"Broman proved equally impressive, balancing lyricism with meticulous technical precision...the cadenza was remarkable, Broman traversing its virtuosic extremes with apparent ease...the thrill of a memorable performance"
("The Strad"; Brahms violin concerto at Barbican Hall, London)

　Malin Broman, born in 1975, started to play the violin at the age of five. In Autumn 1992 Malin was offered a place at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, where in 1995-97 she completed her Post graduate degree. Malin was also a Post graduate student at Gothenburg Conservatory of Music (1995-97). In November 1997, she performed her graduation final recitals at both institutions.

　In Autumn 1997, she began her Advanced Instrumental Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with a scholarship to study with David Takeno.

　In 1994, Malin represented Sweden in the Eurovision Broadcasting Union Competition in Warsaw, Poland, where she won the third prize. The final was broadcasted on television in most European countries. In the same year, she also won the first prize and the audience prize at the Washington International Competition for Strings-Washington DC and in June 1996, she came in the second at the Carl Nielsen International Violin competition in Odense, Denmark.

　Malin has appeared as a soloist with the orchestras in Gothenburg (1995 and 1998), Helsingborg (1993 and 1998), Tivoli (1996 and 1998), Sjaelland, Odense, Gaevle and Umeaa, among others, and has worked with conductors such as, Neeme Jaervi, Heinrich Schiff and Paul Daniels. She also made her debut with the Swedish Radio Orchestra in November 1998. This concert was broadcasted live on Swedish Radio.

　Together with Simon Crawford-Phillips and Jesper Svedberg, Malin plays in the "Kungsbacka Piano Trio", which won the prestigious Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in Australia in 1999. During the season of 2001, the trio is scheduled to appear at the Wigmore Hall four times, tour Sweden, give concerts in Scotland, Belgium, England and Germany, and record for BBC Radio 3 and Naxos. For more information, www.pianotrio.com

　Since September 1999, Malin teaches at the Gothenburg Conservatory of Music. This evening, Malin uses Stradivarius 1709 "Ex-Crafoord" on loan from the Jarnaker-Foundation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

This violin was made in 1709 by Antonio Stradivari. Before this instrument was acquired by the then concert master of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm Mr. Gert Crafoord in 1954, it belonged to a Manchester collector, and had been for some time at the disposal of the concertmaster of the St. Martin in the Fields orchestra in London, Mr. Allan Loveday. The Royal Swedish Academy of Music purchased this instrument through its String Instrument Fund in 1990.

　First prize winner of such renowned competitions as the 6th Menuhin International Junior Violin Competition in England in 1993, the International Competition for Violinists in Cologne in 1994 (Daishin was the youngest participant), and, in 1996, the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Vienna and the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition for Piano and Violin in Paris.

　Born in London in 1979, Daishin Kashimoto began studying violin in Tokyo at the age of three. In 1986, at the age of seven, he was accepted into the pre-college division of The Juilliard School as the youngest student and received the Edward John Noble Foundation Scholarship. In 1988, he gave his first recital and soloist appearance with the New York Symphonic Ensemble in New York. He moved to Lubeck, Germany in 1990 to accept an invitation to study under Zakhar Bron, a renowned teacher of such famed violinists as Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov.

　Daishin has performed with many internationally renowned orchestras, including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra National de France, the Moscow Soloists and the English Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, Myung-Whun Chung, Lord Yehudi Menuhin and Yuri Bashmet among many others.

　After graduating from Gymnasium in Germany and the Lubeck Musikhochshule, he is now continuing his studies at Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Freiburg.

　He has signed an international contract with Sony Classical NY and his debut CD is now being released internationally.

　In March 1998, Daishin received the Education Minister's Incentive Award for Young Artists from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs.

　Daishin uses Stradivarius 1722 violin "Jupiter" on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

This violin was made in 1722 by Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) of Cremona, Italy. It is in superb condition with original varnish still remaining plentiful all over the instrument. It has been in the hands of musicians who have appreciated its quality, including the world famous Japanese violinist, Midori. The Nippon Music Foundation purchased this instrument in May 1998.

　Viviane Hagner was born in Munich in 1976. She studied with Thomas Brandis in Berlin, Viktor Liberman in Amsterdam and Pinchas Zukerman in New York, making her debut at the age of 12 with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Gerd Albrecht. In 1990 she took part in the legendary concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras in Tel Aviv, conducted by Zubin Mehta.

　Since these early appearances, Viviane Hagner has performed as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington, the Staatskapelle Orchestra Berlin and Daniel Barenboim, the Deutsche Symphony Orchestra Berlin and Dmitry Kitaenko, the Radiosinfonie Orchester Berlin and Rafael Fruhbeck de Bourgos, the Bavarian State Orchestra and Zubin Mehta, the Dresden Philharmonic and Michel Plasson, the Iceland Symphony and Yan-Pascal Tortelier, as well as with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, and the Zurich and Lausanne Chamber Orchestras.

　In January 1999, she played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Claudio Abbado, who immediately invited her to perform at the Salzburg Easter Festival and in Berlin in December 1999.

　Viviane Hagner regularly appears at various international festivals including the Rheingau Musik Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, the Settimane Musicali in Ascona, the Reykjavik Arts Festival, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. She is also a member of the Chamber Music Society in New York.

　As winner of the first prize in the 2000 International Young Concert Artists Auditions, she will give recitals in New York, Washington and Boston in the 2000/2001 season. In June 2001 she will tour Germany and France with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne together with Pinchas Zukerman, playing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante.

　Together with her sister Nicole Hagner, who is a pianist, Viviane has recorded a debut album for EMI Classics featuring works by Beethoven, Saint-Saens and Schubert.

　Viviane Hagner performs on Stradivarius "Sasserno" 1717 violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

　This violin, considered one of the finest examples of his work, was made by Antonio Stradivari in 1717. It was once owned by Monsieur Sasserno in 1845, hence the name. The good condition of this violin is due to it having been well kept in one family's ownership for 93 years before Nippon Music Foundation purchased the instrument in May 1999.

　The Tokyo string Quartet is one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world. Praised for its exceptional technical command and elegant performance style, the Quartet has received extraordinary acclaim since its founding in 1969. The ensemble performs over 100 concerts each year across the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and the Far East. In June 1999, Clive Greensmith (cellist) joined the Tokyo String Quartet, replacing a founding member, Sadao Harada.

　The Tokyo String Quartet traces its origin to the Toho Academy of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito. Violist Kazuhide Isomura, a founding member of the Quartet was joined by violinist Kikuei Ikeda in 1974, who also studied at the Toho Academy of Music. Violinist Mikhail Kopelman joined the Tokyo String Quartet as the first violinist in November 1996. Kopelman studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and was the first violinist of the Borodin Quartet for two decades. Cellist Clive Greensmith, the Quartet's newest member, studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and was the principal cellist of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

　The members of the Tokyo String Quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976. Deeply committed to teaching young string quartets, they spend a considerable amount of time at the school during the academic year and, in the summer, at Yale's prestigious Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. They also give regular master-classes at the University of Cincinnati College, Conservatory of Music. Each summer, the ensemble also appears at the most prestigious music festivals across North America and Europe.

　The Tokyo string Quartet continues to perform on the renowned Stradivarius instruments known as the "Paganini Quartet" on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995.

　Exclusive BMG Classics/RCA Victor Red Seal artists, the Tokyo String Quartet has released a landmark series of recordings including the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert and Bartok.

All four instruments of this internationally renowned quartet were made by Antonio Stradivari. These instruments were once owned and played by the Italian virtuoso violinist and composer, Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840), and were consequently given the name "Paganini Quartet". The Nippon Music Foundation purchased this quartet from the Corcoran Gallery of Arts in Washington DC in April 1994. This "Paganini Quartet" is one of six Stradivarius quartets still existing in today's world.

　

The individual instruments in this quartet include a violin made in 1690, a violin made in 1727, a viola made in 1731 and a cello made in 1736.

　Simon Crawford-Phillips graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1999, with a first-class honours degree, where he was awarded a scholarship to study with Hamish Milne.

　In 1994, he gave a performance of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto in Italy at the Spoleto Festival and has since then been invited by Gian Carlo Menotti to give solo performances at the festival. In the past three years Simon Crawford-Phillips has made several broadcasts for Radio 3 as a chamber musician, as part of their Young Artists' Forum series, for their Ensemble Programme and in their lunchtime series at the Wigmore Hall.

　With piano duo partner Philip Moore, he won the International Schubert Competition for Piano Duos in the Czech Republic and the Rio-Tinto Ensemble Prize at the Royal Over-Seas League Competition. In 1998 they were selected to represent Britain in the Fourth International Piano Duo Competition in Tokyo where they won Second Prize and last year they made their Wigmore Hall debut, made possible by an award from the Friends of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

　Together with Malin Broman and Jesper Svedberg, Simon formed the Kungsbacka Pianotrio who won the Melbourne International Chamber Music Copetition in 1999. In 1999-2000 season, the trio made their debut at the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room in London, and also toured Sweden, Scotland, France and Germany, and made recordings for BBC Radio channel 3. For more information, www.pianotrio.com

　Simon Crawford-Phillips is very grateful for the generous support of the Hattori Foundation, Sir Henry Richardson Award, Geoffrey Parsons Memorial Fund, Martin Musical Fund and the Royal Academy of Music in London.