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Hortênsia Music Festival

Summer Concerts & Masterclasses

Terceira, Azores – Portugal

Hrachya
Avanesyan

Violin

Bio

Diemut
Poppen

Violin

Bio

Aleksey
Semenenko

Violin

Bio

Matan
Porat

Piano

Bio

Sevak
Avanesyan

Cello

Bio

Vasco
Dantas

Piano

Bio

Paul
Tulloch

Viola

Bio

Martin
Henneken

Cello

Bio

Isabel
Vaz

Cello

Bio

Tamila
Kharambura

Violin

Bio

Iryna
Brazhnik

Piano

Bio

Application for Masterclass ’25 is now open!

About the festival

The Hortênsia Music Festival is a classical music celebration taking place in the UNESCO heritage listed city of Angra do Heroísmo, situated on the beautiful Azores island of Terceira.

Since 2017 Angra do Heroísmo has been the yearly summer meeting point for passionate professional musicians, both Portuguese and international. With a focus on pedagogy and performance, the festival offers exciting high-quality concerts of chamber music while simultaneously providing inspiring educational opportunities for students ranging from young beginners to university graduates. Such an environment of shared knowledge and artistic experiences creates an unique opportunity for young music students to develop their capacities under professional guidance.  

Through concerts and masterclasses, which are all open to the public, the Hortênsia Music Festival aims to promote an artistic interaction within the community by bringing together children, youth and adults around a common love for music.

Masterclasses

Learn more about the masterclasses program and how you can apply.

Apply

Concerts

Explore our past concerts, upcoming events, and information about past editions.

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Support

Discover how you can support Hortênsia Music Festival.

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“How good it is to work and develop musically and professionally in this inspiring island with so much history and beauty!”

“Thank you so much to the world class musicians who gave three outstanding recitals. I was spoilt with so much chamber music.”

“…a treat for the senses with every note”

“I love the violin! I loved the experience, and would like to repeat! Thank you to the teachers!”

“Feels like we were transported to a musical capital like Vienna or New York”

“Thank you for these days full of good memories and above all, a lot of music”

“It was an incredible experience! I loved the violin and chamber music lessons!”

“Thank you for planting the seed of knowledge and music in the hearts of the children”

Welcome to HMF

Hortênsia Music Festival was born out of a love for performance, a desire to share our collective experiences with younger generations, and an appreciation for the wonderfully welcoming local community of Terceira island.

Since 2017 we have had the great fortune to present a masterclass and chamber music series in a unique festive atmosphere combining music, youth, and community. It has been such an exciting journey to witness the development of the festival each year and we are excited for what is to come.

Situated in the idyllic Azores landscape, the beautiful natural surroundings create a special ambience for audiences to indulge in sublime music and inspire students to dive into an immersive learning experience. Based on our experience, we know the high value that masterclasses and festivals have played in our own professional development, therefore we believe in the importance of bringing such events to the Azores.

We look forward to welcoming you at our festival!

Tamila Kharambura & Paul Tulloch
Founders & Artistic Directors

Hrachya Avanesyan

Hailed as a “sensitive and highly skilled musician with expressive nuances” (Gramophone Magazine) and a “soloist with passionate power, feeling and sweet tone” (Frankfurter Allgemeine), Hrachya Avanesyan has secured his place as an outstanding violinist with first prizes at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin and Carl Nielsen competitions.

Avanesyan has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestre de Chambre de Pelléas, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Lille, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Liège Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic, the State Orchestra of the Rhenish Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. These collaborations have been led by renowned conductors such as Eliahu Inbal, Marc Soustrot, Walter Weller, Lan Shui, Christopher Warren-Green, Joji Hattori, Paul Goodwin, Paul Watkins, Joana Carniero, Alexander Vedernikov, Joshua Weilerstein, Patrick Davin and Daniel Raiskin.

