Alison Balsom

Twenty nine year old English trumpeter studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Paris Conservatory, and also with Håkan Hardenberger. She’s won numerous awards in the UK including best Young British Performer at the Classical Brit Awards in 2006. She has recently been appointed Visiting Professor of the trumpet to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. When not performing she loves sailing. She recently missed an awards presentation as she was skippering a sailing yacht in France.

Nicola Benedetti

Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti celebrates her 21st birthday in July. Starting violin studies at four, she had passed eight grades of violin instruction by the age of nine. In September 1997 began to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School for young musicians under Lord Menuhin and Natasha Boyarskaya in rural Surrey, England. In 2005 Nicola also undertook a tour of UK schools in conjunction with the CLIC Sargent Cancer Care for Children Practice-a-thon, which aimed to encourage people of all ages to find pleasure in music and pick up their instruments.

Jonathan Biss

27 year pianist from Bloomington Indiana. Biss represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians that includes his grandmother Raya Garbousova (for whom Samuel Barber composed his Cello Concerto).
With both of his parents playing the violin, and his older brother Daniel taking up the piano, he remembers music emanating from nearly every room in the house, including bathrooms, which, while modest in their decor, were valued for their acoustical properties.

This student of Leon Fleischer says “if I ever stop finding music challenging and life-altering, I’ll quit and become an accountant.”

5 Browns

The 5 Browns – Ryan 21, Melody 22, Gregory 24, Deondra 26 and Desirae 28 -- are the sons and daughters of Keith and Lisa Brown from Utah who wanted their Mormon children to have music in their lives. The goal was to raise “five good people.” Not only did they achieve their goal, but they also managed to raise five great pianists. The quintet has garnered extensive coverage from media outlets ranging from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View and The Martha Stewart Show. Audiences in the UK, France and Germany, as well as Japan and Korea have also been dazzled by the 5 Browns who present themselves just as they really are: young adults with a modern look who love fashion, sports, computer games, dancing and all types of music – most of all, classical.

Gautier Capucon

26-year-old French cellist. Since winning the French Victoires de la Musique as “New Talent of the Year” in 2001 Gautier Capucon has quickly established himself as one of the leading cellists of his generation. Born in Chambéry, France in 1981, Gautier Capuçon was five years old when he began to study the cello at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Chambéry. He is five years younger than his brother, violinist Renaud Capucon with whom he has toured. Gautier plays a 1701 Matteo Goffriler cello and a 1746 Joseph Contreras.

Han-na Chang

25 year old cellist Han-Na Chang has established an extraordinary international career, performing regularly on the most prestigious concert stages of Europe, North America and Asia. She first won recognition for her exceptional musical gifts in 1994 when at the age of 11 she won both the First Prize and the Contemporary Music Prize at the Fifth Rostropovich International Cello Competition in Paris.

Miss Chang frequently gives free concerts for underprivileged children who would otherwise have no opportunity of attending concerts. She also regularly organizes and performs Concerts for Children both in concert halls and on TV in South Korea, her native country. She currently serves as the Roving Goodwill Ambassador for the Korean Red Cross.

Sarah Chang

The 27-year-old violinist, born in Philadelphia to Korean parents, began her violin studies at age 4 and promptly enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music, where she studied with the late Dorothy DeLay. Within a year she had already performed with several orchestras in the Philadelphia area. Her early auditions, at age 8, for Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti led to immediate engagements with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. One of the most remarkable prodigies of any generation, she has matured into a young artist whose musical insight, technical virtuosity, and emotional range continue to astonish, appearing in the music capitals of Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Ms. Chang has appeared on numerous television and radio programs throughout Europe, North America and the Far East.

Jie Chen

22 year old Jie Chen is no doubt one of the most exciting young artists in today’s classical music scene. Winner of numerous prestigious prizes in US and Europe including the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Israel, the Santander Paloma O’Shea International Competition in Spain, the Van Cliburn International Competition in America, the Piano-E-International Competition in America, her performances have been broadcast by television, internet, and radio all over the world.

Denise Djokic

This 29-year-old Canadian Cellist from Nova Scotia performs throughout North America and Europe. She was also named by MacLean's magazine as one of "25 Young Canadians who are changing our World", and by ELLE magazine as one of "Canada's 30 most Powerful Women". She was featured as the subject of the documentary film "Seven Days, Seven Nights", which aired on Bravo TV.

Gustavo Dudamel

At age 27 from Venezula, he is presently the principal conductor of Sweden's Gothenburg Symphony, and in September of 2009 he will become the new leader of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been described by the New York Times as "one of the hottest — and youngest — conducting properties around."

In 1999 at age 18, he was appointed music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the national youth orchestra of Venezuela, and continues to tour with them around the world. You may have seen his profile on 60 Minutes.

