Ostrava Center for New Music

Daniel Havel was born in 1984, he graduated at the Conservatory of Music in Brno in 2006. He is a student of Mr. Radomir Pivoda at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague nowadays. During the studies he has taken masterclasses from Vaclav Kunt, Carlo Jans, Florence Bellon, Phillipe Bernold, Peter-Lukas Graf and Felix Renggli. He was a member of Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and now he is a member of the National Theatre Opera Orchestra in Prague. He did several recordings for the Czech Radio and won some competitions held in the Czech Republic.

was born in 1978 in Katowice. She graduated from Music Academy in Katowice in the flute specialization. As a scholarship grant holder of the Fondation des Treilles she developed her skills in the range of solo and chamber play conducted by the Prof. C. Gentilhomme, M. Caroli, C. Goodman and A. Angster at Conservatoire National de Region in Strasburg where she finished her postgraduate studies with the first class honors. Besides, she completed master's courses conducted by outstanding teachers: M. Debost, Ch. Larde, M. Lurie, C. Goodman, I. Moretti. She also played as a soloist and chamber player at many festivals in Poland and all over the world. She cooperates with many orchestras in Poland and abroad as for example: NOSPR, Silesian Philharmonic, Opole Philharmonic, Silesian Chamber Orchestra, AUKSO-Tychy Chamber Orchestra, and in French Contemporary Music group " LINEA". Interests of Małgorzata are concentrated on around chamber music. With wind quintet ERATO she got the II prize on the Polish Competition of Chamber Bands in Warsaw, and the III reward at the VI Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music in Cracaw. 

Oboist Jan Souček (a graduate of the Prague Conservatory) has studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague under Jana Brožková, and, in 2001, was a member of Gustav Mahler’s Youth Orchestra. In 2006, he received a six-month scholarship to study at the conservatory in Lyon, France, in the class of Professor J. L. Capezzali. Souček also participated in master classes with Capezzali, J. Guichard, M. Bourgue and H. Schellenberger. His many achievements include 3rd place and Laureate title at Prague Spring’s International Music Competition 2008, and 1st place at an international competition in Lodz (2005). He was also the semifinalist of the Sony Music Foundation competition in Japan Karuizawa (2006). Since October 2006 he is a member of the Prague Philharmonia. In chamber music he collaborates with pianist Miloslava Máchová, and he is a member of brass trio Arundo together with clarinetist Jan Mach and bassoonist Václav Vonášek.

In 1989 - 1995 he studied clarinet at the Ostrava Conservatory with doc. Valtr Vítek and continued his studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava. In 2001 he received a government scholarship at the Norwegian Academy of Music, where he worked under the guidance of Prof. Hans Christian Braein. He participated in several national and international competitions, at which he won the following awards – the Interpretation Competition in Chomutov 3rd Prize, the "Marco Fiorindo" International Competition in Turin 3rd prize. As a soloist, he has performed with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Chamber Orchestra directed by Bohdan Warchal, the Janáček Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Ameropa, Camerata Janáček, the Brno Chamber Soloists, Musici boemi, the Bennewitz Quartet, the Wihan Quartet, the Wallinger Quartet, the Talich Quartet, the Kubín Quartet, the Gideon Trio and others.  Besides solo concerts and recitals he often performs as a chamber player in many groups. He is a founding member of the Stadler Clarinet Quartet and the Ensemble Moravia chamber ensemble, which was awarded 1st prize in the "Marco Fiorindo" International Competition in Turin in 2005.  At present he is engaged in intensive study and performance of music from the second half of the 20th century.  He is a regular guest at the Ostrava Days. In addition to contemporary music he has a special interest in playing the chalumeau as well as baroque and classical period clarinets. In 2001 - 2003 he taught as a lecturer on international courses run by Ameropa in Prague. Since 2002 he has devised and lectured on international courses at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava. In addition to his busy concert schedule, he works as an assistant professor in clarinet and chamber music at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava.

