Hisako Kawamura
Born in Nishinomiya, Japan, Hisako Kawamura moved to Düsseldorf, Germany, with her family at the age of 5, where she started studying piano with Kyoko Sawano. She continued her studies with Malgorzata Bator-Schreiber in Göttingen, who provided her with a musical and artistical training, and Prof. Vladimir Krainev at the Hannover University of Music and Drama, who nourished her developing artistic personality.

Kawamura's international concert career kick-started by outstanding successes at renowned international piano competitions. As well as receiving First Prizes at the Concours Clara Haskil in Vevey, the A. Casagrande International Piano Competition in Terni, the G.B. Viotti International Music Competition in Vercelli and the European Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, she was named Laureate at the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels.

In June 2016, Hisako Kawamura performed Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto during her tour in Japan with Kazuki Yamada and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Following the success of this tour, she has invited to perform Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with the orchestra in February 2017. Elsewhere, she played with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi in June 2017, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under Michael Sanderling in November 2018.

Hisako Kawamura has performed with orchestras including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Czech Philharmonic, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Moscow, the Moscow Virtuosi, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra and has worked with conductors Jiří Bělohlávek, Paavo Järvi, Alan Buribayev, Alexander Dmitriev, Vladimir Fedosseyev, Junichi Hirokami, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Zoltán Kocsis, Alexander Lazarev, Erwin Lukac, Mikhail Pletnev, Tatsuya Shimono, Yuri Temirkanov and Kazuki Yamada among many others.

As a soloist, Kawamura has participated at major music festivals such as Klavierfestival Ruhr, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Festival Auvers-sur-Oise, Carinthian Summer, Klavierwoche Ernen and the Chopin Festival Duszniki-Zdroj.

She is also a sensitive chamber musician, performing with cellists such as Clemens Hagen, Maximilian Hornung with whom she regularly works.

In Autumn 2014 she released ‘Rachmaninoff-Album’, her fourth album with the RCA Red Seal label including Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic under Jiří Bělohlávek, and the Sonata for Cello and Piano with soloist Clemens Hagen. Her previous releases include ‘Chopin Ballades’, ‘Hisako Kawamura plays Chopin’ and ‘Chopin Sonata No. 3 and Schumann Humoresque’, which were all critically acclaimed. Other recordings include works by Mozart, Schubert and Prokofiev released on the “DiscAuvers” label, and works by Schubert and Schumann on the “audite” label.

She has been encouraged by numerous scholarships from prestigious organizations, including the German piano company Ibach, the European Yamaha Foundation, Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the Rohm Music Foundation.
In Japan, Kawamura’s music activity was awarded the prestigious Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists of Music in the Spring of 2012 by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. She was also awarded three important music prizes in 2009; the Fresh Artist Music Prize from the Nippon Steel Corporation, the IDEMITSU Music Prize from Idemitsu Kosan and the Prize of the Chopin Society Japan. Kawamura received also Iue-Culture and Art Prize from Iue Memorial Foundation and the Hotel Okura Music Prize.

Kawamura is committed to sharing her musical experience with the next generation: as well as a professorship at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany, she holds a position at the Tokyo College of Music.

Andrea Cellacchi
born in Rome in 1997, lives in a family composed by musicians. He begins studying bassoon at the age of 10 and, 16-years-old, he graduates at the Music Conservatory “O. Respighi” in Latina, Italy, with maximum vote, laud and honourable mention.

18-year-old, he gains international prestige after winning the 1st Prize at the 10th Aeolus International Competition in Düsseldorf, Germany, and the 1st Prize at The Muri Competition 2016, Switzerland, being the first Italian who has ever gained these prestigious awards. He also is winner of the Premio Abbado 2015 and of the 1st Prize in the International Bassoon Competitions “Audimozart 2016”, “G. Rossini” in Pesaro and “Città di Chieri”. 19-year-old, he wins the Principal First Bassoon position at the Konzerthausorchester. In 2017 he gained the “Antonin Reicha” Prize within the International Summer Academy of Wien Music University. In 2018 he won the 2nd Prize at the Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen and the 1st Prize at the International Fox-Gillet Competition 2018 organised by the International Double Reed Society IDRS in Granada, Spain.

15-year-old, he is admitted to enter the “Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia” in Rome, Italy, where he attended the Bassoon Master Course held by M° Francesco Bossone. He took part to Masterclasses held by Dag Jensen, Matthias Rácz, Klaus Thunemann, Gustavo Nuñez, Heinz Holliger, Carlo Colombo, Stefano Canuti, Giorgio Mandolesi, Ole Kristian Dahl, Giorgio Versiglia. In 2018 he got the Master Music Performance at the “Zürcher Hochschule der Künste ZHdK” in Zürich, Switzerland, in the class of Professor Matthias Rácz, where he is currently attending the Specialising Master in soloism.

He performed as a soloist with Münchner Symphoniker, Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, Meininger Hofkapelle, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Argovia Philharmonic, Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie, Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana. He has played with orchestras such as Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, OSI Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Filarmonica del Teatro Regio, European Philharmonic of Switzerland, Turin Philharmonic Orchestra. He took part to notable concert seasons and European festivals, including Rome Chamber Music Festival, Encuentro de Música de Santander and Campus RheinMain in Frankfurt, performing with artists such as A. Carbonare, G. Pellarin, L. Dutton, H. Schellenberger, A. Adorján, E. Brunner, L. Borrani, L. Navarro, M. Rácz, R. Vlatković.

In 2016 he was awarded the Medal of the Italian Chamber of Deputies as a recognition to talent.