Artists & projects

Simon Höfele is one of the most exciting trumpeters of the up-and-coming generation. He was BBC Radio3 new generation artist, Rising Star of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) 2019-20, nominated by Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and “Junger Wilder” at Konzerthaus Dortmund.

Founded in Barcelona, Kebyart is one of the most promising ensembles of the current music scene. These four talented musicians share an endless passion for chamber music and wish to bring fresh air in the way classical music is communicated. Their endeavour to transform their performances into a unique experience results in an explosive and vibrant staging, which has been praised by audiences and specialized critics. The distinctive signature of Kebyart is revealed in a creative and open approach to the repertoire, which goes in three directions: the original literature, the commitment with nowadays music and their own arrangements of wide variety styles.

Winner of the chamber music prize of the German Record Critics’ Award 2021, the Linos Piano Trio returns this year to Cologne to Linos Festival 2022 — “Time”. In three concerts, Linos Festival explores the sense of the past and present in music (Time Machine), music’s healing powers in times of crisis (End of Time), and musical nostalgia (Memories). Two family concerts welcome children to experience a journey into the timeline of chamber music from Hildegard to Messiaen.

The 2021/22 season of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester with its new principal conductor Michael Sanderling is focussed on the large, late Romantic repertoire, top-class soloists and (un)expected programmes.

A native of South Korea, Klara Min has performed extensively throughout North and South America, Europe as well as South Korea, in some of the world’s most important concert venues including Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall, Gasteig Munich and Berlin Philharmonie Hall. In 2020 she released her first album for her Schumann series on the Hänssler Classic label, featuring various Schumann works (Arabesque, Carnaval, Kreisleriana). In April 2022, Klara Min will be playing her long-awaited Schumann recital at the Konzerthaus Berlin, including the Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor op. 11 and the Fantasy in C major op. 17. This concert will be followed in May 2022 by the recording of her second Schumann album at Teldec Studio Berlin.

The Paris based Quatuor Modigliani, which was founded in 2003, is a regular guest of the world’s top venues and finest String Quartet & Chamber Music series.

The Molyvos International Music Festival (MIMF) is a unique project in the North Aegean region that brings together the greatest international young talents for a four-day celebration of world- class classical music. The motto of the 2019 edition was "Dia-logos".

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as "one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists", German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world’s leading orchestras. His latest recordings include the concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Elgar and Tchaikovsky, which have gained him the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d'Or. Johannes Moser records exclusively for the label PENTATONE.

Fabian Müller could establish himself as one of the most remarkable German pianists of his generation. He caused a great sensation at the International ARD music competition in Munich 2017, when he not only won 2nd prize in the overall ranking, but was awarded with not less than four additional prizes. He is releasing his third studio album, entitled "passionato", on the Berlin Classics label amid the coronavirus shutdown., a statement full of musical passion that casts a fresh look at standard classical works by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Rihm in the here and now.

As a conductor, Alejo Pérez possesses an inherent stylistic awareness and the ability to bring every detail of the most complex score to life. This has consistently secured him a firm place on the international opera and concert scene. Since the 2019/20 season, Alejo Pérez is Music Director of the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

In 2019 Theo Plath was appointed principal bassoon player of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and won 3rd Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich. In 2019 he recorded a solo CD with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, due for release on the Genuin classics label in 2020. In May 2021 his second album with works for bassoon and piano will be released on the label CAvi with works by Saint-Saëns, Boulanger, Debussy und Franck.

With her flexible and expressive high soprano Eva Resch is one of the most exciting singers. The press raves: Resch, who knows how to switch expertly between dramatic expression and lyrical delicacy, sounds authentic in every single tone, in every urgently expressed emotion and expressiveness (Bremer Nachrichten); A new star in the lieder-singing firmament (Concerti).

In November 2021 Fedor Rudin releases his new album with the pianist Boris Kusnezow on Orchid Classics. The program includes works written by composers of different generations in the middle of the last century - Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich and his known grandfather Edison Denisov. The listener will find well-known, regularly performed works, among previously unperformed and even unpublished works.

