Konstantin Bogino, piano and chamber music (July 15–21)
Konstantin Bogino is a well-known soloist and a chamber musician. He is also an acclaimed teacher, whose pupils have won prizes in international piano and chamber music competitions. His artistic development was strongly influenced by legendary Russian pianists such as Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, and Arthur Rubinstein, who he heard when a child. His is the fourth generation of pianists in the family. Bogino has performed in major concert halls and at festivals the world over. He has also helped start many festivals, such as the Portogruaro in Venice, the Music Festival of Lucca, and music festivals in Dubrovnik, Chioggia, Campagna and Maribor. The hard-working Bogino has also given masterclasses in all the Nordic countries, Germany, France, Italy, the United States, Japan, South Korea and in countries of the former Yugoslavia. Many of the pianists appearing at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival are his pupils.

Danel Quartet (July 18–27)
The Belgian Danel Quartet was founded in 1991. Since then their aim has been to present the quartet repertoire from Haydn to the present day. They have honed their skills under such great masters as the Amadeus Quartet, Walter Levin and Hugh Maguire. One of the most established ensembles in their field, the Daniel Quartet regularly appears in top concert halls and at many major chamber music festivals. They have collaborated with many of the important composers of our time, such as Wolfgang Rihm and Jonathan Harvey. The Danel Quartet has been active in giving masterclasses and they succeeded the Lindsays as the quartet-in-residence at the University of Manchester. They have made numerous award-winning recordings for various record labels. During the 2010–2011 season their schedule has included concert tours abroad, a performance of Helmut Lachenmann’s Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied with the Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra and a profile concert for the composer Bruno Mantovani at the Bastille Opera in Paris.

The members of the Danel Quartet are:
Marc Danel, violin
Gilles Millet, violin
Vlad Bogdanas, viola
Guy Danel, cello

Hagai Shaham, violin (July 15–22)
Hagai Shaham is regarded as one of the most interesting violinists to have come out of Israel in recent years. He has been successful in several competitions, including the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, which he won in 1990. Shaham has given concerts around Europe, in Israel and in many countries in Asia. He has also performed as soloist with the BBC orchestras, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. In 1985 he received an invitation to join Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman at a gala concert in Carnegie Hall. Shaham is also in demand as a recitalist, regularly performing at a number of major international festivals. His teachers were Elisha Kagan and Ilona Feber, and, in America, Emanuel Borok, Arnold Steinhardt and the Guarneri Quartet. He has made many recordings. Shaham now teaches at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Institute in Tel Aviv and is on the Board of the Ilona Feher Foundation, which he co-founded to provide support for young Israeli violinists.

Nicholas Daniel, oboe (July 18–19)
Oboist and conductor, Nicholas Daniel, is one of today’s most celebrated oboe players in Great Britain. He studied at Salisbury Cathedral School, the Purcell School and the Royal Academy of Music with George Caird, Janet Craxton and Celia Nicklin. Daniel has given recitals on all continents and performed under such eminent figures as Sakari Oramo, Roger Norrington, Oliver Knussen and Peter Maxwell Davies. In addition to the conventional oboe repertoire, Daniel has promoted new music for his instrument and has premiered pieces by Henri Dutilleux, Harrison Birtwistle and Michael Tippett, for example. Daniel is also a founder member of the Haffner Wind Ensemble and the Britten Oboe Quartet and he regularly collaborates with pianist Julius Drake and the Maggini and Lindsay String Quartets. He is Professor of Oboe at the Musikhochschule, Trossingen, in Germany, is Associate Artistic Director of the Britten Sinfonia, and is Artistic Director of the Leicester International Music Festival. He also plays in the chamber ensemble Camerata Pacifica.

Sivan Magen, harp (July 17–26)
Sivan Magen, who is from Jerusalem, studied piano and harp at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. After doing his military service he continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire and then at the Juilliard School in New York. He has won several competitions, such as the 16th International Harp Contest in Israel. He was the first Israeli-born winner of that competition. He is also a recent winner of the Pro Musicis International Award in New York. Sivan Magen gained his Master’s at the Juilliard School in May 2008, since when he has given recitals all over the world, including at London’s Wigmore Hall. He has appeared at several chamber music festivals, and played with Kim Kashkashian, Nobuko Imai and Franklin Cohen, among others. He has performed as soloist with all the main orchestras in Israel and given masterclasses around the world. He has also sat on several international harp competition juries.

Roope Gröndahl, piano (July 18–25)
Roope Gröndahl studied piano at the Sibelius Academy under Liisa Pohjola, Matti Raekallio and Antti Siirala and as a pupil of Matti Oksala at the Helsinki Conservatory. He now studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where his teacher is Christopher Elton. He has also attended masterclasses given by András Schiff, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Stephen Kovacevich. In chamber music he has been mentored by Ralf Gothóni and Emanuel Ax. He has also studied conducting under Jorma Panula. In 2007 Gröndahl took second prize in the Jyväskylä Piano Competition and in the international Maj Lind piano competition, in which he was the youngest entrant. In May 2008 he won second prize in the final of the Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Vienna, representing Finland. Roope Gröndahl has appeared as soloist with most of the Finnish orchestras under many leading conductors. Abroad he has given concerts in several central European countries and in the United States. He is well-known in chamber music circles and has played at several festivals, including the Bergen Festival in Norway, the Helsinki Festival and the music festivals in Iitti, Nauvo and Turku (all in Finland), in addition to the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.

Paavali Jumppanen, piano (July 18–27)
Winner of the 1994 Maj Lind Piano Competition, Paavali Jumppanen has performed as soloist with almost all the main Finnish orchestras and at numerous music festivals in Finland and abroad. Taking first prize in the 2000 Young Concert Artists International Auditions led to his playing in concert halls in the USA. He now gives recitals and concerts with orchestra there regularly. He has given numerous performances of the music of Beethoven in particular, including all 32 piano sonatas in Finland and in Boston over the period 2007-2008. At the same time he also played at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Sinfonia Lahti, recorded and performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in London. Jumppanen has also commissioned numerous piano works from Finnish composers, making them familiar to audiences around the world. His recording of Boulez’s third piano sonata, produced in collaboration with the composer, has picked up a number of awards, and the UK Guardian newspaper said it was the best ever recorded disc of Boulez’s piano music. Jumppanen’s recording of Beethoven’s 10 violin sonatas with Corey Cerovsek won the Midem Classical Award in January 2008. Paavali considers music education to be important and he lectures regularly in piano and chamber music at the Espoo Music Institute. This year he will also hold masterclasses in Boston, Basel and Oulu.

