Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy

Created to train and support the next generation of orchestra musicians

Launched in 2021, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Academy continues to successfully nurture the next generation of musical talents. Coming from all over the world, exceptional young musicians meet in Luxembourg for two years of intensive training.

Expertly curated by the Philharmonie Team, this incubator has seen its first alumni join some of the most prestigious ensembles in Europe, such as the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, and of course the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

But the Academy is also a school of life. From concerts to recordings and tours with the orchestra, including individual projects, self-development workshops, personalised mentoring and co-living, the programme goes beyond mere technical competence and strives to develop mature and sensitive personalities, capable of invigorating the classical scene with fresh, interpretive insights.

And who better than the award-winning chef Léa Linster to spice up such a recipe for success? The Bocuse d’Or winner continues to mentor our budding virtuosi this season, inspiring them with new ways to excel.

You are eligible to apply if you are 27 years old or younger on the day of the audition and hold a Bachelor’s degree (or are in the final year of a BA programme).

A first selection will be made by members of the Luxembourg Philharmonic based on the application materials (resumé and cover letter) to be submitted by the 20.05.2023 at the latest.

Contact us: contact@lpoa.lu

Academy 2021-2023

• Martyna Kaszkowiak, violin

  Martyna Kaszkowiak was born in 1997. She started playing the violin at the age of six in the class of Janusz Gajownik. She finished her Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow, where she studied with professor Wiesław Kwaśny. Throughout her education, she became a laureate of many national and international competitions, such as the National Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Competition in Zielona Góra in 2015 (third prize), International Violin Competition Young Paganini in Legnica in 2015 (third prize), National Violin Competition in Cieszyn in 2016 (first prize), Chamber Competition for Instrumental and Vocal Duets in Katowice in 2019 (second price) and Chamber Music Competition KraCamera in Cracow (second prize, together with Arbor-Quartet) in 2021. She attended several master classes taught by Zakhar Bron, Krzysztof Śmietana, Wanda Wiłkomirska, Remus Azoitei, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Ilya Kaler, Linus Roth, among others. In 2014 she was invited as a soloist by the Polish Foundation for Cultural Exchange Chopin to participate in concerts in China; she also performed in the USA, at The Kosciuszko Foundation in Washington DC. As a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (2017−2019) she worked under world-famous conductors, such as Gianandrea Noseda, Manfred Honeck and Vasily Petrenko, and performed in international festivals such as BBC Proms in London, Young Euro Classic in Berlin, Chopin and his Europe in Warsaw. She has collaborated with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra as a member of the NOSPR Academy (2020). In July 2022, she was invited to perform at Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo (Japan) where she worked with conductors such as Ken-David Masur und Lahav Shani. While in Japan, she performed also at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Martyna Kaszkowiak became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in September 2021.

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• Phoebe Rousochatzaki, violin

  Phoebe Rousochatzaki was born in Greece in 1999. She began taking violin lessons at the age of six and officially began studying with the Greek violin teacher Apollon Grammatikopoulos at the Athens Conservatory. She then enrolled at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where she studied with Joseph Puglia and Walter Reiter (baroque violin) and received her Bachelor of Music degree in 2022. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree. Phoebe Rousochatzaki has received numerous prizes and distinctions during her studies. She was the recipient of the Ismini Karter Violin Scholarship in 2019. She was a member of the Academy of Young Musicians of the Athens State Orchestra for the period 2018–2020. She has been invited to perform at international festivals (alone and with her string quartet, Loksias) such as the Orlando Festival in Kerkrade in 2022 (where the premiere of Sam Wamper’s string quartet Portrait of Time was performed), the 2022 Aurora Festival in Groningen (where she won the Labberté-Hoedemakerprijzen), the Sion Festival and Old Ox. In March 2022, she performed Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Jonathan Cohen, playing a 1743 Camillo Camilli violin provided by the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation. She is grateful to the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague for awarding her final bachelor recital with a Sartory bow. Phoebe Rousochatzaki also holds a degree in theoretical physics from the National Technical University in Athens. She became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in January 2023.