Avanesyan has given stirring concerts in famous concert halls such as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall, Salle Gaveau and Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Santury Hall in Tokyo, the Great Hall of the Moscow Kremlin, the Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the National Auditorium in Madrid, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Memorable performances include playing with Ashley and drummer Joshua Bell at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, performing with Ashley Wass at the Wigmore Hall, and collaborating with Maria João Pires, Maxim Rysanov, Andreas Brantelid, Alexander Chaushian, Lise de la Salle, Marianna Shirinyan, Lily Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Narek Hakhnazaryan and many others at festivals such as Montpellier, Menton, the Strasbourg Music Festival in Memory of Yehudi Menuhin, Al Bustan and the Copenhagen Summer Festival.

Avanesyan’s notable discography includes his premiere recording of Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 2, released in a comprehensive box set of Vieuxtemps’ concertos with the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra and Patrick Davin. His highly acclaimed album of music by Dvorak, recorded with Sinfonia Varsovia and Augustin Dumay, was also highly praised. in 2017, his CD of masterpieces by R. Schumann and J. Brahms, recorded with Boris Brovtsyn, Diemut Poppen, Alexander Chaushian and Yevgeny Sudbin, was released on the BIS record label and was named an iTunes A-List recording and BBC’s Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year. in 2018, a video recording of his concert with Maria João Pires was released on Imagine Clarity and reached millions of views on the platform.

Born in Armenia, he moved to Belgium at the age of 17 and studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels under the direction of Igor Oistrakh. He continued his training at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music with Augustin Dumay and at the Cologne Hochschule with Mihaela Martin. During his studies at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, he also honed his chamber music skills under the direction of the esteemed Artemis Quartet.

Avanesyan plays on a remarkable 1864 J.B. Vuillaume violin, which enhances the beauty and depth of his performances. With his extraordinary talent and passion, Hrachya Avanesyan captivates audiences around the world and contributes to his ever-growing reputation as one of the most important violinists of his generation.

Diemut Poppen

Diemut Poppen is one of the most outstanding violists of her generation. Born into a well-known musical family in Germany she started playing the violin at the age of seven, giving her first concerts as a soloist at the age of nine. She learned several instruments of which the viola became her favorite.

Diemut Poppen studied in Düsseldorf, Aachen, Cologne, Berlin, Bloomington (USA) and Paris. Amongst her teachers were the finest violists of our time: Y.Bashmet, K.Kashkashian, B.Giuranna, H.Schlichtig, P.Schidlof from the Amadeus- Quartet.

Nowadays, Diemut Poppen is one of the most sought after violists, playing concerts worldwide. As a soloist and chamber musician she has appeared in the most important music centres around the world. In London she appeared as a soloist at the Barbican Centre, the Queen Elisabeth Hall and she gave chamber concerts, amongst others, at the Wigmore Hall. Well-known musicians have invited Diemut Poppen to participate in their festivals – amongst others – C.Abbado, A.Schiff, G.Kremer, T.Mork, L.Kavakos, N.Gutman, A.Chaushian.

Diemut Poppen performed as a soloist under the baton of conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Lorin Maazel and Claudio Abbado (debut Carnegie Hall, New York). She has been awarded the European Music Prize. Parallel to her concerts she persues a pedagogic career. Currently she holds professorships in Freiburg MH, Zurich zhdk and Madrid, Escuela de Musica Reina Sofia. The Spanish queen awarded her with the silver medal for music.

She was Artistic Director of several chamber music festivals, currently of Cantabile Festival Lisboa and Rigi Musiktage/Switzerland.

Diemut Poppen was co-principal in Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado and principal viola and a founding member of The Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Poppen’s repertory is exceptionally wide. It spans from the classical viola concertos to all combinations of chamber music as well as contemporary music. Several composers have written new pieces for her, solo as well as concertos, sonatas and chamber music. Diemut Poppen has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Capriccio, Live classics, EMI, Tudor, Ondine, amongst others. This season includes concerts in Germany,Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Israel, Russia, Armenia, the UK and USA.

Aleksey Semenenko

The refined, impassioned and commanding playing of Ukrainian violinist Aleksey Semenenko identifies him as inheritor of the great Odesa violin tradition and earnt him places on both the BBC New Generation Artists scheme and Young Concert Artists in New York, bringing him to the attention of audiences across Europe and the US.

