Jonathan Weber.

Brian has been fortunate to perform chamber music around the world with remarkable musicians. Most recently, he traveled to South Korea in September 2022 for chamber music concerts in Seoul, Gimhae, and Heyri. Brian participated in numerous chamber music festivals in the summer of 2022, including the Viridian Strings (USA), NUME Festival and Academy (Italy), Geneva International String Academy (Switzerland), Verbier Festival Academy (Switzerland), Moritzburg Festival Academy (Germany), and Thy Chamber Music Festival (Denmark). He has performed with distinguished artists including Peter Bruns, Jose Gallardo, Annette von Hehn, Mihae Lee, Mi-kyung Lee, and Tony Nys. In previous summers, Brian attended the Taos School of Music, Maine Chamber Music Seminar, and NEXT Festival of Emerging Artists. At Taos, Brian received numerous chamber coachings from Misha Amory, Robert McDonald, Mai Motobuchi, Nicholas Tzavaras, and additional members of the Borromeo, Brentano, and Shanghai string quartets. He has performed in chamber music masterclasses for artists such as Simone Dinnerstein, Augustin Dumay, Lynn Harrell, Mathieu Herzog, Joel Krosnick, Michaela Martin, Fred Sherry, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, and Roger Tapping. Brian has been coached at Yale by Melvin Chen, Nina Lee, Don Palma, Wendy Sharp, Mark Steinberg, and members of the Omer and Rolston string quartets.

An avid orchestral musician, Brian joined the viola section of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in 2019 as its youngest member and gained tenure in 2021. He has served as principal violist with several renowned youth/university orchestras including NYO-USA, in which he participated in concert tours across Asia and Europe, the Moritzburg Festival Orchestra, New York Youth Symphony, Yale Philharmonia, and Yale Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Brian attended the 2018 and 2019 New York String Orchestra Seminars and the 2020 Detroit Symphony Orchestra Summer Institute. As a member of the Karajan Academy, he will participate in the viola section of the Berlin Philharmonic for numerous performances over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.

This summer, Brian looks forward to returning to the Viridian Strings, Geneva International String Academy, and Verbier Festival Academy and participating for the first time in the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and Gstaad Menuhin Festival String Academy. Brian plays on a 2011 Douglas Cox viola, on generous loan from the Virtu Foundation.

Auguste Rahon was born in 1999 in Reims. He played the cello for the first time at the age of five. At twelve he entered the Conservatoire régional de Lyon and studied there with Augustin Lefebvre. In 2012 he had his first experience as a soloist in Prague with Fauré "Elegie". Since then, he has played regularly in solo recitals, chamber music recitals, solo performances with orchestra and also as a orchestral musician.

In 2016, Auguste started studying in the HEM de Genève, first with Denis Severin (bachelor grade), then with David Pia (master grade). He was a finalist in Murten Classics cello competition in 2018 and laureate of the Marescotti Fondation in 2021. Auguste is currently in residence in the Académie de l'Opéra de Paris.

https://konstanze-pietschmann.com

Konstanze Pietschmann is a cellist from Leipzig. After studying in the young talent promotion class of Anna Niebuhr at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy " in Leipzig, she began her music studies in the class of Prof. Peter Bruns at the same university in 2018. After numerous first prizes at "Jugend musiziert " at the national level, participation in major international competitions followed, including the "Concours Reine Elisabeth " in Brussels. Among others, she was awarded 3rd prize at the International Dotzauer Competition, 1st prize at the International Cello Competition "Anna Kull " in Graz, the "International Suggia Award " in Porto and most recently 1st prize at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin.

She made her debut as a soloist in 2019 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig with the Cello Concerto by Robert Schumann. This was followed by concerts with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, “Konzerthausorchester” Berlin, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto, the award- winning ensemble LGT Young Soloists and others. Several chamber music concerts have already taken Konstanze to the concert halls of Portugal, Italy, Ethiopia, Hungary, Greece, Israel, the USA and many more. In 2021 she founded the chamber orchestra “Camerata Espansiva!” to give young soloists a stage.

She regularly participates in master classes and festivals. At the Geneva String Academy, Musique a Flaine and “Con Spirito” Festival she shared the stage with musicians such as Sergey Ostrovsky, Noemie Bialobroda, Tobias Feldmann, Pauline Sachse, Andrej Bielow and Christophe Poiget. In addition to master classes with Peter Bruns, Alfred Brendel, Marc Coppey, Wolfgang Böttcher, Norman Fischer, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet) and members of the Quatuor Ysaÿe, Konstanze received important impulses from Wen-Sinn Yang and Anne Gastinel.

Since 2019, Konstanze Pietschmann has been a scholarship holder of the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Leipzig e.V. association. She has also received scholarships from the Jütting Foundation, the Harald Genzmer Foundation and Musique à Flaine. Konstanze plays a cello by Charles Gaillard (Paris, 1867) from the German Musical Instrument Fund of the “Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben”.

Cosima Federle was born in Regensburg in 2002 and started playing the violoncello at the age of four.

At 2010 she was admitted to to the "Bayrische Frühförderklasse", Regensburg under Wolfgang Nüsslein and from 2015-2019 she had lessons with Hanno Simons in Munich. In 2019 Cosima became a junior student of Peter Bruns at the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig” and continued there as a full student since 2020.

Her playing was enriched by participation in masterclasses taught by Wolfgang Boettcher, Wen- Sinn Yang, László Fenyö, Jan Vogler, Natalia Gutman, Boris Kusnezow, Kian Soltani, Jens- Peter Maintz, Mischa Maisky and Alfred Brendl. Cosima has won various national and international competitions, including first prizes at the "International Dotzauer Competition", Dresden, at the "Làszlò Spezzaferri International Music Competition", Verona, at “Jugend Musiziert“ and 2nd prizes at the "International David Popper Competition“, Hungary and at the "Concours International de Tremplin", Paris, as well as the Music Prize of the City of Regensburg, a special prize by the "Harald Genzmer Foundation" and a Special prize by the German "Bundesapothekenkammer".

In 2013 Cosima and her brother were one of the main protagonists of the movie "Jugend Musiziert- der Film“, which was broadcasted by various German TV channels. She is a scholarship holder of the "Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben" and the "International Music Academy Liechtenstein" and received further scholarships by the "Geneva International String Academy", Switzerland, "Musique à Flaine", France, from the "Hildegard-Schmalzl Foundation" and the "Dresden Music Festival".

Since 2017 she was an annual scholarship holder of the project "Meisterschüler-Meister" in the Neuhardenberg Castle, Berlin with Jan Vogler.

Cosima has played at several festivals, including "Musique en Été", Geneva, "Dresden Music Festival", "Festival Momentum", Stolberg and performed at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Stadtcasino Basel and Gewandhaus Leipzig.

She produced several recordings with the “Bayrischer Rundfunk“, “Deutschlandfunk“, “Norddeutscher Rundfunk“ and “Radio Berlin Brandenburg“.

Cosima plays a cello by Nicolas Lupot, Paris 1821, that has been given to her as a loan by the “Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben“.