The Artists

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, renowned for fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world’s greatest orchestral music.  
Formed by Sir Neville Marriner in 1958 from a group of leading London musicians, the Academy gave its first performance in its namesake church in November 1959. Through unrivalled live performances and a vast recording output – highlights of which include the 1969 best-seller Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film Amadeus – the Academy quickly gained an enviable international reputation for its distinctive, polished and refined sound. With over 500 releases in a much-vaunted discography and a comprehensive international touring programme, the name and sound of the Academy is known and loved by classical audiences throughout the world.  
Today the Academy is led by Music Director and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell, retaining the collegiate spirit and flexibility of the original small, conductor-less ensemble which has become an Academy hallmark. Under Bell's direction, and with the support of Leader/Director Tomo Keller and Principal Guest Conductor Murray Perahia, the Academy continues to push the boundaries of play-directed performance to new heights, presenting symphonic repertoire and chamber music on a grand scale at prestigious venues around the globe.  
The orchestra celebrates its 60th anniversary in the 2019/20 season with exciting projects in the UK and beyond, including a Gala concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, tours of the UK and USA with Joshua Bell, a European tour with Murray Perahia and collaborations with artists including clarinettist Jörg Widmann and pianist Fazıl Say.  
Complementing a busy international schedule, the Academy continues to reach out to people of all ages and backgrounds through its Learning and Participation programmes. The orchestra’s composition and performance workshops are now intergenerational with local older people joining with schools; partnerships with Southbank Sinfonia, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Northern College of Music and masterclasses on tour further the development of the professional musicians of tomorrow; the Academy provides a creative outlet for some of London’s most vulnerable adults at a centre for homeless people, a highlight of 2019 being a 12-hour performance of Gavin Bryars’ »Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet« at London’s Tate Modern. A regular programme of pre-concert talks and podcasts create opportunities for Academy audiences over the world to connect and learn with the orchestra.

Ton Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (ABO) in 1979. The group consists of internationally renowned baroque specialists who meet up several times a year and work together to prepare and perform new exciting programs. For the musicians each concert is a new experience and Koopman’s boundless energy and enthusiasm are a sure guarantee for the highest quality.
In 1994 Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir embarked upon the most ambitious recording project of the last decades: the integral recording of Bach’s secular and sacred cantatas. For this extraordinary project Koopman and his ensemble received the German »ECHO Klassik«.
In 2014 the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir finished another grand project: performing and recording all the works by Dieterich Buxtehude, a great source of inspiration for the young Johann Sebastian Bach. The final volume of this series was released in 2014. 
That year also marked the 35th anniversary of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and featured an extensive tour in the Netherlands and in Europe. The children’s theatrical music production »Oorwurm«, a project that Ton Koopman undertook together with his daughter Marieke Koopman, made baroque music of the highest quality accessible for young people throughout the Netherlands, thus fulfilling a life-long dream of Ton Koopman. 
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir have recorded all major baroque and classical works. Major recognitions include the »Gramophone Award«, the »Diapason d’Or« and two »Edison Awards«. In 2008 the ensemble and Ton Koopman have been honoured with the prestigious »BBC Award«, and in 2009, for the second time with an »ECHO Klassik« for Vol. VII of »Dieterich Buxtehude – Opera Omnia«. Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir are regular guests at the major concert halls and festivals of Europe, the USA and Asia. 

The British vocal ensemble Apollo5 delights audiences with versatile and engaging performances on the concert platform, singing repertoire ranging from renaissance, classical and contemporary choral music to folk, jazz and pop. Frequently performing in their home city of London they have sung in venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Kings Place (London A Cappella Festival), the Barbican, the Houses of Parliament and Wembley Arena. They regularly give concerts at their home in the heart of the City of London, the VOCES8 Centre. Apollo5 is part of the VOCES8 Foundation, the vocal music education charity that brings the power of singing to communities around the world. They lead regular workshops and masterclasses at VOCES8 Centre, as well as longer term projects and residency programmes in the UK and abroad. Last season’s concert highlights included performing at the Via Aeterna Music Festival (France), La Folle Journée (Poland), Thüringer Bachwochen (Germany), Diocletian’s Palace in Split (Croatia), the Irish International A Cappella Festival in Dublin, and ChoirFest Middle East (Dubai). This season the group will perform in the UK (including London’s Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square), France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and in the USA. Apollo5 has released albums with VOCES8 Records, including their new album »O Radiant Dawn«, which charted in the top 10 of the UK Classical Charts. They are featured on »Reflections«, with music composed by Paul Smith. Other albums include »The Spirit Like a Dove«, music by Josquin des Prez performed with the Ingenium Ensemble, and »With a Song in my Heart«, an album of folk, jazz and pop. Also released is »Journey« on the Edition Peters Sounds label featuring the group with former King’s Singer Paul Phoenix. Apollo5 will start to publish its musical arrangements with Edition Peters this season.

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States, including performances at many of the world’s great halls. Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have seen him perform a sprawling repertoire of more than 50 concertos with orchestra. He has performed with such conductors as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Günther Herbig, Stefan Sanderling, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and has appeared in solo recitals in chamber music concerts with the Elias, Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, and also as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi, Boston Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. Beginning in 2018, Andrew became Artistic Director of the Chamber Music on Main series at the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina. That same year, he also was appointed Director of the Green Lake Festival of Music’s Chamber Music Camp in Ripon, Wisconsin. He has released several award-winning recordings with his longtime recital partner James Ehnes – most recently Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 6 & 9, to stellar reviews, Gramophone’s »Editor’s Choice«, and Sunday Times’ »Disc of the Week«. In the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Seasons, the duo celebrates the 250th Birthday of Beethoven by recording the master’s complete ten Violin Sonatas as well as performing the cycle in major cities around the world. Andrew is devoted to outreach programs and playing for children. In addition to his many concerts, his performances are heard regularly on National Public Radio and WQXR, New York City's premier classical music station.