Semenenko has given recitals at Snape Maltings, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and Alice Tully Hall, and performed concertos with orchestras including BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Seattle Symphony, Orchestra of St Luke’s, National Orchestra of Belgium, Ulster Orchestra, Kyiv Symphony and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His festival performances include invitations at the Hay, Cheltenham and Edinburgh festivals.

Recent highlights include a UK tour with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and the televised return of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ with the BBC Concert Orchestra. This season, Semenenko tours Europe with chamber recitals, as well as concerts and recordings with BBC Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra and Szczecin Philharmonic.

The most recent addition to Semenenko’s discography is his album ‘Crossroads’ on BIS, with pianist Artem Belogurov, featuring sonatas by Previn, Schemmer and Gay. The launch of the album was marked by a Wigmore Hall recital in which the duo performed a selection of American works. Semenenko began his violin studies at the age of six with Zoya Mertsalova at the Stolyarsky School, making his solo debut with orchestra only a year later with the Odesa Philharmonic. He completed his studies with Zakhar Bron and Harald Schoneweg at Cologne’s Hochschule für Musik and was a prize winner in the 2015 Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition.

Alongside his performing career, Semenenko is Violin Professor at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen, Germany.

Matan Porat

Hailed by the New York Times for his “magnificent sound and breadth of expression”, pianist and composer Matan Porat has performed in distinguished venues including the Philharmonie in Berlin, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris and Alte Oper in Frankfurt, and with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Geneva Camerata, SWR Symphonieorchester, Concerto Budapest, Helsinki Philharmonic and Hong Kong Sinfonietta, working with such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, András Keller, Susanna Mälkki, Ludovic Morlot, François-Xavier Roth and Ilan Volkov.

Known for his unique, narrative-based programming, Porat’s varied repertoire ranges from the complete Bach Partitas and Schubert Sonatas to Ives’ Concord Sonata and the Ligeti piano concerto. His debut CD for MIRARE, “Variations on a theme by Scarlatti” – a 65-minute program of pieces from Couperin to Boulez– was praised as “a fantastic album that one should hear over and over again” by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
His following CDs, “Lux”, a recital of pieces around light, from dawn to nightfall and “Carnaval”, a recital around Schumann’s Carnaval op. 9, have won 5* in Diapason and Classica magazines.

Matan Porat has participated in many acclaimed festivals including Marlboro, Lockenhaus, Ravinia, Verbier, Hohenems, Rheingau, La Folle Journée, La Roque d’Antheron, Piano aux Jacobins and Musikfest Berlin. Chamber music appearances include performances with the Artemis Quartet, Quatuor Ysaÿe, Cuarteto Casals, Pacifica, Dover, Modigliani, Schumann and Jerusalem Quartets.

His love for the performing arts has led him to collaborate with legendary director Peter Brook, touring with his production of Mozart’s Magic Flute for piano solo and 7 singers; with the Ballett am Rhein in the Opernhaus Düsseldorf and with the music theater group Nico and the Navigators in Bozar and Konzerthaus Berlin.
Porat also improvises live music for silent films, hailed by The New-Yorker’s Alex Ross as “an astounding feat of creative musicianship”.

Born in Tel-Aviv, Matan Porat studied with Emanuel Krasovsky, Maria João Pires and Murray Perahia, obtaining his Master’s degree from the Juilliard School. His composition teachers were Ruben Seroussi and George Benjamin.

Porat’s works have been commissioned and performed by Nicolas Altstaedt, Avi Avital, David Greilsammer, Vladimir Jurowski, Kim Kashkashian, Maria João Pires, Andreas Scholl, Cuarteto Casals and Dover Quartet, as well as Ensemble United Berlin and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Among his works are two operas, 4 string quartets, a Requiem and a mandolin concerto.

Sevak Avanesyan

Sevak Avanesyan is described as “a musician of  extraordinary  virtuosity  and  a  remarkable  range  of  sound  capacities”  (Bernard  Greenhouse)  and  “undoubtedly,  one  of  the  most  gifted  musicians of his generation” (Janos Starker).   

Born in Armenia in 1989, he moved to Belgium at the age of 13 where he became the youngest  graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. At the age of 19 he graduated with the highest  distinction in the class of Viviane Spanoghe.   

In  2009  he  was  accepted  in  the  class  of  the  renowned  cellist  Claudio  Bohorquez  at  the  Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin.   

Besides his regular studies, Sevak Avanesyan has received precious advice from world famous  artists  such  as  Janos  Starker,  Bernard  Greenhouse,  Steven  Isserlis,  Mischa  Maisky,  Maria  Kliegel,  Liuis  Claret,  Peter  Bruns,  Garry  Hofman,  Wolfgang  Boettcher,  Igor  Oistrakh,  Artemis  Quartet, Gerhard Schulz and many others.   

Since  his  youngest  age,  he  has  toured  in  Europe,  USA,  Canada  and  Australia  as  a  member  of  the  “Young  Virtuosos”  of  AMAA.! Sevak  has  won  many  international  competitions,  including  the  First  Prize  at  the  “Young  Soloists”  competition  in  Luxembourg,  First  prize  at  the  “Lions  Club” European competition, “Golden Lable” prize by the Belgian music press association, first  prize winner of “Belgische Stichting Roeping” promotion and many more.   

Some  of  his  most  notable  performances  were  at  venues  such  as  the  Berlin  Philharmonic  hall,  Concertgebouw  in  Amsterdam,  Salle  Gaveau  in  Paris,  the  Ford  Hall  in  Toronto  and  the  Sydney  Opera House.   

He  has  participated  at  notable  festivals  such  as  the  Festival  de  Radio  France  in  Montpellier,  Menton  Festival  and  the  Brahms  festival  (Brussels)  among  others.  He  has  also  collaborated  with  great  conductors  such  as  Hanns  Graf,  Hugh  Wolf,  Andrei  Boreyko  and  the  most  recent  was  the  world  premiere  of  “DNA  15a15”  composed  by  A.Irandian  in  Palais  des  Beaux Arts  in  Brussels, conducted by George Pehlivanyan. The concert was described as the “best concert of  the season” by Belgian TV critics.   

An  ardent  chamber  musician,  Sevak  Avanesyan  collaborated  with  Augustin  Dumay,  Philippe  Graffin,  Pascal  Devoyon,  Pavel  Gililov,  Maxime  Vengerov,  Aleksei  Moshkov  and  with  many  great  musicians  of  the  younger  generation:  Alexander  Khramuchin,  Lily  Maisky,  Julien  Libeer,  Alissa Margulis, his brother Hrachya Avanesyan and many others.   

In  2016  the  “Rhythm   &  Intervals”  documentary  by  Gomes  Schahbazyan  was premiered,  which  is  about  the  life  of  Sevak  Avanesyan  in  Berlin  during  the  period  of  2011 to 2013. The documentary has already won several festivals and was aired on ARTR TV.

Sevak is the Former Solo cellist of National Orchestra of Belgium, as well a regular jury member of Ysaye, Triomphe de l’Art and AGBU music competitions.

He  plays  on  “The  King”  Mateo  Gofriller  cello  from  1689,  which  is  the  very  first  Gofriller  cello  known. It is kindly given to him by Mischa Maisky.

Vasco Dantas

Vasco Dantas, Portuguese pianist born in Porto in 1992, obtained his Bachelor in Music with ‘1st Class Distinction’ at the London Royal College of Music, studying piano with Dmitri Alexeev and Niel Immelman, and conducting with Peter Stark and Natalia Luis-Bassa. He concluded a Master in Performance with highest mark under the guidance of Heribert Koch, as well as at the Doctoral study “Konzertexamen” at the University of Münster.

Vasco is artist director of the Music Series Festivals, including Algarve Music Series, Sezim Music Series and Piano Concerto Festival. He has been awarded over 50 prizes and distinctions in international competitions, including: GianClaudio Chiais International Prize (Rome), Grand Prix at Valletta International Piano Competition (Malta), Prix Spécial at Concours International de Piano SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Morroco), 3rd Prize at Münster Steinway & Sons Piano Competition, Travel-Scholarship to Bayreuther Festspiele 2016 by Richard Wagner Foundation, Golden Medal of Merit (Matosinhos city, Portugal), Fundação Eng. António de Almeida Prize, Best Portuguese Prize (Viseu International Competition), Esther Fisher Prize (2013 best undergraduate of London RCM), Antena 2 Prize (Portuguese National Radio), Henry Wood Trust Prize (2011 & 2012), Casa da Música Prize 2009, and the following 1st Prizes: Porto International Competition Santa Cecília, Estoril Lisbon Competition, Ría de Vigo International Piano Competition, Alto Minho International Piano Competition, Fundao International Piano Competition, the Florinda Santos International Piano Competition, Maestro Ivo Cruz Chamber Music Competition.

In 2022, he made his solo debut at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées (Paris) with the Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa. In 2019 Vasco made his Carnegie Hall piano recital debut, in New York. In 2017 Vasco made his Russian debut performing with Kremlin Chamber Orchestra at Grand Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 2016 he made his German orchestra debut performing with both Jülich Sinfonieorchester and Junges Sinfonieorchester Aachen. In 2015 he had his Asia debut, playing with Hong Kong Symphonia at City Hall Concert Hall; In 2014 he had his American debut playing with Orquestra Sinfónica Espírito Santo in Vitória – Brazil; In 2013 Vasco made his Portuguese orchestra debut with Porto Symphony Orchestra (Casa da Música); In 2011 Vasco made his piano recital debut at Sala Suggia of Porto Casa da Música, opening the EDP Piano Cycle 2011.

He has also performed solo with orchestras including Clássica da Madeira, Clássica do Centro, Clássica do Sul, Festival de Música Júnior, Filarmónica Portuguesa, Filarmónica das Beiras, Gulbenkian, Jovem Orquestra Portuguesa, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra Promenade, Sem Fronteiras, Sinfónica de Cascais, Sinfónica Portuguesa, and has worked with well-known conductors, such as, Choi Sown Le, Daniel Cohen, Dinis Sousa, Günter Neuhold, Jan Wierzba, Joshua dos Santos, Martim Sousa Tavares, Martin André, Misha Rachlevsky, Nicholas Kok, Nikolay Lalov, Nuno Coelho, Osvaldo Ferreira, Pedro Carneiro, Pedro Neves, Peter Sauerwein, Rui Pinheiro, Vassily Sinaisky e Victor Hugo Toro.

Paul Tulloch

Born in 1986 in Melbourne, Australia, violist Paul Tulloch presents himself in a number of musical settings, with the scope of his performances ranging from solo to chamber, as well as orchestral engagements.

Paul is a member of the Sinfonieorchester Aachen in Germany. In 2022 he completed his Konzertexamen (solo-studies) with distinction at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold (Germany) in the class of Diemut Poppen. He had previously furthered his musical development with violists Matthias Maurer, Samuel Barsegian, Mario Gheorgiu and Tobias Lea.

As a passionate chamber musician, he has performed with such prominent musicians as Gary Hoffman, Diemut Poppen, Claire Desert and David Grimal as part of the Lumiéres d’Europe chamber music festival in Paris, and maintains long-standing chamber music partnerships with violinist Tamila Kharambura, pianist Anna Ulaieva, and cellist Fernando Costa. In 2017 Paul co-founded the Hortênsia Music Festival, a yearly festival presenting a series of concerts and masterclasses set in Azores, Portugal.

He has been a regular guest with the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Austria), the Orquestra Gulbenkian in Lisbon (Portugal) and the WDR Funkhausorchester (Germany).

Having undertaken his studies in both violin and viola, Paul received his Bachelor Degree in his hometown, at the University of Melbourne, under violinists Nelli Shkolnikova, Robert Davidovici and Elizabeth Sellars. He completed his Masters Degree with distinction from the Florida International University (FIU), USA, where he worked as Violin Teaching Assistant to Robert Davidovici. After coming to Europe, he studied with violinist Ida Bieler at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz in Austria.

Apart from his instrumental playing Paul is a well experienced singer, having gained much of his early musical training as a chorister of St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir, Melbourne, and later as a member of the internationally celebrated Choir of Trinity College Chapel, Melbourne.

Martin Henneken

Martin Henneken received his first cello lessons at the age of six. He studied at the Musikhochschule Lübeck (Germany) with Troels Svane. He later studied with Reinhard Latzko at the Vienna University of Music (Austria) where he completed his Master’s degree with distinction. Musicians such as cellist Lynn Harrell and violinist Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) complemented his training. He has won awards several times at the German National Young Musicians Competition. He was a student of the Live Music Now Foundation created by Yehudi Menuhin.

During his studies, he played regularly with various orchestras, such as the Lübeck Philharmonic, the Volksoper Wien Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of India, Mumbai. In 2009 and 2010, he was a member of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna Philharmonic) with which he had the opportunity to participate in recordings, international tours and festivals (Salzburg, Lucerne, BBC Proms). Since 2010, he has been 2nd Cello Soloist of the Gulbenkian Orchestra.

Isabel Vaz

A native of Lisbon, was born into a family connected to the arts and began studying music at the age of four and the cello at seven with Luís Estevão da Silva and Maria José Falcão at the Fundação Musical dos Amigos das Crianças. She completed her undergraduate degree at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa with Clélia Vital and Irene Lima (chamber music) and earned her master’s degree at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the class of Dmitry Ferschtman, supported by a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

During her studies, she participated in two international exchange programs, each lasting one semester. She had the opportunity to study at HAMU in Prague with Vaclav Bernasek and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York with Alan Stepansky.

She has received distinctions in various national and international competitions, both as a soloist and in chamber music. In 2006, she won the 2nd prize in the Chamber Music category of the Prémio Jovens Músicos with the ESML piano quintet, and in 2009, she received 1st prize with the Quarteto Blanc. Isabel Vaz was awarded 3rd prize and the audience prize at the Estoril Interpretation Competition in 2012 and 1st prize in 2016.

From 2013 to 2015, she was a member of the Quartetto Indaco, based in Milan, which was distinguished in several competitions: 1st prize at the Guido Papini International Competition (2013), the Jeunesse Musical Deutschland Prize at the Premio Borciani (2014), and 3rd prize at the Val Tidone International Competition (2014). Quartetto Indaco pursued a master’s degree in string quartet performance at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover under Professor Oliver Wille. During this period, the quartet performed at various international festivals and major concert halls across Europe, collaborating with renowned musicians such as Bruno Canino and members of the Quartetto di Cremona.

Isabel Vaz is currently based in Amsterdam and is one of the newest members of the Noord Nederlands Orkest, with which she collaborates on a part-time basis. She is also dedicated to chamber music, performing with various ensembles. She has a cello and piano duo with pianist Vasco Dantas, regularly performing in Portugal and internationally(Netherlands, Germany, Serbia, Russia, Croatia, among others).

In 2021, the album “Luiz de Freitas Branco – Sonatas” was nominated for Best Classical Music Album at the Play Awards.

She is part of the artistic direction of the Algarve Music Series and serves as the artistic coordinator of the Avis Music Series concert cycle.

In recent seasons, Isabel Vaz has performed as a soloist with various orchestras in several European capitals, including the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, SONOR Ensemble, and the Zagreb Soloists.

Tamila Kharambura

Violinist Tamila Kharambura was born in Lviv, Ukraine and at the age of five moved with her family to Portugal. She presents herself in regular recitals and chamber music concerts within Europe and frequently performs as soloist with orchestra in Portugal and in her country of birth – Ukraine. She has also played in various orchestras such as the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Volksoper Wien, Wiener KammerOrchester, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Gürzenich Orchester-Köln.

Between 2016 – 2022 she has held the position of Professor of Violin at the university Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. Having a passion for education and pedagogic work, Tamila co-founded in 2017 the Hortênsia Music Festival – a yearly masterclass and concert series set in the Azores, Portugal.

