Peter Rainer, Concertmaster

Violinist/Germany

Peter has been iPalpiti’s Concertmaster since 1994. In his native Germany, he is a concertmaster and a founder of the Kammerakademie Potsdam, and leads an active career as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Since 2007, Peter has been on the faculty of the “Universität der Künste” (University of the Arts) in Berlin and of the “Stern Institute” for young talented students. Most recently, he was chosen by “Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik" to head the string department of “Musikgymnasium Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,” a school for highly talented musical kids. He is the founder and leader of the Persius Ensemble, focusing mainly on repertoire written for the classical nonet, and has released three CDs; a CD with nonets by Spohr, Clementi and Mozart was chosen by Berlin-Brandenburg Radio (RBB) as one of the best releases of 2007. In 2008, he founded the Merlino String Quartet and has been a member of the Max Brod piano trio from 2012. In 2016, the piano trio released a CD of compositions by Robert Kahn, a wonderful discovery of romantic music in style of Johannes Brahms. Peter has worked as the assistant to Professor Schmieder at the Holland Music Sessions, at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas and at Temple University in Philadelphia. Music-loving children know Peter Rainer through the many interactive concerts he developed for them in the past 20 years, such as Till Eulenspiegel, Ferdinand the Bull, The Horse on the Violin, to mention a few. In the past 3 years, he has appeared at the Festival International de Musique de Chambre en Charente together with iPalpiti artist Jacob Shaw, and continues to collaborate with iPalpiti alumni on international musical projects. Peter studied violin in the U.S. with Professor Eduard Schmieder at the Meadows School of the Arts, where he received his Artist Certificate in 1994 and his Master of Violin Performance degree in 1995. Upon his return to Germany, he was concertmaster of the Brandenburgische Philharmonie in Potsdam from 1996 to 2000. In 2005, he received a commendation from the City of Los Angeles for his leadership of iPalpiti and his contributions to culture.

Boris Borgolotto

Violinist/France

Boris began playing the violin at the age of seven in the class of Chantal Crenne at the National Conservatory of Toulouse and continued at the National Conservatory of Boulogne-Billancourt, where he was awarded a unanimous first prize with a special mention from the jury and prizes of Chamber Music, Analysis and Musical Culture. He entered the Paris Conservatory (CNSM) in 2009 where he received the Violin 1st prize and honors unanimously, and parallel courses of chamber music with Itamar Golan. He continues mentoring with Dora Schwarzberg and Patrice Fontanarosa at the Vienna University of Arts and Paris. Over the years, he has participated in the master classes of Vadim Repin, Joel Smirnoff, Krzystof Wegrzyn, Kyung-Wha Chung, Ivry Gitlis, and other prominent musicians. Boris is a winner of numerous competitions including 2nd prize at the International Foundation "Parnassus" in Paris (2008), Prizewinner and the "Jascha Heifetz" Special Mention at the IBLA foundation of New York International Competition in Italy (2011), Prizewinner of the American Fine Arts of New York City (2013).In 2012 he made his Carnegie Hall debut, followed by USA Recital tour. He was invited as a Rising Star at the Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea in 2011-2013 seasons, and has played with the Academy of the Radio France Philharmonic under the direction of Ton Koopman and Myung-Whun Chung.
Boris performs internationally as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musicians, and in festivals at important venues such halls as Radio France, Cite de la Musique, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral – France; Carnegie Hall, New York City; Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt – Austria; National Theatre Podgorica – Montenegro; Concert Hall of Macao and Shanghai – China; Hualien – Taiwan; Festival of Essaouira and Casablanca – Morocco; Verona, Italy and Ragusa, Sicily; Korean National University of Arts in Seoul (KNUA), Busan Art Center and Alpensia Pyeonchang Hall, South Korea; Geneva Theater-Switzerland. Beginning 2015 season, Boris will be an artist in residence at Queen Elisabeth Chapel with his piano trio "Zadig."

