Soneva Stars

Hailing from Canada, William (Bill) Gillespie is an experienced sport and athletic injury biomechanist with over 30 years of experience in movement and healthy behaviour modification. He has a diverse skillset that caters to patients of all ages and abilities. Bill is a Certified Exercise Physiologist, High-Performance Specialist and Accredited Kinesiologist. He is also trained in Reiki, Mindfulness, Pain Literacy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, and other areas that show his holistic approach to health and wellness. Additionally, he is recognised by Exercise is Medicine Canada and The Running Clinic for his work in promoting healthy movement practices.

Hailing from France, Julie Charbonnier is a healer and wellbeing practitioner with more than 17 years of experience. Using a wide range of techniques tailored to each client, she helps others realign their mind, body and soul to live life to the fullest. Based in the UK, Julie has honed her technique and developed her own signature style while working with some of the largest spas in London, Brighton and Cheshire. As an advocate for mental health, Julie contributed a chapter to the Amazon best-seller Seen Too, all proceeds from which are donated to the Welsh charity Advance Brighter Futures.

Jo is a professional dancer, fitness instructor, sports massage therapist and wellbeing facilitator who specialises in contemporary dance and somatic practices. With extensive training in dance from various institutions in the UK and Australia, Jo completed her Master of Arts in Dance and Somatic Wellbeing. Having taught and performed extensively, Jo is passionate about using dance and movement as a healing resource for the mind, body, spirit, and soul. She believes that dance and movement can help develop a deeper connection to oneself and enhance the relationship with the lived body, even in the presence of pain and internal narratives.

Over the course of her 30-year osteopathic career, Amberin Fur has travelled the globe treating patients who range from newborns to nobilities. Widely considered a leader in her field, her many years of experience were shaped in elite sports and the performing arts, including the London 2012 Olympic Games and Cirque du Soleil. Her clinic, The Vital Practice, located in central London, offers a combination of osteopathy and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and has garnered her a global clientele who value her personalised approach to treatment. Taking an entirely holistic approach, Amberin incorporates a range of techniques into her patient protocols, including HBOT, medical acupuncture, medical homoeopathy and lifestyle medicine. Centring her practice around the mind-body connection, she takes time to understand the personal and psycho-social circumstances of each patient and considers the body, lifestyle and environmental factors that may be playing a part in their symptoms.

Wassim Hallal moved to Denmark in 1985 and, after working in some of the country’s best restaurants, opened his own place, Frederikshøj, in 2009. Housed within the former staff lodge of the Royal Palace, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2015 and its second in 2022. The same year, Wassim was also awarded the Chef Mentor Award. His menus are a sensory journey in refinement and rendition without a horizon. Following the seasons, he creates technically superior and deeply personal dishes, with the utmost respect for his ingredients. Unrestrained by traditional conventions, he believes that care, excitement and dedication can be both felt and tasted. Wassim has also published several cookbooks and appeared on Hell’s Kitchen Denmark and MasterChef Denmark. He is also a proud ambassador for the Aarhus region, shining a light on the quality of local produce through his precise and creative cooking style.

Born in the city of Zamora, Mexico, former professional footballer Rafael Márquez Álvarez is regarded as the best defender in Mexico’s history and one of the best Mexican players of all time. He discovered his natural talent for football at a very young age and made his professional debut with the Atlas de Guadalajara in 1996, becoming part of the squad known as the ‘golden generation’. Rafael went on to play for AS Monaco for four years, during which time he helped win the EFL League One and Coupe de France. In 2003 he transferred to FC Barcelona, becoming the first-ever Mexican to represent the club. While with the squad, he won four La Liga, three Spanish Super Cups and two Champions League titles, among several other accolades. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls along with his Barcelona former teammate, the French legend, Thierry Henry. After playing for the Red Bulls for three years, he returned home in 2013 to León FC, where he led them as a captain to two consecutive Mexican league trophies. He then transferred to the Italian team Hellas of Verona to reinforce their defence. After a year and a half in Italy, he returned to the team that shaped him and saw him grow to become a football icon, Atlas de Guadalajara, where he concluded his journey as a professional footballer two years later.

