Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaya was born in Moldova in 1977. In some sense she is the epitome of the modern high-profile touring musician, with concerts in Linz, Vienna, London, Brussels and Tokyo alone in the next few months performing concerti with

Carol Ho-Yan Lin is one of Hong Kong’s leading mezzo-sopranos. A graduate of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), she furthered her studies with the American mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler at the New England Conservatory in Boston where she

The Nightingale from Czech With her father a mathematician and her mother a biologist, it would have been natural for Magdalena Kožená to become a scientist. Nevertheless, she chose to be a musician; piano was her first love, but she

Simon and I met in our teens, before he became known to the world as ‘Trpčeski’. As a person, he is full of joy, warmth and sincerity; as a pianist, he is natural, charismatic and phenomenal. Wherever he appears, he

With a jury comprised of not only opera managers and music directors around the globe but also international media figures, the annual International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition aims to offer prizewinners the fast track into a career in opera. I

Tenerife-born tenor Celso Albelo is one of the most exciting voices of today. Still young by operatic standards, he has already made debuts at the major opera houses in Paris, Vienna, Milan, Berlin, Zurich, Venice and Rome and is one

It seems that every rising star has a mentor; like cellist Han-na Chang, the Croatian soprano Lana Kos was inspired by Mstislav Rostropovich. The late maestro chose Kos for the role of Natasha Rostova in Prokofiev’s War and Peace in

Just by looking at her photos, I can feel the Italian warmth from Maria Agresta’s beaming smiles. A winner of several competitions, Maria Agresta made her debut in 2007. Since then, she has worked with conductors like Gianandrea Noseda, Zubin