Conrad Chow

Violinist/Canada

Born and raised in Toronto, Conrad has established himself as a foremost performer and teacher in his native Canada.  A review in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald praised “the full, sweet, seductive intensity of Chow’s sound,” and his performance alongside Ani Kavafian with the Columbia Festival Orchestra was hailed as “ornate and satisfying” by the Albany Times Union.  He is a prize-winner of the 2006 International Stepping Stone Competition in Quebec and the David G. Whitcomb Foundation’s Young Artist of 2003.  Conrad began his violin studies at the age of three at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.  His Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are from Indiana University’s School of Music, where he studied with Miriam Fried.  Conrad completed his DMA at the State University of New York, Stony Brook (under noted violinists Pamela Frank, Ani Kavafian, and Philip Setzer), and later pursued further post-doctoral work with Eduard Schmieder at Temple University in Philadelphia.  He studied chamber music with the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet and is appearing in chamber music performances with Paul Biss, Christina Dahl, David Finckel, and Miriam Fried.  His string quartet won the Indiana University Kuttner String Quartet Competition, performing as the quartet-in-residence for the 2001-2002 seasons.  As a soloist, he has appeared with numerous orchestras.  Recital performances include the St. Cecilia Concert Series, University of Toronto’s Hart House Sunday Concert Series (broadcast on CBC Radio), Mozarteum in Salzburg, Qingdao Music Hall in China, New York’s Staller Center for the Arts, Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio and George Weston Recital Hall, and, in 2010, Weill Recital Hall for his Carnegie Hall debut.  As a member of the prestigious iPalpiti orchestral ensemble of international laureates since 2008, he has performed at Carnegie Zankel Hall, Disney Hall in LA, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, and Israel.  Conrad has been on the faculty of the Canadian Royal Conservatory of Music’s elite pre-college academy since 2010, as well as keeping up one of the leading pre-college private violin studios in Canada – his students are winners of many important national and provincial competitions and have made solo debuts with Canadian orchestras.  He was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the 2006-2007 seasons, and was a member of the faculty at the Summit Summer Music Festival in New York in 2010.  Dr. Chow has served as a jury member and an adjudicator of various Canadian competitions and is a presenter of master classes in Canada, the United States, and Asia. www.conradchow.org

Azer Damirov

Violinist/Azerbaijan

Azer began his musical studies at the age of eight. At 14, he was accepted in the Musical College of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in the class of Professor Maria Keselman from which he graduated in 2007 at the age of 20 with an equivalent of a Bachelor Degree Diploma. Azer participated in master classes and festivals in Dortmund in Germany, Britten-Pearce Orchestra in Great Britain, and Volga Regional Young Symphony festival.

Recipient of the Ministry of Culture Russian Federation’s Stipend, Azer is a Laureate of numerous national competitions. In 2007 Azer received a Diploma at the 14th Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Fermo, Italy, and a special iPalpiti prize for participation in the iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates in Los Angeles. In the fall 2010, Azer was accepted into Bachelor of Music Program at Boyer College at Temple University in the class of Professor Schmieder, where, subsequently he completed his Master's degree in 2013, and currently pursues a Doctoral degree in Music Performance. Last year, Azer formed the Philadelphia-based The Amaranth Piano Trio with several performances in its debut season. He is a member of iPalpiti since 2009, including East Coast residency and in concerts at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall, and Los Angeles festivals. In 2012, he performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as a winner the American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music. Upcoming engagements include special invitation by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan to give solo recitals and master class in September 2018

Sara Dragan

Violinist/Poland

 

Joseph Kauffman

Violinist-violist/USA

Born in Oakland, California, Joseph began his violin studies at the age of five.  He has studied with Yayoi Numazawa of the Philadelphia Orchestra, James Lyon and Max Zorin of The Pennsylvania State University, and Eduard Schmieder of Temple University.  A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance, he was honored to receive the Creative Achievement Award, given to only one exceptional student.  Winner of many competitions in Pennsylvania, Joseph received first prize in the PSU Philharmonic Concerto Competition performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto (2008).  He returns to State College every summer for the Penn’s Woods Music Festival under the direction of Maestro Gerardo Edelstein.  Kauffman founded and performed with the “Valens” Piano Quartet, which received First Prize in the MTNA Chamber Music Competition.  Most recently, Kauffman (along with his cellist colleague Yoni Draiblate) founded a chamber music concert series in Wayne, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.  As a chamber musician – both as violinist and violist - Kauffman was featured live on classical radio in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.  In 2008, Kauffman was accepted into the international class of Prof. Eduard Schmieder in the Master’s Degree program at Temple University, which he completed in 2011, with distinction and received the Albert Tashjian Prize for excellence in performance.  He frequently served as concertmaster for the TU Symphony Orchestra and TU Opera Theater.  In 2010, Kauffman was selected to join the acclaimed iPalpiti orchestral ensemble of international musicians.  He has performed on major concert stages including Disney Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kimmel Center, and the Kennedy Center, among others.  He has participated in master classes with world-class soloists and ensembles, including Jaime Laredo, Philip Setzer, Martin Chalifour, the Shanghai, Emerson, the American, the Tokyo quartets, and many others.  Currently, Joseph is continuing his violin studies in the DMA program at Temple University, where he is also a teaching assistant.  He teaches a talented class of students at the NBS School, maintains a thriving private violin studio, and leads an active performance career.  Together with iPalpiti alumnus and cellist Yoni Draiblate, he founded the MUSIC TRANSFORMS concert series in Philadelphia.

