Swiss evening

Alexey Botvinov-piano

Alexey Botvinov is an exceptional pianist, musical innovator and producer. The most acclaimed Ukrainian pianist, Botvinov is one of the highly regarded performers of Sergej Rachmaninoff’s music worldwide.  Botvinov is the only pianist in the world who performed Bach‘s masterpiece „Goldberg Variations“ more than 300 times on stage.

Alexey Botvinov  has performed  in  46 countries, having performed in concerts  in such venues as Berlin Philharmonie, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Zurich Tonhalle MAAG, Hamburg Philharmonie, Beethoven haus Bonn and many more.

In November 2015 Alexey Botvinov was awarded the title “People’s Artist of Ukraine” – the highest artistic achievement in the Ukraine and in the same year he initiated a new International music festival “Odessa Classics”, where he is President and artistic director. Since its founding the festival has made sensational success and is quickly becoming the most important classical music festival in the Ukraine and one of the leading music festivals in Europe.

In 2020 Alexey Botvinov became a “Knight of the Orden of the Star of Italy” by decision of the President of the Italian Republic and the same year he received from the “Wilhelm Tell” award by the Swiss government.

2021 Alexey Botvinov and violinist Daniel Hope made a recording of music by Alfred Schnittke for “Deutsche Grammophon” with sensational success worldwide. Following the success of their first collaboration, Botvinov and Hope was collaborated again in March 2022, recording the charity project “Music for Ukraine”, which was followed by a recording of the music of Valentin Silvestrov later that year. The latest recording of Alexey Botvinov on DG was released in June 2023 and features the Third Piano Concerto of Philip Glass and Double Concerto of Tan Dun.

Sebastian Bohren-violin

Sebastian Bohren is a solo violinist who strikes a distinctive balance in his interpretations and his choice of repertoire, which favors the Classical and early Romantic eras, the 20th century and the present day. In 2022, the Swiss Violin School Foundation awarded the “Golden Bow” to Sebastian Bohren. The Süddeutsche Zeitung has described the swiss violinist as “one of the most serious-minded, forthright musicians of his generation”. He makes concerto appearances in his native Switzerland with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Orchestra Svizzera Italiana, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Argovia Philharmonic, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Kammerorchester Basel, Festival Strings Lucerne and internationally with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg State Academic Cappella, Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Münchener Kammerorchester, Kölner Kammerorchester, Göttinger Sinfonieorchester, Philharmonie Reutlingen, WKO Heilbronn, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Romanian Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto.  An avid chamber musician, Sebastian Bohren’s partners have include violinists Daniel Hope, Hansheinz Schneeberger and Dmitry Sitkovetsky, pianist Andreas Haefliger, violist Antoine Tamestit, cellists Thomas and Patrick Demenga, Anastasia Kobekina and Christian Poltera, and clarinettist Reto Bieri. Sebastian Bohren is the artistic director of Stretta Concerts and the Brugg Festival in Brugg, Switzerland. He plays a 1761 violin made in Parma by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, the “Ex-Wanamaker-Hart”.

Patrick Demenga- violoncello

Born in 1962, the musician studied at the Bern Conservatory, in Cologne with Boris Pergamenschikow as well as with Harvey Shapiro in New York and is one of today`s most sought after cellists. Patrick Demenga appears regularly at the most renowed festivals and music centres throughout Europe, South Africa, the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia and Asia. He frequently collaborates with musical personalities such as Heinz Holliger, Mario Venzago, Dennis Russel Davies, Leif Segerstam, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Howard Griffith, Christoph Poppen, Leonidas Kavakos, Alexander Lonquich, Isabelle Faust, Natalia Gutman, and many others, as well as with orchestras like the Zurich Tonhalle Orchester, Symphonieorchester Basel, RSO Vienna, Camerata Bern, Münchner Kammerorchester, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Kremerata Baltica, Ensemble Modern etc. His many radio and television recordings as well as numerous LPs and CDs (Novalis, Accord Musidisc, ECM, Sony Classical), have made him known to the international public. He has premiered works by composers such as Isang Yun, Gerhard Schedl, Heinz Holliger and many others. Patrick Demenga teaches a concert class at the Lausanne Conservatory and also teaches at diverse international master-classes. For several years, he directed the cello festival Viva Cello in Liestal/Basel. He is artistic director of the Vier Jahreszeiten-Konzerte in Blumenstein near Berne, and of the Musikfestwoche Meiringen. Patrick Demenga obtained the award «Der Goldene Bogen» (Golden bow) in 2001. As a musician, Patrick Demenga is keen to move in the field of tension around great composers – great works and contemporary music.