YNGVILD VIVJA HAALAND RUUD -

Cembalo

Yngvild Vivja Haaland Ruud is a Norwegian born harpsichordist. Being a modern and curious musician, her repertoire ranges from early opera to contemporary music. She performs as a soloist, in chamber music constellations and with orchestras, as well as leading ensembles.

Specialized in early music and historical performance practice as well as contemporary music, she has a fresh approach for sharing classical music with new audiences. Her passion for new music has led to collaborations with exciting contemporary composers and several world premieres. Furthermore she is involved in a number of ensembles, exploring sounds and moving between genres.

Yngvild is educated from The Royal Danish Academy of Music and Sibelius Academy (Master of Music). She has created several projects – such as the music society Amager Klassisk (re-defining the outreach of classical music) of which she also is the artistic director. Her focus is to follow her dream –sharing wonderful music with a passionate audience. Anywhere, together with people or alone and always with the purpose of sharing and longing to grasp the magic of music.

Yngvild also has a masters degree in classical accordion/contemporary music.

HÅVARD GIMSE - PIANO

Håvard is one of the Nordic region’s most influential and significant recording artists. His sympathetic approach and intelligent, investigative programming have led to numerous prizes and countless glowing reviews. He has received the Diapson d’Or and Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice accolades, while his recent recording of works by Schubert and Schumann (with violinist Henning Kraggerud) was nominated for a Spellmanpris.

He was born in Kongsvinger, east of Oslo, and he studied at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin with Hans Leygraf and later with Jiri Hlinka in Norway. His victory at the Jugend Musiziert Competition in 1987 was the first in a string of major accolades to come his way. He won the Steinway Prize in 1995, the Grieg Prize in 1996, the Sibelius Prize in 2004 and the Norwegian Critics Prize for his performances of Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas with Truls Mørk at the 2011 Bergen International Festival.

As a concert soloist he has performed with many of the nordic Philharmonic and Royal Orchestras and he has performed with orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic and the Japan Philharmonic to mention a few. He is Professor of Piano at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and sits on the Artistic Board of the Oslo Chamber Music festival. His performance of the second piano concerto by Rachmaninoff with Maestro Petrenko and the Oslo Phil, has been by far the most viewed video with Oslo Philharmonic to this date.

PER NYSTRÖM - CELLO

Per Nyström is a Swedish cellist traveling the world as chamber musician & soloist and currently principal cello in Uppsala Chamber Soloists in Sweden. Since 2001 Per is honorary fellow of the University of Aberdeen, and since 2012 holder of the Swedish royal medal ‘Literis et artibus’. Per was founder & artistic director of Kammarmusikens Vänner (K-V) festivals & masterclasses 2006–2017, (ex Aurora/Old Ox Festivals) and is since 2018 artistic advisor. K-V is one of the world's largest organizers of classical music festivals. Per was cellist and co-founder of the Yggrasil string quartet, 1992–2001. The Quartet had a residency at the University of Aberdeen for 5 years and toured the world performing in the great European halls and concerthouses. During 2001–2016 Per was principal cellist in Camerata Nordica chamber orchestra, an orchestra at the time considered one of Europe’s leading chamber orchestras. Per plays on a Antonio & Giuseppe Gagliano cello from Naples 1796, and lifts 200kg in dead lift.

LILY MAISKY - PIANO

Lily Maisky began playing the piano at the age of four. She was a pupil at the “Purcell School of Music” between 2001 and 2004, where she also studied jazz piano.

Concert appearances have taken her throughout Europe as well as the Far East, and she has performed at many renowned festivals including Verbier Festival, Progetto Martha Argerich, Schleswig Holstein, Julian Rachlin and Friends and the International Kammermuziek Festival in Utrecht. Maisky features on several Deutsche Grammophon and EMI recording releases, and has been frequently broadcast on European and Asian radio and television. She enjoys playing chamber music as well as solo piano and forms a regular duo with Mischa Maisky.

MARKUS KVINT - PIANO

Markus Kvint är en flitigt anlitad pianist och har de senaste åren framträtt som solist med Kungliga filharmonikerna, Gävle symfoniorkester, Norrköping symfoniorkester samt Uppsala kammarorkester i ett projekt som presenterar Beethoven för den yngre publiken.

Markus tog solistexamen vid Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium i Köpenhamn våren 2017 där han studerade för Friedrich Gürtler, Jens Elvekjær och Niklas Sivelöv. Innan dess hade han studerat vid Hochschule für Musik – Franz Liszt i Weimar, samt vid KMH i Stockholm i Anders Kilströms pianoklass.

Markus har mottagit ett flertal stipendier, bland annat från Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien i Stockholm, Konstnärsnämnden och Anders Sandrews Stiftelse. Vid två tillfällen har han erhållit Sixten Gemzéus stora stipendium för sina studier vid DKDM. Med ekonomiskt stöd från Idella Foundation utvecklar han sina soloprogram hos pianisten Konstantin Bogino i Bergamo, Italien.

GREGORY VARTIAN-FOSS - KONTRABAS

Gregory Vartian-Foss is one of the preeminent contrabassists of his generation. He has performed with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia as guest principal bass, and most recently as a tenured member of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a frequent guest of the Ensemble Modern performing with the EMO at contemporary festivals throughout Germany.

With contemporary music as one of his passions, he served as principal bass of the Lucerne Festival Academy under the direction of Pierre Boulez and David Robertson. Gregory graduated with honors from Indiana University and Yale University where his teachers were Bruce Bransby and Don Palma respectively.

SIXTEN NORDSTRÖM - BERÄTTARE

Sixten Nordström tilldelas Medaljen för Tonkonstens Främjande för sin mångfacetterade gärning som pianist, musikkritiker, författare och pedagog, främst vid Musikhögskolan i Malmö. Hans personliga tilltal genomsyrar såväl hans författarskap som hans föreläsningar.

Sixten Nordström är en av Sveriges mest kända musikprofiler och uppskattad av en bred publik som programledare i Sveriges Television för musiktävlingen Kontrapunkt. Han har också under många år varit engagerad i arbetet med Kungl. Musikaliska akademiens ungdomsstipendier.

ALEXANDER MAISKY - VIOLIN

Alexander Maisky was born in May 1989 and began his violinistic studies at the age of three. In 1997, Alexander made his Carnegie Hall debut in a Gala for the Rainforest Foundation, performing Saint-Saens “Carnaval des Animaux” alongside artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Victoria Mullova and Martha Argerich.

At the age of twelve, the course of his musical education led him to the Purcell School in London where he had the privilege of receiving musical guidance from star musicians such as Julian Rachlin, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Gluzman, Edvard Grach, Nam-Yun Kim and Dmitri Sitkovetsky.

Alexander has performed solo and chamber music works at prestigious venues such as the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Buckingham Palace, Brussels Conservatoire, Prague Castle and the British Embassy in Paris. Moreover, Mr. Maisky has performed on several occasions in trio with his father Mischa and sister Lily.