Isabelle Flory violin

Premier prix at the age of 15 in both violin and chamber music from the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, Isabelle Flory joined Joseph Calvet’s chamber music class, and as a senior violin student of the Conservatoire received guidance from Joseph Gingold, Christian Ferras and Henryk Szering.

In 1971 she was a prizewinner at the Jacques Thibaud International Competition and gained a three-year scholarship to study with Leonid Kogan at the Moscow Conservatoire. Following success in the Carl Flesch Competition she embarked on seven years based in London under the guidance of Yehudi Menuhin, beginning her career as a soloist as well as teaching at the Guildhall School of Music. On her return to France in 1982 she formed the Arpeggione Ensemble, followed by her quartet, Quatuor Arpeggione, which was a prizewinner at the Évian International Competition. With her Quartet or as a soloist Isabelle has appeared at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Théâtre du Chatelet, the Opéra – Bastille, the Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre Carrousel, the Salle Gaveau,, and recorded on France-Musique, Radio-Classique, Radio-Suisse-Romande, Arte, BBC R3, etc. Overseas appearances include the Salzburg Festival, Gidon Kremer’s Lockenhaus Festival, the Wigmore Hall, City of London Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Wiener Classik Fest, Linz, Dresden, Essen, Leipzig, Hamburg, Weimar, Madrid, Barcelona, Brussels, Lausanne, and Geneva as well as Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, the University of Illinois, Ottawa, Toronto, South America, the Middle East, Sweden and Russia.

Stéphane Spira piano

Stéphane Spira began his musical studies with the violin at the age of 6. He won the Gold Medal of the Union des Conservatoires de Région aged 13, as well as the Diplôme Supérieur in Chamber Music from the École Normale de Musique in Paris. This lead to a number of recitals in France, notably at the Cziffra Foundation, and at the Salle Cortot.

The piano, however, drew him irresistably, and at the age of 20 it became clear this was his true vocation. He studied at the École Normale with Serge Petitgirard and Germaine Mounier. Subsequently the teaching of Brigitte Engerer allowed him to enlarge his repertoire. Numerous concerts followed in France and beyond.

His interpretations of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann elicited rave reviews: “Spira plays Chopin with an authenticity rarely found in our time, coupling passion and romantic virtuosity with expressive intimacy...... Chopin is revealed in each work, just as in each score” – Nelson Guigens Risso. His CD "Voyage Musical en Terroirs de France" (on the Spiriades label) was named a Critics’ Choice of Radio France/France Musique.

Alongside his solo work Stéphane has a parrallel career in chamber music and music theatre, and has participated in the creation of projects such as "Pouchkine-Mon Amour", "Traviata...ou la Rédemption d’une Femme”, and he composed the musical arrangements for the song recital Tango–Lied. For the festival Les Spiriades, of which he is the Artistic Director since 2014, he wrote the entertainments “Sonate, amour... et mensonges” and “Notre vie avec Schubert”.

To recognise and make known talented artists is equally a part of his journey. Artistic Director of the Concert Season at the La Halle St-Pierre Museum in Paris for three years, Stéphane Spira was also Head of Singing for ten years at the Conservatoire du Centre de Paris, taught at the Versailles Conservatoire and has been a professor of violin and piano in other conservatoires. He also provides individual coaching to a number of musicians and singers.