German-French Concert

Mathis Kaspar Stier has been the principal bassoonist of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne since the autumn of 2016. At the age of 19, he had already won the third prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition and the second prize at the Gillet-Fox competition of the International Double Reed Society in New York. Following his high school graduation in 2012, he began to study with Professor Eberhard Marschall in Munich. In 2015, he studied for one semester at the CNSM de Paris with Professor Laurent Lefèvre. He then received a scholarship from the Orchestra Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Mathis Kaspar Stier was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, Mathis Kaspar Stier played concerts with the Goldmund Quartet at the music festival Musik in den Häusern der Stadt, as well as with the Gustav Mahler Youth Ensemble at the International Music Festival Kreuth at Lake Tegernsee. He also appeared with the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin at the Zermatt Music Festival in 2016. As a soloist, he has performed with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the New Philharmonic Munich and the Bad Reichenhall Philharmonic Orchestra..

Dominique Plancade received the first prize for piano and chamber music at the Paris Conservatory, which is also where he completed his education. In 1992, he founded the duo Fromentin-Plancade (four hands / two pianos) with pianist Laura Fromentin. Due to having received positive reviews in France and Europe, the duo Fromentin-Plancade now has the prospect of a great international career. The duo inspires audiences, both as an orchestral and as a recital performance.

Additionally, Dominique Plancade appears on stage as a chamber musician together with various partners, such as Tabea Zimmermann, Nemanja Radulovic, Laurent Korcia, Marielle Nordmann and Isabelle Faust.

Dominique Plancade has been a guest at major festivals, such as La Folle Journée, Festival de la Vézere, Festival de Radio France Montepllier, les Musicade de Lyon etc. He has also performed in large halls like the Musée d’Orsay, Tonhalle Zürich, Theater des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Izumi Hall in Osaka. Dominique Plancade is a regular guest on French and international radio.

Violaine Despeyroux studied at the Paris Conservatory under Jean Sulem.In 2014 and 2015, she continued her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (Musikhochschule München) under Hariolf Schlichtig. Since September 2018, she has been studying at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels.

Violaine Despeyroux won several prizes at an early age, including the unanimously awarded first prize at the Concours National des Jeunes Altistes in 2011, and the second prize and Best Performance Prize for J.S. Bach's Concours International d’alto Cecil Aronowitzin Birmingham. Inspired by chamber music, which constitutes a significant part of her musical activities, she founded Quatuor Daphnis in 2017 with Eva Zavaro, Ryo Kojima and Alexis Derouin.

Furthermore, in 2013 she participated in tours with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, while in 2015 she took part in the European festival Young Talent. Violaine Despeyroux has also participated in various masterclasses, which made possible her appearances as a soloist in Geneva with the Symphonie Concertante by W.A. Mozart and the Concerto for Viola by J. S. Bach.