Kathryn Stott
pianist
At the age of five, I made friends with the upright piano in our living room. That was the beginning of my musical journey. It would appear that my initial progress was rapid and by the age of eight, I found myself at a boarding school for young musicians, the Yehudi Menuhin School. During my studies there, it is now clear to me that I was heavily influenced by two occasional visitors to the school; Nadia Boulanger and Vlado Perlmuter. From them, my great passion for French music was ignited and Fauré in particular has remained the musical love of my life. Further studies at the Royal College of Music in London then led me very abruptly into the life of a professional musician via the Leeds International Piano Competition. When I met Yo-Yo Ma in 1978, it turned out to be one of the most fortuitous moments of my life. Since 1985, we have enjoyed a collaboration which has taken us to so many fascinating parts of the world. I have always considered us to be intrepid musical explorers on our own individual paths but with an incredible bond that unites us on the creative highway.
Wen-Sinn Yang
violoncellist
The Taiwanese cellist was born in Bern in 1965 and studied with Claude Starck in Zurich and Wolfgang Boettcher in Berlin. He was the first principal cellist in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for 16 years. He often plays with the Orchestra as a soloist.
After having won the first prize at the Geneva International Competition in 1991, he has been invited regularly to important concert halls in Europe and Asia as well as to international festivals. The distinguished conductor Lorin Maazel wrote about Wen-Sinn Yang: «He plays technically at the highest level with a lovely, full sound and impeccable intonation. He phrases sensitively and has the fullest grasp of the philosophical dimensions of the music he plays.» Yang‘s broad repertoire is well documented on more than 30 CDs. A DVD with J. S. Bachs 6 Solo Suites was published in 2006 in collaboration with the Bavarian TV. Since 2005 he teaches at the University for Music in Munich.
Jürg Dähler
violist
Born in Zurich, Jürg Dähler studied violin with Sándor Végh and Heribert Lauer and viola with Christoph Schiller and Fjodor Drushinin. Further studies followed with Pinchas Zukerman and Kim Kashkashian. After his debut at the Zurich Tonhalle with the world premiere of Daniel Schnyder’s viola concerto dedicated to him, he was a guest with many renowned orchestras. Concert tours as a soloist and chamber musician have taken him to Australia, the USA and throughout Europe. Since 1993 he has been 1st solo violist in the Musikkollegium Winterthur orchestra and is a member of the Winterthur String Quartet. Since 1999 he has been a co-founder of the Swiss Chamber Concerts and has directed the Whitsun Festival at Brunegg Castle in the same capacity since 2015. In 2008, he was awarded the Zolliker Culture Prize for his artistic work and his services to Switzerland as a cultural centre. In 2020, he received the Swiss Music Prize for his long-standing commitment to the Swiss Chamber Concerts. He plays a violin by Antonio Stradivarius, Cremona 1714, and a viola by Raffaele Fiorini, Bologna 1893.
Werner Bärtschi
pianist and composer
has never given up to look after the specific character and aesthetic value of each single piece of music. Therefore his interpretations are regarded as particularly spontaneous and intense. He has played on all continents and at festivals such as Gstaad, Lucerne, Zurich, La Roque d‘Anthéron, Antalya and Salzburg. Broadcast-, tv- and filmappearances as well as numerous CDs give evidence of his succesful activity as a pianist. The focus of his teaching is to develop from the individual personality of each student the aesthetical goals and the ways to achieve them. His approach to music as a composer is helpful. Thus he is able to appreciate the rich complexity of the past‘s masterpieces. Bärtschi‘s talent for communication allows him to transmit his insights effectively.