Discover Ravil Islyamov, violinist and composer of this beautiful quintet « Once Upon a Tale » played by Svetlana Ponomaryova (piano) and the MARS Quartet: – Ravil Islyamov (1rst violin) – Andrey Zubenko (violin) – Serafim Gerasimov (viola) – Matvey Sobolev (cello)
Ravil Islyamov was born in Vladimir in 2001. Graduated from the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (class of Alexander Vinnitsky), currently studies at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the same teacher.
He was awarded the Gold Medal at the Delphic Youth Games of Russia (Tyumen, 2016; Vladivostok, 2018). He also received the Grand Prize at the International Beethoven Competition for Violin, Viola and Cello (Sankt Pölten, Austria, 2016).
Ravil Islyamov performs regularly in his native country and also in Europe and the Middle East. He currently plays a 1735 Giuseppe Guarneri « del Gesù » violin.
Road to Spasskaya (tower) written by Antoine Villéger (15 y. o.) had it’s world premiere on March 20, 2022 with the Omsk Symphony Orchestra (conductor Dmitry Vasilyev). The magnificent piece, full of Slavic soul and written with outstanding finesse, shows us wonderful orchestral abilities of the young composer.
This piece was written following Antoine’s visit to the Military Music Festival of the Spasskaya Tower in Moscow. In his score he has phrased the impressions of a trip to this major festival of music and cultures.
We invite you to discover this beautiful interpretation of the Omsk Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Vasiliev.
Svetlana Ponomarëva was born in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia. She went from playing with her fingers on the table at age three to being accepted, with the highest mark, to study in the prestigious Gnessins Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. Svetlana studied in the classes of Professor Alexander Satz and Professor Alexander Alexandrov. She was a finalist at the Young Concert Artist Competition in New York in 1993 and reached the semi-finals at the 1996 Esther Honens Calgary International Piano Competition, Canada.
In 2004 Svetlana made her New York debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and has since released eight CDs.
Svetlana has performed as a soloist, with orchestras and chamber ensembles, in Russia, Germany, Canada and the U.S.A. She has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Sergey Skripka, Oleg Burakov, Yuri Nikolayevsky, Dmitry Vasiliev, Russian State Prize Winner Vladimir Rylov, Valery Khalilov and Sergei Durygin.
In 2007 she published a book by Svetlana Gordeevtseva “Touching a Mystery” about articulation in clavier music by J.S. Bach and gave presentations in Vancouver and in Omsk (Russia).
In 2016-2017 Svetlana was invited to perform at the the Spasskaya Tower Festival in Moscow Kremlin.
During 2020-2021, together with her son Antoine Villéger – composer and pianist – she participated in various International online competitions in Russia, Europe (Italy, Spain, UK, Luxembourg) and Turkey earning numerous prize-winning places, as well as eight Grand-Prix, in Piano (solo and ensemble), Composition and Acting Skills nominations.
In 2021 Svetlana participated in the International Scientific Conference in Moscow with her presentation “The Art of Interpretation: Artistic Analysis of Piano Concerto #2 (op. 16 in G Minor) by Sergey Prokofiev”, for the composer’s 130th Anniversary.
Antoine Villéger, a 14 year old composer and pianist born in Vancouver, is a graduate of DipLCM in Performance (Recital) of the London College of Music, University of West London and of the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT). He first studied composition with Alexander Pechenyuk and has worked under the guidance of Juno Award-winning composer Michael Conway Baker. He studies piano with pianist Svetlana Ponomarëva.
Antoine is a winner and a laureate of international and national composers / piano competitions in Canada, Europe (Spain, Luxembourg) and Russia.
His orchestral compositions were performed in Canada by the Lions Gate Sinfonia orchestra and conductor Clyde Mitchell (“The Battle” 2015, “Song without Words” 2018, “The Story of a Theme” 2019, “North Shore Waltz” 2020) and by the Kessler Academy at Music on Main concert series in Vancouver (2019).
Antoine’s choral composition “The Butterfly and The Bee” after a poem by E. Dickinson was premiered by the Vancouver Chamber Choir and conductor Jon Washburn in 2019 at the 14th Biennial Young Composer’s Competition where it garnered two prizes: the First Place in Elementary Division and a “Barbara Pentland Award for Outstanding Composition”.
Antoine freely speaks English, French and Russian and in his free time likes to play tennis and chess, reading and acting.
