Strings
Violin / Viola
Luca Braga
Luca Braga (1963) studied at the G. Verdi Conservatory under the mentorship of Prof. C. After perfecting his skills with Felice Cusano, Zinaida Gilels, Alexander Brussilovsky, Maja Jokanović, Mariana Sirbu, and Franco Rossi, he embarked on a brilliant solo and chamber music career.
He has collaborated with leading ensembles and renowned musicians, performing in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, such as the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, and the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, among others. He has recorded for several labels, including Decca, Velut Luna, Tactus, and Teldec. In a duet with Lucia Pittau, he recorded an album featuring works for violin and piano by G. Martucci and G. Sgambati (Tactus).
He has collaborated with highly regarded Italian orchestras, including I Pomeriggi Musicali, the Orchestra Toscanini dell’Emilia Romagna, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Bergamo Musica Festival Teatro Donizetti, and the Musica Riva Festival. Since 2000, he has been a member of the Mantua Chamber Orchestra and the first violinist of the Mantua String Quartet, with which he performs extensively both in Italy and abroad.
He regularly holds masterclasses and recitals at American universities, including Montclair University, the State University of Kansas, North Dakota University, Concordia University Fargo, Macalester College in Minneapolis, and the University of Las Vegas.
He is frequently invited to serve as a jury member at national and international competitions.
He is currently employed as an assistant professor of chamber music at the G. Verdi Conservatory in Milan.
Mihaela Costea
Mihaela Costea, born in Romania, began playing the violin at the early age of five. During her childhood, she won several competitions like “Golden Lira” (1990 until 1993), “Mozart” (1992) and Stresa (Italy) (1986).
She won a scholarship at the Specialization High School of Music in Saluzzo (Italy) where she studied with prof. M. Sirbu in 1993. In 1994 she graduated cum laude at the High School of Arts O. Bancila (Iasi-Romania) with E. Pirvu. Then in 1996 she graduated cum laude at the Conservatorio G. Rossini (Pesaro-Italy) and she also won the Competition “Un violino per sognare” which enabled her to study with V. Brodsky. From 1996 to 2000 she studied with S. Accardo at the “Walter Stauffer” Academy in Cremona (Italy). During this period, she won the international competition “L. Perosi” (Biella-Italy) and she took up the position of concertmaster with Orchestra Filarmonia Veneta and Orchestra Internazionale d’’Italia.
Since 2000 she has been the official Concertmaster and Soloist of Filarmonica “Arturo Toscanini” in Parma. Since 2002 Mrs. Costea has led the following orchestras: BBC Symphony, Royal Philarmonic, Foundation Gulbenkian (Lisbon), Stanislavskij Theater (Moscow), San Carlo Theater (Naples), Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala (Milano), the Orchestra Suisse Romande and has become a member of London Philharmonic Orchestra as the Leader of Second Violins. In 2006 and 2007 she was invited by Ch. Dutoit to teach young musicians in the CISMA (China), and to play chamber music with leading players from around the world. Later in 2008, she was invited to Lindenbaum Festival in Seoul to teach (Korea). Since 2018 she has collaborated with Orchestra Maggio Fiorentino (Florence). Recently she has performed, as a soloist, masterpieces from baroque and romantic repertoire and also works from the 20th century repertoire. She teaches and holds regular violin masterclasses.
Mihaela Costea plays the 1690 violin by Matteo Goffriller, which she owns as well.
Ida Klokk-Bryhn
Ida Klokk-Bryhn is the principal violist of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. She is also a professor at renowned Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo and Royal College of Music in London. She is a regular guest principal in different chamber and symphony orchestras, such as Australian Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra in London, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Stockholm Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra to mention a few.
She has also performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Diamant Ensemble Copenhagen. Ida is also a keen chamber musician. She is artistic director of Gloppen Music Festival in the west coast of Norway and is regularly invited to summer festivals in Europe and the USA, playing with distinguished musicians such as Steven Isserlis, Isabelle Faust, Tabea Zimmermann and Leif Ove Andsnes, to name a few.
Ida Klokk-Bryhn founded the Norwegian Chamber Orchestras’ development program for young talented musicians, and leads the program for talented young musicians in Kristiansand, Norway. She is also a regular guest teacher at academies in Northern Europe and her students have won awards in different competitions in Norway and Europe. As a Fulbright stipendiat she studied with Kim Kashkashian at New England Conservatory where she graduated with distinction in performance. She has received several prices and awards from the Norwegian state and private foundations in Norway. Ida Klokk-Bryhn plays a viola made by G. and F. Grancino in 1665, generously lent to her by Dextra Musica in Norway.
Francesco Parrino
Francesco Parrino studied the violin, performance art, and historical musicology at the most distinguished European music institutes and universities. As a violinist, he studied with widely acclaimed violinists and lecturers such as N. Brainin, H. Davis, M. Hasson, L. Kaplan, E. Koskinen, S. Nissel, I. Oistrakh, V. Pikaizen, C. Romano, K. Sebestyen, K. Wataya, and D. Zsigmondy. However, he was most influenced by pedagogues David Takeno and Yirah Neaman. His solo and chamber career (he is the founder of the Trio Albatros Ensemble) has led him to perform in renowned concert halls across the world, where, as a soloist, he has played with many symphony and chamber orchestras. He has participated in over 100 Italian and world premieres of 20th-century composers’ works, as well as those by contemporary composers, a great deal of which have been dedicated to him. Furthermore, his discography includes a wide range of world-premiere recordings of works from the Classical period to contemporary music. In addition to his teaching activities at the Antonio Vivaldi Conservatory of Music in Alessandria, he holds masterclasses worldwide. As an artistic director, he devotes much energy to the festival La Altre Note—a project aimed at presenting interesting and insufficiently known musical-cultural trends to the public, offering young musicians an innovative approach to education and a prestigious stage. Francesco Parrino plays three violins: Gaetano Gadda (c. 1930), Giacomo & Leonardo Bisiach (1962), and Giuseppe & Antonio Gagliano (c. 1790–1805), all of which were lent to him by the family of renowned conductor Gino Marinuzzi. He also owns two very valuable bows: Benoit Rolland and Eugene Sartory (1930), which were generously donated by an anonymous benefactor.
Maria Winiarski
Maria Winiarski is an internationally acclaimed violist, chamber musician and artistic director based in Berlin. As a chamber musician, Maria has performed in halls like Konzerthaus Berlin, Konserthuset Stockholm, the Tel-Aviv Museum, Bangalore International Center, Auditorio de Zaragoza and others. She is a regular guest in world-leading orchestras such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian Opera Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Swedish Orchestra.
Maria was born in Sweden in 1988 and grew up in Stockholm and Moscow. She studied violin and viola at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm, the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig as well as the chamber music institute Edsbergs Castle in Sweden. Some of her main teachers were Malin Broman, Mats Zetterqvist and Anna Lindal. Master classes in Spain, Israel and Poland complemented her education.
Maria has won several major prizes and scholarships, such as the Swedish Royal Academy of Music, Sandrews Foundation, Gemzéus Foundation, Freemasons in Sweden, and most recently scholarships from the Deutsche Musikrat, Akademie der Künste (Berlin) and Stiftung Zurückgeben.
Maria is the founder and Artistic Director of the Swedish branch of the international non-profit organization Musethica.
Cello/Double bass
Jean Halsdorf
Jean Halsdorf is a versatile musician: born in Luxembourg, he studied cello in Cologne, Rome and Basel. He was a member of the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, the European Union Youth Orchestra and was principal cellist of the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (Spain) from 1996 to 2022. Since his return to Luxembourg, he has been increasingly active as a conductor and composer and has devoted himself intensively to performance practice of early music on baroque cello and viola da gamba. For almost 20 years he was artistic director of the Ensemble de la Chapelle Saint-Marc, he regularly conducts his own works as well as symphony concerts, opera and ballet.