What happens when a pianist specialising in contemporary classical music joins three avantgarde musicians and they compose in real time? When modern piano pieces are structurally thought ahead and hence played by a trio with vibraphone, drums and bass?

The three brothers Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann have been playing together since their earliest childhood – meanwhile violist Veit Hertenstein completes the quartet. Those who experience the quartet in performance often remark on the strong connection between its members. The four musicians enjoy the way they communicate without words: how a single look suffices to convey how a particular member wants to play a particular passage. Although the individual personalities clearly manifest themselves, a common space arises in every musical work in a process of spiritual metamorphosis.

Intelligent clarity and an in-depth and always curious musicality characterize Markus Stenz' work. Worldwide much valued, he has held a number of high-profile positions with international orchestras and opera houses including Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (2012-2019), Principal Guest of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2015-2019), Conductor-In-Residence of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (2016-2019). He was General Music Director of the City of Cologne and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister for 11 years.

The South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung is a real trailblazer of her profession. She is the first female conductor out of South Korea to make the leap to the podium of internationally renowned orchestras, including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Bamberg and the Nuremberg Symphony.

At the age of 27 Ildikó Szabó is already a cello-institution in her home country Hungary. In 2014 she was awarded 2nd prize, the audience award and 7 special prizes at the International Pablo Casals Competition. She is currently studying at Kronberg Academy and lives in Berlin.

After digital issues necessary due to the pandemic, the Ohrknacker series is now continuing in 2022 again with live concerts in Hamburg (Residenzraum) and Berlin (Radialsystem). The new season started with igualito, igualito, igualito (2018) by thee Uruguayan composer Vladimir Guicheff Bogacz on 4th and 5th October 2021. In 2022 the first events were on 1st February in Hamburg (Resonanzraum) and on 2nd February in Berlin. The piece of music in focus: whirl and pendulum (2021) by Matthias Kranebitter.

The Trio E.T.A. has chosen to associate itself with the writer, composer and critic E.T.A. Hoffmann. When Elene Meipariani (violin), Till Schuler (cello) and Till Hoffmann (piano) started playing together, they first chose romantic music, but they soon discovered their love for creative interconnections. Now their repertoire spans the wealth of chamber music from the classical to the contemporary periods. The ensemble’s debut CD, featuring trios by Joseph Haydn, Bedřich Smetana and Roman Pawollek, will be released in January 2023 on the Leipzig recording label GENUIN.

The oboist Juri Vallentin is always looking for new forms of expression and storytelling on his instrument, a quest that has earned him a place among the most outstanding young musicians of our time. His objective is to constantly develop modern contexts for classical music from baroque to contemporary. In 2021, he won the Berlin Prize for Young Artists, curated by VAN magazine, which recognises new concert formats devised by young soloists, for his solo performance INNER VOICES, developed in collaboration with the director Neil Barry Moss.

Melanie Diener, the internationally acclaimed soprano from Waiblingen, and the American baritone Thomas Hampson, one of the most legendary singers of our time, have joined with the city of Waiblingen in creating the International Opera Workshop and invite the best young talents to Waiblingen to take part.

Belgian clarinettist Annelien Van Wauwe is forging a reputation as one of the most exciting and original clarinettists of her generation, captivating audiences with her expressive, intense and lyrical performances. A former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Annelien has won numerous international competitions. Her debut album Belle époque with the Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch was released in 2019 on Pentatone. She is the co-founder of Brussels-based CAROUSEL Chamber Music Ensemble.

Brimful of energy, Antje Weithaas’ brings her compelling musical intelligence and technical mastery to every detail of the music. Her charisma and stage presence are captivating, but never overshadow the works themselves.

The ensemble was founded by young musicians in Augsburg in 1990. It is characterised by the strong integration and artistic energy of each one of its members, as expressed in its expert playing without a conductor, and by its unusual concert programmes. In 2022 an album with the complete works for string orchestra by the Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim will be released on CAvi-music, followed by tours in July and October 2022 and an education programme.