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.

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.

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.

GISA Ambassador: Contact Eva Kobor

Born in Nice, France, in 2001, she studied at the Sivom Cap D’Ail School of Music with Nathalie Girod, the Académie Rainier III of Monaco with Louis Denis Ott, and since 2017, in Budapest with Eszter Perényi, Terez Pichner, and Barnabás Kelemen at the Liszt Ferenc Academy.

She has won first prizes at competitions like Vatelot-Rampal and Flame in France, and the Zathureczky Ede National Competition and Tibor Varga Competition in Hungary. Additionally, she received the Prince of Monaco Special Music Prize, artistic scholarships “Fischer Annie,” and the title "Artist of the Month" from the Budafok Municipality, as well as the Hubay Prize in 2024.

She has performed as a soloist with the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Cannes National Orchestra, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, MAV, Hungarian Radio, Budafok Dohnányi, and the Szeged Symphony Orchestra, and the Camerata UNAB Orchestra from Chile…


Since 2024, she has been an academist at the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Fischer.

British violinist Andrew Samarasekara is known for his artistic sensitivity, accomplished technique, and communicative style. He is a first-prize winner at the Fanny Mendelssohn and International Salzburg music competitions and has received special prizes at the Eastbourne Young Soloist and Gisborne International Music competitions. His performances
were further acknowledged when he reached the semi-finals of the Bartok World Competition and ARS Classica and was a selected candidate for the 8th Sendai International Violin Competition. He made his concerto debut at age 12 and has since performed as a soloist with the London Concertante, Dorking Philharmonia, Ipswich Philharmonic, and Orchestra Cameristi della Scala.

Andrew has performed extensively across Europe and North America at renowned venues, including the Yale Morse Recital Hall, Woolsey Hall, Jordan Hall, Cadogan Hall, Franz Liszt Academy, Berlin Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Kaufman Centre, Société de Lecture Geneva, Menuhin Hall, and Schloss Nymphenburg Munich. His festival appearances include Schiermonnikoogfestival, Geneva String Academy, IMS Prussia Cove, NUME Academy, Yale Norfolk Chamber Music Series, ECU Four Seasons Winter Workshop, Garda Lake String Academy, Mendelssohn on Mull Chamber Music and Crans Montana Classics. A keen advocate for chamber music and collaboration, Andrew has shared the stage in concert with Shlomo Mintz, Sergey Ostrovksy, Noémie Bialobroda, Ida Kavafian, Tai Murray, Colin Carr, Ettore Causa and the Emerson, St Lawrence and Doric Quartets.

A former student at theYehudi Menuhin School and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Lutsia Ibragimova and Paul Biss respectively, Andrew completed his graduate studies in 2024 at the Yale School of Music in the class of Ani Kavafian. At Yale, he received the prestigious Yale Raymond M. Plank Prize, a sponsored artist residency at the UCROSS Foundation, and the Yale Alumni Association Prize twice.

Andrew has participated in masterclasses led by Augustin Hadelich, Philippe Graffin, Mi-Kyung Lee, Steven Isserlis, Frank Huang, Aaron Rosand, Lukas Hagen, Ida Kavafian, and Hagai Shaham. He also received mentorship and guidance from Miriam Fried and members of the Brentano Quartet and Emerson Quartets. Andrew performs on a 1731 Nicolò Gagliano violin and W. Hill bow generously provided by a private benefactor.

Born in 2004, American violinist Simon Hagopian, currently a recipient of the C.V. Starr scholarship and a senior at The Juilliard School, began studying the violin at age 4 at the Special Music School in his native Manhattan, and went on to study with renowned violinist Aaron Rosand and teachers Li Lin and Hyo Kang. When he was 10 years old, he won the Cremona International Music Academy competition in Cremona, Italy, and two years later the Kaufman Music Center Concerto Competition in New York City. Last year he performed Shostakovich duets at Carnegie Hall with Chen Yi, and this coming December he will perform as a soloist with the Diablo Symphony Orchestra in California.

Simon performs regularly with the Juilliard Orchestra and has participated as a chamber musician and soloist at festivals in Belgium, Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Bowdoin, Maine. In 2017 he performed as a soloist at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C. in honor of Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan.

