Ziyu He, Violin
The outstanding violinist Ziyu He was one of the youngest soloists with the Vienna Philharmonic when he made his debut with this world-class orchestra under Adam Fischer at the Musikverein in 2017 at the age of just 17. The year before, he won both the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition, and in 2014 he was the Eurovision Young Musician of the Year.
He has performed with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra St. Petersburg, Macau Orchestra, Suzhou Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven Philharmonic, RAI National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the National Center for the Performing Arts, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra, Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra della Toscana, Zagreb Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. Among the conductors with whom he has worked are Adam Fischer, Christopher Warren-Green, Choo Hoey, Tung-Chieh Chuang, David Brophy, Diego Matheuz, Guoyong Zhang, Howard Griffiths, Ilyich Rivas, Joji Hattori, Kazuki Yamada, Kerem Hasan, Kriistina Poska, Lu Jia, Michele Nitti, Nikoloz Rachveli, Pietari Inkinen, Thomas Rösner, Riccardo Minasi, Steven Sloane, Lio Kuokman, Valery Gergiev and Hans Graf.
Ziyu He recently made his debut with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Lio Kuokman, and was invited by Hans Graf to join the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on several occasions for concerts and CD recordings. He has also performed with the Camerata Schweiz, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and Howard Griffiths, as well as with the Sofia Philharmonic under Uros Lajovic, played concerts at the BBC Belfast Proms and made his debut at the George Enescu Festival. Highlights of the past year include a concert and recordings of works by Hans Werner Henze with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under Maestra Lin Liao and solo recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus in the "Great Talents" series. A concert with Suzhou Symphony and Thomas Rösner, performances in Munich in the "Rising Stars" series and with Benjamin Schmid round off the current season. As the violinist with the renowned Altenberg Trio, he regularly plays in their popular concert series in the Brahms Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.
Ziyu He began learning the violin at the age of five with Xiangrong Zhang in his native China. At the age of just 10 he was invited by Paul Roczek to study with him at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Ziyu completed his master's degree in violin there in summer 2021 and began postgraduate studies with Benjamin Schmid, and a master's degree in viola with Thomas Riebl, which he completed with distinction in February 2023. He plays the 1698 "ex Rouse-Boughton"violin by Antonio Stradivari on loan from the Austrian National Bank and a Giuseppe Guadagnini viola, dated 1797, made available to him by generous private sponsors.
ziyuviolin.com
Benedict Mitterbauer, Viola
Benedict Mitterbauer (*1994) is one of Austria's leading young violists, a sought-after chamber musician and, since 2020, a principal violist in the Bruckner Orchestra Linz.
Born in 1994, the Upper Austrian received his first instrumental lessons in the Oberösterreichisches Landesmusikschulwerk. From 2009-2013 Benedict Mitterbauer studied with Prof. Predrag Katanic at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz. In 2019 he got his Bachelor degree with distinction with Prof. Thomas Riebl at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. Since then, Benedict has been a student of Prof. Veronika Hagen. He is also currently studying Music Education for Viola (IGP) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Benedict has attended several chamber music- and solo-classes in Austria, Germany and France (for example at the Kronberg Academy and Écoles d'art americaines de Fontainebleau 2012) with renowned musicians such as Bruno Pasquier, Gérard Caussé, Pierre-Henri Xuereb, Patrick Jüdt, Nicolas Altstaedt and Alina Ibragimova. In addition, master classes with with Barbara Westphal, Tatjana Masurenko, Hartmut Rhode and Jean Sulem have complemented his musical development.
Some of Benedict’s greatest successes include the 2nd prize at the Concorso Lionel Tertis 2016, winning the EMCY prize 2014, as well as the Dr. Josef Ratzenböck scholarship 2012, the Nibelungen Förderpreis 2012 and multiple first prize awards in the Austrian youth competition prima la musica - both as a soloist and as a chamber musician.
Benedict Mitterbauer received a scholarship from the International Music Academy in the Principality of Liechtenstein in 2013 and 2015 and was a member of the LGT Young Soloists from 2016-2019. While with the LGT Young Soloists, he performed regularly as a soloist and recorded the CD, "Nordic Dream", for the Sony classical label, RCA Red Seal, in 2018.
This sought-after musician began his professional orchestral journey in 2015 when he became a regular substitute for the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bruckner Orchestra Linz. In 2018, Benedict was appointed Associate Leader, Viola, with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and, after yet another successful audition in 2020, he earned his current position as First Principal Violist.
