Artists

Second flute soloist, the Orchestre National de France

Michel Moragues enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. Second flute soloist with the Orchestre National de France since 1989, Mr. Moragues is a Professor of Chamber Music at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris and aChamber music teacher at Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Rueil Malmaison.

Michel entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris, in the class of Jean Pierre Rampal and Alain Marion at age 14, and two years later, in 1979, won first prize for flute and first prize for chamber music in the class of Christian Lardé. In 1978, he won the International Competition of the Guild of Artists Soloists of Paris, then in 1981, the International Competition in Budapest.

Michel began his teaching career at the age of 17 as a flute professor at the National School of Music at Chalon. Since then, he has taught at the Conservatoire National de Region de Saint Maur des Fosses, and the International Academy of Les Arcs. In addition to his current posts at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and Conservatoire Regional de Paris, Michel Moragues is highly sought after as a master clinician around the world.

An avid chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Quintette Moragues, which he formed in 1980 with his two brothers Pierre and Pascal, David Walter and Patrick Vilaire, and which performs world-wide to great acclaim. Michel Moragues also has collaborated in chamber music with partners such as Barbara Hendricks, Sandrine Piau, Nora Gubbich, Shlomo Mintz, Regis Pasquier, Gerard Poulet, Raphael Oleg, Gerard Causse, Bruno Pasquier, Nicolas Angelich, Philippe Cassard, Dalberto, Claire Desert, Brigitte Engerer, Christian Ivaldi, Naoumoff Emile, Jean claude Pennetier, Alain Planes, Emmanuel Strosser, Alexandre Tharaud, Pascal Rogé, Christoph Henkel, Anne Gastinel, Roland Pidoux, Xavier Phillips, Marc Coppey, Jerome Perno, Frédérique Cambreling, Christine Icart, Isabelle Moretti, Marielle Nordman, Julie Palloc, Melanie Dutreil, or the Ysaÿe Quartet, Parisii, Elysee, Kocian, Sine Nomine, Psophos, Manfred, and the Trio Wanderer.

As an orchestral musician, Mr. Moragues has performed under the baton of conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Daniele Gatti, John Elliot Gardinner, Neeme, Christian, and Paavo Jarvi, Eugen Jochum , Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Georges Pretre, Kurt Masur, and David Zinman.

The discography of Michel includes an album of Ravel/Cras with Isabelle Moretti in Auvidis Valois, a disc with Mozart's Quintet Moragues which won the Grand Prix of the Charles Cros Academy, and a recording with Saphyr productions of the poems of Ronsard by Albert Roussel with Sandrine Piau, which was hailed by the journal World of Music in July 2006, as "the most beautiful version to date."

Michel was the founder and director of the festival "Music in Grésivaudan" from 1993 to 2003, and currently directs the summer festival of chamber music from Gourdon (Lot) with other members Moragues Quintet.

Soloist

Michael Collins is one of the most complete musicians of his generation. With a continuing, distinguished career as a soloist, he has also become highly regarded as a conductor. He is Artistic Director in Residence of the London Mozart Players, and from 2010 – 2018 he was the Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia. Recent highlights include a return to the Philharmonia Orchestra as conductor; performances worldwide with orchestras includingMinnesota Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Rheinische Philharmonie, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, and tours in South Africa, Australia, Japan and Mexico. Michael Collins records for Chandos and has covered a wide range of repertoire in his prolific recording career. He was awarded an MBE for his services to music, and plays exclusively on Yamaha clarinets.

