Darius Ensemble

The Darius Ensemble offers the unique combination of voice, flute, cello and piano. The members, mezzo-soprano Barbara Kozelj from Slovenia, flautist Romana Goumare and cellist Teije Hylkema from The Netherlands and pianist Mirsa Adami from Albania have already distinguished themselves as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral players. Their shared passion for chamber music led them to form the Darius Ensemble in 2004.

The Darius Ensemble performs in 'The International Holland Music Sessions' and has been selected for the prestigious concertserie 'Het Debuut', for which the ensemble performed 11 concerts in 2005-2006 in concert halls like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Vredenburg in Utrecht. The ensemble has been recorded live for radio broadcast and appeared on Dutch National TV in music program 'Vrije Geluiden'.

Their programs are characterized by varied repertoire and instrumentation within a common theme, highlighting all the expressive possibilities of the four musicians and their instruments.

Barbara Kozelj (mezzo-soprano)

born in 1978 in Slovenia, studied at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague with Sasja Hunnego, The New Opera Academy in Amsterdam and the Opera studio Nederland and completed a Masters Degree in Music and Opera. She performed with Residentie Orchestra, Schönberg Ensemble, Netherlands Bach Society Orchestra and Gabrieli Consort under Jaap van Zweden, Gennady Rozdestvensky, Reinbert de Leeuw, Richard Egarr and Paul McCreesh. Appearances include a recital with pianist Phyllis Ferwerda in Concertgebouw Amsterdam, debut in Opera Bonn as Kasturbai and Mrs Alexander in Glass' 'Satyagraha', Third Israelite in Händel's 'Esther', Cyrus in Händel's 'Belshazzar' and Galatea in Händel's 'Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'. She performed Mozart Requiem with The Dutch Bach Society and 'Galatea' in Naples. Future engagements include Berio's El mar la mar with Asko Ensemble, 'Messiah' with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, 'John's Passion' with The Ancient Academy of Music, Cyrus in Händel's 'Belshazzar' and 'Stubenmadchen' in Boesman's Reigen.

Romana Goumare (flute)

born in 1976, studied with Eline van Esch at The Hague Royal Conservatory where she obtained her 'Bachelor in Music' diploma in 2001. She then completed at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Michael Cox and Kate Hill (flute) and Keith Bragg (piccolo) her postgraduate performance diploma with distinction and was awarded the 'Irene Burcher Prize' for the best woodwind examination in 2002. She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, UBS Verbier Festival Youth Orchestra and Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, under eminent conductors as Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Franz Welser-Möst and Yan-Pascal Tortelier. Currently Romana enjoys a freelance career appearing with several orchestras and as a chamber musician she performs regularly with different groups. Romana performed at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh Festival, Luzern Festival , Kurtag Festival, Verbier Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Holland Festival, Grachtenfestival and the European Platform for Young Musicians in Brussels.

Teije Hylkema (cello)

was born in 1975 and studied under the guidance of Dmitri Ferschtman and Maarten Mostert at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, graduating as a Performing Musician in June 2000. Teije followed masterclasses with Colin Carr en Truls Mork. Since 2000 he has been a member of the Radio Chamber Philharmonie in Holland. Besides his job, he regularly plays in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Claudio Abbado and Daniel Harding, gives recitals with his wife pianist Grace Kim and plays solo with amature orchestras. For many years he was a member of the Romeo Quartet and was solo cellist in several youth orchestras. Apart from classical music, Teije plays a big variety of styles from portugese Fado till dance, in different formations, a.o. Zapp!, Nynke Laverman, Marco Borsato, Xander de Buissonje, Bardo State, Floris, Ten Sharp and SAM. The instrument on which Teije plays is a Camillo Mandelli da Calco dating from 1916 and a bow by Eugene Sartory.

Mirsa Adami (piano)

born in 1975 in Albania, obtained her master diploma in 2000 with Jan Wijn at the Conservatory in Amsterdam. She persued further studies with Maria Stroo, Eugene Indjic and Ton Hartsuiker. Among her awards are the first prize at Stresa competition (Italy), finalist at the 'Princess Christina Competition' and a Yamaha scholarship. In 2000 she was nominated 'Musician of the Year' by the 'Holland Music Sessions' and participated in the international concertserie 'Masters on Tour'. With violist Cecilia Bernardini she won in 2003 the 'Vriendenkrans' of the Concertgebouw. In 2004 she made her appearance in the Concertgebouw performing Prokofiev´s 3rd piano concerto with the VU Orchestra under Daan Admiraal. Mirsa works at 'The New Opera Academy' in the conservatory in Amsterdam.