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In 2012 the leaders of EUBO are:
Peter Spissky, Slovakia
Peter Spissky studied violin at the Music Academy in Bratislava, Slovakia from where he received his soloist diploma in 1991, and the Music Academy in Malmö, Sweden, where he received a soloist diploma in 1995. He is now concertmaster for Concerto Copenhagen, an orchestra recognised as one of the leading early music ensembles in Europe. With CoCo, Peter is involved in concert tours to, for example, the Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, USA and Japan, and recordings, with conductors such as Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Paul Hillier, Andrew Lawrence-King and Alfredo Bernardini. In 2009 Peter Spissky co-founded a new orchestra, Camerata Øresund, with a group of the younger generation of Scandinavian players. Camerata Øresund made its debut in November 2010 with a series of concerts called “Bach on the Bridge” (hinting at the Oresund bridge connecting south Sweden with Denmark), including Bach violin concertos. As a guest concertmaster and conductor he appears regularly with Barokkanerne in Oslo and Camerata Drammatica in Reykjavik. As a violinist he works annually with the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen, with Nicholas McGegan, and Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, directed by Stephen Stubbs and Paul Odette. He is a member of the ensemble Baroque Fever with concert invitations from all around Europe. Peter Spissky teaches baroque violin at the Musikhögskolan i Malmö, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen and gives masterclasses all around Scandinavia. In September 2010 he was accepted at Lund University for a five-year artistic research programme leading to a doctorate.
Zefira played the violin from an early age, eventually obtaining in 2006 both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the National Music Academy in Sofia having studied with Prof Yosif Radionov and Stoyka Milanova and been a prize-winner at several international competitions. She then studied baroque violin with Anton Steck and Lucy van Dael, and with the group Concerto Antico performed at the Festival de Musica Antiga Barcelona, Spain, and at the Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht. From 2003 until 2008 she was concertmaster of Sofia’s Classic FM Radio and Festival orchestras, and in 2007 founded the annual Sofia Baroque Arts Festival. Zefira was concertmaster of The National Youth Orchestra of The Netherlands in 2007, before becoming a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra for the 2008 season working with Roy Goodman, Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Enrico Onofri. She returned to EUBO as concertmaster for tours with Petra Müllejans in 2009, Ton Koopman in 2010 and Alexis Kossenko 2011. She has appeared as soloist with the Academic Symphony Orchestra Sofia, Classic FM Radio Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Orpheus and Bulgarian National Radio’s ‘Ensemble of 2007’ Ars Barocca. Zefira has recorded with distinguished European ensembles for Brilliant Classics, Channel Classics and Alpha, and recently has been playing with the Holland Baroque Society, La Chambre Philharmonique, Ensemble Matheus, Arte dei Suonatori, Ensemble Cordevento, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra and Lutherse Bach Ensemble. In 2009 Zefira Valova was a prize winner in the competition of the Jumpstart Junior Foundation, which provides original historical instruments to talented young musicians.
Mechthild Karkow’s performing career began whilst she was studying at the music academies of Lübeck, Hannover, Frankfurt and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. One of her interests has been historical performance practice, and she has had lessons with John Holloway, Simon Standage and Anton Steck, amongst others. In 2006 she began specialising in baroque violin, studying with Petra Müllejans in Frankfurt and with Chiara Banchini at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, receiving a Masters degree with distinction in 2010. In addition she has been studying historical improvisation with Rudolf Lutz at the SCB since 2009. Mechthild Karkow has performed in various European festivals including the Internationale Händel Festspiele in Göttingen and in Halle, the Neue Forum für Alte Musik Zürich, the Festival Seviqc Brezice, the York Early Music Festival, and the Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival. She has worked with conductors including Mark Minkowski, William Christie and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and with orchestras including Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ensemble 415 and Freiburger Barockorchester. Mechthild Karkow is a musician of the foundation Yehudi Menuhin – Live Music Now, and winner of the International Competition for Baroque Violin ''Bonporti 2007''; she received a special prize from the jury at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig 2010.
Hungarian violinist Kinga Ujszaszi began her musical training at the age of four. After graduating from the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Igor Petrushevski. Shortly after arriving she also started to have baroque violin lessons with Simon Standage, later studying Historical Performance with Matthew Truscott at RAM, and playing in masterclasses for Rachel Podger and Enrico Onofri. In 2010 she took part in the Monteverdi Apprenticeship Scheme under Sir John Eliot Gardiner and has been playing with his ensembles since. She was also a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra in 2010, and is a participant of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's Experience Scheme 2012. Kinga has toured throughout Europe and Asia with various orchestras and chamber groups, including the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Hungarian Philharmonie Orchestra. She has played with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and has worked with Sir Colin Davis, Sir Charles Mackerras, Trevor Pinnock and Vladimir Ashkenazy. She plays with the International Baroque Players and also with the Wallfisch Band and the Gabrieli Players. She leads the chamber music group Spiritato! which is currently part of the Brighton Early Music Live scheme. They have performed live on BBC Radio 3 and their first CD, First Act, will be released in 2012.
Bojan Čičić originally graduated with a diploma in modern violin from the Zagreb Academy of Music. After finishing his studies at the Paris Conservatoire and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama with François Fernandez and Rachel Podger, he embarked on a career as a chamber musician and leader. He now regularly performs with leading ensembles including The Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Florilegium. In 2006 Trevor Pinnock asked him to be one of the soloists in the European Brandenburg Ensemble for their tour throughout Europe and the Far East. Their recording of JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos won the Gramophone Award in 2008. Since becoming the principal violinist of Florilegium in 2010, he regularly leads the group in various projects in the most renowned concert halls: the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Concertgebouw, Singapore. Future projects include leading the ensemble La Nuova Musica for five recordings for Harmonia Mundi USA with director David Bates, as well as a tour in Belgium and The Netherlands with his own group Suonar Cantando of Venetian, Croatian and Viennese baroque music.. He will lead EUBO for the first time in 2012, with director Lars Ulrik Mortensen. Bojan plays on a violin by F. Rugieri c1680, kindly loaned to him by the Jumpstart Junior Foundation.
Huw Daniel was a pupil at Ysgol Gymraeg Castell-nedd and Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera, South Wales, and continued his education as an organ scholar at Robinson College, Cambridge, where he graduated with first-class honours in music in 2001. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Music for two years, learning the baroque violin with Simon Standage and the modern violin with Hu Kun. In 2004, Huw was a member of EUBO, the members of which formed Harmony of Nations and continued to play together under this name; they released their first CD in 2007, and a CD of “Bach Triples” is about to be released. He is a member of the Irish Baroque Orchestra and the English Concert, and also plays with the Dunedin Consort, the Sixteen, London Handel Orchestra, Retrospect Ensemble, King’s Consort, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. As leader he works regularly with the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal, Harmony of Nations, and English Touring Opera’s baroque orchestra, and as guest-leader with EUBO and Barokkanerne Oslo. Huw plays regularly with many chamber groups including Florilegium, the Feinstein Ensemble and the recently-formed Truscott Quartet. Huw plays a violin by Alessandro Mezzadri c.1720, on loan from the Jumpstart Junior Foundation.
*Photo: Tim Mintiens (timmintiens.nl) / Jumpstart Jr. Foundation