Yamen Saadi was born in Nazareth and began studying the violin at the Barenboim-Said Conservatory in Nazareth, before studying under the guidance of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster, Chaim Taub. At the age of 11 he joined the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and at the age of 17 became concertmaster of the orchestra. Saadi completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Barenboim-Said Academy and gained his Master’s degree at the Kronberg Academy where he studied with Mihaela Martin. In 2020 Saadi won first prize at both the Aviv and Paul Ben Haim Competitions, and has held scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and The Prince von Hessen Award.
At the age of 25 Saadi was appointed concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic from the 2022/23 season. He maintains a busy career as both a soloist and chamber musician.
As a soloist, Saadi has performed with orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Berlin, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra de València and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Lionel Bringuier, Lawrence Foster, Leonidas Kavakos, Christoph Poppen and Lahav Shani.
Saadi has performed in recitals and concerto at various festivals and venues across Europe, Asia and the US. These include Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Rheingau Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Pau Casals Festival and the Jerusalem Festival. In November 2023 he made his recital debut in Tokyo at the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall and the Musashino Civic Cultural Hall.
In 2022 Saadi released his first recital album, Voices From Paris, recorded with the pianist Nathalia Milstein and featuring works by Poulenc, Ysaÿe and Fauré.
As a chamber musician, Saadi co-founded the award-winning Chianti Ensemble. The piano quintet tours Europe and was awarded the Kersjes Prize in 2022.
The 24/25 season sees Saadi make his debuts with the Barcelona Symphony and Stephanie Childress, the Naples Philharmonic with Kevin John Edusei, with Sendai Philharmonic and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. In recital he will appear at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical, Madrid; and the Verbier Festival in Schloss Elmau.
Saadi plays the 1734 ‘Lord Amherst of Hackney’ Stradivarius violin, previously owned by Fritz Kreisler, with a Jacob Eury bow, both generously loaned to him by Stephan Jansen on behalf of a member of the Stretton Society.
Born in Madrid in 1991 into a family of musicians, Pablo Ferrández joined the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía when he was 13 to study with Natalia Shakhovskaya. After that he completed his studies at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson and became a scholar of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
Prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition and Sony Classical exclusive artist, Ferrández has been hailed as a captivating performer and has become one of the most in-demand cellists of his generation.
His debut album with Sony Classical, Reflections, released in 2021, was acclaimed by the critics and won the Opus Klassik Award. In 2022 he released his second album, which comprised the Brahms Double Concerto, performed with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Manfred Honeck, as well as Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio, performed with Mutter and Lambert Orkis, also receiving rave reviews.
Recent highlights included appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Hollywood Bowl, Czech Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Oslo Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Bayerischen Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Konzerthaus Orchester, Tonkuenslter Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Israel Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic, touring with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the London Philharmonic conducted by Edward Gardner, with the Munich Philharmonic and Myung-whun Chung, and with the Antwerp Symphony and Elim Chan. He is also frequently invited to perform at international festivals such as Verbier, Salzburg, Dresden, Prague, Grant Park and Jerusalem.
The 24/25 season brings returns to the Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, London Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, KBS Symphony, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo for the Brahms Double Concerto alongside Anne-Sophie Mutter. He also debuts with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Orchester, Belgian National Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, North Carolina Orchestra and is Artist-in-Residence at the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea. Additionally, Ferrández tours with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Borusan Philharmonic and with the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Spain. He performs in trio alongside Anne-Sofie Mutter and Martha Argerich at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, with Mutter and Yefim Bronfman on tour in the United States, with Janine Jansen and Denis Kozhukhin at the Vienna Musikverien and Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht, and as recitalist in New York, Baltimore, Milan, Florence, Bilbao, Laufen, Munster, as well in the Aix-en-Provence, Sion, Peralada and Verbier festivals.
Ferrández plays the Stradivarius ‘Archinto’ 1689, on a generous life-long loan from a member of the Stretton Society.
Born in Madrid in 1995, Sara Ferrández grew up in a family of musicians and started playing the viola at three years old before attending the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid. She continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler with the internationally renowned violist Tabea Zimmermann and is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai.
Widely acclaimed for her warm, impeccable sound, Sara Ferrández is fast emerging as one of the most exciting violists of her generation. She has performed in some of the major concert halls around the globe, including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie, Victoria Hall, L’Auditori in Barcelona and the Salzburg Festspielhaus.
Recent and forthcoming highlights include her debut with the Spanish National Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta de Extremadura, as well as her collaboration with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE and a partnership with the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias as their Artistic Collaborator.
In 2023 she released her first EP, En La Intimidad, where she explores one of Bach’s greatest works, the Suite No.1 in G major.
Chamber music has always held a special place in Ferrández’s musical life. She is frequently invited to play in international festivals, including the Verbier Festival, Classiche Forme, Arezzo Festival, Utrecht Chamber Music Festival and the Sion Festival, performing with artists including Janine Jansen, Beatrice Rana, Amihai
Grosz, Pablo Ferrández, Vilde Frang, Kian Soltani and Daishin Kashimoto.
Sara Ferrández is a former member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic (2019-22), and she regularly performs with members of the orchestra. She is also part of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim and has appeared on several occasions with the ensemble Mutter’s Virtuosi, performing alongside the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
She plays on a David Tecchler viola (1730), with a bow from Nicolas Léonard Tourte – both generously loaned by Stephan Jansen on behalf of and as a member of the Stretton Society.
Born in Bregenz, Austria, in 1992 to a family of Persian musicians, Soltani began playing the cello at the age of four and was only twelve when he joined Ivan Monighetti’s class at the Basel Music Academy. He was chosen as an Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation scholarship holder in 2014 and completed his further studies as a member of the Young Soloist Programme at Germany’s Kronberg Academy. He received additional important musical training at the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein. As of October 2023, he holds the position of professor of cello at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria.
Soltani attracted worldwide attention in April 2013 as the winner of the International Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki. In February 2017 he won Germany’s Leonard Bernstein Award and in December 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Credit Suisse Young Artist Award. His playing is characterised by a depth of expression, sense of individuality and technical mastery, alongside a charismatic stage presence and ability to create an immediate emotional connection with his audience.
In 2017 Soltani signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and his first disc, Home, comprising works for cello and piano by Schubert, Schumann and Reza Vali, was released in 2018. Soltani has since recorded discs including the Dvořák and Tchaikovsky Piano Trios with Lahav Shani and Renaud Capucon, recorded live at Aix Easter Festival in 2018 released by Warner Classics and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim in August 2020.
Recent orchestral highlights have included performing with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. As a recitalist he continues to appear in prestigious halls and series including Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin; Wigmore Hall, London; Schubertiade; Musikverein, Vienna; Beethovenhaus, Bonn; and Konzerthaus Dortmund.
He won the Innovative Listening Experience Award at the Opus Klassic Awards in 2022 for his Cello Unlimited album released in October 2021. It is a celebration of the cello and film music. Of the disc, Soltani wrote ‘The possibilities of the cello are unlimited and infinite, and this album is a celebration of the instrument and of epic film music as well.’
Kian Soltani plays the London, ex Boccherini Antonio Stradivari cello, kindly loaned to him by a generous sponsor through the Beares International Violin Society.