FRIEDEMANN EICHHORN, violin
His teachers : Hiroshi Nishida, Valery Gradow at the Musikhochschule Mannheim, Yehudi
Menuhin at the International-Menuhin-Music-Academy Gstaad, Margaret Pardee (violin),
Miguel Harth-Bedoya (conducting) at the Juilliard School New York
His debut: 2005 with the Petersburg Philharmonics and the SWR-Radio Orchestra (among
others)
Radio recordings: (e. g.) for SWR,BR, SAT1, ZDF - As a soloist and a chamber musician
he worked together with world-famous musicians including: Yuri Bashmet, Julius Berger,
Saschko Gawriloff, Gidon Kremer, Igor Oistrach, Gerhard Oppitz, Boris Pergamenschikow
- As a guest he appeared at the Schleswig-Holstein Music-Festival, Menuhin-Festival
Gstaad, Killington-Festival Vermont as well as in music centres such as Munich Gasteig,
Schauspielhaus Berlin, Musikhalle Hamburg - Since 2001 Friedemann Eichhorn is the Director
of the Schlossfestspiele Zwingenberg Neckar - He plays a violin by Nicola Gagliano
of 1758.
CORA IRSEN, pianist
Cora Irsen was born in Troisdorf, Germany. At the age of four she began to take lessons
from her grandfather and composer Heinz Irsen. She studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum
and the University "Franz Liszt" Weimar, where she was granted a German Peoples
scholarship. Her teachers included Pavel Gililov, Karl-Heinz Kaemmerling and Rolf-Dieter
Arens. She gained further important musical inspiration through master classes with
renowned pianists and teachers Lazar Berman, Ferenc Rado, Andras Schiff and Alexander
Lonquich.
After winning prizes at the national competition "Jugend musiziert", she
was a laureate in 1990 at the Chopin Compeition in Goettingen and the International
Franz Liszt Competition in 2000. Following her success, Cora Irsen was invited to play
in the Cologne Philharmonie, Tonhalle Duesseldorf, Radio Hall Cologne and Tonhalle
Zurich.
Since then, Cora Irsen has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Mainz
Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, Neubrandenburger Philharmonic and the Jenaer
Philharmonic. She has also appeared as chamber music partner to many respected artists
including Boris Pergamenschikow, Hartmut Rohde, Martin Bruns, Peter Hoerr, Natalie
Chee, Martin Spangenberg, Georg Kluetsch und Armin Bachmann. In 2003 she will be embarking
on tours to Spain, China and Switzerland.
In 2001, Cora Irsen made her CD debut with works from Franz Liszt, played on the historical
piano of Liszt in Weimar. Her latest CD of Sonatas and Songs from Johannes Brahms with
cellist Peter Hoerr, appeared on the label Dabringhaus and Grimm in 2003.
FLORIAN KRUMPÖCK, pianist
"Forget about
Lang Lang and Arcadi Volodos. Austria has its own virtuosic tiger of the keyboard"
was how the newspaper Die Presse put its pronouncement of Florian Krumpöck, the
pianist and conductor who was born in Vienna in 1978.
The son of a cellist and an art historian, Mr Krumpöck
studied from an early age with some of the leading pianists of the day, including Rudolf
Buchbinder, Gerhard Oppitz and Elisabeth Leonskaja. After a private performance, none
other than Daniel Barenboim pronounced him quite simply "a wonderful pianist,"
thus paving the way for a promising international career.
The sensational reviews which greeted his debut at the
Tonhalle in Zurich with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedosejew
led to further concert engagements in such leading European music centers as Vienna,
Salzburg, Munich and Moscow, as well as in Israel, the USA and China. Highly acclaimed
solo recitals at international festivals such as the Bregenz Festival, the Salzburg
Easter Festival and the Music Summer at Bad Kissingen further consolidated his pianistic
career. In 2003 he made his debut at the Salzburg
Festival with a highly praised solo recital and gave his first concert at the Vienna
Musikverein. Sir Peter Ustinov also helped introduce the young musician to a wider
public.
In an exclusive arrangement since 2003 the piano maker
Blüthner provides Mr Krumpöck for life with a concert grand piano that accompanies
him in concert appearances and recordings.
To date he has released six CD recordings of works by
Mozart, Schubert, Liszt and Weber. These recordings have been issued on the Pan Classics,
Preiser Records and Blüthner Records labels (distributed by Hänssler).
DANIEL
OTTENSAMER, clarinet
born 1986 in Vienna, studied with Johann Hindler at the
University o Music in Vienna and in master classes with Sabine Meyer and Martin Froest.