Teaching is a passion of his: he was cello and chamber music professor at the Conservatoire de la Ville d’Esch-sur-Alzette (L) for 15 years before becoming its director on 1st of October 2022.
Zoran Marković
Zoran Marković, a contrabassist, furthered his studies with renowned pedagogues in Venice, Cremona, Munich, and Salzburg, after graduating from the Music Academy in Podgorica and obtaining a master’s degree from the Faculty of Music at the University of Arts in Belgrade. During his studies, he won numerous awards at various competitions both in his home country and abroad.
As a member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber String Orchestra, he received the Prešeren Fund Award in 1999, followed by the Župančić Award in 2004 and, in 2006, the Betett Award from the Slovenian Music Artists Association. Marković has performed concerts across Slovenia and internationally. As a soloist, he has successfully performed with prestigious ensembles such as the Slovenian Philharmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber String Orchestra, St. Đord Stringers, Celje String Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber String Orchestra, Junge Bläser Philharmonie Kärnten Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Niš, Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, and Britten String Orchestra, among others.
He has been a regular guest at many festivals across Europe, including: Aspecte Salzburg, Neue Bühne Villach, Serenate nel Chiostro, Trieste Prima, I Suoni delle Dolomiti, Akzente – Neue Musik in Klagenfurt, Ljubljana Summer Festival, Oxford Chamber Music Festival, Osnabrücker Musikfestival Classic con Brio, Schloss Elmau, Holstebro “Klassiske Dage”, Storioni Festival, Kumbo Chamber Music Festival, Stavanger, Sylt, and Stradun Classic Dubrovnik, to name a few. From 1990 to 2004, he worked as a solo contrabassist with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Since January 2004, he has been a regular faculty member at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. Additionally, since 2006, he has been a freelance solo contrabassist with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. He also teaches contrabass at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana and at Summer International Music Academies in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, England, Germany, and Finland.
Smiljan Mrčela
Smiljan Mrčela began his first cello lessons in his hometown, Zagreb, studying with Prof. Dobrila Berković-Magdalenić at the Elly Bašić Music School. He continued his studies in the class of Prof. Valter Dešpalj at the Academy of Music in Zagreb, and furthered his education with postgraduate studies under Prof. Enrico Bronzio at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. He has also participated in numerous seminars led by distinguished pedagogues such as V. Perlin, G. Tavares, B. Greenhouse, C. Bohorquez, R. Latzko, and A. Noras. Mrčela has won first prizes at several Croatian and international competitions, including the Music Competition Musica Goritiensis (in Gorizia), the Croatian National Competition in Varaždin, and the Antonio Janigro Competition in Poreč. He has represented Croatia by performing at concerts for young talented musicians and laureates in Moscow, organized by The Vladimir Spivakov Foundation. In 2014, he was awarded the Darko Lukić Prize as a member of the Croatian String Quartet. He has performed as a soloist with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Zagreb Soloists, Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radiotelevision, Croatian National Theatre Orchestra in Split, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, and the European Youth Orchestra, under the baton of conductors such as Pavle Dešpalj, Martin Sieghart, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Dawid Runth, Jesk Sirvend, Ivan Repušić, and Michal Dworzynski. As both a soloist and chamber musician, he has also performed in many European countries and in Japan.
In January 2013, he made his debut performance in the Golden Hall of the Wiener Musikverein, collaborating with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Martin Sieghart, and violinist Martin Draušnik, performing the Double Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra by Boris Papandopulo.
Mrčela was a member of the Zagreb Soloists from 2008 to 2022, and since 2011, he has been active as the principal cellist of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2023, he became an assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.
Hillary Vaden Karuza
Cellist Hillary Vaden Karuza began playing cello in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) in the class of Janis Nilsen. In 2002 she received her Bachelor of Arts with a major in Musical Performance and a minor in Art History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the class of Professor Brent Wissick. The same year she enrolled in post graduate studies at the Pennsylvania State University in the class of Professor Kim Cook where she received her Masters in Music Performance in 2004. She performed in masterclasses with world renowned cellists such as Yo Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Anner Bylsma, Aldo Parisot and Gustavo Tavares. In 2005 she moved to Split, Croatia where she first worked as a substitute cellist in the Croatian National Theatre Orchestra, Split.
