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Denis Severin

Denis Severin is a professor of cello at the Geneva University of Music and the Bern University of Arts(Switzerland), where he teaches cello as a major, baroque cello as a minor and chamber music.

A coveted guest professor, he also teaches master classes and leads orchestra projects at the Centro superior de musical Katarina Gurska (Madrid, Spain), the Jazeps Vitols Academy of Music (Riga, Latvia), the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing, China), Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest, Hungary) and the National University of Arts (Kharkov, Ukraine).

Regularly gives summer master-classes in Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Georgia and Brazil.

Denis Severin is Prize Winner of ECHO KLASSIK (2015) and GRAMMY AWARDS (2007), laureate of several international competitions in Greece, Italy and Spain.

Denis Severin serves as a jury member for a number of music competitions: International Chamber Music Competition (Illzach, France, March 2013), 7th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians (Monteux, Switzerland, March 2012) and Young Swiss Musicians Competition.

He also became president of an international charitable organization Art Without Borders and an organizing committee member of the European String Teachers Association.

Performs as a soloist with: European Youth Symphony Orchestra (EU), Basel Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Switzerland), “Feel Harmony” Chamber Orchestra Poznan (Poland), State Symphony Orchestra, Kiew Chamber Orchestra (Ukraine), St. Petersburg State Capella Orchestra, Archangel State Chamber Orchestra (Russia), Armenian State Chamber Orchestra.

D. Severin is member of diverses chamber music and baroque ensembles: Spyros Piano Trio, Swiss Baroque Soloists, Les Solostes de Geneve (Switzerland), Ars Antiqua Austria, Wiener-Akademie (Austria), Ensemble Baroque de Limoges (France), Capella Gabetta, Harmonie Universelle (Germany), The Russian Virtuosi of Europe (London, England).

Collaborates with many of the greatest names in contemporary classical music. Those are artists and ensembles like Quatuor Mosaiques, Natalia Gutman, Christophe Coin, Sergio Azzolini, Jordi Savall, Christopher Hogwood, Cecila Bartoli, Antonio Meneses, Martin Haselbock, Heinz Holliger, Bartek Niziol, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta.

Denis Severin performs at festivals and concerts held in some of the most prestigious venues around the globe, among which are Queen Elizabeth Hall (London, England), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Musikverein Wien (Austria), Konzerthaus Berlin (Germany), Philharmonic Society Concert Hall (Prague, Czech Republic), Cite de la Misique, Radio France Concert Hall (Paris, France), Victoria Hall, Tonhalle Zurich (Switzerland), Lutoslawski Concert Hall (Warsaw, Poland), National Philarmonic Kiew (Ukraine) and many others.

In 1996 Denis Severin graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied under professor Dmitry Miller.

1997-2003 continued his education under professor Daniel Grossgurin at the Geneva University of Music, professor Thomas Demenga at the Music Academy of Basel and professor Christophe Coin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Switzerland).

He also attended master classes of such professors as Janos Starker, Natalia Gutman, Antonio Meneses, Anner Bylsma, Truls Monk and Garry Hoffman.

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In 1986 Chu Yi-Bing was prize winner at the 42nd Concours International d’Exécution Musicale in Geneva, after graduating with a Premier Prix from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris in France where he studied under the tutelage of Maurice Gendron. He was the first Chinese cellist ever to win a prize in a major international Cello competition. He served as principal cellist in Basel Symphony Orchestra, Switzerland between 1989-2004, Chu Yi-Bing was also guest principal cellist of Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra  in Munich, Germany.

Chu Yi-Bing was appointed as cello professor and head of the cello department at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he taught between 2004 and 2018. He founded the Chu Yi-Bing Cello Ensemble with his students, the first Cello Ensemble in China, playing countless concerts in a number of diverse cities and provinces, schools, colleges and universities. Chu Yi-Bing founded the SuperCello festival in Beijing, 2016. SuperCello is the premier cello festival in China. Every year it is attended by hundreds cellists including a number of world leading performers.

Living in Los Angeles since 2020, Chu Yi-Bing is currently professor ad interim at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris.

Chu Yi-Bing was born in Beijing, China in 1966. His father Chu Yong-Ning, Cellist, and mother Wang Yao-Ling, pianist, were both professors at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing, China.

Professor ad interim

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris

Founder of SuperCello Festival

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Aram Talalyan

Aram Talalyan, cellist, conductor
Aram Talalyan is third from dynasty of well-known musicians after his uncle Henrik Talalyan and father Geronty Talalyan.
After receiving a Master’s degree with Honors, from Yale University (USA) Mr. Talalyan returns to Armenia. He has been teaching cello and chamber music in Yerevan state conservatory since 1997, numerous students of Mr. Talalyan received top prizes in competitions around world.

