Kristína Chalmovská studied cello at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London with Richard Markson and at the Hochschule der Künste in Zurich with Raphael Wallfisch and Roel Dieltiens. With extensive international performance experience across Europe, Asia, North America and Cuba, she specializes in early music and regularly performs as a continuo cellist, collaborating with ensembles such as Il Pomo d’Oro, Opernhaus Zürich, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble and Solamente Naturali. She is the principal cellist of the Zürcher Kammerphilharmonie and has performed as a soloist with various orchestras. As an active chamber musician, Kristína Chalmovská regularly collaborates with the Mucha Quartet and has appeared at festivals such as Samos Young Artist Festival in Greece, Hortus Artis Bratislava and Samedan Chamber Music Festival in Switzerland. Her recordings include Hofmann’s Double Concerto with violinist Alfia Bakieva.

Vanessa Hunt-Russell currently plays cello as a permanent member of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana. She also freelances as a gambist and baroque cellist. She won First Prize and the audience prize at the International Viola da Gamba Bach-Abel Competition 2021 in Köthen, Germany. As guest principal cellist, she has performed with J. S. Bach-Stiftung St. Gallen, Kammerorchester Basel, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra and Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. She is also a long-standing guest with the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Philharmonia Zürich and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. A devotee of contemporary music, she has a diverse repertoire that includes Rodney Sharman’s The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Sofia Gubaidulina’s Sonnengesang, Heinz Holliger’s Chaconne, Vijay Ayer’s Run and Kaija Saariaho’s Sept Papillons. With assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts that persisted throughout her studies in Switzerland and culminated in her receiving the Virginia Parker Prize, Vanessa Hunt Russell studied cello under Thomas Demenga, Claudius Herrmann and Roel Dieltiens.

Katharina Litschig works all over Europe with orchestras and a variety of ensembles, as a chamber music partner, continuo cellist, and soloist. She studied in Zurich under Roel Dieltiens and later in Leipzig under Peter Bruns. Also inspired by classes she took with Kristin von der Goltz, she quickly developed a passion for early music and specialised in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century repertoire, which she studied under Jan Freiheit. Katharina Litschig is currently a co-principal cellist of the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin. She was also a member of the Spira Mirabilis ensemble and a founding member of Ensemble Tamuz, a group from Berlin that specialises in the Classical and Romantic repertoires.

Javier López Escalona combines an international concert career with a focus on historical performance and the rediscovery of Spain’s Andalusian musical heritage. He first studied in San Roque under Miguel Monge and Olga Tarasova, later under Aldo Mata at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León and under Roel Dieltiens at the Hochschule der Künste in Zurich. He has served as principal cellist of the Zürcher Barockorchester, appeared with Kammerorchester Basel and performed at leading venues and festivals across Europe. Winner of the First Prize at the Utrecht Early Music Competition, laureate of the Intercentros Melómano Competition and recipient of the ZHdK Förderpreis, Javier López Escalona has recorded for RTS, EMTV and Canal March, including the album El violonchelo en Andalucía and a recording dedicated to the ‘Generación musical de 1850’, featuring the world premiere recording of Gerónimo Giménez’s Symphony. Currently a doctoral student at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, he directs the Festival ÁndalMus and the Muñoz Molleda Project.

Karel Steylaerts studied cello in Brussels and then in Cologne with Maria Kliegel. A member of the European Youth Orchestra under conductors such as Bernstein and Abbado, he went on to win the Tenuto Competition. He founded the Tröndlin Pianoforte Trio, which specialises in repertoire on period instruments, and has made numerous recordings. Since 2008, he has been principal cellist with the Brussels Philharmonic, while continuing an active chamber music career with his string trio, TrioFenix. Karel Steylaerts teaches at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles and has been an official cello accompanist at the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Cello since 2017. His recording of Bach’s six suites for solo cello (Etcetera, 2022) has been highly acclaimed by critics.

