Violist Téodor Coman (principal, l'Orchestre National de Paris) and pianist Rika Zayasu ("...masterful performance... emotional and dramatic work that left concertgoers stunned by the explosion of sound") play some of the greatest works written for viola and piano.
The versatile career of Romanian-born violist Téodor Coman involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. The principal violist of l'Orchestre National de France since 1995, he is also a former professor at l'Ecole Normal de Paris "A. Cortot" and Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Reuil-Malmaison, France.
He is the founder member of Trio à Cordes de Paris - founded in 1993, the Trio has been recording and touring intensively in Europe and Russia. A member of the Quatuor Arpegionne from 2001 to 2003, and Quatuor Renoir from 2010 and 2013, Téodor was also the award winner of the Concours International Giorgio Cambissa, a unique project dedicated to the works for soloist and orchestra by Italian composer Giorgio Cambissa (1921-1988).
Winner of the Premier Prix at Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Bucarest in 1988, he also won the Premier Prix at the Concours National d'Alto de Roumanie for the consecutive years during his studies between 1981 and 1987. After winning the Second Grand Prize at the Concours International Maurice Vieux in Lille, France, he has held the position of solo viola of l'Orchestre National d'Ile de France from 1986.
Téodor has been playing on a F.H. Chaudière viola since 1991.
Japanese-born pianist Rika Zayasu has performed to critical acclaim throughout Europe, America, and Japan.
Her 2018-19 season will include a recording session with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a series of concerto appearances and chamber music concerts in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, France, Italy, Austria and Japan, and the world premiere performance of British composer Christian Mason's new work.
Her next album, Scriabin Complete Piano Sonatas, will be released by Claudio Records in 2018.
A former student of Prof. Denis Pascal, Michel Béroff, Joan Havill, and Maria Curcio, Rika also holds a MMus in Music Performance (GSMD) and MPhil in musicology (York).