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Villars Music's concert series by Ava Bahari
Live at the Palace
Villars Music's concert series by Ava Bahari
Violinist Ava Bahari, accompanied by her pianist Andrei Banciu, invites listeners to an evening where virtuosity and poetry intertwine in luminous harmony for the first edition of the Villars Music concert series
Details of the evening:
Date: Friday, April 24th 2026
Time: start at 8:30 PM
Location: Théâtre 1895 – Villars Palace
Price: CHF 25.- per person
Ava Bahari
Described by The Strad as “a notable emerging talent”, Ava Bahari is a highly accomplished Swedish violinist with a refreshing appetite for unique repertoire. Currently Artist in Residence with Gothenburg Symphony and selected as an ECHO Rising Star for 2026/27, she has received numerous awards, including top prizes at the Premio Paganini Competition in Genova (2021), Concours International Tibor Varga in Sion (2021) and Aurora Music Competition in Stockholm (2019).
In2025/26 Bahari continues her two-season residency with Gothenburg Symphony: she performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Joshua Weilerstein, reunites with Jaime Martín for concerts featuring Hindemith’s Violin Concerto, and joins forces with Andreas Brantelid for Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello – also reuniting with conductor Pekka Kuusisto. Elsewherein 25/26, she makes debut appearances with Orchestre de Paris, Hamburger Symphoniker, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, and returns to Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra for their season-closing concerts as well as to Swedish Chamber Orchestra to give the world premiere of Annamaria Kowalsky’s Violin Concerto – commissioned specifically for Bahari and which she goes on to perform later in the season with Västerås Sinfonietta.
Highlights of 24/25 included opening Gothenburg Symphony’s season with Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto and returning in Spring 2025 perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto – both with Santtu-Matias Rouvali – as well as first-time collaborations with Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester. Bahari also made her Japanese concerto debut with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under music director Jonathan Nott, performing Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto, while return engagements included Swedish Chamber Orchestra – to give the Swedish premiere of James Mac Millan’s Violin Concerto No.2, along side composer-conductor Brett Dean – and Gävle Symphony Orchestra.
Further past highlights include performances with Philharmonia Orchestra, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gävle and Odense symphony orchestras, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Conductor collaborations and artistic partnerships extend to names such as Vasily Petrenko, Andrew Manze, Tabita Berglund, Anders Hillborg, Pietari Inkinen, Nil Venditti and Bar Avni.
A keen chamber musician, Bahari has appeared at renowned festivals including Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Santander Music Festival, and has played with musicians such as Kirill Gerstein, Daniel Hope, Adrien La Marca, Andreas Ottensamer and Sheku Kanneh-Mason, to name a few. As part of her residency with Gothenburg Symphony, she collaborates with players of the orchestra to give chamber music concerts. Notable solo performances include a Paganini recital at the Seoul Arts Center, a recital on the ‘Stauffer’ Guarneri del Gesù 1734 at Museo del Violino, Cremona, and a recital at Konzerthaus Berlin.
In Spring 2024, Bahari received her Konzert examen Diploma from Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, further to Bachelor and Master studies under the guidance of Professor Kolja Blacher. In 2021 she completed a degree at the Accademia Stauffer in Cremona, Italy.
Bahari plays on an Antonio Stradivarius violin, made in Cremona in 1694, on loan by the Anders Sveaas' Almennyttige Fond (ASAF).
Andrei Banciu
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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