The BBC Philharmonic is reimagining the orchestral experience for a new generation – challenging perceptions, championing innovation and taking a rich variety of classical music to the widest range of audiences. One of the most adventurous, innovative and dynamic orchestras in Europe, it performs dozens of concerts every year, leads a far-reaching learning and participation programme, collaborates widely with musicians across a diverse range of genres, and is bringing an array of cutting-edge new technology into the concert hall. The core of the BBC Philharmonic’s work is its extensive programme of concerts: more than 100 every year, all but a handful of which are broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Around a third of these concerts take place in the orchestra’s custom-designed studio at MediaCityUK in Salford, its home since 2011. Encompassing everything from traditional repertoire to contemporary works, the concerts in this Salford series are completely free and are enjoyed by more than 8,000 attendees every year. Presenting and promoting new music are key missions of the BBC Philharmonic, which regularly commissions and premieres works by today’s leading composers. The orchestra’s personnel are drawn from far and wide, from distinguished longstanding members with a wealth of experience to some of the brightest and most brilliant young orchestral musicians in Europe. The BBC Philharmonic’s Chief Conductor is Omer Meir Wellber, who joined the orchestra for the start of the 2019/20 season. Described by »The Times« Richard Morrison as »arguably the most inspired musical appointment the BBC has made for years«, Israel-born Wellber has quickly built an international reputation as one of the most exciting young conductors working today. The orchestra also has strong ongoing relationships with its Chief Guest Conductor John Storgårds, and Ben Gernon, Principal Guest Conductor since 2017. The orchestra places learning and education at the heart of its mission, and is an enthusiastic pioneer of new ways for audiences of all ages to experience its music.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra has been at the heart of British musical life since it was founded in 1930. It plays a central role in the BBC Proms, performing around a dozen concerts there each year, including the First and Last Nights. This season includes Janacék’s »Glagolitic Mass« with the BBC Symphony Chorus, conducted by Karina Canellakis, Messiaen’s »Des canyons aux étoiles« and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor Dalia Stasevksa’s first appearance at the Proms, and new music by Louis Andriessen, Dieter Ammann and Zosha Di Castri. The BBC SO performs an annual season of concerts at the Barbican, where it is Associate Orchestra. Highlights of the 2019-20 season include William Alwyn’s opera »Miss Julie« conducted by Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, two concerts with Dalia Stasevska featuring music by Stravinsky, Sibelius and Helen Grime, concerts of words and music with Neil Gaiman and David Walliams and Beethoven’s »Missa solemnis« with the BBC Symphony Chorus. Total Immersion days are devoted to Detlev Glanert and Anders Hillborg and »Lift Off!« sees the first Total Immersion aimed at families. The BBC SO’s commitment to contemporary music continues with works by Richard Baker, Victoria Borisova-Ollas, Judith Weir and others, plus operas by David Lang and Joby Talbot. The BBC SO works regularly with Semyon Bychkov, holder of the Günter Wand Conducting Chair and Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis. Central to the orchestra’s life are studio recordings for BBC Radio 3, which are free to attend, as well as performances around the world and the vast majority of performances are broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and available for 30 days after broadcast on BBC Sounds. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers and BBC Proms as part of »Get Involved«, offer family concerts and enjoyable, adventurous and innovative education work which includes singing workshops, family-friendly introductions to concerts, the BBC Family Orchestra & Chorus and more.

With her unique timbre and great expressiveness, the Spanish mezzo-soprano Maite Beaumont is one of the most important singers in her field. Her repertoire includes roles from the Baroque repertoire and the classical Viennese period, including roles from the French repertoire and the operas of Richard Strauss. Among them are roles such as Ruggiero (»Alcina«), Sesto (»Giulio Cesare« and »La Clemenza di Tito«), Angelina (»La Cenerentola«), Isabella (»L'Italiana in Algeri«), Dorabella (»Così fan tutte«), Cherubino (»Le Nozze di Figaro«) and Oktavian (»Der Rosenkavalier«). With great success she also sings roles as Donna Elvira (»Don Giovanni«), Mrs. Meg Page (»Falstaff«), Romeo (»I Capuleti e I Montecchi«), Siébel (»Faust«), Elisabetta (»Maria Stuarda«), Iphigénie (»Iphigénie en Tauride«), Margarethe (»La Damnation de Faust«), Didon (»Les Troyens«), Medée (»Medée«), Tancredi (»Tancredi«) and the Komponist (»Ariadne auf Naxos«). Maite Beaumont is a regular guest at major international opera houses. Her commitments have taken her to Hamburg, Munich, Dresden, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Barcelona, Madrid, Tokyo, Santiago de Chile and Chicago, as well as to the Salzburg Festival, the Innsbruck Ancient Music Festival and the Schwetzinger Festspiele. Recent successes include Isabella (»L'Italiana in Algeri«) and Melibea (»Il Viaggio a Reims«) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as Ruggiero in the new production of »Alcina« at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Maite Beaumont was born in Pamplona (Spain), where she studied voice and violin at the Pablo Sarasate Conservatory and sociology at the Public University of Navarre. Later she moved to Hamburg where she perfected herself with Hanna Schwarz at the Musikhochschule and became a member of the Hamburg State Opera, where she had the opportunity to debut the most important roles in her repertoire. The singer's discography consists of a CD of Händel Arias »La Maga Abbandonata« (BMG), a single CD »Dolce mio ben« (Edel Classics), Arnecke »Das Fest im Meer« (NCA), Händel »Alcina« (Deutsche Grammophon) as well as Haydn's Dvds »Il mondo della luna«, Händel »Giulio Cesare«, Mozart »Così fan tutte« and »Le Nozze di Figaro«, all under the TDK label. Soon she will debut the role of Agrippina (Händel) with Les Talens Lyriques at the Klangvokal Festival in Dortmund as well as the role of Farinelli at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid.

Founded in 1882 as a self-governing body, the Berliner Philharmoniker has long been esteemed as one of the world’s greatest orchestras. Hans von Bülow, Arthur Nikisch and Wilhelm Furtwängler were the orchestra’s first chief conductors, leaving their distinctive mark on the Berliner Philharmoniker in its early years. In 1955 Herbert von Karajan became the orchestra’s artistic director and, during the ensuing years, worked with the musicians to develop a unique tonal quality and performing style that made the Berliner Philharmoniker famous throughout the world. Claudio Abbado, chief conductor from 1989 to 2002, devised a new type of programming, with increased emphasis on contemporary works, additional chamber music series and concert performances of operas. He was followed by Sir Simon Rattle, who led the orchestra from September 2002 until the end of the 2017/2018 season. During his tenure, the Education Programme of the Berliner Philharmoniker was initiated to ensure that the orchestra reaches a wider and, especially, younger audience. In November 2007, the orchestra and its artistic director Sir Simon Rattle were appointed as UNICEF goodwill ambassadors, the first artistic ensemble to receive this honour. In 2009, the Digital Concert Hall was launched, an innovative video platform in which concerts of the Berliner Philharmoniker are broadcast live over the Internet and are available as recordings in the video archive. In 2014 the orchestra founded its own label, Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings. During an orchestra assembly on 21 June 2015, Kirill Petrenko was elected by a large majority of the orchestra members as the new chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He took up his position at the opening of the 2019/2020 season. The Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation is generously supported by its principal sponsor, the Deutsche Bank.

is Music Director of the Teatro Real in Madrid and of the Basel Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Dresden Festival Orchestra. From 2004 to 2016 he was chief conductor of the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, with whom he has appeared annually at the Salzburg Festival since 2000. In the UK, he has been Music Director of English Touring Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera and Chief Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He enjoys a close relationship with the Bayerische Staatsoper where, since 1994, he has conducted a wide range of new productions, most notably of Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart. He has been awarded the prestigious Bayerische Theaterpreis for his outstanding work in Munich. Ivor Bolton was a frequent guest at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and at the Opéra National de Paris. Other operatic engagements include Covent Garden, Paris, Aix, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Brussels, Dresden, Geneva, Hamburg, Lisbon, Madrid, Sydney, Vienna and Zurich. In concert he has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras in Europe, the US and the Far East. His many recordings, apart from those with the Mozarteumorchester, include Monteverdi’s »Poppea« and Handel’s »Xerxes«, »Giulio Cesare« and »Ariodante« with the Bayerische Staatsoper, and DVDs of »Deidamia« from Amsterdam, »Theodora« from Salzburg and »Jenufa« from Madrid.

Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim. »Passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding«, raves the London Independent; the »New York Times« extols its »luxuriously warm sound [and] yearning lyricism.« Since 2014, the Brentano Quartet has served as Artists in Residence at Yale University. The Quartet also currently serves as the collaborative ensemble for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Formerly, they were Artists in Residence at Princeton University for many years. The Quartet has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York; the Library of Congress in Washington; the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Konzerthaus in Vienna; Suntory Hall in Tokyo; and the Sydney Opera House. The Quartet had its first European tour in 1997, and was honored in the U.K. with the »Royal Philharmonic Award« for »Most Outstanding Debut«. In addition to their interest in performing very old music, the Brentano Quartet frequently collaborates with contemporary composers Recent commissions include a piano quintet by Vijay Iyer, a work by Eric Moe (with Christine Brandes, soprano), and a viola quintet by Felipe Lara (performed with violist Hsin-Yun Huang). In 2012, the Quartet provided the central music (Beethoven Op. 131) for the critically-acclaimed independent film »A Late Quartet«. The quartet has worked closely with other important composers of our time, among them Elliot Carter, Charles Wuorinen, Chou Wen-chung, Bruce Adolphe, and György Kurtág. They have also been privileged to collaborate with such artists as sopranos Jessye Norman, Dawn Upshaw, and Joyce DiDonato, and pianists Richard Goode, Jonathan Biss, and Mitsuko Uchida. The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s »Immortal Beloved«, the intended recipient of his famous love confession.

The Calidore String Quartet has been praised by the »New York Times« for its »deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct« and the »Los Angeles Times« for its balance of »intellect and expression«. The »Washington Post« has said that »four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.« Recipient of a 2018 »Avery Fisher Career Grant« and a 2017 »Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists«, the Calidore String Quartet first made international headlines as winner of the $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 »M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition«. The quartet was the first North American ensemble to win the »Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship«, a »BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist«, and is currently in residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s »Bowers Program« (formerly CMS Two). In the 2019/20 season, the Calidore String Quartet celebrates both its tenth anniversary and the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth by presenting cycles of his string quartets at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, and the Universities of Buffalo, Toronto, and Delaware. In Europe, they will perform Beethoven quartets in Antwerp, Dresden, and at the Rheingau Musik Festival. Additionally, the Calidore premieres a new work by composer Anna Clyne inspired by Beethoven’s »Große Fuge« and commissioned by Music Accord in performances throughout the US. In Europe, the Calidore performs in respected series in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland. The quartet continues to collaborate with artists including pianists Marc-André Hamelin, Pavel Kolesnikov, Yeol Eum Son, Sophiko Simsive, and Henry Kramer, violists Lawrence Power and Matthew Lipman, cellist Clive Greensmith, bassist Xavier Foley, guitarist Sharon Isbin, and oboist Cristina Gómez Godoy. An amalgamation of »California« and »doré« (French for »golden«), the ensemble’s name represents its reverence for the diversity of culture and the strong support it received from its original home: Los Angeles, California, the »golden state«.

The Castalian String Quartet was the recipient of the inaugural »Merito String Quartet Award & Valentin Erben Prize« and a »Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award« in 2018. Over the past year, the Quartet has given its debut North American recitals at The Philips Collection (Washington D.C.), Lincoln Center (N.Y.), Middlebury College (Vermont), Salle Bourgie (Montreal), Vancouver Recital Series and Banff International String Quartet Festival. Other 2018/19 highlights included a return to the Aldeburgh Festival, the complete Haydn Op.76 quartets at Wigmore Hall (recorded for future release on the Wigmore Live label) and recitals at Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorium du Louvre (Paris), Flagey (Brussels) and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. This season they perform a Brahms and Schumann chamber music cycle at Wigmore Hall, collaborating with Stephen Hough, Cédric Tiberghien, Michael Collins, Nils Mönkemeyer, Isabel Charisius and Ursula Smith. In 2020 the Castalian String Quartet will give its Carnegie Hall debut and participate in the Simmenauer International Beethoven Quartet series. In addition to return visits to Israel, they will perform across Europe, giving recitals in the Philharmonie de Paris, Esterházy Castle (Fertöd) and the Festivals of Heidelberg, Rheingau, Mosel and Dresden. They have performed widely throughout Europe, with highlights including the Hamburg Chamber Music Series, International Musikfest Goslar, Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, quartetaffairs in Frankfurt (broadcast by NDR), the Queille Festival and Conques Lumière du Roman in France. UK appearances include the Bath, Cheltenham, East Neuk, North Norfolk, Peasmarsh and Winchester Festivals. They have also been the resident ensemble at the Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival in Denmark and Festival Musique d’Été à Suzette, near Avignon. Further afield, they have undertaken tours of China and Colombia. Formed in 2011, the Castalian String Quartet studied with Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet) at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, graduating with a Masters degree. Awards include 1st Prize at the 2015 Lyon Chamber Music Competition and 3rd Prize at the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

With an overwhelming talent and innate musicality, Seong-Jin Cho is rapidly embarking on a world-class career and considered one of the most distinctive artists on the current music scene. His thoughtful and poetic, assertive and tender, virtuosic and colorful playing can combine panache with purity and is driven by an impressive natural sense of balance. He was brought to the world’s attention in 2015 when he won the First Prize at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. In January 2016, Seong-Jin signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The first recording was released in November 2016 featuring Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda and the Four Ballades. A solo Debussy recital was then released in November 2017, followed in 2018 by a Mozart album featuring sonatas and the D minor concerto with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Yannick-Nézet-Seguin. All albums won impressive critical acclaim worldwide. During the next two seasons, he will play debut recitals in at venues including Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and Wigmore Hall and return to Suntory Hall, Konzerthaus Vienna, and Verbier Festival. Recent and upcoming orchestral appearances include debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic with Simon Rattle, the Gewandhaus Orchester and Antonio Pappano, London Philharmonic with Edward Gardner, New York Philharmonic and Jaap van Zweden, Los Angeles Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with Mariss Jansons, Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Jakub Hrůša, Hong Kong Philharmonic with Jaap van Zweden, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with Manfred Honeck, Boston Symphony Orchestra with Hannu Lintu and return invitations to the London Symphony Orchestra with Gianandrea Noseda, the Munich Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, the Staatskapelle Dresden with Myung-Whun Chung, and the Finnish Radio Orchestra with Hannu Lintu. As part of the 2020 Beethoven year celebrations, Seong-Jin will play all five Beethoven concertos in three days with the Dresdner Philharmonie and Marek Janowski.

began his musical career as a pianist, winning second prize at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1974. After his musical studies at the Mannes School and Juilliard School in New York, he was appointed Carlo Maria Giulini’s assistant in 1979 at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and became Associate Conductor two years later. Myung-Whun Chung has conducted some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Wiener Philharmoniker, as well as all the major London and Parisian orchestras. In the USA, he has collaborated with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra. An exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 1990, many of his numerous recordings have won international prizes and awards. Highlights of the 2019/20 season include a production of »Don Carlo« at Teatro La Fenice, a return to the BBC Proms and tours of Europe and Asia with the Staatskapelle Dresden. As well as conducting the New Year concerts at La Fenice he will also return to Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (including conducting Mahler 3 and 9 at the 2020 Mahler Festival) and continue his regular collaborations with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Filarmonica della Scala. Deeply sensitive to humanitarian and ecological problems of our age, Myung-Whun Chung has devoted an important part of his life to these causes. In 1994, he launched a series of musical and environmental projects in Korea for youth. He served as Ambassador for the Drug Control Program at the United Nations (UNDCP); he was named »Man of the year« by UNESCO and received the »Kumkuan«, the highest cultural award of the Korean government for his contribution to Korean musical life. Myung-Whun Chung now serves as Honorary Cultural Ambassador for Korea. In 2008, he was designated the first conductor named as »Goodwill Ambassador« for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

»Avishai Cohen is a distinctive player: his raw energy, deft and fluid fretting style and tough, forceful right hand combine in one of the most readily recognizable double bass sounds in contemporary music« (»All About Jazz«)

Over the last two decades Internationally acclaimed bassist, singer, composer Avishai Cohen, has earned his reputation as one of the world’s greatest bassists. It is however as a composer that his musical statement has grown extensively through out the world, attracting large live audiences, listeners and passionate fans. Avishai Cohen recorded his latest album titled »Arvoles« at the favoured Nilento Studios in Sweden. This new musical statement delivers nine profound, freshly executed original compositions and one soulful arrangement. »Arvoles« which means »Trees« in Ladino (the ancient language spoken by the Sephardic people of the Diaspora) was released in 2019 on Cohen’s own established indie label RazDaz Recordz. Cohen's 17th album as a leader is clearly identified with his own unique DNA and heartbeat. »Arvoles« makes you float between key trio songs with the compliment of horns on several of the tracks, a working unit of deliberation, spirit, and giving you real joy. Avishai Cohen with his dynamic trio will be touring extensively in the year ahead with recording partner, pianist and composer Elchin Shirinov from Azerbaijan and the creative and distinctive Noam David, a drummer and composer whose rich style and complex polyrhythmic sounds have contributed greatly to the ever growing music scene in Israel and who has accompanied Avishai Cohen for many years.

Simon Crawford-Phillips is a multi-festival director, renowned pianist, creative programmer with a passion for championing contemporary repertoire, and a chamber musician who regularly collaborates with artists such as Daniel Hope and Lawrence Power in repertoire from Haydn and Schumann to Adès, Byström, Dean and Reich. His own ensembles include The Kungsbacka Piano Trio, and Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble (resident artists at Stockholm Konzerthus). Simon Crawford-Phillips’ spicy and eclectic programming is reflected in an extraordinarily varied career as a conductor/director alongside his solo collaborations. In 2017 he was appointed Artistic Adviser and Chief Conductor of Västerås Sinfonietta, now extended until 2023. 2019/20 brings debuts with Zurich Chamber Orchestra for an extensive European tour, directing Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw’s Lutosławski Chain Festival, and in Australia with the Australian National Academy of Music and Lawrence Power. Västerås Sinfonietta plans include a return tour to the UK, debuting »Wild Waves and Woods« at Kings Place with Paul Watkins and Lawrence Power before touring on, and in 2021 a new commission from Hans Ek for Finnish jazz/classical pianist Iiro Rantala to be paired with Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos. As a pianist The Guardian says Simon Crawford-Phillips has »profound sensitivity and technical brilliance, achieving an expressive intensity that made for compelling listening.« He performs in premiere festivals and concert halls across Europe including Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Edinburgh, and at Wigmore Hall where in the new season he will appear as the regular pianist with Chamber Ensemble in Residence, the acclaimed Nash Ensemble, and in recital with Daniel Hope and Lawrence Power. Notable concerto debuts include the NHK Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov and more recently the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra directing from the keyboard.

is a celebrated musician the world over with loyal fans in every corner of the globe. Over the last 18 years his legendary live shows have seen him perform at festivals alongside artists as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, St Vincent and Lang Lang. In addition to his enduringly successful recording career, with eight albums under his belt and number nine about to arrive, he has also established himself as a multi-award-winning music broadcaster. Jamie approaches all aspects of his career, as he has from the beginning, as both a fan and a student with seemingly boundless creativity and enthusiasm. Half a lifetime ago he used his student loan to record his first LP, »Heard It All Before«. Since those days the mix of talent, luck and sheer hard graft has been a constant feature of Jamie’s career. The success of his major label breakthrough »Twentysomething« and its follow up »Catching Tales« saw him nominated for a »Brit«, »Grammy« and numerous other awards around the world, but the most important outcome of the five years he spent in the tireless promotion of these records is an enviable live career that is truly global. Cullum’s world tour took in over forty countries. Jamie has even become the guest director of some of his favourite festivals, producing extraordinary shows such as orchestral specials at the Royal Albert Hall for two BBC Proms, the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic and a night of Jazz and Drum ’n’ Bass at The Forum in London. Jamie is also enjoyed by myriad radio listeners on his globally syndicated radio show. Based in jazz, but dipping into the world of hip-hop, electronic music and beyond, the show features music, interviews and live sessions. It initially airs on BBC Radio 2 and has garnered over a dozen awards since its debut in 2010. Still Jamie manages to share his time across other projects including the »Mercury Music Prize«, for which he is a judge, and charities that help promote music to young people, in addition to working with In House Records, which uses music in the rehabilitation of offenders. Jamie was also delighted to be asked to record a song for the most recent BBC’s »Children In Need« television fundraising campaign.

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1925 as part of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Today, it is one of the leading symphony orchestras in Europe performing with the world’s leading conductors and soloists. Since 2016, the Chief Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra has been Fabio Luisi, who succeeded the late Spanish maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Former Principal Conductors and Principal Guest Conductors include Herbert Blomstedt (conductor laureate), Thomas Dausgaard, Gerd Albrecht, Leif Segerstam, Dmitri Kitajenko and Yuri Temirkanov. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra has performed with a. o. Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leonidas Kavakos, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Leif Ove Andsnes, Lang Lang, Anna Netrebko, Nigel Kennedy, Daniel Barenboim, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yehudi Menuhin and Itzhak Pearlman. The orchestra has toured extensively in the USA, in South America, in China and in most countries in Europe, and performed at some of the most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonic, Cologne Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Konzertverein (Vienna) and the BBC Proms. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra performs everything from Classical works by Beethoven and Brahms through Roman¬tic tone-poems and modern masterpieces to new creations by the com¬posers of tomorrow. At the same time, the Orchestra has a special feeling for Danish music – from classics like Carl Nielsen and Niels W. Gade to the very young composing talents. Each year more than 100,000 music-lovers experience the magic of live symphonic music with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra – both in the spectacular hall of DR Koncerthuset (designed by Jean Nouvel) and on the Orchestra’s annual tour abroad. In addition to the concert audiences, the Orchestra’s popular »Thursday Concerts« are enjoyed by many Danes on radio and TV, and millions tune in when the concerts are broadcast internationally.

