TrioKROMA – Jason Xanthoudakis, Clemens Leske, Elena Xanthoudakis
Jason Xanthoudakis – Clarinet & Saxophone
Jason studied Saxophone and Clarinet at the Sydney Conservatorium where he was awarded his BMus and a Graduate Diploma in Music (Performance) and at the University of Melbourne where he gained his Master of Music. He has also studied in Paris, Amsterdam and London. Jason has won 3MBS Performer of the Year Award as well as many prizes in Eisteddfodau and concerto competitions as well as being a laureate at the Gisborne International Music Competition.
Jason has a busy performance schedule including performances with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as frequent solo recitals and concerto appearances with orchestras and wind ensembles in Australia.
Jason has performed for several live broadcasts on Australian radio and has recorded for ABC Classic FM and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has written articles for various woodwind Magazines, including the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone magazine, has conducted masterclasses throughout Australia and Asia. He has arranged/transcribed more than 50 works for Saxophone and Clarinet and is very active in the field of Contemporary Music, encouraging composers to write music for Saxophone and Clarinet and over 20 works have been dedicated to him.
Clemens Leske – Pianist
Clemens Leske has performed with the London, Dunedin, Sydney Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmanian, West
Australian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and has performed in Spain, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand and China. He regularly appears with the Australian String Quartet, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi and at such festivals as the Huntington, Eastbourne, Barossa International, Sydney Spring, Adelaide and Adelaide Fringe. In recent years he has given three performances of Strauss’s ‘Burlesque’ and four of Beethoven’s ‘Triple’ concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy, as well as performances of Rachmaninov’s third and Mozart’s 11th (K413) piano concerti with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Leske partnered world-renowned flautist Sir James Galway in an Australian national tour. He has released eight discs of piano solos, concerti and chamber music, including world premiere recordings with TrioKroma and flautist Alexa Still and records extensively for ABC Classic FM. Clemens also delivers master classes at conservatoria around Australia and is currently a lecturer in piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Vladimir Ashkenazy writes: “Clemens Leske is in my opinion an extraordinary musician and pianist, completely devoted to his musical activity – he lives for music.”
Elena Xanthoudakis – Soprano
Elena Xanthoudakis holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours and Graduate Diploma of Opera from the Victorian College of the Arts and a Master of Music degree from the University of Melbourne. On scholarship at the GSMD, London, she received her MMus with distinction in 2005. Elena also studied as part of a young artist programme at the Maggio Musicale (Florence)
Elena won first prizes in the Maria Callas International Grand Prix 2003 (Oratorio- Lied), Salzburg International Mozart Competition 2006, Adam Didur Opera Singers’ Competition 2008 and placed 3rd in Jeunesse Musicales – Voix Competition in Montreal and Placido Domingo’s ‘Operalia’ 2008. She is a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Artist.
Elena’s concert engagements include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle(Montreal) and Stabat Mater, Bach’s Missa Brevis, B Minor Mass, St.John Passion, St.Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio & several cantatas, Fauré Requiem, Handel Messiah and Jeptha, Mozart Requiem and Vivaldi and Poulenc’s Gloria, touring a programme of Mozart arias with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate (St Petersburg Camerata) and performing Mozart Concert Arias at Salzburg’s prestigious ‘Mozart Woche’. She has also sung with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age Of Enlightenment, St Petersburg Camerata, Krakow and Poznan Filharmonia Orchestras.
In concert and recital, Elena has performed in Tokyo, Hong-Kong, Wiesbaden, Montreal, Quebec-City, Salt-Lake City and throughout Australia, UK, Ireland, and Italy. Elena also sang in concert performances as Jemmy Guillaume Tell at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome 2010, 2013 and at the BBC Proms 2011.
Operatic roles: Lisa and Amina La Sonnambula, Frasquita Carmen, Matilde (cover) Matilde di Shabran, Clorinda La Cenerentola. (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Kristina The Makropulos Case Miss Schlesen Satyagraha, Frasquita (ENO); Lucia Lucia di Lammermoor (Opéra de Québec), Adina L’elisir d’amore (Scottish Opera; Victorian Opera); Blonde Seraglio (Opera North), Xenia Boris Godunov (Strasbourg); Contessa di Folleville Il viaggio a Reims (Maggio Musicale, Florence), Euridice & Genio L’anima del Filosofo (Pinchgut – Sydney) Other roles include Pamina, Leila The Pearl Fishers, Dido Dido and Aeneas, Anne Truelove The Rake’s Progress, Ismene Mitridate, Constance Carmelites and Dalinda Ariodante.
Recordings include: Frasquita Carmen (ROH – Decca DVD and ROH – 3D Real D cinema and DVD release), Krista The Makropulos Case (ENO -Chandos CD), Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra – ABC Classics CD). Recent releases: Jemmy Guillaume Tell (Accademia di Santa Cecilia – EMI CD) Euridice & Genio L’anima del filosofo (Pinchgut Live CD), TrioKROMA ‘The Shepherd and the Mermaid’ (Move). Current CD release: Jewels of the Bel Canto (Signum Records)