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• Julia Vicic, viola

  Born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1996, Julia Vicic began playing violin at the age of three, studying with Mary Sorlie. At the age of sixteen, she switched to viola, studying first with Kenneth Freed and then with Sabina Thatcher. In 2014 she began her Bachelor studies at Indiana University, studying with Stephen Wyrczynski. After completing her Bachelor in 2018, she went on to pursue her Master at Rice University in Houston, Texas, studying with James Dunham. She is currently in her last semester of the Konzertexamen program at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken, where she studies with Jonė Kaliūnaitė. During her studies, she has spent her summers at music courses such as the National Repertory Orchestra, where she won the solo competition and performed Miklós Rózsa’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Texas Music Festival. She has played as a substitute in orchestras such as the Louisville Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. In March 2020, she won the silver medal in the Strings Division of the Young Texas Artists Music Competition. She became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in January 2022.

• Lucas Henry, violoncelle

  Born in Nancy in 1997, Lucas Henry took his first cello lessons from Sébastien Robert at the conservatory in his hometown, going on to receive his first diploma from the Dijon Conservatory with honours, having studied with Laurent Lagarde. He continued his studies for one year at the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Thomas Duran, before moving on to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon in 2016, where Yvan Chiffoleau and Pascal Jemain taught him. During the 2021/22 season, he was supported as part of Tchaïkovski – Jeunes Talents of the Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky, working with Christian-Pierre La Marca. Starting with the 2021/22 season, he is a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy as well as of Menuhin Music Academy, presided by Renaud Capuçon, where he studies with Clemens Hagen and Lionel Cottet. Recitals or chamber music concerts brought him to venues such as La Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris, Rosey Concert Hall in Rolle (Switzerland) and Auditorium de Dijon. He worked with orchestras such as the Orchestre du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, the Orchestre National des Pays-de-la-Loire, the «Appassionato» Orchestra and the Orchestre du Conservatoire et Pôle supérieur de Dijon. As a soloist or recitalist, he was performing at festivals such as Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Festival du Forez, Pietra Santa, Virtuoso & Bel Canto Festival, Festival Pablo Casals, Musique à Flaine or Musicales en Folie. In 2017 he was awarded the second prize at the Épernay Strings Competition, in 2019 he participated successfully at Concours de musique de chambre Jeunes Talents in Paris. He is a bursary of Mécénat Musical Société Générale. Lucas Henry plays a cello built in 2013 by Günter Siefert.

• Élise Rouchouse, percussion

  Born in Le Puy-en-Velay in 1993, Élise Rouchouse received her first percussion lessons at the age of ten in her hometown, where she also completed her schooling until she was 18. Determined to become a professional musician, she enrolled at the Conservatoire Massenet Saint-Étienne and subsequently, in 2014, at the Haute École des Arts du Rhin Strasbourg, where she graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in the class of Emmanuel Séjourné, Stephan Fougeroux and Denis Riedinger. That same year, she joined the Académie de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. She plays regularly with this orchestra as a substitute to this day. She continued her education at the Amsterdam Conservatory, where she worked with Nick Woud, Mark Braafhart, Bence Major, Tomohiro Ando, Richard Jansen, Rachel Zhang, Ramon Lormans and Peter Prommel. In 2020 she completed her master’s degree in orchestral performance. During her time in the Netherlands, she had the opportunity to play with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Nederlands Ballet Orkest. Since 2021 she is a member of Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. In addition to her work with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, she continues to perform with Orchestras in France such as Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Les Siècles and Orchestre National de France.

• Ryou Banno, viola

  Born in 1997, Ryou Banno began to play the violin at the age of three, studying with Shigeru Tachiki and Megumi Shimane. At the age of fifteen, he switched to viola when he entered The Music High School attached to the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he studied with Ryo Sasaki and Kaoru Ono. In 2016 he entered the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he studied with Yuki Hyakutake. During his studies, he participated in the public master classes of Viola Space, the Tokyo International Viola Competition. He has also performed in festivals such as La Folle Journée Tokyo 2019 or the Kitakyushu International Music Festival and in many other concerts in Japan, both in chamber music and symphonic programmes. After graduating from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2020, he enrolled in the concert soloist course at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp in September of the same year, where he studied with Leo De Neve, and graduated in June 2021. He became a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy in September 2021.

