Joseph Moog
Nominated for a 2016 Grammy and awarded with major prizes such as the 2015 Gramophone Classical Music Award, the 2014 International Classical Music Award for "Instrumentalist of the Year," and the 2012 International Classical Music Award, Joseph Moog possesses the rare gift of combining exquisite virtuosity with expressive, profound, and intelligent musicality. As a master of both established and rare or forgotten repertoire, the young performer has earned a worldwide reputation, also for his own compositions and transcriptions.
The 2019/2020 season will take Joseph Moog to the world's most important concert halls, festivals, and ensembles, including his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Richard Strauss's 'Burleske' under Emmanuel Krivine, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, as well as recitals at Wigmore Hall London, Théâtre La Scala Paris, the Salle Philharmonique de Liège, the 'Steinway International Series' Cardiff, the Turner Sims Piano Series Southampton, the Harrogate International Festival, Westminster Cathedral Hall, and the 'Spring Festival' Kiev. A very special appearance will be his performance of Liszt's piano transcription of Beethoven's 9th Symphony to mark the 250th anniversary of the Bonn master at the Ruhr Piano Festival, with which he has enjoyed a close collaboration since 2013.
The 2018/2019 season saw numerous highlights, including appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Matthias Pintscher, at the Philharmonie Luxembourg with Saint-Saens' 5th Piano Concerto, at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, with the New Japan Philharmonic with Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto under Lawrence Foster in the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, at 'Piano aux Jacobins' in Toulouse and at the Music Festival in Gdansk.
The 2019/2020 season will take Joseph Moog to the world's most important concert halls, festivals, and ensembles, including his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Richard Strauss's 'Burleske' under Emmanuel Krivine, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, as well as recitals at Wigmore Hall London, Théâtre La Scala Paris, the Salle Philharmonique de Liège, the 'Steinway International Series' Cardiff, the Turner Sims Piano Series Southampton, the Harrogate International Festival, Westminster Cathedral Hall, and the 'Spring Festival' Kiev. A very special appearance will be his performance of Liszt's piano transcription of Beethoven's 9th Symphony to mark the 250th anniversary of the Bonn master at the Ruhr Piano Festival, with which he has enjoyed a close collaboration since 2013.
The 2018/2019 season saw numerous highlights, including appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Matthias Pintscher, at the Philharmonie Luxembourg with Saint-Saens' 5th Piano Concerto, at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, with the New Japan Philharmonic with Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto under Lawrence Foster in the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, at 'Piano aux Jacobins' in Toulouse and at the Music Festival in Gdansk.
An important focus is the young artist's extensive discography, for which he has received outstanding reviews from the international press as well as numerous awards. In 2017, he recorded Johannes Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Richard Strauss's Burlesque with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie under the direction of Nicholas Milton. In November 2018, he released a recording of the complete Études by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel's 'Gaspard de la Nuit'.
His long-awaited solo album, "Between Heaven and Hell," featuring the sonatas and legends of Franz Liszt, was released in October 2019. Joseph Moog earned his reputation as a soloist through concerts in the legendary Master Pianists series at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the International House of Music Moscow, the New Ross Piano Festival, and the La Roque d'Anthéron Festival.
He has performed extensively in the USA, including at the Frick Collection in New York City, the Gilmore International Piano Series, the Portland Piano International, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Vancouver Recital Society, and the Miami International Piano Festival. Joseph Moog maintains an extensive concert repertoire that has brought him to perform with major orchestras around the world.
Joseph Moog, son of two orchestral musicians, is a winner of the 'Prix Groupe de Rothschild' and was appointed to the circle of Steinway Artists in 2009. He is a founding member and artistic director of the 'Konz Musik Festival' near his current residence in Luxembourg and is actively involved in the cultural development of his hometown of Neustadt/Weinstraße, as well as throughout Rhineland-Palatinate.
Sandrine Cantoreggi, Violin
was born in Bordeaux and began playing the violin at the Luxembourg Conservatory of Music. Her rapid progress allowed her to be accepted into the prestigious Paris Conservatoire CNSMDP at the age of 14.
Following in the tradition of violinists Eugène Ysaye and Georges Enescu, Sandrine embodies the Franco-Belgian violin school and broadens her sound and expressive palette through her interest in the Russian violin school.
Sandrine is a complete artist who has always loved the dialogue with other artistic forms of expression, whether musical, literary or plastic.
