Details of the evening:

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Date: Tuesday, December 23th 2025

Time: start at 8:30 PM

Location: Théâtre 1895 – Villars Palace

Price: CHF 25.- per person

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Sophie Lee

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Korean-American violinist Yesong Sophie Lee, born in Seattle, Washington, has been captivating audiences worldwide with her expressive depth, elegant sound, and commanding stage presence. Since winning First Prize at the 2016 Menuhin International Junior Violin Competition in London at the age of twelve, she has been recognized as “quickly building an international following as an emerging young virtuoso of outstanding potential” (The Violin Channel). Her performances have been praised as “silk-toned, notable especially for the intensity it maintained even at the furthest tip of the bow,” and for their “seriousness and density of expression… a huge talent” (CM Classics).

Since her remarkable debut, Lee has gone on to earn international acclaim as one of the most promising violinists of her generation. She was the youngest prizewinner at the 2022 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, received the Prize for Best Virtuoso Work Performance at the Montreal International Violin Competition, and was awarded the Prize for Best Performance of the Commissioned Work at the Menuhin Competition. She is also a recipient of Salon de Virtuosi’s Charlotte White Career Grant, recognizing her exceptional artistry and promise.

An avid recitalist, Lee has performed widely across Europe and North America, including a UK tour, marking appearances at the Cheltenham, Gower, Oundle, and Harrogate Music Festivals, as well as in Warsaw, Helsinki, Geneva, and at the Kronberg Academy Masterclasses and Concerts. She has performed on several occasions at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, where her performances have been met with critical acclaim, and she will return once again this Christmas season for the Gstaad New Year Festival.

As soloist, Lee has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Helsinki Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre des Cameristi della Scala, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, and the Richmond Symphony, with whom she performed at their annual Gala Concert alongside Joshua Bell. She was also invited to perform as soloist at the Orchestra della Scala’s New Year’s Concert, and appeared with violinist and composer Henning Kraggerud in a performance of his Duo Gemini at Victoria Hall in Geneva.

Lee is an artist endorsed by Thomastik-Infeld Strings and performs on the Antonio Stradivari violin, Cremona c. 1734 “Ames”, generously on loan from The Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.

Currently based in Berlin, Yesong Sophie Lee continues her artistic development under Kolja Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, and previously studied with Shmuel Ashkenasi. Her upcoming season includes recitals at the Gstaad New Year Festival and further concert appearances across Europe.

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Andrei Banciu

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Born in Romania (Timisoara) and based in Germany (Berlin/Leipzig), Andrei Banciu has made his predilection for chamber music the main focus of his activity, performing regularly as collaborative pianist in duo recitals, as well as a member of the Jacques Thibaud Ensemble and in many projects alongside musicians of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, MDR Orchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonie Dresden, Romanian Chamber Orchestra.

Recent concert performances (2024/2025) include a BBC recital at Wigmore Hall in London together with Tabea Zimmermann, a duo recital with Kolja Blacher at the Kronberg Festival, Beethoven Triple Concerto in Istanbul with Vlad Stanculeasa, Valentin Radutiu and the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra, as well as a chamber music project in Gothenburg alongside violinist Ava Bahari and musicians of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

He also receives regular engagements as collaborative pianist in important competitions, such as Concours international de Genève, Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, Alberto Lysy Competition Gstaad.

Throughout the years he has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Semperoper Dresden, Maison de Radio France Paris, Fundación Juan March Madrid, Ateneul Român and Sala Radio Bucharest, as well as in festivals such as Heidelberger Frühling, Kissinger Sommer, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Europäische Wochen Passau, Música en Compostela, Musica Mundi Belgium; he had his first US concert tour in 2005 and has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Romania, Italy, Belgium, Egypt, Turkey. His concert performances have been broadcast on BBC, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, Radio France, Radio 4 Netherlands, RAI 3 Italy, Radio România Muzical.

He started studying piano in his home town with Maria Bodo, later continuing in Berlin at the Universität der Künste with Klaus Hellwig and at the Hochschule für Musik ”Hanns Eisler” with Fabio Bidini (piano) and Wolfram Rieger (lied accompaniment). Furthermore he has received important musical impulses from Paul Badura-Skoda, Pascal Devoyon, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Jacques Rouvier, Rudolf Buchbinder and Mennahem Pressler.

In addition to his concert activity, he has been teaching intensively for many years, between 2012-2018 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig and the Hochschule für Musik „Franz Liszt“ Weimar, and is currently serving on the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin.

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"For me, music isn’t something explainable, it’s something to listen to more deeply. I really love how it can hold contradictions: grief and hope, doubt and faith, without needing to resolve them. And maybe that’s what makes it beautiful. Not perfection, but honesty. And that kind of beauty can’t fix the world, but it reminds us that lots of meaning runs through it.“ - Sophie Lee

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