Helmut Deutsch ranks among the finest, most successful and in-demand song recital accompanists of the world. He was born in Vienna, where he studied at the Conservatory, the Music Academy and the University. He was awarded the Composition Prize of Vienna in 1965 and appointed professor at the age of twenty-four. Although he has performed with leading instrumentalists as a chamber musician, he has concentrated primarily on accompanying in song recitals. At the beginning of his career he worked with the soprano Irmgard Seefried, but the most important singer of his early years was Hermann Prey, whom he accompanied as a permanent partner for twelve years. Subsequently he has worked with many of the most important recital singers and played in the world’s major music centres. His collaborations with Jonas Kaufmann, Diana Damrau and Michael Volle are currently among his most important. Deutsch has recorded more than a hundred CDs. In recent years the development of young talent has been especially close to his heart. After his professorship in Vienna he continued his teaching primarily in Munich at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, where he worked as a professor of song interpretation for 28 years. In addition he is a visiting professor at various other universities and is sought-after for an increasing number of masterclasses in Europe and the Far East. The young Swiss tenor Mauro Peter was one of his last students in Munich and has become one of his favourite recital partners.

Born in 1973 in Dakar, Pape Cheikh Diouf is from a »guewel« (griot) family originally of the Siné-Saloum Delta region in southwestern Senegal. As a youth, he was sent to his uncle’s house to learn the plumbing trade. But his passion was music, which he pursued in his spare time and ultimately decided was his path to follow. Along with his enormous talent, Pape Diouf is known and admired for representing certain human and social values that are central to Senegalese culture. His captivating sound and charismatic performance have inspired references to »the new Youssou Ndour«. Now that Ndour is Minister of Tourism and no longer performs, Pape Diouf is seen as the likely successor to the master of »mbalax«. Even in his movements and vocal style, Pape emulates his idol, who in turn has called him »the future of Senegalese music«. In 1995, at the age of 22, he joined the Lemzo Diamono Group, where his talent became widely recognized. After going solo in 1998, several frustrating years passed before his first album »Live au Biddew« (Tribu/Lampe Fall, 2003), and an U.S. tour. It was then that Pape Diouf met Mamadou »Jimi« Mbaye, lead guitarist of Youssou Ndour’s band Super Étoile de Dakar, who helped him record and produce »Partir!« (Jololi, 2004), opening the door to a promising career. It was also the launch of Pape Diouf et la Génération Consciente, his band which has now been together for more than 18 years. Since then he has released many highly succesfull albums and toured around the world. His newest album »Enjoy!« was released in 2018. Pape Diouf has emerged as one of the most important voices in contemporary Senegalese music. More than just a prolific hit maker, he draws on his family’s »guewel« traditions to sing about love, life lessons and the Wolof ideal of »teranga«: mutual respect, acceptance and hospitality that’s at the core of Senegalese life.

The pianist Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. He appears regularly at all the major music centres and festivals: the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh International, Munich, Schubertiade and Salzburg Music Festivals, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre, New York, The Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall and BBC Proms, London. Julius Drake’s many recordings include a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion, from which the Barber Songs, Schumann Heine Lieder and Britten »Songs and Proverbs« won the 2007, 2009 and 2011 »Gramophone Awards«, award winning recordings with Ian Bostridge for EMI, several recitals for the Wigmore Live label with among others Alice Coote, Joyce DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Christopher Maltman and Matthew Polenzani, recordings of Kodály and Schoeck sonatas with the cellists Natalie Clein and Christian Poltera for the Hyperion and Bis labels, of Tchaikovsky and Mahler with Christianne Stotijn for Onyx, English song with Bejun Mehta for Harmonia Mundi and Schubert’s »Poetisches Tagebuch« with Christoph Prégardien, which won the »Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik« 2016. Julius Drake is now embarked on a major project to record the complete songs of Franz Liszt for Hyperion – the second disc in the series, with Angelika Kirchschlager, won the »BBC Music Magazine Award« 2012 – and a series of four Schubert recitals recorded live at Wigmore Hall with Ian Bostridge. Concerts in the coming seasons include a series to celebrate the Beethoven anniversary at the 92nd Street Y in New York and a Mahler series at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, recitals at La Scala, Milan, with Aleksandra Kurzak, at Wigmore Hall with Alice Coote, in Barcelona with Sarah Connolly, in Berlin with Angelika Kirchschlager, at the Schubertiade, Austria, with Christoph Prégardien, Ian Bostridge and Gerald Finley, and tours in Europe with Anna Prohaska and Eva-Maria Westbroek.

Every year, some of the best musicians for historically informed performance practice from the finest early-music ensembles in Europe unite to the Dresden Festival Orchestra as the Dresden Music Festival's very own ensemble. With great joy of discovery, precision and a keen sense for authentic interpretations, the Dresden Festival Orchestra has explored the original sound of various epochs since its inception in 2012 and in doing so fills a void in the musical life of the city. The musicians play original instruments, varying with the era and historical background of its repertoire, which means that the strings use gut strings and the winds offer a completely new sound. The artists, all virtuosos and specialists on their instruments, are giftet with variety of styles and playing techniques, wich they bring to Dresden from orchestras such as the Academy of Ancient Music, the Orchestera of the18th Century, the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, the Concentus Musicus Wien, Il Giardino Armonico or Le Cercle de l'Harmonie. Already at its celebrated premiere during the 2012 Music Festival the ensemble thrilled both audiences and critics. During the 2014 Festival season, the orchestra paid homage to Richard Strauss in his anniversary year, offering a brilliant rediscovery of his opera »Feuersnot« (a coproduction with the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden), that was nominated for the 2015 »International Opera Award«. In October 2016 the first recording was released with Schumann’s second symphony and his cello concerto featuring Jan Vogler as solist. Renowned soloists that performed with the orchestra inculde Simone Kermes, Giuliano Carmignola, Isabelle Faust, Bejun Mehta, Waltraud Meier, Thomas Zehetmair and Valer Sabadus. Since 2012 Ivor Bolton has been chief conductor of the Dresden Festival Orchestra.

