"His playing encompasses a technical perfection which never lacks musical expression; rather, it captivates and convinces with serious intensity." - Ingo Harden in Fono Forum

Mario Häring was born in November 1989 in Hanover, Germany and grew up in Berlin. Descending from a GermanJapanese family of musicians, he gained first experiences with the piano and violin at the young age of three years and shortly after took up his first piano lessons. Even before finishing high school, he became a student of Professor Fabio Bidini at the Julius-Stern-Institute of the University of the Arts Berlin and of Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at HMTM Hanover. It was also with Prof. Kämmerling and Prof. Lars Vogt that Mario Häring completed his studies, which he finished in 2017 with the highest grade.

He gained special recognition at the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition by winning the 2nd prize as well as the inaugural Yaltah Menuhin Award for the best chamber music performance.

In the year 2003 Mario Häring gave his orchestral debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall. Since then, his concert activities led him to renowned halls such as Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Theâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He was a guest at major festivals such as the Festival La Roque d'Anthéron, the Schwetzinger Festival, the Kissinger Sommer and the festival "Spannungen" in Heimbach. In spring 2017 he was the first "Intendant in residence" of the newly founded festival ":alpenarte" in Schwarzenberg, Austria. Concert engagements led him through Europe, Asia and the USA.

His chamber music partners include Sharon Kam, Soyoung Yoon, Pablo Barragán, Kian Soltani and Emmanuel Tjeknavorian.

He is a founding member of the Bawandi Trio (with Patrick Hollich – Clarinet and Alexandre Castro-Balbi – Cello) and the Capybara Piano Quartet (Shuichi Okada – Violin, Takehiro Konoe – Viola, Minjoung Kim – Cello) with whom he won first prize at the 2023 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition.

In the past seasons, Mario Häring has performed regularly in the major European concert halls, where he gave concerts with cellist Kian Soltani as well as with oboist Cristina Gómez Godoy and violist Sara Ferrández as part of the ECHO "Rising Stars" series.

His discography now includes three solo albums and five chamber music albums. For the album "Røta", he was awarded the Opus Klassik 2021 together with violinist Ragnhild Hemsing and cellist Benedict Klöckner.

On his latest album "EXTASE", released by Berlin Classics, he explores the emotions of an imaginary Berlin techno weekend through works by Debussy, Liszt, Connesson, Scriabin, Cage, Rachmaninoff and Wagner.

Bulgaria-born pianist Veselin Ninov is a recording artist and the winner of numerous national and international competitions in the USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.

Mr. Ninov has performed with orchestras, judged international festivals and competitions, and has given master classes and solo and chamber music recitals in Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Steinway Hall, and others.

Veselin is the Artistic Director of the Manolov International Competition and currently runs a private teaching studio in New York. In 2024 he received the prize for high pedagogical accomplishments awarded by Steinway & Sons.

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen shot onto the international stage with back-to-back victories in the 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition, 2017 Washington International Competition, and the Warning International Piano Competition. The Worthing Herald music critic Richard Amey praised his recent performance "flair for the unusual and his technical and artistic capacity to deliver," as well as his "musical and emotional intelligence, dexterity and virtuosity," listening to Chen as soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.5 "Egyptian" with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. His vibrant playing at the Pacific International Piano Competition (Canada) was recognized by the judges, who selected him for the first prize ("…Yi-Yang showed an impressive breadth of emotional investment and natural affinity for the music he played. The informed individuality and command of his performance was immediately compelling to the judges. We feel this young man has a fine future as an artist. He seems to 'own' the piano as he plays, and this makes his performance extremely powerful" - Dr. Robin McCabe).

Yi-Yang Chen is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Kansas and the Artist Director of the Orbifold Music Festival in California. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen has been playing the piano since the age of 8. Yi-Yang completed his Doctor of Musical Arts And Bachelor's of Music at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys, and his Master's degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal. He also has solo/chamber masterclasses with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Pollack, Joseph Kalichstein.

Yi-Yang Chen is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, and Mu Phi Epsilon. He enjoys swimming, biking, traveling, and composing. Yi-Yang is currently working on a recording project with Champs Hill label (UK); the release is scheduled for 2025. Before joining KU (University of Kansas), Yi-Yang served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University as a tenure-track professor.

Dr. Chen is a Steinway Artist.

Graduated from the National Music School Panaiot Pipkov Bulgaria with Professional Qualification in Viola Performance and completed degrees at the National Academy of Music 'Prof. Pancho Vladigerov', Sofia, Bulgaria before continuing with her Artist Diploma Program in New York.

Her ability as a solo and chamber musician has been recognized by more than forty national and international competitions in Europe and the USA as she was the winner of numerous prizes including:

First Prize and Scholarship - National Competition "Svetoslav Obertenov" - Provadia 2006

First Prize and Special Prize "Veliko Penev"- National Competition for best performance of Bulgarian music - Burgas 2008

First Prize and Scholarship - International Competition "German and Austrian Music 2007

Second Prize - International Competition "Hopes, talents, masters" 2007

Special Soloist Price - National Competition in Pleven 2007

Second Prize for Chamber Music - International Competition "The Earth and The People" 2010

First Prize - International Academy Competition for Chamber Music, 2010

First Prize - International Competition for German and Austrian Music "M.A.G.I.C" - Burgas, 2011

First Prize - International Chamber Music Competition New York Concert Artists - New York 2014

Tonya Bibashka was awarded by the Bulgarian Minister of Culture for her contribution to the Bulgarian Music and Arts and a five-time winner of their scholarship for future career developments.

