Born in Argentina, Sol Gabetta is celebrated worldwide for her virtuoso cello playing and is a welcome guest with almost all the major international orchestras. In recent seasons, she has held residencies with the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Bamberger Symphoniker. The Wiener Konzerthaus dedicated a special portrait series to her and in the USA she has made regular guest appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – alongside her esteemed colleague Klaus Mäkelä – and the New York Philharmonic. As a passionate chamber musician, her concerts have taken her to venues including Lincoln Centre in New York, London’s Wigmore Hall as well as Lucerne, Verbier, Salzburg, Schwetzingen, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and the Beethovenfest Bonn. In recognition of her exceptional artistic achievements, Sol Gabetta was awarded the Swiss Music Prize in 2024 and, prior to that, the European Culture Prize. In 2019, she received the Opus Klassik award as ›Instrumentalist of the Year‹. She has been teaching at the Basel Academy of Music since 2005.

In the 2025/26 season, this much-sought-after cellist returned to the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as a ›Focus Artist‹ – including a number of touring concerts with Paavo Järvi – and thus to the orchestra with which she made her debut 20 years ago. Another project close to her heart this season is her tribute to the cello virtuoso Lise Cristiani, who was one of the first women to take centre stage with the cello in the 19th century. With her historically informed interpretations, Sol Gabetta brings this groundbreaking pioneer back to life. In the 2026/27 season, Sol Gabetta will be Artist-in-Residence with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Aurel Dawidiuk has been described in the Hamburger Abendblatt as a »rising star in the conducting world«. At the start of the 2026/27 season, he will take up his post as Chief Music Director of the Bochum Symphoniker and Artistic Director of the Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr.

Highlights of his conducting career include engagements with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bundesjugendorchester, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Bamberg Symphoniker, the Dresden Philharmonie, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the China National Symphony Orchestra. The 2026/27 season will see his debuts with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra della RAI di Torino and the Lucerne Symphonieorchester.

In 2023, Dawidiuk released the album B-A-C-H; ›Hommage à…‹ on the GENUIN label in co-production with Deutschlandfunk Kultur and the Deutsche Musikwettbewerb; a collection of organ music that was nominated twice for the Opus Klassik award. His debut album ›Liszt | B-A-C-H‹, featuring piano pieces by both composers, had already been released in 2022.

Born in Hanover, Aurel Dawidiuk studied piano with Roland Krüger and organ with Martin Sander. He subsequently studied conducting with Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Mueller, as well as piano with Till Fellner, at the Zurich College of the Arts. His mentors include Hatto Beyerle, Gabriele Leporatti and Ulrike Adler.