• Nazar Totovytskyi, violin

  Nazar Totovytskyi was born in Kiev (Ukraine) in 1997 to a family of musicians. He began taking violin lessons at the age of five. Since 2003 he has studied violin at the Kiev Music High School with Prof. Yaroslava Rivnyak and chamber music with Prof. Larissa Rajko. From winter semester 2014 to summer semester 2016 he studied violin with Prof. Yaroslava Rivnyak at the National Tchaikovsky Music Academy of Ukraine. Since 2016 he has been studying violin at the University of Music Würzburg in the class of Prof. Sören Uhde. Currently, he is preparing for graduation, having been enrolled in a Master in Performance programme. As a solist, recitalist, orchestra leader and orchestra violinist, he has collaborated with musicians and conductors such as David Geringas, Yuja Wang, Lahav Shani, Mischa Maisky, Maxim Rysanov, Kristóf Baráti, Alexander Zemtsov, Ari Rasilainen, Boris Garlitsky, Denis Kozhukhin, Yuri Zhislin, Barnabás Kelemen, Sören Uhde, Alissa Margulis, Jonian Ilias Kadesha, Evgeni Schuk, Albrecht Mayer, László Fenyö, Gilles Apap, József Lendvay, Nimrod Guez, Tobias Feldmann, Niall Brown, Yuuko Amanuma, Emmanuel Pahud, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Yoel Gamzou, Robert HP Platz, Nabil Shehata, Domingo Hindoyan, Johannes Moser, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Bruno Delepelaire, Kirill Petrenko and Gianandrea Noseda. From the age of seven, he has taken part in various national and international musical competitions and festivals. Among others: in 2008 he won the first prize of the international competition Chortitsa Chords (Zaporizhja, Ukraine) and in 2014 he was the laureate of The Ukrainian Chamber Music Competition (Odesa, Ukraine) as well as the winner of the Grand Prix of the international competition of Yevgeny Stankowitch (Kiev, Ukraine). He also took many master classes with highly renowned teachees such as Eberhard Feltz, Kristof Barati, Roland Daugareil, Gilles Apap, Yair Kless, Barnabás Kelemen, Eyal Kless, Alexandre Brussilowsky, Natalia Prischepenko, Alissa Margulis, Boris Garlitsky, Michaela Martin and Tianwa Yang. Nazar Totovytskyi was selected to be a member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy from September 2021 on.

photos: Sébastien Grébille, Eric Devillet

• Aya Kitaoka, violin

  Aya Kitaoka was born in Japan in 1997. She learned violin with Akuri Suzuki and Akiko Tatsumi at the Toho Gakuen Music School. In 2013, she won the 3rd prize at the 67th All Japan Student Music Competition and in 2017 she was laureate of the Postacchini Competition. In 2018 she took part in the Antón García Abril International Chamber Music Competition and was awarded the 2nd Prize with her piano trio, Trio Santres. In April 2021 she graduated from her master study at Conservatorium Maastricht (Netherlands) with the score of 10 with distinction, where she studied violin with Professor Yuzuko Horigome and chamber music with Anastasia Safonova and Henk Guittart. Besides her passion for violin repertoire and chamber music she has also been an active orchestra player. She was selected in 2020 as a leader of the project of Tim Kliphuis in the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands. In September 2021 she joined the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Academy where she gained experience in professional orchestra playing as well as actively performing chamber music. This past summer she was appointed a member of Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège in Belgium, where her duties will start in January 2023.

• Haruka Katayama, violin

  Born in 1997 in Japan, Haruka Katayama started playing the violin at the age of four. In 2019 she obtained her bachelor’s degree from the Tokyo University of the Arts (GEIDAI). She then moved to France to study at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris and at the École Normale de Musique de Paris with Régis Pasquier, Richard Schmoucler and Geneviève Simonot. She got her diploma summa con laude − in soloist and orchestra player specialities. She participated in many different international competitions and festivals, for instance in the Lake District Summer Music Festival with a scholarship from the university and where she played in the final concert in 2015 and 2016. She also played as a soloist with the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in many chamber music concerts in Japan. She won the Second Prize at the International Grumiaux Violin Competition in Belgium. She also won the Second Prize at the Romanian International Music Competition with her string quartet and the first prize (Gran Premio) at the Concorso MusicArte. In September 2021 she was selected to become a member of the Luxembourg Philhamonic Orchestra Academy for two seasons. She will simultaneously pursue her studies with a master’s degree at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Roland Daugareil.

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