Born in Latvia and trained in Russia, Misha Maisky is one of the world’s leading cellists and has performed in the great concert halls of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo, as well as being a welcome guest at international festivals. He has performed with almost all of the greatest conductors from Leonard Bernstein to Gustavo Dudamel. As a chamber musician, this cellist continues to perform with outstanding musicians such as Martha Argerich, Janine Jansen and Lang Lang.

One particular highlight of his concert activities to date was without doubt the year 2000. Misha Maisky marked the 250th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death that year with a worldwide concert marathon in excess of 100 performances in which he performed Bach’s solo suites for cello. As an exclusive artist for ›Deutsche Grammophon‹, Maisky has made 44 recordings spanning over 30 years, including with prominent orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and many others. This exceptional cellist, who has chosen to make his home in Belgium, sees himself as a citizen of the world. In the year of his 75th birthday, Maisky looks back on his 50-year stage career in the west.

The Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has served as Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this long standing collaboration was the widely acclaimed Beethoven cycle, whose performances were celebrated by critics around the world and honoured with numerous awards, including the Echo Klassik for “Conductor of the Year.” The Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms; both cycles likewise received multiple distinctions. Since autumn 2021, the orchestra has turned its focus to Joseph Haydn’s twelve London Symphonies, followed in 2024 by an in depth engagement with the symphonies of Franz Schubert.

Since the 2019/20 season, Paavo Järvi has also served as Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. Starting with the 2028/29 season, Järvi will assume the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival, which he established in 2011. As a guest conductor, he regularly appears with leading orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, Paavo Järvi was named Artist of the Year by both Gramophone magazine (UK) and Diapason (France). This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for Conductor of the Year. Further honours include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’ Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the title Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In recognition of his commitment to promoting the music of Jean Sibelius, he received the Sibelius Medal in 2015, and in 2012 he was awarded the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. For his dedication to Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013, and in 2024 he received the Bremen Senate Medal for Art and Science.