Vera Martínez Mehner & Abel Tomàs, violins | Crsitina Cordero, viola | Arnau Tomàs, cello

First prize winner at the London and Hamburg (Brahms) international competitions, Cuarteto Casals has become one of the leading string quartets of its generation. It has performed regularly at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, Kölner Philarmonie, Cité de la Musique Paris, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Berlin Philharmonic. The quartet has been profoundly influenced by its work with contemporary composers such as György Kurtág, and has given the world premieres of works by leading Spanish composers. The highlights of his upcoming seasons include Mozart's ten last quartets and other projects focusing on the Hungarian composers Bartók, Ligeti and Kurtág. He has been recognized as a cultural ambassador by the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Institut Ramon Llull.

With her varied and extensive repertoire, few artists of her generation have achieved the success of soprano Juliane Banse. Her operatic roles range from the Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), and Genoveva, to Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Arabella, and Grete (Der ferne Klang). Lieder recitals and chamber music have always been an integral part of her artistic life, with appearances at the Schubertiade Vilabertran and the Boulez Hall in Berlin, as well as a CD recording of Schubert’s Winterreise with Martin Helmchen. Deeply committed to teaching, she has served as a voice professor at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, the Mozarteum University Salzburg, and the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid.