Dmitri Makhtin was born in St. Petersburg in 1975 and began his musical education at the age of four with his parents, who are both professional violinists. In 1981, he entered the music school for gifted children. He made his debut in Paris in 1997 with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation under the direction of Yevgeny Svetlanov and in 1998 in the United States with the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin. His violin was made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in 1863 and he performs with numerous chamber music ensembles. Tatjana Vassiljeva was born in Novosibirsk, Russia, into a family of musicians and began studying cello at the age of six with Eugenij Nilov at the special music school in Novosibirsk. Since starting as a concert cellist at the age of twelve, she has performed on numerous stages in Europe and Asia. Vassiljeva has won prizes at many prestigious international competitions. She has built up an excellent reputation as an interpreter of contemporary music and performs with the most renowned orchestras. She has worked closely with several composers, in particular Krzysztof Penderecki, whose Concerto Grosso she has interpreted many times with various musicians. She has held a professorship at the Karlsruhe University of Music since 2023. Her cello is a Matteo Goffriller from 1690. Plamena Mangova won second prize at the highly prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2007 and began a brilliant international career that has taken her to many corners of the world. Over the years she has received valuable advice from renowned musicians such as Leon Fleisher, Rosalyn Tureck, Menahem Pressler, Alicia de Larrocha and András Schiff. She is also a prizewinner of several other prestigious international piano and chamber music competitions, including the “Paloma O’Shea” piano competition in Santander and the “Vittorio Gui” chamber music competition in Florence. Ms. Mangova was a member of the prestigious international jury of the last edition of the famous “Marguerite Long” piano competition in Paris.