Junio Kimanen, piano (July 18–27)
Junio Kimanen studied piano at the Sibelius Academy under Marita Viitasalo and Juhani Lagerspetz, and went on to complete his studies in Italy and France under Konstantin Bogino. He has given concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in Finland, Russia, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, and has been a guest at several music festivals. Junio Kimanen is also a busy teacher of chamber music and piano and a publisher of educational materials, and has been Artistic Director of the Kuhmo chamber music courses since 2002.

Natacha Kudritskaya, piano (July 17–26)
Trained at the Lysenko School in Kiev and the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music with Irina Barinova and Igor Riabov, Natacha Kudritskaya joined the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) in 2003, working with the pianist Alain Planès Unanimously awarded a first class honours degree by the jury for her piano prize recital in 2007, she was admitted to the Conservatoire’s advanced course to study with Jacques Rouvier in September of the same year. As part of a partnership with the Conservatoire de Paris, she also spent a term at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Stefan Vladar. Since September 2009, she has been studying with Henri Barda at the Ecole Normale de Paris. Natacha was invited to perform at the Santander Music Festival where she collaborated with Dmitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez Menher and benefited from the advice of Christoph Eschenbach, Elisabeth Leonskaia and Jean-Claude Pennetier. In 2009, she was awarded the Grand Prix by the Safran Foundation and was featured on the Génération Spedidam programme. She was also awarded 1st Prize at the Vibrarté International Music Competition and the Robert Casadesus Prize for her “personal and discerning performance of French music”. She was invited to participate in the misical season "French Notes" a project of the French ambassy in Israel. In France, Natacha has performed in Paris in the auditorium of the Musée d’Orsay, at the Cité de la Musique and the Salle Cortot, and as part of resident ensembles at the Roque Anthéron and the Grange de Meslay, Dinard, Serres d’Auteuil, l’Epau, St Riquier, Perigord Noir and Deauville festivals. In Europe, she has been invited to perform at festivals in Gstaad, Kuhmo, Geneva, Riga, London, Frankfurt, Vienna and Attergau. She has joined several US tours with the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, performing concertos by Grieg, Scriabine and Rachmaninoff and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. She recently recorded a CD for the “Young soloists” collection, with works by Rameau, Berio and Ravel, thanks to support from the Meyer Foundation for cultural and artistic development. Her studies were sponsored by Adami in 2008. Awarded a grant by the Mécénat Musical Société Générale for the 2008/2009 academic year, she benefited from the support of the Fondation Groupe Banque Populaire in 2009.

Heini Kärkkäinen, piano (July 17–26)
Heini Kärkkäinen studied piano at the Sibelius Academy under Liisa Pohjala and continued her studies with Ralf Gothóni and Jacques Rouvier, among others. She won the Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition in 1984 and two years later she came second in the Maj Lind Piano Competition. In 1993 Kärkkäinen was nominated Young Artist of the Espoo International Piano Festival. She has performed as soloist with numerous Finnish orchestras and has played chamber music and other forms of music extensively in Europe and the United States. Kärkkäinen has given first performances of many Finnish works, including Olli Koskelin’s Piano Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Mikko Heiniö’s Piano Concerto and, at Kuhmo, his Piano Quintet and Bass Clarinet Trio. She recorded a prize-winning disc of duos by Szymanowski, Kodály and Schnittke with cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson. Her disc of music by Saint-Saëns was British BBC Music Magazine’s disc of the month in March 2007, and Gramophone Magazine included it in its list of recommended recordings

Juhani Lagerspetz, piano (July 17–25)
Juhani Lagerspetz made his debut with orchestra when he was just 13, when he played as soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto. He had begun his piano studies at the Turku Conservatoire in his home town and then studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Leningrad Conservatoire. He has been highly successful in competitions (first prize in the Ilmari Hannikainen in 1975 and the Maj Lind in 1976). In 1982 he won a special prize in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In addition to dozens of piano concertos Lagerspetz has performed in ambitious series of concerts, including almost the entire output for piano by Brahms and, most recently, the solo piano works of Ravel. He has made numerous recordings for radio and international record companies. He is also a lecturer in the piano and professor at the Sibelius Academy.

Valeria Resjan, piano (July 18–27)
Russian-born Valeria Resjan studied piano at the Sibelius Academy under Hamsa Al-Wadi Juris and in Madrid under Dmitri Bashkirov. Resjan won the Maj Lind piano competition in 1992 and the Pilar Bayona piano competition in Zaragoza, Spain, in 1995. In June 1996 she came fourth in the Montreal International Competition in Canada, where she also took the audience favourite award. Resjan has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra in the Nordic countries, Russia, Japan, the UAE, Spain and Canada and at the main festivals in Finland. Valeria Resjan is a lecturer in piano and accompaniment at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

Andrea Rucli, piano (July 18–27)
Andrea Rucli has won awards in numerous piano competitions and regularly performs as both soloist and chamber musician. He perfected his skills under Konstantin Bogino and later worked as his assistant. Rucli and Bogino also give concerts together as a piano duo. Other chamber music partners have included Patrick Gallois, Radu Chisu, the Tartini Quartet and Vladimir Mendelssohn. Rucli has appeared at chamber music festivals all over Europe and performed as soloist with the Dubrovnik Festival Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Udine. In January this year he gave a concert at the Italian President’s Palace as part of the Quirinale series in Rome. Andrea Rucli teaches piano at the Instituto Pareggiato ‘Puccini’ in Gallarate in Italy.

Carsten Schmidt, piano (July 18–27)
Carsten Schmidt made his debut as soloist with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1984 and since then has appeared regularly all over Europe and in Japan and North America. He has given concerts at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Schubert Festival in Amsterdam and the Mozart Festival in Augsburg. Schmidt’s repertoire extends from early baroque to new music. He also regularly performs on the harpsichord. Since 2004 he has also been a conductor of several baroque operas. Carsten Schmidt’s main teachers were Claude Frank and Leonard Hokanson (piano) and Richard Rephann (harpsichord). He teaches piano and harpsichord in New York and is Director of the Staunton Music Festival.

Irina Zahharenkova, piano (July 17–24)
Russian-born Irina Zakharenkova’s success in international competitions has been staggering. In 2005 alone she won a prize in the Epinal Piano Competition in France, the ‘Prague Spring’ International Harpsichord Competition, the Enescu International Piano Competition in Romania and the Geneva International Piano Competition. The following year she won the Alessandro Casagrande Competition in Italy and the Johann Sebastian Bach competition in Germany. Even before that she had met with success, in 2004 winning the Premio Jaén International Piano Competition in Spain, in which she also won the audience prize. Zahharenko now lives in Finland, having graduated in piano and harpsichord from the Estonian Academy of Music in 2000. Her teachers included Lilian Semper and Maris Valk-Falkat. At present she studies at the Sibelius Academy with Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna. At the same time she is studying for a doctorate at the Estonian Academy of Music where she has been a teacher of the piano since 2007.

