David Castro-Balbi, Teo Gheorghiu, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg & Howard Griffiths
Biography David Castro-Balbi, Teo Gheorghiu, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg & Howard Griffiths
Teo Gheorghiu
s above all a “poetic storyteller” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) and his captivating style has fascinated audiences at venues such as Wigmore Hall and the Barbican. He has played to great acclaim with orchestras like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He has collaborated with conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Matthias Pintscher and Alexander Shelley. Critics have praised his “blinding clarity” (Tribune de Geneve), and the “imagination of sound” (Alain Cochard, Concert Classic), that lends itself to “thrilling playing” (General-Anzeiger Bonn). He frequently collaborates with his mentor, Maria Joao Pires, and has played at her Belgais Center for Arts. Upcoming performances for 2024/2025 season include a collaboration with Gabor Takacs-Nagy and l’Orchestre de Chambre Fribourgeoise, touring Germany / Switzerland with the Swiss Orchestra under the baton of Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer, reuniting with Andrei Feher at Symphony Nova Scotia, opening the Bach Festival in Chisinau and making his debuts with Filarmonica Banatul Timisoara and Filarmonica de Stat Targu Mures, as well returning to give a recital at Meisterzyklus Bern. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2023.
Born near Zurich, Swiss-Canadian pianist Teo Gheorghiu burst on the music scene when he won first prize at the International San Marino Piano Competition in 2004 and followed up with the top award at the Franz Liszt International Competition in Weimar. He captivated hearts in the moving film about a music prodigy Vitus (2006), with Bruno Ganz. At the age of 18 he was the youngest recipient of the Beethoven Ring at the Beethoven Fest in Bonn and in 2017 he received the Best Canadian Artist award at the Concours Musicale International in Montreal.
He lived in London for many years, where he studied under Hamish Milne. He has also worked with leading orchestras such as the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Sinfonie Orchester Basel, London Chamber Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil, and the Romanian National Radio Orchestra. He has played recitals in Latin America at Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile, Teatro Mayor in Colombia, and participated in festivals such as the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Ravinia Festival and Festival Strings Lucerne.
Currently based in Switzerland, Teo Gheorghiu regularly collaborates with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and is Artistic Director of Société des Concerts de Fribourg. He is a Steinway artist, and has recorded with Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classics, and Claves labels. His repertoire comprises the full range of European composers, from Bach and Enescu, to Bartók and Gurdjieff. He has recently focused on composers such as Albéniz, Granados, Ravel, and Debussy. Teo speaks Romanian, German, French, and English. Embracing his multicultural background led him to explore his Romanian ancestry, and he released Roots in 2022.
David Castro-Balbi
grew up in a family with a long musical tradition. At the age of five he received his first violin lessons from Bernard Mauppin. At the age of 13 he obtained his music diploma (DEM) from the Besançon Conservatory. In 2007 he was accepted into Larissa Koloss's class at the Paris Conservatory, where he received the Prix Supérieur two years later. In the same year he began his studies at the Paris National Conservatory (CNSMDP) with Svetlin Roussev. He is a founding member of the piano trio "Suyana", which was accepted into the chamber music class of the Quatuor Ysaÿe at the Paris Conservatory. He is a prizewinner of the Académie Internationale des cimes de Val d' Isère (under the direction of Prof. Larissa Koloss).
In 2009, at the age of 15, David Castro-Balbi was invited to play with the Académie Internationale de Musique in the Victoria Hall in Geneva and at the Théâtre du Champs Elysées in Paris under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. He is the first prize winner of several national and international competitions for violin and chamber music, including first prize in the "Young Artist Competition" in Colorado (USA) and first prize in the First International Violin Competition in Mirecourt, where he played the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Orchestre National de Lorraine under the direction of Jacques Mercier. He is also a multiple prize winner of the international "Jeunesses musicales de Belgrade", where he played Shostakovich's 1st Violin Concerto with the RTS Symphony Orchestra Belgrade. In 2012 he performed the Saint-Saëns Concerto op. 20 and the Havanaise with the Bordeaux String Ensemble under the direction of Jean-Jacques Kantorow.