She was a permanent member of the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, Assistant Principal cellist in the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and is a founding member of the Omiš Baroque Ensemble. She has performed as a soloist with the Split Chamber Orchestra and the Mostar Symphony Orchestra and as a chamber musician has performed in the United States, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and Kazakhstan.
She was employed as the violoncello and double-bass teacher in the Music School ‘’Lovro pl. Matačić’’ in Omiš, Croatia (2009 – 2013), worked as an Instructor at the University of Split Arts Academy (2021 – 2023) and since 2012 is permanently employed as violoncello teacher in the Music School ‘’Josip Hatze’’ in Split, Croatia. She has served as a jury member at the International Competition ‘’String Fest’’ and Concert Series for young musicians ‘’Vinko Lešić’’.
She holds seminars for violoncello and performances for children ˝Getting to know String Instruments˝ throughout Croatia.
Her students have won numerous prizes at regional, national and international competitions.
Woodwinds
Flute
Riccardo Ghiani
Riccardo Ghiani was born in Cagliari in 1961. He established himself under the mentorship of Salvatore Saddi, Raymond Guiot, and Maxence Larrieu. He attended numerous masterclasses in flute under the guidance of Alain Marion and in chamber music under the direction of Bruno Cahin and Maurice Bourgue.
He has been an active member of the Spaziomusica Ensemble in Cagliari. In addition to holding the position of principal flautist of the Teatro Lirico Orchestra in Cagliari, he has also performed with the following orchestras: the Orchestra della Toscana in Florence, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, the Ensemble Instrumental de l’Île de France in Paris, the Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra in Milan, the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo, the Orchestra del Teatro Nazionale dell’Opera di Roma, the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, and the Konzerthaus Orchestra in Berlin.
He has performed under the baton of G. Korsten, L. Maazel, C.M. Giulini, P. Steinberg, C. Hogwood, R. Abbado, G. Rozhdestvensky, and others. He has served as a lecturer at the conservatoires of Cagliari, Sassari, Reggio Calabria, and Palermo. From 1996 to 2006, he worked as an assistant lecturer to Aurèle Nicolet at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. From 2001 to 2006, he taught alongside Aurèle Nicolet at the Hvar Summer Academy in Croatia. Furthermore, he taught at the Accademia Flautistica Travesera Siglo XXI in Madrid and at the Accademia “Non solo Flauto” in Poggio Ubertini (Montespertoli). He regularly serves as a jury member at competitions in Italy and abroad, as well as for exams at conservatoires in Neuchâtel, Strasbourg, and the Haute École de Musique de Genève (HEM). He is a lecturer at both the Bosa Antica Summer Academy and the Cursos de Música de Segovia. He is one of the founders of the Hoffmannsthal Ensemble and the artistic co-director of the festival Le piace Richard Strauss? in collaboration with the Richard Strauss Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In the academic year 2022/23, he worked as a lecturer for the ‘Master di II livello di flauto’ at the Conservatorio “G.P. Da Palestrina” in Cagliari. Since 2022, he has been teaching annual advanced courses at the Music ART House Academy in Palermo.
Reinis Lapa
Reinis Lapa is a flutist, conductor, and teacher. He received his education at the Emīls Dārziņš Secondary Music School and the Latvian Academy of Music.