Petri Aarnio, violin (July 18–27)
Petri Aarnio studied at the Sibelius Academy with Lajos Garam and at the East Helsinki Music Institute with Geza Szilvay. He continued his studies in New York with Dorothy DeLay and Joel Smirnoff from 1984 to 1990. Petri Aarnio is the concert-master of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Constantin Bogdanas, violin (July 18–27)
Violinist with the Enesco Quartet, of which he is a founder member, Constantin Bogdanas gives concerts as both soloist and chamber musician. His career was given a boost when he won prizes in the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and the International Chamber Music Competition in Paris, playing with the Enesco Quartet. He settled in Paris in 1979 and was leader of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France and the Orchestre Colonne. Constantin Bogdanas is at present professor at the Conservatoire Francis Poulenc in Paris and assistant professor at the Paris Conservatoire. Each year he also teaches on various masterclasses around the world.

Marc Danel, violin (July 18-27)

Sara Etelävuori, violin (July 18-27)
Sara Etelävuori started playing the violin when she was three at the Juvenalia Music Institute in Espoo, Finland. When she was 12 she became a pupil of Seppo Tukiainen at the Sibelius Academy Junior Department. Since 2010 she has been studying at the Department of Orchestral Instruments at the Sibelius Academy. She has attended masterclasses given by many important Finnish musicians as well as Mihaela Martin, Ana Chumachenko, Patrice Fontanarosa, Régis Pasquier, Pavel Vernikov, Hagai Shaham and, in chamber music, Konstantin Bogino and the Fine Arts Quartet. Sara Etelävuori has seen success in several competitions, including the Heino Eller International Violin Competition in Tallinn, Estonia, and the Kuopio Violin Competition last year. She has played as soloist with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, the Lohja City Orchestra, the Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra and Helsinginkadun filharmonikot. She appeared at the Shanghai World Expo. She has also performed in the UK and Austria as a member of the Trio Avril and Artende Quartet.

Vilde Frang, violin (July 21-27)
Noted particularly for her superb musical expression, as well as her well-developed virtuosity and musicality, Vilde has established herself as one of the leading young violinists of her generation since she was engaged by Mariss Jansons at the age of twelve to perform with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights among her recent and forthcoming engagements include performances with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, HR-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Russian National Orchestra and many others. She appears as a recitalist and chamber musician at festivals in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lockenhaus, Gstaad, Verbier and Lucerne. Amongst her collaborators were Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, Julian Rachlin, Leif Ove Andsnes and Maxim Vengerov, and together with Anne-Sophie Mutter she has toured in Europe and the US, playing Bach's Double Concerto with Camerata Salzburg. Born in 1986 in Norway, Vilde has studied with Kolja Blacher at Musikhochschule Hamburg and Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy.

Anna Gebert, violin (July 18–27)
Polish-born Anna Gebert studied violin under Igor Bezrodny, Ana Chumachenko and Miriam Fried, as well as the baroque violinist Stanley Ritchie. Before she held her current position as Concertmaster of the Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra, she played in the Berlin Philharmonic and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Anna Gebert can frequently be heard as guest leader of orchestras such as the Frankfurt and Bavarian State Opera Orchestras, the Cologne and Hannover Radio Orchestras and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Gebert has performed at numerous festivals around Europe.

Ilya Gringolts, violin (July 18-27)
Ilya Gringolts won the International Violin ’Paganini’ Competition in 1998. Later he toured and performed at the world’s most prestigious concert venues under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta and Vassily Sinaisky. Gringolts studied in St Petersburg under Tatiana Liberova and Jeanna Metallidi and at New York’s Juilliard School with Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy Delay. He was also one of twelve young artists selected by the BBC for their New Generation Artists Scheme. Gringolts has given concerts in Paris, Brussels and London as well as at several festivals. Recent seasons have taken him to the London Proms, Vienna’s Musikverein, and as far afield as Australia, Asia and South Africa. He has performed chamber music with Diemut Poppen and Yuri Bashmet and is a recent founder of the Gringolts Quartet, in which he plays first violin. Ilya Gringolts has also found the time to make numerous recordings, with Claudio Abbado, among others, conducting. Ilya Gringolts is a professor at the Basel Hochschule für Musik.

Siljamari Heikinheimo, violin (July 18–27)
Siljamari Heikinheimo started playing the violin at the Espoo Music Institute, where her teachers were Päivyt Meller, Jerzy Blaszkiewicz and Grazyna Gebert. She went on to study at the Sibelius Academy Youth Department under Merit Palas. From 2005 to 2008 she studied at the Edsberg Music Institute in Stockholm under Ulf Wallin and she is now back at the Sibelius Academy, where her teacher is Petri Aarnio. She played her concert to obtain a diploma in spring 2011, gaining a distinction. Heikinheimo has attended masterclasses by Mi-Kyung Lee, Pavel Vernikov, Hagai Shaham, Tero Latvala and Antti Tikkanen. She has also studied chamber music with Paavo Pohjola, Marko Ylönen and Mats Zetterqvist. A frequent player of chamber music, Heikinheimo has appeared at many festivals in Finland, Sweden and Norway, and has played as soloist with the Camerata Lyckensis festival orchestra and the Lauttasaari Orchestra (Helsinki).

Zoja Istomina, violin (July 18–27)
Zoja Istomina qualified as a violin teacher at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, obtaining a Licentiate Degree in 1974. A former pupil of Yuri Yankelewitz, Eugenia Zugayeva and Zorja Chikmurzayeva, she has been a lecturer at the Odessa Conservatoire, a teacher of the violin in Damascus, Syria, and, since 1990, a lecturer in the violin at the Kuopio Conservatory in Finland. She has also been leader of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra. Zoja Istomina is also a much liked and long-standing teacher at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.

Minna Pensola, violin (July 16–23)
Minna Pensola’s violin studies began at the Helsinki Conservatory and continued at the Sibelius Academy and then at the Zurich Music Academy. Her mentors along the way have included Jerzy Blaszkiewicz, Leonid Mordkovich, Kaija Saarikettu, Ana Chumachenko and Josef Rissin.
Minna Pensola was awarded a prize in the Nordic Soloist competition in 1997 and the Kuopio Violin Competition in 2005. She performs as a chamber musician and soloist and is a member of the Meta4 string quartet, which won first prize in the international Dmitri Shostakovich (String Quartet) Competition in Moscow in 2004 and the International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna in 2007. Pensola has been Artistic Director of the Summer Sounds festival in Sysmä since 2006. In 2008 she started the Klasariklubi in Helsinki, an association that offers a different sort of platform for classical music to those audiences that would otherwise shy away from concert halls.

Florin Szigeti, violin (July 18–27)
In a career that spans more than 30 years, Florin Szigeti, violinist with the Enesco Quartet, has performed as a soloist with orchestra, given numerous recitals, and been the conductor of several orchestras. He has played in over 2,000 string quartet concerts at the best-known festivals and concert halls around the world. Having studied at the Bucharest Conservatory, he settled in Paris with the Enesco quartet in 1979. At present he teaches at the Conservatoire Maurice Ravel and at the Sorbonne, and is leader of the Sorbonne Symphony Orchestra. Szigeti is a highly esteemed teacher who is regularly asked to give masterclasses. He has also sat on the juries of a number of international competitions in France, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Finland.

Vanessa Szigeti, violin (July 18–27)
Vanessa Szigeti began learning the violin with her father Florin Szigeti. She also studied under Constantin Bogdanas and Larissa Kolos. From 2003 she started studying at the Paris Conservatoire with Olivier Charlier. She then took lessons from Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Svetlin Roussev. She went on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in London, where her teacher was David Takeno. She has also studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Pavel Vernikov. In addition, Vanessa Szigeti has taken part in masterclasses led by Ivri Gitlis, Ana Chumachenko, Hagai Shaham, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and many others. Szigeti has won prizes in several competitions both in her native country of France and abroad. She has played chamber music with many major artists and has given recitals in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France. She has made recordings for French radio and been leader of several youth orchestras.

Antti Tikkanen, violin (July 16–23)
Antti Tikkanen is originally from Oulu, Finland. He began playing the violin when he was seven, as a pupil of Tomasz Orzech. In 1997 he went to the Sibelius Academy, studying under Lajos Garam initially, and in the period 2000-2005 he attended the class of Mi-Kyung Lee. He has also studied at the Kuhmo Violin School under Zinaida Gilels and at the Conservatoire de Lyon under Pavel Vernikov. He has furthermore studied the baroque violin under Kreeta-Maria Kentala. As a member of the Meta4 quartet, Tikkanen plays chamber music but he also performs as a soloist. He has appeared with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and with conductors Paavo Berglund, Juha Kangas, Sakari Oramo, and Osmo Vänskä. Antti Tikkanen plans chamber music concerts given by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and organises the Kamari Soi! event in his home district.

Elina Vähälä, violin (July 18–27)
Elina Vähälä is a leading Finnish instrumentalist who is famous internationally. Her career was given a boost in 1999 when she won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions competition in New York. Her teachers have included Seppo Reinikainen, Pertti Sutinen, and Tuomas Haapanen, and at the Kuhmo Violin School, Zinaida Gilels, Ilya Grubert and Pavel Vernikov. She later went on to study privately with Ana Chumachenko in Munich. Vähälä has appeared frequently as a soloist with numerous orchestras on five continents. In the past she has played as soloist with such orchestras as the Minnesota, the Colorado Symphony and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra. She also plays a lot of chamber music, in which she has partnered such eminent musicians as Yuri Bashmet, Ana Chumachenko and Peter Csaba. In December 2008 she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and gala concert when President Ahtisaari received his award. The occasion was televised and watched in some 300 million homes in a hundred countries. Elina Vähälä is a professor at the Music Academy of Detmold and a founder member of Viuluakatemia (the Violin Academy), which trains young Finnish violinists.

Mi-Sa Yang, violin (July 18-27)
Mi-Sa Yang was born in South Korea and grew up in Japan. She studied at the Paris Conservatory under Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Olivier Charlier and chamber music under Vladimir Mendelssohn and Michel Strauss. She has been successful in several competitions and appeared as soloist with the City of Granada Orchestra and the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra. Mi-Sa Yang is also very interested in chamber music, which has led her to perform at many festivals around the world. This spring she gave a recital in Tokyo and played as soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Grazyna Zeranska-Gebert, violin (July 18–27)
Polish-born violinist Grazyna Zeranska-Gebert graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where her teacher had been Zorja Chikmuzajeva. She started her teaching career in Poland at the Academy of Music in Poznan and again in Warsaw, until moving to Finland in 1980. In Finland she first taught at the Jokilaakso Music Institute and after that at the Turku and Helsinki Conservatories, the Espoo Music Institute and the Sibelius Academy. In 2008 Zeranska-Gebert spent six months in the United States, having received a Fulbright scholarship. She researched music education and violin teaching methods at Indiana University, New York’s Juilliard School and in Los Angeles and Boston. In June 2010, at Midori Goto’s invitation, she took part in the International Community Engagement programme in Japan. The project involves the organisation of concerts and teaching sessions in such institutions as orphanages, schools and hospitals around Japan.

Vlad Bogdanas, viola (July 18-27)

Aurélie Deschamps, viola (July 18-27)
Aurélie Deschamps, who was born in France, studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Pierre-Henri Xuereb. She has been successful in several competitions, and has won the Marseille and Tomasi prizes and the Léopold Bellan chamber music prize. She has performed at several international festivals and has also played as soloist with orchestra. Deschamps regularly plays with the Paris National Opera Orchestra, the French Radio Philharmoic Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris. She has performed chamber music with Valérie aimard, Michel Strauss and Maria Belooussova and in the Liith Duo with pianist Emilie Vauten.

Marko Genero, viola (July 18-27)
The violist Marko Genero was born in Dubrovnik into a family of musicians, where he got his first musical education. In 1992 he graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Music under Stefan Passaggio, to become an assistant and then a teacher. He pursued his career as a member of the reputable Zagreb Soloists, but had to leave the ensemble for private reasons that took him to Germany in 1997. There he enrolled to the Folkwangschule in Essen (class of V. Mendelssohn) and is chosen to the post of the solo violist at the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. He also studied with W. Strehle, the violist of the Berlin Philharmonic and with the famous violist S. Collot. In 1997 Marko Genero was the winner of the Folkwang Preis In Essen and of the 1st Jean Rogister International Competition in Belgium.

Yuval Gotlibovich, viola (July 16–23)
Yuval Gotlibovich has won several international competitions, including the 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the 2004 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. A sought after recitalist, chamber musician and solo player, Gotlibovich has performed around the world, collaborating with Mischa Maisky, János Starker and Nobuko Imai, among others. He has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and at international viola congresses in Minneapolis and Montreal. Contemporary music is an important part of Gotlibovich’s repertoire and composers such as Alexandre Eisenberg and Justin Merritt have dedicated concertos to him. He has also composed the music for two silent films (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Golem). Yuval Gotlibovich was professor at Indiana University from 2004 to 2008 and is now professor at the Concervtorio della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano and in ESMUC (Escuel Superior de Musica Cataluña). He also teaches regularly at the Queen Sofía College of Music in Madrid.

