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.

Jérémie Rhorer is one of the most versatile and intellectually challenging conductors of his generation. As founder and musical director of the orchestra Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, this French conductor is continuing artist-innovator tradition through his exploration of 18th and 19th century repertoire performed on historical instruments. He is also a renowned composer and winner of the Prix Pierre Cardin. For more than ten years, Jérémie Rhorer has developed a close relationship with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, where he has conducted a wide range of standard, rarely performed and contemporary operas. Rhorer has also conducted major international orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a sought-after opera conductor, he has also conducted productions at the Wiener and Bayerische Staatsoper, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and is regularly invited to Europe’s most prestigious festivals. Highlights of the current season include his debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Bordeaux-Aquitaine and at Zürich Opera House with a new production of Offenbach’s rare opera ›Barkouff‹. In recent years, Rhorer and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie have initiated an innovative residency at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence with an educational programme for new audiences. Jérémie Rhorer has been a regular guest at The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for years. Together they are currently working on a special Tchaikovsky cycle, which will be presented on tour in Germany and Europe this year and in the coming years.