Adrian Sîrbu graduated from the “St. Basil the Great” Orthodox Theological Seminary of Iași, he holds two Bachelor’s degrees, from the “Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology of Iaşi, and from the Faculty of Composition, Musicology, Musical Pedagogy, and Theatre of the “George Enescu” University of the Arts from Iaşi, and a Master’s degree in in “Christian philosophy and Cultural dialogue” from the Faculty of Philosophy of the “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iași. He also graduated the Master program in Byzantine music of the State Conservatory of Athens, under the guidance of Professor Dr. Georgios Konstantinou. He is an alumni of the “Ζωοδόχου Πιγής” School of Byzantine Music from Athens and of State Conservatory of Athens, department of Byzantine Music, where he studied with Professor Lykourgos Angelopoulos, Archon Protopsaltes of the Ecumenical Archdiocese of Constantinople. Continue reading “Adrian Sîrbu” »

Boian Videnoff was born in 1987 in Sofia, Bulgaria to a family of well-known musicians. He received his first musical education at the age of four from his parents, Prof. Dora Bratchkova, first concertmaster of the German Radio Philharmonic, and Liubomir Videnoff, a noted baritone. Continue reading “Boian Videnoff” »

Estonian-born and American-raised, conductor Kristjan Järvi is a unique musical personality pushing back classical music’s borders with his fresh ideas, charisma and technical prowess. Hailed by the New York Times as “a kinetic force on the podium, like Leonard Bernstein reborn,” Järvi has combined his classical roots and affinity for traditional repertoire with an infectious enthusiasm for creating original programmes, propelling classical concert halls around the globe into the 21st century. Continue reading “Christian Yarvi” »

Huichang Yan was conferred the title of National Class One Conductor at the First Professional Appraisal of China in 1987. He joins the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in June 1997. Yan was awarded the “Cultural Medallion (Music)” by the National Arts Council of Singapore in September 2001. In 2004, he was awarded a Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Chinese music as well as his efforts in promoting Chinese music. In 2008, he was awarded the Jurors’ Award for Conducting at the 6th China Gold Record Awards – Multi Arts Category. In 2010, Yan was awarded the Overseas Award for Music at the 51st Literary and Art Works Awards of the Chinese Writers’ & Artists’ Association (Taiwan). Continue reading “Huichang Yan” »

Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle (The Netherlands) and after a classical education he studied organ, harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam and was awarded the Prix d’Excellence for both instruments. From the beginning of his musical studies he was fascinated by authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship, and at the age of 25 he created his first Baroque orchestra. In 1979 he founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in 1992. Continue reading “Ton Koopman” »