Atte Kilpeläinen, viola (July 16–23)
Atte Kilpeläinen studied violin and viola under such teachers as Pirjo Suonio, Lauri Poijärvi, Sari Aalto and Jouko Mansnerus. He continued his studies at the Musikhochschule in Cologne under Professor Rainer Moog. He has played in numerous ensembles, including the Virtuosi di Kuhmo chamber orchestra, of which he has been a member since 2000. Abroad he has mainly played with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra. In August 2005 Kilpeläinen became leader of the viola section with the Helsinki Philharmonic and the following year he joined the Meta4 quartet.

Lilli Maijala, viola (July 20–27)
Lilli Maijala studied viola at the Sibelius Academy as a pupil of Teemu Kupiainen and Diemut Poppen and at the Music Acedemy in Detmold. She continued her studies under Lars Anders Tomter at the Edsberg Chamber Music Institute and on courses given by Tabea Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai, Yuri Bashmet and Kim Kashkashian, among others. She has won prizes in the Nordic Viola Competition, the Tokyo Internationl Viola Competition and the ARD Internationl Music Competition in Munich. She has also played as soloist with the Camerata Salzburg, the Sinfonia Lahti, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen orchestra, and the Oulu, Kuopio and Mikkeli Symphony Orchestras. She has also played with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. At present, Lilli Maijala is leader of viola section in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches part-time at the Sibelius Academy.

Thomas Riebl, viola (July 22–27)
Born in Vienna, Thomas Riebl studied under Siegfried Führlinger, Peter Schidlof and Sándor Végh. He won the international Naumburg Competition in New York in 1982. He has given concerts as soloist with such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra nad numerous other radio orchestras. His numerous chamber music partners include Jessye Norman, Andras Schiff, Oleg Maisenberg, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Gidon Kremer, Sabine Meyer and the Julliard Quartet. Thomas Riebl also founded the Vienna String Sectet, in which he played from 1979 to 2004. Since 1983 he has held the post of professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and has regularly given masterclasses around the world. He is Artistic Director of the International Bad Leonfelden Summer Academy in Austria.

Ralph Szigeti, viola (July 18-27)
Born into a family of musicians, Ralph Szigeti began violin lessons at the age of six. His teacher was his father, Florin Szigeti. Have exchanged the violin for the viola, he began studies at the Paris Conservatoire under Sabine Toutain. Other teachers have included Nobuko Imai, Garth Knox and Jean Sulem. In addition to taking viola lessons, he is also studying to be a conductor. Ralph Szigeti has appeared at several festivals, including the Pablo Casals at Prades and the Santander. He plays chamber music and is lead viola player with the Orchestre de Chambre des Jeunes, in France.

Máté Szücs, viola (July 16-21)
Like many players of the viola, Máté Szűcs first learned the violin. He completed his violin studies with Ferenc Szecsödi at the conservatory in Szeged, changing to the viola in 1996 and becoming a pupil of Ervin Schiffer, who taught him at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Waterloo. This was followed by studies from 2000 to 2005 with Leo de Neve at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, completed by Máté Szűcs with distinction. In 2003 he began his career as an orchestral musician and principal violist. It has taken him from the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra in Antwerp by way of the Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle and Frankfurt Radio (hr) Symphony Orchestra to the Berliner Philharmoniker. Máté Szűcs, who appears in concert throughout Europe as a soloist and chamber-music player, also teaches at the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark.

David Cohen, cello (July 18–26)
Born into a musical family in Belgium, David Cohen began his cello studies when he was seven, and only two years later made his debut as a soloist with the Belgian National Orchestra. He studied first at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and from 1994 he attended the Yehudi Menuhin School for four years, finally going on to London’s Guildhall School of Music as a pupil of Oleg Kagan. Having graduated, Cohen was awarded that institution’s most prestigious token of recognition, the Gold Medal, which had earlier gone to such musicians as Jacqueline du Pré and Bryn Terfel. David Cohen embarked on his international career when he was 11, playing as soloist with the Grenoble Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic - the Orchestra of Flanders, and the Philharmonic of Poland, under Yehudi Menuhin. Later he appeared as soloist with the BBC and St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras and the London Philharmonia. He has also made numerous recordings. Cohen also regularly performs chamber music. He is Artistic Director of the Melchior Ensemble, which consists of leading young musicians. In 2001 David Cohen was chosen to play in the London Philharmonia as its youngest ever principal cello.

Tomas Djupsjöbacka, cello (July 16–23)
Tomas Djupsjöbacka started playing the cello at the West Helsinki Music Institute. His studies continued at the Sibelius Academy under Martti Rousi and Marko Ylönen. He also studied at the Lausanne Conservatoire, gaining a diploma under Patrick Demanga. Djupsjöbacka took second prize in the Turku Cello Competition in 2008 and since then has given concerts as a soloist with orchestra both in Finland and abroad. He has performed in almost all the Finnish music festivals as a player of chamber music, especially as cellist in the Meta4 quartet. He has also given many concerts all over the world. Djupsjöbacka is a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Dorel Fodoreanu, cello (July 18–27)
Cellist with the Enesco Quartet, Dorel Fodoreanu studied at the Bucharest Conservatory under Georges Iarosevici. He settled in Paris in 1979 and has taught at the Sorbonne since 1993. Fodoreanu was one of the first Romanian musicians to be invited to play as soloist with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra after the revolution in Romania in 1989. He has also appeared as principal cellist with the Barcelona Orchestra and Parma’s Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic. At the present time Fodoreanu is principal cellist with the Sorbonne Symphony Orchestra. He has also sat on the jury of several international cello competitions and has given masterclasses. In 1990 Dorel Fodoreanu won the Romanian Mihail Jora Prize.

Jaani Helander, cello (July 17-25)
Jaani Helander studied the cello at the North Kymi Music Institute, in Finland, with Tomi Uotila and Heikki Rautasalo. He is currently studying with Professor Martti Rousi at the Sibelius Academy. In February 2010 he won second prize in the Turku Cello Competition. That same year he also took first prize in the Solistische Streicher Competition at the Internationale Sommerakademie festival in Austria. Helander has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Joensuu Symphony and Hämeenlinna Symphony Orchestras, the Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra, the Vivo Symphony Orchestra and the Spirit of Europe Orchestra. He represented Finland and the Sibelius Academy on the European Student Chamber Orchestra’s Balkans tour in 2010. Jaani Helander is also a member of the acclaimed Trio Aksentti.

