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- Musique de chambre -
Friday 14 March 2025 | 20h00
Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Salle Franz Liszt
 

WINTER SEASON 2024-2025

Brahms · Tchaikovsky

Friday 14 March 2025 · 20h00

Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Salle Franz Liszt

Place de Neuve 5, 1204 Genève

PROGRAMMEARTISTS AND BIOGRAPHIES

PROGRAMME

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Scherzo - Allegro non troppo - Presto giocoso
III. Poco adagio
IV. Poco allegro

Sergey Ostrovsky · violin 1Alexander Goldberg · violin 2Sarah Strohm · viola 1Noémie Bialobroda · viola 2Pauline Boudon · cello 1Arne Zeller · cello 2

— INTERMISSION —

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)

Souvenir de Florence for string sextet, Op. 70

I. Allegro con spirito
II. Adagio cantabile e con moto
III. Allegro moderato
IV. Allegro vivace

Sergey Ostrovsky · violin 1Alexander Goldberg · violin 2Noémie Bialobroda · viola 1Sarah Strohm · viola 2Arne Zeller · cello 1Pauline Boudon · cello 2

THE ARTISTS

PROFESSORS AND GUESTS

Sergey OstrovskyViolin · co-founder and artistic director of GISARead the biography ›

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.

Noemie BialobrodaViola · co-founder and artistic director of GISARead the biography ›

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.

YOUNG ARTISTS

Alexander GOLDBERGViolinRead the biography ›

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.

Sarah STROHMViolaRead the biography ›

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.



Pauline BOUDONCelloRead the biography ›

Pauline Boudon began playing the cello at the age of three in Lyon. She then trained with Matthieu Lejeune at the Conservatoire de St Maur-des-Fossés before entering the CNSMD in Paris at the age of 17. She continued her studies in the class of Jérôme Pernoo and Cyrill Lacrouts, graduating with unanimous honours with distinction.

She has benefited from the advice of renowned teachers such as Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, Reinhard Latzko, Xavier Gagnepain, Luis Claret and Pierre Foucheneret. She is now completing her Master's degree with Marc Coppey, Tatjana Uhde and Pauline Bartissol.

In 2022, she was selected for the masterclasses at the Kronberg Academy, and then performed at the Amsterdam Cello Biennale. She is a member of the Brahms Promotion (2023-2024) at the Philippe Jaroussky Academy, where she receives guidance from Anne Gastinel.

Pauline is passionate about chamber music, and in 2024 joined the master's programme in trio with Iris Scialom and Nicolas Bourdoncle at the CNSMDP in François Salque's class. She is a member of the Citadelles Quartet, and performs with the Arod Quartet (August 2023), Ulf Wallin, Marianna Shirinyan and Xenia Jankovic, among others, in various countries.

She has also worked with prestigious institutions such as the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, and has been invited to the Musica festival in Strasbourg, the Festival de La Chaise-Dieu, and others.

She plays a cello signed Frank Ravatin, kindly loaned by the El Pasito Association.

Arne ZELLERCelloRead the biography ›

Arne Zeller, born 4th October 2006, started playing the cello at the age of six and joined the class of Peter Bruns at the HMT Leipzig as a junior student aged 14. Since October 2024 he is a bachelor student in the class of Frans Helmerson at Kronberg Academy. Regular masterclasses with Jens Peter Maintz have been contributing additional important artistic impulses since 2021.

Being the winner of the Grand Prix and audience prize of the Budapest International Cello Competition 2025 and the first prize (ex aequo) of the International Pau Casals Award 2024, he is increasingly gaining international attention.

Further important awards in his career were the first prize of the International Anna Kull Cello Competition (Graz, 2020), the first prize of the International Mahler Cellocompetition 2022 and the second prize at the 29. International Brahms Competition (Pörtschach 2023). He also is an awardee of numerous first national prizes and special prizes of the federal German competition „Jugend musiziert” in the categories Cello solo and chamber music and is since 2024 the current holder of the Pergamenschikow Scholarship of Kronberg Academy.

Arne debuted with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations at 13 years of age, soloistic performances followed with the Baden-Baden Philharmonics, the Euro Symphony Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and the National Philharmonics Budapest with works by Korngold, Dvorak, Shostakovich, Boccherini, Haydn, and Weinberg. In 2023 he repeatedly soloed with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra at the “hr-schooltour”, and the University Orchestra Mainz to relate classical music to school students. During his studies at Kronberg Academy he is also regularly involved in concerts targeting social involvement issues.

In addition to his performances as a soloist, Arne Zeller regularly plays public concerts in varying chamber music formations, for example at the Moritzburg Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Con Spirito Festival Leipzig, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Nymphenburger Sommer, the Bachwoche Ansbach, the Berner Seefestspiele, and the Kronberg Festival.

Particularly formative experiences in chamber music he experienced as junior artist at “Chamber Music Connects the World” at Kronberg, at the Geneva International String Academy, the Henle Chamber Music Academy, and the soloist program of the Verbier Festival. In this context he was privileged to already perform together with artists like Gidon Kremer, Antje Weithaas, Sergey Ostrovsky, Noémie Bialobroda, Lawrence Power, Valentin Erben and Steven Isserliss.

He played at venues like the Musikverein Wien, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Liszt Academy Budapest, in the Conservatoire de musique de Genève and the Casals Forum Kronberg.

Other important impulses were set through masterclasses with Ivan Monighetti, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Jan Vogler, Gary Hoffman and Steven Isserlis as well as Sir Andras Schiff, Gidon Kremer and Martin Helmchen.

Arne Zeller holds scholarships by the „Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes“, the „Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben”, the International Music Academy Liechtenstein and the Villa Musica Rhineland-Palatinate. He receives funding by the Peter-Klöckner Stiftung and was awarded the Martin-Stadtfeld-Prize, the Werner Stiefel Prize Baden-Baden, and the Lichtenberger Musikpreis.

He is kindly supplied with the Charles Maucotel cello „ex-Tortelier“ (1850), courtesy of a member of the Stretton Society, which also strongly supports him through the “Stretton Exellence Membership Programm” since 2024.

In 2026 Arne Zeller has scheduled concerts as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Greece, Romania, Spain and Japan.

THE CONCERTS

SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER

Chez Mme et M Wuarin

Debussy · Schumann · Ysaÿe · Waxman

View the concert ›

FRIDAY 15 NOVEMBER

Société de Lecture

Prokofiev · Mozart · Arensky

View the concert ›

FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER

Société de Lecture

Schubert · Mozart

View the concert ›

SUNDAY 26 JANUARY

Chez Mme et M Wuarin

Ysaÿe · Chopin · Beethoven · Britten · Rimsky-Korsakov

View the concert ›

FRIDAY 14 MARCH

Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Salle Franz Liszt

Brahms · Tchaikovsky

This concert

SUNDAY 13 APRIL

Chez Mme et M Wuarin

Schumann · Chausson · Ysaÿe

View the concert ›

Discover the season ›

Mécènes et Partenaires

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