At the dawn of musical romanticism

Born in Beirut, Abdel Rahman El Bacha studied in France at the age of sixteen with Pierre Sancan at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. He graduated with four First Prizes (piano, chamber music, harmony and counterpoint). Since winning the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1978, he has performed in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe and the world. His first recording, devoted to Prokofiev, was awarded the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros. He has also recorded numerous works and complete works for the labels Forlane, Fuga Libera and Mirare. As a composer, he also publishes his works with Delatour France.

Fumika Mohri began playing the violin at the age of three in Japan, where she was born. She studied with Kaori Tajiri, Sachika Mizuno and Koichiro Harada, and graduated from the Toho Gakuen school. Since 2015 she has been studying with Mihaela Martin at the Kronberg Academy and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. In the same year she won the second prize in the Premio Paganini international violin competition and the sixth prize in the Queen Elisabeth competition. She performs as a soloist with major orchestras in Europe and around the world, and collaborates with outstanding artists such as Sir Andras Schiff, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Frans Helmerson and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.

Suzanne Vermeyen studied at the conservatories of Brussels, Lausanne and Antwerp and worked with Marcio Carneiro, Justus Grimm and Jeroen Reuling. She is the cellist of the string quartet BL!NDMAN [strings], formerly known as the Alcea Quartet. She also performs in a duo with pianist Lokke Van der Ven, in recital with Abdel Rahman El Bacha and with the VoCello duo she forms with soprano Soumaya Hallak. She also plays regularly with the Monnaie orchestra and is a member of the Bryggen Bruges Strings chamber orchestra.

The Boghossian Foundation thanks chef Yasushi Sasaki and the atelier de lutherie La Cigale for their generous support.