The Dresden Kammerchor is one of the leading choirs in Germany. Since its foundation in 1985 by Hans-Christoph Rademann it has become firmly established on the German and European musical scene. With initiatives such as the first complete recording of Heinrich Schütz (since 2009) and a continuing interest in researching and promoting the musical legacy of central Germany, the choir helps shape the cultural identity of this region, working internationally as an ambassador for Dresden and Saxony. In collaboration with the Dresden Barockorchester and other musical partners, numerous works have been rediscovered, performed and recorded. Recordings of works by Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolph Hasse, Johann David Heinichen and Jan Dismas Zelenka have been honored with numerous prizes including the »Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik« (German Record Critics’ Award) of the Year 2016. Alongside the oratories and sacred works of Baroque masters such as Bach, Telemann and Händel, the choral-symphonic repertoire of the Classical and Romantic periods from Mozart via Mendelssohn to Brahms forms another main focus of the choir’s work. The Dresden Kammerchor is also renowned for the performance of challenging a cappella literature from the 19th and 20th centuries by composers such as Max Reger, Alfred Schnittke, Ernst Krenek, Olivier Messiaen and Herman Berlinski. The choir specializes in modern and contemporary music. This is reflected in numerous premieres, first performances, and new works commissioned by the choir. In 2009 Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Dresden Kammerchor initiated the first Dresden Choir Workshop for Contemporary Music, which had its fourth edition in 2018. The choir was awarded the »Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis« (Ernst von Siemens Music prize) for its services to contemporary music. The Dresden Kammerchor has received broad acclaim on its numerous concert trips in and outside Europe, i.e. USA, South Africa, India, China, Taiwan and Mexico. The choir also receives regular invitations to international music festivals of great reputation like the Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht, Festivales Musicales Buenos Aires, Bachwoche Ansbach and Händel-Festspiele Halle and Göttingen. Frequent cooperations with renowned orchestras and conductors from Germany and abroad underscore the reputation of the choir. Among the most famous are the conductors René Jacobs, Sir Roger Norrington, Ádám Fischer, Riccardo Chailly, Herbert Blomstedt, Jos van Immerseel and the ensembles Staatskapelle Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Concerto Köln, Academy for Early Music Berlin and Anima Eterna Brugge. The Dresden Kammerchor stays in touch with its roots trough a cooperation with the College of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.

The Dresden Kreuzchor is one of the world’s oldest and most famous boys’ choirs. Its history dates back to the first mention of the city of Dresden in the early 13th century. More than 800 years later, its most important task is still the musical accompaniment of the vespers and services at Dresden’s Kreuzkirche. Here, the Dresden Kreuzchor performs in Vespers and services and regularly gives concerts with outstanding works of sacred music. They form the core of the repertoire and are an expression of the Christian-humanistic character of the choir. Alongside famous soloists, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Staatskapelle Dresden are major artistic partners. The Dresden Kreuzchor also collaborates with ensembles of early music such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Academy for Early Music of Berlin. The repertoire of the Dresden Kreuzchor ranges from Renaissance music to premieres of contemporary works. His extensive artistic work has been documented in numerous recordings. Several times a year, the Dresden Kreuzchor goes on national and international concert tours, beyond German and European borders to Israel, Canada, Japan, South America and the USA. Moreover, it performs at international music festivals and realizes countless radio and television recordings. It represents the Saxon state capital as its oldest cultural institution on almost all continents and has recently debuted at the Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Salzburg Easter Festivals. The choir singers are also regularly invited to opera roles as soloists. The Kreuzchor singers, called »Crucians«, still graduate at the Kreuzschule; about two third of them live in the adjacent boarding school. Next to their normal classes, the 130 singers – aged nine to eighteen – have weekly singing and instrumental lessons. Their daily rehearsals and the specific sound of the choir are the basis of the success and the fame of the Dresden Kreuzchor.

The Dresden Philharmonic can look back on 150 years of history as the orchestra of Saxony’s capital Dresden. When the so-called »Gewerbehaussaal« opened on 29 November 1870, the citizens of the city were given the opportunity to organise major orchestra concerts. Philharmonic concerts were held regularly starting in 1885; the orchestra adopted its present name in 1923. In its first decades, composers such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and Strauss conducted the Dresdner Philharmonie with their own works. The first desks were presided over by outstanding concertmasters such as Stefan Frenkel, Simon Goldberg and the cellists Stefan Auber and Enrico Mainardi. From 1934, Carl Schuricht and Paul van Kempen led the orchestra; van Kempen in particular guided the Dresden Philharmonic to top achievements. All of Bruckner’s symphonies were first performed in their original versions, which earned the orchestra the reputation of a »Bruckner orchestra« and brought renowned guest conductors such as Hermann Abendroth, Eduard van Beinum, Fritz Busch, Eugen Jochum, Joseph Keilbert, Erich Kleiber, Hans Knappertsbusch and Franz Konwitschny to the rostrum. After 1945 and into the 1990s, Heinz Bongartz, Horst Förster, Kurt Masur (from 1994 also honorary conductor), Günther Herbig, Herbert Kegel, Jörg-Peter Weigle and Michel Plasson were the principal conductors. In recent years, conductors such as Marek Janowski, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Michael Sanderling have shaped the orchestra. Starting in the 2019-20 season, Marek Janowski will rejoin the Dresden Philharmonic as principal conductor and artistic director. Its home is the highly modern concert hall inaugurated in April 2017 in the Kulturpalast building in the heart of the historic old town. In romantic repertoire, the orchestra has preserved its very own »Dresden sound«. Furthermore, it is characterised by a flexibility in sound and style for the music of the Baroque and First Viennese School, as well as for modern works. World premieres continue to the present to play an important part in the orchestra’s programmes. Guest performances in major concert halls around the world demonstrate the high esteem enjoyed by the Dresden Philharmonic in the world of classical music. High-calibre education and family formats round out the offering for young people; the youngest concertgoers are brought into contact with classical music by attending rehearsals and school concerts. The orchestra supports young musical talent in the Kurt Masur Academy. The Philharmonic’s discography, which has been growing since 1937, also testifies to their broad spectrum. A new climax was reached with the CD cycle conducted by Michael Sanderling dedicated to the complete symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich and Ludwig van Beethoven (Sony Classical).

has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected orchestras and conductors. Recent orchestral highlights include the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Noseda, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Shelley, San Francisco Symphony with Janowski, Frankfurt Radio Symphony with Orozco-Estrada, London Symphony with Harding, and Munich Philharmonic with van Zweden, as well as his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in spring 2019. In 2019/20, Ehnes is Artist in Residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which includes performances of the Elgar Concerto with Luisi, a play/direct programme led by Ehnes, and a chamber music programme. Alongside his concerto work, James Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule. He performs regularly at venues like the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg or Verbier Festival, and in 2018 he undertook a recital tour to the Far East, including performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. As part of the Beethoven celebrations, Ehnes has been invited to perform the complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas at the Wigmore Hall throughout 2019/20. Elsewhere Ehnes performs the Beethoven Sonatas at Dresden, Prague, Amsterdam, Aspen (as part of a multi-year residency) and at Bravo Vail Festival during his residency week also including the Violin Concerto and Triple Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Runnicles. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with leading artists such as Andsnes, Capucon, Lortie, Lugansky, Yo-Yo Ma, Tamestit, Vogler and Yuja Wang. In 2010, he formally established the Ehnes Quartet. Ehnes is the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society. James Ehnes is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 2010 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Ehnes was awarded the 2017 »Royal Philharmonic Society Award« in the Instrumentalist category. He plays the »Marsick« Stradivarius of 1715.

