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Matvey Demin

Matvey Demin belongs to the most promising artists of his generation. Born in Siberia, Russia in 1993, Matvey started to study flute with his grandmother, continuing his education in Hannover and Munich with Prof. Andrea Lieberknecht.

Matvey is the first in history who won the 1st prize in woodwinds category of the world famous Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and St. Petersburg. He is also a prize winner of such competitions as international «Aeolus» competition, ARD International Music competition (Munich), international flute competition in Krakow, Unisa International music competition and many other competitions.

Since the age of 20 Matvey holds a position of Co-Principal Solo flute in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, where he works under the baton of Paavo Järvi, David Zinman, Bernhard Haitink and many other conductors.

Matvey has appeared as a soloist with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Mariinsky Orchestra, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and many others. In summer 2019 he performed in Japan with PMF Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Valery Gergiev.

Matvey is active in chamber music scene, performing at following festivals: Davos Festival (Switzerland), Emilia Romagna Festival (Italy), Samos Young Artists Festival (Greece), International Molyvos Festival (Greece), Povoa de Varzim Festival International de Musica (Portugal) and International Flute festival «Flute Virtuosi» in Sankt-Petersburg at Mariinsky Theatre.

Martin Frutiger

Martin Frutiger is Principal Cor Anglais with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. In 2023, he was appointed Professor of Oboe at the Zurich University of the Arts. Previously, he had been teaching in the same position at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In addition to teaching and his commitment as an orchestral musician, Martin Frutiger regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician. Invitations for concerts and master classes took him throughout Europe, Asia and the USA. He is a member of the woodwind quintet “Swiss5” and has performed as Principal Cor Anglais in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.

Martin Frutiger studied at the Bern Conservatory with Prof. Hans Elhorst and earned his master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, instructed by Prof. Günther Passin. Subsequently, he continued his training as an oboist in the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Academy for two years.

Martin Frutiger has won several competitions, including the International Oboe Competition of the Handel Festival in Halle on the Saale and the “Concours National d’Execution Musicale” in Riddes, Switzerland. In 2003, he was awarded the second prize at the International Sony Competition in Tokyo. In the same year, he was also a finalist in the “New Talent” competition of the European Broadcasting Union in Bratislava.

As a soloist he has, among others, performed with the Bern and Lucerne Symphony Orchestras, the Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Philharmonie in Sibiu (Romania), the Capella Istropolitana and the New Bach Collegium Musicum Leipzig. In January 2007, he was the soloist in Stanisław Skrowaczewski’s English Horn Concerto with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich conducted by the composer himself.

Martin Frutiger’s performance of romantic works for Cor Anglais and piano has been released on three CDs on the British label «Guild». He is Artistic Director for Oboe of “The Muri Competition”.

Matthias Rácz

Matthias Rácz began his first musical training during his school days in Berlin. At the musical Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Gymnasium he had the opportunity to study with Fritz Finsch, in these days professor for bassoon at the Conservatory Hanns Eisler. After graduation and numerous first prizes at the federal competition ‘Jugend musiziert’, he continued his studies with Prof. Dag Jensen at the University of Music and Theatre in Hanover and received various grants, such as scholarships by the ‘Jürgen Ponto Foundation’, the ‘Villa Musica’, the ‘PE Promotion for Students of Music’ and the ‘Study Foundation of the German people’. At the International Bayreuth Music Competition ‘Pacem in Terris’ in 2000 he received the 3rd prize in the overall ranking of all woodwind instruments. In 2002, the 1st prize at the International Music Betting competition “Prague Spring” followed and the same year he won also the International ARD Music Competition in Munich.

Matthias Rácz made his debut as a soloist at the age of 15 with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra in the German television production “Young Artists on the podium”. Until today numerous concerts as soloist with renowned orchestras followed, among these the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the Ensemble Resonanz. As soloist with various ensembles and as well for solo recitals he was guest soloist at many important music festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, the Mozart Festival Schwetzingen and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

His CD productions – including the Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra and the major bassoon concertos by Mozart, Hummel and Weber and most recently with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and mainly French works for bassoon and small orchestra (both under the baton of Johannes Klumpp) – document his work, as well as the recordings of various TV- and radio broadcasters.

Since the start of his career Matthias Rácz is highly engaged in the advancement of young talents. Despite his young age, he was invited in 2003 by Maestro Seiji Ozawa to Japan as a lecturer to his academy project ‘Ongaku-juku Opera’. Since then numerous master classes are leading him around the globe. Moreover he is artistic director for bassoon at ‘The Muri Competition’ in Switzerland and holds the chair for bassoon at the Zurich University of the Arts.

At 21, he was already principal bassoonist of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne. Since 2003 he is in the same position in the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly.

As official ‘Fox Artist’ Matthias Rácz is brand ambassador for the leading US-American bassoon manufacturer ‘Fox Products Corporation’.

Mischa Greull

Mischa Greull, born in Basel, was principal horn in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich for 30 years and has been a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts for 20 years.

His studies in music took him from Bern via Winterthur to Germany, where he also found his first position in an orchestra.
Known for his expressive and soft sound, Mischa Greull prefers to play works that were originally composed for the valveless natural horn and therefore represent a particular tonal challenge for the performer. Important chamber music and solo works for horn were also written during the transition period (end of the 19th century) from the natural horn to the valved horn. These include the Horn Trio by Johannes Brahms, the Duo Adagio and Allegro by Robert Schumann and the Larghetto by Emmanuel Chabrier for horn and orchestra.

Since his studies at the Bern Conservatory and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Mischa Greull has been working on the playing techniques of the natural and valve horn. Chamber music by Haydn and Schubert played with original instruments, but also orchestral works, in particular the cycle with all of Beethoven’s symphonies in 2014 with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the direction of David Zinman, are important examples.

Numerous chamber concerts on international stages with a wide variety of instrumentations from Brahms Trio to Mozart’s Gran Partita characterize his musical career. He works closely with his colleagues in the wind quintet Swiss 5 and the pianist Seung-Yeun Huh. A CD with works by Brahms, Schumann, Beethoven and Widmann was released with the latter in 2017.

Mischa Greull has been principal horn of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra under the direction of Jaap van Zweden since 2020.
In addition to his professorship at Zurich University of the Arts, he also teaches chamber music and music physiology. Since 2022 he has been head of the major program of the brass department of the ZHdK. He also gives masterclasses in Europe, the USA, Canada and Asia