*Program is subject to change

 

 

Born in France to a French-Swiss family, Bastian began his musical journey by studying the cello, trombone, and composition. After studies in trombone at the University of Music Saar, he performed as a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado and Pierre Boulez, and the Orchestra Academy of the Munich Philharmonic. Thereafter, he held for a time the position of Principal Bass Trombonist with the BRSO, before putting the instrument aside in order to focus fully on his rapidly progressing conducting career.

 

Bastian worked as an Assistant Conductor to the late Mariss Jansons, who helped and supported him significantly in his early conducting studies, as well as to Daniel Harding, and Vladimir Jurowski (London Philharmonic Orchestra). He also received masterclasses and ongoing support from Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula, and David Zinman, amongst others. Bastian further honed his skills as Chief Conductor of the Abaco-Orchestra of the University of Munich (2011-2018), touring the orchestra to such major European venues as Musikverein Wien.

 

 

“One of the finest cellists around – expressive, unshowy and infinitely classy“ (The Guardian). Alban Gerhardt has, for twenty-five years, made a unique impact on audiences worldwide with his intense musicality, compelling stage presence and insatiable artistic curiosity. His gift for shedding fresh light on familiar scores, along with his appetite for investigating new repertoire from centuries past and present, truly set him apart from his peers.

 

Gerhardt is passionate about sharing his discoveries with audiences far beyond the traditional concert hall: outreach projects undertaken in Europe and the US have involved performances and workshops, not only in schools and hospitals, but also pioneering sessions in public spaces and young offender institutions.

 

A highly acclaimed recording artist, Gerhardt has won several awards, and his recording of Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, released by Deutsche Grammophon, won the BBC Music Magazine Award and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award in 2015. Gerhardt has recorded extensively for Hyperion, his latest recording of Rostropovich’s ‘Encores’ released in January 2017. In 2019 his complete recording of the Bach suites will be released.

 

 

The award-winning Hong Kong-based Asian Youth Orchestra, recipient of Japan's Praemium Imperiale and Nikkei Asia Prize, is counted "amongst the finest youth orchestra round the world." - San Francisco Chronicle

 

Selected annually through a strict audition process, the 100-plus orchestra members represent China Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Macao, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. They are together for six weeks, initially for a three-week Rehearsal Camp in Hong Kong, then for a three-week international concert tour with celebrated conductors and solo artists.

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Cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Steven Isserlis, Wang Jian and Alisa Weilerstein, violinists Vadim Repin, Sarah Chang, Gidon Kremer, Gil Shaham, Elmar Oliveira, Young Uck Kim, Stefan Jackiw and Cho-Liang Lin, soprano Elly Ameling, the Beaux Arts Trio, pianists Alicia de Larrocha, Gerhard Oppitz, Cecile Licad and Leon Fleisher are among those who have performed with AYO under the direction of music director emeritus Sergiu Comissiona, Alexander Schneider, Tan Dun, Matthias Bamert, James Judd, Joseph Bastian and the orchestra’s co-founders, Yehudi Menuhin and Richard Pontzious.