Nora Fischer is challenging the way we listen to the voice. The Amsterdam-based singer is renowned for her adventurous approach to live performance and her creative projects fusing classical and contemporary repertoire. This can range from traditional concert programmes to genre-defying collaborations – such as her award-winning debut album »HUSH«, which was released on Deutsche Grammophon in April 2018, and her work with Yo-Yo Ma’s legendary Silkroad Ensemble. Using her voice as a versatile instrument, Nora’s repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to the many compositions that have been written for her in the present day. Her »affinity with experimental classical styles and sharp dramatic instincts« (»New York Times«) have led to many collaborations with leading contemporary composers, including Osvaldo Golijov, David Lang & Louis Andriessen. During the 2017/18 season, Nora signed with Universal Music and was nominated by the Concertgebouw to perform in major concert halls across Europe for the »ECHO Rising Stars« Tour. Nora’s unique approach has taken her around the globe, from the Philharmonie de Paris and Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Lowlands Pop Festival or a mysterious forest at the Oerol Theatre Festival. She has premiered many new operas, most recently working with the Dutch National Opera and Pierre Audi for the world premiere of Andriessen’s »Theatre of the World«. Other contemporary collaborations include performances with the Kronos Quartet, Asko|Schönberg Ensemble and l’Arpeggiata. In upcoming seasons, Nora has projects at venues including the Barbican, Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw and Berlin Festival, and has been invited on three tours with the Silkroad Ensemble, including her Australasian debut. In 2019, Nora also performs the world premiere of a new Andriessen commission with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Nora regularly performs solo concerts and devises projects involving baroque, classical and contemporary vocal repertoire, ranging from traditional concert programmes to genre-defying collaborations. She also frequently partners with a number of theatre companies in order to explore the intersection between new music and theatre. Born into a family with a rich musical tradition, Fischer trained at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen, and holds a Masters in New Audiences and Innovative Practice from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Musicology and Philosophy, completed at the University of Amsterdam in 2009.

is one of the most acclaimed singers of our time. In 2013, President Obama awarded her America’s highest honor for an artist, the »National Medal of Arts«. She brought her voice to a vast new audience in 2014, as the only classical artist ever to sing the US National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Winner of the 2013 »Grammy Award« (her fourth) for Best Classical Vocal Solo, Renée has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2008 Renée became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala.
Her recent tour schedule has included concerts in New York, London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo, and Beijing. She is heard on the soundtracks of the 2018 Best Picture Oscar winner »The Shape of Water« and »Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri«. Renée provided the singing voice of Roxane, played by Julianne Moore, in the film of the best-selling novel »Bel Canto«.
In her role as Artistic Advisor to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Renée launched a collaboration with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, with participation by the National Endowment of the Arts, focused on the science connecting music, health, and the brain. Over the past year, she has given more than 20 presentations with scientists and practitioners across the US and Canada on this subject Renée’s latest album, »Renée Fleming: Broadway«, features a collection of great musical theatre songs from the 1920’s to the present day. Renée has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to indie rock and jazz.
Known for bringing new audiences to classical music and opera, Renée has sung not only with Plácido Domingo and Andrea Bocelli, but also with Elton John, Paul Simon, Sting, Josh Groban, and Joan Baez. She has hosted a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts. Renée’s memoir »The Inner Voice«, published in 2004, is currently in its 16th printing.

The Folk Music Group of the National Gugak Center has preserved and passed down folk music, which captures the emotions felt by our ancestors. It performs various styles of folk music that have emerged since the 16th century, including folk songs, male clown theatre, and Pansori, designated as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Vilde Frang’s profound musicianship and exceptional lyricism has elevated her as one of the leading and most individual young artists. In 2012 she was unanimously awarded the »Credit Suisse Young Artists Award« which led to her debut with the Wiener Philharmoniker under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival. Regularly appearing with the world’s leading orchestras, in 2016 Vilde Frang made her acclaimed debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle as part of their »Europakonzert« and returned during the 2017/18 season for subscription concerts at the Philharmonie and the Baden-Baden Easter Festival with Iván Fischer. Vilde Frang has enjoyed collaborations with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ivan Fischer, Sakari Oramo, Vladimir Jurowski, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Daniel Harding, Valery Gergiev, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Robin Ticciati, François-Xavier Roth, Paavo Järvi and Yuri Temirkanov. The 2019/20 season sees Vilde Frang give several highly anticipated debuts with the Bayerische Staatsorchester, Les Siècles and London Symphony Orchestra with Antonio Pappano. She will also embark on a tour with Rotterdam Philharmonic and Lahav Shani which will include her return to the Lucerne Festival. Other highlights of the season include engagements with Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Cleveland Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the BBC Symphony Orchestra as well as the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Mark Elder. Performing with the Oslo Philharmonic twice this season, Vilde will give concerts with Vasily Petrenko as well as Herbert Blomstedt performing the Elgar Violin Concerto and Beethoven Violin Concerto respectively. A keen chamber musician, this season will include an evening recital at Wigmore Hall as well as performances of Beethoven String Trios with Lawrence Power and Nicolas Altstaedt. Vilde Frang is an exclusive Warner Classics artist and her recordings have received numerous awards. She performs on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume from 1866.

The first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 20-year-old has already proven himself to be a star among the next generation of world-class musicians. Fung’s impeccable technique demonstrates a mastery of the canon and an exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire. In the 2019/20 season, Fung performs with orchestra and in recital in all corners of North America. He returns to the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and debuts with Asheville and Aiken Symphony Orchestras, Plymouth Philharmonic, and Symphony Pro Musica in Hudson, Massachusetts. He performs at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in a joint recital with fellow Tchaikovsky Competition winners in October, following a recital at Friends of Music in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Other recitals include Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Syrinx Concerts in Toronto, The Embassy Series in Washington DC, Salon de Virtuosi and Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York City, Chamber on the Mountain in Ojai, Evergreen Museum & Library in Baltimore, and Mainly Mozart in Coral Gables. At the Artist Series of Sarasota, Fung will perform the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven. As a chamber musician, Fung performs around the world, opening the season with IMS Prussia Cove on tour to London’s Wigmore Hall, Cornwall, Cambridge, West Sussex, and Somerset. He closes the season at Dresdner Musikfestspiele. New York City chamber music engagements include the Aspect Foundation and Jupiter Chamber Players. During the summer of 2019, Fung performed at Musique de Chambre à Giverny, a chamber music festival in northern France. Of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, Zlatomir Fung began playing cello at age three. A proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, Fung currently studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. Fung plays an W.E. Hill and Sons cello from 1905.

The young Moscow-born, Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling interpreter. He has appeared with many leading orchestras worldwide, such as Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Israel Philharmonic , WDR Koeln, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, St Petersburg Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2010, his Australia debut in 2017 (with the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony orchestras) and has frequently toured to South America and China. He has played recitals in leading venues such as Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Carnegie Hall, London Southbank Centre, Auditorium Radio France, Toppan Hall Tokyo and Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre. To celebrate the Beethoven anniversary in 2020 Giltburg embarks upon a unique project to learn all the sonatas across the year, filming and blogging about the process as he goes, and appearing on BBC TV. He is recording the complete Beethoven piano concerti for Naxos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko; and he plays all the concerti in three days with the Brussels Philharmonic at the Flagey Piano Festival. Other highlights of 19/20 include performances of the Rachmaninov Preludes at Bozar, Wigmore and for his debut in the Master Pianists series at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; he also plays recitals at the festivals of Rheingau, Dresden, Dvořák Prague and Liszt Raiding. He is resident artist with the Valencia Symphony across the season, and also returns to the Oslo Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Utah Symphony. He has a close relationship with the Pavel Haas Quartet, winning a »Gramophone Award« 2018 for their Dvořák Piano Quintet on Supraphon, and joining them in 19/20 at the Wigmore, Bristol and Cambridge. They will also embark on a US and North America tour, performing in Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Quebec and Montreal. Boris Giltburg is an avid amateur photographer and blogger, writing about classical music for a non-specialist audience.