As a chamber musician he won the 2nd prize and special prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music at the International Competition "Franz Schubert and Modern Music" in Graz. With his Trio Suyana he won the first prize at the international Bacewic competition in Lodz, Poland. In October 2013 David Castro-Balbi was awarded the 1st prize and four special prizes at the Louis Spohr Competition in Weimar.
In the 2015/16 season he was engaged as concertmaster of the Altenburg-Gera Philharmonic Orchestra. From March 2017 he was the leader of the 2nd violins of the Staatskapelle Weimar. Since April 2018 David Castro-Balbi has been the concertmaster of the 2nd violins of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
David Castro-Balbi is currently completing his concert exam at the HfM "Franz Liszt" Weimar under Prof. Friedemann Eichhorn, where he already successfully completed his master's degree. He plays a violin that was made especially for him by Jacques Fustier (with the support of CIC Nord) as well as a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini and former Spohr violin, sponsored by HfM "Franz Liszt" Weimar.
Howard Griffiths
is an internationally active British-Swiss conductor with a worldwide reputation. His collaborations with today’s most renowned orchestras, soloists and composers has attracted as much enthusiasm and attention as his commitment to talented young artists and charitable causes.
Born in England, Howard Griffiths studied at the Royal College of Music in London and has lived with his family in Switzerland since 1981. From 1996 to 2006, he was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZKO). During this time he broke new ground and significantly continued its tradition in many respects. From 2007 to 2018, Howard Griffiths was General Music Director of the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt. Both directorships were extremely successful, which was reflected in extensive tours of Europe, the USA and China, award-winning CD recordings, pioneering projects in the field of music education and youth work, as well as in the expansion of the regular audience and an extraordinary response from audiences and the press.
Worldwide engagements as a guest conductor with leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin and various German radio orchestras, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the Orqesta Nacional de España, the Orchestre National de France, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and many others round off his career as an internationally recognised conductor. His regular commitment to contemporary music and his close collaboration with composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt and Hans Werner Henze make him a versatile and sought-after artist. Howard Griffiths has performed with numerous renowned artists such as Sir James Galway, Mischa Maisky, Maurice André, Güher and Süher Pekinel, Maria João Pires, Mikhail Pletnev, Vadim Repin, Fazil Say, Gil Shaham and many more.
Almost 200 CD recordings on labels such as Warner, Universal, CPO, Sony and Alpha Classics bear witness to Howard Griffiths' broad artistic spectrum. They include many premier recordings of works by present day composers and more than 60 symphonies by contemporaries of Beethoven and the early Romantic period. In addition to numerous awards, his recordings of all four Brahms symphonies in particular have received great praise: "Such flights of fancy are [...] only possible with an orchestra that performs at the highest level and is on a basis of trust with the conductor." (radioswissclassic)
During his years as General Music Director of the Brandenburg State Orchestra, he was particularly committed to working with up-and-coming young soloists and was very engaged in the field of musical education of children and young people. Both soon became his "trademark". Crossover education projects earned the orchestra the special "Innovative Orchestra"-Award from the German Orchestra Foundation in 2018. Also his four award-winning children's books, published by Swiss music publisher Hug Musikverlag, have attracted a great deal of attention.
In addition to his international guest appearances, Howard Griffiths is currently devoting himself enthusiastically to the recording of the complete solo concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Camille Saint-Saëns with particularly talented young soloists from the Orpheum Foundation, for which he was responsible as Artistic Director for 24 years.
In the annual "New Year's Honours List" announced by Queen Elizabeth II on New Year's Day, Howard Griffiths was made a "Member of the British Empire" (MBE) in 2006. He was also honoured with the Order of Merit of the State of Brandenburg for his artistic achievements and social commitment during his time with the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt.