From 1998 to 2024, he was a musician in the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, where he served as the principal flutist. He is also the Head of the Wind Instruments Department at the Liepāja Music, Art, and Design High School, where he teaches flute and conducts the symphony orchestra. Reinis collaborates with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, performing as a soloist and conducting musical performances and concert programmes for children. He regularly performs at chamber music concerts throughout Latvia. This year, he launched the chamber music project Baltic Flute Quartet, which brings together leading flutists from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
Milena Lipovšek
Milena Lipovšek has been a solo flautist in the Symphony Orchestra RTV Slovenia since 1999. In 1998 she graduated with excellent marks from the Music Academy in Ljubljana, where she received her specialized postgraduate degree in 2004 by performing Francaix’s Concert for flute and the orchestra. In 2017 she took her doctor’s degree from the University in Ljubljana and acquired the professional qualification for the Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy. Furthermore, she completed her education in Propaedeutic at the Slovenian Institute of Psychotherapy in 2010, and in 2015 she finished her study of Integrative Psychotherapy in Bilbao acquiring the professional title of Integrative Psychotherapist.
Being an orchestra musician she collaborated with orchestras like SNG opera, the Ballet Orchestra SNG in Ljubljana, the Mahler’s Chamber Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra OSESP in Sao Paulo, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Lyon National Opera Orchestra.
As a soloist she has occasionally performed with various orchestras both inland and abroad and made a few solo and chamber recordings for the archive of Radio Slovenia. Both in the chamber ensembles as well as a soloist she has also performed several pieces of domestic and foreign composers and a lot of her recordings have been released on CDs. She has also appeared on the scene of various festivals held in Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Croatian, Belgium, England, Brazil, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, in the USA and Australia.
She is a teacher at the Conservatory of Music in Ljubljana and she holds regular master-classes both in Slovenia (Podsred, Celje, Štanjel) as well as abroad (Brazil, Germany, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia).
Her students continue their studies at highly ranked universities in the classes of respectable flute teachers and they achieve enormous success at state and international competitions. Simultaneously with her music career she has been working as a psychotherapist in her private practice for a large number of years.
Clarinet and saxophone
Karel Dohnal
Karel Dohnal studied in Prague, London, Berlin, and St. Petersburg and is a laureate of numerous international competitions. He has performed with esteemed ensembles such as the Tokyo, Pavel Haas, Zemlinsky, and Talich String Quartets, as well as the renowned soprano Edita Gruberová. Karel is a member of the PhilHarmonia Octet, the Arundo Quartet, and the Prague State Opera Orchestra.
He is deeply engaged in the study and performance of contemporary music. His interpretations of works such as Stockhausen’s Harlekin and Hillborg’s Clarinet Concerto, which incorporate elements of dance and mime, have received high acclaim. In 2021, he was honored with the Amber Prize in the category of Soloist of the Year.
Karel serves as a professor at the University of Ostrava, Faculty of Arts. Recent highlights include solo performances with the Babmberger Symfoniker, Essen Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Győr Philharmonic, and the Janáček Philharmonic.
Karel is proudly supported by Selmer and D’Addario Woodwinds.
Ties Mellema
Ties Mellema is undisputedly a virtuoso on the saxophone. He sees himself first and foremost as a musician. His craft is expressed in his continuous exploration of the outer limits of music.
From classical and minimal to improvisation, funk, and jazz, Mellema has inhabited the space between established styles and disciplines for over 20 years.
Taking on, and then overcoming, challenges and telling a story are always at the heart of his work. Whether it’s the false-polyphonic cello suites by J. S. Bach on baritone saxophone, the monomaniacal Gradus by Ph. Glass, or the extreme free jazz of his hero J. Coltrane, Ties consistently seeks the boundaries of disciplines and the possibilities within his instrument. He continuously challenges himself to retell the story of the music. His multifaceted style has brought Ties worldwide recognition and collaborations with, to name but a few, G. Dudamel, Concertgebouw Tracks, MTV, Tania Kross, the Four Baritones, H. Dulfer, and R. Frerichs.
Together with director Jos van Kan, composer Ian Wilson, and stage designer Michiel Voet, Ties created The End of Desire: a personal and abstract music theatre performance in which he incorporated his injury—an accident that almost ended his career as a musician.
In 2015, Ties fell seriously ill for a number of years, and, in addition to playing the saxophone, he began composing with electronics. After 20 years of playing in the Amstel Quartet, Ties decided it was time to follow his own path. He claims that since then, he has been making more intense and, specifically, more intuitive music.