She performs as a soloist with orchestra, in solo violin recitals and in various chamber music groups.
She has performed on renowned European stages with personalities such as Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Georges Octors, Jan Stulen, Stéphane Denève, Pierre Cao, Bruno Canino, Daniel Blumenthal, Dana Ciocarlie, Gustav Rivinius, Valérie Aimard, Manuel Fischer-Dieskau, Connie Shih…
International tours take her to Russia, the USA, Georgia and Japan.
CD recordings testify to her musical authenticity. Sandrine Cantoreggi has recorded chamber music works and concertos by Haydn, Mozart, Locatelli, Onslow, Respighi, Lalo, Ravel, Enescu, Ropartz, and Ysaye for the Turtle Records, Pavane, Ligia, and Kalidisc labels.
She passes on her knowledge to the younger generations with dedication.
She has taught at the Brussels Conservatory and is currently a professor at the Luxembourg Conservatory of Music.
She is the founder and president of the Journées Musicales Mondorf asbl and a member of the Kammerata Luxembourg.
In the field of science and the arts, His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg awarded her the Order of Adolf of Nassau for civil and military merit.
The Banque Internationale à Luxembourg is proud to support Sandrine Cantoreggi with a magnificent violin by Giovanni Battista GUADAGNINI from 1754.
Isabel Van Grysperre, Violin
Isabel Van Grysperre originates from Izegem (Belgium) and received a musical education in her home region from a very young age. She continued her professional training in the Netherlands, first at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and then in the class of Benzion Shamir at the Rotterdam Conservatory.
She completed her master's studies with Gunars Larsens and Daniel Dodds at the Lucerne Conservatory with great distinction and congratulations from the jury, and received a scholarship from the Marianne and Curt Dienemann Foundation in Lucerne. She also studied baroque violin and chamber music with Chiara Banchini and Johann Sonnleitner at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel.
Master classes followed with Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Sigiswald Kuijken, Mira Glodeanu, Jean Tubéry and Gerhard Darmstadt, among others.
Isabel Van Grysperre lives in Luxembourg and performs regularly with various ensembles. Since 2013, she has been a soloist/principal of the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg and a member of the Ensemble Kammerata Luxembourg.
In addition to her concert activities, she also teaches violin at the Conservatoire de Musique du Nord in Diekirch/Ettelbruck.
Sophie Urhausen, Viola
After receiving her “Diplôme Supérieur” at the Luxembourg Conservatory of Music, violist Sophie Urhausen moved to Vienna in 2011, where she completed her studies with a master’s degree at the “Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna”.
At the same time, she completed her Master’s degree in instrumental pedagogy at the Bern University of the Arts in Switzerland.
She participated in master classes with renowned teachers such as Tabea Zimmermann, Thomas Riebl, Nils Mönkemeyer and Hartmut Rode, as well as in the renowned chamber music festival "Festival Pablo Casals" in Prades.
As a substitute with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and as an intern with the Bern Symphony Orchestra and the OPL, Sophie Urhausen was able to gain orchestral experience.
With her “Trio Favola” she gave concerts in Japan, Italy and Austria.
She is currently a member of the Solistes Européens Luxembourg and the Ensemble Kammerata Luxembourg.
Since September 2019, Sophie Urhausen has been teaching at the Conservatory of the City of Luxembourg.
Anik Schwall, cello
Anik Schwall began her musical studies in the class of André Navau and later with Jean Halsdorf at the Esch-sur-Alzette Conservatory. She continued her studies at the Basel Music Academy in the class of Rafael Rosenfeld and at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles in the class of Marie Hallynck. She received her Master of Arts with distinction in January 2018 from the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Orfeo Mandozzi.
Anik was a long-standing member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) and the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra (SJSO), as well as an intern at the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg (OPL) and has already accepted invitations from orchestras such as the Gstaad Festival Orchestra (CH), the Musica Ricercata Orchestra (RO), the Spira Mirabilis Chamber Orchestra (I), the Orchestra Leonore (I), the Grafenegg Academy Orchestra (A), the Orchestre National de Lorraine (F) and the Orquesta de la Comunitat Valenciana (E).
In addition to her work as a teacher at the Conservatoire de la ville de Luxembourg and at the Ecole de Musique de l'UGDA, Anik plays regularly with the Orchester Philharmonique du Luxembourg (OPL), the Orchester de Chambre du Luxembourg (OCL) and the new music ensemble United Instruments of Lucilin. She is also a permanent member of the Solistes Européens Luxembourg (SEL) and the Ensemble Kammerata Luxembourg.