Daniel Svoboda began studying clarinet at Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava in 1999. He has successfully participated in numerous competitions and has received several awards and scholarships: 2001 – Concertino Praga National Round, honorable mention; 2001 – Karl Ditters from Dittersford in Vidnava, 1st place; 2002 – recipient of a scholarship from YAMAHA; 2003 – Winner of title, “Absolute” and 1st place in playing clarinet at participating conservatories; 2004 – Chamber Orchestra, 1st place; 2007 – was among the best eighteen clarinetists in an international competition hosted by Geneva. As a soloist, he performed with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra 2004) and with the Student Orchestra of Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava (2004-2005). He is a member of Brass Quintet and clarinet group Clarus Quartet, and is currently a student of the Faculty of Arts at University of Ostrava.

Daniel Costello, a native New Yorker, was a freelance horn player in the US and Canada before he came to Europe. He has played under the direction of conductors such as Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach and Michael Tilson Thomas. Costello was a founding member and music director of the Encore Brass Quintet, which won the New York Brass Quintet competition in 1993. Encore was the first brass quintet to be awarded a rural residency from the National Endowment for the Arts. During his tenure with the Encore Brass Quintet, Daniel Costello premiered many works by American composers and participated in the Bravo! Colorado music festival in Vail, Colorado. In 1997, Costello was appointed principal horn of La Camerata, a chamber orchestra in Athens, Greece and later became principal horn of the Schönebeck Chamber Orchestra in Germany. Mr. Costello studied with John Zirbel, principal horn of Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in Canada. In 1994, he received a Master of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music in New York, where he studied with David Jolley of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In 2001, Daniel Costello was appointed associate principal horn of the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Germany.

Stefan Most was born in Magdeburg and started with piano at Georg Philipp Telemann Conservatory before he changed to french horn.  He studied in Berlin at Hanns Eisler Music University and graduated in 2007. During his study he worked as substitute at Konzerthausorchester Berlin.  Stefan Most work as a freelancer and performs at different festivals and orchestras (Brückenfestival Rostock, Magdeburger Philharmonie, Berliner Ensemble).

New York City based trumpeter Thomas Verchot has played solo recitals in New York City at Church of the Heavenly Rest, Church of St. Thomas More, and the First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn Heights.  He has performed Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto at the Opus Berkshire Festival in Williamstown, MA, with the American Festival of Micro-tonal Music, and with the New Sussex Symphony (NJ). He is Principal Trumpet of the Amor Artis Orchestra.  He has played with the New York City Opera Orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of New York, Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble, Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Bach Aria Group, the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, Springfield Symphony (MA), and Opera New Jersey. He is also a member of the New Philharmonic of New Jersey and the Modern Brass Quintet. Internationally, he has toured as principal trumpet of the Ostravská banda, from the Czech Republic, was Principal trumpet of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, for 6 seasons, and was a member of the Orquesta Filarmonica del Bajio in Guanajuato, Mexico. His discography includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 (Pitch Records), Anthony Newman’s Nicole and the Trial of the Century (Albany Records), and Jeanne Shaffer’s Shalom (Leonarda Records) and Dave Hall’s Places (Giuseppe Joe Records).

New York City based trumpeter Kyle Resnick enjoys a multi-faceted career as soloist, recording artist, chamber musician, orchestral player, Avant-Garde specialist and Experimental/Rock/Pop/Jazz performer, working in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden.  He frequently performs abroad, collaborating with both Classical groups and Rock artists. Over the past year, he has performed in Australia, Europe, North and South America. Kyle has enjoyed working with Petr Kotík since 1999.

The trumpeter Ladislav Kozderka was born in 1974 into a family of musicians in Brno. He graduated from the conservatory there and continued his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. He subsequently became principal trumpet with the Opera Orchestra of the National Theater in Prague and since November 2008 he has also been principal trumpet with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist he has performed with leading symphony and chamber orchestras in the Czech Republic and abroad. At present, he focuses on concert activities, improvisation, the performance of contemporary music and the creation of music and stage projects for various composers.

