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New Album

Epochs & Cultures
in Dialogue

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Epochs & Cultures in Dialogue

On their debut album, Trio Contrasti invites listeners on a musical journey where epochs and cultures engage in dialogue with one another. Romanticism brought a new understanding of art, in which music played a leading role. The freedom of artistic expression and the pursuit of national identity shaped the development of artistic styles. This cultural dialogue continued into the 20th century. Three seemingly independent works are connected in this context and appear, through the lens of the Romantic paradigm, as stations on a journey through different epochs and cultures.

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About the trio

The piano trio Contrasti is an extraordinary ensemble that brings together three talented musicians from Armenia, Russia, and China. The members not only carry with them the cultural traditions and mentalities of their home countries but also contrasting temperaments, which merge into a fascinating and unique musical style.

As part of their studies, Trio Contrasti has participated in renowned competitions and chamber music festivals, including the International Ysaye Competition (2022), the Chamber Music Festival Mutationen at hmt Rostock (2022), the festival Als die Stunden stillstanden (2023), and the DoReMeet International Summer Festival in Yerevan, Armenia (2023).

Since April 2022, the ensemble has been further refining its skills at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre in the master’s program for chamber music under the guidance of Prof. Niklas Schmidt.

On January 17, 2025, the trio’s first CD will be released on the prestigious Naxos OEHMS Classics label under the title Epochs and Cultures in Dialogue.

With the careful selection of their repertoire and the creative design of their concert programs, Trio Contrasti impressively demonstrates how musicians from different cultural backgrounds can come together to create something unique.lassen.

Xuezhao Ma

Piano

Xuezhao Ma was born in China in 1997 and began playing the piano at the age of six. She initially studied at the Middle School of the Xi’an Conservatory of Music and later at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Driven by a curiosity for European piano literature and culture, she moved to Hamburg in 2015 to attend the International College of Music. That same year, she was admitted to the University of Music and Theatre Rostock.

Xuezhao Ma completed her bachelor’s degree in January 2021 and continued her studies in the master’s program at the University of Music and Theatre Rostock in the class of Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit, graduating in February 2021.

She has a deep passion for performing works from the Classical and Romantic repertoire and beyond. On August 11, 2021, she was delighted to perform at “Piano & Wine” at Jacques’ Wine Depot in Rostock. Audiences appreciate her high level of professionalism, expressive range, and artistic versatility.

Xuezhao Ma is a prizewinner of national and international competitions. In 2015, she won second prize at the “Giovani Musicisti – Città di Treviso” competition. In the following years, she received the Special Prize twice at the International College of Music Awards in Hamburg. In 2019, she won first prize in age category H at the North Germany Music Open Competition.

In addition to her solo career, Xuezhao Ma is a passionate chamber musician. Since 2017, she has regularly performed with saxophonist Karina Chalenko in concerts such as “Live Music Now,” “Kultur trifft Genuss,” and at the Landow Music Festival. She also performs with flutist Zofia Neugebauer at the Gezeiten Concerts. In 2019, she appeared with Karina Chalenko on the “Podium der Jungen” concert series by NDR Kultur in Hamburg.

From 2021 until early 2024, Xuezhao Ma was part of Trio Contrasti alongside violinist Nora Shekyan and cellist Alla Kurdyumova. The trio studied at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg with Prof. Schmidt, where Ma continues her artistic work today.

Nora Shekyan

Violin

Nora Shekyan was born in 1995 in Sondershausen, Germany, and grew up in a family of musicians. She began studying the violin at the age of six at the P. I. Tchaikovsky Specialized Music School in Yerevan, Armenia, under the guidance of Prof. Armen Harutyunyan. In 2015, she commenced her studies at the University of Music and Theatre Rostock in the class of Prof. Christiane Hutcap. She further refined her artistry through masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Igor Ozim, Maria Egelhof, Radboud Oomens, and at the Kronberg Academy with Mauricio Fuks, Ana Chumachenko, Mihaela Martin, Gerhard Schulz, and Pavel Vernikov.

Shekyan has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions. In 2013, she won Third Prize at the prestigious Concours FLAME in Paris. In recognition of her academic excellence and social engagement as an international student, she was awarded the DAAD Prize at the University of Music and Theatre Rostock in 2017. That same year, she became a scholar of Live Music Now, the foundation established by Yehudi Menuhin, and was later awarded the Deutschlandstipendium in 2019.

As an accomplished violinist, Shekyan has built a career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. She has appeared regularly in concerts since 2013 and was featured on NDR Kultur’s “Young Artists from the North” program with her duo Kraniche in December 2018. In 2019, she embarked on a concert tour and masterclass series across Armenia with her trio, Un poco Armenico, as part of the “Cranes Return” project.

Shekyan actively participates in orchestral projects and has performed with ensembles such as the Mannheimer Philharmoniker, Theater Vorpommern, Kammerphilharmonie Köln, and Neue Philharmonie Hamburg. She also took part in the prestigious Moritzburg Festival Academy.

In addition to her performance career, Shekyan co-founded the musical organization DoReMeet in Yerevan in the summer of 2019. This initiative supports people with disabilities and fosters young Armenian musicians through concerts and workshops. She also serves as a representative of the German-Armenian Student Club HAIK in Rostock, where she organizes cultural evenings and benefit concerts with her duo partner, Shushan Ghazaryan, to assist Armenian students and scholars pursuing education in Germany.

In 2021, Shekyan founded the piano trio Contrasti, which quickly achieved success, becoming a finalist in the hmt Music Prize competition that same year. Since April 2022, she has been pursuing a Master of Music in Chamber Music at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg under Prof. Niklas Schmidt. In August 2023, she secured a fixed-term contract with Theater Vorpommern.

Shekyan’s artistic journey is marked not only by her technical mastery and musicality but also by her dedication to cultural outreach and social impact.

Alla Kurdiumova

Violoncello

Alla Kurdiumova is a Russian cellist, born in Tajikistan. She graduated from the State Alfred Schnittke Institute of Music in Moscow (Bachelor’s degree) and the Rostock University of Music and Theatre (Master’s degree). Currently, she is pursuing a concert exam program at hmt Rostock in the class of Professor Natalie Clein, refining her approach to merging the foundations of the Russian cello school with the finest European performance traditions.

She is a prizewinner of prestigious international competitions, including the International Knushevitsky Competition, the International Kabalevsky Competition, and the Moscow Chamber Music Competition. She has participated in masterclasses with distinguished musicians such as Denis Severin (Switzerland), Brenno Ambrosini (Italy), Karolina Michalska (Poland), Igor Bobovich (Russia), and Maximilian Hornung (Germany). In 2017, she took part in an exclusive masterclass at the Diaghilev Festival under the direction of renowned conductor Teodor Currentzis.

Her performances have captivated audiences in Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and beyond. In addition to her solo career, Alla Kurdiumova is a member of the piano trio CONTRASTI. Their highly anticipated album, recorded under the NAXOS label, is set to be released in 2025, showcasing the ensemble’s unique artistic vision and profound musical interpretation.
A significant part of Alla Kurdiumova’s work is dedicated to practical pedagogy, teaching students at all levels—from beginners to graduates of music universities in Russia and Europe.

Her artistic interests also include exploring the development of a musician’s personality, drawing on related disciplines such as psychology, acting techniques, yoga, meditation, and more. This research is the foundation of her authorial course and online seminars, “Stage Anxiety: The Stanislavski System in Practical Application for Performers.”