Clarinetists

Shirley Brill’s career was launched with a performance as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. She has since performed with various international orchestras, such as the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester at the Berliner Philharmonie, the Hamburger Symphoniker conducted by Jeffrey Tate, the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theater of Prague at the Kölner Philharmonie, the Chamber Orchestra of Geneva, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Recently she has performed as a soloist with the Münchner Symphoniker at the Philharmonie im Gasteig.

Ms. Brill is the winner of the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland (2007), the Markneukirchen International Competition in Germany (2006) as well as a special prize recipient at the International ARD Competition in Munich.

Shirley Brill has performed at international music festivals such as the BBC Proms in England, the Radio France Festival in Montpellier, the Schubertiade in Austria, the Davos Festival in Switzerland and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival in Israel. In Germany, she gave performances at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Rheingau Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling and, most recently, at the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival.

Ms. Brill has collaborated with such artists as Daniel Barenboim, Sabine Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Janine Jansen, Tabea Zimmermann, the Jerusalem String Quartet, the Fauré Piano Quartet and Trio di Clarone. She regularly performs with pianist Jonathan Aner as a member of the Brillaner Duo, playing in such prestigious halls as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Tonhalle Zürich, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.

After studying in Israel with Mr. Yitzhak Katzap, Ms. Brill continued her studies at the Musikhochschule Lübeck in Germany with Prof. Sabine Meyer and at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA with Mr. Richard Stoltzman.

Shirley Brill was a guest professor at the Academy of Music “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin and a faculty member at the Barenboim-Said Akademie. Since October 2018, Ms. Brill has been appointed Professor of Clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken, Germany.

Nicholas was Principal Clarinet of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra between 1992 and 2014, during which time he performed concertos by Copland, Weber, Nielsen, Bruch, Richard Strauss and Mozart, and recorded the symphonies of Beethoven, Nielsen, Shostakovich and Rachmaninov, and the tone poems of Strauss and Suk. He has also appeared as Guest Principal with the LSO, Philharmonia, Academy of St Martin’s, London Sinfonietta, Royal Northern Sinfonia, English National Opera, Royal Opera, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Hallé, and all BBC Orchestras. Nicholas has held the position of Principal Clarinet of the Milton Keynes City Orchestra since 1991 and, as a soloist, has appeared at venues including the Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, and at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Brighton and Huddersfield Festivals.

Nicholas’ profile as a player is also matched by a teaching career of distinction. An RNCM Tutor for over 20 years, many of his former pupils now hold positions in professional orchestras, and in 2006 his Junior RNCM student, Mark Simpson, became the first person to win both the BBC Young Musician and BBC Young Composer of the Year Awards. In addition to his RNCM commitments, Nicholas also gives masterclasses worldwide, including the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Finland and China. And a continuing summer commitment has been to the Italian Clarinet University in Camerino, a town very badly damaged by the 2016 earthquakes.

As a recording artist, Nicholas’ performance of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Quintet (ClassCD 1502) was released in 2003 and immediately became Classic FM’s CD of the Week, subsequently becoming one of the station’s most frequently broadcast versions of this much loved work. Other recordings include Strauss Duett-Concertino, Brahms and Reger Sonatas, the Bliss Quintet and a well-received disc of English repertoire entitled the Thurston Connection (Naxos).

Nicholas’ research and editorial work has involved producing modern realisations of the Clarinet Sonatas by the French classical composer Francois Devienne for EditionHH, performing editions of the clarinet Works of Mieczyslaw Weinberg for PeerMusic, and editions of the late works of Iain Hamilton for QTPublications. He has lectured on Brahms in German and English, notably at the International Clarinet Assocation Festival in Madrid in 2015, at the Istanbul International Woodwind Festival in 2016, and for a residency at CSU Northridge. He is currently researching the repertoire for solo clarinet since Stravinsky’s Three Pieces of 1919.

