Giulia Zannin is a versatile musician with international experience performing on both modern and historical clarinets and has an extensive repertoire, ranging from late seventeenth century to contemporary music. Equally at home as a soloist, a chamber and an orchestra musician, she loves to present to the audience well-known works as well as repertoire rarely heard nowadays.
She graduated from the Conservatorio of Castelfranco Veneto with Roberto Scalabrin and from the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano finishing “cum laude” a Master of Arts in Specialized Music Performance (Konzertdiplom) with Milan Rericha. In 2013, Giulia was awarded a scholarship from the DAAD allowing her to move to Germany, where, under the guidance of Chen Halevi, she focused on the clarinet’s contemporary repertoire through a Master of Chamber Music at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen.
Beside her passion for contemporary music, she developed a deep interest in performance practice, which led her to study Historical Clarinet and Chalumeaux with Ernst Schlader at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen followed by an year as Erasmus student in the class of Eric Hoeprich at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. She has been invited to perform with several ensembles on period instruments such as De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Orchester 1756 Wien, Bremer Barokorchester, Mannheimer Hofkapelle, Orfeo Orchestra Budapest, Orchestra da camera Lorenzo da Ponte and Warsaw Chamber Opera.
Giulia is also a founding member of the Ensemble La Favorita researching vocal and instrumental music, featuring Chalumeau obbligato, composed for the Habsburg Court in the eighteenth century. As a chalumeau player she collaborated with the Mannheimer Hofkapelle for an album of unpublished music by Ch. Graupner on the CPO label (Das Leiden Jesu, Passion Cantatas), performed for the Dutch première of “Il Sacrifizio di Abramo” by Camilla de Rossi with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and under the direction of Vaclav Luks with music by Zelenka.
In 2011, she made her solo debut with Mozart’s Concerto accompanied by the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and began working with European orchestras such as Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, Spira Mirabilis, Schweizer Jugend Sinfonie-Orchester, Orchester der Bayerischen Philharmonie München, Aurora Chamber Orchestra .
Together with the Italian pianist Francesca Khalifa, she focused on the French and the German late romantic repertoire for clarinet and piano, coaching with the prestigious Trio Altenberg at the Konservatorium Privatuniversität in Vienna. The duo performed in Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Italy and France and won a 3rd prize at the International Chamber Music Competition “City of Asti” in 2010.
Diederik Ornée studied modern clarinet with Herman Braune at the Amsterdam Conservatory. After finishing his bachelors degree, he studied modern clarinet with Prof. Chen Halevi and historical clarinet with dr. Ernst Schlader at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen. During his studies, he has performed in master classes given by Eric Hoeprich, Emma Johnson and Ralph Manno and in the summer of 2005 studied for a month with Anthony Pay at the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. In 2010 and 2011, he has been a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchester conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. In 2013, he was selected to participate in the OAE Experience programme, joining the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in several projects.
Diederik can be heard regularly throughout Europe as a soloist, orchestra member and chamber musician, on modern as well as historical instruments. He works regularly with ensembles such as Anima Eterna, Barokopera Amsterdam, Het Nederlands Balletorkest, Holland Opera, Orfeo Orchestra Budapest, Apollo Ensemble and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
Diederik has won many prizes, including a first prize in the Dutch National Competition 2001, the DAAD-prize (Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst), a special prize given by the Iris-Marquart foundation and a prize given by the Ministry of Baden-Württemberg for his contribution to the musical life at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Trossingen.
Diederik is a fixed member of the Rodion Trio on modern instruments (winner of the Zilveren Vork 2012, awarded by De Harmonie, Leeuwarden and winner of the International Chamber Music Competition Almere 2013) and the Apollo Ensemble (on period instruments, ranging from trio to full symphonic orchestra).
He has been a founding member of the Thalia Ensemble (winner of the 2013 York Early Music Young International Artists Competition).
As a soloist, he has performed clarinet concertos by Mozart, Debussy, Finzi, Fasch (on soprano chalumeau) and Weber.
Diederik is a teacher at the annual Zomercursus Woudschoten: a 10-day chamber music course for young musicians.
Ivan Iliev was born in Pernik, Bulgaria, and studied violin at the National Academy of Music in Sofia with Verka Stefanova and Yossif Radionov. His interest in early music led him to studies with Lucy van Dael in the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he graduated in 2011. Ivan has participated in masterclasses with, among others, members of the Amadeus, Smetana and Bartok quartets.
In 2008 and 2009 he has been a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO), working under the direction of Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Roy Goodman, Enrico Onofri, Petra Mullejans, Chiara Banchini and Edward Higginbottom.
Since 2008 he is a member of Erik Bosgraaf's Ensemble Cordevento, recorded several CDs with them and has performed at the Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, as well as the Oude Muziek Seizoen 2014, Thüringer Bachwochen, the Early Music series of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Kölner Philharmonie. Together with guitarist Izhar Elias Ivan recorded a CD with chamber music by Beethoven in arrangements of his contemporaries.
In 2016 he co-founded the Reicha Quartet, focusing on 19-century string quartet repertoire performed on period instruments. Their debut CD (in 2019) features a premiere recording of Antonin Reicha's Quatuor Scientifique.
Currently Ivan is a member and one of the concertmasters of Valcav Luks' Collegium 1704 (Prague), member of Erik Bosgraaf’s Cordevento ensemble and Ensemble Odyssee. He collaborates regularly with the Van Swieten Society
(chamber music from the Classical and Romatic period) and Castello Consort (17-century repertoire). Since 2016 Ivan is a concertmaster of the Dutch Baroque Orchestra, with whom he recorded J. S. Bach’s violin concerti, a CD released in 2017.
Since winning the prize for Best Individual Performer at the 1998 Van Wassenaer Competition for Early Music in Den Haag, Cassandra Luckhardt has established an international reputation as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and teacher on both cello and viola da gamba. In performance, Cassandra has played and recorded as principal cello and gamba with The Academy of Ancient Music, Il Complesso Barocco, Musica ad Rhenum and the King’s Consort. In 2015, she was the solo gambist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the highly acclaimed performance of the St. John Passion conducted by Richard Egarr.
As a chamber musician, Cassandra is in equally high demand, demonstrating her flexibility as soloist with chamber groups all over the world. She has performed all over Europe as well as in China, Australia, Japan, Russia, Israel, the U.S. and throughout her adopted home of The Netherlands. She is a regular member of Camerata Trajectina, Le Nuove Musiche and the Apollo Ensemble, with whom she has performed in venues as diverse as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Sydney Festival (AUS).
Cassandra's recording with Musica ad Rhenum of the Suites for viola da gamba as part of the complete chamber music of Francois Couperin has been highly acclaimed as “magnificent and indispensable” and “...a particular highlight.” Her recording of the Bach Sonatas for Viola da Gamba exhibits “a give and take full of playfulness, sensitivity, musicality and collegiality” as well as “a beautiful performance which leaves no wish unfulfilled.”
Cassandra received her Bachelor of Music and her Bachelor of Arts degrees cum laude from Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1992 and her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1994. She moved to Paris in 1994 to study at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique under the auspices of a Harriet Hale Woolley grant, awarded that year to only three other artists in the United States. In 1996, she received third prize at the Early Music Competition for Ensembles in Bruges and in 1999 won the Public Prize at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. In 2001, Cassandra finished her studies at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag, graduating with degrees on both viola da gamba and baroque cello.
Cassandra plays a cello built by Sebastian Kloz, Mittenwald ca. 1760 and a gamba after Guillaume Barbey, Paris 1690 by John Pringle, USA 1987. She is the recent proud owner of an anonymous 18th-century gamba from eastern Europe.
Vaughan Schlepp graduated ‘magna cum laude’ from the Eastman School of Music in New York, where he studied with Maria Luisa Faini. His interest in early music took him to The Netherlands for study with Gustav Leonhardt. As a performer on the harpsichord as well as on the 18th century forte-piano, the 19th century Hammerklavier and the modern piano, Vaughan Schlepp has given numerous recitals and master-classes throughout the world as well as having made recordings for radio, television and compact disc.
He has performed as soloist with orchestras in The Netherlands and America, and concertizes regularly as a chamber musician with such diverse artists as cellist Anner Bijlsma, violinist Lucy van Dael, soprano Barbara Schlick, baritone Max van Egmond and bassist Hans Roelofsen. As continuo and solo organist he has participated extensively in the successful recordings of the complete Bach Cantatas which were released in 2001.
His recordings on fortepiano and Hammerklavier with violinist Antoinette Lohmann and also with countertenor Sytse Buwalda have met with wide acclaim. He has for many years been musical director and arranger for Opera Nijetrijne in Friesland and for the Amsterdam Marionette Theater with whom he has made a number of successful tours and recordings.
Vaughan Schlepp is intensively involved with modern music and theatre, and is active in Amsterdam as a teacher and coach for both singers and instrumentalists. He is regularly engaged as an Artistic Research advisor at Codarts in Rotterdam.
Since 1989, he has been in demand as an arranger, music typesetter and publisher. He has been given assignments by the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation, Sony, Schott, Annie Bank Editions, Cantus Köln, Anner Bijlsma, Vera Beths, Gustav Leonhardt, Klaas Posthuma, Gooi en Sticht, the Loeki Stardust Quartet and the Bredeweg Festival.