Aram Talalyan is a founder and artistic director of “Yerevan Baroque Festival” and “Talalyan brothers” Viola-Cello Festival in Armenia. From 2009 to 2011 has been appointed as an artistic director of Classical Series at Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan (Armenia). From 2000 to 2009 has served as a cellist of Komitas String Quartet. From 2015 till 2018 Mr. Talalyan was a cellist of Aram Khachaturian State string quartet.
Aram Talalyan has collaborated with such renowned artists as Claude Frank,
Yo Yo Ma, Gunter Herbig, Jesse Levin, Emin Khachaturian, Wolfgang Meyer, Vladimir Spivakov, Diemut Poppen, Ani and Ida Kavafian,  Levon Chilingirian, Christopher Stembridge, Darko Brlek, Ilya Gringolts, Armen Babakhanian, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Mikayel Balyan, Sergey Khachatryan, and many others. Mr. Talalyan has toured in CIS countries, Europe, Asia, North and South America and Middle East. He is a first performer and initiator of a great number of compositions for orchestra, chamber ensembles and cello. Mr. Talalyan received a State Honor award in 2009. In 2013 was invited as a president of the jury of Aram Khachaturian International Cello Competition.
In 2009 together with pianist Julietta Vardanyan formed a piano-cello duo ARS LUNGA and completed a large scale unprecedented recording project “Anthology of Armenian music for cello and piano” album with 12 CDs and 60 compositions by Armenian composers, presently completing 2nd part of recording project included 40 compositions for piano trio.

During 2011-2014 seasons he was invited to conduct in prestigious international festivals: “Traveling Notes", "Melodies of Peace", “The Return Festival”, "National Gallery of Arts" and several State Academic orchestras in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. Under guidance of Mr. Talalyan ERASMUS PLUS program was engaged in Yerevan conservatory for the first time from 2018 till present.

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Alexandr Karakhanyan was born in 1982 in Yerevan (Armenia). His first foray into music came at the age of 8 when he began learning the cello at the E. Mirzoyan school of music. In 1999, he completed his studies with A. Seleznyov at the Central Moscow School of Music and started his degree at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan under Prof. A. Talalyan. Alexandr graduated from his studies with the highest distinction in 2004. As a young musician, Alexandr participated in a large number of competitions and festivals. He received his first award at the national Amadeus competition in 1995. In 1997, he was awarded second place and named a virtuoso at the national competition for string instruments Concours S. Aslamazyan and A. Ter-Gabrielyan. Following this, he won an award at the 3rd international competition Virtuosos of the 21st Century in 1999 in Moscow. In 2008, he came second at the Karen Kostanyan competition held by the Armenian Chamber Music Ensemble. Alexandr has regularly performed as a solo artist on the international stage since 1996, with repeat performances in Germany, France, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Austria and Switzerland. In 2006, he completed his studies with the highest distinction at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan under Aram Talalyan (Yale University MMus under Prof. Aldo Parisot). In 2009, he performed as the principal cellist, soloist and chamber musician at the Tbilisi Wind Festival in Georgia. This was followed by a performance as a soloist at the international benefit concert MAHAK in Tehran in 2010. During 2010 and 2011, Alexandr took on the position of soloist and principal cellist at the Second Winter Academy of Chiatura at the arts center of the same name in Georgia. In 2012, he played as a soloist at the Karlsruhe Festival of the German-Armenian Musical Union. Between 2007 and 2012, Alexandr held the position of principal cellist, soloist and chamber musician at the Henrik and Geronti Talalyan Festival for Viola and Cello. He held the same positions between 2007 and 2014 at the Return Festival and the National Gallery Festival, all of which took place in Yerevan. In 2010 and 2011, he appeared alongside Nathalia Gutman, Andreas Mustonen and Eliso Visaladze at the Telavi International Chamber Music Festival in Georgia. Alexandr played principal cellist in the orchestra that won first place at the 2010 Young Euro Classic competition in Berlin. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field, Alexandr was the recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Nor Anunnwe [new names] Armenian foundation for the years 1996 to 1999. Between 2000 and 2003, he was also granted a scholarship by a German artists foundation. He performed as a member of the South Caucasian Chamber Ensemble (principal cello) in Ibbenbüren, Germany, in 2006, 2007, 2016 and 2019. In the period 2012 to 2014, Alexandr was a member of the Armenian State Soloists Ensemble in Yerevan. He began his studies at the Austrian Vorarlberg State Conservatory in Feldkirch under Prof. Penelope Gunter-Thalhammer in 2014, where he graduated with a concert diploma (D3) in 2016. After his studies, Alexandr remained in Feldkirch and got involved in a number of local, regional and international orchestra as a soloist and chamber musician, including: Concentus Revensis (Switzerland), Arpeggione (Hohenems), Götzi Orchestra Association and the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra. Alexandr’s contributions to music are not restricted to his role as a performer. In 2013, he founded the Oda piano trio followed by the Feldkirch Montfort Chamber Orchestra in 2015.

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© 2022 Montfort International Cello Competition

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