Florian Juncker started to play the trombone at Benjamin Franklin High School when he was thirteen. From 1997 to graduating in 2004, he studied at the "Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. While in school, he finished one year of post-graduate studies and in 2002, as part of an exchange school program, studied at the Norwegian School of Music in Oslo. He was a member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra, Youth Jazz Orchestra and Junge Philharmonic in Berlin. He became a member of the Youth All-Star Big Band in Radio Helsinky conducted by Bob Mintzer. He played with the Ensemble Modern Orchestra (conductor Heinz Holliger) at Lucerne Festival, and was a member of Poland-German Contemporary Music Ensemble. Additionally, he has participated in concerts at Darmstadt’s Holiday Courses, Warsaw Autumn and Ultraschall Festival in Berlin. In September 2004, he received a scholarship to the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt. Together with Boreas Ensemble (Brass Quintet), he won a scholarship from the Villa Musica.

Daniël Ploeger is a Dutch musician, performer and multimedia artist. He works as a free-lance artist in Europe and elsewhere. He presented his work in Etazhi Gallery in St. Petersburg, Para/Site in Hong Kong and Edition Block in Berlin, among many other places. He is also active as a trombonist, focusing on the interpretation of works from the New York School, Minimalism and Post-Neo-Dadaism. Daniël Ploeger's performance installations are characterized by the use of moving sounding objects, manipulated loudspeakers and (left overs of) commodity goods.

Daniël studied music at the Royal Conservatoire of Hague and the 'Herbert von Karajan' orchestra academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. He also took lessons in electronic composition, contemporary dance and performance art in the Netherlands, Germany and England. He is currently doing doctoral research in the field of multimedia installation and performance art at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. Daniël Ploeger is the trombonist of the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin (KNM) and associate tutor for experimental music theatre at the University of Sussex.

From 2005 until 2007, Daniël worked as a teacher and performer for a music education project of the Barenboim-Said Foundation on the Palestinian West Bank.  (photo: (c) Markus Sepperer)

Magnus Nilsson, was born and raised in Sweden, and is currently based in the Netherlands working as a freelance trombone player in Dutch, Belgian and Scandinavian orchestras, ensembles and chamber music groups. He has completed studies at the Malmo Music College and the Utrecht School of the Arts and has worked with orchestras/ensembles as The Hague Philharmonic, The Noord Nederlands Symphony, The Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra, Malmo Symphony, The Band of the Royal Netherlands Marines, the Band of the Malmo Firebrigade, Het Muziek Lod, The Xenakis Ensemble and the NOG Ensemble.
Magnus has taught at the Utrecht School of the Arts and been involved in education projects such as the Barenboim-Said Education Project in Ramallah and the Amman Symphony Orchestra.

The tuba player Robin Hayward, born in Brighton, England in 1969, has been based in Berlin since 1998. He has redefined the tuba’s potential both in the areas of noise and microtonality. His compositions for other instruments reflect a similar experimental, medium-specific approach. His specific playing ability has been utilized by composers such as Alvin Lucier and Christian Wolff. He has toured extensively both solo and in collaboration. His research to date has been documented in his solo CD Valve Division and various collaborative releases. Active in many contemporary music ensembles including Phosphor, and Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, in 2005 he founded Zinc & Copperworks for continued research into brass instruments.
'An extraordinary tuba player' - The New York Times
www.robinhayward.de

Tuba player Jiří Král graduated from Music School in Bílovec in recorder, baritone and tuba. In 2000, he won 1st place in the interpretive competition of brass instruments in Brno in the junior category, and in 2006, 1st place and the title of absolute winner in the competition of conservatories and he advanced to the final international competition of brass instruments in Polish Jastrzębie Zdrój (in the same contest, he won 2nd place in 2008). First prize in the 1st category he won in 2007 at an international competition of brass instruments in Brno. In 2008 he participated in the International courses of tuba playing with prof. J. B. Larsen in Markneukirchen, Germany. A member of the Youth Brass Orchestra in Jistebník since 2000, he also performs in a brass quintet, a student symphony orchestra and the Brass Philharmonic Orchestra of the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava. In 2008, he performed as a soloist with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and at concerts of Ostravská banda at the festivals Janáček May and the Prague Spring.

