Members of the Helios Quartet
Romain Hürzeler, Violin
Born in 1981, Romain became at the age of eight the student of lydia Mordkovitch, professor at the Royal Nothern College of Music in Manchester, and went on to study with the Israeli violinist Yossi Zivoni. Grant holder at the Purcell School from 1992 to 1994, he was chosen with three other students for a tour of Singapore and Malaysia.
At his return in 1994 to Switzerland, he enters the professional classes at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with professor Pierre Amoyal. In 1998, he receives a scholarship from the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung enabling him to study one year (from 1999-2000) at the Musikhochschule Sarrebrücken with professor Valéry Klimov. That same year, Romain is awarded the Fondation Leenaards prize wich enables him to acquire his current instrument, a 1901 Celani violin. He obtains his final diploma in 1999, winning 1st prize Virtuosité.
Continuing his studies, he enters the Hochschule der Künste Bern in the class of renowned professor Igor Ozim obtaining his Solistendiplom in 2006, performing the Elgar violin concerto with the Berner Symphonie Orchester.
Holder of many prizes : 1 prize with distinction at the Schweizerischer Jugend musikwettbewerb, 2 prize Solothurner Internationaler Musikwettbewerb 2000, Föderpreis Orpheus Konzerte 2001, Margess International of Switzerland.
His activities as a soloist include, perfomances of the Mendelssohn violin concerto with the Orchestre de Chambre de lausanne conducted by Jonathan Darlington, Bach’s a minor violin concerto with the Zürcher Kammerorchester, Mozart’s a major violin concerto with the Solothurner Kammerorchester.
Since finishing his studies in 2006, Romain has been a frequent guest player of the Camerata Bern, touring with such distinguished musicians as Erich Höbarth and Angelica Kirschlager, in venues including the Musikverein in Wien. He has also regularly worked with the Lucerne symphonie orchester and the Orchestra Filarmonica de Gran Canaria as a principal second violin . He is a member of the Berner Symphonie Orchester.
Born in 1981, Romain became at the age of eight the student of lydia Mordkovitch, professor at the Royal Nothern College of Music in Manchester, and went on to study with the Israeli violinist Yossi Zivoni. Grant holder at the Purcell School from 1992 to 1994, he was chosen with three other students for a tour of Singapore and Malaysia.
At his return in 1994 to Switzerland, he enters the professional classes at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with professor Pierre Amoyal. In 1998, he receives a scholarship from the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung enabling him to study one year (from 1999-2000) at the Musikhochschule Sarrebrücken with professor Valéry Klimov. That same year, Romain is awarded the Fondation Leenaards prize wich enables him to acquire his current instrument, a 1901 Celani violin. He obtains his final diploma in 1999, winning 1st prize Virtuosité.
Continuing his studies, he enters the Hochschule der Künste Bern in the class of renowned professor Igor Ozim obtaining his Solistendiplom in 2006, performing the Elgar violin concerto with the Berner Symphonie Orchester.
Holder of many prizes : 1 prize with distinction at the Schweizerischer Jugend musikwettbewerb, 2 prize Solothurner Internationaler Musikwettbewerb 2000, Föderpreis Orpheus Konzerte 2001, Margess International of Switzerland.
His activities as a soloist include, perfomances of the Mendelssohn violin concerto with the Orchestre de Chambre de lausanne conducted by Jonathan Darlington, Bach’s a minor violin concerto with the Zürcher Kammerorchester, Mozart’s a major violin concerto with the Solothurner Kammerorchester.
Since finishing his studies in 2006, Romain has been a frequent guest player of the Camerata Bern, touring with such distinguished musicians as Erich Höbarth and Angelica Kirschlager, in venues including the Musikverein in Wien. He has also regularly worked with the Lucerne symphonie orchester and the Orchestra Filarmonica de Gran Canaria as a principal second violin . He is a member of the Berner Symphonie Orchester.
Teodora Dimitrova, Violin
Bulgarian violinist Teodora Dimitrova has been a solo artist with numerous symphony orchestras and has appeared in recitals throughout Europe and the US. She has been featured on and recorded for the Bulgarian National Radio and Television, as well as WQXR in the US. Ms. Dimitrova made her New York City Recital debut at Symphony Space in 2012, followed by a Carnegie Hall debut recital in 2013.
Born in Sofia in 1985 Ms. Dimitrova began her violin studies at the National Music School. She later continued her education in the USA at the age of 16.
A recipient of full scholarships in the names of Dorothy Delay and Joseph Fuchs, Ms. Dimitrova completed both her Bachelor’s and Master's degrees at the Juilliard School. At Juilliard she was a violin pupil of Sally Thomas and Masao Kawasaki, participating in masterclasses with Rainer Küchl, Zachar Bron, Ruggiero Ricci, Ifrah Neeman, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Miriam Fried, Vadim Gluzman, Lewis Kaplan, and concertmasters of the Metropolitan Opera. Her chamber music studies include masterclasses with the Juilliard String Quartet and the Emerson Quartet among others.
