Meet the monas

Elina buksha - Violin

Elina, of Latvian nationality, is described by the Strad Magazine as a musician having “a capacity for fantasy and storytelling”, and being “highly persuasive in her technical agility and individuality”. She is the winner of the 2019 Kulturkreis Gasteig Musikpreis in Munich and joined in 2020 the roster of City Music Foundation Artists in London. She has appeared in numerous major concert halls, including the Wigmore Hall in London, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Laeiszhalle of Hamburg, Palais de Beaux Arts in Brussels, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and as a soloist with the orchestras I Virtuosi del Teatro alla Scala, Orchester Philharmonique Royal de Liège and many others. She has recorded Saint-Saëns and Lalo violin concerti for the Alpha label. She trained with Augustin Dumay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Christophe Poppen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, followed by the famous violinist Midori and Ana Chumachenko. Elina is also interested in the interplay of sound and smell, and is curating a project centred on music and perfume.

Caroline sypniewski - cello

Caroline is a young cellist from Toulouse who studied with Jérôme Pernoo in the CNSM of Paris, and then was chosen to become part of the prestigious Classe d’Excellence of Gautier Capuçon at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, as well as Clemens Hagen’s class in Salzbourg Mozarteum. She also completed studies in both full Piano and Piano accompaniment in Paris. She has been awarded several prizes and distinctions including the "Révélation Classique » Adami 2017, the young Talent prize of the Clos-Vougeot Wine and Music Festival, a scholarship from the Safran Foundation, the Ginette Neveu prize at the Carl Flesh Academy 2015, and the Grand Prize of the Ravel Academy 2018. Caroline was a part of the Class d’Excellence de violoncelle of Gautier Capuçon in 2018 ans still plays regularly with the group « Capucelli. »

Arianna smith - Viola

Arianna, American born, has performed at the most prestigious stages of the United States, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., the Walt Disney Hall, and the Symphony Center and Harris Theater in Chicago. She received her bachelor degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles with Paul Coletti before moving to Paris to continue her studies with Jean Sulem at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. In 2016, she spent two years as artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel with Miguel Da Silva. She has been invited as soloist and chamber musician to such festivals as the Verbier Academy, the Perlman Music Program, the Kronberg Academy and Chamber Music, and Krzyzowa International Festival.

Charlotte Chahuneau - Violin

Charlotte, of French nationality, studied with Latica Honda-Rosenberg at the Universität der Künste Berlin and Eberhard Feltz at Hanns Eisler Berlin. She is the winner of the Villa Musica Stern 2020 prize and has been engaged for several years at the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. She performs regularly with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchester de Paris, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and as a chamber musician at various European festivals such as the Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove. Charlotte also holds a research master's degree in Political Arts from SciencesPo Paris led by the philosopher Bruno Latour.

They have also been involved in the Mona Project : Verena Chen, Elia Cohen-Weissert, Roxana Rastegar, Christine J. Lee