Judith Ingolfsson and Vladimir Stoupel are seasoned musicians with Judith playing the violin and viola and Vladimir having an experience as a pianist and a conductor. They have been performing as a duo since 2005 and have received serious acclaim for the performance and organization of concert series and festivals across the globe. Among their most recent recognitions was the French distinction of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters). In Berlin, they have been the artistic directors of “The Last Rose of Summer” music festival for 10 consecutive years.

- You have been playing as a duo for almost 20 years. What brought you together considering your different backgrounds?
Judith: Indeed, we come from very distinctly different places in the world. My father is Icelandic, my mother is Swiss. It is difficult for me to answer where I am from. In Vladimir’s case, he has a Russian/Jewish background, but he left the USSR early and came to France, later he incorporated French and German cultures. Our life itself is very culturally varied and it includes so many different bits of the world.
Vladimir: We met in New York in 2005 and started as a violin-piano duo. Our idea has always been to create connections, open spaces and build bridges. We were both very interested in the French repertoire, and we have published many CDs with different angles of interest: French, modern Russian and our most recent is by the British-American Rebeca Clark which has strong Irish components.
Judith: We grew up on the two sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War but found a common interest in French music.

- What is the main artistic message of your duo?
Vladimir: Every program of ours is telling a story and this story is always connected to history. For us, it is important that each concert tells a story about the history of humanity through the musical lens. Music history should not be disconnected from human history. This reminds me of how my music history teacher at the Moscow Conservatory in the 80s used to say: “Children, you should imagine that Johannes Brahms was a living composer”. For us students, he was a statue and always had been.
Judith: When I teach, I like to accentuate to my students that a piece of music is composed in connection with certain ideas of association. If you separate music from the history in which it was created, it is sometimes difficult for audiences and performers to understand what the possible meaning of the piece of music is.
Vladimir: We are trying to bring the composers into the historical frame and tell the story about the spirit of time. It is not only because we like the music but because it represents something. We have recorded CDs with music from the First World War, from the interwar period and now we are working on a program with music that tells the story of the liberation of France 80 years ago. We are collaborating with two Embassies in the US, the French and the German, and planning concerts at the French Embassies there and in Berlin. This is cultural diplomacy for us as people from all backgrounds attend those concerts.

-  In what ways can music be a tool for cultural diplomacy?
Vladimir: The idea of diplomacy is to bring people together and find the common denominator for the conversation. With our music, we start the conversation. People listen and then we talk about the works which we are performing. We bring a lot of different nationalities together.
Judith: What we do is about cultural diplomacy and cultural friendships.
Vladimir: Our festival in Berlin, “The Last Rose of Summer”, is also a good example. Our appeal is to remind people of tolerance when we bring musicians from different countries together. This year, we have performers from at least six nationalities: Irish, French, American, German, Icelandic, and Armenian. The initiative is in cooperation with the Embassy of Ireland and supported by the Icelandic embassy.
Judith: The international component of the festival is our focus and each year we try to bring music from different parts of the world to Berlin and present it. The idea is to create a platform that showcases different worldviews.
Vladimir: In a way, music has always been a global business. If we think that only planes can bring us abroad, we are wrong. In the past, musicians were always traveling, including Felix Mendelssohn who traveled a lot, including to Ireland. There he composed a piece inspired by the tune “The Last Rose of Summer” and this is from where the festival got its name.

-  Let’s talk more about the upcoming festival which will take place from the 16th to the 20th of August at the Mendelssohn-Remise in Berlin. What is unique about its structure and program?
Judith: The structure is unusual in the sense that the concerts are lunchtime concerts and are between 45 and 50 minutes. This is inspired by the Mendelssohn family's idea of doing Sunday matinee concerts. This year, we are even putting pieces Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel had on her program during her Sunday matinee.
Vladimir: When we are performing Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel or Carl Maria von Weber, this way we show how tolerant and open society was at this time. Then, we also have "The Quartet for the End of Time" (1941) by Olivier Messiaen which reminds us how horrible war can be. Especially now as we have a war in the middle of Europe that no one wants to talk about. We must put this on the program to bring forward the idea that the world is very fragile, and democracy has to be protected.

Judith Ingolfsson and Vladimir Stoupel are seasoned musicians with Judith playing the violin and viola and Vladimir having an experience as a pianist and a conductor. They have been performing as a duo since 2005 and have received serious acclaim for the performance and organization of concert series and festivals across the globe. Among their most recent recognitions was the French distinction of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters). In Berlin, they have been the artistic directors of “The Last Rose of Summer” music festival for 10 consecutive years.

- You have been playing as a duo for almost 20 years. What brought you together considering your different backgrounds?
Judith: Indeed, we come from very distinctly different places in the world. My father is Icelandic, my mother is Swiss. It is difficult for me to answer where I am from. In Vladimir’s case, he has a Russian/Jewish background, but he left the USSR early and came to France, later he incorporated French and German cultures. Our life itself is very culturally varied and it includes so many different bits of the world.
Vladimir: We met in New York in 2005 and started as a violin-piano duo. Our idea has always been to create connections, open spaces and build bridges. We were both very interested in the French repertoire, and we have published many CDs with different angles of interest: French, modern Russian and our most recent is by the British-American Rebeca Clark which has strong Irish components.
Judith: We grew up on the two sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War but found a common interest in French music.

- What is the main artistic message of your duo?
Vladimir: Every program of ours is telling a story and this story is always connected to history. For us, it is important that each concert tells a story about the history of humanity through the musical lens. Music history should not be disconnected from human history. This reminds me of how my music history teacher at the Moscow Conservatory in the 80s used to say: “Children, you should imagine that Johannes Brahms was a living composer”. For us students, he was a statue and always had been.
Judith: When I teach, I like to accentuate to my students that a piece of music is composed in connection with certain ideas of association. If you separate music from the history in which it was created, it is sometimes difficult for audiences and performers to understand what the possible meaning of the piece of music is.
Vladimir: We are trying to bring the composers into the historical frame and tell the story about the spirit of time. It is not only because we like the music but because it represents something. We have recorded CDs with music from the First World War, from the interwar period and now we are working on a program with music that tells the story of the liberation of France 80 years ago. We are collaborating with two Embassies in the US, the French and the German, and planning concerts at the French Embassies there and in Berlin. This is cultural diplomacy for us as people from all backgrounds attend those concerts.

-  In what ways can music be a tool for cultural diplomacy?
Vladimir: The idea of diplomacy is to bring people together and find the common denominator for the conversation. With our music, we start the conversation. People listen and then we talk about the works which we are performing. We bring a lot of different nationalities together.
Judith: What we do is about cultural diplomacy and cultural friendships.
Vladimir: Our festival in Berlin, “The Last Rose of Summer”, is also a good example. Our appeal is to remind people of tolerance when we bring musicians from different countries together. This year, we have performers from at least six nationalities: Irish, French, American, German, Icelandic, and Armenian. The initiative is in cooperation with the Embassy of Ireland and supported by the Icelandic embassy.
Judith: The international component of the festival is our focus and each year we try to bring music from different parts of the world to Berlin and present it. The idea is to create a platform that showcases different worldviews.
Vladimir: In a way, music has always been a global business. If we think that only planes can bring us abroad, we are wrong. In the past, musicians were always traveling, including Felix Mendelssohn who traveled a lot, including to Ireland. There he composed a piece inspired by the tune “The Last Rose of Summer” and this is from where the festival got its name.

-  Let’s talk more about the upcoming festival which will take place from the 16th to the 20th of August at the Mendelssohn-Remise in Berlin. What is unique about its structure and program?
Judith: The structure is unusual in the sense that the concerts are lunchtime concerts and are between 45 and 50 minutes. This is inspired by the Mendelssohn family's idea of doing Sunday matinee concerts. This year, we are even putting pieces Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel had on her program during her Sunday matinee.
Vladimir: When we are performing Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel or Carl Maria von Weber, this way we show how tolerant and open society was at this time. Then, we also have "The Quartet for the End of Time" (1941) by Olivier Messiaen which reminds us how horrible war can be. Especially now as we have a war in the middle of Europe that no one wants to talk about. We must put this on the program to bring forward the idea that the world is very fragile, and democracy has to be protected.