Miclen LaiPang

Violinist/Malaysia-USA

 

Lorenzo Mazzamuto

violinist/Italy

Born in Catania in 1986, Lorenzo graduated in 2005 from the Vincenzo Bellini Musical Institute of Catania with cum laude as a student of Professor Vito Imperato, with a solo debut with an orchestra at the age of 11. In 2013, he graduated from the famous Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory with the highest scores in the class of the People’s Artist of Russia Sergey Girshenko. Lorenzo has taken part in over 25 national and international musical competitions, obtaining in all either first prize or absolute first prize. Under the patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, at the age 14, he received a special merit admission to study with Maestro Salvatore Accardo at the Senior Specialization Course of the Walter Stauffer Academy of Music; the honor which is given only with a performance degree, exempts younger students who are deemed by to possess exceptional talent. Lorenzo’s talent has on many occasions been encouraged by famous international musicians, such as Igor Oistrach, Michail Kugel, Rocco Filippini, Katia Ricciarelli, Giuliano Carmignola, Glenn Dicterow, Bruno Canino, Vladimir Skanavi, Irina Bochkova, etc. Lorenzo has given recitals for many important concert associations in Italy, Europe, Russia and in the U.S.A. As a soloist with orchestra, he performed the Ploesti Symphony Orchestra, the Kiev's Camerata, the Russian chamber orchestra and others. Since October 2004, he has been first violinist with "L'offerta Musicale Ensemble." The ensemble, under the guidance of Riccardo Insolia, focus in 20th century and contemporary music. In Russia, he has played in White Hall, Rachmaninov Hall, Small Hall and Big Hall of the Moscow conservatory. He plays a Claude Lebet Violin of 2010.

Samuel Nebyu

Violinist/Hungary

FEATURED SOLOIST 2017

Samuel Nebyu is the Grand prize winner of the 2015 National ASTA (American String Teachers  Association) Solo Competition, the “Remember Enescu” International Violin Competition (Romania, 2013), the Flame International Violin Competition (Paris, 2008), and a winner of the Beverly Hills National Auditions (CA, 2014).  Born in Hungary of Ethiopian-Jewish descent, Samuel spent most of his early childhood in Asia.  He began playing the violin at the age of six.  At fifteen, he was admitted to the Young Talents Program at the Brussels Royal Conservatory where he received tutelage from renowned musicians, including Igor Oistrakh.  He was a violinist-in-residence for several years at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium.  Currently, he is studying at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University under Laura C. Carnell Professor of Violin and Artistic Director of Strings, Dr. Eduard Schmieder.  Samuel has performed at important international music festivals, including the Eilat Music Festival (Israel), the Mozarteum Festival (Salzburg), the Ravello Festival (Italy), and the Summit Music Festival (New York).  As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Bacau Philharmonic and the Valcea Symphony (Romania), the Brussels Philharmonic, and with the iPalpiti orchestra in Los Angeles.  He has given recitals and performed as a soloist in venues such as the Centre of Performing Arts in Brussels (BOZAR), Peles Castle in Romania, the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, the Alice Tully Hall in New York, and the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills.  In 2016, he received the prestigious Clifton Emerging Artist Award, gave a recital at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, and became a prize winner of the Mozarteum Salzburg Festpiel competition – the only one of 291 violinists to be selected as one of the eight prize winners – and was further honored to conclude the winners concert at the Mozarteum Grosse Saal.  His new CD “Violin Gems from Black Composers” was released on BCM+D label this spring.

