Prof. BETTINA SCHMITT (Violin)
Bettina Schmitt is of German descent, grew up in Italy and has lived in Vienna since 1985. From 1980 to 1985 she studied classical violin at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, at the University of Music and Performing Arts (mdw) in Vienna, under Professor Michael Frischenschlager from 1985 to 1991, and in 1991 at the Aspen Summer Festival, Austria, under Professor Dorothy Delay. From 1998 to 2004 she studied conducting at the mdw and in numerous masterclasses. Since 1984 she has performed extensively both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, with concerts in Austria, Italy and Germany. Between 1999 and 2000 she gave numerous solo recitals and masterclasses in Japan and Korea. She has had many years of experience working with Austrian youth and student orchestras: she has taught at summer schools in Lilienfeld (1994-2005), directed the Tulln Music School's Youth Symphony Orchestra (2006-2022), and spearheaded the 2008 Lower Austria Music Schools Orchestra Festival. Bettina Schmitt joined the mdw music faculty in 1992, and from 2001 to 2025 went on to establish her own violin degree programme. Many of her students have been awarded First Class Honours or are winners of the Austrian national music competition. Since 2000 she has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Marchfeld Symphony Orchestra, with regular concerts in Austria and Slovakia, and tours to China and Japan. Since 2025 conductor of the „OBH strings“ in Eisenstadt (Burgenland, Austria). She has also conducted the Gwangju Women‘s Chamber Orchestra (South Korea), the Bohuslav Martinu Symphony Orchestra (Zlín, Czech Republic), the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra (Ostrava, Czech Republic), the Slovakian State Opera Orchestra, (Kosice), the South Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra (Budweis, Czech Republic), the Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra (Herne, Germany), the Johann Strauss Orchestra (Coburg, Germany) and the Opera Orchestra at Liberec (Czech Republic). Her repertoire ranges from baroque to modern, and across chamber music, symphonic pieces, and operas and operettas with vocalists from the Vienna State Opera and the Volksoper, Vienna. Since 2007 she has worked as Artistic Director of the Festschloss-Hof subscription concerts in Marchfeld, which feature numerous chamber music performances. In 2009, the Marchfeld Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded the Lower Austria Culture Prize for outstanding artistic achievement.

Prof. THOMAS CHRISTIAN (Violin)
 www.thomas-christian.at 
Thomas Christian wurde in Linz geboren. Er lebt in Wien. Seinen ersten Violinunterricht erhielt er im Alter von sieben Jahren bei Franz Toifl, einem Schüler Jan Mařáks. Mit elf Jahren war er Preisträger eines österreichischen Violinwettbewerbes in Wien. Er studierte beim New Yorker Violinpädagogen Theodore Pashkus sowie bei Jascha Heifetz, Schüler von Leopold Auer, in Los Angeles. Mit neunzehn Jahren debütierte er mit dem ersten Violinkonzert in D-Dur von Paganini in der New Yorker Carnegie Hall. Seither konzertiert er in fast allen Ländern Europas, den USA und Asien. Der Künstler war Gast großer Orchester, wie Dresdner Philharmonie, BSO Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, MDR- Orchester, WDR Symphonie Orchester Köln, RSO Stuttgart, Staatskapelle Halle, Rheinland-Pfalz Philharmonie, Königliche Philharmonie Antwerpen, Mozarteum- Orchester Salzburg, Wiener Symphoniker, RSO Wien, Slowakische Philharmonie, Slowenische Philharmonie, Zagreber Philharmonie, Belgrader Philharmonie, Brünner Philharmonie, Orchester Regio Emiglia di Parma, Stockholmer Philharmonie, Helsinki Philharmonische Orchester, FOK Orchester Prag, George Enescu Philharmonie, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic und Korean Philharmonic Orchestra Seoul. Er arbeitete u.a. mit Dirigenten wie Christoph von Dohnanyi, Willem van Otterlo, Horst Stein, Kurt Sanderling, Milan Horvat, Argeo Quadri, Leif Segerstam, Cristóbal Halffter, Paavo Berglund, Heinz Wallberg, Leopold Hager, Hans Graf, Günter Neuhold, Uros Lajovic und Heinrich Schiff zusammen. Thomas Christian gastierte beim Schleswig- Holstein Festival und den Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspielen, den Salzburger Festspielen, ebenso beim Bruckner Fest Linz, dem Korea Festival Seoul, den Dresdner und Bregenzer Festspielen, beim Prager Frühling sowie bei den Wiener Festwochen und beim Musikprotokoll des Steirischen Herbstes. Seine Kammermusikpartner waren u.a. Bruno Canino, Jeremy Menuhin, Boris Pergamentschikow, Raphael Wallfisch, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Paul Badura–Skoda, Jörg Demus, Antti Siirala, Stefan Vladar, Paul Meyer, Heinrich Schiff und Cornelia Weiß. Thomas Christian gründete das Wiener Streichquintett, das viele Jahre in Europa, Südamerika und Japan konzertierte. Heute leitet er das Thomas Christian Ensemble in unterschiedlichsten Besetzungen. Es entstanden mit ihm zahlreiche Rundfunk- und Fernsehaufnahmen bei ORF, RAI und WDR, SWR, beim Bayerischen Rundfunk, Saarländischen und Norwegischen Rundfunk sowie bei Radio Hilversum und zahlreiche CD- Einspielungen als Solist wie als Kammermusiker. Thomas Christian ist Professor an der Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien und an der Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Gastprofessur an der Tokyo University of Arts.