Ties has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Netherlands Music Prize. Various albums featuring Ties, both as a solo artist and ensemble player, have been released by Amstel Records and PEAX Records.
Ties Mellema plays an Eppelsheim bass saxophone on loan from the collection of The Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation and uses Légère reeds.
Jordi Pons
Jordi Pons was born in Barcelona and moved to London in 2000 to study at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2005 he continued his studies with François Benda at the Basel Academy of Music (Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel) in Switzerland. He graduated from the prestigious institution, attaining Diplomas of Excellence in both the Concert and the International artist courses. Jordi has been the recipient of several prizes and awards, including the International Clarinet Competition Città di Carlino (Italy), the Prize Juventuts Musicals de Catalunya (Spain), The Orchestral Clarinet International Competition (Spain), the Premio de Honor for woodwind Solo Playing (Spain), amongst others. He was also honoured to receive the CIRIT Award for Music and Research (Spain) as well as The Guinness Music in the Community Award and The Mortimer Development Award (UK). Being very passionate about the orchestral repertoire, he has performed with some of the most prominent orchestras worldwide being led by the baton of names like: Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, Peter Eötvös, Charles Dutoit, Bertrand de Villy, Sir Charles Mackerras, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Robert King, Trevor Pinnock, Josep Pons, and Sebastian Weigle. Jordi is very sought-after both as a recitalist and pedagogue, doing masterclasses all over Europe, and is currently teaching at the Swiss conservatories Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano and the University of Music in Basel (Hochschule für Musik Basel).
Bence Szepesi
Bence Szepesi is a twelve-time prize-winning artist and has performed in more than 27 countries. He graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and from the Academy of Music Paris, France. Since 1992 he has performed as a solo clarinettist of the BDZ Symphony Orchestra Hungary. In 1993 he was awarded the third prize at the International Clarinet Competition in Ghent. Since 1995 he has been both the founder and artistic director of the Budapest Saxophone Quartet and has also won prizes at international and Hungarian competitions. He is a founding member of the EuroSAX International Saxophone Ensemble and a member of the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet in the USA as well.
Besides, Bence Szepesi has performed as a soloist with orchestras all over the world. In 2009 he performed as a saxophonist of Ennio Morricone’s orchestra in Asia, Africa and Europe and apart from that has also performed with world-famous artists.
From 2000 to 2010 Szepesi was an exclusive artist for Selmer Paris, and is currently an artist for D’Addario, Frank Hammerschmidt and BG France.
In 2011 he was awarded the Artisjus Prize for contemporary music in Budapest, Hungary. Furthermore, he is a professor of saxophone at University of Miskolc in Hungary, Country Chair for the International Clarinet Association and former president of the Hungarian Clarinet and Saxophone Society.
Szepesi made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2018, and has given four solo concerts since that. He acquired his doctorate degree in 2024. Bence Szepesi is an exclusive artist of AGP Agency New York.
Gordan Tudor
Gordan Tudor is one of the most distinguished musicians of his generation. He is a soloist, composer, chamber musician, improviser and a pedagogue.
After graduating from the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb in the class of the professor Dragan Sremac, he continues his study of saxophone at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp, where he receives his degree with the highest acknowledgements. As a scholarship holder of Amsterdamse Hoogeschool voor de Kunsten he improves himself at CNSMD in Paris in the class of the professor Claudea Delangle and later of Eugene Rousseau at Mozarteum in Salzburg.
He is the winner of numerous first awards at state and international competitions and of five Porin discography awards.
He has performed in a large number of the world’s concert halls (Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonie Hall, The Knoll at the University of Stanford, C4NM in San Francisco, ORF Kulturhaus inVienna, DeSingel Antwerpen, Mumuth Graz etc.), in museums (Scriabin’s Museum in Moscow, Fundació Miró in Palma de Mallorca, MASS MOCA in North Adams (USA), Haus der Musik in Vienna etc.) and he has held masterclasses at Gnessin Academy Moscow (RUS), Royal Conservatoire Antwerpen (BEL), University of California Santa Barbara (USA), Conservatori Superior de Música de les Illes Balears (ESP), Conservatorium Maastricht (NLD), MUK Vienna (AUT) etc.