Semyon Promoe

Violinist/Russia

In 2015, Semyon was named a principal soloist of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Society, giving concerts throughout Russia, Finland and Israel.  From 2013 to 2015, he served as the assistant concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic and toured Switzerland, Germany, France, and Belgium.  As a member of the ensemble of violinists “Bright Bows” Semyon performed in numerous international festivals, including the Summit Music festival in New York.  Promoe is an Honors Graduate of the Novosibirsk Glinka State Conservatory (with the qualifications of Life Performer, Orchestral Performer, Ensemble Performer, Teacher of Instrumental Performance Majoring in Instrumental Performance) from the class of Professor and Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation Marina Kuzina.  He has also completed Postgraduate studies in performance and musicology.  He taught a violin class at the Novosibirsk Music College from 2011 to 2013 and participated in the International Forum Musical Performance and Pedagogy in Jyvaskyla, Finland.  As a soloist, he has performed with numerous symphony orchestras throughout Siberia’s major cities such as Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Barnaul, and his home city of Novosibirsk.  He is a founder of the string quartet Phaeton.

Pablo Stredel

Violinist/Venezuela

 

Takamori Arai

Violinist/Japan

 

Alexandra Tirsu

Violinist/Moldova - Romania

 

Akhmed Mamedov

Violinist-violist/Turkmenistan

Akhmed Mamedov started to play violin at the age of seven and graduated from the Sobinov Saratov State Conservatory in 2005, actively performing in solo, chamber ensembles, and string quartet concerts. Among his awards are the Grand Prize in the Fourth Regional Goldenberg Violin Competition, stipend from the “Russian Performing Art” foundation, Diploma at the 5th Demidov International Violin Competition, and an award from the VI “Golden Talent.” In 2006 Akhmed was selected to join “Youth Symphonic Orchestra of CIS Countries” and through 2009 toured the cities of CIS, Europe, and USA, under such conductors as Yury Simonov, M. Gorenshtein, Vladimir Spivakov. In 2010 Akhmed was accepted into Artist Diploma Program at Temple University in Philadelphia, completed his Master of Music degree in violin performance (2014) in the class of Professor Schmieder, and currently works toward his MM as a second major in viola. He plays at Symphony in C and New Jersey Capital Philharmonic Orchestra.

Midori Maruyama

Violist/Japan

Midori Maruyama started playing violin at the age of four and has studied at the Tokyo college of Music from 2004-2010 with Prof. Takashi Shimizu and Saiko Azuma. During these years she attended many master classes in Japan, Portugal, Italy, and Austria. In 2008 she won the third prize at the Japan Players Competition and also began to study the viola and play a lot of chamber music. She won the 2nd prize at the Osaka International Competition and received a Special award at the Japan Ensemble Competition with quartet.

Since 2010 Midori continues her studies at Scuola di musica di Fiesole in Italy with Antonello Farulli and Felice Cusano as a scholarship student in Corso di Perfezionamento. In 2011, she was awarded the “Grand Prix d’Honneu” at the Concours International de Musique Léopold Bellan in Paris, France, with piano quintet, followed with the invitation to perform at the “Julita Music Festival” in Sweden. As a soloist, Midori received First Prize at the 4th Concorso Musicale Europea Città di Filadelfia and 10th International Music Competition Premio Vittoria Caffa Righetti in 2012.

In 2013, as a member of chamber music ensemble in duo, Midori received First Prize at Concorso Internazione di Musica “Euterpe” di Corato and VII Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera Città di Chieti. She participated in master class of Jürgen Kussmaul and in summer course of Jurij Bashmet at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. As Mozarteum Summerakademie "praistreger", Midori performed in prestigious concert halls in Salzburg Festspiele. Beginning 2014 season, she is a leading violist at The Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra,Japan.

Can Sakul

Violist/Turkey

Born in 1987 in Ankara, Turkey, Can is a member of the Eskisehir Greater Municipality Symphony Orchestra.  His M.A.in Viola is from the Lausanne Conservatory (Bruno Pasquier’s class) and his B.M. in Viola is from the Bilkent University Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, where he was awarded a full scholarship.  He also attended master classes of James Creitz, Rusen Gunes, and Tatiana Masurenko at the Ayvalik International Music Academy.  Can joined the Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2001 and was its Principal Viola from 2005 to 2008.  Other leading positions were at Bilkent Youth Virtuosos (2006-2008), touring Turkey and Germany as Co-Principal with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Damiano Guiranna (2007), and as Principal Viola in the Greek-Turkish Youth Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy (Summer 2008).  In 2009, he became a member of the Camerata de Lausanne under the leadership of Pierre Amoyal.  He has performed in many chamber music and solo concerts all over the world including Turkey, Switzerland, France, Russia, Singapore, Greece, Germany, and Cyprus and has participated in festivals such as the Cannes Festival, the Montebello Festival, the Saint-Riquier Festival, the International Students Chamber Music Festival in Stuttgart, the Youth Composers and Youth Performers, World Music Day, the Festival of Castle of Ankara, and VEKAM Art Festival.  He has also performed at television and radio broadcasts on Mezzo, Radio Suisse Romande (La Tribune des Jeunes Musiciens) and Turkish National Television and Radio.