Her performances also include solo concerts with orchestras, such as with the OPL (2012) or the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra (2022).
Anik is a scholarship holder of the Fonds Culturel National and the start-up of the Oeuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte.
Markus Brönnimann, flute
has been solo flutist in the Orchester Philharmonique du Luxembourg since 1998.
Born in Switzerland, he studied with Günter Rumpel at the Zurich University of Music. Further studies took him to the USA with Michel Debost and to Karlsruhe with Renate Greiss-Armin.
During his studies, he won a scholarship from the Migros Cooperative Association. Markus Brönnimann gained his first orchestral experience as a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (Young German Philharmonic), and subsequently served as principal flautist with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and the Hagen/Westphalia Philharmonic Orchestra.
His particular passion is chamber music. He is a member of the Ensemble Pyramide, whose activities include its own concert series in Zurich; he is also a member of the Ensemble Kammerata Luxembourg. As a chamber musician, he is a regular guest at festivals in Europe and overseas, having performed at the Rheingau Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, as well as at Cape Classics in South Africa.
Markus Brönnimann strives to continually expand his instrument's repertoire. His extensive discography testifies to his spirit of discovery and diverse interests. He has revived and recorded valuable, forgotten works such as the Serenades of Théodore Gouvy.
He also attaches great importance to contemporary music and works with composers such as Peter Eötvös, Sylvano Bussotti, Elena Firsova, Rudolf Kelterborn and Gao Ping.
Markus Brönnimann's interest in music is not limited to the flute. In recent years, he has arranged more than 25 works for the Ensemble Pyramide. These works are documented on CDs featuring music by W.A. Mozart, Franz Krommer, Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Pierné, and Claude Debussy. When he takes up his own pen, he creates texts about music and, occasionally, compositions.
German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate
Since its foundation over a hundred years ago, the German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate has been performingthe music to the people. The orchestra never had its own concert hall, alwaysThe musicians are on tour throughout the country. There is no question that the State Philharmonic is aMigratory bird. The movement towards the audience is its driving force. A perfect performance is like a
impressively synchronized flight maneuvers: Numerous individuals form a preciseorganized swarm that reacts quickly and sensitively to each other. Through concentratedObserving more distant flock members, migratory birds can begin
Guess changes of direction or formation – much like the orchestra musicianspay attention to their colleagues while playing.
In the shadow of the First World War, committed citizens in Landau came together in September 1919to decide on the establishment of a traveling state symphony orchestra. After theFounding concert on 15 February 1920, the orchestra embarked on its first concert tour through thePalatinate and Saarland. This is how the history of the German State Philharmonic Orchestra beganRhineland-Palatinate, which can now look back on a 101-year tradition.Already in its early years, the orchestra, under the direction of Richard Strauss andHermann Abendroth has attracted national attention. Chief conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach andLeif Segerstam, today Honorary Conductor, helped the orchestra gain international recognition.Michael Francis, who has been chief conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz since the 2019-20 season, will provide numerous new impulses and thus continue the orchestra's tradition.As an orchestra without a permanent home, the symphonic provision of the state is still themost important task of the State Philharmonic Orchestra. With over 100 concerts per season, it brings music tothe people. Guest performances at home and abroad as well as cooperation with internationalimportant conductors and soloists testify to the high reputation that the orchestra enjoys.Educational and family formats enrich the offerings for young people. With rehearsal visitsand toddler concerts, even the youngest children are introduced to the world of classical music.Regular concert recordings by SWR and Deutschlandfunk Kultur as well as numerous CD productions round off the diverse range of activities of the State Philharmonic.
The orchestra is not only characterized by its wanderlust and its new beginnings in geographical terms.The Staatsphilharmonie is also always on the move, in a figurative sense. Music to theFor her, bringing people means not only being there, but also bringing peopleEven 101 years after its foundation, the orchestra remains an integral part ofof cultural life and more than ever a cultural beacon for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate andover and beyond
Michael Francis - Chief Conductor of the German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate
Michael Francis has been Chief Conductor of the Staatsphilharmonie since the 2019-2020 season. He is in his fifthseason Music Director of the Florida Orchestra and has been responsible since 2015 as musical andArtistic Director of the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego.He was invited back to the Cleveland Orchestra and to Tampere.
Concerts will follow withincluding the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest German Philharmonic, the WürttembergPhilharmonie Reutlingen as well as with the symphony orchestras in St. Louis, San Diego and Indianapolis.Previous engagements in Europe have taken him to orchestras such as the Radio Symphony OrchestraBerlin, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, RoyalPhilharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France,Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.He has also conducted the London Symphony Orchestra on several occasions. He has been supported by Valery Gergievalso Sir Colin Davis.
In Asia he conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Japan PhilharmonicOrchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic. In North America, the New YorkPhilharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the symphony orchestras in Pittsburgh, Houston, Atlantaor Cincinnati.
He has worked with soloists such as Lang Lang, Arcadi Volodos, Emanuel Ax, Itzhak Perlman, ChristianTetzlaff, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Håkan Hardenberger, Truls Mørk, Ian Bostridge, Sting and RufusWainwright worked together
Tatjana Ruhland, flute
OPUS KLASSIK award winner Tatjana Ruhland was once described as the “Paganini of the flute” bydescribed by a critic, and the Tagesspiegel titled it on the occasion of Debussy’s“Prélude à l'aprèsmidi d'un faune” with the Berlin Philharmonic “a fabulous one
Faun” and summed up: “Even for the first few bars, the cheers at the end are well deserved.” InFono Forum said about one of her CDs that Ruhland could “play everything: virtuosity,Transitions, Contrasts.” After her recording of flute works by Carl ReineckeThe reviewers described Tatjana Ruhland as “top class in her field” and“virtuoso and volatile flautist” with a “warm tone full of creative intensity.” This
Recording, described by the magazine Crescendo as a “passionate declaration of love”was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK as concert recording of the year in 2018excellent.
Tatjana Ruhland uses her musical competence and inspiring stage presence forwell-thought-out programs and ambitious projects. In recent years, theFlutist at such renowned festivals as the Beethovenfest Bonn, the MozartfestWürzburg, the Heidelberg Spring Festival, the Stuttgart Music Festival, the Prague Spring Festival, theBachwoche Ansbach, the Lucerne Festival and the Festival de Radio France as a soloistShe also played in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
As solo flautist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra and as a guest of other symphony andRadio orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra of theBavarian Radio, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian State Opera, the
NDR Elbphilharmonieorchester or the hr-sinfonieorchester she regularly performsConcerts in, for example, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Viennaand Zurich and worked with leading conductors of our time such as
Bernhard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Yuri Temirkanov, Christoph Eschenbach,Roger Norrington, Valery Gergiev, Kent Nagano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kirill Petrenko,Gustavo Dudamel and Teodor Currentzis.
Tatjana Ruhland performs as a soloist with important ensembles and has performed aschamber music partner of Hilary Hahn, Wen-Sinn Yang, Emmanuel Pahud,Angela Hewitt, Matthias Goerne, Christine Schäfer, Christina Landshamer, EckartHeiligers, Matthias Höfs, Christian Schmitt and Yaara Tal. As a sought-after educator,Tatjana Ruhland gave master classes in Europe, Japan and the USA and taught a
flute class at the University of Music in Saarbrücken. Since 2017/2018 she has beenJury member and member of the project advisory board of the German Music Competition.
The Regensburg-born flautist was trained in Munich and New York andat international competitions (including Prague, Kobe and New York).Position as solo flautist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra (formerly Radio Symphony OrchestraTatjana Ruhland has held the position of CEO (Stuttgart) since 2000.
Ronith Mues, Harfe
Ronith Mues received her first harp lessons at the age of fiveby her mother, Ragnhild Kopp, a retired lecturer at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich. She completed her studies at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin and subsequently completed her concert examination at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre.
In the years before her studies, she had already won many first prizes, including at the Concours International de Harpe ASTH in Lyon, the competition of the German Harp Association and the international instrumental competition “Rovere d'Oro”.
Ronith Mues has been principal harpist of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin since August 2007. The "Horenstein Ensemble," comprised of soloists from her orchestra, has existed for over ten years and consistently realizes unique projects with its CD recordings:
LP/CD “Tempelhof” (ACOUSENCE records, 2011)
CD “Lost Generation” (ACOUSENCE records, 2015)
CD “Dichterliebe” recompsed and initiated by the composer Christian Jost (DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON, 2019)
Chamber music is an important part of Ronith Mues’s work and so she founded the ensemble “DuoBerlin” with soprano Bettina Jensen, which is a rarity worldwide.
