Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy

Created to train and support the next generation of orchestra musicians

Launched in 2021, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy continues to successfully nurture the next generation of musical talents. Coming from all over the world, exceptional young musicians meet in Luxembourg for two years of intensive training.

Expertly curated by the Philharmonie Team, this incubator has seen its first alumni join some of the most prestigious ensembles in Europe, such as the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, and of course the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

But the Academy is also a school of life. From concerts to recordings and tours with the orchestra, including individual projects, self-development workshops, personalised mentoring and co-living, the programme goes beyond mere technical competence and strives to develop mature and sensitive personalities, capable of invigorating the classical scene with fresh, interpretive insights.

And who better than the award-winning chef Léa Linster to spice up such a recipe for success? The Bocuse d’Or winner continues to mentor our budding virtuosi this season, inspiring them with new ways to excel.

You are eligible to apply if you are 27 years old or younger on the day of the audition and hold a Bachelor’s degree (or are in the final year of a BA programme).

A first selection will be made by members of the Luxembourg Philharmonic based on the application materials (resumé and cover letter) to be submitted by the 20.05.2023 at the latest.

Contact us: contact@lpoa.lu

Academy 2023-2025

• Phoebe Rousochatzaki, violin

  Phoebe Rousochatzaki was born in Greece in 1999. She began taking violin lessons at the age of six and officially began studying with the Greek violin teacher Apollon Grammatikopoulos at the Athens Conservatory. She then enrolled at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where she studied with Joseph Puglia and Walter Reiter (baroque violin) and received her Bachelor of Music degree in 2022. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree. Phoebe Rousochatzaki has received numerous prizes and distinctions during her studies. She was the recipient of the Ismini Karter Violin Scholarship in 2019. She was a member of the Academy of Young Musicians of the Athens State Orchestra for the period 2018–2020. She has been invited to perform at international festivals (alone and with her string quartet, Loksias) such as the Orlando Festival in Kerkrade in 2022 (where the premiere of Sam Wamper’s string quartet Portrait of Time was performed), the 2022 Aurora Festival in Groningen (where she won the Labberté-Hoedemakerprijzen), the Sion Festival and Old Ox. In March 2022, she performed Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Jonathan Cohen, playing a 1743 Camillo Camilli violin provided by the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation. She is grateful to the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague for awarding her final bachelor recital with a Sartory bow. Phoebe Rousochatzaki also holds a degree in theoretical physics from the National Technical University in Athens. She became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in January 2023.

• Yu Kai Sun, violin

  A recipient of the JM Canada Foundation’s Choquette-Symcox 2023 Award and of the Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant, the Canadian violinist Yu Kai Sun is an active performer across Canada, the USA, Europe and Asia. She was appointed co-concertmaster of the 2022 Pacific Music Festival Orchestra and performed at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan. In 2021, she served as concertmaster of the 2021 Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, which culminated in performances at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. As a laureate of the Glenn Gould School Concerto Competition in 2019, she performed the Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto N° 1 with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra at Koerner Hall. Additionally, she has performed as a soloist with the Oakville Chamber Orchestra, the North York Concert Orchestra, the York Symphony Orchestra, the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. A native of China, Yu Kai Sun discovered the violin at the age of eight. From 2013 to 2017, she studied with Helmut Lipsky at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where she obtained the Specialized Studies Diploma. She then completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) degree at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto under the tutelage of Victor Danchenko. Recently, she completed her Master of Music at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles in the studio of Martin Beaver. Yu Kai performs on the 1757 Carlo Tononi violin, loaned by the Musical Instrument Bank of the Canada Council for the Arts. Starting in September 2023, Yu Kai Sun is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy.

