Let your mind provoke you to be an artist
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FOUNDERS & TEACHERS
Our Founders
Mark Messenger
Violin
Anglo-Armenian violinist, Mark Messenger, has had a broad and varied career resulting in a global reputation as soloist, chamber musician, conductor, teacher, jury member, speaker and consultant.
His love of music and the human connection it offers has meant he has shared the concert platform with many remarkable musicians. For over four decades he performed on some of the most prestigious concert platforms in the world as a string quartet and chamber musician, recitalist, concerto soloist, orchestral leader and conductor. He is privileged to have appeared with great international artists such as Lord Yehudi
Menuhin, Ivy Gitlis, Maxim Vengerov, Bernard Greenhouse, Natalie Clein, Raphael Wallfisch, Yonty Solomon, Howard Shelley, John Lill, Michael Collins, David Campbell, Chris Garrick and Sir John Dankworth.
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As a quartet player, for many decades Mark Messenger has toured and performed with the Bochmann String Quartet, immersing himself deeply in the spiritual and transformative world of great string quartet repertoire, unlocking the secrets of truly intuitive and spontaneous chamber music performance. Mark has appeared internationally as a soloist, and as a duo recitalist with his long-time musical and life partner, pianist Maria Tarasewicz.
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He has led symphony and chamber orchestras, opera and ballet companies including the Bolshoi Ballet and the European Camber Opera. Other performing highlights have been as a studio musician and conductor, including recording soundtracks for Hollywood Films and rock and pop albums and conducting two of the iconic Ayoub Sisters albums. In the 1980s and 1990s he toured extensively with his own innovative jazz/rock group, Mercury Jazz.
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He has appeared as a jury member for many international competitions in Europe, South East Asia, America and the UK. He is also much in demand as a speaker, mentor and consultant for educational projects.
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However, it is teaching that is Mark Messenger’s main passion. His ability to build both technical assurance and artistic integrity has contributed to his students’ many and varied successful international careers as chamber musicians, soloists, principal players in major orchestras and innovators within the music industry. His unique and insightful guidance, and the demands he places on his students to continue searching and examining the repertoire have proved to be transformative. He has been invited to give masterclasses in great institutions throughout the world.
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For over two decades he taught violin and chamber music at the Royal College of Music in London where he was also the head of department. Here he also founded and was the artistic director and conductor of the RCM String Band, an innovative ensemble whose alumni include some of the world’s most dynamic and original musicians. His educational philosophy underpins the ethos and impact of The Thinking Musician music programme of which he is a Co-founder and Artistic Director.
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As long as his exploration of life and music continues to provide such human experiences, he will continue the journey with travelling companions from any walk of life and in any nation of the world.
Maria Tarasewicz
Duo Coach
Maria Tarasewicz has gained an international reputation as a chamber musician, duo partner and a pedagogue. She is committed to working with and developing younger artists, and invitations not only as a performer but also as a teacher and accompanist have taken her to Norway, Belgium, France, Italy, Jersey, San Marino, Poland, China and many UK festivals and masterclasses. In the recent years Maria has developed a unique coaching programme for strings at the Royal College of Music, London. She is now based in Belgium from where she coaches and consults for high-level string instrumentalist from all around the world.
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On her path she had been inspired by many fantastic artists whose influence has shaped the direction of her music-making. The pantheon of these is large and include Ivry Gitlis, Maxim Vengerov, Gavriel Lipkind, Vladimir Perlin, Leonid Gorokhov, Eugeni and Olga Moguilevski, Natalia Radecka, Iya Pavlova, Boyan Vodenitcharov, Michael Dussek and many more.
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Maria searches for artistic answers through being the co-founder of The Thinking Musician and outreach projects with organisations such as BlindAid.
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Inevitably the truth is that, by searching for answers, she only finds more questions.
