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.

This is one of the best CD recordings of the year – perhaps of the decade […]. Here we encounter the closest we have witnessed […] to a new Casals.”

(Early Music Review on the CD recording of J.S. Bach’s 6 Suites for Solo Cello)

“Peter Bruns does what he does best on his Tononi cello from 1730: he declaims, just like Pablo Casals, who also used to own the instrument. Peter Bruns once confirmed the closeness to Casals, saying: ‘I also try to speak with the instrument.’”

(Maja Ellmenreich in Deutschlandradio Cologne)

The cellist Peter Bruns has established an excellent reputation in the international music world as one of Germany’s leading cellists. Born in Berlin, he studied with Professor Peter Vogler at Berlin’s “Hanns Eisler” Academy of Music.

Peter Bruns has performed as soloist and chamber musician in renowned concert halls throughout all continents, including the Berliner Philharmonie, the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Wigmore Hall in London, concert halls in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul, in the Semperoper Dresden, in the Leipziger Gewandhaus as well as at the most important festivals including the Kuhmo, Bergen, Berlin and Dresden Music Festivals, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Seoul Spring Festival and Gidon Kremer’s Lockenhaus festival.

The artist has also performed as soloist with many major orchestras and has toured with the Staatskapelle Dresden as well as with the RAI, MDR and Berlin symphony orchestras. He has collaborated with conductors such as Giuseppe Sinopoli, Eliahu Inbal, Gianandrea Noseda, Christoph Prick, Marc Albrecht and Bruno Weil.

His fascination with the ancient language of music and the instrumentation of the various stylistic periods has led to close collaboration with renowned orchestras in this field, in particular with the “Akademie für Alte Musik” Berlin, with whom Peter Bruns has played for CD productions, concerts and festivals (Bergen, Brügge, Berlin, Regensburg, Köthen).

From 1993-2000, Peter Bruns was Artistic Director of the Moritzburg Festival. From 1998 to 2005, he was Professor for Cello at the Dresden School of Music and, since 2005, has held the same position at the Academy of Music in Leipzig.

Master classes led Peter Bruns to many German cities as well as to London, New York, France, Sweden and Australia.

Developing also a career as conductor, Peter Bruns is the Artistic Director of the Mendelssohn Kammerorchester Leipzig since 2014, and performs regularly in its own concert series in the Gewandhaus Leipzig as well as on tours.

Peter Bruns has recorded a series of award winning CDs including Brahms’s Cello Sonatas, Bach’s Six Suites for Cello Solo, the works of Gabriel Fauré, Ernest Bloch, Charles Koechlin and Robert Schumann, a recording of a Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach concert which won the Cannes Classical Award for “Best CD of the Year”, Antonin Dvorak’s works for cello and orchestra with the Staatskapelle Dresden and his highly acclaimed recordings of Haydn’s, Schumann’s and Volkmann’s Cello Concertos with the Mendelssohn Kammerorchester Leipzig.

Peter Bruns plays on a cello from Carlo Tononi, Venice 1730, which was once owned by Pablo Casals.

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.

American/Italian violinist Alexander Franco Goldberg, 23, is a "fierce and sensitive" performer who "ties music to larger aesthetic and literary concerns that illuminate his performances." Alexander is passionate about linking musical performances with literature, poetry, and art. He is currently studying with Salvatore Accardo in Cremona at the Stauffer Center for Strings.

He recently completed a Masters in violin at the Yale School of Music, where he was the first and then-only student admitted to Yale’s new BA/MM dual-degree program; he graduated Yale with a BA in Philosophy cum laude. At Yale, Alexander was awarded the Head of College Cup for "outstanding scholarly achievement and creative promise," and the Selden Award for "verve, idealism and constructive interest in music and the humanities."

Alexander continues to tie together music and academic pursuits as an Assistant Researcher at the University of Padua’s Centro di Sonologia Computazionale, where he will work on multidisciplinary and multimedia musical installations.

He won first prize in Yale's William Waite concerto competition, performing Brahms' violin concerto with the Yale Symphony; and recently won the absolute first prizes at the Maria Labia, Vittorio Vitti, and Città D’Alessandria violin competitions, and second prize at the inaugural Grunewald competition in Berlin.

Chamber music forms a core part of Alexander’s musical identity: he studied at the Taos School of Music and received a full merit scholarship to Music@Menlo. He returned to Taos in an outreach concert tour of New Mexico, performing quartets alongside the Brentano Quartet’s Nina Lee.

Alexander is also passionate about new music and innovative genres; he was a member of the Lucerne Festival’s Contemporary Academy and has performed in small ensemble with Gilles Apap on the stage of the Kronberg Academy’s Casals Forum. As the winner of the Reate Festival International Contemporary Music competition, he performed a program of Bach and Berio in their fall 2023 concert series, in addition to lecturing in their school outreach event Progetto Scuole.