Trey Lee, cello (July 18–27)
Trey Lee was born in Hong Kong. He has won several international competitions, including the Antonio Janigro Cello Competition, New York’s Naumburg competition and the Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki. In demand as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician, Lee performs the world over. He has given concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and performed with such illustrious conductors as Osmo Vänskä and Alexander Liebriech. This last season he has appeared as soloist with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and Avanti!, as well as a special concert in New York organised by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In 2009 Lee and some colleagues founded Hong Kong’s International Chamber Music Festival, one of the few in the whole of Asia.

Tuomas Lehto, cello (July 18–27)
Tuomas Lehto began learning the cello at the age of three under Anja Maja. In 2000 he went on to study at the Sibelius Academy, first with Hannu Kiiski and later with Marko Ylönen and Jan-Erik Gustafsson. From 2007 to 2008 he studied in Stockholm under Torleif Thedéen. In 2006 Lehto took third prize in the Turku Cello Competition. In 2004 he had been Finnish finalist in the Eurovision Young Soloists Competition. Lehto has performed as recitalist and soloist with several Finnish orchestras and appeared at numerous Finnish festivals. He has also performed in several countries in Europe, in the United States and in the UAE. He also gave the first performance of Ville Matveyev’s Cello Concerto, which was dedicated to him. Tuomas Lehto is principal cellist with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Artistic Director of the KuruFest festival and a member of the Total Cello Ensemble.

Joona Pulkkinen, cello (July 18–27)
Joona Pulkkinen began studying the cello when he was five at the Music School of Pirkanmaa. Since 2007 he has been a student at the Sibelius Academy with Marko Ylönen. He continued his studies on a scholarship last autumn under Gary Hoffman at the Royal College of Music. He has also attended masterclasses given by Frans Helmerson, Valter Dešpalj, Ralph Kirschbaum, Gary Hoffman and Arto Noras. Pulkkinen has performed as soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tampere Filharmonia and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2007 he won the Shostakovich competition (strings section) held for young musicians in St Petersburg. In 2008 Pulkkinen was chosen as the Pro Musica Foundation’s Young Musician of the Year and he played in the Finnish finale of the Eurovision Young Soloists Competition. He took third prize in the National Turku Cello Competition in February 2010, being the youngest contestant in the finale. He was also selected to receive the summer 2011 Aurora Chamber Music cello scholarship. Pulkkinen has appeared at Kuhmo, the Helsinki Chamber Summer Festival, the Korsholma Music Festival and at Sibafest.

Martti Rousi, cello (July 18–27)
Winning the Turku Cello Competition and second prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow have resulted in Finnish-born Martti Rousi appearing as soloist with several Finnish and foreign orchestras. His studies in Turku began with Timo Hanhinen and Seppo Kimanen, and then he continued at the Sibelius Academy as a pupil of Arto Noras. From 1985 to 1986 he had a Fullbright scholarship to study under János Starker at Indiana University in the USA. He also attended masterclasses given by Valter Dešpalj, Natalia Gutman and William Pleeth. In addition to pursuing a career as a soloist, Rousi has also dedicated his time to chamber music and has performed with his trio partners, pianist Peter Nagy and violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and has given recitals with several pianists, including Laura Mikkola, Olli Mustonen and Kathryn Stott. From 1989 to 1992 Rousi was Artistic Director of the Lemi-Lappeenranta Music Festival and in 1992 he was invited to fill the same role at the Turku Music Festival. His appointment ended on a high note: its 50th anniversary in August 2009. He was also Artistic Director of Sibafest. Since 1995 he has held the post of Professor of Cello at the Sibelius Academy and continues to give masterclasses all over Europe.

Lukas Stasevskij, cello (July 18–27)
Lukas Stasevskij began to play cello in Conservatory in Tampere with Lauri Voipio. Since 2007 he has studied with prof. Arto Noras in Sibelius Academy. He has attended Frans Helmersons, Young Hoon Songs, Mats Lidströms, Marko Ylönen's and Chillingirian Quartets mastercourses and performed as a chamber musician and soloist in Finland and abroad. In summer 2010 Stasevskij performed in music festivals in Naantali and Piteå.

James Wilson, cello (July 17–26)
James Wilson has become well-known as a skilled player of both the modern and baroque cello. His repertoire extends from Gabrieli to contemporary works written specifically for him. He has performed chamber music and given recitals at Carnegie Hall in New York, at Vienna’s Musikverein, at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall and at the Kennedy Center. An acclaimed chamber musician, he has been a guest at several festivals, including New York’s Mostly Mozart event and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. James Wilson has played in the Shanghai and Chester Quartets and made several recordings with both ensembles. He teaches cello and chamber music at New York’s Columbia University and is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia in Richmond, USA.

Marko Ylönen, cello (July 20–27)
Marko Ylönen won prizes in the Nordic Cello Competition in Turku in 1990 and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow that same year. In 1996 he won the Concert Artists Guild competition in New York. He performs regularly as a soloist with Finnish orchestras and has played with the Camerata Salzburg, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Netherlands and Prague Chamber Orchestras. Ylönen has been leader of the cello section of the Tapiola Sinfonietta and first solo cellist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has also played in the New Helsinki Quartet. Ylönen has a close relationship with chamber music, which he has played with top musicians in Finland and the rest of the world in various ensembles. He was chosen to be Artistic Director of the Korsholma Music Festival in 2003, 2008 and 2010. Since 2000 he has lectured in cello and chamber music at the Sibelius Academy. In addition to the conventional classical repertoire, he has also performed contemporary music, giving first performances of several new Finnish works, most recently Jouni Kaipainen’s cello concerto in March 2003. Marko Ylönen studied under Csaba Szilvay, Erkki Rautio, Heikki Rautasalo and Heinrich Schiff.

Niek de Groot, double bass (July 19–27)
Professor of double bass at the Folkwang Hochschule, Niek de Groot is one of today’s leading performers of the instrument. He has been leader of the double bass section in several European orchestras, including Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Attendance at masterclasses given by such prominent cellists as Frans Helmerson, Lluìs Claret and Laurence Lesser helped de Groot to develop an exceptional solo bass style, and he regularly performs both as soloist with orchestra and recitalist in the best-known concert halls and at music festivals. De Groot’s repertoire includes a lot of contemporary music, and he has worked with composers such as György Kurtág and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Niek de Groot is also a highly regarded teacher, whose pupils include the section leaders in the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Lille Natinal Orchestra.

Zoaran Marković, double bass (July 18–27)
Zoaran Marković studied double bass in Belgrade, Venice, Cremona, Munich and Salzburg. He has performed as soloist with the Slovenian and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestras and the Detmold Chamber Orchestra, and has worked with several European chamber music ensembles. He has appeared at many Slovenian festivals and has performed in Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. From 1990 to 2004 Marković was leader of the double bass section in the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 2004 he has been a regular guest of the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He teaches at the Ljubljana Music Academy and gives many masterclasses all over the world. In recent years his skills have extended to conducting. He is the main guest of conductor Austria’s Feldkirch Orchestra and has conducted in his home country of Slovenia (e.g. with the Ljubljana Opera Studio Student Orchestra).