• Yun-Yun Chiang, violin

  Yun-Yun Chiang was born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and studied violin with Chu-Chan Liu from the age of five. During her studies at the Wu-Ling Senior High School, she received further music education. She won numerous competitions at a national level, for example the first prize of the Violin Competition of the Academy of Taiwan Strings, which enabled her to appear as the soloist with the Academy of Taiwan Strings at a gala concert at the National Concert Hall in Taipei at the age of 16. She also attained a fourth place at the International Music Competition in Osaka. At the same time, she actively participated in musical festivals such as the Paganini Festival, the Kronberg Academy and the ISA Masterclass in Vienna, while also attending master courses with renowned violinists such as Pavel Vernikov, Dora Schwarzberg, Anton Sorokow and Edward Zienkowski. In 2014 she began studying for a bachelor’s degree with Igor Ozim and Harald Herzl at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 2018 she enrolled for a master’s degree with Tanja Becker-Bender at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre. During her studies in Germany, she gained orchestral experience in the academy orchestra in Hamburg, the NDR Youth Symphony Orchestra and the TONALi Orchestra. She was an intern at the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra, a member of the orchestral academy of the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle and had a limited engagement at the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra. Since 2023, she has been a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy.

• Clara Szu-Yu Lin, violin

  Born in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1998, Clara Szu-Yu Lin initially studied violin with Gregory Lee, Cheng-Tu Szu and Vladimir Klochko. In 2014 she enrolled in the preparatory course for the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, where Christian Dallinger was her teacher. From 2016, she continued her studies at the same academy in Leonid Sorokow’s class. From 2021 she studied for a master’s concert degree in violin with Albena Danailova, then with Sanghee Sania Cheong from 2022 onwards. She gathered her first orchestral experience in the Pacific Youth Orchestra Vienna (where she was also a section leader), the Junge Philharmonie Wien and the chamber orchestra Modus 21. In 2018 and 2019 she appeared as a soloist with the Soloist Chamber Orchestra MDW of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. She was section leader and concertmaster of the Valsassina Ensemble in Vienna. She forms a violin duo with her sister which has performed several times in Taiwan, among other locations. Starting in September 2023, Clara Szu-Yu Lin is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy.

• Saar Van Bergen, Viola

  Born in 2001, Saar Van Bergen has been playing the viola since she was four. This passion was fostered by her teacher Wim De Cock, under whose tutelage she became a prize winner of the Lier Stage Academy. At the age of 16, she dedicated herself entirely to her instrument. Her secondary training took place at the Lemmens Institute, where Marc Tooten was her teacher. To this day, she continues to study at the Luca School of Arts on the Lemmens Campus. In 2022, she received her bachelor’s degree in viola performance with the highest honours and is currently preparing to take up studies for her master’s degree. During her studies, she participated in numerous professional productions, receiving invitations from ensembles such as the Ataneres Ensemble, the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, the European Philharmonia, Papageno, the HERMESensemble and the Zomeropera Alden Biesen. She has had the opportunity to perform on international stages such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She has also appeared as soloist and principal violist with the LUCA Philharmonie and LUCA Strings. As a chamber musician, she is a regular member of the Núna Ensemble, which consists of a string quartet and a saxophone and was invited to the Klarafestival BOX in 2022. Together with five fellow students, she founded the Tínel Ensemble, which features varying instrumental combinations of strings, piano and clarinet and appears regularly on Belgian stages. Since 2020, she has been a member of the Youth Orchestra Flanders, where she was appointed principal viola in 2022. Thanks to the Orchestra Academy, she had the opportunity to play with the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and the Belgian National Orchestra in 2021. In 2023, she was appointed principal viola of the Mahler Student Festival Orchestra. She has benefitted from coaching with violists such as Béatrice Derolez and Dmitri Tjabinin, and especially from master courses presented by the Resonances Chamber Music Academy. Her teachers have included Michael Kugel, Mikhail Zemtsov, Julia Dinerstein, the Van Kuijk Quartet, Kirill Terentiev and Alexandru Gavrilovici. Finally, the Atelier voor Altviolisten, the place which awakened her joy of playing the viola, occupies a central place in her career. She has been teaching there for several years, applying a playful, child-appropriate method of teaching children to read music. Since 2022, she has also taught groups of young students, sharing her love for her instrument and inspiring future generations of players. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy.

• Javier Martin de la Torre, viola

  Javier Martín de la Torre was born in 1999 in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz). He began his musical career at the age of seven at the Rafael Taboada Music Conservatory. Later, he continued his studies at the Conservatory Joaquín Villatoro in Jerez de la Frontera, where he obtained his Professional Degree and won a first prize in the young performers’ competition at the conservatory in 2017. He has been an outstanding student of the Orchestra Studies Academy of the Barenboim-Said Foundation, under the tutelage of Jerome Ireland, while also holding the principal viola position in the Youth Orchestra of Andalusia and the National Youth Orchestra of Spain. He has also been a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Community of Madrid and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. During his training, he has received instruction from renowned teachers such as Kim Kashkashian, Alexander Zemtsov, Cibrán Sierra, Pierre Amoyal, Diemut Poppen, Jonathan Brown, the Cuarteto Casals, Cecilia Berkovich, Sergey Teslya, Alan Kovacs and Humberto Armas. He has had the honour of performing in prestigious venues, including the National Auditorium of Madrid, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Isarphilharmonie, the Liederhalle Stuttgart and the Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg, among many others. Additionally, he has been played under renowned conductors such as Teodor Currentzis, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Juanjo Mena, Pablo González, Lucas Macías and Guy Braunstein. He has also performed as a soloist with important orchestral ensembles such as the Álvarez Beigbeder Orchestra, the Youth Orchestra of Xerez, and the Orchestra of the Katarina Gurska Higher Center. He completed his higher studies at the Katarina Gurska Higher Center under the supervision of Laure Gaudron, and he is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg under the tutelage of Veronika Hagen. In addition, he has collaborated with the Mozarteum Orchestra. Starting in 2023, he is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy and is supported by the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte.

• Caroline Dauchy, cello

  Caroline Dauchy was born in 1999 and began playing the cello when she was three. During her studies with Marc-Didier Thirault in Reims, she won several prizes at competitions: the third and first prize at the competition VioloncellenSeine and the third prize at the Vatelot-Rampal Competition. She also won the Maurice Ravel Prize at the Academy of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and played as part of the series «Les Ravéliades». Since she was keen to make her education as comprehensive as possible, Caroline Dauchy sought inspiration from Yvan Chiffoleau, Philippe Muller, Henri Demarquette and Gary Hoffman before joining the class of Raphaël Pidoux at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris. Membership in the Orchestre Français des Jeunes inspired her wish to play professionally in an orchestra. In parallel to her studies, she founded the Quatuor Vigrid with friends she had met at the conservatory in Paris, and the ensemble was invited to perform at the museum of the Cité de la Musique in Paris as part of the programming of the Philharmonie de Paris. As she wished to familiarize herself with music education in Germany, she successfully applied to study with Tristan Cornut at the Stuttgart Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Caroline Dauchy has frequently been acclaimed for her rich sound and precise playing. She graduated with honours from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and also holds a teaching diploma. She has performed as part of renowned ensembles such as the orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris, Ensemble intercontemporain, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and Ars Nova. Starting in September 2023, Caroline Dauchy is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy.

• Carol Salgado Martinez, cello

  Carol Salgado was born in Coro, Venezuela, in 2000. She began her musical training at the age of six with music theory and then cello as part of «El Sistema». In 2014 she continued her cello studies with Valmore Nieves at the National Cello Academy in Caracas. In 2017 she joined the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. She participated in master classes with Venezuelan cellists such as William Molina and Germán Marcano and in various music festivals, including the Festival Internacional de Música de Esmeraldas, where she studied with Gary Hoffman, Andrew Mark and Francisco Vila Haas, and the 2018 and 2019 festival Quito Cellos. Starting in 2019, she continued her music studies at the Royal Conservatory in Liège, where Sébastien Walnier and Jean-Pierre Borboux were her teachers, graduating with a bachelor’s degree. In Belgium, she was a member of the Youth Orchestra Flanders and a substitute at the Walloon Royal Opera in Liège. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in the class of Jean-Pierre Borboux and Sébastien Walnier. Since 2022, Carol Salgado has been playing a 1913 cello by Darche, generously loaned to her by the foundation L’instrument du musicien. Starting in September 2023, Carol Salgado is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy and is supported by the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte. 

