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.

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.

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.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Katie Liu is a Master of Musical Arts candidate at the Yale School of Music in the studio of Ettore Causa. She received her MM degree at the Colburn School, and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, concentrating in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with minors in Musical Performance and Computer Science.

Katie picked up the viola and made her solo debut in 2019 with the Princeton University Orchestra. Aside from her musical pursuits, Katie has also had summer working experiences in asset management and wrote her senior thesis on the intersection of classical music recognition techniques and neural networks.

She is currently a section violist at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and was selected to compete in the Hindemith International Viola Competition and Tokyo International Viola Competition in the past year. She was recently selected to compete in the upcoming Prague Spring Competition.

Originally from Padova, Italy, Leonardo Jelveh studied viola at the Cesare Pollini Conservatory of Music in Padova in the class of Fabrizio Scalabrin and graduated with honors in 2016.

At the age of 14, he took part in masterclasses and concerts at the International Orchestra Institute Attergau in Salzburg. From 2013 to 2015, he completed his training by attending the Internationale Sommerakademie in Bad Leonfelden, Austria with Thomas Riebl, and in 2015 he joined the European Union Youth Orchestra as a member of the Leverhulme Summer School in Austria. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in viola in 2021 at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, where he worked with Wolfram Christ. In September 2021 he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris in the class of Jean Sulem.

He has won numerous awards at international competitions, such as first prize at the 7th International Salieri Competition in Legnago, first prize at the 7th International Premio Crescendo Competition in Florence and first prize at the International Contea di Treviso Competition in 2016. He also placed second at the prestigious Francesco Geminiani International Competition in Verona.

From 2016 to 2019, he performed in the main European festivals and theaters with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, the La Fenice Orchestra of Venice or the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 he has participated in the Academy of the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and since 2022 he’s a member of the Academy of the Opéra National de Paris.

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.

Marlene Förstel, born in 2000 in Lower Austria, first received cello lessons at the age of 6. In 2012 she was accepted into the gifted class of the J. S. Bach Music School in Vienna as well as the Young- Masters-Program for the promotion of particularly talented young musicians where she was taught by Maria Grün and Andrea Traxler.

In October 2017, she was accepted at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and studied with Maria Grün. Since October 2019 she is continuing her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Professor Reinhard Latzko.

She completed numerous master classes with renowned teachers, including Claudio Bohórquez, Wen-Sinn Yang, Heidi Litschauer, Xenia Jankovich, Miklòs Perényi, László Fenyö,and Johannes Moser. Marlene Förstel is a repeat first prize-winner of the Prima la musica competition.

In 2016, she won first prize in the "Violoncello solo" category at the national competition and was invited to perform as a soloist in the Great Hall of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten. Further soloist appearances followed, including concerts at Schloss Laudon (Lower Austria 2016, 2017), the atmospheric Great Knight's Hall of Burg Raabs (Lower Austria 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022), and the Palace of Justice Vienna with the Franz Schmidt Chamber Orchestra (Vienna 2018). She also gave solo performances abroad, for example in Italy, Croatia, Germany and Slovenia.

In April 2018 she won the string soloist category at the international competition Svirel in Slovenia and was chosen to perform at the „Ten of the Best“ Gala Concert. Furthermore, she was awarded with two special prizes, among these was an invitation to perform with the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania and also present a solo recital there in the spring 2019.

In October 2019 she was part of the Emars-Master-Program and was selected to give a solo performance with the Slovene Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

In December 2021 she took part in the Musica Juventutis competition and won an invitation to perform at the Vienna Konzerthaus in April 2023. After a successful audition in Summer 2022 she performed the Dvořák Cello Concerto op 104 with the Master-Orchestra in Brescia (Italy). In the season 2021/22 she played among others together with Christian Altenburger a concert of the cycle "Master & Students" in the concert hall "Das MuTh" in Vienna as well as the opening concert of the "Festival St. Gallen", where she performed the Vivaldi Cello Double Concerto RV 531. Marlene Förstel is also a passionate chamber musician.

She plays in various formations such as duo, piano trio, string quartet and cello quartet. With her celloquartett “Die Kolophonistinnen” she won the BePhilharmonic competition in April 2016 and received the Strauss Music Contest Award of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. They were furthermore invited to perform live on stage at the Summer Night Concert 2016, in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. At the New Year's Concert 2017 of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, “Die Kolophonistinnen” were featured in the intermission film. In April 2020 they launched their very first CD “Heldinnenleben” and had their debut-concert in the Vienna Musikverein in the winter of 2021.