Alexander Melnikov completed his studies with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Conservatory, concentrating even from a very early age on historical performance practice. Today, this Russian pianist performs regularly with renowned early music ensembles such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Musica Aeterna, the Academy for Ancient Music in Berlin and the Orchestre des Champs Elysées. He is equally a much sought after soloist with ensembles such as the Royal Concertgebouw, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Philadelphia Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the NHK Symphony.  In addition, he has also worked with conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Dausgaard and Valery Gergiev.

Melnikov‘s intensive involvement with chamber music is a vital facet of his work, typically with the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and his longtime duo partner Isabelle Faust. Their recording of the complete set of Beethoven violin sonatas, which has not only been nominated for a Grammy but which has also been awarded a Gramophone Award, is considered a reference recording. Melnikov’s recordings of Shostakovich’s op. 87 Preludes and Fugues have also been named by the BBC Music Magazine as one of the most important recordings of all time. Since 2017/18, Alexander Melnikov’s ›The Man with the Many Pianos‹ project has presented a programme played on various historical instruments and which reflects the styles of the respective periods. A highlight of the 2018/19 season is his residency at London’s Wigmore Hall.

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow in 1972, and completed the first part of his musical studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany, continuing his studies at the Musikhochschule of Dresden and Berlin.

From the 17/18 season on he will be the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming the orchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2007. He also holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival, Bucharest.

Vladimir Jurowski enjoys close relationships with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the orchestras of New York, Chicago and Boston as well as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, and festivals like the BBC Proms, the George Enescu Festival of Bucharest, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival