Aline
Champion
Professor of Violin
Aline Champion chose the violin at the age of 5. At 11, she was accepted into the "Classe supérieure" at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève, now part of the Haute école de musique de Genève, and that same year, she made her solo debut at Victoria Hall. She then continued her training with Tibor Varga and Yehudi Menuhin, obtained her soloist diploma in Utrecht, joined the Cologne Radio Orchestra (as concertmaster), and in 2000, became the first violin of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Aline Champion has several strings to her bow. She regularly gives masterclasses for young artists. She is part of the "Schweizer Philharmoniker," the Swiss members of her Berlin orchestra. She can be found performing in Lucerne, Salzburg, Baden-Baden, Paris, and London, not to mention the annual tours the Philharmonic undertakes in Asia and North America.
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Pierre
Fouchenneret
Professor of Violin
An insatiable artist with a discography of over twenty albums, Pierre Fouchenneret dedicates several years of his life to the works of a single composer, often surrounding himself with the finest chamber musicians to record a complete set. In 2016, he recorded the complete violin and piano sonatas of Beethoven with Romain Descharmes for Aparte. In 2018, the first volume of a complete set of Gabriel Fauré's chamber music was released, featuring Simon Zaoui and Raphaël Merlin. He also embarked on the ambitious project of performing all of Brahms' chamber music with the Strada Quartet, Eric Lesage, Florent Pujuila, Adrien Boisseau, and others. The complete set was released by B-Records during the 2018 to 2021 seasons. In the spring of 2020, his recording of Schubert and Raphaël Merlin's octets was released, featuring Nicolas Baldeyrou, David Guerrier, and Marc Desmons, among others.
A child prodigy, Pierre Fouchenneret won his first prize in violin and chamber music at the CNSM de Paris at the age of 16 in the classes of Olivier Charlier and Daria Hovora. He later won the Grand Prix at the International Chamber Music Competition of Bordeaux, the Grand Prix Georges Enesco from Sacem, and became a laureate of the Natixis Foundation and an associate artist of the Singer Polignac Foundation.
Invited to stages worldwide, the "extraordinary bow" (Le Figaro) of Pierre Fouchenneret quickly led him to perform with exceptional musicians such as the Fine Arts Quartet, Jean-François Heisser, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Zong Xu, Julien Leroy, and Nicolas Angelich. In 2013, he founded the Strada Quartet with Sarah Nemtanu, Lise Berthaud, and François Salque.
Pierre Fouchenneret is highly regarded by French and international orchestras for his boldness and vision of the repertoire. He has been invited by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux, the Brno Philharmonic, the Philharmonics of Nice and Strasbourg, the Baltic of Saint Petersburg, and the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
A sought-after teacher, Pierre Fouchenneret is professor at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva.
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Patrick
Genet
Professor of violin
Born in Lausanne, Patrick Genet began playing the violin at the age of five and achieved virtuosity in the class of Thomas Füri. He then furthered his studies with R. Shevelov and A. Grumiaux.
In 1976, he was awarded first prize at the Swiss Jeunesses Musicales competition. He also won the soloist prize from the Swiss Musicians' Association. During his distinguished career as a soloist, Patrick Genet has performed under conductors such as Armin Jordan, Emmanuel Krivine, Uri Segal, and Thierry Fischer. He served as the concertmaster of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 1990.
Chamber music is the cornerstone of Patrick Genet's career. As a founding member of the Musiviva Trio, he won first prize at the Colmar competition. He also co-founded the Quatuor Sine Nomine, with which he regularly performs. The quartet was awarded first prize at the Evian Competition in 1985 and won the press prize at the Borciani Competition in 1987. Numerous recordings document the quartet's work, including Schubert collections on the Cascavelle label, Brahms programs on Claves, and the quartet "Ainsi la nuit" by Henri Dutilleux for Erato.
From 1980 to 1995, Patrick Genet taught at the Conservatory of Fribourg. Many of his students continued their studies in Basel, Vienna, London, or Bloomington, while others were engaged by the Tonhalle Orchestra or the Zurich Opera. As a professor of chamber music at the Haute École de musique de Lausanne, he has been teaching violin at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 1995.
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Sergey
Ostrovsky
Professor of Violin
Sergey Ostrovsky was born in 1975 in Nizhny Novgorod into a family of musicians. His first violin teacher was David Lapidus. He then studied with Lazar Gantman and Yury Gluchovsky before emigrating to Israel with his family, where he continued his training with Yair Kless and Irina Svetlova. In 1996, he founded the Aviv Quartet, with which he first trained at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with members of the Alban Berg Quartet, and at the Rotterdam Conservatory with members of the Daniel Quartet. He also participated in master classes with renowned musicians such as Isaac Stern, Herman Krebbers, Dorothy Delay, and Ivry Gitlis.