Lajos Tóth was born in 1982 in Budapest, Hungary. He started his studies in percussion in 1992 at the Conservatory of the University of Debrecen.  He studied at the percussion faculty of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, with Zoltán Rácz, leader of Amadinda Percussion Group. Lajos Tóth performs regularly with many of Hungary’s symphony orchestras, including the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, and Danubia Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Amadinda Percussion Group, and UMZE Chamber Ensemble. He is a member of Ostravská banda since 2006.

Percussionist Chris Nappi has appeared throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and the US with the SEM Ensemble, Newband, The New Music Consort, Steve Reich and Musicians, Ben E. King, and John Wesley Harding. As a composer he has created music for the dance, theatrical productions and multi-media installations and has recorded for the Columbia, Ear-Rational, Mode, New Tone, Rene Block Editions, Tzadik, and Wergo labels.

”Until now, only the Amadinda Percussion Group popularized contemporary music effectively. The young Tömösközi is their worthy follower. Only his fantastic talent is larger than his fascinating personality. “  -  White Elephant Hungarian Cultural Portal

Born in 1983, László Tömösközi started his percussion studies following his father’s example, who was also a drummer, in 1990. He pursued his studies under the guidance of Aurél Holló and then Zoltán Rácz, members of the world famous Amadinda Percussion Group. His outstanding talent soon had him step forward from being an apprendice to be a colleague.
In 1999, he won the second prize of the National Percussion Competition of Colleges. He is a founder member of the Mondo Quartet, which won the Ari Kupsus Artistic Scholarship in 2005, and the special price of the Japanese Embassy at the International Percussion Quartet Competition in Luxemburg. He was one of the four Music Academy students who received the Citi Scholarship by Citibank for his exceptional results in 2007. He participated at master classes of such marimba artists as Robert van Sice, Leigh Howard Stevens, Gordon Stout, Momoko Kamiya, Katarzyna Mycka, Bogdan Bacanu and Emmanuel Séjourné. Also, he is a regular participant of other instrumental courses – such as those of Kim Kashkashian, György Kurtág, Zoltán Kocsis and András Schiff.
As a soloist and an active participant of the Hungarian musical scene, he performed at prestigious festivals. He participated at the concerts of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, Danubia Youth Symphonic Orchestra, Weiner-Szász Chamber Symphony Orchestra many times.
Tömösközi’s performance can be listened on the recording of Csaba Klenyán – Chamber Music with Clarinet, and on the 5th record of the Collection of John Cage by the Amadinda Percussion Group.
In 2005, when Gordon Stout visited Hungary, Tömösközi performed his Skylark Orange Circles composition for two marimbas together with the composer. He is also a composer and an accompanying musician of various theatre performances, and has been an active teacher since he was 19. Since 2007 he is teaching marimba at Ferenc Liszt Academy of  Music, Budapest.

Percussionist Jakub Tengler (b. 1987 in Nový Jičín, Czech Republic) began his music career playing the recorder, clarinet and percussions (becoming a member of the Youth Brass Orchestra of the Vítkov Music School) – at thirteen, he began playing the piano. During his studies at Vítkov Music School, he participated in several solo and chamber music competitions in clarinet and drums. He continued his studies at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava in drums, where he developed an interest in jazz. Since 2005, he played regularly with the Cuban-African infused band Sherlock and in Ostrava jazz clubs. He also became interested in traditional Irish music, and was the drummer for the Ostrava band Celtic Cross (also playing the Irish drum – Bodhran) for four years. Since 2007, he has studied drums at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno with Martin Opršál and Kamil Slezák. He has gained much experience from working with several ensembles – percussion work with the ensemble DAMA DAMA, guest appearing in the percussion section of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and other orchestras. He plays percussions with a jazz trio and quartet in Brno, and currently teaches percussions at the Vítkov Music School.

