Xavier de Maistre was born in Toulon (France) and began studying harp aged nine. Initially a student at the Conservatory there, his studies culminated in Paris with Jacqueline Borot and Catherine Michel. In 1998 he was awarded the first prize at the ›US International Harp Competition‹ in Bloomington. At only 24m he became the first French musician to join the ranks of the prestigious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra – a position which he left in summer 2010 in order to dedicate himself to his career as a soloist.

Aside from compositions from contemporary composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Xavier de Maistre performs masterful arrangements of works like Smetana’s ›Ma Vlast‹ that are usually played by an entire orchestra – a genre that few harpists before him have even considered playing.

Xavier de Maistre performs regularly at leading concert halls in Europe, Asia and North America. He has appeared with major orchestras under the direction of such eminent conductors as Kristjan Järvi, Philippe Jordan, Riccardo Muti, André Previn and Sir Simon Rattle. He also performs at many leading international music festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Salzburger Festspielen, Budapest Spring and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

Solo recitals, duo evenings with soprano singers Diana Damrau and Mojca Erdmann, as well as chamber music concerts with violinist Baiba Skride and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott complete his artistic oeuvre.

Since 2001, Xavier de Maistre has taught at the Hamburg Academy of Music and gives regular master classes at New York’s Juilliard School, Tokyo’s Toho University and London’s Trinity College.

Alexandre Bloch studied cello in Orléans and then composition and conducting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. He was named a ›2012 Talent‹ by ADAMI (French Society of Performer’s Rights).

In 2012, he was awarded the position of Sir John Zochonis Junior Fellowship in Conducting at the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, which gave him the opportunity to study intensively as well as to conduct. He did a last minute replacement of Mariss Jansons at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for very successful concerts. He came to international attention as winner of Donatella Flick’s LSO Conducting Competition in October 2012, after which he was appointed Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra.

Admired for his enthusiasm and energy, Alexandre Bloch is Principal Guest Conductor of Düsseldorf Symphoniker from September 2015. In parallel with his rise on the international stage, Alexandre is the founder and Musical Director of Orchestre Antipodes, which he established in 2011 with young talented musicians.

Highlights of recent seasons include successful debuts at BBC Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Musikkollegium Winterthur, and orchestra of the Royal Danish Opera.