Got many prizes and distinctions at international competitions
et al. 1st prize at the International cKlarinet competition of the "Animato-Stiftung"
in Zürich 2006, prize winner of the Konzertgesellschaft München 2005 and
at the national Gradus ad parnassum and of the Musica-Juventutis competition in Vienna
2005.
Since 2009 Daniel Ottensamer is solo clarinet-player of
the Vienna Philharmonic and of the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera.
As soloist he plays regularly with orchestras as Rundfunkorchester
München, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Wien, Wiener Kammerorchester, Tokyo Symphony
Orchestra and appears in the most important concert halls asWiener Musikverein, Wiener
Konzerthaus, Prinzregententheater München, Rudolfinum Prag, Radio-Kulturhaus Wien.
Chamber music he does with members of the ViennaPhilharmonic,
2006 he played in Theatre Champs Ellysée Paris with an international artists
ensemble wind chamber music of W.A.Mozarts.
With his father (Solo clarinet player of the Vienna Philharmonic)
und his brother he plays in the clarinet trio "Ernst
Ottensamer & Sons" in Tokyo, New York,
Vienna etc.).
Collaborations with Angelika Kirchschlager, Barbara Bonney,
Mihaela Ursuleasa, Julian Rachlin are highlights inhis young career.
CHRISTIAN
REICHERT, guitarist,
shows a command of the guitar that encompasses both extreme
sensitivity and virtuosity. The guitarist with “the fascinating technical experience
and perfect rhythm” (SZ Germany) “fills the audience easily with enthusiasm”
(El País, Spain).
He concertizes and gives master-classes frequently all over Europe including Russia
and Bulgaria, in the U.S. and other inernational venues.
By age 21 he was a prize-winner at the Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition
in Spain. He won several prizes at international competitions all over Europe like
1998 the First Prize at the International Guitar Foundation`s Ccompetition in Plovdiv,
Bulgaria, as well as First Prize at the International Competition for Contemporary
Music 1999 in Frankfurt (Germany).
Mr. Reichert earned worldwide reputation with his much lauded and constantly broadening
compact disc recordings for “Music Minus One” in New York. He has recorded
the most important guitar concertos with orchestra like Rodrigos´ “Concierto
de Aranjuez”, “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre”, concertos by Giuliani,
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ponce and Vivaldi.
HARDY RITTNER, pianist
selected as "Rising Artist of the Year 2009" by the German Music Award "Echo Classic 2009".
Born 1981 in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
First piano lessons at the age of four. Studies of the piano and fortepiano with Karl-Heinz
Kämmerling and Siegbert Rampe at the Mozarteum Salzburg. After graduating with
distinction in 2003, he studied with Klaus Hellwig at the Berlin University of the
Arts, graduating in 2007, again with distinction. He attended master classes of Paul
Badura-Skoda, Dominique Merlet, Christian Zacharias and Andrej Gavrilov, and gleaned
further artistic insights by working with Maria Joao Pires, Silvain Cambreling, Ivo
Pogorelich and Krystian Zimerman.
In 1996 Hardy Rittner became the youngest prizewinner in the history of the Rina Sala
Gallo piano competition in Monza, Italy. In 2002 he won a prize at the Académie
de Musique Lausanne and in 2005 he received the special prize for his interpretation
of Isang Yun's "Interludium A" at the international piano competition in
Gyeongnam, South Korea. Hardy Rittner was included in the Live Music Now series in
Salzburg and was awarded a scholarship by the Herbert von Karajan Centrum in Viena
in 2002/2003 in recognition of his exceptional artistic talent.
He has performed in most European countries, in the USA, South Korea and Taiwan, where
he made his debut at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. Rittner's recordings include
a Boulez sonata for radio and Mozart and Beethoven sonatas on commercial CDs. In 2008
he recorded on a fortepiano of Johann Baptist Streicher from 1851 for the label MDG
the CD "Brahms - Early piano works, Vol. 1", a much prized recording.
"He is one of the top pianists in the world." (Frankfurter Rundschau, 2006)
FREDERIEKE SAEIJS,
violin
Frederieke Saeijs (1979, The Netherlands) started to play the violin at age seven.
In 1992 she entered the Special Class for Young Talented Musicians at the Royal Conservatory
(The Hague, The Netherlands) to study with Mireille van der Wart. After finishing the
Gymnasium in 1998 she was fully admitted to the Royal Conservatory. Frederieke received
both the Bachelors Diploma (2002) and the Masters Diploma (2004). Her violin teachers
were Lex Korff de Gidts, Peter Brunt and Jaring Walta. At the moment Frederieke studies
with Mauricio Fuks at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana (USA) in the
Artist Diploma program.
