Lucian – Leonard Raiciof (violin), born in Onesti-Bacau, Romania, received his first violin lessons at the age of 5 from Professor A.I. Cuperman. After studying at the music school in Onesti- Bacau and Iasi he was accepted in 1989 at the “George Enescu Music Academy” in Iasi in the class of Natalia Epure and Professor Leonid Popovici. In 1995 he received his Diploma „Cum Laudae“. During his studies in 1991 he became principal concert master of the Iasi Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania.

Since a very early age he has performed solo or with orchestras in great concert or radio halls of Romania, Switzerland, Germany and Italy among other countries. Lucian-Leonard Raiciof’s masterful interpretation of Tschaikowsky’s “Souvenir d’un lieu cher” created a stir in 1999 when it was recorded and released by Mirasound on CD. Since then he has been invited for many more recitals and concerts, especially with orchestras in The Netherlands and Romania.

In 2004 Lucian-Leonard Raiciof became principal concertmaster of the Residence Orchestra in The Hague. In the same year he brought new energy to the already existing “Residenz String Quartet” (1969). In its new formation the “Residence String Quartet” performs throughout The Netherlands.
 

Romanian born concert pianist Karina Şabac has performed as soloist and with orchestras in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie, Munich Gasteig, Bucharest Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin. She has played Trio recitals with principal leaders of the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic, with violinist Midori Goto in the Disney Hall, Los Angeles, with Sherban Lupu, with Ivan Monighetti among others.

Recipient of several US Awards, Karina Şabac's recordings of solo piano works and concertos were made for and broadcast by WQXR- New York, Classic Radio- Bucharest, SFB3-Berlin, KMozart- Los Angeles. After almost a decade in the US, in 2007 she returned to Europe, where she created the KarMa Duo and the KSPQ Piano Quartet. She has been Artistic Director of the “Rumänische Kammermusikabende in Berlin” (GE) and “ZARVA- Zile de Arta Romaneasca in VAALS” (NL).

She is currently Executive Director of and performs together with the Simons Ensemble. Next to her concert schedule she is active as Culture Events Manager.

www.karinasabac.com

Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, Lena Vieru Conta studied piano in Bucharest, Salzburg, Moscow and Geneva with Gabriel Amiras, Carlo Zecchi, Lev Naumov and Harry Datyner. Her repertoire includes classical and contemporary works.

She performed in Romania, Germany, France, Switzerland and Canada. She recorded for the Romanian Radio, France Musique and CBC Canada and was awarded a Special Prize at the International Brahms Competition in Hamburg, Germany. Lena Vieru Conta is also a visual artist; she exhibited paintings, drawings and decorative art in group and individual shows in Romania and Canada.
She defended summa cum laude an interdisciplinary doctorate thesis (musicology, theory and history of art, psychology of perception) in 2004. While pursuing with her work as a pianist and an artist, Lena Vieru Conta taught piano in Romania, Switzerland and Canada.

At the ZARVA Festival Marijn Simons participates as composer, conductor and violinist. For his profile, please see "composers' section".

www.marijnsimons.com

Fabian Grimm (violin) studied with Ida Bieler in Köln as well as Edith Peinemann at the MHS Frankfurt/Main and obtained his “Konzertexamen” Diploma in 1999. From 2000 to 2009 he was the Principal of the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie. Since 2009 Fabian Grimm is the Principal of the second violins in Sinfonieorchester Aachen.

In 1993 he had already founded his first Stringquartet with which next to graduating from the chamber music studies at the Liszt Academy in Budabest and receiving stipends from the “Villa Musica” Foundation and the DAAD in Bonn, he won the International Stringquartet Competition in Bubenreuth. In the years which followed he performed in several concert series and festivals such as the Rheingau-Musikfestival, the Moselfestspielen, the Orlandofestival(Netherlands), the Oberstdorfer Musiksommer as well as the Chamber Music Series of the "Alten Oper" Frankfurt, the "Deinhard-Beethoven"-Cicle in Koblenz, the Stringquartet-Akademie in Reichenau(Austria) and in the Chamber Music Festival in Frutillar(Chile).
 

Born in Vancouver, Andrew Simpson studied with William Primrose, Bruno Giuranna, John Cage and Janos Starker among others at the University of Western Ontario, Banff Center for the Performing Arts and at Indiana University. Next to his chamber music activities as a member of the Chamber Arts Quartet he has performed as soloist in numerous concerts and radio recordings in North America and Europe.

Since 1988 he occupies the position of Principal Violist in the Sinfonieorchester Aachen and has recently given the world premiere of Finn's Fantasy, a work by Marijn Simons for Viola and Chamber Ensemble written for and dedicated to him.
 



 

Mateusz Kwiatkowski (cello) was born in 1982 in Warsaw, Poland and received his first cello lesson at the age of seven. After attending the Karol Szymanowski Music Gymnasium in the class of Professor Kazimierz Michalik he studied at the Frederic Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw with Professor Piotr Hausenplas, as well as at the Maastricht Conservatorium with Professor Mirel Iancovici. Besides classical music he performs also jazz for which he uses a cello of 5 strings.

In 1997 he won the 1st Preis in the National Chambermusic Competition in Warsaw. In 2002 he participated with his own compositions for the Jazzquintet "Guture Background Association" in the "Vier Kulturen Musik Festival" in Lodz.

As a co-founder of the "Mala Rzecz a Cieszy Ensemble" Mateusz Kwiatkowski performed avantgarde music. He has been invited in the "Improvisation Music Festival" in Maastricht in 2004 as well as the "Korean Music Festival Maastricht" in 2005 where he performed Isang Yun's "Seven Etudes for Solo Celo" and the Piano Trio.

At the moment he focuses on the Chambermusic repertoire and concerts as well as with the perfomance practice of early music and his own compositions for Jazz ensemble and film. He is leader of the Jazzquintet "Future Background Association".
 

The Simons Ensemble was founded in 2010 and carries the name of its founder Marijn Simons (1982). Simons (composer, conductor and violinist) focuses his musical preference on contemporary concert music. He established his ensemble to bridge the gap between contemporary concert music, classical music and its audience.

Next to Marijn Simons’s compositions the Ensemble also programs works of other contemporary composers. The performances take place with outstanding musicians, renowned soloists or orchestra principal players. Simons's principle is that concerts of contemporary music should be performed with understanding, passion and conviction to be equally successful to standard repertoire concerts.
 

The Debut Concert CD of the Simons Ensemble was recorded live and released in May 2010 by Quintone label with the title “Simons conducts Simons”. Upcoming projects include “Moving Sounds” a video-music production in which Simons Ensemble will perform a piece created by Marijn Simons together with the world famous video artist Jaap Drupsteen. This unique project will be presenting ground breaking and newly developed concepts of flexible interaction between the medium of music and the medium of image.

www.marijnsimons.com