Tonya was a soloist of Philharmonic Orchestras and Chamber Orchestras such as Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia State Academy of Music Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Long Island Conservatory New York.

Tonya participated in a variety of master classes and festivals such as Varna summer where she won scholarship for outstanding Viola performer. She also was a Principal Violist, selected from audition by members of the Vienna Philharmonic, at International Orchestra with Conductor Sir Neville Marriner.

She is an acting principal violist of the New York Virtuosos, the CFO Chamber Orchestra NY and a member of a various string ensembles. She is also a jury member of Manolov International Competition NY.

Misia Iannoni Sebastianini is an Italian violinist and currently a violin professor at the "Morlacchi" Conservatory in Perugia.

She studied at the "Santa Cecilia" Conservatory in Rome and graduated in 2016 with the highest honors, distinction, and a mention of honor. In 2018, she earned a second-level degree in chamber music at the "Arrigo Boito" Conservatory in Parma with a score of 110, distinction, and a mention of honor.

She owes her violin training to Masters Marco Fiorini, Oleksandr Semchuk, Ksenia Milas, and Pavel Berman and she further honed her skills with Leonidas Kavakos, Massimo Quarta, Felix Ayo, Dora Schwarzberg, Mariana Sirbu, Natalia Prishepenko, Alessandro Moccia, and Virgilio Gori.

Recently, Misia completed her studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel under the guidance of Rainer Schmidt, supported by the De Sono Association. Her final concert for the Master's in Violin Performance in 2022 won a prize for the best exam of the year. She continued her specialization with a Master's in Soloist Performance, also under Maestro Rainer Schmidt, which concluded with a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Sinfonieorchester Basel at the prestigious Stadtcasino in Basel.

Misia is a founding member of the Quartetto Werther, an ensemble that won the F. Abbiati Prize – A. Farulli Prize in 2020, Third Prize at the 20th edition of the "Trio di Trieste" International Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the Alberto Burri Competition in 2019, Third Prize at the Città di Pinerolo Competition in 2023 and Second Prize at Lugano Chamber Music Award.

The quartet's extensive concert activity includes performances at major institutions such as the International House of Music in Moscow, Teatro La Fenice in Venezia, Unione Musicale in Torino, Bologna Festival, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Società dei Concerti in Milano, Teatro Ristori in Verona, and the Società del Quartetto in Milano.

They graduated from the chamber music masterclasses at the Santa Cecilia Academy with a score of 10, honors, and a mention (for the first time in the history of the academy's chamber music courses), also receiving the prestigious Sinopoli Prize, presented by President Mattarella.

She was invited by Bruno Giuranna to serve as a jury member for the first "Premio Farulli" String Quartet International Competition in 2020 and by Eugenio De Rosa to be part of the jury for the "Annarosa Taddei" International Competition in 2023 (a competition she had previously won in 2016).

In 2023, she was invited to hold a masterclass for the Erasmus+ Key Action 1 Mobility Program, working with students from the School of Music for particularly talented young musicians in Skopje, Macedonia.

She plays a 1928 F. Guadagnini violin.

Collaborative Pianist & Vocal Coach, specializing in opera and art song.

With over eight years of experience, he have worked with numerous vocal instructors and professional opera singers.

Active in conservatories, universities, opera theaters, and music academies, where he serve as both a pianist and vocal coach.

In 2018, he won the "Special Duo" Award at the National Italian Chamber Music Competition in Milan. In the same year, he participated as an accompanying pianist in rehearsals for La Bohème by Puccini and Rigoletto by Verdi at the Conservatorio di Musica G. Verdi in Milan and was admitted to the collaborative piano course at the Dance Academy of Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

From 2019 to 2022, he taught at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China as a master coach for opera singers. During this period, he was frequently invited as a pianist and master collaborator for rehearsals of La Bohème and the "Puccini Theme Concert," conducted by the renowned conductor Li Wei, at the Shanghai Opera House and Zhejiang Opera House in China.

In 2020, he was invited by Xinjiang University in China to perform as an accompanying pianist in a concert. That same year, he worked as a master trainer, preparing students for entrance into the University of Southampton's Highfield Campus in the United Kingdom, the Conservatorio di Musica G. Verdi in Milan, and Ball State University in the United States.

In 2021, he was invited by Chinese baritone Ye Yong to perform as an accompanying pianist at the Grand Theatre in Hangzhou, China. At the same venue, he also performed as an accompanist for a special "Russian Concert." Additionally, he accompanied concerts featuring sopranos Zhao Jing and Me Yanan.

Since 2023, he has been a faculty member in the Collaborative Program and Vocal Coaching at the Brescia Conservatory (Italy).