Apart from being an alto saxophone player of the praiseworthy Papandopulo Quartet and soprano saxophone player of Trio GIG Gordan has lately also been performing in the duet with guitar player Miroslav Režić.
At the time he is running an international class of saxophone at the Academy of Arts in Split (UMAS) and he is the artistic leader of the Modern Music Ensamble S/UMAS, which was founded by him at the Academy.
As a reproductive artist he has premiered about fifty compositions of Croatian as well as foreign authors, whereas as a composer he has taken his chance in various genres and instrument combinations, so that his compositions have been performed all over the world.
He spent the summer of 2011 at a residence within Bang on a Can summer festival-at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (North Adams, MA).
Gordan is regarded as an exclusive Selmer Paris and D’Addario Woodwinds Artist.
Brass
Christopher Dufay
Christopher Dufay, trumpet player from the north of France, passionate about classical and jazz music, is considered to be one of the most versatile and eclectic musicians of his generation.
During various events, he shared the stage with various artists and great conductors (Jean-Claude Casadesus, Lucie Legay, Luc Vertommen, Russel Gray, Richard Galiano, Ibrahim Maalouf, Richard Sanderson, etc.) and was also a permanent member of various ensembles (Lille Chamber Orchestra, L’îlot Brass, Normandy Brass Ensemble, Funky Jazz Band, Notes & Bene, etc.)
After obtaining numerous Diplomas including a Master’s degree, he was awarded the tittle Professor of Artistic Education in 2019. Immensely passionate about teaching, he is regularly invited to teach at various international events (Bolivia, Belgium, Luxembourg).
Christopher Dufay has also recorded several CDs with Brass Band including: Le Chant de la mine, Eugéne Bozza, dir. Nicolas Bucher, Orchestre Valentiana; Adventure, Sophie Buddelot et le Brass Band NPDC; Rhapsody, Michel Becquet, Qu4tre à 4 et le Brass Band NPDC; Zabawa u Piotra, Pierre Misikowski et son ensemble, and a DVD as well: La Légende Celtique, Brass Bans Nord Pas de Calais.
Looking forward for new adventures, he decided to leave his native region and move to Normandy where he was nominated as a trumpet teacher at the Departmental Conservatory of Grand Couronne and Petit Couronne. Since January 2023 he has also been the Director of the Brass Band en Seine.
Mate Đuzel
Mate Đuzel (Split, 1995) is a trombone soloist of the Croatian National Theatre Split Orchestra. After having finished his primary and secondary education at the Music School in Imotski in the class of prof. Ivan Glibota, he continued his studies in the class of art prof. Š. Vulelija at the Music Academy in Zagreb, where he received his Master’s degree as a trombone player in 2018. He also spent a year studying at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana under the mentorship of the Full Professor D. Kranjac.
As a soloist he has won numerous recognitions and awards, of which one of the most outstanding is his prize winning at the 53rd Darko Lukić Music Forum (2019/2020). He won first prizes at the National Competitions four times (in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014). He was also a four-time first prize winner at the International Competition Daleki Akordi (in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013), where he was declared the absolute winner twice: in 2007 and 2009. He was also a first prize winner at the following international competitions: Bistrički zvukolik competition (2014), Woodwind & Brass (2015) and SVIREL (2016). He is a recipient of the Rector’s Award for his performance of Nino Rota’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra accompanied by the Zagreb Philharmonic (academic year 2016 and 2017), as well as the Dean’s Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and results (academic year 2017 and 2018).
He has given solo performances with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Zagreb Soloists, the Symphonic Wind Orchestra of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, Brass ansamble, Wind Orchestra and String Chamber Orchestra of the Music Academy in Zagreb.
As a chamber musician, he received two first prizes at the National competition (in 2006 and in 2012), First prize at the International Competition Davorin Jenko in 2018 and The Croatian Composers’ Society Award for the best performance of a work by a Croatian composer at the 54th Darko Lukić Music Forum in 2020 and 2021.
