Zakhar Bron School of Music

https://zakharbronschool.ch/en/news/piano-competition-kronberg-2025/

ZBSM Pianist Ellie Bauwens (8) Wins 1st Prize at the International Piano Competition for Young Pianists Kronberg – With Video On March 21, 8-year-old piano student Ellie Jasmine Bauwens from the Zakhar Bron School of Music made her debut at the 2nd International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Kronberg, Germany, where she won the prestigious 1st prize in the 7–8 years age category. Just two days later, she perfor...

https://zakharbronschool.ch/en/news/brahms-violin-concerto-tonhalle/

A Lifetime Challenge: At 18, Sophie Takes on Brahms’ Violin Concerto at Tonhalle Zurich With the Bodensee Philharmonie – With Video On March 4, Sophie Branson (18) performed Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major with the Bodensee Philharmonie Konstanz at Tonhalle Zurich.

Tomorrow is a big day for our virtuosic and charismatic young violinist Sophie Branson (class of Liana Tretyakova)!
She will perform Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 Eroica with the Bodensee Philharmonie Konstanz at the prestigious Tonhalle Zürich—one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world. Wishing her a wonderful performance and great success on this remarkable stage!
Last tickets available at klassifest.ch!
Photo credit: Inna Khriplovich

https://zakharbronschool.ch/en/masterclass/violin-masterclass-xiaoming/

Spring Violin Masterclass with Wang Xiaoming, Liana Tretiakova & Inna Khriplovich | Zakhar Bron School of Music We are delighted to invite you to our Spring Violin Masterclass at the Zakhar Bron School of Music in Zurich from May 1–5, 2025! Master the violin with Xiaoming Wang, Liana Tretiakova & Inna Khriplovich! 5 lessons + gala concert. Apply for the Spring Violin Masterclass now!

https://zakharbronschool.ch/en/news/authentic-baroque-performances-of-vivaldis-four-seasons-by-our-violin-students/

Authentic Baroque Performances of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ by Our Violin Students On November 23–24, our young violinists performed Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ in two remarkable concerts with the chamber orchestra ‘I Tempi’, conducted by Gevorg Gharabekyan, in Liestal and Basel.

https://zakharbronschool.ch/en/news/first-prizes-at-zurich-music-competition/

First Prizes & Perfect Scores at Zurich Music Competition Five of our young students competed in the Zurich Music Competition 2024. They won three first and two second prizes across various categories and age groups.

We’re thrilled to share the outstanding success of our students at the Swiss Youth Music Competition finale in La Chaux-de-Fonds last week!
Eight of our talented students clinched first prizes, including four distinctions! Congratulations to:
🥇Theofania Archontopoulou (solo cello) – with distinction
🥇Milla Kovári, piano, Trio Ardente (chamber music) – with distinction
🥇Alexandra Taub, violin, Trio Ardente (chamber music) – with distinction
🥇Benjamin Branson, cello, Trio Ardente (chamber music) – with distinction
🥇Kimia Corke (solo violin)
🥇Timmy Wang (solo violin)
🥇Nikita Koller (solo violin)
🥇Emanuel Reinhardt (solo violin)
Two students secured second prizes, and we’re immensely proud of their achievement:
🥈Felipe Hauser (solo violin)
🥈Benjamin Branson (solo cello)
In the meantime, we’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated teachers who tirelessly prepared these young musicians for the competition (listed alphabetically): Inna Khriplovich (violin), Alexander Kuznetsov (violin), Rafael Lipstein (piano), Payam Taghadossi (cello), Liana Tretiakova (violin), and Anica Vieru (violin). Keep shining, everyone!

In April, six our violin students debuted in Chisinau, the capital of Eastern Europe’s Republic of Moldova. They played some of the most beautiful pieces of the rich violin repertoire at a sold out concert with the National Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Vladimir Andries in the Organ Hall of Moldova, a leading cultural and artistic institution in the country.
Ten-year old Timmy Wang opened the concert with energetic performance of Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’ from the famous ‘Four Seasons’, which immediately created a festive atmosphere. It was his first performance with an orchestra, and yet his artistry was absolutely fantastic! More experienced Kimia Corke, aged 13, continued the Vivaldi cycle with a virtuosic performance of the ‘Summer’.
The youngest violinist of the concert, Katharina Filimonova, aged only 8, was very convincing in the passionate character of the Bériot’s ‘Bolero’ from the ‘Scenes de Ballet’. Her older sister Tatjana (11 y.o.) played her charming rendition of Prokofiev’s dances from the ‘Cinderella’ ballet. Felipe Hauser, 14, who also played with an orchestra for the first time in his life, took the audience back to the virtuosic theme of the evening with the ‘Scherzo Tarantella’ by Wieniawski.
This was followed by Kimia’s beautiful performance of ‘Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso’ by Saint-Saëns and Beethoven’s ‘Romance’ played by Felipe. The concert was concluded by Nina Gringolts, who gave a sophisticated performance of Mozart’s famous ‘Concerto for Violin Nr.5’, which was adorned with her own cadenza. The audience appreciated the concert with a long standing ovation.
Our heartfelt congratulations to the young musicians on the Moldova debut! Very well done! A round of applause goes to all of you – and your dedicated violin teachers (listed in the alphabetical order): Inna Khriplovich, Liana Tretiakova and Anica Vieru. Very special thank you goes to Inna and Anica – for accompanying the violinists during this journey, supporting and preparing them for this remarkable performance!
.violin

In April, our talented violin student Emanuel Reinhardt (class of Alexander Kuznetsov) had a super-successful debut at the I. International Violin Competition BCN ‘Victoria’ in Barcelona, Spain. He secured the 1st prize in the advanced category (17-20 years old) and was also granted an esteemed invitation to perform with an orchestra in Italy! Bravo to Emanuel and his dedicated teacher for this truly remarkable achievement!

In March 2024, five our students made their debut on stage alongside the famous ZKO Quartet (Zürcher Kammerorchester – Zurich Chamber Orchestra). The duet of advanced violinists Alexandra Taub and Vlada Sabella (both class of .violin) played Bach’s ‘Concerto for Two Violins in D minor’. The Bach’s masterpiece was performed in the baroque style, and was played by the baroque bows.
The concert was continued by the youngest performer, 7-year-old pianist Maksut Mukhitdin (class of Rafael Lipstein). He performed two waltzes by Chopin and impressed the audience greatly – as no one expected such a young musician to be a true piano virtuoso for his age!
Following Maksut's performance, another highly advanced violin student, Sophie Branson (class of .violin), together with a guest violist Lisanne Schick, performed Mozart’s ‘Sinfonia Concertante in E flat Major’. Finally, our multi award winning violinist Nikita Koller (also class of .violin) captivated the audience with his interpretation of Sarasate’s ‘Carmen Fantasy’.
On behalf of the Zakhar Bron School of Music, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the ‘Kuma Foundation’ for arranging this beautiful concert at the luxurious St. Charles Hall Villa in Meggen (Switzerland). Watching our students perform alongside the esteemed quartet was truly delightful, and we are thrilled to bits with the success of the concert!
From the bottom of our hearts, we would also like to thank all the members of the ZKO Quartet for providing this unique opportunity for our students:
Willi Zimmermann, Violin
Silvyia Savova-Hartkamp, Violin
Ryszard Groblewski, Viola
Nicola Mosca, Violoncello

Congratulations to our young violin student Kimia Corke (joint class of .violin and Anica Vieru), her teachers, and her parents on winning the 1st prize with distinction in the solo violin category at the Swiss Youth National Music Competition Entrada 2024 in Geneva! All 1st prize winners advance to the competition finale in May, where the best of the best will be selected. Fingers crossed!
Photo credit: Mahbiz Nobahar Corke

Last week, the Swiss Youth National Music Competition Entrada 2024 took place in various cities across the country. This is the most prestigious annual music contest in Switzerland, and we are thrilled to announce that our students achieved remarkable success, securing ten 1st prizes (with five distinctions), four 2nd and five 3rd prizes in different categories:
🥇prize with distinction: Kimia Corke (violin, joint class of Liana & Anica)
🥇prize with distinction: Felipe Hauser (violin, Liana & Anica)
🥇prize with distinction: Nikita Koller (violin, Liana & Anica)
🥇prize with distinction: Timmy Wang (violin, Inna)
🥇prize with distinction: Trio Ardente (chamber music, classes of Rafael, Payam & Liana)
🥇prize: Sophie Branson (violin, Liana)
🥇prize: Emanuel Reinhardt (violin, Alexander)
🥇prize: Alexandra Taub (violin, Liana)
🥇prize: Theofania Archontopoulou (cello, Payam)
🥇prize: Benjamin Branson (cello, Payam)
🥈prize: Katharina Filimonova (violin, Inna)
🥈prize: Tatjana Filimonova (violin, Inna)
🥈prize: Eva Solodovska (violin, Liana & Anica)
🥈prize: Aurea Wang (violin, Inna)
🥉prize: Elia Berger (violin, Alexander)
🥉prize: Marco Bernardis (viola, Inna)
🥉prize: Kira Okhrimenko (violin, Inna)
🥉prize: Xenia Quintin de Kercadio (violin, Alexander)
🥉prize: Olessia Quintin de Kercadio (violin, Alexander)
Our heartfelt congratulations to all the prize winners, their loving parents, and their dedicated teachers at the Zakhar Bron School of Music (in the alphabetical order): Inna Khriplovich (violin), Alexander Kuznetsov (violin), Rafael Lipstein (piano), Payam Taghadossi (cello), Liana Tretiakova (violin) and Anica Vieru (violin).
All 🥇 prize winners from all the cities will meet again in May, where the best of the best will be selected in the competition finale. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for our finalists!!!
P.S. We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Yana Eismann, Pavel Pozdyshev, Or Re'em and Diana Voronetcaia for providing the piano accompaniment to our students.
.violin