: HAS PLAYED
Festival Spectrum (SI), Festival Luoghi Immaginari (IT), World Music Artist (IT), Festival Prazske Muzi (CZ), Augsburg Guitar Festival (DE), Festival Les Abbatiales (FR), Les Concerts du Foyer Européen (LU), Fräiraim (LU), New Classic Stage (LU), Sofia Music Weeks (BG), ...
: PRESS QUOTES
"Der Zuhörer konnte es dem packenden Verlauf der Klangwelt entnehmen. Manchmal versunken, fast weltentsagend, im Zurücknehmen des musikalischen Flusses, um dann ins ekstatisch unerbittliche umzuschwenken, in einer federigen Tonsprache, die die Klangschönheit, wagemutig frech und unterschwellig revolutionär wiedergab." - Luxemburger Wort
: BIOGRAPHY
Kae Shiraki was born in Tokyo and received her first piano lessons from Hideko Kikukawa at the age of three. She studied with Professor Michael Schäfer and Professor Elisso Wirssaladze at the University of Music and Theater in Munich. After the completion of the distinguished Meisterklassenpodium (diploma), she continued her studies with Professor Gérard Frémy and Professor Guigla Katsarava at the Ecole Normal de Musique de Paris/Alfred Cortot, where she received her diploma with distinction (première nommée, avec les félicitations du jury). She won numerous prizes at international competitions in Italy, France and Germany:
• 3rd prize at “Concorso Maolo Paolo Monopoli" Italy
• 2nd prize at “Concours Internationale Arcachon” France
• Grand prix régional at “PRIX Vendôme à Paris” France
• 1st prize at “Concorso Internationale Citta di Marsala” Italy
She won also several scholarships:
• Richard Wagner Association, Germany
• DAAD (German Academic Exchange service), Germany
• "Fondation Zygmunt Zaleski”, France
• Japanese TV channel “Fuji-Television”, Japan
In 2007, she recorded a CD for Universal for the promotion of the film "4 minutes". Kae regularly gives concerts and performs at festivals in Luxembourg, England, France, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Japan. She performed as a soloist at the Solistes Européens jubilee concert, and had several solo and chamber music performances at the Philharmonie de Luxembourg. She also plays in the ensembles Ars Nova-Lux and La Boca in Luxembourg.
Maria Miteva born in Bulgaria, studied in Vienna, where she obtained two master of arts degrees as concert flutist and in pedagogy in the classes of B.Gisler, W. Tripp - first flutist at the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and R. Wolf - solo flutist in Vienna Symphonic Orchestra. Private lessons with Janos Balint in Hungary. Courses by Adorjan, Debost, Aitken, Count, Kuijken, Offermans, Graf.
Awarded with scholarship from the Austrian federal ministry of science and culture. At this time she gave numerous solo and chamber music concerts, including in the Concert House Vienna, as member of the program „Live Music Now“ for young musicians from Yehudi Menuhin. Prize winner of the festival "Allegro vivo" - Austria. Solo flutist at "Imperial concerts - Vienna“ and concerts in Europe and Asia. Orchestral experience in the chamber orchestra of the Lower Austrian Symphony Orchestra, „Schönbrunn“ Chamber Orchestra, Women's Chamber Orchestra in Vienna, New Opera, Strausskapelle-Vienna, „Orchestre de Chamber de Luxembourg“.
In 2009 she moved to Luxembourg, where she teaches at the Union Grand Ducal Adolphe Music School. In 2009 to 2014 she also teached in the Conservatoire du Nord, and the Music School of Wiltz. Maria and Albena Petrovic Vratchanska are the founder of the ensemble ARS Nova Lux.
Teodora Sorokow was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. At the age of four and a half she received her first violin lessons at the “L.Pipkov Music School”. First she studied with Garnik Goukasjan, later with Prof. Evguenya-Maria Popova.
From 1994 to 2002, Teodora Sokorow studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Prof. Johannes Meissl and Prof. Josef Hell and finished her first study section with honours.
In 2002, she continued her studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with Prof. Mincho Minchev and completed her studies and her diploma thesis with honours. During her studies, she gave numerous solo performances in the Wiener Konzerthaus, at a charity concert in the Wiener Börsensaal under the patronage of Sir Yehudi Menuhin und as part of a charity concert in the Office of the Chancellor in Vienna. She gave solo performances as well as chamber music performances in Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Portugal, China and Bulgaria.
Since summer of 2010, she participate regularly in the chamber music cycle "Prelude" at the International Music Festival Grafenegg in Austria.
From 2004 to 2005, she was a member (1 st violin) of the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra and since December 2005 she is a member (1 st violin) of the Tonkünstler Orchestra Niederösterreich. Teacher in Prayner Conservatorium Vienna.
Josip Dragnic was born in Split and has more than twenty years experience as a musician. He has played numerous concerts in Croatia, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Bosnia&Herzegovina as a soloist and as a member of chamber music formations and orchestras. He received his musical education in the music school "Josip Hatze" in Split, at the Academy of Arts in Split (prof. Maroje Brcic) and at the Hochschule für Musik in Nuernberg (prof. Franz Halasz) where he finished postgraduate studies in guitar. He graduated at Split Faculty of Science and became a professor of mathematics and informatics science.