Tamila studied with her mother Elena Kharambura, with Gareguin Aroutiounian, Pavel Vernikov, Vesna Stankovic-Moffatt and Albena Danailova. She has received prizes in various national and international competitions, such as the competition “Prémio Jovens Músicos RDP” in Portugal (1st prize, 2011), where she was awarded the Young Musician of the Year 2011 Award.

In 2016 she premiered and recorded with Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and maestro Garry Walker the Violin Concerto by acclaimed Portuguese composer António Pinho Vargas, a work dedicated in memory of her teacher Gareguin Aroutiounian.

Other notable solo engagements included performances with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra of Casa da Música do Porto, Artquest Orchestra, Orquestra Clássica do Centro and Lviv Virtuosi Orchestra from the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine).

Currently Tamila lives in Germany and is a member of the Sinfonieorchester Aachen.

Iryna Brazhnik

Ukrainian pianist Iryna Brazhnik began her piano studies at the tender age of four. She continued her studies (1996-1999) at the Kamianets-Podilsky School of Arts with Tatiana Yakovinich. In 1999 she entered to the M. Lysenko Special Music School in Kyiv, where she studied piano with Iryna Lipatova, Tatiana Abaieva and Boris Fedorov. In 2008 she advanced to the Superior Music School of Lisbon, where she completed her Masters Degree in Piano with Professor Miguel Henriques. Shortly thereafter she completed her Specialist in Music Degree.

She has attended Masterclasses with Diemut Poppen, Alvaro Lopes Ferreira (Chamber Music), Christiane Karajev, Dmitri Alexeev and Galina Eguiazarova (Piano).

Throughout the professional career, she has won numerous prizes in piano competitions and festivals in Ukraine, Portugal, Czech Republic and Georgia.

She was considered as the Best Student of the 1st Cycle of the academic year 2010-2011 at Superior Music School of Lisbon and was awarded by Caixa Geral de Depósitos. She won the Incentive Award for Fixing the New Portuguese Music Repertoire on record, awarded under the MODE’16 program, organized by the GDA Foundation in 2019.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Iryna Brazhnik has performed with ensembles including the Kharkiv Chamber Orchestra (2006) , the Lisbon School of Music Symphony Orchestra (2011) and the ESML Saxophone Project (2021 in Portugal and 2022 in Cyprus). She recorded and performed in direct transmission for Antena 2 radio station (2009, 2010, 2013 and 2022). She participated in several Piano recitals of the series “Concertos à Conversa” organized by Miguel Henriques at the Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon) in 2010 and 2011. Also, in 2010, Iryna has participated in the spectacle “Não se ganha, não se paga”, having performed at Teatro da Trindade (Lisbon), Teatro São João (Porto) and Teatro Micaelense (Ponta Delgada). In 2019, worked for Teatro São Luiz in Lisbon, as a collaborative pianist of the opera “La Fille du Tambour Major” of the Jacques Offenbach.

As a collaborative pianist, she performed for the “Internacional Saxophone Competition Vítor Santos” as part of the Palmela International Saxofone Festival (2016, 2019), for “José Massarrão International Competition” (2019, 2021) and for the YMFE Competition (Yamaha) in 2022.

As a performer and composer of new works, she co-founded the group AiDuo with saxophonist Artur Mendes in 2011. AiDuo has performed at various festivals and international congresses, as well as performances in several concert halls in Portugal. In May 2017 the duo held a Piano and Saxophone Masterclass, promoted and organized by the Palmela Regional Conservatory. In 2021, AiDuo led the international consortium (29 participants) to commission a new piece entitled “Prelúdio, Nocturno e Stepdance” for Tenor Saxophone and Piano, by renowned composer António Victorino d’Almeida. Since 2018 Iryna has written several works for AiDuo as well as other works for multiple instruments. Also, she is regularly invited to do premiers of recent works by contemporary composers.

She recorded the CD “Unfinished” (Jomo), a fusion between Jazz and Modern Music (2015) and the CD “On the way…”, marking the 5th anniversary of the AiDuo group (2016).

Iryna currently works as a professor of collaborative piano at the Superior Music School in Lisbon.