Mate Đuzel has collaborated with almost all professional orchestras in Croatia and performed at numerous classical music festivals. Besides his active performing career, he is also dedicated to teaching. Since February 2024, he has been working at the Music Academy in Zagreb, where In the position of title-based assistant, he teaches courses of trombone, euphonium and related musical instruments.
Simon Štelcer
Simon Štelcer attended the Secondary Music School in Maribor. He continued his musical education at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in the class of Professor Stanko Arnold, where he graduated in 2004.
He has won one third prize and three first prizes at the Slovenian Young Musicians Competitions.
In 2002, he received Slovenia’s prestigious award for artistic achievement—the Prešeren Prize of the Academy of Music—for his performance of Vivaldi’s concerto.
He has recorded for Radio Maribor and RTV Slovenia. He was the principal trumpeter of the Youth Symphony Orchestra and, from 2000 to 2007, the principal solo trumpeter of the Maribor Opera and Philharmonic.
He performs as a soloist and chamber musician and is a regular member of the Maribor Chamber Orchestra. At the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor, he teaches brass instruments, achieving notable results with his students at national and international competitions.
Maxine Troglauer
Classical music, jazz, contemporary music – for Maxine Troglauer these are not areas that can be meticulously separated. Rather, they are organically interconnected resonance chambers that give the bass trombonist, born in Wiesbaden in 1995, the opportunity to engage in a self- confident dialogue with the past.
Troglauer does not think in clichés but recognises opportunities. Her declared aim is to free her instrument from its niche and help it to develop its own repertoire. To this end, composers such as Daniel Schnyder and Jonas Schoen-Philbert have written solo pieces for her that bring out the best in the bass trombone. At the same time, she draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources: In her concerts, meditative drones may be played alongside a flute sonata by C.P.E. Bach, and jazzy improvisations may be followed by her own compositions. The fact that the musician, who completed her master’s degree in 2021 with the bass trombone luminary Dave Taylor in New York, is not afraid to explore a wide range of genres is down to her uniquely broad range of experience. Troglauer is one of the few people to have been a member of both the Bundesjugendorchester (BJO) and the Bundesjugendjazzorchester (BuJazzO), the two most important youth orchestras in Germany. The portfolio of the 2022 Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation prizewinner is correspondingly varied, ranging from productions for NDR, BR, the Beethovenfest Bonn and the jazz label ECM to solo and chamber music concerts with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, at the Schleswig- Holstein Music Festival and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.
Troglauer also captures her diverse experiences in her own compositions and arrangements, which she recorded for the first time in June 2024 on her debut album ‘HYMN’ with, among others, the exceptional New York trumpeter Peter Evans. The album will be released on 6 June 2025 on the Fun in the Church label in collaboration with Deutschlandfunk Cologne. (Josef Engels, „WELT“, „Jazzthing“, „Rondo“)
Paul Scholer
Paul Scholer took music lessons at the music schools in Pétange and Bascharage and the Music Conservatoire of Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg). He graduated from the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Liège in Belgium (class of Francis Orval and Nico De Marchi) with 1st prizes in French horn, chamber music and music theory. He has worked with orchestras in Belgium and Luxembourg and was a member of the World Youth Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales in 1986.From 1987 to 2022 he was the director of the national music school of Luxembourg “Ecole de musique de l’UGDA”, the intendant of the Concours Luxembourgeois pour Jeunes Solistes as well as of the European Union Wind Orchestra. He was also responsible for the National Youth Wind Orchestra Luxembourg. He has been a member of the National Program Commission for Music Education of the Ministries of Culture and Education.
He was the president of EMCY (European Union of Music Competitions for Youth) from 2012 to 2023 and since 2024 he has been the Honory Member of EMCY. He is regularly invited as a jury member at different music competitions over Europe.
His work focuses on promoting young musical talent on the national and international level and organising bilateral and multilateral projects, workshops, and concerts for young people.
