Elisso Gogibedaschwili was born in 2000 in Vorarlberg, Austria, into a trilingual, multicultural family of musicians, and has been regarded as an exceptional talent since her earliest childhood. At the age of just 10, she made her solo debut performing Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the MÁV Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, which marked the start of her career as an internationally sought-after soloist. Since then, she has been a regular guest at the Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, the Smetana Hall in Prague, the Glenn Gould Studios in Toronto, the Musikverein in Klagenfurt and the Alba Music Festival. She has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hannover, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Janáček Philharmonic, the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim, the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova.

Owing to her close connection to her Georgian roots, Elisso premiered Otar Taktakishvili’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in Austria (Vienna Konzerthaus), Italy, Canada, Brazil and Switzerland to mark the composer’s centenary. She made her debut at the sold-out NDR Konzerthaus Hannover with Beethoven’s Triple Concerto alongside star pianist Igor Levit and under the baton of Cornelius Meister. Another significant milestone was her debut at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) in May 2025 alongside Konstantin Lifschitz.

In March 2025, Elisso was awarded a scholarship by the German Music Competition and will be included in the German Music Council’s concert promotion programme for the 2026/27 season. She is also the youngest scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Society of Austria and was the only string player invited to perform a concert as part of the Bayreuth Festival.

As a passionate chamber musician, Elisso has been inspired by chamber music partners such as Konstantin Lifschitz, Sharon Kam, Alexey Stadler, Kristóf Baráti and the legendary pianist Bruno Canino. Since the 2024/25 season, as a chamber music scholarship holder of the Villa Musica Rhineland-Palatinate State Foundation, she has performed regularly with renowned artists such as Johannes Moser, Alexandra Conunova, Boris Kusnezow and Alban Gerhardt. Furthermore, as an alumna of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein, she works as a chamber music tutor for the students of Prof. Ivan Monighetti, Prof. Jens Peter Maintz and Daniel Müller-Schott. Together with accordionist Marko Trivunović, she also performs cross-genre programmes as part of the duo StringBreeze. Elisso has already made solo and chamber music recordings for EMI, ORF and the Genuin label.

In 2008, she became a junior student under Prof. Josef Rissin at the Karlsruhe University of Music. Following her bachelor’s degree under Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn at the University of Music, Drama and Media in Hanover, she has been pursuing her master’s degree under Prof. Igor Karsko at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts since September 2025. Masterclasses with Ingolf Turban, Midori, Mihaela Martin, Kim Kashkashian, Pavel Vernikov and Ana Chumachenco have complemented her training.

Elisso plays a violin by Andrea Guarneri from the late 17th century, generously loaned by the Otten family.

SEBASTIAN SCHMIDT has been teaching as a professor of violin at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater since 2013.

Chamber music has been the focus of his musical work for more than 30 years. As first violinist of the Mandelring Quartet, he has won international competitions in Munich (ARD), Evian (France), and the Paolo Borciani Competition in Italy over the years.

Since then, his intensive concert activities have taken him to music centers around the world. In addition to numerous concerts throughout Europe, the quartet regularly travels to North and South America (New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Lima), Japan (Osaka, Tokyo), Asia, and the Middle East. He is also a welcome guest at major festivals (Schleswig-Holstein, Salzburg Festival). Numerous CDs, such as the Schubert, Brahms, and Shostakovich series, have received excellent reviews.

Sebastian Schmidt was one of the first students to study with Ulf Hoelscher at the University of Music in Karlsruhe. Prior to that, he was a junior student in Würzburg with Max Speermann. A DAAD scholarship enabled him to study in Bloomington, Indiana (USA) with Nelli Shkolnikova and Josef Gingold. Master classes with Yfrah Neaman (London) and Vladimir Landsman (Montréal), among others, as well as numerous chamber music courses rounded off his training.