Frederieke has won several prizes at (inter)national violin competitions: at al. Prinses
Christina Concours (1995, 1998), Vriendenkrans Concours (2001), Georges Enescu International
Violin Competition (Bucharest, Roumania 2003) and the Grachtenfestival Conservatorium
Competition (2004).
In October 2005 Frederieke has won the first Grand Prix-Academie des beaux arts at
the International Jacques Thibaud-Marguerite Long Competition in Paris, France.
Next to that she has been awarded 4 extra prizes: Prix de SAS le prince Albert II de
Monaco for the best interpretation of the contemporary work by Dupin, Prix Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer
for the best interpretation of the violin concerto (Berg), Prize of the members of
the Orchestre National de France and Prize of the students of the Conservatories of
Paris. As a result Frederieke will play recitals and perform as a soloist in France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Scotland, Switserland and the USA.
Frederieke has had masterclasses with: Thomas Brandis, Lorand Fenyves (Canada), Mauricio
Fuks (Austria, Canada, France, Florida), Detlev Hahn (Switserland), Isabelle van Keulen,
Herman Krebbers, Boris Kuschnir (Austria), Rainer Kussmaul, Jaime Laredo (USA), Viktor
Liberman, Gerhard Schulz (England) David Takeno (England) and Nikolaj Znaider (Denmark).
As a soloist Frederieke performed with the Chamber Orchestra of The Netherlands, New
Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique
de Radio France, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra
and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She collaborated with conductors Matthias
Bamert, Jonathan Darlington, Damian Ioro, Neeme Jarvi, Alexandru Lascae, Ion Marin,
Christoph Poppen, Vassily Sinaiski and Jaap van Zweden
STEFAN SCHILLI, oboe
Born in 1970 in Offenburg, Stefan Schilli studied at the
Music Academies of Trossingen and Karlsruhe. 1993 he won the German Music Competition,
1996 the Prague Spring International Music Competition and the 45th International ARD
Competition. Since 1991 he is solo oboist at the
"Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks", where he has worked with
Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Carlos Kleiber, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, C.M. Giulini, Georg
Solti, Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta and Ricardo Muti. His solo career includes appearances
in all great music centres of the world with many leading conductors, including Maazel,
Jansons, Welser-Möst, Colin Davis, Christopher Hogwood, Reinhard Goebel and Russell-Davies.
He performs also with the contemporary music group Ensemble Triolog München. In
2004 he was appointed Professor at the Mozarteum Salzburg, and he teaches throughout
Europe as a guest professor. His new recording with the oboe concertos from Strauss,
Martinu and B.A. Zimmermann with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted
by Mariss Jansons will appear at the end of 2008.
BURKARD SCHLIESSMANN, pianist
Schliessmann is not one of those performers who merely dazzle with their brilliant
technique but can get into deep water when the going gets tough. Remaining true to
his mission, he never allows his musical narrations to deviate from the course he has
set for them. Such consistency is only one facet of this artist. The other is what
Schliessmann himself describes as 'intuition'. Schliessmann's affinity with an older
piano playing tradition was reinforced by his teachers - musicians like Poldi Mildner
and Shura Cherkassky, with whom he studied between 1987 and 1989 in Washington and
Paris. Mildner had been a student of Rachmaninov, Schnabel and Liszt's pupil Moritz
Rosenthal, while Cherkassky was taught by Leopold Godowsky's son-in-law David Saperton.
"This is the most imaginative playing one has heard yet on the level of Richter,
Michelangeli, Serkin, Wild, Gould - the highest order of artistry" wrote the «High
Performance Review» in the USA. Understandably, the West German TV-channel WDR
in a Co-production with ARD, ZDF «aspekte», ZDF-3sat, the Bavarian TV-station
BR, the Hessian TV-station HR, ARTE und the US TV-channel «Classic Arts Show
Case» invited the pianist to take part in TV-portraits which were widely praised.
By his tv-recordings Burkard Schliessmann has collaborated with highly renowned regisseurs,
such as José Montes-Baquer, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, Claus Viller and
Lothar Mattner. When he is working on a piece of music, Burkard Schliessmann always
has Hegel in mind: "art isn't all about a pleasant or useful musical mechanism,
but about laying bare the truth".
For more informations see www.schliessmann.com