As a soloist and with her ensembles, Ronith Mues performs nationally and internationally, including at the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Lucerne Festival and with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.
In addition to Europe, tours have taken her to South America, Russia, Japan, South and North Korea.
In addition to her concert activities, Ronith Mues devotes herself intensively to young musicians, gives master classes and works as a harp instructor with the German Federal Youth Orchestra.
Since October 2015 she has been teaching as a professor of harp at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Mannheim.
Christian Schmitt, Orgel
“Schmitt found colors that taught wonder.” (Wiener Zeitung)
Since his debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Salzburg Festival, Christian Schmitt has become one of the most sought-after organists internationally. He is praised for his virtuoso and charismatic playing. Since 2014, he has been Principal Organist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, for whom he curates the organ series for the Bamberg Concert Hall.
He is also in demand worldwide as a chamber music partner. Christian Schmitt has performed with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Sir Simon Rattle, leading to a return invitation for the current season, and has given recitals at the Bachfest Leipzig and to sold-out audiences at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. He has played the organs of the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Philharmonie Berlin, the Vienna Musikverein, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, and the Maison Symphonique Montreal, and has worked with conductors and soloists such as Philippe Herreweghe, Jakub Hruša, Marek Janowski, Cornelius Meister, Manfred Honeck, Magdalena Kožena, Sibylla Rubens, and Michael Volle.
Highlights of the season include his debut at the Walt Disney Concert Hall presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performances of Saint-Saëns' Third Symphony with both the Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim and the NDR Radiophilharmonie under Lionel Bringuier, the world premiere of Ivan Fedele's new organ concerto in France, the Japanese premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's "Embrace - Light and Shadow" together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at Suntory Hall, a duo recital at the Schlossfestspiele Ludwigsburg, and the release of his recent recording of Hindemith Chamber Music No. 7 with conductor Christoph Eschenbach.
A champion of new organ works, Christian Schmitt played the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's "Embrace - Light and Shadow" for organ and orchestra at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. He regularly programs works by 20th and 21st century composers, both in recital and orchestral performances, combining works by Gubaidulina and Pärt with Bach and Schumann. For Deutsche Grammophon, Schmitt recorded a series of chorales, fugues, and fantasies for the project 'Bach 333 - The Complete New Edition'. His discography includes around 40 recordings of chamber, orchestral, and solo organ works. His most recent album of works by Joseph Jongen, recorded in 2016 with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and conductor Martin Haselböck for the CPO label, received critical acclaim.
Also worthy of mention is the album 'Prayer' with Magdalena Kožena, released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2014. Christian Schmitt's album of organ symphonies by Charles-Marie Widor, which he recorded with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Stefan Solyom, won an ECHO Klassik award in 2013. Christian Schmitt studied at the Saarbrücken University of Music and Performing Arts and with Daniel Roth in Paris. He also studied musicology and Catholic theology at Saarland University. A passionate educator, he is a guest lecturer at universities around the world. He has also served as a substitute professor in Professor Jürgen Essl's class and as a lecturer at the Saarland University of Music.
Franziska Hölscher
The violinist Franziska Hölscher is one of the most versatile musicians of the young generation.She has been and continues to be a guest as a soloist, chamber musician and festival director at the BerlinPhilharmonie and the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the ConcertgebouwAmsterdam, the Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels and the Rudolfinum Prague.
She performs at the Bachwoche Ansbach, the Schubertiade Hohenems, the Schleswig-HolsteinMusic Festival, the Schwetzinger SWR Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival and theHeidelberg Spring.
From the beginning of her career, interaction with colleagues had a firm place in herRepertoire. Since her debut with Martha Argerich, Kit Armstrong, Martin Helmchen,Severin von Eckardstein, Nils Mönkemeyer and Andreas Ottensamer are her partners.
She formed an artistic friendship with the author Roger Willemsen.she presented the stage program “Landscapes”, which she recently performed together with the actress MariaSchrader and the pianist Marianna Shirinyan and has since been in the bestseller listsis conducted.
In her dramaturgically well-thought-out concert programs, Hölscher combines works from the Baroqueand the classical-romantic repertoire with contemporary music, as on her oftenaward-winning CD “SEQUENZA”. In 2018 she played theWorld premiere of the Concertino for violin and strings by Wolfgang Rihm.