His awards include Grand Prize Winner of both the Raada Rise and Servaas International competitions, semi-finalist at the Johansen International Competition, and prize winner at the Adelphi Concerto Competition and Zodiac International Competition. He is also a laureate of the Washington International Competition and has participated in masterclasses with Masao Kawasaki, Catherine Cho, and Ida Kavafian.

Simon also enjoys playing the piano and composition, which he has studied respectively with Genya Paley at the Special Music School and Manual Sosa at Juilliard.

Violist David Kang is a Korean-American artist based in Vienna whose playing is recognized for its warmth, lyricism, and expressive depth. The first violist to win both the Thornton Bach Competition and the LAKMA Competition he has established a dynamic career as chamber musician, orchestral leader, and educator.
An active presence on the international chamber music stage, Kang has appeared at festivals including the Thy Chamber Music Festival, Geneva International String Academy, Danish String Quartet Academy, and Atlantic Music Festival. In 2021, he won first prize at the Ofeish String Quartet Competition, leading to a residency at the Rencontres Franco-Américaines de Musique de Chambre Festival with the Gateway Quartet. He has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Yura Lee, Atar Arad, Tony Nys, Andrew Wan, Peter Bruns, Annette von Hehn, and François Salque, and has served as guest artist and faculty at the Kenya International Chamber Music Festival.

Alongside his chamber career, Kang maintains an active orchestral profile. He has served as Principal Viola of the Thornton and Bob Cole Symphony Orchestras and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Opera San Antonio. He has also appeared as guest principal with ensembles including the Recovered Voices Orchestra, American Contemporary Ballet, and Fernweh Orchestra.

Kang began his musical studies on the violin at age five before transitioning to the viola during his undergraduate years. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the USC Thornton School of Music, where he studied under Che-Yen Chen and Yura Lee. Currently, he continues his studies at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien, where he works with Jennifer Stumm. He has also had the privilege of learning from artists such as Nobuko Imai, Thomas Riebl, Asbjørn Nørgaard, Teng Li, Tim Frederiksen, Shunske Sato, and Jay Campbell, among others.

GISA Ambassador: Contact Alessandra Yang

Violist Alessandra Yang currently studies at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität (Vienna, Austria) in the studio of Jennifer Stumm and attended Juilliard Pre-College under the tutelage of Hsin-Yun Huang. She frequently participates in chamber music festivals and masterclasses, including Taos School of Music, Perlman Music Program, Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, Prussia Cove, and Saline Royale Academy, and she regularly performs in baroque ensembles across Europe and the United States.

She wins the special Chamber Music Prize at the Concours de Genève 2025 for Viola.

Outside of music, she enjoys exploring philosophy and has taken classes at Freogen Fellowship, the inaugural Forbidden Courses program at the University of Austin, and as a fellow of the Hertog Foundation.

Alessandra plays on a 2017 Hiroshi Iizuka viola made local in her native Philadelphia and an 1801 Michael Stadlmann Viola d'amore made in Vienna.

Tilman Sandvoss is an accomplished orchestral, chamber, and solo musician noted for having a luscious tone and profound musicality. He began his musical education at home with his father Christopher Sandvoss at the young age of five, and later continued his viola studies in the Academy and Advanced Performance Program at the Mount Royal Conservatory. He has participated in international festivals including the Festival Academy Budapest, the Domaine Forget Academy and its Chamber Music Intensive program, as well as the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove. In 2019 he was also the only violist to be invited to Germany to take part in the Goslar Internationale Konzertarbeitschwochen, where he studied with Elisabeth Kufferath, professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover and member of the Tetzlaff Quartet.

Tilman has had the pleasure of working with many internationally distinguished artists and teachers such as Kim Kashkashian, Antoine Tamestit, Maxim Rysanov, Paul Coletti, Gerald Stanick, Andres Cardenes, Sharon Wei, and members of the Calidore, Kronos and Chiaroscuro Quartets, to name a few.

As a fan of new music, Tilman has both collaborated and given world premieres with composers such as Vincent Ho, Peter Jancewicz, Brian Current, Jörg Widmann, Julian Anderson and Huw Watkins.

