Schubert: Piano Quintet, D. 667, “The Trout”; Dvořák: Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 23

Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro

Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro is widely regarded as one of the most distinguished Portuguese artists of recent decades, internationally recognised as a soloist, chamber musician and artistic director. Born in Porto, he completed his advanced musical studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, under the guidance of Lyudmila Roshchina, earning both a Master’s and a doctoral degree. He has since performed in major concert seasons and festivals throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.

Renowned for his versatility, Pinto-Ribeiro performs a broad repertoire ranging from Baroque and Romanticism to contemporary music. Several composers from Portugal and abroad have dedicated works to him. As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras in Portugal and abroad, while his chamber music partnerships include many of today’s foremost performers. A major milestone in his artistic career was the founding of the DSCH–Shostakovich Ensemble in 2006, of which he remains the artistic director. 

Among other projects that he has been involved with, in 2015 he founded the festival and academy Verão Clássico in Lisbon, and has since 2021 been artistic director of Festival dos Capuchos in Almada and of Bragança ClassicFest. He has been Professor of piano at several Portuguese universities, regularly gives masterclasses in Portugal and abroad, and founded the Juventus Ensemble in 2022, bringing together internationally established artists and outstanding young talents. In 2014 he was named a Steinway Artist by Steinway & Sons.  

Esther Hoppe

Swiss violinist Esther Hoppe maintains an international career as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. She studied in Basel, Philadelphia, and London, and gained early international recog nition after winning First Prize at the International Mozart Violin Competition in Salzburg in 2002. As a member of the Tecchler Trio from 2003 to 2011, she further distinguished herself with major awards, including First Prize at the ARD International Music Com petition in Munich. Hoppe has performed as a soloist with leading European orchestras and is widely regarded for her refined chamber music collaborations. She appears regularly with distinguished musicians and is a member of a trio with Ronald Brautigam and Christian Poltéra, with whom she performs across major European venues.

A frequent guest at prominent international festivals such as the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Lucerne Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, and Mozartwoche Salzburg, she is also recognised for her interpretations in both modern and historically informed performance contexts. Her acclaimed recordings include Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (Claves, 2022), alongside releases on several other dis tinguished labels. From the 2025/26 season, she serves as Artistic Director of Camerata Zürich, and since 2013 she has held a pro fessorship at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. She performs on the 1722 “De Ahna” Stradivari violin.  

Lars Anders Tomter

Lars Anders Tomter is one of the foremost viola players of our time, and is referred to as 'the giant of the Nordic viola'. He studied under Professor Leif Jørgensen at the Oslo Music Conservatory (now the Norwegian Academy of Music), and continued under Professors Max Rostal in Bern and Sándor Végh in Salzburg.

He was awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Bartók's Viola Concerto at the International Viola Competition in Budapest in 1984, and won the Maurice Vieux International Competition in Lille in 1986.

Tomter's extensive concert activities have included presentations of world premieres of concerti by Ragnar Söderlind, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Rolf Wallin, Lasse Thoresen and Anders Eliasson, all of which were written for him. His performances as an international viola soloist have been acclaimed by audiences and critics all over the world, in concert halls such as the Musikverein in Vienna and Royal Albert Hall in London.

Tomter is professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt.

He founded the Risør Chamber Music Festival and is artistic director of the Fjord Classics Chamber Music Festival in Sandefjord. He plays a Gasparo da Salo viola from 1590.

Christian Poltéra

Christian Poltéra was born in Zurich and studied in Salzburg and Vienna with Heinrich Schiff. As a soloist, he collaborates with many of the world’s leading orchestras, under the direction of eminent conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Andris Nelsons and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Alongside his solo activity, Christian Poltéra is deeply devoted to chamber music and has collaborated with artists including Christian Tetzlaff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida and Ronald Brautigam, as well as with the Auryn, Zehetmair and Hagen string quartets. Together with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit, he is a founding member of the Trio Zimmermann, one of today’s leading string trios, which performs regularly in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls. 

In 2004, Christian Poltéra received the Borletti–Buitoni Trust Award and was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist. He is a regular guest at major international festivals, and made his BBC Proms debut in 2007. His extensive and internationally acclaimed discography includes cello con–certos by Dvořák, Dutilleux, Lutosławski, Walton, Hindemith and Barber as well as chamber music by Prokofiev, Brahms, Beethoven and Schubert. Christian Poltéra is Professor of Cello at the Lucerne University. He plays an Antonio Casini cello built in 1675 and the famous ‘Mara’ Stradivari from 1711.  

Tiago Pinto-Ribeiro

Born in Porto, Tiago Pinto-Ribeiro studied at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (ESMAE) in Portugal, before continuing his training at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), where he completed both an Artistic Diploma and a Master’s degree in Double Bass. Throughout his career he has received several international distinctions, including prizes at the International Double Bass Competition in Houston (USA), and was awarded First Prize at the Júlio Cardona International Competition in Portugal. He has performed with many leading international orchestras, collaborating with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Chris toph von Dohnányi, Kent Nagano, and Christoph Eschenbach. 

An active chamber musician, Tiago Pinto–Ribeiro is a member of the DSCH—Shostakovich Ensemble and performs regularly with the ensemble in Portugal and throughout Europe. He is Professor of Double Bass and Chamber Music at the Uni versity of Aveiro, Portugal. Many of his students have gone on to win prizes at prestigious competitions and to pursue professional careers in leading orchestras. Since 2003, Tiago Pinto–Ribeiro has been a member of the Porto Symphony Orchestra Casa da Música.   

DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble

DSCH—Shostakovich Ensemble was founded in 2006 by pianist and artistic director Filipe Pinto Ribeiro, the DSCH—Shostakovich Ensemble has been regarded over the past two decades as one of the leading chamber music groups on the international scene. Based in Lisbon since its creation, DSCH is a flexible ensemble and a dynamic platform for artistic collaboration among outstanding musicians. The ensemble takes its name from the composer Dmitry Shostakovich, as a tribute to the centenary of his birth in 2006. In 2008, DSCH became ensemble–in–residence at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon and has since appeared in numerous pres tigious concert series and festivals across several continents. Its wide–ranging repertoire embraces music from different peri ods and aesthetic traditions, from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Shostakovich and Sofia Gubaidulina—with whom the ensem ble developed a particularly close artistic collaboration.

Since 2006, numerous concerts by the ensemble have been recorded and broadcast by the Portuguese national classical radio station RTP Antena 2, as well as by the Franco–German cultural television channel Mezzo. In 2018, the ensemble launched the DSCH —Shostakovich Ensemble Composition Prize, dedicated to celebrating the work of leading Portuguese composers. The ensemble’s critically acclaimed disc–ography includes the world premiere recording of the Complete Chamber Music for Piano and Strings by Dmitry Shostakovich (2016), as well as Beethoven’s Piano Trios Op. 11 and Op. 38 (2021), released and distributed by Paraty / Harmonia Mundi.