Recent season highlights include performances as soloist in Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante with the Yale Philharmonia and a quartet performance at Santa Fe Pro Musica. He performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as winner of the American Protégé International Competition, and in Boston’s Jordan Hall for National Public Radio’s From the Top. He studied with Ani Kavafian (2018-2023), Donald Weilerstein (2014-2018) and Ilya Gringolts, with whom he pursued Corsi di Perfezionamento at the Accademia Chigiana.

Born in 2005, Naama is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree in the class of Mrs. Miriam Fried and Mr. Paul Biss, at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA. She studied at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music (Israel) with Mrs. Mila Feldman.

Naama played in the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra of the Jerusalem Music Centre, serving as concertmaster in many projects, and participated in all of its outstanding musicians programs; She performed chamber music with guidance from members of the Jerusalem Quartet and musicians of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and took part in many masterclasses with world-class violinists such as Grigory Kalinovsky, Mihaela Martin, Shlomo Mintz, the late Chaim Taub, and many others.

Naama has performed across Europe, in all major concert halls in Israel, and on national radio. She is an active member of “Musethica,” an organization bringing classical music to audiences with special needs, and in 2020 premiered a piece written especially for her by Israeli composer Eyal Malkinson.

She has been supported by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships since 2018, receiving the Outstanding Merit Scholarships. She won second prize in the “Keshet Eran” competition (2023), first prize in the Strings Department Competition at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music (2024) and in 2025 she received the Claremont Prize, granted to a single violinist by the Claremont Foundation.

Naama has performed in concerts under conductors such as Lahav Shani, Karl-Heinz Steffens and Zubin Mehta.

Her activities in international music festivals, include the Geneva International Strings Academy (Switzerland), Keshet Eilon seminars, which she has attended regularly since age ten, to name a few. She has been an active participant at the Kronberg Academy "Good Vibrations" Festival and performed in masterclasses with Vadim Gluzman.

As the founder of her chamber group, Alma Rosé piano quartet, she performed at the Zeist Music Days Festival in the Netherlands, and worked with members of the Jerusalem Quartet and the Schumann Quartet (Germany). The quartet also toured London, played many concerts and worked with pianist Murray Perahia.
Naama plays a 1770 Nicolaus Gagliano violin, generously on loan from the late Yehuda Zisapel. 

Elizaveta Brakhman was born in 2005 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. She has been playing the violin since she the age of 4. Elizaveta is currently studying at the Tel Aviv University, Buchmann-Metha School of Music with professor Hagai Shaham. Her previous education included Central Music School in Moscow where she was studying with professor Evgeny Bouchkov.

Elizaveta took participated to several academies: Keshet-Elion (Israel), Perlman Music Program (USA, Israel), Lancaster International Academy (USA), Solsona AIMS Academy (Spain).

Elizaveta was a member of Yuri Bashmet Young Symphony Orchestra. She toured with the orchestra in Asia (Singapore, South Korea), Germany (Berlin Philharmony), and all over Russia. In 2023 Elizaveta took part in America-Israel Cultural Foundation and won one of the highest prizes.

At above-mentioned academies she took classes with Ilya Kaler, Sergey Ostrovsky, Izhak Rashkovsky, Ulf Wallin, Dora Schwarzberg, Tatiana Samuil, Alena Baeva, Michaela Martin, Aylen Pritchin, Nikita Borisoglebsky.

Australian violist Raphael Masters has recently completed his Bachelor of Music at the Colburn School under the tutelage of Tatjana Masurenko. Notably, he has professionally performed with renowned orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, where he held the No. 2 seat.

Raphael's solo engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. He has served as Principal Viola of the New York String Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra, and the Australian Youth Orchestra. Raphael has also performed at the Saline Royale Academy in France and the Rome Chamber Music Festival.

Since 2021, he has been a featured recitalist at St. James in Sydney. Additionally, Raphael has participated as a Chamber Music Artist at the Edinburgh International Festival and has recorded with Ensemble Apex.

He has collaborated in chamber music settings with artists like Noah Bendix-Balgley, Jon Kimura Parker, Clive Greensmith, Arnaud Sussman, and Jennifer Stumm. His mentors include Paul Coletti, Yura Lee, Stuart Johnson, Roger Benedict, and Tatjana Masurenko.

Raphael is grateful to AMF for their continued support of his musical endeavours. He performs on a modern instrument and bow generously loaned by The Colburn School. In 2024, he will pursue a Master’s degree at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna under the guidance of Jennifer Stumm.

Originally from Hudson, Ohio, Ayano Nakamura is currently earning a master’s degree at the Yale School of Music where she studies with Ettore Causa. She recently received a bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory, studying with Martha Katz and Mai Motobuchi.

