Duo Marcanto

DUO MARCANTO

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Swantje Asche-Tauscher
 

Swantje Asche-Tauscher belongs to that generationof young German violinists who enchantwith their “expressive, sonorous playing”.At the age of 14, she performed as a soloist inthe Stuttgart Liederhalle. She had played at theStiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg, performs at festivalssuch as the Palermo Classica Festival, andis a lecturer at Strings in Motion at MozarteumUniversity Innsbruck. For the 2019/2020 season,Swantje Asche-Tauscher held a concertmasterposition in the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck.Swantje Asche-Tauscher has received numerousawards in competitions, including the MünsterClassic Prize which was followed by live recordingby WDR (West German Radio). In both 2016 and2017, she was awarded a performance scholarshipat the Mozarteum University Salzburg in recognitionof her “outstanding achievements”. An earlierBaden-Württemberg scholarship in 2012 enabledher to study at the Royal College of Music in London.She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’sdegrees in violin performance in Stuttgart, London,and Salzburg, under Prof. Christian Sikorski,Prof. Igor Ozim, and Prof. Rainer Schmidt, graduatingwith distinction. In 2019 she completedpost-graduate studies at the Mozarteum Universityunder Prof. Esther Hoppe, and she completedher Bachelor in Instrumental Pedagogy underProf. Peter Langgartner in 2020 successfully. InSpring 2021 Swantje Asche-Tauscher receivedthe Neustart Kultur scholarship.

Markos Destefanos

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Described by Eliot Fisk as a “thoughtful, specialartist of the guitar and an overall intellectualforce”, Markos Destefanos belongs to the promisingyounger generation of classical guitarists.As a solo artist, he focuses on the plasticity of theguitar sound and aims to cultivate an intimateconnection between artist and audience. He hasa keen interest in the interdisciplinary relationbetween arts, often performing and collaboratingwith other artists in literature and poetryreadings, theatre, dance, and soundpaintingperformances. In addition to winning nationaland international prizes, Markos Destefanos wasawarded a scholarship by the foundation “LiveMusic Now”, as well as a merit scholarship bythe Mozarteum University. He currently teachesguitar at the State Music School of Upper Austriaand gives masterclasses in Austria and abroad.Furthermore, since 2018 he has been workingas a consultant for the successful music educationplatform “Tonebase”. Greek guitarist MarkosDestefanos studied guitar performance at theConservatory in Athens under Prof. Michalis Kontaxakisand graduated in 2012 with his Diploma.At the same time, he completed with distinctiona bachelor’s degree in History and Philosophyof Science at the University of Athens. He continuedhis studies at the Mozarteum Universityin Salzburg where he completed both a BA andMA with distinction under Prof. Eliot Fisk. An additionalstudy in Instrumental Pedagogy at thesame University rounded off his studies.