Hailed by Village Voice critic Kyle Gann as one of "new music's most valued performers," pianist Joseph Kubera has gained international renown as a major interpreter of contemporary music. Recently he appeared as soloist at the New England Conservatory, at MELA Foundation's Memorial Concerts of music of Richard Maxfield and Terry Jennings in New York, and with Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin. He has performed at major festivals in the U.S. and Europe and has been awarded grants through the NEA Solo Recitalist Program, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, and other arts organizations.  A leading proponent of the music of John Cage, he is one of the few pianists performing the difficult works from the 50s through the 70s; he has recorded the complete Music of Changes and the Piano Concert, and has toured with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Cage's invitation. Joseph Kubera is a core member of S.E.M. Ensemble, the Downtown Ensemble and Roscoe Mitchell's New Chamber Ensemble, and he has performed with a broad range of New York ensembles. He has worked closely with such composers as Anthony Coleman, Alvin Lucier, Robert Ashley, La Monte Young and "Blue" Gene Tyranny. Solo recordings include Cage's Music of Changes on Lovely Music and Cowell's Nine Ings on New Albion. He has also recorded for the Wergo, O.O. Discs, 1750 Arch and Opus One labels.

Ivan Šiller studied piano, privately with D. Buranovský, D. Varínská (VŠMU Bratislava) and D. Vandewalle (Royal Conservatoire Gent). He has received scholarships from Ostrava Days, Tanglewood Music Center in the United States, Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and International Holiday Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, in addition to winning awards at several domestic and foreign competitions (e.g. EMCY in Hamburg). Not only appearing at significant festivals of new music, he has also worked with the theater sets Walpurgis (Antwerp) and Wederzijds (Amsterdam). He is the initiator of musical and educational projects for young people (projects Stretnutia, youth choir Eben Ezer and children's choir Kvapôčky, among others) and the founder and artistic director of Space, a festival that emphasizes contemporary music. He began the cycle of chamber concerts in the Gallery of Nitra and Gallery of Art in Nové Zámky. His activities in the artistic field have been awarded by Slovakia’s Ministry of Education with the St. Gorazd prize. Together with Enikö Ginzery, he organized the Tokaj Art Summer Music Courses in Eastern Slovakia.

Milan Osadský (born in 1983) studied accordion at Žilina Conservatory with Prof. Martin Ďuriš and Igor Gajan. He continued his studies at University for Performing Arts in Bratislava in the class of Rajmund Kákoni. He is now at the same university in post-graduate course in the class of Boris Lenko. He has successfully participated on national and international competitions – he won twice National Competition of Slovak Conservatories and is prize winner from many other musical contests (Accordeon Competition in Przemysl, Poland; Accordeon Competition in Roveredo, Switzerland; Ján Cikker Festival). He performs at concerts home and abroad as soloist or as a member of Melos Ethos Ensemble that specializes in new music. He is particularly concerned with performing 20th Century and contemporary music.

Daniel Skála (b. July 19, 1981 in Ostrava) began to play cimbalom at age seven. After studying at the Music School in Ostrava, he went on to learn with Professor Růžena Děcká (Conservatory in Kroměříž), one of the leading educational personalities in cimbalom studies. He continued at Liszt Academy in Budapest with another major personality in the field - teacher and player Ilona Szeverényi. Besides cimbalom, Daniel studies musical composition and choir conducting. He participated in many interpretative competitions in the Czech Republic and abroad – he has won one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind in the world, Valašské Meziříčí (1997-2003), four times, and several special jury prizes. In 2004, he won the Independent Jury Prize for Best Interpretation Performance in the international music festival "Mladé pódium" [Young Stage] in Karlovy Vary, among others.
As a performer, he is devoted to music primarily from the Baroque era to Contemporary music, giving priority to original interpretations of the literature from these two periods. He often performs as a soloist, with chamber ensembles at concerts and festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad (mainly in cooperation with the Hungarian pianist Nóra Füzi). He also plays with symphony and chamber orchestras (Janáček Chamber Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra, Musica Figuralis, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Ostravská banda, etc.). His ambition is to promote the cimbalom as a concert instrument of artificial music and as a field of study at universities in the Czech Republic.
Daniel Skála currently teaches cimbalom at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava.