• Eloi Fidalgo Fraga, percussion

  Eloi Fidalgo Fraga was born in Silleda, Galicia, in 1996 and began to play percussion at the music school of the wind band of his hometown at the age of seven. He studied music theory and percussion with Rafael Agulló and Adrián Rodríguez and was a member of the Municipal Orchestra of Silleda and of the local youth orchestra. Until 2014, he studied at the Conservatory in Lalín. Then he moved to Zaragoza to study with Verónica Cagigao, Cesar Peris, Francisco Inglés and Ignasi Domenech at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón (CSMA). During these years, he joined various national and international youth orchestras, such as the Orquesta Joven de la Sinfónica de Galicia, the Jove Orquestra de Catalunya, the Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Cantabria, the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, where his mentors included Bart Jansen, Raymond Curfs, Gratiniano Murcia and Guido Marggrander. After graduating, he began studying for a master’s degree at the Rostock Academy of Music and Theatre, specializing in orchestral percussion and timpani. He gathered additional experience at the Academy of the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Halle. In 2023 he joined the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy.

• Ryou Banno, viola

  Born in 1997, Ryou Banno began to play the violin at the age of three, studying with Shigeru Tachiki and Megumi Shimane. At the age of fifteen, he switched to viola when he entered The Music High School attached to the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he studied with Ryo Sasaki and Kaoru Ono. In 2016 he entered the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he studied with Yuki Hyakutake. During his studies, he participated in the public master classes of Viola Space, the Tokyo International Viola Competition. He has also performed in festivals such as La Folle Journée Tokyo 2019 or the Kitakyushu International Music Festival and in many other concerts in Japan, both in chamber music and symphonic programmes. After graduating from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2020, he enrolled in the concert soloist course at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp in September of the same year, where he studied with Leo De Neve, and graduated in June 2021. He became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in September 2021 and of the Luxembourg Philharmonic in January 2022.

• Nazar Totovytskyi, violin

  Nazar Totovytskyi was born in Kiev (Ukraine) in 1997 to a family of musicians. He began taking violin lessons at the age of five. Since 2003 he has studied violin at the Kiev Music High School with Prof. Yaroslava Rivnyak and chamber music with Prof. Larissa Rajko. From winter semester 2014 to summer semester 2016 he studied violin with Prof. Yaroslava Rivnyak at the National Tchaikovsky Music Academy of Ukraine. Since 2016 he has been studying violin at the University of Music Würzburg in the class of Prof. Sören Uhde. Currently, he is preparing for graduation, having been enrolled in a Master in Performance programme. As a solist, recitalist, orchestra leader and orchestra violinist, he has collaborated with musicians and conductors such as David Geringas, Yuja Wang, Lahav Shani, Mischa Maisky, Maxim Rysanov, Kristóf Baráti, Alexander Zemtsov, Ari Rasilainen, Boris Garlitsky, Denis Kozhukhin, Yuri Zhislin, Barnabás Kelemen, Sören Uhde, Alissa Margulis, Jonian Ilias Kadesha, Evgeni Schuk, Albrecht Mayer, László Fenyö, Gilles Apap, József Lendvay, Nimrod Guez, Tobias Feldmann, Niall Brown, Yuuko Amanuma, Emmanuel Pahud, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Yoel Gamzou, Robert HP Platz, Nabil Shehata, Domingo Hindoyan, Johannes Moser, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Bruno Delepelaire, Kirill Petrenko and Gianandrea Noseda. From the age of seven, he has taken part in various national and international musical competitions and festivals. Among others: in 2008 he won the first prize of the international competition Chortitsa Chords (Zaporizhja, Ukraine) and in 2014 he was the laureate of The Ukrainian Chamber Music Competition (Odesa, Ukraine) as well as the winner of the Grand Prix of the international competition of Yevgeny Stankowitch (Kiev, Ukraine). He also took many master classes with highly renowned teachees such as Eberhard Feltz, Kristof Barati, Roland Daugareil, Gilles Apap, Yair Kless, Barnabás Kelemen, Eyal Kless, Alexandre Brussilowsky, Natalia Prischepenko, Alissa Margulis, Boris Garlitsky, Michaela Martin and Tianwa Yang. Nazar Totovytskyi was selected to be a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy from September 2021 on. Today he is a member of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra.