Michael Collins is one of the most complete musicians of his generation. With a continuing, distinguished career as a soloist, he has in recent years also become highly regarded as a conductor. From 2010 – 2018 was the Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia and has recently been Artistic Director of London Mozart Players. Recent guest conducting and play-directing highlights have included engagements with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
Recent highlights include a return to the Philharmonia Orchestra, performances worldwide with orchestras including Minnesota Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Rheinische Philharmonie, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and Kuopio Symphony Orchestra and tours in South Africa, Australia (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), Japan and Mexico (with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional).
Michael celebrated his 60th Birthday in 2022 and gave commemorative concerts at Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Mozart Players. He was also interviewed for a double page spread in Gramophone Magazine. In January 2021 Michael gave the debut performance of new ensemble Wigmore Soloists, a new Associate Ensemble funded by the Wigmore Hall and led by Michael Collins and violinist Isabelle van Keulen. Wigmore Soloists sees leading international instrumentalists coming together to perform a wide range of chamber music repertoire, from duets to works for up to 13 musicians. The ensemble released the Schubert Octet on disc in 2021 to great acclaim (BIS Records). More recently, they have released a trios disc and recordings of Beethoven and Berwald septets.
Michael Collins has been committed to expanding the repertoire of the clarinet for many years. He has given premières of works such as John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons, Elliott Carter’s Clarinet Concerto – for which he won a Gramophone award for his recording on Deutsche Grammophon – and Brett Dean’s Ariel’s Music and Turnage’s Riffs and Refrains, which was commissioned by the Hallé Orchestra. Collins has gone on to perform Turnage’s work with the Residentie Orkest, Royal Flanders and Helsinki Philharmonics, as well as the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Collins has received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year Award in 2007 in recognition of his pivotal role in premièring repertoire by some of today’s most highly regarded composers.
In great demand as a chamber musician, Collins performs regularly with the Borodin, Heath and Belcea quartets, András Schiff, Martha Argerich, Stephen Hough, Mikhail Pletnev, Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. His ensemble, London Winds, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2018 and the group maintains a busy diary with high calibre engagements such as the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh Festival, Edinburgh Festival, City of London Festival, Cheltenham International Festival and Bath Mozartfest. During the 2019-20 season he was an Artist in Residence at the Wigmore Hall which included concerts with Stephen Hough, the Vienna Piano Trio, Leonard Elschenbroich, Michael McHale and the Borodin Quartet.
Michael Collins records for BIS, and in his prolific recording career he has covered an extraordinarily wide range of solo repertoire, which also includes releases on Chandos, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI and Sony. He is one of the world’s most recorded clarinettists, having made no fewer than twenty discs for Chandos alone. His most recent release is of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet and Concerto and Birchall Clarinet Concerto, performed with Philharmonia Orchestra and Wigmore Soloists, which received a five star review from BBC Music Magazine. Prior to this, he released a disc of Brahms Sonatas with Stephen Hough, and in July 2020, released a disc featuring Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5 and Finzi’s Concerto for Clarinet and Strings with Philharmonia Orchestra, directed by Michael. This disc received multiple five star reviews in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine (“This rather unusual coupling owes its existence to a world-class clarinettist”) alongside rave reviews on BBC Radio 3 and an exclusive interview in Presto Magazine. Other recent releases include a disc of Crusell Clarinet Concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, which was Gramophone Magazine’s ‘Recording of the Month’ in June 2018 and was nominated for BBC Music Magazine Award; and a disc of British Clarinet Concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra which features Collins as soloist and conductor. In 2017 he was awarded a Grammy for his disc ‘Shakespeare Songs’ with Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano (‘Best Classical Solo Vocal Album’).
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2015, Michael Collins was awarded an MBE for his services to music. He plays on Yamaha clarinet.

Professor, the Musikhochschule Lübeck

Professor Diethelm Jonas became a professor at the Musikhochschule Lübeck in 2001 after he held a professorship for oboe at the Musikhochschule Trossingen since 1980. He studied in Essen at the Folkwang Universität der Künste, in London at the Royal Academy of Music with Lady Evelyn Rothwell-Barbirolli and in Freiburg at the Hochschule für Musik with Heinz Holliger. He has won numerous national and international competitions.