Ivana Dohnalová studied harp at Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava. In 2002, she performed at the 8th World Harp Congress in Geneva. She appeared as a soloist with the Dorikos String Quartet, Leoš Janáček Chamber Orchestra and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. She received the Magdaléna Jakubská scholarship in 2004, which allowed her to attend summer master classes at the American university Eastman School of Music in Rochester with Prof. Kathleen Bride. Each year she participates in Ostrava’s Harp Days (Harfové dny), where, in 2004, she performed in the Czech premiere of Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Chamber Orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski accompanied by Janáček Chamber Orchestra. She is invited to cooperate with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and the international student orchestra Europera. Dohnalová currently lives in Prague and participates in several solo and chamber music performances every year.

Violinist Conrad Harris has performed new works for violin at the Darmstadt Ferrienkürse für Neue Musik, Gulbenkian Encounters of New Music, Radio France, Warsaw Autumn, and New York's Sonic Boom Festival. In addition to being a member of the Flux Quartet, he is concertmaster of the New York based S.E.M. Orchestra and the Ostravská banda, founded in the Czech Republic. He has performed and recorded with such artists as DJ Spooky, Jean-Claude Risset, and Tiny Tim, as featured violinist on his final recording "Prisoner of Love." A solo CD featuring premiers by Alvin Lucier, David Behrman, Robert Ashley, and Gordon Mumma will soon be released on Mode Records. He has also recorded for Asphodel, Vandenburg, CRI, and Vinyl Retentive Records.

Violinist, Pauline Kim, leads the string quartet in the Grammy nominated opera glam-rock band, East Village Opera Company (Universal/Decca), exciting audiences throughout the U.S., Asia, Europe, Canada and Peru. As a member of the Ostravská banda (Czech Republic), she tours extensively in Europe premiering works by contemporary composers. She has also toured with Savion Glover in the hit show, "Classical Savion" during the 2005-06 season.
Ms. Kim has been featured on PBS and has been heard on live radio broadcasts to include a program with violinist, Elmar Oliviera from the WQXR Listening Room with Robert Sherman at Merkin Hall. In 1996, she gave her debut recital at the Ravinia Festival on the Rising Stars Series and appeared as guest soloist with the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e E minor.  That same year, Ms. Kim engaged the public in her New York debut recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall that "gleamed and shimmered...brilliant...with stylistic affinity and virtuosity." (Strings). In the spring of 2005, she gave the New York premiere performance of the Arutunian Violin Concerto with the Barbad Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Kim has also appeared with the North Country Chamber Players, Waldorf Chamber Players, Monomoy Chamber Players, Craftsbury Chamber Players, Beekman Hill Ensemble, and Poetica Musica. She has performed at Trinity Church Wallstreet on the Distinguished Artists Series with the Thalia Chamber Players as well as on the Four Seasons Concert Series in San Francisco's Herbst Theater, as a member of the S.E.M. Ensemble. Ms. Kim was a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in 2002 and 2003 seasons and played with the New York Chamber Symphony under the direction of Gerard Schwartz. She has performed annually with Paula Robison at the MET Museum and continues to play with harpsichordist, Anthony Newman in all six Brandenburg Concerti at St. Bartholomew's on New Year's Eve.
Born in Hollywood, California, she lives in the West Village where she makes New York City her home with her husband, Conrad Harris, violinist in the FLUX String Quartet. She continues to appear as a guest performer with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as with the American Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theater and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Ms. Kim holds a Bachelor and Master degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, Cho Liang Lin and Felix Galimir. Ms. Kim was one of the last pupils of Jascha Heifetz at age 10.

Violinist David Danel (b. 1974 in Havířov) studied with L. Gořula at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava, and prof. Zdeněk Gola at the University of Ostrava. He also participated in master classes with E. Grač, and is a laureate of the Beethovenův Hradec and L. Janáček Competition in Brno. As a soloist, he performed with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Slovak Chamber Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra and Dartington Summer Festival. Danel often records for Czech Radio – with an emphasis on chamber compositions – and deals with premiere recordings of contemporary authors. He is intensely devoted to chamber music and his work in ensembles Camerata Janáček and Ensemble Moravia. In 2005, he taught at the summer music courses of Crescendo Summer Institute in Hungary. Occasionally he is a guest concertmaster in Bilbao Philharmonic, and currently operates as a member of the Prague Philharmonia and contemporary music ensembles MoEns (Mondschein) and Early Reflections.

