Maano Männi (violin), Vladimir Reshetko (cello, Russia/Finland), Irina Zahharenkova (piano, Estonia/Finland)

MAANO MÄNNI
has graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (1992, Prof. Jüri Gerretz). He has worked as a concert master at the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (1993-1996) and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (1993-2000) and since 2002 at the Vaasa City Orchestra in Finland. In addition to orchestral work, M. Männi is an active chamber musician, performing with international musicians such as Ralf Gothoni (piano), Torleif Thedéen (cello), Yuval Gotlibovich (viola) etc. In 2001, M. Männi co-founded, with cellist Aare Tammesalu, the Tobias String Quartet, with which they have played in several parts of Europe, including Konzerthaus in Berlin (2015) and Capella Hall in St. Petersburg (2018). He has been a soloist in front of several orchestras conducted by outstanding conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Alexander Vedernikov, Andrei Boreiko, Arvo Volmer, Juha Kangas, Jin Wang and others. M. Männi has furthered his skills at the orchestral conducting courses of Jorma Panula, Leonid Grin and Ilmar Tõnisson. He has led the Estonian Sinfonietta as well as Vaasa and Pärnu City orchestras. He likes to synthesize musical styles and put together unique concert programs. In Vaasa, the concerts conducted by M. Männi which are meant for various audiences (school and senior concerts), as well as wish concerts (“Sinun hetkesi-Din stund”, the Flamenco and Tango Nuevo concerts, the Tchaikovsky portrait), have earned the audience’s favour. In 2015, he directed Glass Bead Game Sinfonietta at Evald Vainu’s jubilee concerts “Optimist” with the actors of the Tallinn City Theatre in Estonia’s major concert halls, which were also recorded for ETV. M. Männi has recorded for several record companies including Erdeklang, Ondine and Alba Records. In 2012, the CD “Six seasons +” was released, where he performs the works of Astor Piazzolla and Evald Vainu for violin and orchestra as the soloist of the Pärnu City Orchestra. The record has received positive feedback, and music critic Igor Garshnek has said: ““Six seasons +” to every record shelf!” (Sirp, 2013/10/04). In 2014, the Vaasa City Orchestra CD was released called “Finnish Lyricism and Romance” on which M. Männi plays as a soloist in Toivo Kuula’s violin piece Notturno Op. 3a/2 orchestrated by himself. During the 2017/2018 concert season, he led Vaasa City Orchestra on several occasions, where, among others, a reputable soprano Camilla Nylund appeared as a soloist. With the Estonian Sinfonietta, he has had close cooperation since the founding of the orchestra in January 2017. Together they have performed at various festivals in Estonia (e.g. Kuressaare Chamber Festival), as well as in Greece and Israel. In 2019, M. Männi performed in front of the Estonian Sinfonietta at the Estonian Concert Hall as a soloist, conductor as well as concert master and he performed at the Golden Hall of Vienna Musikverein, with Kristiina Poska as the conductor. As of 2016, M. Männi plays on the French master Charles François Gandi’s violin from 1810 of the Finnish Cultural Endowment.

VLADIMIR RESHETKO 
has studied in St. Petersburg and he continued his education in Amsterdam and Berlin. V. Reshetko has been the prizewinner of International Heran Cello Competition (1999). He has been awarded 1st prize and special prize for the best interpretation of a work by F. Schubert in International Chamber Music Competition “Franz Schubert and the Modern Music” (2009), 1st prize in C. Hennen Chamber Music Competition (2009) and 1st prize in Pergamenschikow Prize for Chamber Music (2011). He is a co-founder and a member of Anima Quartet. In the recent seasons, he premiered Ana Sokolovic’s “Commedia dell’arte III” dedicated to Anima Quartet. All 3 parts were released by SWR Alassic Archive in 2016. In September 2017 V. Reshetko became a concert master of the cello group of Vaasa City Orchestra. He has toured across many countries and performed alongside eminent musicians. He has performed as a soloist with conductors Vasily Petrenko and Ravil Martynov in front of the St. Petersburg State Academic Orchestra. V. Reshetko has formed a wide solo, chamber and an orchestra repertoire, including works of contemporary, classical and baroque styles.
His recent solo debut in Finland and premiere of A. Kraft’s  Cello Concerto was highly appreciated:
“Vladimir Reshetko gave a powerfully moving musical performance. His deeply felt phrasing, the rich and lyrical timbre of the cello, as well as his masterful virtuosity delivered a fresh performance in Kraft’s Cello Concerto. The audience thanked the soloist with enthusiastic ovations.” –  Pohjalainen 30.03.2019, Vaasa

IRINA ZAHHARENKOVA
is one of the most outstanding and worldwide acclaimed pianists of her generation. She started piano studies at the age of four with her mother and continued in Tallinn Georg Ots Music School (Prof. Mare Ots, 1991-1995) and Estonian Academy of Music and Theater (EAMT, piano: prof. Lilian Semper; harpsichord: prof. Maris Valk-Falk, 1995-2000), where she finished her master’s studies in 2003 (Prof. L. Semper). I. Zahharenkova continued her studies in EAMT’s doctorate level between 2003-2011. She defended her master’s degree at Helsinki Sibelius Academy in 2010 (Prof. Hui-Ying Liu Tawaststjerna).I. Zahharenkova has taken part of several world famous pianists’ master classes (S. Kovachevich, A. Hewitt, A. Schiff, V. Meržanov, H. Dreyfus, P. Hantaï, C. Stembridge, P. Vapavuori etc.) and won first prizes in such international competitions as M. Čiurlionis Competition (Lithuania, 2003), “Premio Jaén” Competition (Spain, 2004), hammer piano competition in Bruges at the “Van Vlaanderen” Festival (Belgium, 2004), competition in Épinal (France, 2004), harpsichord competition at “Prague Spring” Festival (Czech, 2005), G. Enescu Piano Competition (Rumania, 2005), Geneva Piano Competition (Switzerland, 2005), Alessandro Casagrande Competition (Italy, 2006), J. S. Bach Piano Competition in Leipzig (Germany, 2006), Villa-Lobos Competition (Brazil, 2006) and A. Rubinštein Piano Competition (Israel, 2008). I. Zahharenkova has performed at many reputed international festivals in Italy, France, Germany, Finland and Norway. At the reputed Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival as well as Eivere Piano Festival and Tallinn Chamber Music Festival she has continuously been at the top of the list of who’s invited. She has been a soloist in front of many orchestras including the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki City Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre National de Lorraine and she is continuously performing at chamber concerts either with piano or harpsichord solo pieces. Two CD-s have been released with her interpretations: J. S. Bach Goldberg variations BWV 988 (2010, Classical Recordings) and D. Scarlatt sonatas (2012, Classical Recordings) and a DVD “Keyboard Juggleress / Klahvpillivõlur” (2009, Estonian Records Production). Last recordings done in Japan and Zurich in the world’s leading recording studios in 2017 are soon to be released. I. Zahharenkova has an extensive repertory which comprises of pieces from baroque to contemporary music.  At this time, she is a lecturer in Sibelius Academy, Finland and EAMT. For self-improving purposes, she has also studied the organ, chemistry, theology and Estonian-Finnish philology.