Catrin Finch

The 28-year-old Welsh harpist Catrin Finch began to study the harp at the age of 6 in her native Wales. At the age of 10 she played at the World Harp Congress in Paris. From 2000 until 2004 Catrin Finch held the appointment of Royal Harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales. This post, last offered by Queen Victoria in 1871, was revived by the Prince after hearing Catrin at his 50th birthday celebrations in Buckingham Palace. Catrin’s versatility in different musical genres is demonstrated through her recordings which range from solo classical recitals and concertos to an eclectic cross-over mix including her own 14 piece band “CF47”. Catrin continues to work within the community and she is committed to introducing, not only the harp, but also classical music to people worldwide.

Julia Fischer

24-year-old German violinist Julia Fischer now ranks among the top violinists performing for audiences around the globe. She was named “Artist of the Year” at the 2007 Gramophone Awards.
Julia Fischer began her studies before her fourth birthday, when she received her first violin . A few months later she started studying the piano with her mother Viera Fischer. Fischer said, "my mother's a pianist and I wanted to play the piano as well, but as my elder brother also played the piano, she thought it would be nice to have another instrument in the family. I agreed to try out the violin and stayed with it.”

On January 1, 2008, Fischer had her unexpected public debut as a pianist. She performed Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

Sol Gabetta

26-year-old cellist Sol Gabetta's first home was Argentina, but she moved to Europe with her family (Spain and France) for educational reasons in the 1990s. In 2004 she attracted international attention for her debut at the Lucerne Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev

She now lives in German-speaking Switzerland, where she hosts the Solsberg Festival near her home in Olsberg.

Kirill Gerstein

28-year-old pianist Kirill Gerstein was born in Russia where he attended one of the country’s special music schools for gifted children. At the age of 11 and over the next several years, attended jazz workshops after having taught himself to play jazz by listening to his parents’ extensive record collection.
At the age of 14 he became the youngest college student in the history of Berklee School of Music. About 10 years ago he decided to make classical his primary focus.
Kirill Gerstein was the First Prize winner at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and has concertized in the intervening years in virtually all major international music centres.

Ilya Gringolts

This 25-year-old Russian violinist was the winnner of the 1998 International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini”. He was also awarded two special prizes for the youngest ever competitor to be placed in the final and the best interpreter of Paganini’s Caprices. Ilya studied violin and composition at the St. Petersburg Special Music School and at the Juilliard School in New York with Itzhak Perlman. He continues to be active in the recording studio.

Hilary Hahn

Violinist Hilary Hahn now 28, was born in Lexington, Virginia. At the age of three she moved to Baltimore, where she began playing the violin one month before her fourth birthday in a local children's program admitted to Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music in 1990 at the age of ten, Hilary Hahn made her major orchestra debut a year and a half later with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She has also recently collaborated on several albums with non-classical musicians, appearing on Worlds Apart by a group of Austin alt-rockers.

Chloë Hanslip

At the age of 20, Chloë Hanslip is already an established international artist of distinction. Her recent recording for Naxos of the John Adams Violin Concerto with the RPO under Leonard Slatkin entered the UK Classical Charts at number 2, and Philip Clark, writing in Gramophone, concluded that "Playing like this should secure Chloë Hanslip's reputation for life". Her two earlier CDs with the London Symphony Orchestra for Warner Classics, won her, respectively, the German 'Echo Klassik Award for Best Newcomer' in 2002, and 'Young British Classical Performer' at the Classical BRITS 2003. She is about to release her 4th CD - Romantic Concerti by Benjamin Godard- in Feb 2008 to be followed by a recital disc of works by Bazzini later in 2008.

Richard Harwood

The 28-year-old English cellist Richard Harwood started playing the piano at the age of 4 and took up the 'cello soon afterwards. He made his critically acclaimed concerto debut at the age of ten. As a teenager In 1997, BBC Music Magazine selected him in their world-wide "Who's Who" edition and, in 2000, Richard was entered into the "International Who's Who in Music" as an 'up and coming talent on the brink of world-wide recognition.'

Janine Jansen

The 29-year-old violinist was born in Netherlands. Jansen represents the new type of young classical musician with a thorough, all-round education, obsessed with perfection, and free from any attempt to strike attitudes. She grew up in a musical family, her mother a singer and her father organist of Utrecht Cathedral. She wanted to play the cello, but her brother got there first. Ever since her Concertgebouw debut in 1997, Janine Jansen has been a huge star in her native Holland. Today she is internationally recognized as one of the great violinists. Janine Jansen has been dubbed "Queen of the Downloads" following the breakout success of her chamber-sized performance of The Four Seasons in 2005, which broke into the US Top 20 albums on iTunes.

Sergei Khachatryan

This 23-yearold violinist was born in 1985 in Yerevan, Armenia. In December 2000 he won First Prize in the VIII International Jean Sibelius competition in Helsinki, becoming the youngest ever winner in the history of the competition. In 2005 he claimed the First Prize at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. He says he has a deep connection with the music of Shostakovich, and loves fast cars.

Lang Lang

Considered by the New York Times as the "hottest artist on the classical music planet", 25-year-old Chinese pianist Lang Lang has played sold out recitals and concerts in every major city in the world. Lang Lang began playing piano at the age of 3, won the Shenyang competition and gave his first public recital at the age of 5. When he was 9 he entered Beijing's Central Music Conservatory.  He went on to win first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition. He appeared on this year’s Grammy Awards show. One of his favorite hobbies is playing ping pong. He is a guest judge for KDFC Classical Star Search finals.

Yundi Li

The 25-year-old Chinese pianist is most well known for being the youngest pianist to win the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition at the age of 18. He did not come from a musical family like many other young stars. His mother and father both worked for the Sichuan Chongqing Steel and Iron Company. When he was three years old, his parents bought him an accordion after he was so entranced by an accordion player in a shopping mall that he refused to leave. He mastered the instrument by the age of four. After winning many prestigious piano competitions, he says his competing days are over.

Natasha Paremski

The 20-year-old pianist was born in Moscow, but has local Bay Area roots. She studied at the SF Conservatory, and played with the El Camino Youth Symphony as their 9-year-old soloist. She was featured in a major two-part film for BBC Television on the life and work of Tchaikovsky, shot on location in St. Petersburg, performing excerpts from Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto and other works. Recently she worked with Simon Keenlyside and Maxim Vengerov in the filming of "Twin Spirits", a project starring Sting and Trudie Styler that explores the music and writing of Robert and Clara Schumann, which will be released on DVD.

Kate Royal

Born in London 29 years ago, Kate Royal, soprano, studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. Her many awards include the 2004 Kathleen Ferrier Award and the 2004 John Christie Award.

Concert performances include Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Sir Simon Rattle (BBC Proms and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden), Mendelssohn’s Der Onkel aus Boston with the Bach Akademie Stuttgart under Helmut Rilling (also recorded), Mozart’s Zaide under Sir Charles Mackerras at the Edinburgh Festival and she made her US debut with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington) under Helmuth Rilling (Bach’s St Matthew Passion). She appears in recital in London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels and Cologne and at the BBC Proms.

Lise de la Salle

20-year-old Lise de la Salle was born in 1988, in the northern French town of Cherbourg. Her family background involves both painting and vocal music (her mother sings in choirs). Lise declared her passion for the piano at the early age of four; when she quickly showed extraordinary gifts, she followed the path already marked out for her. At 13, she made her concerto debut with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in Avignon, learning the work on only a few days notice.

Baiba Skride

This 26-year-old Latvian violinist was the winner of the renowned Queen Elisabeth Contest 2001. She received her first violin lessons in Riga at the age of four, and in 1995 transferred as a young student to the Conservatory of Music and Theatre in Rostock. Baiba Skride had already been awarded the first prize at several international competitions. She is also a committed chamber musician.

Arabella Steinbacher

The 26-year-old German violinist has been a rising star since her last minute debut for an ailing collegue in Paris in 2004. Her father is an accompanist to singers at the Munich opera. Her mother is a singer from Japan. With that background she thinks of the violin like a human voice. When she was 3, her mother started her on violin lessons using the Suzuki method. Last year she won the Echo Classic Young artist of the year award, and also made her American orchestral debut as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Simon Trpceski

Simon Trpceski came to public attention in the UK first at the London International Piano Competition in 2000 and then at his exceptional Wigmore Hall debut recital in 2001. Now 28 years old, he has appeared with many regional orchestras and in London with the BBC Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras, and with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in his extremely successful July 2004 debut at the Proms. A born performer with astonishing technical command and a magnetic personality, Simon Trpceski has also delighted audiences in Europe, the United States, Australia and Asia, with recitals and concerti such as Saint-Saens no.2, Grieg, Tchaikovsky no.1 and Rachmaninov no.3.

Ana Vidovic

27 year old Ana Vidovic is an extraordinary talent with formidable gifts taking her place amongst the elite musicians of the world today. Ana comes from the small town of Karlovac near Zagreb, Croatia and started playing guitar at the age of 5, and by 7 had given her first public performance. At the age of 11 she was performing internationally, and at 13 became the youngest student to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. Ana’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, USA, with Manuel Barrueco, from where she graduated in May 2003. Ana has won an impressive number of prizes and international competitions all over the world.

Alisa Weilerstein

The 25-year-old cellist has performed with the nation’s top orchestras, given recitals in music capitals throughout the U.S. and Europe, and regularly participates in prestigious international festivals.  She is also dedicated to performing chamber music, having grown up in a family of musicians with whom she collaborated from an early age. Alisa began playing the cello at age 4 and performed her first public concert six months later. In 2004, she graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in Russian History.