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Summer Course, Brescia, 2025
Oleksandr Semchuk
Violin
Oleksandr Semchuk began studying violin at 4 years of age with Maestro I. Pylatiuk. When only eight years old he started his career performing his first concert as a soloist with an orchestra. Among his teachers are such world-renowned violinists as Bohodar Kotorovych, Yehudi Menuhin, Tibor Varga, Viktor Tretyakov, and Alberto Lysy. At an early age, he won the prestigious and much coveted All-Soviet-Union Competition “Youth Assembly of Art” in Moscow, going on to win many international competitions including the Mykola Lysenko International Competition, Ukraine and the City of Gubbio Award, Italy. He has had a career that has brought him worldwide success, both as a soloist with orchestra and chamber music performer, collaborating with such internationally renowned musicians as B.Canino, R.Koelman, V.Sirenko, A.Lucchesini, O.Mandozzi, M.Brunello, V.Kozhukhar, K.Bogino, L.Gorokhov, M.Kugel, V.Mendelssohn, E.Baatarzhavyn, G.Mirabassi, M.Rysanov, M.Diadiura, O.Kogan, D.Cohen, B.Petrushansky, K.Karabitz, N.Eppinger, D.Shapovalov, A.Casellati, G.Fratta.
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In recognition of Semchuk’s contribution as founder and promoter of the cultural project “Artists for the renaissance of Ukraine”, in 2002 the Ukrainian State awarded the title of “Merited Artist of Ukraine”. Throughout the territory of the former Soviet Union, Oleksandr is the youngest artist to be awarded the “Title of Honour” of the State. For outstanding cultural achievement and development of the Italian violin school, he was awarded the Prizes of Honour “Laszlo Spezzaferri” (2013) and “Rinaldo Rossi” (2014).
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Since October of 2002, Maestro Semchuk has been living in Italy, where he has built a busy teaching career, first working at the Fiesole School of Music and the Music Academy of Florence, where he still teaches. In 2010 Maestro was invited by Honourary Director, M° Vladimir Ashkenazy, to create and coordinate the String Department at the Imola International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro”. His success as a violin professor is evident in the multiple awards and prizes (over 60) won by his students in important International Competitions over the years. These include the Oistrakh International Competition (Moscow), Brahms International Competition (Pordschach), Monaco Master’s International Competition (Monaco), Kreisler International Competition (Vienna). His former students include leaders and members of major orchestras throughout Europe, as well as violin professors at State Conservatories, Universities, and high schools.
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Oleksandr Semchuk often appears on the juries of international violin and chamber music competitions. He has made several recordings and recorded more than seven hours of music as a soloist for the “Golden Collection of Ukraine”, with contributions from the great solo repertoire including the Brahms and Sibelius concertos. He plays an Auguste Bernardel violin dated 1840 and uses the bow “White Lady” by Daniel Vera Navea.
Ksenia Milas
Violin
Ksenia Milas is a Russian violinist who has been living in Italy for over 15 years. She maintains an active concert schedule, performing solo recitals and concertos all over the world. From 2010 to 2023, she has taught at the International Academy of Imola (Honorary Director the Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazi). Through her passion for teaching, she seeks to pass on the secrets of the violinistic techniques to her numerous students. In 2021 she returned to teach in Florence and the following year received an invitation from Fiesole Academy where she is still teaching.
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In 2022, Ksenia became an official partner of iClassical Academy, a web platform featuring classical music lessons for which she recorded an exclusive collection of video lessons for the Six Solo Sonatas by Ysaÿe. In December 2021, she released her CD with Nicolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices, Op. 1, plus 4 previously unreleased Studies. These were recorded in a single session on Paganini’s own violin, the “Sivori”, in the violin room at the Palazzo Tursi in Genoa, for Da Vinci Classics. The CD received acclaim with a 5-stars review from “Musica” and “Amadeus” magazines and the title of “Supersonic” from “Pizzicato”.