Odile Simon, double bass (July 18-27)
Odile Simon, who is from Paris, studied double bass in his home town under Vincent Pasquier. In 2006 she joined Christoph Eschenbach’s Orchestre de Paris Academy. That same year she was selected for the European Union Youth Orchestra, in which she played under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy. At present Odile Simon regularly performs in the Orchestre de Paris and the orchestras at the Paris Opera, as well as several other French and Belgian ensembles. She has performed chamber music with the Ardeo Quartet, the Danel Quartet and the Enesco Quartet and has collaborated with the Belgian Ensemble MP21. Since 2008 she has been playing double bass with the orchestra of the Belgian Royal Opera in Brussels.

Jean-Louis Capezzali, oboe (July 18-27)
Jean-Louis Capezzali studied at the Versailles Conservatory in France, where he received a gold medal and an honour prize. In 1979, after receiving the National Certificate of Aptitude to become an oboe professor, he was awarded the position of principal oboe with the Concert Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris. He was a prizewinner at the Geneva (silver medal, 1982) and Prague (1986) international competitions. In 1984 he was appointed principal oboist of the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra based in Paris. In 1988 he was named oboe professor at the Paris National Conservatory of Music, and in the same year he was also appointed oboe professor at the Lyon National Conservatory of Music where he currently teaches. In 2009, he was appointed oboe professor at the Haute Ecole of Music in Lausanne. Jean-Louis Capezzali also enjoys a career as a soloist and chamber musician, appearing with leading ensembles and performing at music festivals throughout the world. In his masterclasses he represents the French School of oboe playing. He has given the premières of many new contemporary works, including the Chinese composer Qigang Chen’s Extase which he has recorded for Virgin.

Blanca Gleisner, oboe (July 18–27)
Blanca Gleisner began playing the oboe in Concepción, the city of her birth in Chile. She continued taking lessons with Klaus Becker in Hanover when her family moved to Germany when she was 12. While a student, she took prizes in several competitions and she joined the Aachen Symphony Orchestra. At present Gleisner shares her time between the orchestra, her concerts as a soloist, and playing chamber music. She has appeared with Berlin’s Kaleidoskop ensemble and numerous chamber orchestras, and has played in concerts at several festivals and back in Chile.

Adriana Ferreira, flute (July 18–27)
Adriana Ferreira started her professional music studies under Professor Joaquina Mota in her native country of Portugal. She currently studies with Sophie Cherrier and Benoît Fromanger at the Paris Conservatoire and the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin. She has also gained a degree in musicology at the Sorbonne, in Paris. Ferreira has appeared at the summer festivals in Estoril, Giverny and Copenhagen and performed as soloist with the Odense Symphony Orchestra and the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Success in several flute competitions in Portugal, France and Ukraine culminated in her winning the Carl Nielsen International Flute Competition in Denmark in 2010.

Janne Thomsen, flute (July 18–27)
Janne Thomsen started playing the flute in her home country of Denmark at the age of six. In 1986 she won the Young Musician of the Year Award, which was followed by competition wins in Prague, Bayreuth, Rome, Vienna and Boston. She studied at London’s Royal Academy of Music and the Paris Conservatoire under William Bennet, Maurice Bourgue and the Amadeus Quartet. Thomsen has played as a guest soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, the Camerata Salzburg and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. She is also active as a chamber musician and has appeared with such eminent figures as Yuri Bashmet and Maxim Vengrov. From 2004 to 2007 she taught at the Mozarteum Salzburg and from 2008 to 2010 at the Lucerne School of Music. Janne Thomsen is also Artistic Director of the Holstebro International Music Festival in Denmark, which she founded, and for which she has been formally recognised on several occasions.

Reto Bieri, clarinet (July 20–27)
Reto Bieri was born in Zug, Switzerland, and grew up under the influence of Swiss folk music, before going on to study at New York’s Juilliard School. Besides the standard repertoire for his own instrument, he is especially interested in contemporary music and cooperation with contemporary composers forms an important part of his work.

Stuart King, clarinet (July 16–23)
Stuart King enjoys a diverse, challenging and rewarding career that incorporates performing, teaching, animateurship and directing. A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Stuart studied clarinet with Dame Thea King and Joy Farrall. Stuart’s passion lies in the realms of chamber music and contemporary performance. He has worked with many of the leading talents of his generation and thrives on innovative creative collaborations with artists from many disciplines, including most recently Brief Candles a collaboration with Rolf Hind, David Alberman, SPNM & the Richard Alston Dance Company. Stuart is also a founder member and Artistic Director of acclaimed chamber ensemble CHROMA.

Lauri Sallinen, clarinet (July 18-27)
Born in Kuhmo, Lauri Sallinen graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 2009. His teachers had been Kari Kriikku (clarinet) and Lauri Kilpiö (composition). In the period 2010-2011 he studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Charles Neidich. Between 2007 and 2008 he had studied at the Lugano Conservatory under François Benda. He has seen success in clarinet competitions at home and abroad, taking first prize in the Lahti National Wind Competitions in 2000 and 2003. Sallinen has appeared as soloist with several orchestras, such as the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra led by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Finnish-Russian Sinfonietta Lentua. In September 2010 he gave the first performance of the clarinet concerto by Markku Klami (who wrote it for him) with the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and Jani Telaranta. He has performed chamber music at Kuhmo, the Crusell Festival in Uusikaupunki, the Sibelius Festival in Michigan, and the Beigang International Music Festival in Taiwan. In April 2011 Sallinen played his debut concert in New York.

Jaakko Luoma, bassoon (July 18–27)
Jaakko Luoma began playing the bassoon at the age of 11 under Matti Tossavainen at the music college in Lohja, Finland, and later he studied at the Sibelius Academy with László Hara and Jussi Särkkä and at the Paris Conservatoire as a pupil of Pascal Gallois. He then went on to attend a large number of masterclasses. He was successful in the Crusell Competition in Uusikaupunki in 1993 and the ARD Competition in Munich. In 2001 he was awarded the Crusell Prize. Luoma has been a member of the Tapiola Sinfonietta since 1993. From 1996 to 1998 he was principal bassoonist with the Orchestre de Paris. In 2001 he was selected as principal bassoonist with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, but in 2003 he decided to return to Finland and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. Now he is a member of that orchestra’s Artistic Management Group. He has performed as soloist with orchestra both in Finland and abroad, and he has played chamber music at a number of festivals. Jaakko Luoma also plays period bassoons as a member, for example, of the Ensemble Schrat.