Agnieszka Podlucka

Violist/Poland

 

Egor Antonenko

Cellist/Russia

Russian- born cellist, Egor Antonenko has distinguished himself as a versatile soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Making his solo debut at the age of eight with the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra, he continued to perform with many of the prestigious Eastern European orchestras including the Moscow and Ryazan chamber orchestras, and the Petrozavodsk, Yaroslavi and Volograd Symphonies. Egor has made his American orchestral solo debut at the Longy School of Music performing the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Bard College Symphony, and most recently, performed Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations with the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, Egor has performed under the baton of Marius Stravinsky, Leon Botstein, Miguel Etchegoncelay, Gil Rose, Benjamin Zander, Terry King amongst many others. A prize winner in numerous competitions including the International Competition of Moscow’s Young Musicians “Rising Stars”, the 18th “Citi di Barletta” Italian International Young Artist Competition, and “Gradus ad Parnassum” of Lithuania 2nd International competition, he has collaborated in performances with Shanghai and Hausmann String Quartets, William Preucil, the Newport and Lyrica chamber music festivals and the International Music Festival of St. Marks. Egor received diplomas from the Moscow State Conservatory and Central Music School as a student of Maria Zhuravleva, an undergraduate diploma in cello performance at Longy School of Music of Bard College as a student of Dr. Terry King and currently continues at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University as Teaching Assistant to his mentor Dr. King. In 2016, Egor toured more than 30 countries, performing over two hundred chamber music concerts through a partnership of the Lincoln Center Stage and the Holland America Line. He also participated in a live performance collaboration between BBC Earth and Holland America Line for a documentary series known as “Frozen Planet Live”. Currently, Egor is a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra under maestro Benjamin Zander, as well as principal cellist of Lyrica Chamber Orchestra and has participated as acting principal cellist with Boston Modern Orchestra Project. This is his first season with iPalpiti.

Marc Girard-Garcia

Cellist/France

 

Sevak Avanesyan

Cellist/Armenia-Belgium

 

Francisco Vila

Cellist/Ecuador

  “Vila brought out the fervour and vitality…consummate projection.” — The Strad Magazine, April 2012 Francisco Vila began playing the cello at age eight and had his solo debut with an orchestra at age fourteen.  Having performed in concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, Vila has been described by cellist Janos Starker as “an exceptionally talented young cellist and musician. He is heading for an important place in the world of music.”  As a chamber musician, Mr. Vila has collaborated with Nobuko Imai, Zakhar Bron, Gary Hoffman, Wolfram Christ, Martin Chalifour, Michel Arrignon, and others.  As a soloist, he has appeared with the Liège Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the Bolivia Clásica Youth Orchestra, the Santander Festival Orchestra, and the Indiana University Philharmonic.  He has been a guest artist at the Beaumaris International Music Festival, the Santander Music Festival, and the Stavelot Music Festival, among others.  He has also performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra (directed by Jaime Laredo), Japan’s Phoenix Hall (at the invitation of Nobuko Imai), and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall with Apostolos Paraskevas in a performance of the composer/guitarist’s modern works.  As an iPalpiti artist since 2010, he has performed at Zankel Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a radio broadcasted recital celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of F. Chopin.  Francisco’s principal teachers include Janos Starker, Sharon Robinson and Gary Hoffman.  He has performed chamber music with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University, where he was also the first-prize winner of the 2009-2010 concerto competition.  He is a co-director of the International Music Festival of Esmeraldas (Ecuador) – supported by a grant from iPalpiti Artists International -- an initiative to bring high-level musical performances and master classes free of charge to the region.  In its inaugural 2015 season, iPalpiti alumnus violinist Daniel Austrich was among its international guest artists. Currently Principal Cellist of the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra in Denmark - a happy collaborations with iPalpiti alumni concertmaster Vesselin Demirev and Principal 2^nd Alexander Dzyubinsky -Vila performs on a fine 1790 Vincenzo Panormo cello, on generous loan from the Saul B. and Naomi R. Cohen Foundation, as well as the “ex-Janos Starker” E. Tubbs bow.

Dušan Kostić

Bassist/Serbia

 

Justin Smith

Bassist/USA

 

Ian Barber

Pianist/France

 

Trio Zadig

Trio/France