Viola: Tobias Lea

Born in Adelaide, Australia, Tobias Lea is one of a family of three musicians. His twin brother Benedict is a violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and his sister Elinor is Associate Concertmaster with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Tobias began playing the violin at the age of 5. Aged 12 he began violin studies with Ronald Woodcock at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium. During his studies for his Bachelor of Music (Performance) degree, Tobias worked with the South Australian Opera Orchestra and the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra. He graduated in 1986 and immediately left for Vienna to continue his studies, changing from violin to viola. After four years of intensive study at the renowned Vienna “Hochschule für Musik”, with Prof. Siegfried Führlinger, he won the position of Principal Viola of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan under Riccardo Muti. During the following four years he learned a great part of the opera repertoire and was also invited to join the Quartetto della Scala, giving concerts around the world. In 1994 Tobias joined his brother Benedict in the combined Vienna Philharmonic and Austrian State Opera Orchestra, winning the position of Principal Viola, which he has held for the past 20 years. He simultaneously took up a teaching position as assistant to his former professor at the Vienna “Hochschule für Musik”. He continues his lively interest in chamber music, playing with the Vienna Chamber Ensemble amongst various other groups. His extensive experience as a soloist includes performances in 2005 and 2006 of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with concertmaster Rainer Honeck, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Riccardo Muti, in Vienna, Tokyo, New York, Cleveland, Mexico City and Toronto. In 2008 he performed the Viola Concerto by Bartók with the Vienna Philharmonic, again directed by Riccardo Muti, in Vienna’s Golden Musikverein Hall. Working with students is a particular passion for Tobias, and he has held masterclasses all over Europe, as well as in Japan, South East Asia, India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Since 2005 Tobias is a member of the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle.

Cellist: Tamás Varga

Tamás Varga was born in Budapest in 1969 and began studying the cello at age of seven. In 1992 he completed a degree with honors at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where his teachers included László Mező, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág. Mr. Varga was also highly influenced by such artists as Miklós Perényi, Menahem Pressler and Uzi Wiesel, the last of whom accepted him as a scholarship student at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv. Tamás Varga is Principal Cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) as well as the Vienna State Opera. A regular soloist with the VPO, he performed under Giuseppe Sinopoli, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Christoph Eschenbach, Adam Fischer. In addition to his 2003 BBC Proms debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Mr. Varga has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music engagements across Europe, Canada, South Africa, Australia and Japan.

Mr. Varga is also an enthusiastic chamber musician. As a member of the Ensemble Wiener Collage, the Breughel Ensemble and the Wiener Kammerensemble, he regularly appears in the Wiener Konzerthaus and Salzburg Festival, among other European venues. He has collaborated with such artists as Hildegard Behrens, Marjana Lipovsek, Ferenc Bognár, Philippe Entremont, Zoltán Kocsis, Tamás Vásáry, Karl Leister, Peter Schmidl, Wolfgang Schulz and the Bartók-Quartett. An avid teacher, Mr. Varga has given master classes in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Australia, USA as well as in South Africa. He served as a tutor for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, for the New World Symphony as well as for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra and was teaching at the International Orchestra Institute in Attergau, Austria for several years.

In the last years, Tamás Varga has recorded more than 20 CDs for labels such as Camerata Tokyo, Naxos, Hungaroton, King Records, Cavalli Records.

Violinist: Alina Pinchas

Born in 1988 Alina Pinchas was accepted at the age of four to the Viennese University of Music and performing Arts where she attended the class of Prof. Eugenia Polatschek. From 2007 she was studying with Prof. Boris Kuschnir at the University of music and performing Arts Graz.

For the 2003/04 season Alina was awarded with the Herbert von Karajan Scholarship. The same year she had several live performances on the Austrian Radio Television (ORF) and recorded CD's with the Kiew National Symphony Orchestra.

Solo-debut at the Konzerthaus in Vienna in 2004, after winning several first prizes at competitions like "Laureate de la Fondation CZIFFRA",Paris;"Stresa",Italy; "San Bartolomeo Rovero d'oro", Italy; etc.

September 2008 - Solo-debut with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and in October at the Musikverein Graz/Stefaniensaal performing Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto. Her previous engagements have included Solo concerts with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Valencia Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Kiew National Symphony Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra, etc.

Among other concerts the highlights of 2010/2011 were the Korngold and 1st Schostakowitsch Violin Concerto conducted by Walter Weller. With the friendly support of Ronald S. Lauder

Flute: Dieter Flury

Dieter Flury was born and brought up in Zurich (Switzerland) and studied with Hans Meyer (Principal Flute of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich), André Jaunet (at the Zurich Music Academy) and Aurèle Nicolet. In addition to his flute studies he graduated in mathematics at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. At age 25 he was appointed a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and in 1981 he was named Principal Flute of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. 2005-14 he was also the Artistic director and General Manager of Vienna Philharmonic.

In demand as a teacher Mr.Flury is a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz (Austria) where he has been teaching since 1996. His numerous recordings have featured a wide range of composers from Baroque to contemporary.

Dieter Flury has performed as soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphonic, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony, Tokyo Symphony and others in collaboration with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Roger Norrington and Edmond de Stoutz. He worked with composers including Pierre Boulez, Beat Furrer, György Ligeti, René Staar, Salvatore Sciarrino, Herbert Willi and Hans Zender. Mr.Flury is playing a handmade 14k golden flute by Yamaha.