Tuukka Vihtkari, bassoon (July 18–27)

Bruno Schneider, french horn (July 16–23)
the Swiss horn player Bruno Schneider began playing the horn at the Music Conservatory in La Chaux-de-Fonds with Robert Faller. After having passed the Professional Capacity diploma there in 1979, he went on to study at the Music Academy in Detmold with Michael Hoeltzel, where he received a Virtuosity with distinction in 1981. After having played for 15 years as solo horn in Zürich, Münich and finally Geneva in the OSR (Suisse Romande Orchestre), he now teaches at the Music Conservatory in Geneva and at Musikhochschule in Freiburg in B. Many composers such as Norbert Moret, Jost Meyer, Eric Chasalow and Jörg Widmann have written major works for him. Founder of the Académie de cor de La Chaux de Fonds and of the swiss horn society, Bruno Schneider is currently vice president of the International Horn Society. He has been the host of the Horn workshop of the IHS 2007 in La Chaux de Fonds. He perfoms in all the world's biggest concert halls as a soloist and as a chamber music musician with, amongst others, the wind ensemble Sabine Meyer of which he is one of the founder, Paul Meyer, Eric Le Sage, Gidon Kremer, Vadim Repin and Jeremy Menuhin. A large part of the horn repertoire has been recorded by Bruno Schneider at AVI, EMI, CLAVES, ARION, ERATO and CPO. Since 2003 Bruno Schneider plays solo horn in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra directed by Claudio Abbado.

Esa Tapani, french horn (July 18-27)
Esa Tapani began playing the French horn at the Lappeenranta Music Institute. He also studied at the Helsinki Conservatory, the Sibelius Academy, and on several masterclasses. His teachers have included Leena Heikkilä, Timo Ronkainen, Michael Höltzel, Dale Clevenger and Hermann Baumann. He won first prize in the Nordic (Scandinavian) Horn Cometion in 1989. Since then he has been an active soloist and chamber musician. His repertoire covers all the essential literature for the French horn and his special interest is the music of our time. He also plays period instruments – the natural horn and the baroque horn. Esa Tapani has played in the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 1987 he has also played with Avanti!, the chamber ensemble specialising in new music. At present he is professor at the Frankfurt Music Academy.

Huw Morgan, trumpet (July 18-27)
Internationally recognised for his unique sound and musicianship, Huw Morgan enjoys an unparalleled career as one of the most sought-after brass soloists of his generation. Huw’s performances have been acclaimed throughout the UK, Europe, Asia, and North America.Born in South Wales in 1987, Huw began his musical education on the piano at the age of five, taking up the trumpet two years later. At fourteen he won a scholarship to study with John Dickinson and Murray Greig at Chetham’s School of Music, and latterly continued his education at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Professor James Watson, Mark David and Robert Farley, graduating with First Class Honours in 2010. He currently pursues private study with some of the world’s most celebrated players, including Håkan Hardenberger, Jens Lindemann, and Eric Aubier.

Following his success as Brass Winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Huw has gained renown for his prize-winning appearances at many of the most significant international competitions (including Jeju - Korea, Porcia - Italy, and Ellsworth Smith - USA). In 2005 he became the youngest winner of the International Trumpet Guild’s prestigious Solo Award, and last year won both the Brass Prize and Wind Section Award at the Royal Over-seas League Competition.

Alberto Mesirca, guitar (July 18-27)
The 26 year-old guitarist Alberto Mesirca was born in Italy in 1984. He completed his Bachelor and Master of Arts at the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto. Further studies were made at the Music Academy of Kassel, in Germany, with Wolfgang Lendle. He was nominated “Young Artist of the Year” at the International Guitar festivals of Aalborg (Denmark), Enschede (Holland) and Encs (Hungary), and “Rising Star” at the Festival Gitarre Wien in 2009. He won many international prizes, such as the “Peredur Preis fuer Junge Kuenstler”, two times the “Golden Guitar” (for best recording in 2007 and as Best Upcoming Artist of the Year in 2009) at the International Guitar Meeting “Pittaluga” in Alessandria, the Lions Prize for young musicians and the scholarship for best Italian Conservatory students, the “San Liberale” Prize for artistic achievements. As soloist, he played many concerts all over Europe and as a chamber musician he collaborated with great artists like Dimitri Ashkenazy, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Matthias Schulz (Wiener Philharmoniker), Martin Rummel, Peter Giger, Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists, Marco de Santi, Winfried Rademacher, Barbara Doll, Acies Quartett.

Mikael Kemppainen, piano
Mikael Kemppainen studied at the Sibelius Academy under Minna Pöllänen and Liisa Pohjola. He also studied chamber music under Ralf Gothóni and lieder under Ilmo Ranta, Gustav Djupsjöbacka and Hartmut Höll, all at the Sibelius Academy. He complemented his studies by attending numerous masterclasses in Finland and abroad. In spring 2001 Kemppainen won the first National Jyväskylä Piano Competition. He has given solo performances at the Turku Music Festival, the Espoo International Piano Festival, at a series of concerts organised by the Sibelius Academy, at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. He has also performed as soloist with several large orchestras. He has also made recordings for Finnish radio. Since autumn 2003 Kemppainen has mainly been a freelance musician, but he has also worked as a lecturer in accompaniment at the Turku Conservatory. He is also an accompanist at the Turku Music Academy, at the Sibelius Academy, and in numerous masterclasses.

Matilda Kärkkäinen, piano
Matilda Kärkkäinen graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 2007, having studied first under Marita Viitasalo and later with Erik T. Tawaststjerna. She continued her studies at the University of Music and Drama in Vienna and at the Edsberg Chamber Music Institute, as well as in numerous masterclasses given by such musicians as Emanuel Krasovsky, Nina Svetlanova and András Schiff. In 2004 Kärkkäinen took third prize and Audience Favourite prize in the Jyväskylä Piano Competition. That same year she came second in the Nordic Piano Competition in Nyborg. In 2003 she was a finalist and awarded a prize in the international Ciurlionis Competition for best performance of a modern work. Kärkkäinen has performed in Finland at such events as the Espoo International Piano Festival and given concerts as soloist with orchestra in Finland and Sweden. She has performed chamber music at London’s Wigmore Hall, in the Glass Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, at the Berlin Concert House, and in the United States and Estonia. In March 2009 she played her first concert in the Sibelius Academy concert series, to wild acclaim. Matilda Kärkkäinen now also teaches piano and is an accompanist at the East Helsinki Music Institute. Since 2010 she has been studying for a doctorate in music at the Sibelius Academy.