With the Aviv Quartet, he won the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (a grand prize and four special prizes), the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition, the Aviv National Competition in Tel Aviv, and the Rodolfo Lipizer Prize. Whether as a chamber musician or soloist, Sergey Ostrovsky has performed in major venues (Carnegie Hall in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, Wigmore Hall in London, the Louvre Auditorium and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House) and in many countries (Israel, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, China, Canada, and Brazil). His solo repertoire includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Chausson, and Sibelius, among others. He has also played with numerous orchestras conducted by maestros such as Zubin Mehta, Yoel Levi, Philippe Entremont, Maxim Vengerov, and Uriel Segal.
Sergey Ostrovsky has recorded for Naxos and EMI Classics, notably with Maxim Vengerov and the UBS Verbier Chamber Orchestra. He is the first violinist of the Aviv Quartet, performing major classical and romantic quartets, and the concertmaster of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He plays a Giovanni Grancinno from 1716 and teaches violin at the Haute école de musique de Genève, Neuchâtel site.
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Tedi
Papavrami
Professor of Violin
Arriving at a very young age in France, Tedi Papavrami discovered a country and culture that were completely foreign to him. His natural curiosity and the need to master the French language in order to make this country his own, along with initial great solitude, drove him to devour books, always in French: Stendhal, Proust, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Kafka... This curiosity beyond borders, combined with intellectual and artistic demands, allowed him to bridge the gap between his original domain and other horizons, making him a rare interpreter in the musical world.
Thus, in 2000, after the passing of Albanian translator J. Vrioni, he naturally took up the mantle of translating the works of Ismaïl Kadaré, whom he had known as a child in Albania. This foray into the literary world also became a way for him to "professionally exist for the first time outside of the violin." In 2013, he continued this journey with the writing of "Fugue pour Violon Seul" published by Robert Laffont. Unanimously praised by the press, this autobiographical account narrates his journey as a child prodigy in Albania and his passage to the West, towards freedom.
However, this diversification would not have been possible without an early and singular focus on the violin from his young years. The instrument, which had always been a part of his life, was introduced to him at the age of 5 by his father, a brilliant professor with extensive pedagogical experience. Tedi's progress was rapid: three years later, he performed Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" with an orchestra. At eleven, he publicly performed Paganini's Concerto No. 1 with the formidable Sauret cadenza.
In 1982 in Albania, a country cut off from the world, he was noticed by flutist Alain Marion who arranged for him to be invited to Paris as a French government scholarship student. He then studied with Pierre Amoyal at the C.N.S.M in Paris for four years.
At the end of his studies, at the age of 15, Tedi pursued his musical and instrumental development independently. Shortly before, with his parents, he fled the communist regime in Albania to settle with them in France. Severe sanctions were imposed in retaliation on the rest of the family remaining in Albania, lasting until the fall of the communist regime in 1991. Tedi and his parents left Paris to avoid being within reach of Albanian embassy officials searching for them and settled near Bordeaux.
Benefiting from several awards, T. Papavrami began a career as a soloist and chamber musician from the 1990s onwards. He has since collaborated as a soloist with conductors such as K. Sanderling, A. Jordan, E. Krivine, M. Honeck, F.X. Roth, Th. Fischer, G. Varga, M. Aeschenbacher… In chamber music, he was a member of the Schumann Quartet, a piano quartet, for 9 years, and he performs in concert or on recordings with partners such as Philippe Bianconi, Gary Hoffman, Marc Coppey, Nelson Goerner, Martha Argerich, Maria Joao Pires, Viktoria Mullova, Paul Meyer, and Lawrence Power.
Now based in Geneva, Switzerland, Tedi holds a position as Professor of Violin at the HEM. He plays on a violin made in 2022 for him by luthier David Leonard Wiedmer.
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Alexander
Rozhdestvenskiy
Professor of Violin
Sasha Rozhdestvensky is considered one of the finest Russian violinists of today; Yehudi Menuhin described him as "one of the most talented and refined violinists of his generation."
He studied at the Central School of Music in Moscow, the Moscow Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, and the Royal College of Music in London. Sasha Rozhdestvensky has performed internationally with renowned orchestras such as the Bayerische Staatsorchester, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of La Scala, Mariinsky Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and worked with conductors like Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Valery Gergiev, Theodor Guschlbauer, Vernon Handley, Louis Langree, Jacques Mercier, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Gerard Schwartz, Yuri Simonov, Christopher Warren-Green, and Vladimir Jurowski.
