Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, a member of the group of composers known as The Five. He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his fifteen operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy-tale and folk subjects.
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor known today primarily for his work promoting musical nationalism and his encouragement of more famous Russian composers, notably Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He began his career as a pivotal figure, extending the fusion of traditional folk music and experimental classical music practices begun by composer Mikhail Glinka. In the process, Balakirev developed musical patterns that could express overt nationalistic feeling. After a nervous breakdown and consequent sabbatical, he returned to classical music but did not wield the same level of influence as before.
Anton Stepanovich Arensky was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.
Philippe Quint is an American classical violinist.
Barnabás Kelemen is a Hungarian violinist, chamber musician, and professor. He is the founder and artistic director of the Festival Academy Budapest and he co-established the Kelemen Quartet. His work has been recognized with the highest professional and state honors: he has been awarded Liszt, Bartók-Pásztory and Kossuth Prizes, Prima and the London-based Gramophone Awards, and is the holder of the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.
Lavinia Meijer is a South Korean-born Dutch harpist. Her concerts have included a solo harp evening at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Sergey Alexandrovich Krylov is a Russian and Italian violinist and conductor.
Rachel Kolly, born 21 May 1981 in Lausanne, Switzerland, is a Swiss violinist. Considered a child prodigy at the violin, she started playing at the age of five.
Alicja Smietana is a Polish-British violinist, viola player, arranger and composer.
Igor Zubkovsky is a Russian cellist.
The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) is a youth orchestra organized by the San Francisco Symphony. The SFSYO performs an annual concert series and has made several recordings. The orchestra rehearses in Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall and has been directed by Daniel Stewart since the 2019-2020 season.
Nikolay Madoyan is an Armenian virtuoso violinist. Madoyan's continuous performance of 59 world classics of different styles and epochs, for more than 33 hours, has been entered in the Guinness World Records book as an “Officially Amazing” achievement.
The Russian Symphony Orchestra Society was founded in 1903 in New York City by Modest Altschuler, and functioned for fifteen years.
Kirill Troussov is a German violinist and violin teacher based in Munich, Germany.
Sebastian Bohren is a Swiss violinist.
Marek Pavelec is a Czech solo violinist, laureate of international competitions and student of Zakhar Bron.
Anastasiya Petryshak is a Ukrainian violinist.
Niklas Liepe is a German classical violinist.
Andreas Frölich is a German pianist and teacher at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
Aleksey Semenenko is a Ukrainian and German classical violinist. He won second prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2015, and has performed in Europe and the U.S. as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been teaching at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany's Ruhr Area.