Andrew McCarthy is an accomplished astrophotographer from Arizona who has gained recognition for his captivating images of celestial objects. Growing up in Sacramento, Andrew developed an interest in astronomy during his childhood, sparked by his father’s telescope. He later pursued computer science and mathematics in college and worked in the tech industry before rediscovering his love for astronomy. His innovative techniques in astrophotography, coupled with his computer science background, have helped him to develop a unique style that emphasizes intricate details and textures in his work. His striking images of the moon, in particular, have been praised for their unprecedented clarity and depth, revealing hidden features. Andrew’s work has been published in various magazines, including National Geographic, The New York Times, and Wired. He has also received recognition for his contributions to astrophotography, such as the Astronomy Photographer of the Year award from the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Alongside his photography, Andrew is a passionate advocate for science education and outreach, aiming to make Earth-based space exploration more accessible to inspire the next generation of enthusiasts to explore the cosmos.

Executive Chef at Restaurant Merlet in Schoorl, Netherlands, since 2015, Jonathan Zandbergen is considered one of the greatest Dutch culinary talents. With cooking methods that combine both tradition and innovation, he has won numerous prestigious awards, including the ‘Prix Culinary Le Taittinger’ in 2014, as well as being crowned Gault & Millau’s ‘Most Talented Chef’ in 2017. The Dutch public became better acquainted with Zandbergen through his TV appearances, most recently as a jury member in the RTL series, Topchef Academy and as a judge on Masterchef Holland in 2018. With over 20 years of experience in Michelin-starred restaurants and cooking competitions, Zandbergen has created his own unique style of Dutch cuisine, inspiring people from all over the world through his culinary streaming platform, CHEFFD. Chef Jonathan Zandbergen will be hosting a series of exclusive dining events at Soneva Fushi & Soneva Jani during his stay.

Bob Bryan is one of the world’s most successful doubles tennis players. Playing with his twin brother Mike, the Bryans won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, 39 Masters 1000 titles, and 119 ATP Tour titles. Bob also won seven Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles, is a Davis Cup champion, and was the number one ranked doubles player in the world for 439 weeks. The Bryans were the top doubles team on the ATP Tour for 10 seasons and, in 2012, they clinched the career Golden Slam, winning all four Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal during a 12-month run. Bob now lives in Miami with his wife Michelle and their three children and is the captain of the United States Davis Cup Team.

Recently named Latin America’s Best Female Chef by the World’s 50 Best, Manu Buffara is the Executive Chef and Owner of Manu located in Curitiba, Brazil. Paving the way for gastronomy in Brazil and putting the city of Curitiba on the world gastronomic map, the menu has received critical acclaim and earned the restaurant the number 46 spot on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Inspired by her family and background, Manu learned the value of land and animals growing up in the countryside and incorporates this in her everyday technique. At Manu, she uses organic ingredients from carefully selected suppliers and her own garden. Manu’s devotion to sustainability and quality ingredients stems from her commitment to Curitiba, working with local communities to transform abandoned sites into urban gardens and educating locals on how to care for the gardens and feed themselves. Throughout 2023, Chef Manu is running a 12-month pop-up at Fresh in the Garden at Soneva Fushi. Inspired by the ecological connection between land, sea, minerals, roots, fruits and animals, and the transformational power of food, the exclusive pop-up seats just 35 guests per sitting and offers an intimate dining experience with one of Brazil’s most exciting culinary talents and her team.

Mike Bryan is an Olympic Gold Medal Tennis Doubles Champion. He holds the record for most Grand Slam Men’s Doubles Championships (18), most ATP Tour Tiltes (124), and most weeks ranked number 1 in the world (506). He is also a Davis Cup Champion and two time NCAA Champion at Stanford.

Son of a Greek father and an Austrian mother, chef Konstantin Filippou honed his signature multicultural cooking style while working in the kitchen of Vienna-based Mediterranean restaurant Novelli. Shaping the story of his success, he earned the restaurant a Michelin Star and a third Gault Millau bonnet in both 2009 and 2010. Just two years later, chef Konstantin was nominated for the gourmet magazine A La Carte’s Trophée Gourmet and won the supreme title of “Austria’s Most Creative Chef”. In 2013, he opened his first eponymous restaurant, Konstantin Filippou, where his Greek and Austrian background is reflected in both his dishes and the spirit of the dining room. After just seven months in operation, the restaurant was awarded three bonnets by Gault Millau. A Michelin star shortly followed in 2014 and his second star in 2018. Gault Millau later awarded him with 19 points and five bonnets in 2019, making Konstantin one of only 5 19-pointers in Austria. He opened a natural wine bistro O boufés at the same address as his restaurant in 2015, which received two bonnets (15 points) in the Gault Millau. Today the bistro holds 15.5 points and three bonnets.