Jean Froidevaux wrote a wonderful story by bringing together the piano and the harpsichord, two instruments with dissimilar sounds. Originally the promise of a composer to two musicians to compose a work for them. From this promise springs a story. China for the crystalline sounds of the harpsichord, an initiatory tale that allows all the nuances of the piano.
The famous painter Cheng-Bô saw his soul mate one night and stopped painting: his hand was tightened and could no longer even hold a brush. From then on, Cheng-Bô never stopped finding this woman seen in a dream…
The book is beautifully illustrated in watercolour by the French-speaking painter Gilles-Emmanuel Fiaux (www.gef-art.ch).
The CD of Jean Froidevaux allows you to hear this tale through the voices of Vincent Favrod (reciter and percussion) and the storyteller Daphnée Béguin. And to appreciate the musical work, a marriage of the piano of Hjalmar Berg, professor at the Vevey Conservatory, and the harpsichord of Martine Reymond, organist at the Saint-Vincent temple in Montreux.
A wonderful book, which will delight children and adults alike with its aesthetic appeal
Jean Froidevaux studied piano with Ernest Vuillemin and organ with François Demierre. He obtained his higher diploma as an organist at the Institut de Ribaupierre in Lausanne (with honors). He then studied harmony, counterpoint, music history and composition with Aloÿs Fornerod and obtained a teaching diploma in the theoretical branches of music at the Conservatoire de Fribourg (with summa cum laude). Interested in the training of young musicians, he joined the Swiss Society of Musical Pedagogy, where he spent several years on its committee. With Mrs. Marie-Louise Sérieyx he co-wrote a treatise on counterpoint. He composed for piano, organ, harpsichord, chamber music, brass band, orchestra, voice and choir.
Northern Lights – An insight into nordic violin music Published by the record company Solo Musica, the CD « Northern lights » of the Duo Froschhammer allows us to discover with sensitivity and virtuosity several Scandinavian composers. This very successful record brings together works for violin and piano written between the 19th and 20th centuries (Tor Aulin, Edward Grieg, Jean Sibelius) and also folk pieces transcribed by Fritz Froschhammer and the Duo Froschhammer.
The Duo Froschhammer features siblings Felix Froschhammer, violin, and Julia Froschhammer, piano. Founded in 1998, the Duo has since performed in Switzerland, Germany, ltaly, France, Malta and al the famous Atheneum in Bucharest. Together they are prize winners of the International Wolfgang Jacobi Competition for 20th cenlury chamber music and have been recipienls of scholarships from the Bavarian Music Fund.
Felix Froschhammer is first Violinist of the casalQuartett and Concertmaster of both the Ensemble Symphonique Neuchâtel and Sinfonietta de Lausanne (Switzerland), Felix is also active as a soloist and plays an important role in the Ensemble Chaarts and Tri i Dve, a Quinte! specialising in Balkan music. Previous engagements include appearances al festivals including Salzburger Feslspiele, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Rheingau Musikfestival and Lucerne Festival, as well as al worldrenowned venues in Shanghai, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore, Milan and Paris. Felix’s performances have been broadcast on Radio France, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Ôsterreichischer Rundfunk, Südwestdeulscher Rundfunk, Deulschlandfunk, Radio Suisse Romande Espace 2, France 2, Arte TV and Mezzo. His chamber music parlners include Gautier Capuçon, Lawrence Power, Fazil Say, Felicity Lott and Maximilian Hornung. Since 2018 he has been the Artistic Director of the Festival du Jura in Switzerland.
Born in Munich, Julia Froschhammerbegan studying the piano at the age of six with her father, the pianist and composer Fritz Froschhammer. A prize winner of several national competitions, she obtained her artistic diploma with Vadim Suchanov al the Richard Strauss Conservatory, Munich, and joined the Haute école de musique de Lausanne (HEMU) in 2002, studying with Jean-François Antonioli. ln 2007, she completed her studies with the prestigious soloist’s diploma and was awarded the Paderewski Prize and the Ganz Prize. Julia performs regularly as a chamber musician and soloist throughout Europe. Together with harpist Céline Gay des Combes she also enjoys performing as part of the Duo Harpian, a rare harp and piano duo which con be heard on Radio France Musique, Radio Espace 2, SRF and Radio Classique. Recently they have performed for the Swiss Embassy in Washington (USA) and released a CD of French and Spanish music on the Swiss label VDE Gallo. The duo often commissions new works, and in 2016, the Swiss composer Jean Froidevaux dedicated a work to them. With her new ensemble, Pianofolie, Julia performs with three other pianists atone piano, combining music and comedy. Alongside her concert career Julia shores her passion for music through teaching, notably as Professor of piano al the lnstitute de Ribaupierre (EML) in Lausanne.
