Mirsa Adami (piano) is a member of the Darius Ensemble and has formed a duo with violinist Cecilia Bernardini, with whom she won the Vriendenkrans Award of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Since many years she is a repetiteur at the Dutch National Opera Academy and an accompanist at the International Holland Music Sessions. She is one of the pianists and presenters of the `Classical Express` a driving concert hall which brings classical music to schools and she develops her own educational projects. In her concerts she often combines music with literature. In 2015 she was honored for that by the French Société Académique Arts-Sciences-Lettres.
Pavel Fischer (violin) is co-founder of the Škampa Quartet whose leader he was for many years. He worked together with musicians as Josef Suk, Kathryn Stott, Ronald van Spaendonck, Liza Ferschtman and Janine Jansen. He is teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, CODARTS Rotterdam and the Conservatoire Birmingham and regularly gets invited as guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Netherlands String Quartet Academy and the Australian Chamber Music Festival. Pavel performs also with his crossover-ensembles Camael and Il bardolino. He composed several chamber music works which were performed at Carnegie Hall, the Rudolfinum and the Elbphilharmonie.
Jelte Althuis (basset horn/ (contra)bass clarinet) is co-founder of Calefax Reed Quintet and plays with this ensemble at prominent concert venues worldwide. He arranged hundreds of works for Calefax and himself, many of which have been recorded. He is member and arranger of a collective of low instruments called ‘Lyrisch Laag’ and has an intensive collaboration with pianist/organist Henny Heikens. He belongs to the Chamber Music Faculty of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and has a lot of experience in coaching amateurs.
Donald Grant (violin) is co-founder of the Elias Quartet (GB) and since 17 years member of this ensemble. He performs at major concert venues worldwide (o.a. Carnegie Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall London and Concertgebouw Amsterdam) and recorded many cd's ( e.g. complete recording of alle Beethoven String Quartets and the album "The way home" with own compositions). He is teacher and Deputy Head of Chamber Music of the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) and he is a passionate player of Scottish Folk Music.
Raaf Hekkema (saxophone) is co-founder of Calefax Reed Quintet and
plays with this ensemble at prominent concert venues worldwide. He arranged
hundreds of works for Calefax and himself, many of which have been recorded. With
his ensemble he regularly offers educational concerts for children and he is
very engaged in teaching professional and amateur musicians. Raaf performed
chamber music with musicians as Liza Ferschtman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Remy van Kesteren, het Danel Quartet,
Christianne Stotijn and Helena Rasker. He teaches saxophone and chamber
music at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. In 2020 he was appointed as a member
of the ‘Akademie van Kunsten’.
Sidonie Riha (violin/viola) is a former 2nd violinist of the Rubens Quartet and
Faust Quartet. She performed at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berliner
Philharmonie, Opera Oslo and festivals as the International Festival Quartuor a
cordes Luberon and the Schleswig Holstein Festival. She collaborated with the Borodin Quartet, Mitsuko Shirai, Karl
Leister, Dimitry Ashkenazy, Inon Barnatan and Ariadne Daskalakis and taught chamber
music during the summer school of the University of Bloomington, at the Barratt
Due Institute Oslo and the Conservatories in Rotterdam and Maastricht. She regularly
performs with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and is a teacher for violin,
viola and chamber music at the Music Academy The Hague.
Charles Watt (cello) studied cello at Cambridge University and at the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama, London. For many years, he taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Purcell School. Currently, he is the solo cellist in the "Insomnio ensemble", the "Lumaka ensemble" and the "Alban Berg Ensemble." He performed at concerts in Europe and America, i.a. the Alice Tully Hall in New York, The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Royal Albert Hall in London. He regularly coached the Fancy Fiddlers, a string orchestra of highly talented children. Charles has also taught masterclasses, both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.