Virtuosi’s Bach: The Art of Baroque Concerto

Program:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041
1. –
2. Andante
3. Allegro assai

Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro assai

——— Intermission ———

Concerto for 2 violins in D minor, BWV 1043
1. Vivace
2. Largo, ma non tanto,
3. Allegro

Concerto for Oboe & Violin in C minor, BWV 1060R
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro

Virtuosi Thailand

Thailand’s leading violinist and pedagogue, Toto, graduated Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance(Honours) from Asia’s most prestigious Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. He succeeded Master Degree in Violin Performance with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London where he also received his teaching diploma, the Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM). Toto’s playing is majorly inspired by the legendary Mayumi Fujikawa, his latest teacher, but he also attended festivals and masterclasses where he got chances to learn from the world’s best violin pedagogues like Zakhar Bron, Miriam Fried, Shlomo Mintz, Pierre Amoyal, Koichiro Harada, etc.

He founded Virtuosi Thailand in 2019. As the ensemble presents the most touching performances of classical masterpieces for the community of music lovers in Thailand, it also provides a platform for younger talented musicians to showcase their craftsmanships. Currently, Toto exclusively teaches at Bangkok String Academy. He plays on Amédée Dieudonné, Mirecourt, 1942 violin

 Visanee Vongvirulh is a Thai professional violinist and educator. She is a violin instructor at the College of Music, Mahidol University, as well as at her own private teaching studio, Visanee Violin Studio. Visanee graduated with a first-class honors in Music Performance (Violin) from the College of Music, Mahidol University, in 2012 and awarded a 9-month classical music training scholarship from ASEA-UNINET in 2012-2013. From 2014 to 2021, she was funded by the Royal Thai Government to pursue a second Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Instrument Pedagogy (Violin) at Mozarteum University, Salzburg, Austria. In 2024, she was awarded Mahidol University Scholarship to attend a summer workshop at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

Visanee has performed with various orchestras, including the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Austrian Festival Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta da Camerata Salzburg, Immling Festival Orchestra, Philharmonie Salzburg, Skive Opera Festival Orchestra, Opernfestspiele Schloss Amerang, and Oper im Berg Festival Orchestra. She was the concertmaster of the Thailand Elite Orchestra, leading the performances of the opera Rigoletto.

Visanee has also advised and guided young musicians to win various competitions. In 2023, she received the Certificate of Recognition as an Inspiring Music Teacher from the Music Teachers Association of Thailand, and in 2024, she was awarded the Academic Staff of the Year by College of Music, Mahidol University.

 Bangkok-born Nuttha Kuankajorn is one of the key figures in Thailand’s classical music scene, recognized as a performer, educator, and podcast host. Nuttha received a full scholarship for her undergraduate studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, where she studied under Rachel
Walker, Principal oboe of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, she earned her Master’s Degree in Oboe Performance from the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, Germany, and completed a Certificate of Advanced Study the following year, under the mentorship of Professor Thomas Indermühle.

In 2019, Nuttha served as the Principal Oboe of the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra until she was appointed Principal Oboe of Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2025. She currently teaches at the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University and the Conservatory of Music, Rangsit University. Alongside her career as an orchestra musician and instructor, Nuttha is a dedicated chamber music performer and regularly gives recitals. Nuttha has performed extensively across Asia and Europe with renowned orchestras such as the Baden-Baden Philharmonie, Mannheimer Philharmoniker, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Orchestra, among others. In addition, she has participated in renowned music festivals across Thailand, Germany, Spain, the UK, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Japan, and Nepal.

As a soloist, Nuttha has been invited multiple times to perform concertos with CU Symphony Orchestra and Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. She attended masterclasses conducted by Christoph Hartmann, Jonathan Kelly, Dudu Carmel, Jacques Tys, Spyros Kontos, Christian Schmitt, Paolo Grazia, Gordon Hunt, Stefan Schilli, Kalev Kuljus, Simon Emes, Amanuel Abbühl and Yiu Song-Lam. Nuttha began her musical journey with piano lessons at age five and oboe at fifteen, studying with Chanannat Meenanan, Principal oboe of the National Symphony Orchestra of Thailand. Nuttha is a Rigoutat artist and plays on a model ‘J’ oboe.

Began learning the violin when she was 8, Tanika secured her Bachelor degree with first-class honors at Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music under Hayne kim. She won prizes from Princess Galyani Vadhana International Ensemble Competition in 2018 and 2021 and Sugree Charoensook International Music Competition. Tanika pursued her Master degree in Music Performance at Zürich University of Arts under Professor Rudolf Koelman where she also studied viola as a minor instrument under Professor Wendy Champney. Moving back to her home-country, she performed with Bangkok Metropolitan Orchestra, Thailand National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra.

Varissara has been teaching since 2009 and continuously working on herprofessional development through workshops, seminars and courses from around the world. Notably, she has won the Trinity Award for Excellence in Music Teaching. She is a Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) Certified Teacher for Suzuki Violin Method Books. Varissara holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the College of Music, Mahidol University (Thailand) and two Master’s degrees: in String Pedagogy, from the University of Louisville, and in Violin Performance from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. During her graduate studies at the University of Louisville, she was awarded an assistantship in music history and viola where she performed with the graduate string quartet. She teaches in international schools, music schools and academies across Thailand, and United States of America.

Began learning viola at the age of 15, Ekkalak studied at the Royal Thai Army School of Music under the guidance of SGT. U-Thai Khumchaya and, later on, received scholarship to study with Miti Wisuttiamporn at the Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music where he graduated with first class honour. Ekkalak
participated at Silpakorn Summer Music School where he got the opportunity to play in masterclass of Prof. Richard Crabtree. He also participated at Summa Cum Lauder International Music Festival 2017 in Vienna as well as the 2018 International Alicante of Youth Orchertra in Spain. Ekkalak was the principal violist of the Royal Thai Army Orchestra and served as a viola faculty at Royal Thai Army Music School between 2016-2020. Ekkalak won the first prizes from
Princess Galyani Vadhana International Music Competition in 2018 and Valaya Alongkorn String Ensemble Competition (Royal Trophy) in 2024. Currently, Ekkalak is a violist of both Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and Bangkok Metropolitan Orchestra.

An accomplished Thai cellist, recently earned Master’s degree with distinction from the Institut royal supérieur de musique et de pédagogie in Namur, Belgium, under the guidance of Joachim Eijlander, Chayuth hold a Bachelor of Music degree with First-Class Honors from Mahidol University, studying under Juris Lakutis. He honed his musical skills through masterclasses with Eleonora Testelec in Latvia, Danjulo Ishizaka at the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Austria, and Xavier Gagnepain whom he performed in a concert with. Chayuth also played with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO), the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in Belgium.

Current Principal Double Bass of the Royal Bangkok Symphony
Orchestra, Nattawut is a native of Chumphon, Thailand. He joined Thai Youth Orchestra as principal in 2015-2016, Princess Galyani Vadhana Youth Orchestra as principal in 2017, and joined Hong Kong Double Bass Camp study with Catalin Rotaru in 2016 and Jeff Bradetich 2017. He won the second prize of Beethoven Competition Thailand in 2016 and won the first prize of Princess Galyani Vadhana International Ensemble Competition in 2018. Jay attended International Summer Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with a full scholarship. In 2021 got the Scholarship’s Princess Sirivannavari Cultivated Arts Foundation. He participated in many masterclasses and took private lessons with Dong Hyuck Ahn, Guennadi Mouzyka, Jiří Hudec, Edicson Ruiz, Janusz Widzyk, Sławomir Grenda. He graduated double bass performances with Prof. Josef Niederhammer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and Bachelor of Music Program at Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music with First class honors.