Tatiana Chernichka won First Prize at the International Chopin Competition in Göttingen when she was only ten years old. Two years later, she gave her first solo recital and made her debut with the Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the Novosibirsk State Conservatory under Mary Lebenson, then under Elisso Virsaladze in Munich, where she was awarded a grant by the Live Music Now Foundation. She completed her master’s at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she was taught by Klaus Kaufmann. Since then, Tatiana Chernichka has won prizes at many competitions : she won Third Prize at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano and at the Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona. She is also a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. She has since performed in Germany mainly, and all over Europe and in Russia. She has been a guest artist at festivals such as Armonie sotto la Rocca in Italy and the Ruhr Piano Festival in Essen. Tatiana Chernichka has performed with orchestras such as the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Musica Viva Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Academy Orchestra, and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra.

Moeko Ezaki has performed worldwide in recitals and concerts and is active in chamber music with many renowned artists. She regularly appears at the Berlin Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Dresden Staatsoper, and has been invited to festivals such as the Moritzburg Festival, Festival de musique Saint-Amand-de-Vergt and Journées Ravel de Montfort-l’Amaury. She was also one of the official pianists for the ARD Competition in 2024 and 2025. She has received numerous awards for her musical accomplishments, including Second Prize and the Classic Sonata Special Award at the Verona International Piano Competition, Second Prize at the Tokyo Piano Competition and the Mozart International Chamber Music Competition in Salzburg, and the Orchestra Award and Contemporary Music Award at the Épinal International Piano Competition in France. Moeko Ezaki completed her Master’s Diploma at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris under Frank Braley and Haruko Ueda, as well as her Artist Diploma under Gerald Fauth at the University of Music and Theatre ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Leipzig, where she currently works as a teacher.

Thomas Hoppe has collaborated with many renowned musicians and singers, including Itzhak Perlman, Antje Weithaas, Tabea Zimmermann, Alban Gerhardt, Jens Peter Maintz, and Frans Helmerson. After studying under Lee Luvisi, he continued his training at the Juilliard School of Music, where he worked for Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman’s studio. As a pianist for the ATOS Trio and for the wind ensemble 4.1, he has performed to acclaim at many concerts all over the world. For almost twenty years, he has accompanied the candidates at international competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hanover, and the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. He teaches masterclasses in musical accompaniment and in chamber music all over Europe, and also performs with quartets such as the Shanghai Quartet, the Modigliani Quartet, the Mandelring Quartet, and the Simply Quartet. Thomas Hoppe lives in Berlin with his family and is a professor of chamber music at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen.

Boris Kusnezow is one of the most sought-after collaborative pianists of his generation. He has performed at renowned concert halls including New York City’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Berlin’s Philharmonie. His artistic work is documented on 17 CDs, nominated for prizes such as the Opus Klassik and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and numerous radio recordings. After his studies in Hanover under Bernd Goetzke, he won First Prize at the German Music Competition and received international awards including the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, along with scholarships from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. Apart from being active as a musician, he is the founder of the Chamber Lab chamber music academy, the artistic director of the IMAS international masterclass series, and the Schaumburger Schlosskonzerte chamber music series. He also volunteers for the Loewe Foundation, where he focuses on the promotion of classical music. In 2020 he was appointed professor for piano chamber music at the University of Music and Theatre ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Leipzig.

Anna Naretto has made chamber music and Lieder performance the focus of her career as a pianist. She has partnered with many leading artists and has been a guest at international festivals such as the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Barge Music, Herkulessaal, the Frankfurter Kulturwoche and the Kronberg festival. As a vocal coach and orchestra member, she is also actively involved in the world of opera (Oper Frankfurt and Staatstheater Darmstadt). Besides her artistic activities, she teaches at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt. Anna Naretto collaborates regularly with teachers such as Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, Wolfgang Boettcher and Nobuko Imai at several prestigious academies, such as the Kronberg Academy, the Carl Flesch Akademie in Baden-Baden, Forum Artium, the Weimarer Meisterkurse and the Jeunesses Musicales Germany. She also works as an accompanist for other international competitions such as the ARD Music Competition in Munich and the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb.