Classical Master Classes

Barbara Doll is active in the international music scene both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. Since 2014, she has been Professor of Violin at the Music Academy Basel, after holding a similar position at the Bern University of the Arts from 2004.

Barbara Doll has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall and the Barbican in London, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gasteig in Munich, and the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, appearing as a soloist with ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra and the European Union Chamber Orchestra. A passionate chamber musician, she regularly appears as both violinist and violist at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Steven Isserlis’ Prussia Cove Chamber Music Festival, and the Ravinia Festival in the USA, collaborating with artists such as Miriam Fried, Homero Francesch, Heinz Holliger, Patricia Pagny, Silke Avenhaus, Adrian Oetiker, Filippo Gamba, Christopher Hinterhuber, Nicolas Altstaedt, Natalie Clein, Dieter Flury, and Dimitri Ashkenazy.

For nearly 20 years, Barbara Doll has formed a duo with pianist Cristina Marton-Argerich. Their interpretations of both standard and rarely performed repertoire are internationally acclaimed for their personal and authentic approach. Since 2014, Barbara Doll has been a member of the ARIA String Quartet.

Born near Munich, she studied with Ana Chumachenko in Munich, Thomas Zehetmair and Thomas Brandis in Berlin, and David Takeno in London. Masterclasses with Sandor Vegh, Ivry Gitlis, and György Kurtág were also highly influential. Barbara is a prizewinner of the International Schubert Competition in Graz, recipient of the Schubert Prize, and winner of the International Duo Competition in Kuhmo, Finland.

Barbara Doll has appeared as guest leader and conductor with renowned chamber orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Kammerphilharmonie Amadé, Ensemble Resonanz, and the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss. For almost twenty years, she played with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, often under Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

She is regularly invited to give masterclasses and coach orchestral academies. Recent and upcoming engagements include Villa Musica Mainz, Künstlerhaus Boswil, the Hindemith Foundation in Blonay, the Aurora Chamber Music Festival in Sweden, and Teatro del Lago in Chile.

Since 2006, she has served as President of ESTA (European String Teachers’ Association) Switzerland.

Andreas Willwohl is a German violist, born in Erfurt. At the age of 14, he studied at the Music School in Schloss Belvedere, Weimar. He later began his studies at the University of Music “Franz Liszt” Weimar and continued a year later at the University of Music “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin with Alfred Lipka. Significant artistic inspiration came from mentors such as Wilfried Strehle, Thomas Kakuska, and Kim Kashkashian; in chamber music, from Norbert Brainin, Eberhard Feltz, Walter Levin, and the Alban Berg Quartet.

Andreas Willwohl has appeared at international music festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Schlosskonzerte in Thun, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and the Salzburg Festival. He has performed with Thomas Brandis, Wolfgang Böttcher, Nobuko Imai, Michael Sanderling, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Johannes Moser, Marc-André Hamelin, Lauma Skride, and Daniel Heide.

As a soloist, Andreas Willwohl has performed with numerous major orchestras, including the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Korean Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, and the German Chamber Orchestra Berlin. He has worked with renowned conductors such as Marek Janowski, Patrick Lange, Christoph Poppen, Conrad van Alphen, and Matthias Foremny. He is also active as a chamber musician, for example as a member of the Mandelring String Quartet and Ensemble Ceres. He has given concerts in Europe, the USA, and Asia.

www.andreas-willwohl.com
www.mandelring.com

With his first prize at the International Geneva Competition in December 2000, Rafael Rosenfeld established his reputation as one of Europe’s most exciting cellists. He toured as a soloist throughout Europe and performed with orchestras such as the SWR Stuttgart, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Lugano Radio Orchestra, the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

In addition to his success at the Geneva Competition, Rafael Rosenfeld has won numerous other prizes and awards at national and international competitions, including third prize at the International ARD Competition in Munich, a special prize at the International Jost Competition in Lausanne, and the highest award at the Migros Chamber Music Competition in 1997. In 1990, he represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Young Musicians Contest in Vienna and was a finalist at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1994. He has appeared in numerous radio and television broadcasts.

Rafael Rosenfeld received his musical education at the Zurich Conservatory and the Lübeck Academy of Music, where he studied cello with Walter Grimmer and David Geringas. Further inspiration came from world-renowned musicians such as András Schiff, Steven Isserlis, Sandor Végh, Bernard Greenhouse, Ralph Kirschbaum, Menahem Pressler, and György Kurtág.

He has been invited to major festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, the Ittingen Whitsun Concerts, Young Artists in Concert Davos, the Interlaken Festival Weeks, the Zurich Festival, and Open Chamber Music Prussia Cove. In 1995, Rafael Rosenfeld became principal cellist of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and its youngest member. He is also a member of András Schiff’s chamber orchestra, Cappella Andrea Barca.

Chamber music plays a central role in Rafael Rosenfeld’s musical life. For many years, he was the cellist of the Rosenfeld Trio and was later invited to form a trio with violinist Gabor Takács-Nagy, former first violinist of the Takács Quartet, and pianist Dénes Vârjon. Since 2002, he has devoted himself to the string quartet repertoire with the Merel Quartet.

Few artists of her generation have achieved such versatile success as Juliane Banse. Her operatic repertoire ranges from Mozart and Strauss to contemporary works. She made her breakthrough at the age of 20 as Pamina at the Komische Oper Berlin. Also unforgettable is the world premiere of Heinz Holliger’s Schneewittchen at the Zurich Opera, marking the beginning of a close collaboration that continues to this day.

Born in southern Germany and raised in Zurich, the singer studied with renowned teachers such as Brigitte Fassbaender and Daphne Evangelatos. Today, she is a professor at the Mozarteum Salzburg, heads the vocal department at the Escuela Reina Sofía in Madrid, and gives masterclasses worldwide. She is also a sought-after jury member at international competitions.

Juliane Banse has appeared at leading opera houses and concert halls, including the MET in New York, as well as in Berlin, Zurich, and Chicago. She has worked with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, and Zubin Mehta. In addition to opera, her artistic profile is shaped by song recitals, chamber music, and innovative projects such as Winterreise with dance.

Numerous award-winning recordings document her versatility. Two of them received the Echo Klassik: Braunfels’ Jeanne d’Arc with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.