Nicholas read music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and studied clarinet with Hans Deinzer in Hanover on a German Government Scholarship and at the Aspen Music School on an English Speaking Union Scholarship. He won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Royal Over-Seas League Competition and Second Prize at the 1987 Jeunesses Musicales International Clarinet Competition.

Juan Ferrer is considered one of the most versatile and active Spanish clarinetists of his generation and the first Spanish Clarinetist to be part of the juries of the prestigious Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition, Guent Competition ,Versailles competition ,Buffet Crampon competition For Asía and Oceanía in (Taiwan), Carlino Competition (Italy) ,Tenerife competition (Spain), Costa Rica Competition.

Also as a soloist and maestro he offeres, recitals and masterclasses. Ferrer’s pedagogical work with students from conservatories and universities of Europe, Asia and Latin America, has been cataloged as a great contribution to the clarinet world. Juan´s teaching dynamics and great intuition, brings new knowledge, experiences and skills to the next generation of clarinetists from around the world.

He is an artist of the well-known brands Buffet-Crampon Paris and Vandoren Paris, Ferrer is part of the Galicia Simphony Orchestra (OSG in spanish), as the principal clarinet since 1994. His has offered concerts in China, Taiwan, Rusia, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Argentina and throughout Spain; as a soloist and in recitals as well with chamber groups such as the  Untia Group, the Instrumental Group Siglo XX or the Quintet of Soloists of the G.S.O.

Juan Ferrer began his musical studies at the Montserrat Musical Society, continuing later at the Valencia Conservatory, where he obtained the title of Clarinet Teacher with the Highest Notes in the Honor Roll, them Juan get the Superior Degree at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory of Valencia also with the Honor Roll, and the unanimous Honorable Mention of the Degree Award.

During his studies, Juan worked with professors José Vicente Herrera, Larry Passin, Andrew Marriner, Alan Damiens, Walter Boeykens, Anthony Gigliotti, Guy Deplus, Jehuda Gilad, among others.

Between 1992 and 1993 he collaborated with the National Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia (ONC in spanish), then in february 1993, Juan won a scholarship to study at the University of Southern California, selected by Professor Jehuda Gilad as a pupil

Ferrer’s interpretive quality has earned him the great opportunity to be invited as a regular guest of the Leipzig Radio Orchestra, Barcelona's Liceu Orchestra, Valencia's Palau de les Arts, Catalonia National Orchestra or the RTVE Orchestra, among many others. He has worked under some of the most prestigious conductors: Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Harding, Sir Neville Marriner, Osmo Vänska, Guennadi Rozdestvenski, Peter Maag, James Conlon, Jesús López Cobos, Stanislaw Scrowaczewski, Dima Slobodeniouk, Gianandrea Noseda, Christoph Eschenbach , Juanjo Mena, Alberto Zedda among many others.

While invited by juries from all over the world, he also focuses on his pedagogical work including the symphonic aspect, working especially with the Young Orchestra OSG, Baremboim -Fundation ,Young Symphony Orchestra of Euskadi, Young National Symphony of Catalonia, Young Orchestra of the Canary Islands.

Since 2020 Juan is Juan is a professor at the Alfonso X el Sabio University (UAX) in Madrid.

In addition, Ferrer usually teaches courses in Spain, France, China, Taiwan, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Belgium, Russia and in the International Clarinet Meeting of Argentina, in addition to all these participations, Juan represent his country as a Spanish artist in six editions of the Ibero-American Clarinet Academy at Castelo de Paiva in Portugal.

Juan’s unstoppable solo, academic and orchestral activity, has been recognized with the invitation to participate as an international guest professor for Simon Bolivar Fundation El Sistema (Venezuela), with three annual meetings starting in the 2017-18 season, activities that during the quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemia still happens through Online sessions in 2020 – 2021 season. .

Recently, Juan Ferrer has recorded an album with the pianist Daniel del Pino with works dedicated to him by internationally renowned authors: Salvador Brotóns, Fernado Buide, Eduardo Soutullo, Karolis Biveinis, Octavio Vázquez, Vladimir Rosinskij and Juan Durán.

