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.

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.

David Baik is a violinist devoted to expressing intimate emotions through his instrument and creating a profound connection with his audience.

Featured on the CBC Canada's “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30", South Korean-born violinist David Baik is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2023 Peter-Mendell Award from the Jeunesses Musicales Canada Foundation, Grand Prize at the 2021 NAC Bursary Competition, consecutive First Prizes at the 2016 and 2017 Canadian Music Competition, Sturdevant Prize, Gerhard Kander Graduating Award, Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Fellowship, and the Gabriella Dory Prize. Recently, Baik was named a winner of the 2023 Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank competition.

Baik obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, where he was mentored by Jonathan Crow. In 2022, he was awarded a fellowship at the Schulich School of Music, where he continued his studies under the guidance of Andrew Wan.

As an avid chamber musician, Baik has engaged in notable collaborations with esteemed artists such as Camden Shaw, Charles Richard Hamelin, Jennifer Koh, Andrew Wan, Desmond Hoebig, Jonathan Crow, and Philip Chiu. Additionally, his string quartet, the Stelios Quartet, has garnered acclaim, earning multiple awards, including the 2024 Schiermonnikoog Festival Audience Award and the Grand Prize at the 2023 McGill Chamber Music Competition. Their upcoming schedule features a notable lineup of concerts throughout the Netherlands, with performances scheduled in Eelde, Rhenen, Dalfsen, and Schiermonnikoog. Also an active soloist, Baik has performed with the Sinfonia Toronto, Toronto Summer Music Festival Orchestra, Durham Chamber Orchestra, North York Symphony Orchestra, and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra.

Baik has made appearances at the Toronto Summer Music festival, Schiermonnikoog Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Netherlands String Quartet Academy, Trondheim String Quartet Academy, McGill International String Quartet Academy, Orford Music Festival, and the Meadowmount School of Music. For the 2024/25 season, David Baik will be a resident of the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Residency Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

He performs on the 1871 J.B. Vuillaume ('Messiah' Strad copy) violin, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts.

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.

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.

Born in Israel in 2001, Idan is currently studying with Ms. Tali Kravitz at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he is completing his Master of Music (M.Mus.) degree.

During his studies, he has won 2nd prize in the “Gritz” Solo Strings Competition, 2nd prize in the “Avi Abramovich” Duo Competition, and 1st prize in the “Dina Turgeman” Chamber Music Competition at the academy.

Idan has been awarded the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Scholarship for the fifth consecutive year. This scholarship enables him to actively participate in chamber music performances and play in the symphony Orchestra at the academy. As part of the chamber music program, he has performed alongside academy professors such as Zvi Plesser, Zvi Carmeli, and Roi Shiloah at the Jerusalem Theater.

While in high school, Idan was a member of the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra of the Jerusalem Music Center, where he led the viola section in multiple projects. He also participated in the David Goldman Chamber Music Program for Outstanding Young Musicians and the Huberman Solo Strings Program, receiving numerous masterclasses from renowned violists.

He has attended the Keshet Eilon International String Summer Mastercourse in 2023 (Israel) and 2024 (Spain), receiving masterclasses from Tatjana Masurenko, Gilad Karni, and Yuri Gandelsman. As part of the program, he performed in a chamber music concert with violinists Ilya and Olga Kaler (Cleveland) and cellist Hillel Zori (Israel).

Idan is an active participant in the Musethica Project, an initiative that brings classical music to diverse audiences, including those with special needs. Through this project, he has performed chamber music and concerts with artists such as Yoni Gotlibovich, Roi Shiloah, Saida Bar-Lev (Concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic), Tali Kravitz, and Guy Ben-Ziony.

He was awarded a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for viola performance (classical music) for the years 2017–2019 and 2023–2024.

Swiss cellist Jonathan Gerstner was born on the shores of Lake Geneva in 2003. He began playing the cello at the age of five with Aude Pivôt, continued his path with Martin Reetz at the Lausanne Conservatoire and from 2020 studied with Patrick Demenga at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU). Since 2022, he has been studying with Reinhard Latzko in Austria at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (mdw). From 2025 he also studies with Julia Hagen and in 2026 wins the first prize of the 1st Heinrich Schiff Competition there. Further valuable input came from Jens Peter Maintz, Peter Bruns, Thomas Grossenbacher, Valentin Erben, Troels Svane, Marc Coppey and Pieter Wispelwey among others.