Prof. THOMAS RIEBL (Viola)
Born in Vienna in 1956, Thomas Riebl studied with S. Führlinger, P. Schidlof and S. Vegh. He has won prizes at the International Competitions in Budapest (1975), Munich (ARD 1976) and in 1982 won first prize and the International Naumburg Competition New York. Thomas Riebl has appeared as a soloist at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the "Goldene Saal" of the Wiener Musikverein. He has performed with numerous leading orchestras including the Chicago, Berlin and Vienna Symphony, the Bavarian and Finish Radio Symphony Orchestras. His chamber music partners have included J. Norman, A. Schiff, O. Maisenberg, El. Leonskaja, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, L. Vogt, G. Kremer, B. Schmid, Is. Faust, J. Bell, T. Zimmermann, N. Gutman, B. Pergamenschikow, St. Isserlis, S. Meyer and the Juilliard String Quartet. From 1972 - 1979 he was a member of the Franz-Schubert-Quartett, Vienna (1.prize at the competition in Stockholm in 1974); subsequently he became a founder member of the Vienna String Sextet (1979 - 2004), which performed worldwide and recorded several CDs for EMI and pan classics. Since 1983, Thomas Riebl has been a professor at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. In addition, he has been Visiting Tuor at the RNCM in Manchester and has given numerous master classes worldwide. Many of his students won international competitions and became professors at music universities or members of leading orchestras and string quartets. He is artistic director of the Internationale Sommerakademie Bad Leonfelden, Austria.

Prof. GUSTAV RIVINIUS (Violoncello)
 www.gustavrivinius.de 
is the first and only German musician to be awarded a Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition 1990. He has performed with the best world orchestra under L. Maazel, V. Neumann, Chr. Eschenbach, D. Kitaenko, D. Zinman, H. Schiff, V. Gergiev a .o. Along with his solo work, he plays regularly alongside his brothers in the Rivinius Piano Quartet. Gustav Rivinius is a professor at the HFM University of Music in Saarbrucken. He also teaches a number of master courses annually. In addition he is a sought after juror at major music competitions and sat on the jury at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Prof. ALVARO COLLAO LEÓN (Saxophone)
 www.alvarocollaoleon.com 
Alvaro Collao León, holding a Master of Arts in Performance, Education and composition, stands as a versatile saxophonist, improviser, composer, and arranger based in Vienna, Austria. His profound musical journey has been enriched through studies under the tutelage of renowned mentors on a global scale. He is Saxophone teacher at the Joseph Haydn Institut für Kammermusik und Neue Musik at the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts. Classical Saxophone and improvisation teacher at the Friedrich Gulda School of music Wien. Artistic director of the Tarapacá international music festival and ChileSaxFest. Alvaro's saxophone and artistic studies began in the University of Chile under the guidance of Miguel Villafruela. His musical journey then traversed to Bordeaux, France, where he honed his skills at the Conservatoire under the mentorship of Marie-Bernadette Charrier. Vienna, Austria, became the next destination, where he immersed himself in the rich musical culture of the city at the Music and Arts Private University. Here, he studied under the guidance of distinguished mentors such as Lars Mlekusch, Andrew Middleton, Julia Purgina, Wolfgang Liebhart, Abazari Sara amongst others. A laureate of multiple international music competitions, Alvaro's exceptional talent has garnered recognition worldwide. His accolades include triumphs at the Pan American Competition of Classic Saxophone in Mexico City, the Vienna Fidelio Competition in 2012 and 2014, and the Osaka International Competition in 2015. Special honors, including the Hyogo Governor Awards, Vienna Performing Award, and "Also Award" from The Sax Magazine, further illustrate his musical excellence. Alvaro was also recognized at the 2017 Michigan M-Prize Competition and received the Startstipendium für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in 2017. Alvaro Collao León is a consummate performer of contemporary music, renowned for collaborations with esteemed composers such as Friedrich Cerha, Georg Friedrich Haas, Hannes Kerschbaumer, Peter Eötvös, Olga Neuwirth, Beat Furrer, Francois Sarhan, Gerhard E. Winkler, Simon Pironkoff, Katharina Klement, Georges Aperghis, Alberto Posadas, Miguel Farias, Chaya Czernowin, Peter Erskine, Mauro Hertig, Alexander Stankovski, Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Leo Brouwer, Daniel Osorio, Pierluigi Billone, among other luminaries. His musical journey has graced the most prestigious concert halls and venues across the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Notable venues include the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Musikverein, Mozarteum großer saal Salzburg, Porgy and Bess of Vienna, National concert hall of Taipei, Gasteig Concert hall in Munich, Music Academy Katowice, Bibliothèque Mériadeck France, Teatro del Lago Chile, Corpartes Chile . Alvaro has also been a prominent presence in renowned festivals such as Allegro Vivo Kammermusik Festival, Wien Modern, Salzurg biennale, Wiener Festwochen, Klangspuren Schwaz, Vienna-SaxFest, Cervatino weeks of music from Guanajuato-Mexico, Aspekte Festival Salzburg, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, International Festival at the UNAM in Mexico City, Ensems Festival, Bregenzer Festspiele, Transart.  Alvaro is actively engaged with prominent musical ensembles, including the ÖENM Österreich Ensemble für Neue Musik, Orchester Volkoper Wien, PHACE Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Kärntner Sinfonieorchester, the Vienna Saxophonic Orchestra, Avido Duo, Reider- Collao, and FIVE SAX. He proudly holds the distinction of being a Selmer Paris and D’Addario artist. Alvaro Collao León's musical journey transcends borders, captivating audiences worldwide with his artistry, and he continues to be a prominent figure in the contemporary music scene. Graduation with distinction.