In 1994, Černohorský graduated from the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava having studied with V. Kuznik; in 1998, he graduated from the Faculty of Music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, having studied with Prof. P. Messiereur. From 1998 to 2000, he received a scholarship in Japan at Toho Gakuen Orchestra Academy, where he worked as concertmaster of symphony orchestra. During his studies in Japan, he received a series of awards at interpretative competitions (1992 – 3rd Place in the competition of Czech conservatories in Teplice, 1st Place in the quartet competition “Win the Prize and be Beethoven of Hradec” – in 1993, he wonb second prizes in these competitions). As the soloist he performed with several Czech orchestras: Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra Hradec Králové, Chamber Orchestra of young soloists. On numerous occasions, he has also recorded for the Czech Radio, cooperated with the Moravian chamber soloists, performed in the Talich Chamber Orchestra and occasionally in other ensembles. In 2004, he was announced artistic director of Janáček Chamber Orchestra while on tour in South Korea, and in the summer of 2005, he took part in Chamber Music Festival in Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra (Kent Blossom Festival, USA). Černohorský is currently a teacher at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava.

Violist Nikolaus Schlierf (b. 1969) studied at Regensburger Domspatzen University of Art before continuing to study at conservatories in Nürnberg (with Professor Hans Kohlhase), Frankfurt (with J. Heyer) and Freiburg (with J. Lüthy and Garth Knoxe) – additionally having attended a special class with Walter Levine and Hatto Baierlea at Basler Conservatory. He has gained much experience working with orchestras through working with the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra, German Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Freiburg. Schlierf was the main soloist not only in the premiere of Requiem by B. Guckelsbeggers, but also at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2003, he won first place in the interpretation of contemporary music at the Hanns-Eisler competition. In September 2004, he played a solo part in the composition of Prometeo by Luigi Nono in Musikhalle in Hamburg conducted by Ojgo Metzmacher. He has been a solo viola in Ensemble Resonanz (Hamburg) since 1996 and is a member of the DASZ string quartet. Furthermore, he is a regular guest player of Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Ensemble Modern, Kammerkunstverein Hamburg, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Berliner Ensemble, United Berlin and the baroque ensemble Telemann-Consort in Magdeburg. He currently lives in Berlin.

Peter Zwiebel started to play viola in 1996 (Košice Conservatory). Then he continued at VŠMU in Bratislava and later (in 2004) he studied in Swiss Bazel in a class of Christopher Schiller. Peter also attended courses of chamber music in La Scalle Quartet (W. Levine, S. Hamann).  He was a leader of viola group in European Philharmonic Orchestra, European Tour (2001), Symphonie orchesra Akademie der Stadt Basel (2004). He works with Melos Ethos Ensemble and he is founding member of Zwiebel quartet and leader of viola group of Slovakian chamber orchestra of Bohdan Warchal. Regularly, he presents compositions for viola by contemporary Slovak and other foreign composers (Bryars, Kopelent, Bokes, Podprocký, Buffa, Borzík).

(1978) has studied music since 1984. From 1993 to 1999, he studied conservatory, and from 1999 to 2004, he studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. His music career includes Bayreuth-Festival Junger Kunstler, Raphael Wallfisch MIK in Piestany/Slovakia, Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust competition in London - 3rd prize, IJOA Orchester Project, Idyllwild Arts Summer Program, Cello and chamber music masterclass by John Walz, Endre Balogh, Igor Gruppman, Scott Lee, among others.
Gál has been a member of the Slovak Chamber Orchestra since 2001; that same year he co-founded Zwiebel String Quartet. He attended Summer Academy Prague-Vienna-Budapest in the quartet masterclass in 2002 and 2003 with members of world known quartets such as Alban Berg, Smetana, Janacek or Bartok quartet. He won 2nd Thomastik-Infeld prize in the string quartet category. Further, in 2007 and 2008 he attended a masterclass for string quartet in Basel with W. Levin (LaSalle quartet) and R. Schmidt (Hagen quartet).
He is also a member of other ensembles for contemporary music such as Veni Ensemble, Melos Ethos Ensemble and the newly established Quasars Ensemble. He collaborates with the Musica Aeterna Ensemble on period instruments. As a chamber and orchestral musician he has performed at major festivals in Middle Europe: Bratislava Music Festival, Melos-Ethos, Ostrava Days, Prague Spring, Warsaw Autumn, Festival of Contemporary Art in Kosice and in various locations throughout the U.S.A. and Japan.