Jonathan has been part of the 2024 Verbier Festival Orchestra (VFO), playing under the direction of conductors like Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano and Klaus Mäkelä.

Highly passionate about chamber music, he has studied with teachers such as Vincent Coq in Lausanne and currently Johannes Meissl and Stefan Mendl in Vienna, as well as receiving invaluable advice from Eckart Runge, Hatto Beyerle, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Patrick Jüdt and Dirk Mommertz within the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA). In 2025, as part of the Cuore Piano Trio, he won the first prize along with a special prize at the 10th International Johannes Brahms Chamber Music Competition in Gdańsk.

In recent years Jonathan performed on stage with artists such as Sergey Ostrovsky, Marko Ylönen, Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula, Patrick Demenga, Philippe Graffin and Reinhard Latzko. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has appeared on all four of Switzerland’s national classical radio stations, and performed at international festivals and concert venues including the Geneva International String Academy, Musikverein Wien, Prague Spring Festival, Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, Lavaux Classic, K&M Festival Stavanger, Loisiarte, Beethovenhaus Baden and the Musikfestwoche Meiringen.

Born in Spain in 2003, Juan began taking cello lessons at the age of six. Since 2021 he has been studying with Prof. Fernando Arias at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid. Previously he studied with Victoria Rodríguez at the Centro Integrado de Música Padre Antonio Soler in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where he graduated with honors. During this period, he also received valuable instruction from Maria de Macedo, Suzana Stefanovic and Fernando Arias.

Juan has participated in numerous masterclasses and courses with renowned cellists, including Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Peter Bruns, Daniel Müller-Schott, Kian Soltani, Valentin Radutiu, László Fenyö, Marc Coppey, Asier Polo, Paolo Bonomini, Norbert Anger, Mischa Maisky, Beatriz Blanco and Alexander Ramm, among others. He is a scholarship holder of the International Academy of Music in Lichtenstein and takes part in the Intensive Music Weeks and activities offered by the Academy.

He has been awarded 1^st prizes at several competitions, including the XIII International Cello Competition Jan Vychytil (Prague, 2019), where he also received the “Overall Winner Prize”, the XXX International Competition FLAME (Paris, 2019) and the IX Concurso de Corda Cidade de Vigo (Spain, 2020). In 2022, he reached the final round with orchestra of the 8^th International Dotzauer Competition for Young Cellists in Dresden. He has also received prizes at the Geneva Junior Music Competition (2023), VII North International Music Competition (2021), and VI Concurso Nacional de Violonchelo Jaime Dobato Benavente (Spain, 2015).

As a solist, Juan has performed Schumann’s Cello Concerto at Teatro Monumental in Madrid with the Orquesta Sinfónica del RCSMM. As a member of the Prometheus Cello Quartet, he has played at various festivals and venues across Spain. He has also performed in venues such as Fundación Juan March, Museo del Prado or Museo del Romanticismo in Madrid, or Liechtenstein Palace in Prague.

Born in 2023 from the meeting of four friends at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, the Quatuor Solveig cultivates a sensitive and meticulous approach to chamber music. Currently pursuing a string quartet degree at the CNSM de Paris, in the classes of Louis Rodde and Jean Sulem, the quartet is also enriched by the expert advice of the Quatuor Ébène during masterclasses.

In 2025, the quartet was invited to an intensive session at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, in partnership with the ECMA (European Chamber Music Academy). On this occasion, he received inspiring teaching from Patrick Jüdt, Petr Prause, Kathryn Scott, Pavel Fischer and Jennifer Langridge.

Exploring a wide repertoire, from Vivaldi to Shostakovich, the Solveig Quartet forges deep bonds with the works it performs and the diverse audiences it meets. Indeed, the quartet is committed to multiplying opportunities for contact with listeners who may be far removed from the world of classical music, an observation that is even more striking when it comes to the quartet's repertoire, which the 4 musicians wish to promote to as many people as possible.

Margotte Raineteau - first violion
Laura Lecocq - second violin
Baptiste Donadio - viola
Lise Declerck - cello