Diethelm Jonas has played in more than 25 years as a solo oboist of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart under many famous conductors like Bernstein, Kubelik, Solti, Sinopoli, Leinsdorf, Böhm, Haitink, Celibidache, Giulini. As a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra even ten years under Claudio Abbado.
His solo commitments and masterclasses regularly lead him to Taiwan, China, South America and Japan. At the Gedai University in Tokyo, he teaches every two years as a visiting professor.

There are more than 25 CD recordings, most of them with his Aulos Quintet and Bläseroktett Sabine Meyer. Many of these recordings have won the ECHO prize.

Principal, l'orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris

Laurent Lefèvre studied at the Paris National Superior Conservatory, where he received Premier Prix diplomas in bassoon and chamber music in 1987. First Prize winner at many international competitions - Toulon Competition (1988), Fernand Gillet Competition of the International Double Reed Society (1989), Geneva Competition (1995) - he has held the position of principal bassoon of the Orchestra of the Paris National Opera since 1991.

Very active as a chamber musician, Laurent Lefèvre is a member of the Paris-Bastille wind ensemble and of the Claude Debussy wind quintet, a group which won the Jury's Special Prize at the Tokyo International Competition, as well as the Second Prize at the Munich ARD International Competition (no first prize was awarded that year). Recently he created with pianist Junko Oka "l’ensemble Minamo"
He frequently performs as soloist with prestigious orchestras.

A frequent guest of important festivals such as Lucerne, Davos, la Roque d'Anthéron, la folle journée à Nantes, Tokyo et Bilbao, West Cork Chamber Music festival, Seoul Spring Festival and many others.

Passionate about pedagogy, Laurent Lefèvre taught at the Lyon National Superior Conservatory from 1998 to 2008. He has been on faculty at the CNSMD in Paris since 2012, and he also gives master classes around the world.

Laurent Lefèvre has recorded the complete chamber works of Poulenc with pianist Alexandre Tharaud, the Six Bagatelles and Ten Pieces for wind quintet of Ligeti with the Debussy Quintet, the Mozart Serenades and the Beethoven Octet with the Paris-Bastille wind ensemble, as well as the Devienne Quartets for bassoon and strings, and he also recorded Richard Strauss' Duett-Concertino, and his latest album « le basson européen » with pianist Emmanuel Strosser

Soloist

Heir to the large French school of the traditional saxophone, Jean-Yves FOURMEAU belongs to this race of musicians who, with enthusiasm, carry high the colors of their instrument. He makes radiate the saxophone under all his facets: Soloist, Chamber music, Orchestrate and Teaching.

he was guest saxophone solo in BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER , soloist in radio-France, Guest professor Indiana University Bloomington and Iowa University, Director of collection to the editions " Billaudot " .

J.Y. FOURMEAU gives concerts and master-class in Europe, Asia, Canada, the USA and Australia. He recorded many CDs and he is the only saxophonist in the world distributed under the label " PHILIPS classic ".

Professor, Tokyo University of Arts

He has been invited to over 30 countries and hold recitals and master classes. He gave solo recitals at prestigious concert hall such as Wien Musikverein, Suntory Hall and so on. He has performed with almost all orchestras of Japan including NHK Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit and Alan Gilbert. Outside Japan, he has also performed with BBC Philharmonic, The Philharmonia Orchestra, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Aargau Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Eastman Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra d’Harmonie de la Garde Républicaine, among others. He has also played with world class artists include Fazil Say, Ron Carter, Martin Taylor, Itamar Golan, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Arno Bornkamp, Kenneth Tse, etc.