• Aya Kitaoka, violin

  Aya Kitaoka was born in Japan in 1997. She learned violin with Akuri Suzuki and Akiko Tatsumi at the Toho Gakuen Music School. In 2013, she won the 3rd prize at the 67th All Japan Student Music Competition and in 2017 she was laureate of the Postacchini Competition. In 2018 she took part in the Antón García Abril International Chamber Music Competition and was awarded the 2nd Prize with her piano trio, Trio Santres. In April 2021 she graduated from her master study at Conservatorium Maastricht (Netherlands) with the score of 10 with distinction, where she studied violin with Professor Yuzuko Horigome and chamber music with Anastasia Safonova and Henk Guittart. Besides her passion for violin repertoire and chamber music she has also been an active orchestra player. She was selected in 2020 as a leader of the project of Tim Kliphuis in the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands. In September 2021 she joined the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy where she gained experience in professional orchestra playing as well as actively performing chamber music. This past summer she was appointed a member of Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège in Belgium, where her duties will start in January 2023.

• Martyna Kaszkowiak, violin

  Martyna Kaszkowiak was born in 1997. She started playing the violin at the age of six in the class of Janusz Gajownik. She finished her Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow, where she studied with professor Wiesław Kwaśny. Throughout her education, she became a laureate of many national and international competitions, such as the National Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Competition in Zielona Góra in 2015 (third prize), International Violin Competition Young Paganini in Legnica in 2015 (third prize), National Violin Competition in Cieszyn in 2016 (first prize), Chamber Competition for Instrumental and Vocal Duets in Katowice in 2019 (second price) and Chamber Music Competition KraCamera in Cracow (second prize, together with Arbor-Quartet) in 2021. She attended several master classes taught by Zakhar Bron, Krzysztof Śmietana, Wanda Wiłkomirska, Remus Azoitei, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Ilya Kaler, Linus Roth, among others. In 2014 she was invited as a soloist by the Polish Foundation for Cultural Exchange Chopin to participate in concerts in China; she also performed in the USA, at The Kosciuszko Foundation in Washington DC. As a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (2017−2019) she worked under world-famous conductors, such as Gianandrea Noseda, Manfred Honeck and Vasily Petrenko, and performed in international festivals such as BBC Proms in London, Young Euro Classic in Berlin, Chopin and his Europe in Warsaw. She has collaborated with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra as a member of the NOSPR Academy (2020). In July 2022, she was invited to perform at Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo (Japan) where she worked with conductors such as Ken-David Masur und Lahav Shani. While in Japan, she performed also at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Martyna Kaszkowiak became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy in September 2021. Today she is a member of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. 

• Haruka Katayama, violin

  Born in 1997 in Japan, Haruka Katayama started playing the violin at the age of four. In 2019 she obtained her bachelor’s degree from the Tokyo University of the Arts (GEIDAI). She then moved to France to study at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris and at the École Normale de Musique de Paris with Régis Pasquier, Richard Schmoucler and Geneviève Simonot. She got her diploma summa con laude − in soloist and orchestra player specialities. She participated in many different international competitions and festivals, for instance in the Lake District Summer Music Festival with a scholarship from the university and where she played in the final concert in 2015 and 2016. She also played as a soloist with the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in many chamber music concerts in Japan. She won the Second Prize at the International Grumiaux Violin Competition in Belgium. She also won the Second Prize at the Romanian International Music Competition with her string quartet and the first prize (Gran Premio) at the Concorso MusicArte. In September 2021 she was selected to become a member of the Luxembourg Philhamonic Academy for two seasons. She simultaneously pursued her studies for a master’s degree at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Roland Daugareil. In the meantime, she has been appointed a member of the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse. 

