Hanna Kryvtsova, violin and Andrey Ilienko, piano

Hanna Kryvtsova (2003) comes from Odesa, Ukraine. She received her secondary music education at the K. F. Dankevych School of Arts and Culture in Odesa. She has been playing the violin since she was six and has taken part in numerous violin competitions. She is currently studying at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music under Vasilij Meljnikov. During her studies in Ljubljana, she has appeared as a soloist with the Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, performing Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, and with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, with which she performed Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane. She has also taken part in two projects with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, under the baton of Kirill Petrenko and others. She collaborates regularly with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. She received the Ljubljana Academy of Music’s Prešeren Award for the 2023/2024 academic year. In February 2025 she won first prize at the Young Virtuoso Competition in Zagreb.

Sae Lee is one of the most sought-after collaborative pianists of her generation. According to Japanese newspaper Mainichi, she is able to captivate audiences »with her ability to interact subtly with musicians, her exceptional proficiency on the piano and her outstanding artistry.« After studying at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Sae Lee graduated with distinction in piano and chamber music at the Paris Conservatory with Michel Beroff and Eric Le Sage. She has won first prize at several competitions, including the City of Padova and Albert Roussel International Piano Competitions, and the Fnapec, Carlo Soliva and Cidade de Alcobaça chamber music competitions. She has appeared at the prestigious Piano Enghien festival in Paris, at the Nevada-Semipalatinsk International Conference sponsored by the Kazakhstan government and UNESCO, and on the Japanese national television programme NHK Classic Club. She has performed as a soloist with the Sofia Philharmonic, the Pleven Philharmonic, the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, with which she performed Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla- Symphonie. She has worked with worldrenowned ballet dancers such as Aurélie Dupont (director of the National Paris Opera Ballet) and Kevin O’Hare (director of The Royal Ballet, London). She is currently employed at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Andrey Ilienko (2001) embarked on his musical journey in 2006 at the Izola branch of the Koper Music School, continued in the arts programme at the Koper High School and graduated with distinction from the Graz University of Music and Performing Arts. He is currently studying at the University of Music in Hanover. His mentors have included Denys Masliuk, Selma Chicco Hajdin, Ayami Ikeba and Zuzana Niederdorfer; he is currently a student in the class of Ewa Kupiec. He has received numerous awards at national and international competitions, including the City of Gorizia Young Talents International Musical Competition, the Grado Isola del Sole Prize, the Martha Debelli Scholarship Competition in Graz and at the TEMSIG competition, where he won first prize in March 2025. He has performed across Italy, Austria and Slovenia, including with solo recitals in the Pianissimo and SMA concert series, and at the Piano City Pordenone festival. He has also recorded for Radio Koper and ARS on several occasions. Alongside his fulltime studies, he refines his skills in masterclasses with renowned professors, such as Leonid Margarius, Milana Chernyavska, Dmitri Alexeev, and Ruben Dalibaltayan. An active chamber musician, he is a member of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation – Live Music Now. He performs regularly at chamber music festivals and in concert series, including Carniarmonie festival, Young Virtuosi and Armonie in città.