He has recorded for several labels: Chandos, where he recorded Alfred Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No.6 written especially for him and Viktoria Postnikova. For Nimbus, he recorded Shostakovich's Concerto No.1 and Glazunov's Concerto with his father. He recorded the complete works for violin and piano by Ravel for Praga Digitals, and for Delos, he recorded the complete works for violin and piano by Tchaikovsky with pianist Josiane Marfurt, Shostakovich's sonatas with Jeremy Menuhin, the world premieres of Myaskovsky, Shebalin, and Nechaev's sonatas with Viktoria Postnikova, and most recently the world premiere of John Mayer's concerto with the BBC Orchestra for FHR.
Sasha Rozhdestvensky has been a guest at major festivals such as the BBC Proms (London), Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad, Colmar, Ravinia, Florida, Lockenhaus, Montreux, and Rheingau, and has performed in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and Festival Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Salle Pleyel and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Mann Auditorium in Tel-Aviv, and La Scala in Milan, always with great success.
Among his chamber music partners are Marc Coppey, Gary Hoffman, Steven Isserlis, Christian Ivaldi, Josiane Marfurt, Jeremy Menuhin, Kun Woo Paik, Michel Portal, Viktoria Postnikova, and Michael Rudy.
Sasha Rozhdestvensky's commitment to contemporary music is highlighted by his close relationships with composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli, and Ian Venables.
Additionally, he is also dedicated to traditional Latin American music with the ensemble "Ambar" (albums "El Diablo Suelto" for Delos and "O voo da mosca" for FHR).
Learn more about Alexander Rozhdestvenskiy
Nurit
Stark
Professor of Violin
Born in Israel, violinist and violist Nurit Stark received her musical education in Tel Aviv, Berlin and Cologne with Ilan Gronich, Haim Taub and the Alban Berg Quartet. Following her first appearance as a soloist at the age of 16 in Paganini's First Violin Concerto with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, she continued to perfect her skills, performing all over the world.
As a chamber musician, she collaborates with pianist Cédric Pescia and soprano Caroline Melzer, with whom she performs at the Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest, Schleswig Holstein, Rheingau, Wien Modern and Donaueschinger Musiktage festivals.
Her passion for contemporary music has led her to give world premieres and collaborate with composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, György Kurtág, Viktor Suslin, Peter Eötvös, Carola Bauckholt, Jennifer Walsh, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Isabel Mundry and Georg Nussbaumer.
She is also involved in avant-garde stage projects combining music and theater, and with visual artists Isabel Robson & Susanne Vincenz created Roundhouse Reverb, a video installation based on the music of György Kurtág.
Nurit Stark is a prizewinner in the George Enescu, Leopold Mozart and Ibolyka Gyarf international competitions.
Her first solo recording will be released in spring 2022 and includes solo works for violin/viola by Béla Bártok, György Ligeti, Sándor Veress and the world premiere ofAdventures of the dominant seventh chord dedicated to Nurit Stark by Peter Eötvös.
In 2019, she is appointed Professor of Violin at Stuttgart State University for Music and Performing Arts. Nurit Stark plays a P. Guarneri di Mantova violin, 1710.
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Julien
Zufferey
Professor of Violin
Heir to three of the most prestigious international violin schools (Hungarian, Russian, and Jewish-American), violinist Julien Zufferey offers a productive synthesis of these diverse approaches, both in technique and musical interpretation.
During this course, students will undertake in-depth work to find the keys that will enable them to make as conscious a musical choice as possible, and benefit from discovering their own interpretative path.
Regularly invited to serve on juries for national and international competitions (Il Piccolo Violino Magico, Concorso Internazionale Città di Villafranca), and a respected expert for pre-professional classes in French-speaking Switzerland, Julien Zufferey demonstrates his fruitful pedagogical skills within the Lausanne musical institutions (Conservatory and HEMu). He guides young, talented violinists through intensive programs and pre-professional classes to admission into a Haute École. His students are annually winners of national and international competitions; notably, he received an honorary diploma for having the highest number of awarded students across all categories during the 2017 edition of the Concorso Internazionale A. Salieri.
His role as an assistant to Svetlana Makarova at HEMu in Lausanne further broadens his pedagogical contribution by supporting the professional development of young graduates and strengthening his didactic ties with this exceptional professor.
This course is intended for particularly gifted young violinists who aspire to join HEMu and pursue a professional musical career or to refine a competition program.
In addition to numerous appearances on the Swiss stage, he performs throughout Europe as well as in the USA, Israel, and Turkey. Julien Zufferey is a founding member of the Trio Nota Bene, with which he has been performing on the international stage for almost twenty years, collaborating with artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Ilya Gringolts, Pierre Amoyal, Shlomo Mintz, Nobuko Imai, Gérard Caussé, Christoph Schiller, Jürg Dähler, Silvia Simionescu, Brigitte Fournier, and Malin Hartelius.
He plays a violin by Vincenzo Trusiano Panormo (1734-1813), generously provided by a Swiss patron.
Learn more about Julien Zufferey.
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