With his captivating musicality and instinctive sense of style, Maximilian Hornung, born in 1986, has been conquering the world for years. Even early on, this musician was making far-reaching musical waves at the highest level. He studied in Zurich and Berlin with renowned Professors Eldar Issakadze, Thomas Grossenbacher and David Geringas. Aged 23, Hornung became principal cellist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – a position most sought-after among cellists.

For some time, Maximilian Hornung has been performing as soloist with conductors such as Daniel Harding, Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, and with world famous ensembles such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.  As a chamber musician, Hornung has also played with outstanding musical partners such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hélène Grimaud, Daniil Trifonov and Christian Tetzlaff. In addition to the most prestigious concert halls – Concertgebouw Amsterdam or London’s Wigmore Hall for example, Hornung also performs at festivals from Salzburg to Hong Kong. In September 2018 he was Artistic Director of the VivaCello Festival in Liestal.

His extensive and varied discography includes solo concerts as well as extremely prominent chamber music recordings. He received the Echo Klassik Prize as Young Artist of the Year (Sony 2011) and in the 2019 season he will be making his Debut with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

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.