Since his debut, he has actively commissioned new works for saxophone to many remarkable composers. Many of these works have become internationally popular and been added to the important classical saxophone repertoires of the 20th and 21st centuries. Some examples among many are; ‘Fuzzy Bird Sonata’ and ‘Cyber Bird Concerto’ by Takashi Yoshimatsu, ‘Saxophone Concerto’ by Edward Gregson, ‘Cinnamon Concerto’ by Martin Ellerby, ‘Dance of Uzume’ by Piet Swerts, ‘Concerto du Vent’ by Toshiyuki Honda, ‘La lune en paradise’ and ‘Paganini Lost’ by Jun Nagao, and ‘BIRDS - A Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Band’ by Toshio Mashima, ‘SUITE for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op.55’ and ‘Ballad for alto saxophone and orchestra, Op.67’ by Fazil Say, ‘Sonata for Alto Saxophone & Piano Florida to Tokyo’ by Chick Corea, ‘Fantasia for alto sax and piano’ by Ryuichi Sakamoto. He has recorded over 30 CDs includes solo album from CHANDOS and published “Play Along Series” by De Haske. In 2020, he has arranged 3 Partitas for violin solo by J. S. Bach to solo saxphone. His latest CD “Bach Sequence” is highly acclaimed among critics and won the Arts Festival Award for excellence.

He had assumed a role of the concert master of Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra for almost 22 years from 1989 through 2010, and the resident conductor of Yamaha Symphonic Band for 13 years.

Professor, Univeristy of Michigan

Robert Sullivan is Professor of Trumpet at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance and faculty at the Brevard Music Festival. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Robert studied trumpet with Armando Ghitalla.

Robert recently retired from his position as Principal Trumpet of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras to focus on his teaching at U of M. Previous orchestral positions have included tenured appointments as associate principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic and The Cleveland Orchestra and second trumpet with the Charleston (SC) Symphony, and regular appearances with the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago. He has also been a member of the US Air Force Band, and a faculty member at Northwestern University, Indiana University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mannes College of Music.

Principal, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Jens Plücker was born in 1972 in Haan, Rhineland. He received his first horn lessons in 1981 with Stefan Beyer in Essen and then in 1985 switched to Clara-Christine Hohorst (principal horn with the Essen Philharmonic). In 1987 he became a junior student with Wolfgang Wilhelmi at the Essen University of Music, before taking up his studies with Prof. Erich Penzel at the Cologne University of Music in 1991.

After temporary work with the Remscheid Symphony Orchestra and Saarland Radio, Jens Plücker received his first permanent position as principal horn player with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra in 1994. In the same year, he won the Advancement Prize at the International Horn Competition in Markneukirchen and the 1st Prize at the International Competition of the Mozart Society in Munich. In 1996 he became principal horn of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and in 2002 he moved to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in the same position.

In addition to his orchestral activities, Jens Plücker has performed as a soloist with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Philharmonia Hungarica, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Bremen State Youth Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein State Youth Orchestra and at the Hitzacker Chamber Music Festival.

In July 2015 he performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Tadaaki Otaka in Kawasaki.

In April 2017 he performed as a soloist with the Quindao Symphony Orchestra.

Until 1999 Plücker was a member of the Delos Woodwind Quintet, with which he gave concerts in Germany and abroad and made numerous CD and radio recordings for BR, SWR, WDR and NDR. In 1993 the ensemble won the 1st prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Osaka/Japan and in 1994 the 1st prize at the German Music Competition.

From 2013 to 2019 he was a member of the Chamber Music Ensemble XXI, in which he played with Isabel van Keulen and Gustav Rivinius, among others.

Since its foundation in 2004, Jens Plücker has been a member of NDR Brass, with whom he regularly makes guest appearances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, among others.

In 2000, Jens Plücker was awarded the Eduard Söring Prize of the City of Hamburg. He complements his concert appearances with teaching activities, for example at master classes in South America, China or Japan or at master classes for Wagner tuba at the Hamburg University of Music.

since 2014 he has also been teaching as a visiting professor in Japan at the Hamamatsu Wind Academy.

From September 2015 to July 2019 he also taught at the Lübeck University of Music.

In 2015 he was Patron of the Year of the Horn in Schleswig-Holstein

Since 2012 he has been Managing Director of the Academy of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra e.V.