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In January 2022, Ksenia played in the concert “AD MEMORIAM” dedicated to the heroes of the Dignity Revolution in Ukraine. The event, organized by the Ukraine Ministry of Culture and patronage by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Centre, took place at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine with the Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gianna Fratta. For “La Musica Unisce” project, she was awarded the “International Good Practices Award” by News Remind and the Italian O`ice of the European Parliament, the “Excellence Award” by the Evento Donna Association under the patronage of the European Parliament, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Lazio Region, and Rome Municipality, and also the “Magna Grecia Award” in Bari, Italy.
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Ksenia is an influential advocate for contemporary music and has had many works dedicated to her from composers such as J.Östlund, S. Delle Donne, D. Shapovalov, and she also worked for 8 years with Russian violinist Saveliy Shalman in the production of the film-lessons “I will be a Violinist”.
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Ksenia started playing the violin at the age of 4 in Volgograd (Russia) in 1993 and the following year, she was admitted to the Special School of Music for talented pupils at “Rimsky-Korsakov” Conservatory in St. Petersburg, in Maestro S. Shalman’s class. At the age of 8, she made her solo debut with the State Philharmonic Orchestra of St. Petersburg, performing in the Mirror Hall of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace. Kultura Magazine wrote: “She captivated the audience not only with her charisma and surprising virtuosity but also with her extraordinary presence and artistic maturity.” At the age of 9 she won the first prize at the International Competition in Athens; at 11 she won the first edition of “New Names” Competition and the International Competition of the Youth Assembly of the Arts in Moscow; at 12 she was awarded the “High Virtuosity Prize” at the International Festival in Belarus; in 2006, she received the jury prize at the International “Tchaikovsky Homeland” Competition in Izhevsk, Russia. At the age of 20, she was admitted to Maastricht Conservatory, where she graduated with honour in 2012 under the guidance of Maestro Boris Belkin, and then she completed her studies at Saint Petersburg Conservatoire.
She has performed as a soloist with various orchestra conductors, including Vasily Petrenko (Russia- Norway), Lit Gregory (USA), Darrell Ang (Singapore), Anatoliy Ribalko (Russia), Ronald Masin (Germany), Marija Ramljak (Croatia), and the Italian M.Boni, L.Passerini, G. De Lorenzo, P.Borgonovo, G.Fratta, G.Marciano, and others. She collaborates with numerous musicians, including B.Canino, R.Koelman, G.Puddu, O.Mandozzi, A.Farulli, L.Gorokhov, D.Shapovalov, O.Semchuk, G.Gnocchi, A.Nosè, A.Serova.
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Ksenia Milas plays an 1840 Auguste Sebastien Philippe Bernardel “père” violin and Giovanni Lucchi’s bow called “Marte”.
Antonello Farulli
Viola
A student of Piero Farulli, viola of the legendary Italian Quartet, and later of Mazumi Tanamura and Nobuko Imai, Antonello Farulli is one of the most active Italian violists both in playing and teaching. A member of the Youth Orchestra of the Eurpoean Union, and later solo viola player of Solisti Veneti, Farulli's concert activity has taken him to into the most important concert halls in the world. He has also developed with passion his role as a mentor to some of the most succesful professional musicians working today, as well as renowned enembles, including the Cuarteto Casals, and has recorded for the Amadeus, Dynamite, Stradavarius and Tactus labels.
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Farulli's teaching has taken him across Europe and the United States. He is Professor of the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole and has, on several occasions, been tutor in the Mahler Jugend Orchester and the Orchestra Mozart Academy, founded by Claudio Abbado. After teaching string quartet at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia for a decade, Farulli is now Professor of Viola at the Giovan Battista Conservatory in Bologna.
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Farulli is author of La viola del pensiero and is also the Artistic Director of the Sesto Rocchi Festival, which is the first in Italy dedicated to professional muscians of all ages. He is currently Director of the European Quartet within the European Chamber Music Academy, which is a project of the School of Music in Fiesole to perfect and promote young chamber music groups.
