Born in Locarno, Francesco Piemontesi is a pianist of exceptional refinement of expression, which is allied to a consummate technical skill. The ›Neue Zürcher Zeitung‹ calls him a »Wizard of Sound«. Of his great teacher and mentor, Alfred Brendel, Piemontesi says that Brendel taught him »to love the detail of things«. In his many concerto, recital and chamber music appearances, he reveals all the mesmerising facets of his artistry and takes his audiences on a fascinating discovery journey. Piemontesi has performed with some of the world’s leading orchestras, from the Berlin Philharmonic to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and from the London to the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he gives regular guest performances at festivals such as the Salzburg, the Lucerne and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festivals as well as at the BBC Proms.
In addition to the concert stage, Piemontesi is equally at home performing chamber music with a variety of partners including Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian Tetzlaff, Jörg Widmann and Janine Jansen. In solo recital, Piemontesi delivers pure piano poetry to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, at the Rheingau Musik Festival and at the Wigmore Hall in London, where he was celebrated for his Mozart Odyssey of the complete piano sonatas. Since 2012, Piemontesi has been the Artistic Director of the Swiss classic festival Settimane Musicali di Ascona.

Jérémie Rhorer is one of the most versatile and intellectually ambitious conductors of his generation. As the founder and Artistic Director of the orchestra Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, the Frenchman continues in the tradition of artist-innovator, exploring the repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries using period instruments. A winner of the Prix Pierre Cardin, Rhorer is also a well-respected composer. For over 10 years, Jérémie Rhorer has developed a close relationship with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, where he has conducted a broad spectrum of standard, rarely-performed and contemporary operas. Rhorer has also conducted some of the most distinguished international orchestras, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester, the Orchestre de Paris and the Czech Philharmonic.

In demand as an opera conductor, Rhorer has conducted performances at the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and has also guest conducted at some of Europe’s most prestigious international festivals. Highlights of the current season include his debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Bordeaux-Aquitaine and at the Opernhaus Zürich with a new production of Offenbach’s seldom-performed opera Barkouff. In recent years, Jérémie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie have initiated an innovative residency at Le Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence, which includes an educational programme dedicated to new audiences. The exciting conductor enjoys a long-standing collaboration with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.