Coming from a large family of musicians, Philippe Koch studied in Liège and then perfected his skills with the Masters Christian Ferras, Pierre Amoyal and Arthur Grumiaux. Konzertmeister of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, he also pursued a career as a soloist throughout Europe, Japan, the United States and South America, which allowed him to play accompanied by numerous orchestras and to rub shoulders with renowned conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Emmanuel Krivine, Yuri Ahronovich, Alexandre Dmitriev, and to play in prestigious halls (Berlin Philharmonics, Brussels, Luxembourg, Casals Hall Tokyo, Center of Arts Seoul,…). Passionate about chamber music, he explores its diversity within the Koch Trio, with his daughter Laurence (violin) and son Jean-Philippe (piano), the Grumiaux Trio, and the Louvigny Quartet. Professor of violin at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, he also gives master classes in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Japan, Korea and is regularly a member of the jury in various international competitions (Queen Elisabeth, Ysaye, Vieuxtemps, Grumiaux…). Interested in conducting, he was also invited to conduct various ensembles. His discography (more than 35 CDs ranging from Mozart to Bussotti) has received several prestigious distinctions in the international specialized press (2 Diapasons d’Or, Choc-Monde de la Musique, Repertoire, Pizzicato…).
Shirly Laub studied in Brussels in the class of Clemens Quatacker and then perfected her skills with Wiktor Liberman and Philippe Hirshhorn in Utrecht. She was awarded the title of Young Soloist of the French-language Public Radio Communities and became a Juventus laureate, a distinction awarded by the Council of Europe. His impressive discography includes numerous recordings as chamber musician and violin conductor for public broadcasters Musiq3, Klara, France Musique, Radio Suisse Romande, Radio Canada, RAI and BBC. In 2001, she joined the Silk Road Ensemble in New York City, which allowed her to perform alongside Yo Yo Ma around the world. Concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London between 1998 and 2005, Shirly Laub is regularly invited as konzertmeister by the main symphony orchestras of Belgium, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Korea. As a chamber musician, mainly with Oxalys and the TrioFenix string trio, she plays in prestigious halls, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Wigmore Hall in London or the Library of Congress in Washington. A member of the jury of major violin competitions, such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition, Shirly Laub has been a violin professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels since 2003.
Born in Hungary, Kati Sebestyén was a violin teacher at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel and an extraordinary teacher at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. In 2005, she was a member of the artistic commission of the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. She has also taught at the Brabants Conservatorium, and today she is a professor of violin at the Prins Claus Conservatorium – Hanze University in Groningen, the Netherlands. EShe is regularly invited as a member of juries or to hold masterclasses: Mozarteum Salzburg, University of Rouen, Hannover-Goslar, CIM Morges, University of North Carolina, Conservatory Rejkjavik, Franz Liszt Academy Budapest, Carl Nielsen Academy Odense, Instituto Superior de Veracruz Mexico, etc. As a solo violinist or chamber musician, she has performed in recitals or recordings in most European countries as well as in the USA. She was a member of the “Haydn Quartet”, violin-conductor of the Sebastian Strings Chamber Orchestra, and founding member of the Contrasts Ensemble. With these ensembles she has produced several CDs for EMS. She has received several awards in various European countries.
Olivier Giot showed his attraction to music at a very young age, which became for him not only a profession but above all a passion. He began learning the violin at the age of 6 and 1⁄2 at the Academy of Music in Bouillon (Province of Luxembourg). It was prematurely, at the age of 11, that he finished this academic education. At the age of 12, Richard Piéta, a renowned violinist and former student of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and Konzertmeister of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège (OPRL), took him on to study the violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liège. At the age of 17, he obtained a first prize in violin with distinction. Three years later, he obtained the Diplôme Supérieur in violin with the highest distinction and, in 1999, the Diplôme Supérieur de Musique de Chambre. At the same time, he perfected and diversified his training in master-classes with Olivier Charlier, Franco Gulli and Mikhail Bezverkhny. In the process, he joined several orchestral ensembles: the “Jeune Philharmonie”, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège, the “Artemis” Orchestra, the “Charlemagne” Chamber Orchestra, the Théâtre de la Monnaie Orchestra, the Wallonia Chamber Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra… From 2001 to February 2009, he was engaged as 1st soloist, leader of the second violins in the Limburg Symphony Orchestra (Maastricht). Since February 2009, he has held the position of 1st soloist, conductor of the first violins section at the OPRL.
Anne-sylvie is director of the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Verviers but also a member of various instrumental ensembles including Listening Orchestra, the Darius Ensemble, Atripik Trio,…. She performs in places recognized for chamber music because it is in this discipline that she can express her art in resonance with her values. His violin career : She began playing the violin at the age of 3. She studied at the Royal Conservatory of Liège where she obtained first prizes in solfeggio, violin and chamber music as well as a bachelor’s degree and an aggregation of violin in the class of Richard Pieta. She has also attended master classes with Mikhail Bezverkhny, Ervin Shiffer, Kati Sebestyén,… She completed her training in “concert production and artist management” at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion de Louvain-La-Neuve. She has also worked as an artistic agent for several groups with various musical styles. President of the non-profit organisation Prix Artistiques de la Ville de Verviers, an association designed to promote artists and art in general.
@COPYRIGHT PHOTO : Michel Antoine