Kyril Zlotnikov – Cello
Kyril Zlotnikov, born in Minsk, Belarus, is a founding member of the Jerusalem Quartet, recognised for its artistic creativity and one of the most dynamic and exciting quartets currently performing. The musicians have performed all over the world.
Along with his extensive chamber music appearances Kyril Zlotnikov has performed and been broadcast as a soloist with internationally renowned orchestras, such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Ludwigsburg Symphony Orchestra, The Gulbenkian Orchestra, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Jerusalem Camerata and enjoys artistic collaboration with acclaimed conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Lawrence Foster, Asher Fish, Simone Young. He has a wide repertoire covering the important cello works of the baroque, the classical period, romantic and the contemporary music.
Kyril Zlotnikov is a regular guest at major chamber music festivals such as the Proms Festival, Verbier Festival, Vancouver, Gstaad, Salzburg, Rheingau, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, the Jerusalem and the Schwetzingen Festivals among others.
A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Zlotnikov has shared the stage with the foremost artists of today such as Daniel Barenboim, András Schiff, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Pierre Boulez, Elena Bashkirova, Mitsuko Uchida, Natalia Gutman, Tabea Zimmerman, Miriam Fried, Michael Tree, Asher Fish, Nikolaj Znaider, Lang Lang, Itamar Golan, Martin Fröst.
Kyril Zlotnikov has served as a jury member for several international competitions, including the 2016 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, 2022 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. 2001 – 2012 Kyril Zlotnikov was a principal cellist and a teacher of the cello group at the “West- Eastern Divan Orchestra” under Maestro Daniel Barenboim. He also frequently took part in special projects and tours of the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra as a principal cellist. Among many recordings with the Jerusalem Quartet, Zlotnikov has recorded the complete Mozart piano trios with Maestro Daniel Barenboim and violinist Nikolaj Znaider.
Alena Baeva – Violin
Artist-in-Residence: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Described as “a magnetic presence” and “a constantly fascinating sound technician” (New York Classical Review), violinist Alena Baeva is considered one of the most exciting, versatile, and captivating soloists active on the world stage today, working with leading conductors including Gustavo Gimeno, Paavo Järvi, Marek Janowski, Vladimir Jurowski, Tomáš Netopil and Riccardo Minasi.
Possessing a passionate musical curiosity, Baeva holds an already vast and rapidly expanding active repertoire, including over fifty violin concerti. She is a champion of lesser-known works alongside the more mainstream violin literature, with recent performances promoting such composers as Bacewicz, Karaev, Karłowicz, and Silvestrov.
Baeva’s career as an international soloist of the highest renown has grown at an extraordinary pace over recent seasons, performing with orchestras including New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and Göteborgs Symfoniker. She enjoys a long-standing and rewarding relationship with the Orchestra of the XVIII Century, performing and recording a variety of repertoire on period instruments.
Chamber music holds a particularly special place in her musical life, where she enjoys collaborations with such esteemed artists as Yuri Bashmet, Daishin Kashimoto, Misha Maisky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and the Belcea Quartet. Her regular sonata partner is the celebrated Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko, with whom she has had a dedicated musical partnership for more than a decade.
Baeva records exclusively for leading label Alpha Classics, and the first project of her multi-disc deal with the label Fantasy with Vaydm Kholodenko was released in February 2024. Baeva’s wider discography is extensive and reflects the impressive breadth of her repertoire. Recordings include Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 (with Orchestra of the XVIII Century, 2021); the Karłowicz Violin Concerto (with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 2018); and the Schumann Violin Concerto and original (1844) version of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (for Melodiya Records, 2020).
Born in Kyrgyzstan with Slavic-Tatar ancestry, Baeva took her first violin lessons at the age of five under renowned pedagogue Olga Danilova in Kazakhstan before studying with Professor Eduard Grach in Russia. She also took lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Garlitsky, and Shlomo Mintz, and took part in the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland, focused on string quartet repertoire. Naturalised Luxembourgish, Alena Baeva has resided in Luxembourg since 2010.
Alena Baeva plays on the “ex-William Kroll” Guarneri del Gesù of 1738 – on a generous loan from an anonymous patron, with the kind assistance of J&A Beares.
Vadym Kholodenko – Piano
Combining fierce pianism, an unrivalled breadth of repertoire, and a level of interpretative refinement that ascends to the realms of poetry, Vadym Kholodenko rises as an artist the likes of which the world has rarely seen since the great pianists of the Golden Age.
Gold Medallist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Kholodenko’s distinguished pianism and profound artistic gifts have led to invitations from many of the world’s finest orchestras and concert halls.
The 2024/2025 season sees Kholodenko debut with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano), Filarmonica della Scala (conducted by Susanna Mälkki), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Karina Canellakis), and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Marie Jacquot), amongst others. He also returns to such celebrated orchestras as the Indianapolis Symphony, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Other recent and forthcoming concerto highlights include those with leading orchestras of North America (Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra); Europe (Budapest Festival Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano G. Verdi, Orquesta Nacional de España, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra); and Asia & the Far East (National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra).
Kholodenko has held the position of Artist-in-Residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas, USA), and the SWR Symphonieorchester (Stuttgart, Germany). He is Artist-in-Residence at London’s Bechstein Hall – a state-of-the-art new chamber music venue – in its inaugural season (2024/2025).
Kholodenko has forged strong musical partnerships with many of the world’s leading conductors, including Karina Canellakis, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Marie Jacquot, Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Gemma New, Sir Antonio Pappano, Dima Slobodeniouk, Thomas Søndergård, Krzyzstof Urbański, and Kazuki Yamada, amongst others.
In recital, Kholodenko appears on the world’s leading stages – from London, Paris, and Vienna, to Boston, Chicago, and New York – where he is praised for his “iron-clad technique, capable of moments of crystalline delicacy” (The Guardian). He is also a thoughtful and committed chamber musician, enjoying rewarding collaborations with an array of such artists as Clara Jumi-Kang, Anastasia Kobekina, Vadim Repin, and the Belcea and Jerusalem string quartets. He has made numerous recordings with violinist Alena Baeva, with whom recent and forthcoming appearances include concerts in the cultural capitals of Florence, London, and Paris.
Possessing an extraordinary facility for the assimilation of music, the sheer scale of Kholodenko’s knowledge and command of the piano literature is unrivalled, and he holds a vast array of active repertoire. His discography to date encompasses solo piano works by a diverse list of composers (J.S. Bach, Balakirev, Beethoven, Chaplygin, Kurbatov, Liszt, Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Rzewski, Schubert, Scriabin, Siloti, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, amongst others). Recordings for the Harmonia Mundi record label include the Grieg Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2, and the complete cycle of Prokofiev’s piano concertos.
Kholodenko’s recordings have been described as “truly outstanding” (Gramophone Magazine), and received such accolades as Editor’s Choice Award (BBC Music Magazine), and the much-coveted Diapason d’Or de l’année. His latest release – a pairing of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for the Quartz Music label (2022) – met with tremendous critical acclaim, described as “carefully contoured and impactful” (BBC Music Magazine), and “playing that pulls no punches: Kholodenko is in the elite of classical pianists” (Norman Lebrecht, for The Critic).
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko took his first piano lessons at the age of six, and began touring internationally at thirteen years old. He was educated at the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, under the renowned pedagogues Natalia Gridneva, Borys Fedorov, and Vera Gornostaeva. He won First Prize at the Sendai International Piano Competition (2010) and Schubert International Piano Competition (2011), before taking the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2013). He is now resident in Luxembourg.