In the 2021/22 season she will make her debut at the Schubertiade Hohenems and return to theConcertgebouw Amsterdam, the De Doelen Rotterdam, the Elbphilharmonie HamburgBach Week Ansbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
Under the direction of Reinhard Goebel she plays Bach’s violin concertos in Germany andSwitzerland and performs with the Chamber Orchestra of the National Theatre Prague and the Violin Concertoby Dvořák. She will perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the GermanRadiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. Recital partner at concerts in Kiel, Bamberg,Munich and Antwerp are Kit Armstrong and Severin von Eckardstein.
Born in Heidelberg and trained by Ulf Hoelscher, Thomas Brandis, Nora Chastain andReinhard Goebel, she received prizes at important internationalCompetitions such as 1st prize at the Prague International Radio Competition.
As an ambassador of the project “Rhapsody in School” initiated by Lars Vogt, she is committed toTeaching classical music in schools.
Franziska Hölscher is Artistic Director of the chamber music series “Klangbrücken” inKonzerthaus Berlin, and since 2018 also the Mettlach Chamber Music Days. Together with KitArmstrong will take over the artistic direction of the Feldafing Music Festival in 2021.
Felix Klieser, Horn
Felix Klieser is an extraordinary artist in every respect. At the age of 5, hehis first horn lessons, at the age of 13 he became a junior student at the Hochschule fürMusic, Theatre and Media in Hanover. In 2014 he received the ECHO Klassik asYoung Artist of the Year and the Music Prize of the Association of GermanConcert Directors. In the same year, Patmos Verlag published his life story“Footnotes – A horn player without arms conquers the world.”
In 2016 he was awarded the LeonardBernstein Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
Highlights of the 2021/2022 season include the start of Felix Klieser’s two-yearResidency with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and his USA debut as aextensive tour with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and tenor Ian Bostridge in spring2022. Felix Klieser will perform with the London Mozart Players at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest
He will be a guest with the Festival Strings Lucerne, among others in the MunichPrinzregententheater. Further highlights of the season include performances at music festivals such asthe Gezeitenkonzerte, the Staufen Music Week and the Mosel Music Festival. Inseveral concerts with the CHAARTS Chamber Artists, Felix Klieser will present his currentAlbum Beyond Words with transcriptions of baroque vocal works, before,also in early 2022, his new recording with the Zemlinsky Quartet on the labelBerlin Classics. In December, he will be the soloist at this year's Audi Christmas Concert in Ingolstadt.
In exciting chamber music projects, the young horn player will be playing in variousEnsembles at the Brahms Days Baden-Baden, the Beethoven House Bonn, theSchubertiade Hohenems, the Dubrovnik Music Festival and the Heidelberger FrühlingHis chamber music partners include the Danish String Quartet,Sebastian Manz, Andrej Bielow, Martina Filjak, Boris Kuznetsow, Tanja Tetzlaff, DagJensen, Dominik Wagner and Klieser’s long-time piano partner Christof Keymer.
As a member of the project ensemble “The Impossible Orchestra” of conductor Alondra de laParra will join Felix Klieser in Mexico in the summer of 2022 in the first edition of the Pax FestivalTo cast the virtual theater created during the Corona pandemicOrchestra includes Rolando Villazón, Alisa Weilerstein, Edicson Ruiz, Albrecht Mayerand Maxim Vengerov. In Mexico, the musicians of the "Impossible Orchestra"After their digital success, they will be seen together live for the first time.
The contemporary composer Rolf Martinsson dedicates a horn concerto to Felix Klieser, whichin spring 2022 with the German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken Kaiserslauternpremiered and recorded.
In March 2019, Felix Klieser released the recording ofcomplete Mozart horn concertos with the Camerata Salzburg, which then spent three monthslong in the top 10 of the German classical music charts. His 2013and ECHO Klassik award-winning debut album Reveries with works for horn
and piano, Horn Concertos followed in 2015, Klieser's first orchestral CD with worksby Mozart and the brothers Joseph and Michael Haydn, which he created together with the WKOHeilbronn and Ruben Gazarian. In 2017, the album, produced by BR, was releasedHorn Trio, on which the horn player performs with his chamber music partners Andrej Bielow andHerbert Schuch not only the profound Trio for horn, violin and piano byJohannes Brahms, but also lesser-known works for this exciting ensemblededicated to.