Juho Laitinen is a cellist, composer and seeker of new things. He studied at Turku Conservatory and Royal College of Music in London with Timo Hanhinen and Jerome Pernoo. Laitinen has participated in master classes with Natalia Gutman, Tsyoshi Tsutsumi and the Chilingirian Quartet and studied the baroque cello with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola. In 2004-5 he worked as a Fulbright scholar in New York. On the more traditional front Juho Laitinen has worked at Finnish National Opera and with the Helsinki, Oulu and Turku symphony orchestras. Venturing out into other genres, he has cooperated with Brazilian singer Rosalia de Souza and guitarist Niklas Winter’s Jazz Workshop. At home he plays regularly with Albero Quartet, an ensemble that tries to merge improvised and written material seamlessly together. He records regularly for the Finnish Broadcasting Company. During this season Juho has played electroacoustic concerts in New York, Rome and Oulu and recently commissioned and gave the first performance of Riikka Talvitie’s concerto for cello, electronics and big band. He is studying towards a doctorate at Sibelius Academy, focusing on innovations in 20th century cello compositions.

John Eckhardt set out as an electric bass player in funk bands. Due to a growing interest in jazz music, he picked up the double bass which quickly became the focus of his activities. He attended the Musikhochschule Lübeck from 1995-99 for classical training with Professor Jörg Linowitzki, while at the same time enjoying a busy professional life as a jazz bassist and improviser. After his graduation summa cum laude, John Eckhardt focused on 20th century and contemporary chamber and solo music. He was awarded DAAD (German academic exchange service) grants twice in 2000 and 2001 for graduate studies in the US with Robert Black.
Upon his return to Germany, he relocated to Hamburg and pursued a path that unified his broad range of interests. He joined and founded a number of chamber groups playing compositional and improvised music and has been playing repeatedly with renowned groups such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, musikFabrik NRW and L’art pour l’art. He performed at many international festivals and venues and has recorded extensively, a.o. Iannis Xenakis’ seminal solo double bass master piece, „Theraps“ on Mode Records, which received international praise.
At the same time, John Eckhardt continued his work as a composer/performer. His first solo double bass CD featuring his own music, „Xylobiont“, was released in 2008 on Evan Parker’s PSI Records label. He has realized several sound installations, mostly in collaboration with projection artist Katrin Bethge. John Eckhardt’s lasting passion for bass heavy club sounds will also finally be heard as he has recently embarked on the production of Dubstep oriented crossover beats and soundscapes revolving around his live bass guitar playing. John lives within hearing distance of the Hamburg harbor.

František Výrostko was born in October 4, 1980 in Martin, Slovakia. After finishing grammar school, he desided to become a professional musician. In 1999, he entered Žilina Conservatory, studying double bass as a main subject. Then, in 2003, he proceeded his studies at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Bratislava as a student of doc. Radoslav Šašina. In 2006, he spent one semester in the class of prof. Frano Kakarigi at the Conservatory of Murcia, Spain. In 2007, he graduated the Master of Arts. During his studies, he took part in several international master classes in Michaelstein (D), Brno (CZ), prof.: Klaus Trumpf, Miloslav Gajdoš, Miloslav Jelinek, Petr Kořinek, Radoslav Šašina. František Výrostko is as an orchestral, chamber and solo musician. He works with orchestras: Cappella Istropolitana (SK), Ostravská banda (CZ), Melos Ethos Ensemble (SK), Orquestra do Norte (PT), Camerata Europeanea (D). His musical sphere of activity is wide. His roots are classical, but he performes contemporary and jazz music very often. He has composed music to several dramas.