Artists

Mezzo-soprano Nina van Essen is enjoying a rapidly blossoming international career, appearing on leading opera stages and in major concert halls worldwide. Her performances include engagements at Teatro alla Scala Milan, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Royal Danish Opera, Dutch National Opera, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Oper Leipzig, Theater an der Wien, Komische Oper Berlin, and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.


A former member of the Staatsoper Hannover ensemble (2019–2024), she has built a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart, Rossini, Handel, Bellini, and Gluck to contemporary opera. Nina has collaborated with leading conductors and stage directors and is equally at home on the concert platform. Prizewinner of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino (2023), she graduated summa cum laude from the Dutch National Opera Academy and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.

Hawijch Elders (1998) is a Dutch violinist regarded as one of the leading talents of her generation. In June 2025, she won First Prize at the Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone, with the final taking place in Milan and performances at the Teatro alla Scala, where she appeared in Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 under Massimo Zanetti.

Since September 2022, she has been an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, studying with Augustin Dumay. Coming October she will release her first official Debut CD with Decca Italy. 

Highlights of the 2025/2026 season include debut performances with Phion, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, and the FORM Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic as well as recital at Sommets Musicaux Gstaad. She has performed with orchestras including the Wiener KammerOrchester,  Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, and Nürnberger Symphoniker.

Home - Hawijch Elders

Alexander Warenberg (1998) is a Dutch cellist whose artistry is shaped by a rich musical heritage and international acclaim. Born in Voorburg into a family of professional musicians, Alexander quickly distinguished himself as one of the most promising cellists of his generation.

He studied with Monique Bartels at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and earned his Master’s degree in 2023 from the prestigious Kronberg Academy, where he worked under the guidance of Frans Helmerson. Since then, he has continued to refine his craft as Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, studying with Gary Hoffman and Jeroen Reuling.

In September 2024, Alexander was awarded third prize at the 73rd ARD International Music Competition in Munich. His exceptional performance in the finals also earned him a special prize from the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

A prize winner from an early age, Alexander received first prizes at numerous competitions including the Cello Biënnale Competition Amsterdam (alongside the public award), the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, the Dutch Britten Cello Competition, and the Prinses Christina Concours. In 2021, he was honored with both the Grachtenfestival Prize and the Elisabeth Everts Prize.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Alexander has performed with leading orchestras in the Netherlands and abroad. He has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Janine Jansen, András Schiff, Menahem Pressler, and Nobuko Imai. Festival appearances include the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Festival Bad Ragaz, Cello Biënnale, Rolandseck Festival, CelloFest Finland, and the Verbier Festival Academy.

Alexander performs on a remarkable 1832 Alessandro D’Espine cello from Turin, once played by Paul Tortelier — generously on loan from a member of the Stretton Society.

Hans Christian Aavik is the 1st prize winner of the 2022 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition and recipient of the Usedom Prize. Named “One to Watch” by Gramophone, he is praised for his “probing intellect and curiosity” combined with “an extroverted charisma” (Bachtrack). 

Already well established as a soloist at home in Estonia,Hans Christian Aavik performed Bruch’s violin concerto with the Estonian Festival Orchestra and Paavo Järvi at the 2024 Pärnu Music Festival. In 2023/24 he also curated his own concert series with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, revolving around Mozart’s five violin concertos, and performed Beethoven’s violin concerto with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Olari Elts. Recent international engagements have included chamber music performances at the Wigmore Hall, Köln Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal and Kölner Philarmonie.

Hans Christian Aavik returns to the Pärnu Music Festival in July 2025 as soloist in Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa and joins Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra for further celebrations of the composer’s 90th birthday this autumn, appearing as a soloist alongside Midori at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Zürich Tonhalle, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and New York Carnegie Hall.

Home | Hans Christian Aavik

Dutch conductor Arjan Tien is widely recognised as one of the most dynamic conductors of his generation. Praised for his fine sense of style, attention to detail, and contagious energy, he is equally respected in performing and academic circles.

In 2025, he was appointed Extraordinary Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University, reflecting his strong commitment to developing the next generation of conductors. He also teaches at the Conservatories of Amsterdam and Maastricht and serves as Artistic Supervisor of the South African Conductor’s Competition.

Arjan is a regular guest with leading orchestras worldwide and has held prominent chief conductor and artistic director positions in the Netherlands and abroad.

Indian-American pianist Pallavi Mahidhara made her orchestral debut at the age of 10, performing at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. She is the Second Prize winner and Young Audience Award winner of the 69th Geneva International Piano Competition, and of the VI International Prokofiev Competition in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Pallavi is the Executive Producer, Writer, and Host of “The Conscious Artist^®“, a podcast designed to promote Mental Health Awareness for performing artists. Aside from her private studio, she is regularly invited to give masterclasses and workshops at Universities and Summer Programs.

She has appeared in solo and orchestral concerts across five continents, and has performed at important festivals such as the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Marlboro Music and Verbier Festival. The Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Essen released a live performance recording of her recital from October 2021, available on Spotify.

Pallavi holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, and studied with Dimitri Bashkirov at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. As the first female Indian pianist to attend these institutions and host a podcast on mental health in Western classical music, she fervently embraces her role as cultural ambassador, artist, and mentor. Pallavi is a Steinway Artist.

