The Goeyvaerts String Trio, founded in 1997, is dedicated exclusively to 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, taking its name from Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts, a key figure in European new music. The ensemble, Fedra Coppens (violin), Ana Sofia Sousa (viola), Pieter Stas (cello)—not only performs existing works but actively commissions new string trios.
Their acclaimed recordings include a Challenge Records album featuring Schoenberg, Webern, and Schnittke, which received top ratings, a Golden Label from Klassiek Centraal, a Klara Award nomination, and a Gramophone recommendation. String Trios from the East (2012) with works by Gubaidulina, Knaifel, Paiberdin, and Kancheli was praised for its “near-impossible” precision. In 2014, their crowd-funded Stabat Mater (Arvo Pärt and Ivan Moody) earned an Edison Award, Klara’s Ensemble of the Year, and the 2014 Culture Prize of Sint-Niklaas. Recent releases include Whispers of Titans (Korndorf, Górecki) and Klang by Wolfgang von Schweinitz, featured in an ARTE documentary.
The trio has premiered works by Charles Wuorinen (Guggenheim, NY), Linda Catlin Smith, Pascale Criton, and Robin Verheyen, with collaborations documented on albums such as Blues, Reds and other Songs (2024). As ensemble-in-residence at KMSKA, they developed programs around the museum’s renovation and collection, including a project with saxophonist Andrew Claes (STUFF) using real-time data for string and robot scores. With support from their hometown Sint-Niklaas, they curate the annual Passages festival, blending local and international talent across genres.

Pärt was born in Paide, Järva County, Estonia, and was raised by his mother and stepfather in Rakvere in northern Estonia. He began to experiment with the top and bottom notes as the family's piano's middle register was damaged. His first serious study came in 1954 at the Tallinn Music Middle School, but less than a year later he temporarily abandoned it to fulfill military service, playing oboe and percussion in the army band. While at the Tallinn Conservatory, he studied composition withHeino Eller. As a student, he produced music for film and the stage. During the 1950s, he also completed his first vocal composition, the cantata Meie aed ('Our Garden') for children's choir and orchestra. He graduated in 1963. From 1957 to 1967, he worked as a sound producer for Estonian radio.
Although criticized by Tikhon Khrennikov in 1962, for employing serialism in Nekrolog (1960), which exhibited his "susceptibility to foreign influences", nine months later he won First Prize in a competition of 1,200 works, awarded by the all-Union Society of Composers, indicating the inability of the Soviet regime to agree consistently on what was permissible. In the 1970s, Pärt studied medieval and Renaissance music instead of focusing on his own composition. About this same time, he converted from Lutheranism to the Russian Orthodox faith.
In 1980, after a prolonged struggle with Soviet officials, he was allowed to emigrate with his wife and their two sons. He lived first in Vienna, where he took Austriancitizenship and then relocated to Berlin, Germany, in 1981. He returned to Estonia around the turn of the 21st century and now lives alternately in Berlin and Tallinn. He speaks fluent German and has German citizenship as a result of living in Germany since 1981.

arnabás Hegyi was born in 1980 in Budapest as an overture of a family that by now is proud of having brought up 9 children. He studied conducting, singing, church music, composition and organ playing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He was recently awarded the Bachelor degree in Early Music singing at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague as a student of Michael Chance, Rita Dams, Jill Feldmann and Peter Kooij. Presently he attends Tilburg Music Academy where he is completing his Master's in Early Music Singing He has won awards at several singing competitions; 1st prizes at the National Singing Competition for Secondary Music Students in 2001 as well as at the National Simándi Singing Competition in 2002. Later, in 2003 he was awarded 3rd prize at the singing competition in Irun, Spain, which same competition he came as first in 2005.
In 2007 he faced three major challenges. First he gained the only countertenor role for Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the competition organized to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the piece in Verona and thus sang Pastore at the piece’s gala performance in Mantova. Soon after this he sang successfully at two singing competitions in Hungary; he won 3rd prize at the International Handel Singing Competition and 1st prize at the International Oratory Singing Competition. In the former he also won a special prize, which gave him a registration at the internet protal MusiciansWho.hu, while the latter secured him an appearance at Zemplén Festival, where he gave two concerts in the summer of 2008. In the same year he also gave a solo concert at Hebden Bridge Arts Festival in England.
His co-operation with Budapest Chamber Opera is also due to his competition results. He sang with the organization in 2002 for the first time, and since then he has played more than half a dozen opera roles in around 40 performances both in Hungary and abroad such as Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse (L’humana fragilita, and the roles of the Third Suitor), Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea (Amore), Monteverdi: Orfeo (Pastore), Monteverdi: Il ballo delle ingrate (Amore), Händel: Semele (Athamas), Vivaldi: Il Tigrane (Clearte).
Besides, he has sung in A:N:S Choir and Purcell Choir, and in vocal ensembles Voces Aequales and Arpa d’O. He sings regularly with ensembles such as theHuelgas Ensemble, Netherlands Kammerkoor and Netherlandse Bach Vereniging.
He can be heard on more than 30 CD recordings as soloist, choir- or vocal ensemble singer, or piano/organ accompanist.

After studying communication and multimedia, Olivier Berten enters the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels where he gets a diploma in opera-singing with Marcel Vanaud. He is going to advanced studies in the conservatories of Amsterdam, Metz and Brussels with Udo Reinemann and other masters of Lied. He was in 2004-2005 part ofOperastudio Vlaanderen in Ghent. He makes his debut in the Monnaie opera house as Brühlmann ("Werther" van Massenet) under the baton of Kazushi Ono. In 2008, he was on the stage of the Flemish Opera in the leading role of Villa Vivaldi by Wouter van Looy en Jan Van Outryve. Upcoming projects include "L'enfant et les sortilèges" with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and "Ne criez pas au loup" in the Opéra Royal de Wallonie.

Zsuzsi Tóth was born in Hungary, where she began her musical studies with piano at the age of 7. She started classical singing at the Faculty of Music of the University of Szeged, receiving the Master`s degree in 2004. During her studies she won a Hungarian State Grant (2002-2003) as well as the "Huygens programma Scholarship" in The Netherlands (2006-2007). She was awarded the Bachelor degree in Early Music singing at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and completed her Master's in 2009 with distinction as a student of Peter Kooij, Jill Feldman and Rita Dams.
She participated on masterclasses given by Martin Klietmann, Mitsuko Shirai, Júlia Hamari, Marius van Altena, László Polgár and Adrienne Csengery. She has given concerts as a soloist with Collegium Vocale Gent, Nederlandse Bach Vereniging (Jos van Veldhoven), l'Arpeggiata, Sete Lágrimas, Collegium 1704 (Váklav Luks) and Le Concert Lorrain. She is a regular member of several early music ensembles such as Vox Luminis (Lionel Meunier) and Tetraktys (Kees Boeke). She participated on several national and international competitions winning two 1st prises, a 3rd prise and a special prise. (Ruma, Yugoslavia, 2002, Budapest, Hungary 2003, Szeged, Hungary, 2004)