He has attended masterclasses and had individual lessons with world's most famous guitarists: Costas Cotsiolis, Aniello Desiderio, Marcin Dylla, Zoran Dukic, Ricardo Gallen, Hubert Kappel, Carlo Marchione, David Russell, Pavel Steidl, Scott Tennant and Fabio Zanon. Josip has won various prizes at national and international music competitions as a soloist and as a member of chamber music formations. He has performed on Croatian National Television, Croatian Radio Split, Croatian Radio First and Third channel.
He has performed as a soloist with the Chamber orchestra of the Association MAG (Croatia), Chamber orchestra Cercle culturel (Luxembourg) and the String Quartet HIP4tet (Spain). He is director of the Chamber music festival and Classical Guitar Days in Split and member of prizewinning Split Guitar Quartet wich he founded. During his teaching career in the Music Highschool Josip Hatze in Split his students have won highest prizes at national and international competitions in Croatia and abroad.
From October 2013 he lives in Luxembourg where he maintains a very intensive concert and teaching activity. He has held numerous workshops and master classes across Europe.
Victor Kraus Higher musical studies at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (Isao Nakamura) and the Conservatoire de Strasbourg (Emmanuel Séjourné). His percussion duo KrausFrink, the so-called "classical" recital brought Victor Kraus to the Konzerthaus Berlin, to the Cologne and Berlin Philharmonie, to numerous European festivals as well as to China.
The duo's cooperation with various composers culminated in the world premier of a double concerto with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Strasbourg, a project supported by the music foundation Ernst von Siemens. Also the Hungarian composer Márton Illés already dedicates to them his work Torso VII in 2008. The german composer Gregor Schwellenbach, commissioned by the WDR, composed in 2016 soloist + orchestra versions of the pieces written by KrausFrink duo and KrausFrink & Conrad trio, and accompanied by the WDR Funkhausorchester under the direction of Adrien Perruchon.
V.Kraus has been engaged since 2009 as a teacher at the Conservatory of the City of Luxembourg. With his percussion duo KrausFrink is an experienced silent movie accompanist. Many European festivals have invited the duo as composing and performing musicians.
The first CD of KrausFrink Eat this had its first in autumn 2012 with the label Perc.Pro.
Born in the Vosges, Olivier Dartevelle studied music in Remiremont, his hometown, then in Nancy before joining the National Conservatory of Paris in the class of Guy Deplus while pursuing a university education in Strasbourg. After graduating with different first prizes, he took part in various international competitions and was prize winner at the Prague Spring International Competition.
First solo clarinet of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra from 1980 until 2019, Olivier Dartevelle has given numerous concerts both as a soloist and chamber musician while at the same time pursuing a pedagogical activity, both at the Conservatoire National de Region of Nancy and the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, Olivier Dartevelle has played or recorded the most important concertos of the repertoire with conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Leopold Hager, Carl Davis, David Shallon and Emmanuel Krivine.
His radio and TV recordings are numerous and his discography includes works by Mozart (SEL), Martinu (Timpani), Muller (Talent). Reinecke (Naxos) Pierné (Timpani). In 2010, came out a monograph of his works for oboe where he played the piano part and a trio of reeds dedicated to French music. In 2012, he recorded the Rhapsodie of Debussy with the OPL and Emmanuel Krivine and released the same year the concerto Metamorphosis by the Japanese composer Hosokawa for the label Neos. Two more recent CDs complete this collection including clarinet and harp sonatas by Xavier Lefevre.
Feeling to much retricted in a unique role of interpreter and eager to diversify his activities in order to preserve a necessary musical pleasure, Olivier Dartevelle uses in the mid-90s his pianist training to turn to composition; his aestetical approach is free of any school and any fashion. His music, generally very rhythmic, does not forget the expression and the style. For him, musical elegance counts more than the nature of the chosen language.
In 2003, he directed a series of remarquable concerts of Stravinsky’s Soldiers Tale. He wrote and directed a score on Alphonse Daudet’s Trois masses basses, with a great success with the Orchestre de Bretagne, Orchestre Avignon Provence, Orchestre de Besançon Franche Comté, he wrote a piece on the Fables de La Fontaine. Let us quote also, La création des sapins or La renaissance du professeur Vatel. This allows him to mix theater, literature and music. His works (almost 100 opus to date), also cover the field of chamber music, melody, piano music, orchestra and instrumental ensemble, flexible ensembles which allow combinations with theater or narration.
He is very involved in the creation of music for silent cinema. De Gastynes Jeanne d’Arc, La petite parade de Starewitch, Jean Epstein’s La glace à trois faces for the “pyramid” ensemble in Zurich, as well as improvisations at the piano. He is also working on a new orchestral show about Harold Lloyd. At the invitation of Patrick Davin and the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra, he conducted in 2017 a musical creation of Foolish Wives by Eric von Stroheim.