Felix Klieser has performed in recent years with the Camerata Salzburg andalso with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Orchestra Sinfonica Milano GiuseppeVerdi (Milan), the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, the Slovenska Filharmonija(Bratislava), the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra,the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Kammerakademie Potsdam. He has also performed in
chamber music ensemble at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, theEssen Philharmonic, the Glocke Bremen, the Beethovenhaus Bonn, the TonhalleDüsseldorf, at the Oxford Chamber Music Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and theSchleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
From 2008 to 2011, Felix Klieser was a member of the Federal Youth Orchestra, with whom he played, among others:in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Beethovenhalle Bonn, the Cologne Philharmonie, thePhilharmonie am Gasteig Munich and in WDR projects. Tourstook him through Switzerland, Austria, Italy and South Africa, among others.
On social media, Klieser likes to let his audience take part in his everyday life as an artistand also take a look behind the scenes at concerts. His horn “Alex”, a model103 of Gebr. Alexander (Mainz) leads a life of its own on Instagram and Facebook and isto see while cooking, reading and vacationing.
Felix Klieser has been leading his own horn class at the Münster University of Music since 2018.
He regularly passes on his knowledge in master classes.
THE SAAR STATE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Saarland Youth Symphony Orchestra (LJO), a project of the Saarland State Music Council, has been an important support program in Saarland for 40 years. Since its founding in 1982, the LJO has primarily served to promote young musicians by introducing talented young musicians to orchestral playing and providing further training according to their musical skills and abilities.
Young instrumentalists aged 14 to around 20, who have previously qualified through an audition, are invited to the two work and concert phases lasting several weeks each year – usually during the Easter and autumn holidays – and receive instruction from experienced orchestral musicians during section rehearsals. During these phases, they receive instruction from experienced orchestral musicians before the entire ensemble comes together for a week-long rehearsal. The focus here is not only on rehearsals, but also on working together and broadening horizons on a musical level. Musicians become conductors, conductors become entertainers, strangers become friends. The LJO is increasingly being requested to perform concerts, so that the young orchestra presents itself in public musical life even beyond the work phases. These include the New Year's concerts, which have become a tradition in recent years.
The concerts in Saarland also serve to open up classical music to new audiences. For its work and commitment to Saarland's musical life, the Saarland State Youth Symphony Orchestra was honored by the "Jeunesses Musicales" with third place in the 2010/2011 German Youth Orchestra Prize.
Since August 2012, the LJO has been led by a team. The current management team consists of Artistic Director Jörg Prayer, Organizational Director Johannes Loyo, and Principal Guest Conductor Vilmantas Kaliunas. The management team has set itself the goal of further developing the orchestra in both the pedagogical and musical areas and of anchoring it even more firmly in Saarland's cultural life.
Young instrumentalists aged 14 to around 20, who have previously qualified through an audition, are invited to the two work and concert phases lasting several weeks each year – usually during the Easter and autumn holidays – and receive instruction from experienced orchestral musicians during section rehearsals. During these phases, they receive instruction from experienced orchestral musicians before the entire ensemble comes together for a week-long rehearsal. The focus here is not only on rehearsals, but also on working together and broadening horizons on a musical level. Musicians become conductors, conductors become entertainers, strangers become friends. The LJO is increasingly being requested to perform concerts, so that the young orchestra presents itself in public musical life even beyond the work phases. These include the New Year's concerts, which have become a tradition in recent years.
The concerts in Saarland also serve to open up classical music to new audiences. For its work and commitment to Saarland's musical life, the Saarland State Youth Symphony Orchestra was honored by the "Jeunesses Musicales" with third place in the 2010/2011 German Youth Orchestra Prize.
Since August 2012, the LJO has been led by a team. The current management team consists of Artistic Director Jörg Prayer, Organizational Director Johannes Loyo, and Principal Guest Conductor Vilmantas Kaliunas. The management team has set itself the goal of further developing the orchestra in both the pedagogical and musical areas and of anchoring it even more firmly in Saarland's cultural life.
Vilmantas Kaliunas
- Conductor of the Saar Youth Symphony Orchestra
Vilmantas Kaliunas was born into a family of artists in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius: his grandfather was a violin maker and at the age of four he received his first piano lessons from his father before deciding to study conducting and oboe at the music conservatory in his hometown.
