Nelson Freire (born October 18, 1944 - died November 1, 2021) was a Brazilian classical pianist. Freire began playing the piano at age 3.He replayed from memory pieces his older sister, Nelma, had just performed. His teachers in Brazil were Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, former students of a pupil of Liszt. For his first public recital, at the age of four, Freire chose Mozart's Sonata in A major, K. 331. In 1957, Freire's performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, at the age of 12. He was awarded 7th place at the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition. He subsequently received a Brazilian government grant to study in Vienna with Bruno Seidlhofer. By 1964, Freire had won his first prize at the Vianna da Motta International Music Competition in Lisbon, Portugal (ex-aequo with Vladimir Krainev) and he also received the Dinu Lipatti Medal and the Harriet Cohen Medal in London, England. In December 2001, he chaired the jury for the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris. His debut at The Proms was in August 2005. In general, Freire tends to avoid the limelight, publicity, and interviews. However, in 2011, Freire withdrew from a scheduled engagement with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (OSB) and conductor Roberto Minczuk, in support of the orchestra musicians, following the dismissal of about 3 dozen OSB musicians by Minczuk.

KIRILL KARABITS Conductor Kirill Karabits is Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and General Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Deutsches National Theater Weimar. His relationship with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has been celebrated worldwide and together they have made many critically acclaimed recordings, most notably a Prokofiev symphony cycle. They opened their 2015-16 season with hugely successful concert performances of Salome and together they have made numerous appearances at the BBC Proms and returned in summer 2017 for a performance of Walton Belshazzar’s Feast. In September 2016, Karabits assumed the position of General Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar and his first season included productions of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and his own transcription of St John Passion. The 2017-18 season will see productions of Le nozze di Figaro and Tannhaeuser, plus an extensive tour of the United States with the Staatskapelle Weimar. Karabits has worked with many of the leading ensembles of Europe, Asia and North America, including the Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago Symphony orchestras, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro La Fenice and the BBC Symphony Orchestra – including a concertante version of Bluebeard’s Castle at the Barbican Centre. The 2016-17 season saw his acclaimed debut with the Munich Philharmonic and in spring 2016, he conducted the Russian National Orchestra on their tour of the US and returned to the RNO in August 2016 to conduct two concerts at the Edinburgh International Festival both with Mikhail Pletnev as a soloist. The 2017-18 season will include his debut with the Dresden Philharmonic at the Kulturpalast and further concerts in Moscow with the Russian National Orchestra. A prolific opera conductor, the 2016-17 season saw his debuts at the Deutsche Oper (Boris Godunov) and Oper Stuttgart (Death in Venice). He has also conducted at Glyndebourne Festival Opera (La bohème and Eugene Onegin), Staatsoper Hamburg (Madama Butterfly), English National Opera (Don Giovanni), Bolshoi Theatre and he conducted a performance of Der fliegende Holländer at the Wagner Geneva Festival in celebration of the composer’s anniversary. Working with the next generation of bright musicians is of great importance to Karabits and as Artistic Director of I, CULTURE Orchestra he conducted them on their European tour in August 2015 with Lisa Batiashvili as soloist. In 2012 and 2014 he conducted the televised finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award (working with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra). He was named Conductor of the Year at the 2013 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.

Niek de Groot Bio English Dutch double bassist Niek de Groot is one of today's leading soloists. Originally a trumpet-player he started playing the double-bass at 18. Within an unusually short time he became principal bass with several European ensembles, including a 10-year tenure as principal Solo-Bass with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. After his formal studies he further developed his skills at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada. Niek's playing has benefited a great deal also from attending masterclasses with eminent cellists Frans Helmerson, Lluìs Claret, Laurence Lesser and in collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, György Sebök and Mstislav Rostropovich. Over the last years Niek de Groot has dedicated himself entirely to chamber music and solo performances. He performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at the best known concerthalls and music festivals. His repertoire includes a great deal of contemporary music and he has worked closely with composers such as Kurtág, Stockhausen, Saariaho, Vasks and Gubaidulina. A well received solo CD for NIMBUS, with sonatas of Brahms, Hindemith, Vasks and Gubaidulina was released in 2015. A production with the integral Hoffmeister solo-quartets and Rossini sonatas for BIS-records came out in 2017/18. A new highly acclaimed recording with contemporary Violin/Bass Duos for AUDITE is on the market since February 2018. Upcoming projects include the recording of Kurtág’s chambermusic for AUDITE and the world-premiere of several new Double Bass concertos. Since 1996 Niek is Senior Professor for Double Bass at the Folkwang University of Arts, Essen, being the only french Bow playing bassist ever to teach in such a position in Germany. He also taught at institutions in Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and regularly gives master classes worldwide. Many of his former and current students play in Europe's foremost orchestras and ensembles. Through his career, Niek de Groot has played on rare double basses by Cerutti, Bajoni and Amati. Since 2016 he got the lifelong privilege to play the world famous Domenico Montagnana double bass from 1747. His bows are especially made for him by Jochen Schmidt. His baroque and classical bows are by Gerhard Landwehr.