PALLAVI MAHIDHARA – PIANIST

Gile Bae, born in 1994 in Rotterdam (Netherlands), made her debut as a five-year-old soloist in South Korea with Haydn's Piano Concerto in C major. At the age of six, she was admitted to the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where she studied under the guidance of Marlies van Gent. She has performed with various orchestras in England, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Italy. She continued her studies at the International Piano Academy "Incontri col Maestro" under the direction of M. Franco Scala, graduating in 2017.

In 2000, Gile Bae won first prize at the Dutch International Steinway & Sons Piano Competition, the EPTA International Piano Competition in Belgium, and the Maria Campina International Piano Competition in Portugal. She also won first prizes at the Princess Christina Competition and the Young Musical Talent Foundation Competition in the Netherlands. At fifteen, she won first prize in the higher category of the International Steinway & Sons Piano Competition and represented the Netherlands at the International Steinway & Sons Festival, where she performed at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg.

Gile Bae has performed for the Royal Family and gave a concert in 2013 at the Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna for Aung San Suu Kyi during the awarding of an honorary doctorate. In 2014, she performed Haydn's Piano Concerto in D major under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the International Piano Academy "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola. In 2015, she participated in the MITO Festival with a recital dedicated to Johannes Brahms and performed at various editions of the "La Milanesiana" festival organized by Elisabetta Sgarbi.

In 2017, Gile Bae recorded Bach's Goldberg Variations, which were re-released in 2019 by the Foné label after performances in several venues, including the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. She gave a recital in the Sala Verdi of the Milan Conservatory for the presentation of the 2018 season of the Società dei Concerti, where she performed works by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

In 2018, she was named a "Bösendorfer Artist" in Vienna. She performed Chopin's First Piano Concerto in a version for piano and string quintet, accompanied by the first chairs of the Teatro alla Scala, both in the Mediobanca hall in Milan and at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Malta, in the presence of the president of the republic.

At the invitation of Sir András Schiff, Gile Bae performed at the Ruhr Piano Festival and participated in the "Building Bridges" project during the 2020/2021 season in various European venues, including De Singel in Antwerp, the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, and the Konzerthaus in Berlin.

In 2021, she performed Saint-Saëns' Fifth Piano Concerto "Egyptian" during the opening of the Teatro Coccia in Novara with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra. In October 2022, she performed again with the RAI Orchestra under the direction of Fabio Luisi, playing Beethoven's First Piano Concerto in Ferrara. On December 31, 2022, she performed the same concerto at the Royal Opera House of Muscat (Oman), accompanied by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Latham-Koenig. In January 2024, she returned to Oman for a recital and masterclass.

In 2024, an audio https://websites.godaddy.com/agenda-gile-baeand video album was released on the Arcana label featuring Johann Sebastian Bach's piano concertos, in collaboration with the Archi di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In September 2024, another album will be released on the Universal label https://websites.godaddy.com/agenda-gile-baewith music by J.S. Bach and R. Schumann, produced by Michael Fine.

Aina Font is a Valencian saxophonist based in Amsterdam and Berlin, known for her innovative approach to classical and contemporary music and her commitment to an inclusive musical practice. She is the 2025 portrait artist at Hellerau, selected by VAN MUSIC MAGAZINE, and has performed as a soloist in leading concert halls including the Berlin Philharmonie.

Highlights of recent seasons include her solo debut at the Palau de la Música Catalana, an Artist in Residence position at the European Centre for the Arts HELLERAU, and ongoing residencies at Splendor Amsterdam and GAUDEAMUS. Alongside an active international performance career, she is also engaged in music education as a guest professor at renowned institutions worldwide.

Ivan Petrenko (2008) is a young Ukrainian pianist known for his brilliant artistry and
deep musical sensibility. He embarked on his piano journey at the age of 4.5 and
made his debut at 7.

At 11, Ivan became a student at the Kyiv State Music Lyceum under Tetiana
Abaieva and later joined the Davidsbündler Music Academy in The Hague, where
he studies with celebrated professors Tetiana Abaieva and Borys Fedorov. Since
2025 Ivan pursued his professional musical education at Codarts in Rotterdam
.under Nino Gvetadze

A laureate of a number of International competitions, Ivan triumphed with the
absolute first prize at the “Kharkiv Meets Zurich” competition and received a special
prize at the international Chopin Competition in Szafarnia, Poland. Most recently
Ivan has gotten the second prize at the Schumann piano competition in Düsseldorf.
During several seasons Ivan performed three times in Concertgebouw during

«Davidsbündler Feest» festival. He also performed chamber music in many side-
by-side projects with famous musicians, such as: Nicholas Schwartz, Anna

Fedorova, Benedict Kloeckner, Clémence de Forceville, Georgy Kovalev, Quirine
Viersen, and Tim Posner. Ivan has stunned audiences in solo recitals (Chopin
festival, Leiden and Young virtuosos cycle, Ljubljana). As a soloist with orchestra,
Ivan has performed with Britten Youth Orchestra, Amsterdam Mendelssohn
Chamber Orchestra, Kyiv Camerata Orchestra, and Heemsteeds Philharmonisch
Orkest). He also participated in the 2023 “RCO Young” project with concerts in the
Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Berlin's Konzerthaus. His musical rise continues
with a string of prizes, including the first price at “Merci, Maestro!” competition in
”.Belgium and the second prize at the Netherlands’ “Rijnmond muziekprijs 2023
From dazzling TV programme “Podium Klassik” to the Amsterdam Piano Duo
.Festival, Ivan’s artistry knows no bounds