Kaliunas later transferred to the Saarbrücken University of Music to study oboe. While still a student, he was engaged as principal oboist with the SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern. The merger with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra brought him back to Saarland in the same position. Formative encounters with renowned conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Christian Thielemann, Mariss Jansons, and Heinz Holliger, as well as regular rehearsals with Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, and
Claudio Abbado motivated Kaliunas to make the decisive leap onto the conductor’s podium.
After numerous master classes and assistantships with Maestro Karl-Marek Chichon, Prof. Karl-Heinz Bloemeke, Prof. Lutz Köhler, and his mentor Prof. Jorma Panula, he studied conducting in the renowned class of Prof. Nicolas Pasquet and Martin Hoff at the Weimar University of Music. He then continued his conducting studies at the Hamburg University of Music with Prof. Ulrich
Windfuhr.Since then, Kaliunas has conducted, among others, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Lappeenranta City Orchestra in Finland, and the Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha, as well as productions at the Ukrainian State Opera in Dnepropetrovsk and the Armenian State Opera in Yerevan.
Since 2015 he has been conducting the rehearsals of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and working with renowned conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Christoph Eschenbach and Manfred Honeck.
Vilmantas Kaliunas has been conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania since February 2018. In the 2019/20 season, invitations as guest conductor will again take him to the Elbphilharmonie with the Hamburg State Opera, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, the Jena Philharmonic, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt.
Kaliunas later transferred to the Saarbrücken University of Music to study oboe. While still a student, he was engaged as principal oboist with the SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern. The merger with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra brought him back to Saarland in the same position. Formative encounters with renowned conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Christian Thielemann, Mariss Jansons, and Heinz Holliger, as well as regular rehearsals with Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, and
Claudio Abbado motivated Kaliunas to make the decisive leap onto the conductor’s podium.
After numerous master classes and assistantships with Maestro Karl-Marek Chichon, Prof. Karl-Heinz Bloemeke, Prof. Lutz Köhler, and his mentor Prof. Jorma Panula, he studied conducting in the renowned class of Prof. Nicolas Pasquet and Martin Hoff at the Weimar University of Music. He then continued his conducting studies at the Hamburg University of Music with Prof. Ulrich
Windfuhr.Since then, Kaliunas has conducted, among others, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Lappeenranta City Orchestra in Finland, and the Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha, as well as productions at the Ukrainian State Opera in Dnepropetrovsk and the Armenian State Opera in Yerevan.
Since 2015 he has been conducting the rehearsals of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and working with renowned conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Christoph Eschenbach and Manfred Honeck.
Vilmantas Kaliunas has been conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania since February 2018. In the 2019/20 season, invitations as guest conductor will again take him to the Elbphilharmonie with the Hamburg State Opera, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, the Jena Philharmonic, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt.
Gast Waltzing
Grammy Award-winning Gast Waltzing was born in the Grand Duche du Luxembourg. He began his musical adventure at the age of 7 and studied at the conservatories of Luxembourg, Brussels, and finally Paris. "I've always been a musician," he says. "It's not like thatWhen I wake up and decide where to put the music, it's always present."
He has recorded numerous CDs with his various jazz groups (Atmosphere, Life's Circle, Largo), composed and produced film scores for over 200 television and feature films, was nominated for Best European Film Score Composer in 1989, and written symphonic arrangements for many artists, from the Scorpions to Amy McDonald to Gregory Porter (and many others), winning a Grammy in 2016 for his work with the great Angelique Kidjo on her CD "Sings," blending her traditional African music and melodies with his arrangements for symphony orchestra.
He has recorded numerous CDs with his various jazz groups (Atmosphere, Life's Circle, Largo), composed and produced film scores for over 200 television and feature films, was nominated for Best European Film Score Composer in 1989, and written symphonic arrangements for many artists, from the Scorpions to Amy McDonald to Gregory Porter (and many others), winning a Grammy in 2016 for his work with the great Angelique Kidjo on her CD "Sings," blending her traditional African music and melodies with his arrangements for symphony orchestra.
Waltzing is Professor of Trumpet and Head of the Jazz Department at the Luxembourg Conservatoire, which he founded in 1986, and works regularly with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, where he was appointed Deputy Pops Director in 2016.
In recent years he has worked with many symphony orchestras around the world (such as the Scottish Royal National Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Prague National Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic, the Orchestre Lamoureux, among others) as a conductor, arranger and also with his own compositions.
Gast's great love is innovative musical projects in which he mixes musical genres and artists to create interesting musical combinations