Ms. Dimitrova’s repertoire covers a wide range of styles, including Bulgarian, other Eastern European, as well as contemporary works. In 2011 Ms. Dimitrova had great success in presenting to the New York City audience, her recital program "Orient Express: from Paris to Istanbul". Depicting a musical travel from Western to Eastern Europe, the project featured composers from France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Some American works premiered in Europe by Ms. Dimitrova include “Fledermaus Fantasy” by American composer Judith Shatin, as well as William Bolcom’s Second Sonata for Violin and Piano. Notable collaborations include a recent recital with Grammy-award-winning tango pianist and composer Octavio Brunetti.
An active orchestral musician Ms. Dimitrova has been a member of the Verbier Festival and Chamber Orchestras (Switzerland), Symphony in C (New Jersey), and the Harrisburg Symphony (Pennsylvania), where she has worked with conductors Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Rossen Milanov and Paavo Järvi, among others. Ms. Dimitrova has appeared in concerts at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Salzburg Festspielhaus, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. Her recent orchestral engagements were as principal at St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra and she currently holds a position at the Bern Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.
Bulgarian violinist Teodora Dimitrova has been a solo artist with numerous symphony orchestras and has appeared in recitals throughout Europe and the US. She has been featured on and recorded for the Bulgarian National Radio and Television, as well as WQXR in the US. Ms. Dimitrova made her New York City Recital debut at Symphony Space in 2012, followed by a Carnegie Hall debut recital in 2013.
Born in Sofia in 1985 Ms. Dimitrova began her violin studies at the National Music School. She later continued her education in the USA at the age of 16.
A recipient of full scholarships in the names of Dorothy Delay and Joseph Fuchs, Ms. Dimitrova completed both her Bachelor’s and Master's degrees at the Juilliard School. At Juilliard she was a violin pupil of Sally Thomas and Masao Kawasaki, participating in masterclasses with Rainer Küchl, Zachar Bron, Ruggiero Ricci, Ifrah Neeman, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Miriam Fried, Vadim Gluzman, Lewis Kaplan, and concertmasters of the Metropolitan Opera. Her chamber music studies include masterclasses with the Juilliard String Quartet and the Emerson Quartet among others.
Ms. Dimitrova’s repertoire covers a wide range of styles, including Bulgarian, other Eastern European, as well as contemporary works. In 2011 Ms. Dimitrova had great success in presenting to the New York City audience, her recital program "Orient Express: from Paris to Istanbul". Depicting a musical travel from Western to Eastern Europe, the project featured composers from France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Some American works premiered in Europe by Ms. Dimitrova include “Fledermaus Fantasy” by American composer Judith Shatin, as well as William Bolcom’s Second Sonata for Violin and Piano. Notable collaborations include a recent recital with Grammy-award-winning tango pianist and composer Octavio Brunetti.
An active orchestral musician Ms. Dimitrova has been a member of the Verbier Festival and Chamber Orchestras (Switzerland), Symphony in C (New Jersey), and the Harrisburg Symphony (Pennsylvania), where she has worked with conductors Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Rossen Milanov and Paavo Järvi, among others. Ms. Dimitrova has appeared in concerts at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Salzburg Festspielhaus, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. Her recent orchestral engagements were as principal at St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra and she currently holds a position at the Bern Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.
Yang Lu, Viola
Yang Lu, was born in 1979 in Beijing, China. Her passion of music initially started since the age of four in her native country at the Central Conservatory of Music. As violin soloist she toured and performed extensively in both China and abroad at age of 10, including the music tour of Japan on behalf of the Japan-China Friendship Association in 1990. Ms. Lu‘s career of orchestra and chamber playing began at the age of sixteen while attending the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, she performed in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong in 1996; she participated in the orchestra tour in Taiwan in 1999; After she successfully completed her performance in Taiwan, Ms. Lu came to the United States in 1999, where she continued pursuing her studies of music at the Harid Conservatory of Music at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida as a full scholarship student.
Ms. Lu obtained the appellation of top prize winner in the Boca Symphonic Pops Competition in 2001. In the same year she won the Concerto Competition at the Harid Conservatory of Music. Ms. Lu was also a recipient of the Harid Conservatory’s Joseph Gingold Award for Excellent. In 2002, with her remarkable performance, Ms. Lu received a full tuition scholarship from the Music Institute of University of Miami in a double major of Violin and Viola. Ms. Lu continued her road of music there and became a Violinist and Violist since then. She won the top prizes on both violin and viola in the University of Miami Concerto Competition and the Centre for the Arts of Mizner Park Competition, in 2003 as a violinist, and in 2004 as a violist. After she got her double major Undergraduate Degree from University of Miami, Ms. Lu started pursuing her Master degree in viola performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music under principal viola of Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Robert Vernon’s studio.
She was a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (NY) from 2006-2008, before she became a member of Bern Symphony Orchestra (Switzerland) in 2009.
Orchestras with which Ms. Lu has performed include the Boca Pops Orchestra, the Palm Beach Pops Orchestra, the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Opernhaus Zurich (Switzerland) and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (Switzerland).