At 16, Romain was appointed principal clarinet of the European Union Youth Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado. Five years later, in 1991, he was appointed principal clarinet of the Orchestre National de lʼOpéra de Paris, where he remained until 2001. He won the Young Concert Artist International Auditions in New York in 1996, one of the highest honours for young soloists, as well as the ARD competition in Munich with the Debussy Wind Quintet. Romain has performed as a soloist throughout Europe, Japan, Korea, China, South America and the USA. He has performed all of the major clarinet concerto repertoire with numerous renowned orchestras and ensembles.

Romain currently teaches at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève in Switzerland. He released his first CD as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in April 2013 (Mozartʼs Clarinet Concerto and Quintet) for the label Mirare. He has also taken part in many chamber music recordings (works by Brahms, Farrenc, Mozart/Beethoven, Ligeti/Janacek).

Also a keen sportsman, Romain Guyot runs marathons, swims, goes skiing and plays golf. In September 2004 he climbed Mont-Blanc (4,810 m.) to give a clarinet recital on the roof of Europe!

Zsolt Szatmári has been playing the clarinet since the age of 10. He studied under András Horn at the Bartok Béla Conservatory in Miskolc.

In 1986 won first prize in the Hans Richter National Conservatory Woodwind Competition in Győr thus enabling to enter the clarinet program of Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. He studied in the class of Béla Kováts. At the Academy, he studied under András Mihály for both orchestral and chamber music classes, which had decisive effect on the formation of his approach to music. He graduated in 1991 as a chamber clarinetist and conservatory teacher.

In 1988 in the Hungarian Radio National Woodwind Competition won a special prize and in 1990 got first prize as well as the grand prize in the international Young Artist Competition organized by the International Clarinet Association in Quebec, Canada. In 1991, he successfully applied for the Yamaha Scholarship at the Academy.

He was admitted to the Hungarian State Opera House Orchestra, with a scholarship as first clarinet and at the same time Szatmári became a member of the Budapest Wind Ensemble. After a brief period, he changed his workplace to the Budapest Festival Orchestra where he worked as a solo clarinetist from 1992 until 2000. During this period he had the opportunity to perform with many conductors and soloists such as Sir Georg Solti, Kocsis Zoltán, Yehudi Menuhin. As a member of the Budapest Festival Orchestra he was able to perform at such legendary stage and concert halls as:   Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles; Royal Albert Hall, London; Carnegie Hall, New York. In 2000 at the invitation of Kocsis Zoltán he became the first clarinetist in the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and from 2003 the soloist. As a soloist he had the opportunity to perform together with such well known orchestras as the Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar, Erkel Ferenc Kamarazenekar, Salieri Kamarazenekar, Óbudai Danubia Zenekar, Pannon Filharmonikusok.

As a chamber musician he was able to perform around the world (for example: US, Europe, Japan, Israel) with the Budapest Wind Ensemble and other chamber music formations. His chamber music partners include such widely respected musicians as Kocsis Zoltán, Perényi Miklós, Frankl Péter, Jandó Jenő, Berkes Kálmán, Kelemen Barnabás.

He has been teaching at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music since 1993. Since 2008 he has been the leader of the clarinet program at Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. In 2013 he has obtained his doctoral degree (DLA) and in 2019 he successfully met the requirements of the habilitation procedure.

As a university lecturer, he has given and continues to give many master classes in the most famous faculties and universities in the U.S., Europe, Israel, Japan and Iceland.

Csaba Pálfi was born in 1987 in Budapest. He completed his higher education musical studies at the Liszt Ferenc University of Music in the class of Tibor Dittrich and Dr. Zsolt Szatmári, during which he was able to spend the 2009-2010 academic year with an Erasmus scholarship at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels under the guidance of Hedwig Swimberghe. He received his degree in 2011 with an honorary qualification. He completed his doctoral studies at the Doctoral School of the Liszt Ferenc University of Music with summa cum laude. In addition to her academic studies, he has attended the masterclasses of Laura Ruíz, Michael Collins, Yehuda Gilad, François Benda, and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, among others.