Prof. NINA EDELMANN (Voice)
 www.nina-maria-edelmann.com 
The Austrian Mezzosoprano Nina Maria Edelmann studied singing at the Vienna Conservatory and the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz with Andreas Lebeda, and received additional training from Kurt Widmer, Hilde Zadek and Claudia Visca. The singer with the „resonant, relaxed and beautifully timbred voice“ performed in many opera houses throughout Europe and has been able to establish herself as a well known Oratorio and Lied singer and also for contemporary music. She sang with the the Sirene Opera, Zoon Opera, Musiktheater Vorarlberg, at the Staatsoperette Dresden, Gmundner Festpiele, Wolfegger Festival, and under the baton of Maestro Manfred Honeck, Friedrich Möller, Heinz Ferlesch and many more.

Prof. ELENA FILIPOVA (Voice)
 www.elena-filipova.de 
The soprano Elena Filipova was born in Bulgaria, where she graduated singing and acting training at the Sofia Conservatory (master’s degrees). She continued her vocal training with the famous tenors Mario del Monaco and Franco Corelli in Italy, and with KS Dr.h.c Prof. Hilde Zadek in Vienna. Immediately after her graduation she was hired in Germany. Shortly afterwards she won the “Herbert v. Karajan Competition” in Salzburg and was hired by Herbert von Karajan for the Salzburg Festival. One of her first roles was the Amelia in "Simone Boccanegra" (G. Verdi). Since then she has sung at the world's great opera houses. In Germany she was awarded the title Kamnmersänger. In 1997 Filipova won the "Premio Puccini" alongside Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. She collaborated with the most important conductors of our time: Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, W. Sawallisch, N. Harnoncourt, C. Abbado, C. Thielemann, D. Runicles, F. Luisi, M. Viotti, A. Fischer, S. Soltesz, D. Oren, P. Steinberg, R. Abbado, Simone Young and others. Sergiu Celibidache hired her for the Verdi Requiem for the 150th anniversary of the Munich Philharmonic. (Live - Recording EMI). Elena Filipova has also been teaching for many years. In the USA, South America and Europe she is regularly invited to master courses in song, oratorio and opera, as well as in the Erasmus program. Since 2013 she is professor for singing at the MUK - Music and Arts Private University of Vienna. Many of her students are prize winners of international competitions or look forward to engagements at various opera houses worldwide. Elena Filipova is fluent in German, English, Italian, Russian and Bulgarian.

Prof. BARBARA GISLER-HAASE (Flute)
 www.floete.at 
is a Professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and head of the Leonard Bernstein Institute. In 1974 she won an award in the international competition at "Prague Spring". In the same year she began to teach at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Member of the "Eurasia Quartet", the "Vienna Nonett" and the "Vienna Bach Soloists", in 1983 founded the "Vienna Flautists" and in 1997 the "Jubal Trio". Numerous concerts with these ensembles as well as more than 15 CD recordings. Author of the flute series "Magic Flute" and "Fit for the flute". Development of the "wave line" flute up to international production-ready stage in collaboration with the Wiener Flötenwerkstatt.