Introduction

Aurélien Pascal

In an extraordinary display of dazzling virtuosity and riveting music-making, 29-year-old Aurélien Pascal confirmed that the future of music is in good hands. His remarkable talent has earned him significant accomplishments in international competitions including Second Prize at the 2013 International Paulo Competition, the Grand Prize, Audience Prize and Best Performance of the Toch Concerto at the 2014 Emanuel Feuermann Competition, as well as Fourth Prize at the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition as the youngest finalist. He was the Adami “Révélation Classique” in 2013, and was named “Révélation soliste instrumental” at the French Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2023.

Pascal has collaborated with top orchestras across the world such as Orchestre de Paris, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the chamber orchestras of Cologne, Zurich and Luxembourg, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra etc, under the baton of Christoph Poppen, András Schiff, Pascal Rophé, Augustin Dumay, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Okko Kamu, Lawrence Foster, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Clemens Schuldt, Corinna Niemeyer, Gilbert Varga, Emil Tabakov, Marcus Bosch and more.

In the realm of chamber music, Pascal has shared the stage with artists such as Renaud Capuçon, András Schiff, Augustin Dumay, Tabea Zimmermann, Pavel Kolesnikov, Clara-Jumi Kang, Emmanuel Pahud, Alexandre Kantorow and Liya Petrova, as well as ensembles like the Modigliani Quartet, Hermès Quartet and Trio Arnold, amongst others.

Pascal has performed at prestigious festivals including the Verbier, La Roque d’Anthéron, Radio France et Montpellier, Colmar, Prades and Schloss Elmau festivals, Easter Festival Aix-en-Provence, Beethovenfest Bonn, La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo, Les Rencontres Musicales in Évian, Nîmes and Calenzana, La Chaise-Dieu, Angers Pianopolis, Marvão International Music Festival and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where he was awarded the Audience Prize in 2015.

In 2016, Pascal recorded Franz Danzi’s Cello Concerto with Munich Chamber Orchestra and Howard Griffiths for Sony Classical. This recording received critical acclaim, with Pizzicato praising his playing as “wonderfully natural” and his interpretation as “flawless both musically and technically”, and The Strad acknowledging his “unique virtuosity and intuitive musicality”. His CD of Kodaly’s Cello Sonata for La Musica received a Choc-Classica and the Diapason Découverte in 2019. He has also recorded works by Brahms, Schubert, Ravel, Nino Rota and Enesco, with Augustin Dumay, Henri Demarquette, Eric Le Sage, Paloma Kouider, Svetlin Roussev and Paul Meyer for various labels like Onyx Classics and Alpha Classics. In 2021, his recorded performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 1 with Hong Kong Sinfonietta was released as the concert film Back On Stage III: DESTINY which opened the MOViE MOViE “Life is Art” film festival in Hong Kong.

Born in 1994 into a musical family, Pascal studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Philippe Muller and attended masterclasses with János Starker. He furthered his studies with Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. He plays a French Adolphe Gand cello from 1850.

Christoph Poppen

Conductor, soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue, Christoph Poppen has made a name for himself in diverse roles in the international musical world. As Music Director of Hong Kong Sinfonietta from the 2023/2024 season, he works closely with Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie and Associate Conductor Vivian Ip on the artistic development of the orchestra, creating inspiring and innovative programmes which bring music closer to the community. His 2025/2026 season with the orchestra is highlighted by collaborations with such illustrious artists as Nicolas Altstaedt, Martin Helmchen, Denis Kozhukhin, Alexander Gadjiev and more.

As Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s Principal Guest Conductor between 2015-2023, Poppen has presented to the Hong Kong audience a rich repertoire ranging from Austro-German masterpieces to contemporary works, brought the orchestra on tour to Germany and Portugal, and taken up the position of Co-chair of the Hong Kong International Conducting Competition. Away from Hong Kong, he continues his highly successful collaborations with Cologne Chamber Orchestra as Principal Conductor and Israel Chamber Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductor, while being the Artistic Director of the Marvão International Music Festival. Highlights in recent seasons included bringing the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln to Hong Kong for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, the Asian première of William Kentridge’s Oh, To Believe In Another World, and the continuation of his recorded cycle of the complete Mozart Masses with Cologne Chamber Orchestra for Naxos.

From 1995-2006, Poppen was Artistic Director of Munich Chamber Orchestra, establishing the ensemble’s new profile in a short period of time. His distinctive programmes, often contrasting classical and contemporary styles with numerous commissioned works, were highly successful. In 2006, he was appointed Music Director of Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken and from 2007-2011, he was Music Director of the newly formed Deutsche Radio Philharmonie. He has appeared with orchestras such as Vienna Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Detroit Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Bamberg Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Indianapolis Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He also has a strong presence in Italy, performing regularly with the country’s leading orchestras and at festivals such as the Venice Biennale, as well as giving masterclasses. As an opera conductor, he has enjoyed acclaimed collaborations with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Frankfurt, Opera Köln, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen and the RuhrTriennale.

Founded by Poppen in 2014, the Marvão International Music Festival has grown to become a highly successful and award-winning musical event featuring soloists such as Jörg Widmann, Augustin Hadelich, Javier Perianes and Clara-Jumi Kang. He also founded the International Academy for Music, Arts and Science in Marvão in 2019, and was the Artistic Director of the Classic Revolution Festival in Seoul, South Korea between 2020-2022, for which he curated highly inventive programmes.

As a prize-winning violinist, Poppen co-founded the Cherubini Quartet in 1978. He was appointed Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Hochschule für Musik Detmold, and later at Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he was President from 1996 to 2000.  From 2001 to 2005, he was Artistic Director of the renowned ARD International Music Competition. Since 2003, he has been Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. Since the 2021/2022 academic year, he has been Chair Professor of Violin at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.