Marc Bouchkov
Violin

Alexander Ramm
Cello

“A mesmerizing, heroic soloist” (The Strad), Alexander Ramm is one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation. Having emerged on the international stage as the silver medalist of the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, he has recently attracted much attention and critical praise with his recording of Benjamin Britten’s Cello Suites, which was made with titanium pins in his left elbow following a freak accident. Enthusiastic comparisons to Rostropovich (The Strad, Pizzicato.lu) and the Listeners’ Choice award of The Violoncello Foundation have placed this album among the most acclaimed recordings of cello repertoire.

Alexander’s regular collaborations with Vladimir Jurowski, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Jurowski, Antoni Wit, Alexander Sladkovsky and other prominent artistic partners have taken him to Philharmonie de Paris, London’s Cadogan Hall as well as to Linz’s Brucknerhaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, Tokyo’s Nikkei Hall and to many of the most prestigious stages in the UK, Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, Austria, Finland, South Africa, Japan, France and Russia, including Mariinsky Theatre and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.

Almost straight after the Tchaikovsky cello competition, Alexander was invited by legendary Russian Firma Melodia to record the Shostakovich concerto with the Tatarstan Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Alexander Sladkovsky.

Before Alexander’s success at the Tchaikovsky International Competition (Moscow, 2015), he won the Third Beijing International Music competition (Beijing, 2010) and First National Music Competition (Moscow, 2010). In 2013 Mr. Ramm became the first Russian laureate of the most prestigious Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki.

Alexander Ramm was born in Vladivostok, then moved to Kaliningrad and studied at Glière Children Music School (class of Svetlana Ivanova). He continued his education at Chopin College of Performing Arts in Moscow (class of Maria Zhuravlyova). In 2012 Alexander graduated from Moscow Conservatory (class of People’s Artist of the USSR Prof. Natalia Shakhovskaya,). Alexander also studied at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Frans Helmerson.

Generous support from the Amsterdam-based Schreve family and Ms. Elena Lukyanova in Moscow has allowed Alexander Ramm to own a cello made by the Cremonese luthier Mr. Gabriel Jebran Yakoub.

Elena Bashkirova
Piano

The pianist Elena Bashkirova once said, “Chamber music is music’s soul,” and this belief is evident in her work as a soloist, accompanist, ensemble musician, and program planner. Her approach to all aspects of music is one of empathetic collaboration and communication.

Among the highlights of the 2020/21 season for Bashkirova – subject of course to the uncertainties of the pandemic – are recitals in St. Petersburg, in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie, and at the Ruhr Piano Festival. Song recitals with Georg Nigl and Martina Gedeck are planned in Munich, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Heidelberg Frühling festival. As a soloist, Elena Bashkirova will perform Mozart’s Concerto in G Major KV 453 and Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Odessa Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, and the Sofia Philharmonic. A South American tour is planned, as well as chamber music concerts in Paris, Geneva, and other cities with international soloists from the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival.

Bashkirova comes from a Russian musical dynasty going back generations. Born in Moscow, she began her studies at the age of 15 in the class of her father, the legendary piano pedagogue Dmitry Bashkirov. Together with violinist Gidon Kremer, with whom she has often performed as a duo and has made a number of recordings, Elena Bashkirova left the Soviet Union in 1978 and moved to Paris. She has been influenced by her work with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sergiu Celibidache, and Michael Gielen. Since 1992, she has lived in Berlin with her husband, Daniel Barenboim.

Giorgi Zagareli
Viola

Violist Giorgi Zagareli Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1986. Studied viola at Tbilisi, Detmold, Leipzig and Basel Musik Hochschules.

As a soloist Giorgi Zagareli has cooperated with Estonian State Symphony Orchestra, Basel festival Orchestra, Leipzig youth Orchestra, Rijeka Opera Symphony Orchestra, Tallin Youth String Orchestra, Pärnu Symphony Orchestra, Thessaloniki Symphony Orchestra, Azerbaijan State Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of National Philharmonic of Ukraine, as well as with Tbilisi Symphony, Georgian Sinfonietta, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra and Trinity Men’s Choir.

Giorgi has performed with such a famous artist as Gidon Kremer, Natalia Gutman, Andres Mustonen, Ariel Zuckermann, Marine Iashvili, Kola Blacher, Boris Andrianov, Alexander Buzlov, Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Ksenia Bashmet, Andreas Zlabys, Mikhail Muntian, Anita Rachvelishvili, Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi etc. He has also performed for and shared stage with international ballet star Nino Ananiashvili.

In 2014 he has recorded Giya Kancheli’s “Miniatures for Viola and Piano” with Nikoloz Rachveli as dedicatees.

He is the first to have executed works for viola by Berio, Feldman, Xenakis, Stravinsky, Penderecki, Ligeti, Pärt, Kancheli and Mansurian in Georgia. Giorgi Zagareli world-premiered Sulkhan Nasidze’s Viola Concerto (1987) with the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008. He also premiered young Georgian composer Zviad Bolkvadze’s “In Memoriam“ (for Viola, Soprano, Men’s Choir and Orchestra) commissioned by the National Music Center of Georgia and composed for him especially. And, together with Tigran Mansurian in person, also performed the Georgian premiere of the Armenian composer’s “Arias” for Viola and Piano.

In January 2016 Giorgi Zagareli received Georgia’s most prominent state prize, the Tsinandali Award, for his brilliant performance of Giya Kancheli’s “Styx” with Nikoloz Rachveli and Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Young Euro Classic Festival at Berlin Konzerthaus in August 2015.

Since 2019 Giorgi Zagareli is a guest solo violist of Grammy-Award winning chamber orchestra “Kremerata Baltica” led by Gidon Kremer.

In 2017 Giorgi Zagareli formed the string orchestra Zagreli & Strings. The ensemble cooperates with post minimalist, live electronic, Ambient, Hip-Hop and classical music artists, and performed in the frame of the Festivals: Black Sea Jazz Fest, Tbilisi Open Air, River Bank Festival-Frankfurt, Sofar Sounds, Artarea festival, etc.

Giorgi Zagareli’s recent highlights include collaborations with Alexander Kordzaia a.k.a. Kordz, KayaKata, Nika Machaidze a.k.a. Nikakoi, Natalie TBA Beridze, Frederic Robinson, Anushka Chkheidze, Tete Noise, vazhmarr and Nika Kocharov.