Uxía Martínez Botana, Sergey Ostrovsky, Alexander Kagan, Noémie Bialobroda
Biographie Uxía Martínez Botana, Sergey Ostrovsky, Alexander Kagan, Noémie Bialobroda
Uxia Martinez Botana
Selected by international critics as one of the world's top bass players and recognised for her «great intensity and exceptional technique». Uxía Martinez Botana was the first principal double Bass at the age of 23 of the Grammy Award Winner Kremerata Baltica, under the direction of Gidon Kremer, working with soloists such as Martha Argerich, Emmanuel Pahud, Khatia Buniatishvili, Daniel Baremboin, Mario Brunello, Mikhail Pletnev, Heinrich Schiff, and many other renowned artists. Since January 2016 she has been the principal Double Bass of the Weinberger Kammerorchester (Zurich) under Gábor Takács-Nagy's direction and the Brussels Philharmonic's principal double bass until 2020. She also became a member and solo double bass in 2019 at the Oxford Philharmonic until nowadays.
Other work with orchestras includes The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Fischer, and guest principal double bass at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Belgium National Orchestra. She is also a Double Bass professor at the ESMUC College of Music of Catalonia in Barcelona (Spain) and a guest professor at the foundation Barenboim-Said. In 2021 She joined as well the Stauffer Center Academy for strings, in Cremona (Italy) together with other renowned artists such as Sol Gabetta, Michael Barenboim, Lisa Batiashivili, Daniel Hope, Julian Rachlin, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, Steven Isserlis, Mischa Maisky, Alissa Weilestein. ...
Sergey Ostrovsky
has been described by Isaac Stern as "...one of the most outstanding Israeli violinists".
Sergey was born in 1975 in Russia to a family of musicians, and has built an active and successful career as the First Violinist of the Aviv Quartet, as a soloist and as First Concertmaster of Orchestre de la Suisse Romande de Genève, Orchestre Comunidad,Valenciana of Palau Des le Arts in Valencia, Spain and Violin Professor of HEM de Genève (Neuchatel branch).
Sergey began playing at the age of 6, inspired by the great talent and extraordinary musicianship of his father Valery Ostrovsky, a concert pianist and professor whose pedagogical touch and knowledge assisted him throughout his studies. as well as coaching Sergey, his father was his accompanist from 1990 - 2002. Sergey first studied with David Lapidus in the Music School for 8 years, during which time he made his first public concert appearance at the age of 8 and performed for the first time with a symphony orchestra at the age of 13.
In the Music College of Gorky Conservatory, Sergey continued his studies with Lazar Gantman and Yury Gluchovsky. In 1991 the Ostrovsky family emigrated to Israel, where he pursued his studies with Prof. Yair Kless and Irina Svetlova at the Rubin Academy Tel Aviv (from 2005-Buchmann-Mehta High School of Music). He completed his Bachelor Degree Diploma with Natalia Morozova in 2000 and his Master Degree Diploma in Amsterdam Conservatory with Alexander Kerr in 2002.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and many others, with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Yoel Levi, Hugh Wolff, Bernard Guller, Uriel Segal and Maxim Vengerov.
Sergey has recorded the Mozart Concertone for two violins with Maxim Vengerov and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra for EMI Classics. In 2010, he recorded less known Russian concertos by Anton Arensky, Jules Conus and a world premiere recording of a Concertino op. 42 by Mieczysław Weinberg, for Naxos.
Sergey Ostrovsky teaches Chamber Music and is actively involved in conducting youth and professional orchestras. He plays a 1716 violin made by Giovanni Grancinno, purchased with the generous support of Mr. James Mayer and "Tzfonot Tarbut", a non-profit organization for supporting arts in Israel.
Alexander Kagan
was born 1984 in Moscow, into a family of legendary Russian musicians: Oleg Kagan and Natalia Gutman and started playing the violin at the ages of six.
After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 2009 in the class of Prof. Kravchenko, he studied with Prof. Kolja Blacher in Hamburg and Berlin where he was granted a master degree in 2013.
His studies included a semester at the Manhattan School of Music in New York in the Pinchas Zukermann program and numerous masterclasses with Professors like Pavel Vernikov, Philipe Hirshhorn, Maurizio Fuchs.
He has won prizes at the Glazunov International Competition in Paris, the David Oistrakh International Violin Competition in Odessa.
Recent engagements include performances with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra of Fartein Valen’s violin concerto in 2022, Bartok Violin Sonata with Víkingur Ólafsson in February 2021, Walton violin concerto as a soloist with Norrlandsoperan’s Symphony Orchestra and Joann Falletta in Umeå, Stockholm and Sundsvall (Sweden) 2019, a live TV solo appearance with the Swedish Radio Orchestra's at the 2018 New Year's Concert, several concerts with Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra in Sweden in 2016, a performance of Lalo's Sinfonia Español on the island Madeira Portugal (2016), two performances of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under conductors Andrew Manze and Andrew Litton in 2014. Alexander had his debut at the ‘Grand Hall’ of the Moscow Conservatory 2012 where he played the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory.
Since 2020, Alexander is appointed as 1st concertmaster in Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway. Prior to that, he was employed as 1st Concertmaster of Norrlandsoperan in Sweden (2016-2020) and as Associate Concertmaster in Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (2012-2016).
Alexander is frequently invited to lead major orchestras in Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and the US as guest concertmaster. Such as English National Opera, Swedish Radio, Island Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic (USA), Trondheim Symphony Orchestra 2019, Malaysian Phiharmonic 2019, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Stockholm Royal Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Royal Opera, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orquestra Sinfònico Casa da Musica Porto, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken.
Alexander Kagan is a keen chamber musician and performs at concerts including those at the Lucerne Festival, Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival, ‘December Evenings’, Ars Longa and the ‘Dedication’ Festival, Moscow, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, Storioni Chamber Music Festival (Eindhoven).
Since 2022 Alexander is the 1st violinist of thenewly founded Bergen String Quartet.
Alexander plays a violin by G.B. Guadagnini (1780) on loan from J. O. Odfjell in Bergen, Norway
Noemi Bialobroda
Born in Paris in 1988, Noémie Bialobroda studied with Nobuko Imai and Miguel Da Silva at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève and with Jean Sulem in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.
A passionate professor, Noémie Bialobroda currently is Viola professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, Chamber Music professor at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, and she is since 2021 the Coordinator of Chamber Music at the Haute École de Musique de Genève.
Noémie Bialobroda is the founder and Artistic Director of the Geneva International String Academy.
Noemie has won prizes in numerous competitions and scholarship including the Beethoven International Viola Competition 2010, the Fondation Hirschmann (Switzerland) and the Fondation Meyer (France).
As a passionate chamber musician, she has played with Luis Claret, Boris Garlitsky, Francois Guye, Philippe Müller, Tedi Papavrami, Jean Sulem, Jean-Pierre Wallez, the Rosamonde String Quartet for concerts in France, Germany, Spain, China, Switzerland, Austria, USA and Israël.
She joins the Aviv Quartet in 2014.
Very active in contemporary music, she works regularly with the Ensemble Modern in Francfort and the IRCAM in Paris. Two new pieces for viola and electronics have been written for her and premiered at the IRCAM.
She has recorded her first CD for the label « jeunes solistes » of the Fondation Meyer which includes Sequenza VI by L.Berio, Sonate by B.A.Zimmermann, Notturni Brillanti by S.Sciarrino, Prologie by G.Grisey and Sonate op 25 n°1 de P.Hindemith.
She is a Viola Professeur at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève since 2010 and at the Conservatoire de Lausanne for pre-College students since 2014.