He has performed as a soloist and chamber artist at the Encuentro de Música de Santander in Spain and the Aldeburgh Music Festival in England, where he has performed as a chamber partner with Wolfram Christ, Hansjörg Schellenberger, Radovan Vlatković, Felix Renggli and Nicholas Daniels. As a member of the Aldeburgh Winds, he recorded the wind symphonies of Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky, which was released in 2016 at Linn Records.

He is a founding member of the Weiner Ensemble, with whom he won III. prize at the internationally notable Orlando International Chamber Music Competition in August 2016. As one of the prizes in the competition, the chamber music group was invited to the Orlando Festival in Kerkrade (the Netherlands) in both 2016 and 2018.

In addition to the concerts of the leading Hungarian symphony orchestras, he has performed as an orchestra artist in the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Orchestra as well. Between 2010-2016 he was a member of the Zugló Philharmonic Orchestra, since September 2016 he has been a member of the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.

He has been teaching at the Department of Wind Instruments of the Liszt Ferenc University of Music since 2013, and has been an assistant professor since September 2020. He has given several master classes in Japan, South Korea and Europe and is a regular guest lecturer at the New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival.

Recognized for his inspired performances and beautiful tone, Hungarian musician Balázs Rumy has served as principal clarinetist of both the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. He has performed with these orchestras in many of the best concert halls in Europe, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein and Milan’s La Scala. An accomplished chamber musician, Mr. Rumy has performed in chamber music concerts throughout Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary, and has played in several international music festivals, including Spain’s Santander International Festival, Germany’s Collegium Musicum in Pommersfelden and Hungary’s Budapest Autumn Festival. A prizewinner of numerous international competitions, including the 62nd Geneva Competition (2007 Concours de Genève), the 2009 Carl Nielsen International Competition (Denmark) and the 2010 Giuseppe Tassis Competition (Italy), he participated through invitation in the annual conference of the International Clarinet Association in both Japan and in the United States, for three consecutive years. He is the recipient of several scholarships, including an Annie Fischer Scholarship of Performance, a Loránd Eötvös Scholarship from the Hungarian Government, a Gustav Mahler Orchestra Academy Scholarship, a Scholarship from the Swiss Government and a Róbert Kovács Scholarship. In 2011, he was awarded The Juilliard School’s MAP and IMP Fellowships. In 2017, he was the recipient of the Hungarian State Opera’s Vilmos Komor prize.

As the winner of Juilliard’s Leo Ruiz Memorial Recital Award, he made his Weill Recital Hall Debut in Carnegie Hall on 13 November 2013 with pianist Deborah Lee. As a SYLFF fellow, Mr. Rumy traveled to Vienna in April 2013 and to Japan in November 2010 to participate in Juilliard chamber music projects. Of his September 25, 2011 performance with the New Juilliard Ensemble of Carmen Moore’s Concerto for Ornette, Steve Smith of The New York Times wrote, “Within the ensemble […] Balazs Rumy, played sweetly in written material; one gorgeous passage that paired Mr. Rumy with Lauren Williams on English horn suggested what could have been the homegrown American sound Dvorak imagined.”

Mr. Rumy was born in Székesféhervár, Hungary in 1983, and studied piano before turning to the clarinet. He holds a Master of Music and a Doctoral Degree from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, a Soloist Diploma from the Conservatory of Geneva, Switzerland and an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School in New York. His main professors were Béla Kovács, Thomas Friedli, Romain Guyot, Jean-Michel Bertelli and Charles Neidich. He currently lives in Hungary, where he serves as principal clarinet of the Hungarian State Opera besides being on the clarinet faculty at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. A father of two children, Mr. Rumy indulges in his hobbies: traveling, cooking when his schedule permits.