musicians

Evening Concert - Miriam Helms Ålien

Miriam Helms Ålien, Violin - Tonhain Kollektiv

Photo: Jessy Lee

Tonhain Kollektiv e.V. is a group of young, dynamic musicians who strive to reinvent the chamber music scene in Berlin. With its permanent residency at Tonhain, an intimate new chamber music hall in Steglitz, and its unique collective leadership structure, Tonhain Kollektiv aims to create an innovative center for chamber music which features Berlin-based musicians of the younger generations.

Evening Concert - Mayumi Kanagawa

Mayumi Kanagawa, Violin - Tonhain Kollektiv

Photo: Victor Marin

Evening Concert - Brian Isaacs

Brian Isaacs, Viola

Photo: Peter Adamik

The American violist Brian Isaacs lives in Berlin and is a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, where he is mentored by Sebastian Krunnies. At the same time, he is studying with Tabea Zimmermann as part of the Concert Exam Program at the HfMDK Frankfurt (Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts). Brian has received awards and prizes from institutions such as the Verbier Festival Academy, Yale University, the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund, and international competitions like Grunewald, Nedbal, and Rubinstein. He has benefited from participating in masterclasses with violists such as Misha Amory, Yuri Bashmet, Noemie Bialobroda, Ettore Causa, Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, Steven Tenenbom, Lars Anders Tomter, and Tabea Zimmermann.

As a passionate chamber musician, Brian has performed at festivals such as Four Seasons, Gstaad String Academy, La Jolla SummerFest Fellowship, Methow Valley, NUME, Taos, Thy, Verbier Festival Academy, Viridian Strings, and Yellow Barn. A native of New York and a graduate of Yale University, he earned his MA in Viola under the tutelage of Ettore Causa, and his BA in Sociology. He plays a viola built by Douglas Cox in Brattleboro, VT, which is generously on loan from the Virtu Foundation.

Evening Concert - Ildikó Szabó

Ildikó Szabó, Cello

Foto: Marco Borggreve

In 2007, János Starker described his compatriot as "an exceptionally gifted young cellist" with the potential for a world career. Since then, Ildikó Szabó has lived up to this claim: the Hungarian artist has won prizes at 16 international competitions, including at the Pablo Casals Cello Competition in 2014 at which she won a total of eight prizes.

“A true artist who enjoys being on stage and manages to perform to the absolute best of her capabilities in front of an audience” says Iván Fischer who has collaborated with her on multiple occasions, where she performed as a soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. She has also performed with the Concerto Budapest, the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, the Magdeburgische Philharmonie, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Ildikó stems from a family of great musical traditions. From the age of 11, she studied with László Mező at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and attended master classes with János Starker, before she began her studies with Jens Peter Maintz at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2011. From 2018, she continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" Weimar with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. “Her technique is impeccable, her sound is warm and flexible. Her interpretations are both intelligent and heartfelt.” She completed her studies at the Kronberg Academy in July 2023 on the Professional Studies programme.

She played at prestigious festivals such as the Rheingau Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, OCM Prussia Cove, BBC at Hay, Verbier Festival, Piatigorsky Cello Festival, IBF Gran Canaria, and the Krzyżowa Music. Previous venues have included the Wigmore Hall, Mariinski-Theater, Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Walt Disney Hall, as well as the Liszt Academy and the Palace of Arts Budapest. She performed regularly at the Fondation Louis Vuitton as a laureate of Gautier Capucon's "Classe d’Excellence”. She has performed with conductors including Iván Fischer, Michael Sanderling, Luciano di Martino, Zsolt Hamar, and Leo McFall. She has cooperated with artists such as Arnold Steinhardt, Ferenc Rados, Kirill Gerstein, Tabea Zimmermann, and Matthias Schorn on numerous chamber music projects.

Szabó has a particular passion for Hungarian and Transylvanian repertoire - she has developed personal relationships with György Kurtág and Péter Eötvös. Her discography reflects said affinity: her solo album “Heritage” (2020) - which was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award - features world premiere recordings of works by György Kurtág and Csaba Szabó. Her mentor Alfred Brendel described the recording as “substantial interpretations by a very special young cellist.” The next recording project came about at his suggestion: the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven were released in May 2023 with the pianist and long-time chamber music partner István Lajkó and nominated for the ICMA Awards 2024.

From October 2023, Ildikó is an associate professor for chamber music at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, and a lecturer for cello at the Julius-Stern-Institute - UdK Berlin. She has been actively involved in educational and outreach projects such as TONALi's school concerts and the Konzerthaus Dortmund's Community Music. Ildikó is a Larsen Strings artist.

March 2024

Evening Concert - Bumjun Kim

Bumjun Kim, Cello

Photo: Peter Adamik

Born in South Korea, Bumjun Kim arrived in France at the age of seven months.
He began playing the cello when he was six and was admitted to the CNSM in Paris at the age of fifteen where he studied with Philippe Muller.
Later on, he shortly went to Leipzig before coming to Berlin for a second Master degree at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule and simultaneously, he managed to get a Doctorate Diploma in Paris.
As a former member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he also had the privilege of discovering the major symphonic repertoire with some of the most inspiring musicians and conductors of our time.
Passionate about chamber music, Bumjun Kim has always led an active life as a chamber musician. Senior member of the Seiji Ozawa International Academy in Switzerland, he founded the Trio Arnold in 2018, which is in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris.
In 2020, accompanied by the French label Mirare, the trio’s first recording with Beethoven's Opus 9 trios was rewarded with a Diapason d'Or and a Trophée Radio Classique.
Two new recordings are planned to be released during the coming season, a first one with works by Strauss such as ‘Metamorphosen’ with the label B.records, and a second one named ‘Hungarian Nights’ with the label Mirare, both with the Trio Arnold.
Since 2023, Bumjun Kim has been principal cellist at the Staatskapelle in Weimar, and is currently playing a French cello from 1916 by Sébastien-Auguste Deroux.