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 Goran Končar, one of the most prominent Croatian violinists, born 1954, studied at the Zagreb Music Academy in the classes of Martin Borić and Josip Klima. He achieved his M.A. degree in the class of Leonid Kogan at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He continued his musical training with Max Rostal in Bern and Henryk Szeryng in Gen

 Goran Končar, one of the most prominent Croatian violinists, born 1954, studied at the Zagreb Music Academy in the classes of Martin Borić and Josip Klima. He achieved his M.A. degree in the class of Leonid Kogan at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He continued his musical training with Max Rostal in Bern and Henryk Szeryng in Geneve. Then he continued studying under Yfrah Neaman in London to become his assistant at the Guildhall School of Music in the period 1981 – 1983.  He started his international soloist career in 1982, undertaking guest tours in most European countries, the USA, Japan and Israel. In the period from 1984 to 1994 he was concert master of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Croatian Radio & Television Symphony Orchestra and the Zagreb Philharmonic. He also performed in many concerts with eminent orchestras and conductors throughout the world.
Končar is the recipient of many first and special awards at numerous national competitions in the country, as well as the Music Life award in Moscow (1980) for the performance of the Concerto for the Violin and Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich, the first prize at the International Competition in Bratislava (1984) and other top acknowledgments. The long list of his awards includes the outstanding Vladimir Nazor Award (2006).
Končar’s first disc was published in 1984 by EMI in London, and he has also recorded for the BBC, CBS, France Musique, HRT and other radio and television stations. Croatia Records published one of the rare integral performances of Eugène Ysaÿe’s solo violin sonatas. From 1987 to 2012 he directed the Zagreb Quartet and for the quarter of the century he embedded his skill and art into the existence of this oldest chamber ensemble, not only in Croatia but in Europe as well. The Zagreb Quartet was established as far back as 1919, and for the period of almost a century it was a basis of the tradition of chamber music-making in Croatia; in this tradition Goran Končar is certainly one of the pivotal personalities. During this period he appeared in more than 2,000 concerts, and under his guidance the Zagreb Quartet had more than 1,000 performances, appearing on all continents in best known world concert halls, and cooperated with a large number of Croatian and foreign soloists. Končar also played the majority of first performances of works composed by Croatian composers written for the strings quartet, and he also published 15 albums. What should not be forgotten is the fact that the Quartet had to find a solution for their working space as a crucial problem. In the year 2007, supported by the City of Zagreb, the Zagreb Quartet was granted their own studio in 31 Ilica Street. Under Končar’s guidance the Zagreb Quartet performed all quartets composed by Shostakovich, Mozart, Prokofiev, Janáček, the majority of Haydn’s quartets and all quintets. 

 Jeremy Mastrangelo has been a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa, since 2014 and was guest principal second violin with the NACO for the final three years of Pinchas Zukerman's tenure as music director of the orchestra. Previously, he was associate concertmaster of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and was designated t

 Jeremy Mastrangelo has been a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa, since 2014 and was guest principal second violin with the NACO for the final three years of Pinchas Zukerman's tenure as music director of the orchestra. Previously, he was associate concertmaster of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and was designated to be the orchestra's next concertmaster in 2010. During his time with the SSO, Jeremy was a featured soloist on multiple occasions, including performances of Bach’s Concerto for two violins with Jaime Laredo, Brahms' “Double“ Concerto, the Sibelius violin concerto, and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. He has been a guest concertmaster with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Kingston Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and the National Ballet of Canada. Prior to his work in Syracuse, Mastrangelo was co-concertmaster of the New World Symphony in Miami. Mr. Mastrangelo has been a finalist in the Julius Stulberg competition and was also the top prize winner in the National Federation of Music Clubs student auditions. In addition to his orchestral career, Mastrangelo performs frequently in solo recitals and chamber music concerts, and has been featured on the Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music series on several occasions as well as NACO's MFASA series. He has also performed with the Chamber Players of Canada and Kathleen Battle. From 2004 until 2009, he was an Affiliate Artist faculty member at Syracuse University. Mr. Mastrangelo holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Michigan, where he studied with William Preucil and Paul Kantor, respectively.

Jeremy and his wife, Sara, live in Ottawa with their two children. When they aren't in rehearsals or performing, they enjoy hiking in the hills of Gatineau and encouraging their children's interests in music, dance, baseball, and art. 

 David Grigorian studied with Mistislav Rostropovich at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and in 1970 he was prize-winner at the Tschaikovsky Competition in Moscow for cello. He has enjoyed success on the concert platforms of France, Spain, Holland, Austria, Germany and former Yugoslavia, and appeared in cultural centers of the then 

 David Grigorian studied with Mistislav Rostropovich at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and in 1970 he was prize-winner at the Tschaikovsky Competition in Moscow for cello. He has enjoyed success on the concert platforms of France, Spain, Holland, Austria, Germany and former Yugoslavia, and appeared in cultural centers of the then Soviet Union such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Riga and Novosibirsk. He played with the following conductors: M. Rostropowitsch, R. Reuter, W. Nelson, W. Sinaisky, O. Kosushi and others. His chamber-music partners have included A. Nasedkin, Dang Thay Schon, I. Zhukov, G. Zislin, D. Sitkovetsky, S. Rudiakov and L.Lissovaja. He has held professorships in Novosibirsk, Gorky, Moscow, Zagreb and Saarbrücken and directs international master-classes in several Eastern European countries as well as in Spain, Italy, and other European countries.  In addition to his career as a cellist, David Grigorian takes care of the next generation of musicians, a true student of Rostropovich. In the Soviet Union he already held various professorships for music, including in Moscow, Gorky and Novosibirsk. In Germany he taught cello at the Saarland University of Music in Saarbrücken. He also teaches and promotes highly talented young musicians. Like Mstislav Rostropowitsch, David Grigorian is both: an extraordinarily skilled music teacher and at the same time a musician of first-class artistic status.  

His repertoire is wide ... His technique is ... phenomenal ... At his concert in Munich you could now experience first hand the musical power of the man ... Every note becomes a room-filling sound, every note is integrated into coherent melos ... almost irrepressible musicality ... Such a thorough understanding of the music and, above all, its implementation requires more than studying the sheet music .. (Süddeutsche Zeitung

Expression of his artistic personality is z. B. his interpretation of Waxmann's Carmenfantasie (a Bizet arrangement by the composer for Jascha Heifetz), in which he plays the violin part on his cello. He is also known for his thoroughly original interpretation of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words and the arrangement of Shostakovich's viola sonata, which he performs in the version for cello and piano together with his wife Ludmila Lissovaja.

With all his skill and technical perfection, David Grigorian's game has retained the artistic qualities that have always distinguished him: liveliness, individuality and uniqueness.