Alberto Culmone is the principal clarinetist of Basel Symphony Orchestra. He began his professional career at the age of 20 as principal clarinetist of Bern Symphony Orchestra. As a sought-after guest musician, he is regularly invited to perform as principal clarinetist with renowned orchestras, including the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, the Festival Strings Lucerne, and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. These engagements have taken him to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, such as Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Seoul Arts Center, Wiener Musikverein, Prague’s Rudolfinum, KKL Lucerne, and Teatro Real in Madrid. In parallel with his orchestral career, he was appointed lecturer in orchestral studies at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest musicians to hold such a position. A central component of his artistic work is pedagogy. His teaching spans all levels of training—from basic instruction to targeted preparation for a professional orchestral career. In addition to his work at the ZHdK, he is regularly invited by international institutions and festivals both within and outside Switzerland to give master classes and mentor young musicians. Born in Palermo, Culmone began his musical training early under his father’s guidance. He completed his studies at the Conservatory in Palermo, where he earned a master’s degree in clarinet with distinction (cum laude) and special mention. His artistic development was further shaped by his participation in international academies such as Ticino Musica, the Musica Riva Festival, and the Académie Musicale de Villecroze. In addition to his orchestral and teaching activities, Culmone is also active as a soloist and chamber musician. He has won over 20 international competitions throughout Europe, leading to numerous engagements as a soloist with orchestras as well as in various chamber music ensembles.

A member of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Vincent Brunel has a multifaceted artistic approach, embracing a wide range of musical styles. He completed his musical education with Gyula Stuller at the Lausanne Conservatory and was taught by Pavel Vernikov and Gabor Takacs. He has performed under conductors such as Simon Rattle, Colin Davis and Herbert Blomstedt. In 2011 he received the support of the Nicati de Luze Foundation. A passionate chamber musician, he regularly performs with Trio Nuori, which he founded in 2009. The trio has recorded two critically acclaimed CDs with the label Ligia: Castillon in 2013 and Renié in 2018. Inspired by figures such as Ivry Gitlis and Gilles Apap, he turned to traditional music, jazz and improvisation at an early age, sharing his music with artists from around the world.A regular visitor of Irish sessions and folk dance events, he was also introduced to Indian music by Mukesh Jadav and Nicolas Delaigue, and to Mandinka music during his stays in Mali and Burkina Faso. In addition to his activities as a classical musician, he performs alongside musicians from a variety of backgrounds, such as musicaux tels Jérémy Bruyère, Gilles Apap, Alexandra Bellon, Michael Zisman, Josep-Oriol Miró, Luca Fiorini, Sarah Chaksad, Quirill, Zoë Conway and Adama Koeta. In 2022, he joins the jazz ensemble Kaleidoscope String Quartet. On the folk scene, he performs throughout Europe with the groups La Bonne Soupe!, Quirill and Vince and Duo Brunel + Miró – with whom he recorded the album Premier Soleil in 2024. Always open to explore new artistic horizons, he collaborated with the dancers of Ballet Basel, participating in the productions Robin Hood and Peer Gynt under the direction of choreographer Johan Ingmer, playing violin, viola and Hardanger fiddle (traditional Norwegian violin) on stage. He is regularly invited to perform with the Geneva Camerata, and takes part in the tours of the shows Revolta and Dance of the sun, played by heart and choreographed. In 2021, he recorded the score for Gaïa, an exhibition by the visual artist Julien Salaud at the Musée Mandet in Riom, with cellist Aude Pivôt. He has been teaching Irish music at the Musik Akademie Basel since 2021. He is regularly invited to give master classes during which he builds bridges between classical and traditional music, and discusses chop technique and improvisation with students. From 2025 he will perform in Switzerland with the association Kultur am Bettrand, which offers access to culture to people who cannot go to concert halls. He plays a violin by Patrick Robin as well as a quinton with sympathetic strings by Timothée Jean.

After completing his studies at the renowned Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, Christopher spent two years in the cello section of the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin. He then took up the position of second principal cellist with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, and since 2011 he has been the first principal cellist of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Orchestra. He is regularly invited as a guest principal cellist by orchestras worldwide, and in the summer of 2024 he performed the Rococo Variations as a soloist at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. Chamber music is one of Christopher’s greatest passions. He regularly gives duo recitals with piano and was the cellist of the Amar String Quartet Switzerland for seven years. He is regularly invited to chamber music festivals, where he collaborates with numerous internationally renowned artists. Most recently, he performed both as a soloist and as a chamber musician at the Festival Klassiek in Zeeland. As an educator, Christopher is invited to serve as cello professor at the British Isles Music Festival in England, where he also serves on the board of directors. In addition to his private teaching, he has given masterclasses at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Universidad de Santiago in Chile, and has also been invited to mentor the Asian Youth Orchestra. Christopher is the founder and director of Rhein Klassik, an initiative launched during the COVID pandemic to support freelance and emerging musicians in Switzerland—particularly those facing financial difficulties—by creating performance opportunities and fostering a vibrant musical community.

Friederike Starkloff is one of the most outstanding violinists of her generation, known for her profound and multifaceted playing. Born in Chemnitz in 1990, she began her training at the age of five with Wolfgang Marschner and Ariane Mathäus at the Pflüger Foundation in Freiburg. She later studied with Rainer Kussmaul in Freiburg and with Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, where she served as her assistant from 2017 to 2022. Throughout her career, Friederike Starkloff has achieved numerous successes at renowned international competitions. In 2009, she won second prize at the 7th Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition in Augsburg, which paved the way for her debut CD with José Gallardo featuring Mozart’s violin sonatas. Further significant awards soon followed: third prize at the 7th International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig (2010), third prize at the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in Paris (2014), and third prize at the Jean Sibelius Competition in Helsinki (2015). In 2017, she recorded a CD of violin duos by Eugène Ysaÿe and Wolfgang Marschner together with violinist Myvanwy Ella Penny. At the age of 24, she became the youngest concertmaster of a German radio orchestra when she assumed this position with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover. Since the 2023–24 season, she has continued her career as concertmaster of the Basel Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her orchestral commitments, she performs regularly as a soloist and is a sought-after chamber musician, appearing with artists such as Markus Becker, Jan Vogler, Leonid Gorokhov, Daniel Schnyder, and Gerrit Zitterbart. Her latest CD, released in 2023 on Genuin Classics, featuring sonatas by Schulhoff, Janáček, Debussy, and Antheil, was highly praised by the music press. Since October 2024, Friederike Starkloff has been leading her own class as a professor of violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. Starting in September 2026, she will take on the same role at HSLU Lucerne Music. She plays a violin by Meike Finckh from 2021, as well as a violin by Julia Maria Pasch from 2025.

Olivier Carillier was born in France in 1994 and began studying the violin in Toulouse at the age of five. From 2012, he studied at the University of Music in Basel, where he obtained his Master’s degree in violin under Raphaël Oleg in 2017 and his Master’s degree in viola under Silvia Simionescu in 2020. In 2021, he was deputy principal violist of the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra and has been principal violist of the Basel Symphony Orchestra since 2022. He is regularly invited to perform as principal violist with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. He also performs as a soloist accompanied by orchestras such as the Collegium Basel and the Orchestre de la Ville de Delémont. Olivier has won prizes at numerous competitions for solo and chamber music in France, Italy, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland. In 2019, he won first prize in the competition organised by the “Marianne and Curt Dienemann Foundation” (Lucerne) and was twice a prize-winner of the “Rahn Kulturfonds” (Zurich, 2019 and 2020). He performs at various festivals, notably the Mizmorim Festival (Basel) from 2019 to 2021 and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, in which he has been a regular participant since 2022. He collaborates with renowned artists such as the Gringolts Quartet and the Doric Quartet. In 2019, he was invited by the latter to the Mendelssohn Festival in Mull (Scotland).