Yi-Bing Chu

Yi-Bing Chu received his first cello lessons from his father, who was a teacher at the Conservatoire in Beijing, when he was eight years old. In 1983, he left for France, where he studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris with Maurice Gendron. He graduated summa cum laude in 1987. Yi-Bing Chu has collaborated with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and became principal cellist of the Basler Kammerorchester as well as other orchestras. After 21 years, Chu Yi-Bing returned to China, where he taught at the Conservatoire in Beijing until 2018. He founded the China Philharmonic Cellists, an ensemble of 12 cellists, which performed all over China with a programme of Chinese and European chamber music. Yi-Bing Chu is the founder and artistic director of the cello festival Super Cello, which took place for the first time in 2017 in Beijing. Yi-Bing Chu has been living and working in Los Angeles since 2020.

From a young age, Daniël Kramer received lesson from Ton Hartsuiker. He went on to study at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Håkon Austbø, where he received his Master’s degree with distinction. He also received lessons from Rudolf Jansen, Willem Brons, Murray Perahia, and Claude Helffer, among others. He won prizes at the Prinses Christina Concours in 1994,  Concorso Seghizzi in 2008, and the Concours Olivier Messiaen in Paris in 2007.  His performances as a soloist include concerts with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic conducted by Peter Eötvös, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra conducted by Werner Herbers, and the Netherlands Youth Orchestra conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw. He has collaborated with various composers, such as George Benjamin, Louis Andriessen, Toshio Hosokawa, and Sofia Gubaidulina, and has premiered numerous contemporary works.  Daniël Kramer is the principal accompanist of the National Cello Competition and has given many concerts with laureates. He recently collaborated with Eline Hensels, the winner of the competition in 2018, to record a CD which was recently nominated for an Edison.

Piano