• Lucas Henry, violoncelle

  Born in Nancy in 1997, Lucas Henry took his first cello lessons from Sébastien Robert at the conservatory in his hometown, going on to receive his first diploma from the Dijon Conservatory with honours, having studied with Laurent Lagarde. He continued his studies for one year at the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Thomas Duran, before moving on to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon in 2016, where Yvan Chiffoleau and Pascal Jemain taught him. During the 2021/22 season, he was supported as part of Tchaïkovski – Jeunes Talents of the Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky, working with Christian-Pierre La Marca. Starting with the 2021/22 season, he is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy as well as of Menuhin Music Academy, presided by Renaud Capuçon, where he studies with Clemens Hagen and Lionel Cottet. Recitals or chamber music concerts brought him to venues such as La Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris, Rosey Concert Hall in Rolle (Switzerland) and Auditorium de Dijon. He worked with orchestras such as the Orchestre du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, the Orchestre National des Pays-de-la-Loire, the «Appassionato» Orchestra and the Orchestre du Conservatoire et Pôle supérieur de Dijon. As a soloist or recitalist, he was performing at festivals such as Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Festival du Forez, Pietra Santa, Virtuoso & Bel Canto Festival, Festival Pablo Casals, Musique à Flaine or Musicales en Folie. In 2017 he was awarded the second prize at the Épernay Strings Competition, in 2019 he participated successfully at Concours de musique de chambre Jeunes Talents in Paris. He is a bursary of Mécénat Musical Société Générale. Lucas Henry plays a cello built in 2013 by Günter Siefert.

• Élise Rouchouse, percussion

  Born in Le Puy-en-Velay in 1993, Élise Rouchouse received her first percussion lessons at the age of ten in her hometown, where she also completed her schooling until she was 18. Determined to become a professional musician, she enrolled at the Conservatoire Massenet Saint-Étienne and subsequently, in 2014, at the Haute École des Arts du Rhin Strasbourg, where she graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in the class of Emmanuel Séjourné, Stephan Fougeroux and Denis Riedinger. That same year, she joined the Académie de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. She plays regularly with this orchestra as a substitute to this day. She continued her education at the Amsterdam Conservatory, where she worked with Nick Woud, Mark Braafhart, Bence Major, Tomohiro Ando, Richard Jansen, Rachel Zhang, Ramon Lormans and Peter Prommel. In 2020 she completed her master’s degree in orchestral performance. During her time in the Netherlands, she had the opportunity to play with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Nederlands Ballet Orkest. Since 2021 she is a member of Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. In addition to her work with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, she continues to perform with Orchestras in France such as Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Les Siècles and Orchestre National de France.

photos: Sébastien Grébille, Eric Devillet

• Julia Vicic, viola

  Born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1996, Julia Vicic began playing violin at the age of three, studying with Mary Sorlie. At the age of sixteen, she switched to viola, studying first with Kenneth Freed and then with Sabina Thatcher. In 2014 she began her Bachelor studies at Indiana University, studying with Stephen Wyrczynski. After completing her Bachelor in 2018, she went on to pursue her Master at Rice University in Houston, Texas, studying with James Dunham. She is currently in her last semester of the Konzertexamen program at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken, where she studies with Jonė Kaliūnaitė. During her studies, she has spent her summers at music courses such as the National Repertory Orchestra, where she won the solo competition and performed Miklós Rózsa’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Texas Music Festival. She has played as a substitute in orchestras such as the Louisville Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. In March 2020, she won the silver medal in the Strings Division of the Young Texas Artists Music Competition. She became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in January 2022.

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