Violinist Ava Bahari and cellist Petar Pejčić are included in the latest cohort, along with the Amelio Trio and Javus Quartet
The European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) has announced its Rising Stars cohort for the 2026/27 season.
Each year, the ECHO Rising Stars programme supports exceptional emerging performers, hosting around 110 concerts and 70 special projects across ECHO venues. The artists are nominated by the artistic teams of concert halls, which scout artists already established in their national careers and poised to benefit from increased exposure across Europe.
This year’s ECHO Rising Stars are the Amelio Trio, violinist Ava Bahari, Javus Quartet, cellist Petar Pejčić and sopranos Camila Mandillo and Elionor Martinez.
The Amelio Trio was nominated by Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Barbican Centre and Philharmonie Luxembourg. Based in Germany, the trio, comprising violinist Johanna Schubert, cellist Merle Geißler and pianist Philipp Kirchner, was formed in 2012 when the members were only 13 years old.
The trio won second prize at the ARD Music Competition in 2023, the Grand Prize of the German Music Competition 2024, and the first prize at the International Schumann Chamber Music Prize Frankfurt 2022. The Amelio Trio is ensemble in residence at ProQuartet – Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre in Paris 2023-25.
Swedish violinist Ava Bahari was nominated by Konserthuset Stockholm, Cité de la Musique – Philharmonie de Paris and NOSPR Katowice. Bahari made her debut at the age of eight in Gothenburg’s Concert Hall and has since performed with esteemed ensembles such as the Gothenburg Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Tokyo and BBC Scottish Symphony orchestras and the Helsinki Philharmonic.
Her accolades include top prizes at the Premio Paganini Competition and Concours International Tibor Varga. As of the 2024/25 season, she is artist-in-residence with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
The Javus Quartet was nominated by Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The Salzburg-based quartet, comprising violinists Marie-Therese Schwöllinger and Alexandra Moser, violist Marvin Stark and cellist Oscar Hagen, won the Jürgen Ponto Foundation Music Prize in 2024, the Hans Gál Prize, the Musica Juventutis Prize, and the Zukunftsklang Award Stuttgart in 2022.
The quartet also won the Audience Prize at the Irene Steels Wilsing Competition during the Heidelberg Spring Festival in 2020.
Cellist Petar Pejčić was nominated by Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Palau de la Música Catalana. The Serbian cellist studied in Germany at the University of Music and Theater ’Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ in Leipzig with Peter Bruns and is currently enrolled in the Professional Studies programme at the Kronberg Academy, in the class of Frans Helmerson.
He won fifth prize at the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition, the AENA Special Prize (second Prize) at the International Pablo Casals Competition and second prize at the International Anna Kull Competition, both in 2020.
Basel-based soprano Elionor Martinez was nominated by Palau de la Música Catalana, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Barcelona’s L’Auditori, while Belgium-based soprano Camila Mandillo was nominated by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Bozar in Brussels and Porto’s Casa da Música.
Since its inception in 1995-96, the ECHO Rising Stars programme has supported over 150 artists. Past seasons have featured Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Jörg Widmann, Janine Jansen, Renaud Capuçon, Kian Soltani, Quarteto Casals, Belcea Quartet and Modigliani Quartet.
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Read: Armenian violinist wins €200k in Classic Violin Olympus International Competition
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