In 2019 he was a guest soloist and lecturer at the 6th Beijing horn festival.

from winter semester 2022 he will teach at the University of the Arts in Bremen

Solo Trombone, Danish National Symphony Orchestra

Lars Karlin is a Swedish trombonist and Arranger from Borlänge, Sweden living in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has been solo trombone with Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Denmark since 2020. Before that He was solo trombone with Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Germany.

He he started playing the trombone the age of twelve under Hans-Göran ”Bullas” Olsson at the Music School in Borlänge, Sweden. Further studies were made at the Conservatory of Music in Falun, The Royal College of Music in Stockholm under Prof. Sven-Erik Eriksson, The Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover under Prof. Jonas Bylund and at the University for Music and Arts in Berlin under Andreas Klein.

Lars also studied private courses in "Performance Mastery under Peak Performance" by Psychologist Ph.D. Don Greene in Los Angeles.

Lars is a Prizewinner of numerous National and International Music Competitions including: The Lieksa International Trombone Competition in 2008, The Aeolus International Competition for Winds in 2010 and Deutsche Musikwettbewerb in 2011.

From 2007 to 2020 Lars he was member of the Trombone Unit Hannover where he also created much of their repertoire in form of Arrangements. Their CD "Living on the Edge" was recorded exclusively with arrangements by Lars Karlin.
Lars also in 2018 joined forces with Basstrombonist Tomer Maschwkowski & Pianist Ohad Ben-Ari in the newly formed Show ”Sliding thru the opera”.

Soloist

Anthony Caillet took up the euphonium at an early age, not long before the instrument met the success which it enjoys in France today. Graduate of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, laureate of the most prestigious international competitions and of many jazz springboards, Anthony knows “you can do anything with a euphonium”!

Proving the point, he performs with leading orchestras (Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Ensemble Inter-Contemporain...) as well as with smaller formations (Symphonie de Poche, Smoking Mouse, Space Time and Mirror...), travels the world as a soloist or accompanied, and creates new pieces by calling upon composers and musicians from different musical backgrounds. He opens up new horizons both for himself and other musicians.
A Yamaha artist.

Solo tuba, Orchestre de Paris

Born in 1975, Stéphane LABEYRIE studied tuba with Marc URSULE at the CNR in Toulouse where, three years later, he was unanimously awarded the gold medal in 1991. In October of the same year, he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Mel CULBERTSON's class. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix Spécial de Musicalité at the Markneukirchen (Germany). In 1995, he obtained his Diplôme National d'Etudes Supérieures de Musique with summa cum laude at the CNSM in Lyon. In June of that year, he was invited to take part in the closing concert of the International Tuba Congress in Chicago (USA). In December, he won First Prize at the Sydney International Tuba Competition (Australia). A few months later, in May 1996, he won First Prize at the Markneukirchen International.

Competition in Markneukirchen. The following year, he won First Prize at the Riva Del Garda International Competition in Riva Del Garda (Italy). In 2008, he won the PORCIA International Competition (Italy). In 2000, he was invited to perform as soloist with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse with Michel PLASSON, who nicknamed him "Le Pablo Casals du Tuba", in the programme "Les presented by Jacques CHANCEL, as well as at the "Victoires de la Musique Classique" with the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire.

Stéphane LABEYRIE takes part in numerous festivals and often performs as a soloist with various groups (recitals, orchestras and bands...) beyond our borders (USA, Japan, Austria...). (USA, Japan, Austria...). He has recorded several CDs under his own name, including "Rencontre", recognized by the music press with "4 diapasons", "Récital", and most recently Ombre et Lumière". He also performs Chamber Music with renowned artists: Brass United, and the Octobone ensemble with Michel BECQUET. He currently plays YAMAHA instruments and participates in their development. After playing at the Opéra National de Lyon and spending 2 years with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, he is now Tuba Soloist with the Orchestre de Paris.

He has also been Professor of Tuba at the Haute Ecole de Musique de LAUSANNE (Switzerland), at the Pôle Supérieur d'AIX-EN-PROVENCE and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de LYON for 6 years.