She has attended the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop and Kneisel Hall Young Artist Chamber Music Program among others, and has worked with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Don Weilerstein, Joel Krosnick, Cavan String Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, American String Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, and others.

Theresa Horejsi was born into a family of musicians in 1999. Starting with the violin, she often took part in the "Jugend Musiziert" competition and gained experience in orchestras and chamber music ensembles from an early age. She discovered the viola through her family.

She studied from 2018 at the Cologne University of Music and Dance in the class of Matthias Buchholz and is currently studying at the haute ecole de Musique de Lausanne with Tatjana Masurenko.

She has worked as a chamber musician with Jörg Widmann, the Minguett Quartet, Harald Schoneweg, Gregor Schwellenbach, Robert Kulek and Daniel Haefliger. She has participated in recordings for the Arte Film "TRANS - I Got Life", which was broadcast on television in September 2023.

In September 2023, she took part in the prestigious ARD Music Competition. In March 2024, she takes up a 3. Soloposition in the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra.

Violist Julian Seney has performed in venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Beijing Concert Hall, under conductors Susanna Mälkki, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Gustavo Dudamel, among others.

He is an alumni of the Perlman Music Program, Yellow Barn, and the Lucerne Festival Academy, and has participated in residencies through both Perlman Suncoast and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.

He is a proponent of new music, and has premiered many works of his peers and mentors—most recently solo with Yale’s New Music series.

In addition to classical music, he also regularly performs as an improviser and has collaborated with Anthony Coleman and Joe Morris. Hailing from Los Angeles, he studied as an academy student with Paul Coletti at the Colburn school.

He received a Bachelor’s of Music from the New England Conservatory, having studied with Kim Kashkashian, and now is pursuing a Masters of Music at the Yale School of Music with Ettore Causa.

Haru Ogiwara, born in London in 2004, embarked on his musical journey at the age of six under the tutelage of Dr. Oliver Gledhill in the cello program at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama's String Training Course. In September 2016, he was admitted to the Royal College of Music Junior Department, where he studied with Michal Kaznowski and Pal Banda, ultimately graduating in 2023 with the prestigious Freda Dinn and Ida Mabbet Prize.
Currently, he is under the guidance of Prof. Hannah Robets at the Royal Academy of Music, benefiting from a full scholarship.

He is a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra member and has received numerous honours and performances in various music festivals in Europe, include winning the Premier Cup & Recital Prize at the North London Festival, being named the Gregynog Young Musician String Player of the Year 2020, receiving the Masterclass Award at the Gustav Mahler Competition in Prague 2021, and earning the Special Award at the Radolfzell Music Festival in Germany. He also participated as an active student at the Kronberg Academy's Cello Masterclass with Gay Homan in 2022.

Haru's performance venues have ranged from prestigious concert halls such as Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, Ongakudo in Kanazawa, Japan, and historic landmarks like St James Palace, No.11 Downing Street, and the Handel House to esteemed festivals and events like the Youth Music Award Grand Ceremony. His repertoire includes commanding solo performances, including the Haydn Cello Concerto No.2 in D Major with RCMJD Orchestra, Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor conducted by Thomas Gregoy with the Fortismere Community Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, he held a sold out Elgar Room recital at the Royal Albert Hall London with the pianist Craig White, and a solo performance at the Wigmore Hall, London.

Haru has been generously supported by the DES Music and Dance scheme, Awards for Young Musicians, Future Talent, Drake Calleja Junior Scholarship, Wrightson Trust Music Scholarship, J & M Michael, J & A Beares, the Royal College of Music and the Aud Jebsen Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music.

He plays a cello by J.F. Wright, Newark, 2023 (1727 Goriller Ex Shapiro Model) and a William Salchow bow thanks to the support of Pei Sian Ng and Pei Jee Ng, who have played a pivotal role in nurturing his artistic development.

Born in Budapest, Jinseok Jeong began playing the cello at the age of five. At the age of eleven, he was accepted into the exceptional young talents program at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, where he studied under the tutelage of Prof. György Déri and Prof. István Varga.

He went on to win prizes at multiple international youth competitions, including the Antonio Janigro junior Competition in Šibenik, David Popper competition in Várpalota, Jan Vychtil competition in Prague. As a soloist, Jinseok Jeong has performed with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, the Zugló philharmonic orchestra, and the Anima Musicae chamber orchestra.

Jinseok is currently studying with Kian Soltani at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW). Additionally, he has received masterclasses from Frans Helmerson, Miklos Perényi, Reinhard Latzko, Marc Coppey, Wen-Sinn Yang, Claudio Bohorquez, Leonid Gorokhov, and László Fenyő, among others.