Recently, Tilman has founded an international chamber music festival in Western Canada called Chisel Creek Classical, where he invites artists from around the world to perform and teach over a two week period.

Tilman received his Bachelors of Music degree (Honours) in viola performance at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto under the mentorship of violist Steven Dann. He is continuing his education at The Hochschule für Musik in Basel where he is pursuing his Masters degree in the class of violist Silvia Simionescu.

Tilman performs on a viola made by his father, master luthier Christopher Sandvoss.

Chiara Kaufman is an Italian-American cellist, born in New York in 2004. After moving to Italy, she began her musical studies at the G. Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where she graduated with honors. She attended the Pavia Cello Academy under the guidance of Maestro Enrico Dindo, with whom she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.

Chiara is also a student at the Stauffer Academy for Strings in Cremona, where she has worked with Antonio Meneses and is now part of the class of Frans Helmerson. Over the years, she has refined her skills through masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Jens Peter Maintz, Peter Bruns, Asier Polo, Enrico Bronzi, and Mischa Maisky. She also attended courses at Accademia Chigiana and Kronberg Academy.

Chiara has performed throughout Italy for prestigious festivals and concert societies such as Trame Sonore, Mito Settembre Musica, Milano Classica, Amici del Loggione del Teatro alla Scala, Società del Quartetto and Società dei Concerti. Notable appearances include performances at Accademia Filarmonica Romana and Milan’s Sala Verdi and Sala Puccini, where she held a recital after winning the “Young Talents Award” at the Milan Conservatory Prize, and more recently, first prize in the “String” section of the same competition.

She actively dedicates herself to chamber music experiences and forms, together with her brother and sister, the Kaufman Trio, with which she has performed across Italy, Germany, and Belgium. In November 2022, they gave the Italian premiere of Evgeny Kissin’s Trio, dedicated to Ukraine.

Chiara plays an instrument by French luthier Mathias Menanteau.

Xuanhan Xu started playing piano at the age of five and began learning the cello at eight. At the age of thirteen, Xuanhan Xu was enrolled at Hochschule für Musik Saar in Germany, where she studied as a Jungstudentin with Professor Gustav Rivinius. At the age of 16, she began her bachelor's degree at Hochschule für Musik Saar. At age of 20, she began her Master’s degree at Die Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig, studying with Professor Peter Bruns.

In 2013, at the age of nine, she won the 5th David Popper International Cello Competition in Hungary. On October 20, 2020, the 16-year-old Xuanhan Xu won the first prize at the Pablo Casals International Award for Young Cellists. July 5, 2022, Förderpreise Klassische Musik 2022 by The Hans and Ruth Gießen Foundation. July 2023, 1st Prize from Chieti Classica Cello International Competition. Since February 2024, she is a Scholarship holder of der Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Instrumentenfonds.

Gustav Rivinius, Prof. Jian Wang, Prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Prof. Gary Hoffman, Prof. Jens Peter Maintz, Prof. Claudio Borhórquez, Prof. Julian Steckel, Prof. Martti Rousi and Prof. Peter Bruns.

Xuanhan Xu has played concerts with NCPA Orchestra, National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra, and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of conductors Hubert Soudant, Yi Zhang, and Jia Lü. They were performed in Beijing at the NCPA (National Center for the Performing Arts), Suntory Hall, Tokyo, and Shanghai Symphony Hall and Beijing Concert Hall. In 2018, she was selected to play twice for the live concerts of the ARD Consortium (German National Television Consortium), recitals at the prestigious Chamber Concert Festival. In 2021, she was invited by the Fundació Pau Casals for recitals in Barcelona and Girona. In 2023, she played her own Chamber music recital in Rathaussaal Oberthal, Saarland. In 2024, she held her own chamber music concerts with Australian Pianist Tony Lee, at the Beijing Concert Hall and Shanghai Symphony Chamber Music Hall. 

In June 2025, she is going to play Schumann Cello Concerto with Maestro Hubert Soudant, together with Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra at Shanghai Symphony Hall. Shortly after, she is going to perform her own chamber music recital at Chengdu City Concert Hall.