Yang Lu, was born in 1979 in Beijing, China. Her passion of music initially started since the age of four in her native country at the Central Conservatory of Music. As violin soloist she toured and performed extensively in both China and abroad at age of 10, including the music tour of Japan on behalf of the Japan-China Friendship Association in 1990. Ms. Lu‘s career of orchestra and chamber playing began at the age of sixteen while attending the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, she performed in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong in 1996; she participated in the orchestra tour in Taiwan in 1999; After she successfully completed her performance in Taiwan, Ms. Lu came to the United States in 1999, where she continued pursuing her studies of music at the Harid Conservatory of Music at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida as a full scholarship student.
Ms. Lu obtained the appellation of top prize winner in the Boca Symphonic Pops Competition in 2001. In the same year she won the Concerto Competition at the Harid Conservatory of Music. Ms. Lu was also a recipient of the Harid Conservatory’s Joseph Gingold Award for Excellent. In 2002, with her remarkable performance, Ms. Lu received a full tuition scholarship from the Music Institute of University of Miami in a double major of Violin and Viola. Ms. Lu continued her road of music there and became a Violinist and Violist since then. She won the top prizes on both violin and viola in the University of Miami Concerto Competition and the Centre for the Arts of Mizner Park Competition, in 2003 as a violinist, and in 2004 as a violist. After she got her double major Undergraduate Degree from University of Miami, Ms. Lu started pursuing her Master degree in viola performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music under principal viola of Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Robert Vernon’s studio.
She was a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (NY) from 2006-2008, before she became a member of Bern Symphony Orchestra (Switzerland) in 2009.
Orchestras with which Ms. Lu has performed include the Boca Pops Orchestra, the Palm Beach Pops Orchestra, the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Opernhaus Zurich (Switzerland) and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (Switzerland).
Andreas Graf, Cello
Andreas Graf was born in Basel and began playing the Cello by the age of eight. He was twice a first prize winner of the Swiss National Music Youth Competition, giving his debute concert by the age of 15. Andreas studied with Prof. Peter Hörr (Hochschule für Musik, Bern) and Prof. Michael Sanderling in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) where he recived his Soloist Diploma in 2007. Other major influences came from artists such as Janos Starker, Wolfgang Boettcher, Ralph Kirshbaum and Gustav Rivinius.
Andreas appeared as a soloist with different orchestras throughout Europe. He has worked with the Swiss Chamber Orchestra, the Nürnberg Symphony, the Jena Symphony, the Kiel Philharmonic and has been performing concerts in various chamber music formations in Europe and Asia. Together with his cousin, violinist Elena Graf, and German pianist Isabel von Bernstorff he has formed the Conte Piano Trio that has been awarded with the first prize in the 9th chambermusic competition of the Polytechnic Society of Frankfurt am Main. Andreas has participated in concerts at the Lucerne Festival and the Beijing Music Festival and was bestowed with the Cultural Award of the city of Thun, Switzerland.
Furthermore, Andreas has been involved in various CD productions and recordings for radio. He successfully appeared as soloist in the first public performance of the concerto for Cello, Guitar and Orchestra by Swiss composer Jost Meier in Switzerland. This concert was recorded and broadcast by Swiss national radio DRS2. Since 2008 he is a member of the Bern Symphony Orchestra and has been invited as a regular guest performer at the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.
Andreas is also an awarded filmmaker. He holds a Master in Business and Media from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and has received his training as a film director at the New York Film Academy.
www.andreasgraf.com
Andreas Graf was born in Basel and began playing the Cello by the age of eight. He was twice a first prize winner of the Swiss National Music Youth Competition, giving his debute concert by the age of 15. Andreas studied with Prof. Peter Hörr (Hochschule für Musik, Bern) and Prof. Michael Sanderling in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) where he recived his Soloist Diploma in 2007. Other major influences came from artists such as Janos Starker, Wolfgang Boettcher, Ralph Kirshbaum and Gustav Rivinius.
Andreas appeared as a soloist with different orchestras throughout Europe. He has worked with the Swiss Chamber Orchestra, the Nürnberg Symphony, the Jena Symphony, the Kiel Philharmonic and has been performing concerts in various chamber music formations in Europe and Asia. Together with his cousin, violinist Elena Graf, and German pianist Isabel von Bernstorff he has formed the Conte Piano Trio that has been awarded with the first prize in the 9th chambermusic competition of the Polytechnic Society of Frankfurt am Main. Andreas has participated in concerts at the Lucerne Festival and the Beijing Music Festival and was bestowed with the Cultural Award of the city of Thun, Switzerland.
Furthermore, Andreas has been involved in various CD productions and recordings for radio. He successfully appeared as soloist in the first public performance of the concerto for Cello, Guitar and Orchestra by Swiss composer Jost Meier in Switzerland. This concert was recorded and broadcast by Swiss national radio DRS2. Since 2008 he is a member of the Bern Symphony Orchestra and has been invited as a regular guest performer at the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.
Andreas is also an awarded filmmaker. He holds a Master in Business and Media from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and has received his training as a film director at the New York Film Academy.
www.andreasgraf.com
