Marin Alsop chairman
Marin Alsop recently made history with her appointment as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony beginning in 2007/8. She will be the first woman to head a major American orchestra, which mirrors her ongoing success in the U.K. as Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony since 2002. She has also just been named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive this most prestigious American award. She was the first artist to win Gramophone's "Artist of the Year" award and the Royal Philharmonic Society's Conductor's Award in the same season.

Ms. Alsop is a regular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her 2005-06 season includes debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Boston Symphony. After a highly successful 12 year tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony Ms. Alsop continues her association as Conductor Laureate; she also continues in her 14th season as Music Director of the highly acclaimed Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California.

Highlights of Alsop's successful ongoing collaboration with Naxos Records include a Brahms symphonic cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She has had equal success with her ongoing series of Bournemouth Symphony recordings, which so far include Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and the symphonies of Kurt Weill. Marin Alsop is a native of New York City; she attended Yale University and received her Master's Degree from the Juilliard School.

In 1989 her conducting career was launched when she was a prizewinner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition in New York, and in the same year, was awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she was a pupil of Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Gustav Meier.

Peter Sadlo percussion
Peter Sadlo studied in Nürnberg and Würzburg with Siegfried Fink. His playing is particularly marked by the influence of Sergiu Celibidache. He won several first prizes including the Geneva Competition and ARD Competition in Munich. He was the solo percussionist of the Munich Philharmonic and began his career as soloist, leader, conductor, composer and producer in 1998. Since 1990 he has been a professor at the Mozarteum Salzburg and at the Hochschule für Musik Munich.

In 2003 Peter Sadlo became an honorary doctor (doctor honoris causa) of the State Academy of Music Sofia. Peter Sadlo is a popular guest performer with various distinguished orchestras such as the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Staatskapelle Weimar, Orchestra Nazionale Sinfonica della RAI and at music festivals such as Bremen, Schwetzingen, Basel and Bad Kissingen. He gives solo recitals, concerts with his Modern Art Percussion Ensemble, Peter Sadlo & friends, Piano & Percussion with Anna Gourari and artists such as Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer and Heinrich Schiff.

Peter Sadlo has recorded numerous CDs with Koch Schwann. For his CD Percussion in Concert he was awarded the Echo Klassik Prize 1998. Deutsche Grammophon released the Bartók Sonata for two pianos and percussion with Martha Argerich, Nelson Freire and Edgar Guggeis. Teldec released the CD World Percussion Music with Peter Sadlo and friends in 2001. In April 2005 Peter Sadlo was awarded with the prestigious Europäischer Kulturpreis (Soloists' prize) at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. With this international esteemed prize the European Foundation for Culture honours persons who contributed to Europe's culture by means of their engagement, commitment and talent.

Dame Thea King clarinet
The doyenne of English clarinettists, Dame Thea King is a greatly loved and respected artist who enjoys a varied career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player and teacher. She has appeared at all the major festivals in Britain, and also in Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Brazil and the USA, frequently as soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra for whom she plays principal clarinet.

Her solo recordings feature nineteenth-century repertoire and British music of this century (many have been première recordings), including a recent issue of Britten's posthumously-published Concerto Movement, together with concertos by Malcolm Arnold and Elizabeth Maconchy. Her versions of Mozart and Brahms have often been the preferred choice of critics in both broadcast and magazine reviews. Thea King also plays the solo repertoire for basset clarinet and basset horn, and has recorded all three parts in Mendelssohn's Konzertstück, Op 114, for clarinet, basset-horn and piano for the BBC's 'Double Exposure' series.

She is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music, and was created a Dame of the British Empire in 2001, the first ever wind player to enter this Knightly category, having earlier been awarded the OBE in 1985.

Sergei Nakariakov trumpet
At the age of 28, Sergei Nakariakov has already broken through more than a few of the perceived boundaries framing the world of the trumpet in classical music. Sergei has developed a unique musical voice, which is much more than a vehicle for astonishing virtuosity. His repertoire includes not only the entire range of original literature for the trumpet; but is continually expanding into broader territories, including many fascinating transcriptions. His recent CD for Teldec - with whom he has recorded exclusively since he was 15 years old - is appropriately entitled, "NO LIMIT"; and includes performances with the Philharmonia, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, of an extraordinary range of transcriptions of characteristically romantic pieces by Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsy, Bruch, Massenet and Gershwin.

Born in Gorky in 1977, Sergei pays tribute to the technical and musical gifts he has learned from his father, Mikhail Nakariakov, with whom he has studied since the age of nine. He has appeared in many of the worlds leading centers of music, including the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Lincoln Center in New York, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London. He performs in festivals in most European Countries. He tours for several weeks each year in Japan and is becoming an increasingly frequent guest soloist in North America and Canada.

Sergei Nakariakov's discography with TELDEC incorporates the most famous trumpet concertos as well as two recital albums of virtuoso music for trumpet by Bizet, Paganini, de Falla, Gershwin and Rimski-Korsakov. His "Elègie" recording, with his sister, pianist Vera Nakariakova, includes a selection of famous romantic works for voice and piano transcribed for trumpet and piano. His most recent CD is "Echoes from the past", with concertos originally written for bassoon and violoncello, written by Hummel, Mozart, Weber and Camille Saint-Saens.

Angela Hewitt piano
Angela Hewitt is a phenomenal artist who has established herself at the highest level over the last few years not least through her superb, award-winning recordings for Hyperion. Her ten year project to record all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as "one of the record glories of our age" and has won her a huge following. Her discography includes CDs of Granados, Messiaen, Ravel, Chopin, Couperin and most recently the final instalment in her Bach series: the complete Keyboard Concerti with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Angela Hewitt has performed throughout North America and Europe as well as in Japan, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Israel, China, Mexico and the former Soviet Union. Highlights of recent seasons include her debuts in Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw and with the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as a North American tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Her recitals have taken her to the festivals of Edinburgh, Osaka, Prague, Hong Kong, Schleswig-Holstein and Oslo to name but a few. Her Wigmore Hall recitals in London sell out months in advance.

During the 2005-2006 season her engagements include appearances with the DSO Berlin, the San Francisco Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. Amongst her numerous recitals are appearances at the Lucerne Piano Festival and her recital debut in Berlin. She will perform the complete Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach in England, USA, Portugal, and Italy. As a chamber musician she will join international artists at Lincoln Center in New York, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and at her own Trasimeno Music Festival in Umbria, Italy. Angela Hewitt was awarded the first ever BBC Radio 3 Listener's Award (Royal Philharmonic Society Awards) in 2003. She was also made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.

Carlos Bonell guitar
Carlos Bonell is celebrated for a distinguished career which includes TV, Film and CD recordings, worldwide tours, concertos with the major orchestras, and the creation of his own Ensemble.

He was born in London of Spanish parents and studied at the Royal College of Music with John Williams, where he was appointed the youngest ever professor in 1972. He gained prominence in 1981 through his recording for Decca of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit. Since that time it has been repeatedly singled out as the finest version available. In addition to his Decca recordings, Carlos Bonell has recorded for EMI, ASV, CBS and Upbeat Classics.

In 2005 he gave the world première of Ophelia, a work specially composed for him by the Australian composer Phillip Houghton. 2005 also saw the first book about the guitar by Carlos. Guitar - An Easy Guide was published in April 2005 and contains an introduction to playing, a brief history of the acoustic guitar, and a recommended listening guide.

His concert tours extend to many parts of the world including most European capitals as well as the United States, Australia, the Far East and South America. Carlos has appeared regularly with all the major British orchestras and at many international Festivals including The City of London, Aldeburgh, Tanglewood, Sydney, and New York's Mostly Mozart Festival. He is also greatly in demand as a teacher. Every year he conducts international teaching courses in Italy, Spain, the UK and Venezuela, as well as masterclasses during many of his concert tours. Future plans include an extended tour of the USA in 2006, as well as concerts throughout the UK and Europe.