Biography

sachiko Sachiko SEGAWA, violin

Tokyo born Sachiko Segawa started to play the violin at age of 4, studying with Sabuo Sumi, Kenji Kobayashi and Toshiya Eto and began performing as a soloist at the age of 13.
She is a prize winner of numerous music competitions both in Japan and overseas, including the Special Prize at the 3rd Japan International Music Competition and the Second Prize at the International Viotti Competition in Vercelli, Italy.
She has appeared as a soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Brasov ( Romania), the Symphony Orchestra of the State of Mexico, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony orchestra. She has also performed recitals and chamber music in Japan, France, Germany, Russia, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic and India.
After graduating from the Toho high school of music with top honors, she studied with Valery Klimov and Victor Tretiakov at the Moscow conservatory, Régis Pasquier at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris and Thomas Brandis at the Universität der Künste Berlin, where she received her “Konzertexamen.“

Her debut CD, Ysaye six sonatas for solo violin, was highly acclaimed. Recently, she released Mozart’s violin sonatas with fortepiano (Integrale Classic ) and well as an album with works by Schubert, Mozart, and Kreisler (Art Union, Japan)

laurentLaurent Chatel, violin

In 1999, Laurent Chatel won a First Prize in violin at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he studied with Sylvie Gazeau and José Alvarez. He then continued his violin studies at Boston University, (USA) where he obtained a Master’s Degree in violin performance in 2002, as well as an Artists Diploma in Violin at Longy University (USA) in 2004, having studied in Roman Totenberg’s class.

From 2000 to 2002, he taught violin at the Milton School of Music (USA) and from 2002 to 2004, he was Solo violin of the Hingam Symphony Orchestra of Boston and a member of the Tancredi Trio. He participates in chamber music and, thanks to the Hammond, Hebron & Barnard concert series, in international concert series in the USA and in Europe.

Parallel with his chamber music career, Laurent Chatel regularly collaborates with the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen, the Ensemble Matheus, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre de Paris and the Opéra de Paris. He also is the concertmaster of the “Opéra Nomade” ensemble.

ritsukoRitsuko NAZÉ-OHASHI, viola

Born in Tokyo, Ritsuko Nazé-Ohashi began playing the violin at a very young age, eventually adopting the viola as her main instrument at the age of fourteen.
After her studies at the University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo, she was admitted to the CNSM in Paris in Bruno Pasquier’s class where she obtained the First Prize in Viola and Chamber Music. She continued her studies in the advanced cycle at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris where she graduated with a First Prize, unanimously awarded by the jury.
Since 1994, she has regularly given solo and chamber music concerts in Japan, Europe and Israel.
Between 1999 and 2001, she was a member of the Benaim Quartet, and collaborated with Maurice Bourgue, Anne Queffelec and Gérard Poulet.
As part of the Proquartet training courses, she has had cochings with Walter Levin, Henry Meyer, as well as members from The Alban Berg, the Vogler and the Hagen Quartet. Passionate about chamber music, she is a founding member of the Nymphéas Quintet.
She is currently professor of viola and violin at the CRC Conservatory in Saint Ouen and at the CRC Conservatory in Ermont.

 

jeremieJérémie Nazé, viola
Jérémie Nazé received his first viola lessons from his father, Christian Nazé, himself a violist.

Upon finishing his studies at the Conservatoire de Montbéliard, he continued at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris in the class of Bruno Pasquier and Christophe Gaugué,  where he obtained the first viola prize unanimously first nominated, he was admitted to the C.N.R of Bordeaux in professional cycle in the class of Tasso Adamopoulos where he obtained the first prize first nominated. He continued his studies at the Lausanne Conservatory in the class of Bruno Pasquier.

Professor of viola and violin at the Conservatoire -CRC- of Saint-Ouen, Jérémie Nazé regularly collaborates with the orchestras of the Paris National Opera, the Philharmonic of Radio France, with whom he has had the privilege of playing under the baton of great conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Valeri Gergiev, Pierre Boulez, George Prêtre, Eliahu Inbal, Myung-Whun Chung, and Mikko Franck.

Passionate about chamber music, especially the formation of the two viola quintet, he founded the Nymphéas Quintet, with which he has performed in Europe and Japan.

saraSara Cortinas, Cello

Born into a family of musicians, Sara Cortinas first studied the cello with Walter Grimmer at the Conservatory of Music in Zurich, Switzerland. At the age of seventeen, Sara began her studies at the Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro and David Soyer, from where she holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. She also continued her studies at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with János Starker.

She has participated in numerous music festivals, including the Gregor Piatigorsky International Cello Festival at the University of Southern California, the Perlman Music Program in Shelter Island, New York, and the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander in Spain. She has also played for many renowned cellists such as Steven Isserlis, Lluís Claret and Michel Strauss.

Sara has won the Holland-America Music Society (Chicago) cello competition, the Carlos Prieto Competition for Violoncello (Mexico) and the Olga Koussevitzky Competition for Strings in New York. She has collaborated with musicians such as members of the Emerson String Quartet, Itzhak Perlman, Bruce Brubaker, and has performed at festivals and concerts in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. She has performed chamber music at Alice Tully Hall, Mendelssohn-Saal at the Gewandhaus Leipzig and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.