As an accomplished artist Julia also expresses herself through painting. Her work con be found on her online art gallery, JuArt, and al regular exhibitions and concerts combining music and art.
Alexandre Dubach is a Swiss violinist. He began studying violin under Elisabeth Schoni at the age of 7. Within two years, he won the Concours National of the 1964 EXPO in Lausanne, followed by appearance on television and radio around Switzerland.
He proceeded to study under Eva Zurbrugg, Ulrich Lehmann, Yehudi Menuhin, Nathan Milstein, Magda Lavanchy and Salvatore Accardo. At 15 he gave his debut performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Armin Jordanand the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, where he returned regularly as soloist and from 1981-1985 also as leader.
At the age of 16 he won the Migros study prize and completed his studies at the Conservatoire in Fribourg « summa cum laude ». His talent was recognised in international competitions,including Senigallia, Sion, Vienna, Naples, Gernsbach, Freiburg and Vercelli, where he won 1 st prizes, including the coveted « Premio Rodolfo Lipizer »in Gorizia.
In 2000 the town of Thun awarded him their prize for culture. In 2015 he receives the same award from the Bernese Oberland.
In2007 Dubach performed the Swiss national premiere of Niccolo Paganini’s Third ViolinConcerto. His Claves recording of Paganini’s 6 violin concertos with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo has won great acclaim, including a listing in Jaoachim Hartnack’s Great Violinists of our Time.
Alexandre Dubach has taught in Castel del Monte, Zurich (at the master classes after A. Grumiaux and N. Milstein), Delémont and Sion and is also in great demand as a teacher in eastern Europe.
Sibylle Baehler
Sibylle Baehler : After obtaining her teaching certificate at the « Staatliches Seminar Bern », Sibylle Bähler obtained her teaching diploma at the « Société Suisse de Pédagogie musicale ». She completed her artistic training at the « Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt » in Weimar by taking part in « Master-Classes » with Alexander Alexandrov.
Her main fields of music activity are piano teaching and chamber music concerts. She often accompanies her daughter in four-handed works and plays in duet with violinist Alexandre Dubach. She is also a remarkable Lieder accompanist.
Deutschland, Bensberg, BenefizKonzert für Bono e.V. mit Alexandre Dubach, Emma Saskia und Sybille Bähler im Autohaus Gieraths 18.01.2019 Ⓒ Markus Bollen
Emma Saskia Baehler begins playing the piano before four years, and she gave her first official concert two years later playing mazurkas by Chopin and works by Brahms and with his mother Sibylle Bähler who is her first teacher.
Emma Saskia Baehler has already performed in several Swiss cities: Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Avenches, Sigriswil, Zürich and Thun, playing as a soloist and with his mother of fourhands. She has playing also in Germany. .
Since 2017, she has partnered with Swiss violinist Alexandre Dubach several times. She has already won several first prizes, including in June 2018, the first prize at the Steinway Piano Competition.
Emma Saskia Bähler playing Robert Schumann Aufschwung, op. 12 Nr. 2
At the end of February, beginning of March 2019, Emma Saskia Bähler gave for the first time concerts with orchestra. She is pursuing her Bachelor’s degree at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève.
Dimitris Anousis, Composer, pianist, arranger, manager of “AN ART ARTISTRY” has registred a beautiful disk intituled « When a pianist goes to the Opera ». This album is a collection of very interessant and virtuosic transciptions of piano of the 19th century as Hummel, Liszt, Raff, Thalberg, Smith, on well known and popular musical themes from operas by Mozart, Verdi, Bellini, Wagner, Bizet.
I hope you will be interested to listen this excellent CD.
Northern Lights – An insight into nordic violin music
The Duo Froschhammer features siblings Felix Froschhammer, violin, and Julia Froschhammer, piano. Founded in 1998, the Duo has since performed in Switzerland, Germany, ltaly, France, Malta and al the famous Atheneum in Bucharest. Together they are prize winners of the International Wolfgang Jacobi Competition for 20th cenlury chamber music and have been recipienls of scholarships from the Bavarian Music Fund.
Born in Munich, 