Benedict Mitterbauer's many concert tour performances have led him throughout Cuba, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Israel and large parts of Europe.
Several invitations to take part in cross-over projects have expanded Benedict's stylistic spectrum. As a result of these invitations, he has appeared on stage with renowned musicians such as Nigel Kennedy, Benjamin Schmid, Herbert Berger, Martin Gasselsberger, Florian Willeitner, Sebastian Gürtler or Lisa Eckhart.
Benedict is a member of different chamber music ensembles, and has performed at festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Mozart-Havana Festival, the Mozartwoche Salzburg, the Styriarte, the Dresden Music Festival, the International Brucknerfest Linz, the Mattseer Diabelli Sommer, the Liedwoche at Schloss Elmau, the International Nikolaus Harnoncourt Days and the Salzburg Chamber Music Festival. At these festivals, he has performed with renowned musicians including Thomas Zehetmair, Benjamin Schmid, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Harald Herzl, Benjamin Herzl, Thomas Riebl, Lars Anders Tomter, Clemens Hagen, Julia Hagen, Matthias Bartolomey, Dominik Wagner, Juliane Banse, Markus Schirmer, and Aaron Pilsan.
Benedict Mitterbauer plays on a viola by Giovanni Battista Ceruti, Cremona around 1810, kindly provided to him by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.
Jeremias Fliedl, Cello
Jeremias Fliedl is one of the leading Austrian cellists of his generation. He has performed at renowned festivals and venues, including the Salzburg Festival, the Mozart Week Salzburg, the Schubertiade Hohenems, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Carinthian Summer, the Südtirol Festival Merano, CLASSIX Kempten, the Musiktage Mondsee, the Vevey Spring Classic Festival, the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht, the Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, the Viotti Festival, the Lake District Summer Music Festival, the Salzkammergut Festwochen Gmunden, the Festival Sankt Gallen, the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels, the Konzerthaus Dortmund and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg.
He has appeared with Petrit Çeku, Stéphane Denève, Veronika Eberle, Ariane Haering, Martin Haselböck, Ziyu He, Maximilian Kromer, Gerhard Marschner, Callum McLachlan, Nikola Meeuwsen, Nils Mönkemeyer, Daniel Müller-Schott, Benedict Mitterbauer, Julian Rachlin, Timothy Ridout, Linus Roth, Case Scaglione, Benjamin Schmid, the Simply Quartet, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Kiron Atom Tellian, Dimitry Udovichenko and Dominik Wagner among others.
As a soloist he has performed with orchestras such as the Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Bremen Philharmonic, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Salzburg Orchestra Soloists, Zagreb Soloists, Zagreb Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven Philharmonie, Matrix Orchestra, Carinthian Symphony Orchestra, Academia Ars Musicae, Austrian-Korean Philharmonic Orchestra, Sandor Végh Institute Chamber Orchestra, Webern Chamber Philharmonic, Euro Symphony SFK, Olsztyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Artsakh Symphony Orchestra and Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2025/26 season, Jeremias Fliedl will make his debuts with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling, the Danish Chamber Orchestra under Adam Fischer, the Orchestra della Toscana, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra under Joji Hattori and the Orchestre National de Lyon under Thomas Guggeis.
In 2024, he released his debut album "TRANSFORMATION", which was highly acclaimed by critics: "a sumptuous feast of cello timbres" (BBC Music Magazine), "brilliant" (Die Presse), "technically brilliant and with astonishing musical maturity" (Concerti), "captivating" (Salzburger Nachrichten), "soulful expression, marvellous legato" (Klassik Heute). The album was recorded with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn under Emmanuel Tjeknavorian and was released by the label Berlin Classics.
Born in Klagenfurt in 1999, Jeremias Fliedl's musical development was significantly influenced by Heinrich Schiff as his last student at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna after his initial training with Igor Mitrovic. He completed his bachelor's degree with Clemens Hagen at the University Mozarteum Salzburg and his master's degree with Julian Steckel at the University of Music and Theatre Munich. He received important artistic input from Daniel Müller-Schott and Michael Sanderling. He is a prizewinner of the Liezen Competition, the Svirél Competition, the Antonio Janigro Competition and also the first Austrian cellist to be awarded as a laureate at the Queen Elisabeth Competition.
Jeremias Fliedl plays the "ex Gendron, Lord Speyer", a cello made by Antonio Stradivari in 1693, which is privately loaned to him.
