The Swiss clarinetist, Ernesto Molinari, was born in Lugano, Switzerland in 1956. He studied clarinet in Basel and bass clarinet in Amsterdam and is an accomplished soloist on each of the instruments in the clarinet family. Numerous compositions have been composed especially for him and his fearless approach to playing has inspired a new generation of clarinet players. From 1994 to 2005 he was clarinetist in the Viennese Soloist Ensemble Klangforum Wien. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in renowned music festivals (Salzburg, Paris, Lucerne, Berlin, etc.)throughout Europe and around the world and is at home with classical music as well as contemporary music and jazz. Presently professor for clarinet at the HKB (College of Arts) in Bern, Switzerland, Ernesto Molinari has also been teaching at the International Music Institute in Darmstadt since 2000 as well as the Impuls Academy in Graz since 1999.

www.ernestomolinari.com

At the moment, the French clarinettist Michel Lethiec is considered to be one of the most eminent figures on the world-wide classical musical scene. Besides his numerous concert and festival performances, he is also devoted to teaching and participates actively in the research and the distribution of the repertoire.

He has played with the Barcelona Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic, the Stockholm and the Malmoe Orchestras, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Milano Pomeriggio Musicale, the Prague Radio Orchestra, the Philharmonique de Radio France…

His recordings include more than twenty compact discs, among which are two Grand prix du Disque (“Ascèses” by Jolivet and “Contrasts” by Bartók, with G. Poulet and N. Lee), for Lyrinx, Arion, RCA, Bis, Talent, Actes Sud.

He teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and at the Nice Conservatoire and he also participates regularly in international competitions ( Geneva, Leipzig, Prague, Osaka, Munchen…) as a jury member.

He is the Artistic Director of the prestigious Festival Pablo Casals in Prades.
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Graduated at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Muique de Paris with first prize. Teaches at Tokyo Gakugei University, Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, and Heisei University of Music.

He is interested in environmental issues, giving many concerts in areas around the nation supporting „green power”. Through music he tries to reveal several aspects of global environment and tries to educate population in various issues of the enviromental topic .

In addition, he is dedicated to training young musician to be able to social contribution, especially in the field of welfare. 

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Vlastimil Mareš has shown his exceptional musical talent at international and national competitions. He is the winner of Prague Spring /1981/, won first prize in K. Krupinsky‘s Competiton /Poland, 1979/, and first prize at Markneurkierchen /Germany, 1980/, among others. He graduated from the Music Conservatory in Pilsen, studying in the class of Prof. Jiří Hlaváč. While in his second year at the Conservatory he became the winner and laureate of the international competition Concertino Praga. He later graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Mareš is a member of The Prague Wind Quintet and the Five Star Quartet. Since 1985, he has been the first clarinet player of the Symphonic Orchestra FOK. He has led a busy soloist career, performing at prominent venues in most European countries as well as in the USA and Japan. He teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he was appointed a professor in 2002. He currently serves as the Vice Dean of the Academy, taking care of study programs. Mareš’s recordings are also widely recognized. In 1996, he won the CD of The Year prize awarded by the Repertoir magazine in Paris. Other prizes include Grammy Asia 97 and Grammy Classic 93 for recordings of concerts by F. V. Kramář.

Irvin Venyš is by all means an outstanding artist of the young Czech generation. He gained top awards in the world most renoun international music competitions - Prague Spring, Pacem in Terris Bayreuth, EBU New Talent, Paris, Zurich, Madeira . He repeatedly proves these honours at the most prestigeous festivals in Europe – Pablo Casals Festival Prades, Festival Mitte Europa, Mozart der Europaer – Mannheim, Prague Spring – and podiums all over the world - Japan, Germany, France, Spain etc. Extraordinary is the range of his musical activities, reaching from classical repertoir through extremely demanding contemporary compositions – world and czech premiers - Osvaldo Golijov, Betty Oliveiro, Isang Yun, Jan Dušek -  Concerto for clarinet and orchestra, N-Tech etc.-  to traditional folklore. He has collaborated with the world leading artists - Heinz - Jörg Schellenberger, Radovan Vlatkovič, Zakhar Bron, Peter Czaba, Igor Ardašev, Sir Libor Pešek, Ralph Gothoni, Elina Vahala, Michel Lethiec, Hagai Shaham, Andre Cazalet or Jean - Louis Capezzali etc.  His musical education is also worth mentioning. He has graduated The Brno Conservatory - Prof. Břetislav Winkler- The Academy of performing arts in Prague – Prof. Vlastimil Mareš and Prof. Jiří Hlaváč (PhD), where he is an assistant professor now and currently serves as the Vice Dean of the Academy, taking care of science, research and forreign affairs. He also spent a year at Conservatoir National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of  professor Michel Arrignon. In the mean time he frequently records for Czech Radio and Czech Television, Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk, Arco Diva and NAXOS. His recordings on Compact discs contain music from classical clarinet repertoir to works inspired by folklore and jazz.

www.irvinvenys.cz

Daniel Wiesner is a native of Prague. He graduated from the Music Conservatory, where he studied with Prof. Valentina Kameníková, then subsequently from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he studied in the class of Prof. Peter Toperczer. In 1990 he won first prize at the Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow. Being both a soloist and chamber player, he has performed in most European countries, the USA, Japan, Jordan, Tunisia, and Nicaragua. Wiesner has recorded several CDs and continues recording for Czech Radio. Among other subjects, he focuses on interpretation of current music. Since 2013, he has taught in the Department of Piano Cooperation at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Dana Drápelová is a member of a chamber ensemble Sonata a tre /Marie Petříková-Gajdošová – violin, E. Drápela – clarinet, D. Drápelová – piano/. She plays at concerts in the Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Italy, Austria, and Slovakia. She regularly records for Czech Radio /J. Brahms, J. Haydn, R. Schumann, B. Bartók, A. Chačaturjan, K. Husa, J. K. Vaňhal, B. Martinů/. As a soloist, she presented the Czech and Austrian premiere of the Concerto for violin, clarinet, piano and orchestra by the American composer William Wallace in 2005 /State Philharmony Brno, T. Netopil/. She works as a senior lecturer for piano cooperation at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, Czech Republic, teaching clarinet, bassoon, and oboe.

Renata is a producer and arts manager, who has gathered experience in many fields all over the world. She has over 38 years of teaching experience. Renata is the founder, owner and director of Sabongui Pilates Academy in Prague. She was a guest teacher at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, as well as Kyoto ballet Academy and others. Managed two tours of Mikhail Baryshnikov in Prague, and tours of Alvin Ailey, also produced Spanish Compania Andalusa di Danza in Prague, The Ballet of Hamburg in Prague, the Royal Dance Academy of Cambodia in Prague, and the first performance of Czech artists in the Kennedy Center. She obtained Doctorate degree at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University Prague, 2015.