Dmitry Smirnov is widely regarded as one of the exceptional personalities of the young generation of violinists. The ARD prizewinner performs as a soloist with leading orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra or the Festival Strings Lucerne and in concert halls from Carnegie Hall in New York to Nikkei Hall in Tokyo. As an ‘enfant terrible’, he inspires audiences with his bold artistic vision and outstanding virtuosity, including in historically informed interpretations of traditional repertoire. As a sought-after chamber musician, he regularly performs with partners such as Sol Gabetta and Ilya Gringolts, and also acts as concertmaster and soloist for Giovanni Antonini’s ‘Haydn Project 2032’.

In the coming season, Dmitry will make his debut with orchestras such as the Oslo Philharmonic and the Stuttgart Philharmonic and will act as concertmaster for Cappella Gabetta’s European tour. In March 2026, at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, he will present the world premiere of the violin concerto by the illustrious Russian composer Gavriil Popov, which was thought to have been lost and which he completed after months of archival and transcription work. Recording projects with the lutenist and Harnoncourt student Luca Pianca with works by Paganini as well as the collaboration with Ilya Gringolts for Vivaldi’s double concertos will enrich his discography to date, which already contains solo works from J. S. Bach to Bartók as well as various romantic violin concertos (on gut strings).

Dmitry has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including first prizes at the Moscow Oistrakh Competition (2006), the Tibor Varga Competition (2015) and the Concours d’Interprétation Musicale de Lausanne (2017), second prizes at the International Yehudi Menuhin Competition (2008) and the ARD Music Competition (2021), a controversial elimination in the semi-finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2024) and three prizes at the Concours international Long-Thibaud-Crespin in 2018, including the Critics’ Prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music. He is the winner of numerous scholarships and his work is supported by generous donors such as the Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation.

Dmitry regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician at renowned festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, LuganoMusica, Heidelberger Frühling, Rheingau Music Festival, Davos Festival, Grafenegg Festival, Stresa Festival, Solsberg Festival, Festival delle Muse Salentine and Inverno Musicale (Brazil).

As a soloist, he has worked with conductors such as Giovanni Antonini, Heinz Holliger, Philippe Herreweghe, Vladimir Spivakov, Gilbert Varga, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Philipp Chizhevsky, Delyana Lazarova and Aurel Dawidiuk and has performed with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Il Giardino Armonico, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, Festival Strings Lucerne, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Kammerorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Argovia Philharmonic, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.

Dmitry was born into a musical family in St. Petersburg, where he received his first violin lessons at the age of four and continued his education at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. Subsequent studies took him to the Haute École de Musique Lausanne in the class of Pavel Vernikov followed by studies with Rainer Schmidt at the Basel Music Academy. In the context of baroque music, Dmitry also performs as a violist, cellist and harpsichordist. His main instrument is a violin by Philipp Bonhoeffer (2018).

German-British cellist Philip Skye Graham is a sought-after chamber musician and interpreter ofcontemporary music. His diverse career encompasses working with various ensembles and musical styles, solo projects, teaching activities, and collaborations with contemporary composers.
Early competition successes, numerous international scholarships, and studies with renowned professors such as Clemens Hagen (Mozarteum University Salzburg), Alexander Hülshoff (Folkwang University of the Arts), and Nicolas Altstaedt (Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin), alongside further musical guidance from eminent figures including Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet), Lucas Fels (Arditti Quartet), Heinrich Schiff, and Steven Isserlis, quickly led to an intense concert schedule. In 2015, he joined the Berlin-based Notos Piano Quartet.

From 2015 to 2024, Graham performed with the Notos Quartet on some of the world’s most prestigious stages across Europe, Japan, China, Australia, and North America. The quartet’s achievements include three critically acclaimed albums released by Sony Classical, numerous live recordings, radio and television features, and six first prizes at international competitions. Their excellence was further recognized with the Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany.

Since leaving the quartet in 2024 to explore new artistic directions, Graham has pursued many different projects that span a wide range, including performances at the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, recordings of solo works by H.W. Henze and B.A. Zimmermann, collaborations with artists such as Christian Tetzlaff and Heinz Holliger as well as guest appearances with the Esbjerg Ensemble and as principal cellist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic.

A key element of Graham’s career is collaboration with contemporary composers. Over the years, many works have been written for him and the Notos Quartet, including by distinguished composers such as Beat Furrer, Birke Bertelsmeier, David P. Graham, Jesús Torres, Bernhard Gander, Bryce Dessner, Hakan Ulus, and Elena Mendoza.

Beyond his performance career, Philip Graham is deeply committed to supporting young artists. In 2019 he co-founded the now annual Notos Chamber Music Academy in collaboration with Jeunesses Musicales Germany. He has also conducted workshops with his father, British composer David P. Graham, on teaching modern compositional techniques and interpreting new works for children and young people. Since the winter semester of 2024/25, Graham has been an adjunct faculty member at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.

Thanks to the generous support of the Merito String Instruments Trust, Philip Graham performs on a Giovanni Battista Grancino cello from 1700. As a Pirastro Artist, he exclusively uses strings crafted by the renowned string manufacturer Pirastro GmbH.

Christian Martinez, percussion

Christian Martinez commenced his percussion studies in his home town of Cali in Columbia. Later followed studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and at Rogaland Music Conservatory in Stavanger. In 1996 he graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, the same year he became a member of Esbjerg Ensemble.

Christian Martínez has participated as a chamber musician and soloist at several festivals and concerts in Scandinavia,Europe, USA, Latin America and Taiwan. Most recently at the Nordic Music Days Festival in 2010, Athelas New Music Festival in 2011, Percussion Plus Festival Aarhus in 2012 and Kalliokuninkala Festival in 2012 and Percussion Plusin 2014, both in Finland. In January 2014, Esbjerg Ensemble collaborated with “the king” of baritones, Omar Ebrahim, in the first Scandinavian performance of György Kurtágs, “Pas a pas, nulle-part” for baritone, string trio and percussion.

In the year 2010, Christian Martinez released his first soloCD “Rhythmical Séance” with Per Nørgård’s I Ching as well as pieces by Ivar Frounberg and Ejnar Kanding. The collaboration with Nørgård led to 2 new pieces included in this CD: a concerto for percussion and ensemble called Three Scenes as well as Arabesques I, II, III (2011) for solo percussion. Both pieces are dedicated to Christian Martínez and Esbjerg Ensemble.