Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli was born on June 4, 1966 in Rome. Cecilia Bartoli performed for the first time in public at the age of nine. Her career therefore started very early: Cecilia Bartoli was noticed in French and Italian television shows. She made her professional debut at the Verona Arena in 1987. Noticed by Herbert von Karajan and Daniel Barenboim, Cecilia Bartoli performed on the greatest opera stages, Pesaro, San Carlo in Naples, Opéra-Bastille in Paris, Scala in Milan, Festival de Salzburg, particularly brilliant in the characters of Rossini and in the baroque operas. In 2012, Cécilia Bartoli became Artistic Director of the Salzburg Pentecost Festival.

Andris Nelsons was born in Riga in 1978. His mother founded one of the first music orchestras in Latvia and his father was conductor cellist. As a youth, Andris Nelsons studied piano and mastered the trumpet by the age of 12. He also sings as a bass baritone for his mother’s orchestra, and is particularly passionate about early music. Andris Nelsons is studying conducting with Alexander Titov in St. Petersburg. He caught the attention of Mariss Jansons when he was urgently called to the post of 1st trumpet of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra while on tour. Jansons becomes his mentor and Andris Nelsons has worked with him in conducting since 2002. In 2003 Andris Nelsons was appointed Principal Conductor of the Latvian National Orchestra and remained in office for four years. His passion for opera led him to conduct large orchestras such as the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra or the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra as well as major events such as the Bayreuth Festival or the New Year’s concert in Vienna.