Star percussionist Martin Grubinger embraces a thrilling breadth of repertoire ranging from solo works and an impressive range of percussion concertos, as well as chamber music with some of the world's leading instrumentalists and his own Percussive Planet Ensemble. His technical perfection, boundless enthusiasm and musical versatility make his performances »must see« events and brings percussion from the back of the orchestra to the very forefront of the stage. Grubinger was Artist in Residence at Elbphilharmonie in their inaugural season and has undertaken similar residencies with Camerata Salzburg, the Philharmonie Köln, Philharmonie München, Wiener Konzerthaus and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. This season sees European tours with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bruckner Orchester Linz and the Belgian National Orchestra as well as concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras. A recital tour with his Percussive Planet Ensemble takes them through Austria and Germany; the second edition of the World Super Drummer Convention will take place as part of Martin’s own series at the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Dresdner Musikfestspiele and he is Artist in Residence at the Bodenseefestival. Elsewhere in the 2019/20 season Martin returns to the Israel Philharmonic, The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Hungarian National Philharmonic and the WDR Sinfonieorchester. Martin has inspired a number of the world’s leading composers, and among the growing number of works are Avner Dorman’s »Frozen in Time« (2007) and Friedrich Cerha’s Concerto (2008), performed and recorded with the Wiener Philharmoniker and conducted by Peter Eötvös on Kairos, as well as Tan Dun’s concerto »Tears of Nature« (2012), and Eötvös’ »Speaking Drums« (2014). In April 2019 Fazil Say’s new percussion concerto was premiered and this season sees the world premiere of a new ensemble piece by Johannes Maria Staud, who is also currently writing a new concerto. Born in Salzburg, Martin Grubinger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where he now himself holds a position as Professor for Multipercussion. He regularly writes a column for the biggest Austrian newspaper and co-hosts the classical music TV show KlickKlack on Bayerischer Rundfunk television.

Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Her artistic colleagues include Christoph Marthaler, Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, John Zorn, Andreas Kriegenburg, Andris Nelsons, Reinbert de Leeuw, David Zinman, Antonio Pappano, Katie Mitchell, Kirill Petrenko, and Krszysztof Warlikowski. As a singer and conductor the Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world première performances of over 85 new creations. Hannigan has collaborated extensively with composers including Boulez, Zorn, Dutilleux, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Sciarrino, Barry, Dusapin, Dean, Benjamin and Abrahamsen. Barbara Hannigan’s 2019/20 season marks the beginning of her Principal Guest conductor role at Gothenburg Symphony. She also has engagements with London Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, and will be artist in residence at Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Barbara Hannigan will première the role of Gerda in Bayerische Staatsoper’s production of Hans Abrahamsen’s »The Snow Queen« and will reprise the role of Lulu at Hamburgische Staatsoper. She also continues her acclaimed work with Equilibrium Young Artists mentoring initiative, which she launched in 2017. In 2018/19 Barbara Hannigan was Music Director of Ojai Festival and artist in residence at Aldeburgh Festival. Barbara Hannigan’s first album as both singer and conductor, »Crazy Girl Crazy« (2017), won the 2018 »Grammy Award« for »Best Classical Solo Vocal album«. Other recent albums include »Vienna: fin de siècle«, and Satie’s »Socrate«, both with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw. In 2020 she will release her next anticipated album on Alpha Classics. April 2020 will see Hannigan awarded the prestigious »Léonie Sonning Music Prize«.

A champion of Norway's rich musical tradition, Eldbjørg Hemsing has been a household name in her native country since childhood and made her solo debut with the Bergen Philharmonic at the age of 11. After winning various international competitions and prizes at the age of 18 her desire was to continue intensive studies with Boris Kuschnir in Vienna, during which time she fine-tuned her performance-style and absorbed a wide-range of repertoire ranging from Bach, Beethoven, Bartok to Tan Dun. Together with Tan Dun she has collaborated on numerous projects in both Europe and Asia and has most recently premiered and recorded composer’s new violin concerto »Fire Ritual – A Musical Ritual for Victims of Wars«, together with the Oslo Philharmonic. In March 2018 Eldbjørg Hemsing released her debut CD on the Swedish label, BIS, featuring violin concertos by Hjalmar Borgström and Dmitri Shostakovich, recorded with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Olari Elis. The rediscovery of Hjalmar Borgström has since then become her strong mission. Her upcoming engagements in the 2019 / 20 season include her début with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Argovia Philharmonic, Slovene Philharmonic, TON Orchestra, as well as the re-engagements with orchestras in Europe and Asia. Eldbjørg Hemsing will furthermore perform the Chinese, Swiss, Canadian and German premiere of the forgotten Borgström violin concerto. With recitals Eldbjørg Hemsing also makes her debut in the prestigious Elbphilharmonie Hamburg as well as at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. In addition to a busy performance schedule, Eldbjørg Hemsing is actively involved in societal projects. She is an ambassador for the German music education project CJD Panorama in Germany, a regular collaborator with W20 Network as well as several international art focused conference (Abu Dhabi Culture Summit, Nordic Arts & Audience conference, etc.) Eldbjørg Hemsing plays a 1754 G. B. Guadagnini violin on kind loan from the Dextra Musica Foundation.

The ensemble Il pomo d'oro was founded in 2012. It is characterized by an authentic, dynamic interpretation of operas and instrumental works from the Baroque and Classical period. The musicians are all well-known specialists and are among the best in the field of historical performance practice. The ensemble so far worked with the conductors Riccardo Minasi, Maxim Emelyanychev, Stefano Montanari, George Petrou, Enrico Onofri and Francesco Corti. Concertmaster Zefira Valova leads the orchestra in various projects. Since 2016 Maxim Emelyanychev has been its chief conductor. Il pomo d'oro is a regular guest in prestigious concert halls and festivals all over Europe. With the program of the 2016 recording with Joyce DiDonato, »In War and Peace«, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev and awarded with an »ECHO Klassik« 2017, the orchestra is on tour worldwide. The discography of il pomo d'oro includes several opera recordings: Händel’s »Serse«, »Tamerlano«, »Partenope« and »Ottone«, Vinci’s »Catone in Utica«, recitals with the countertenors Jakub Józef Orliński, Franco Fagioli, Max Emanuel Cencic and Xavier Sabata, with mezzosopranos Ann Hallenberg and Joyce DiDonato and with sopranos Francesca Aspromonte and Emöke Barath. Among the instrumental albums the recordings of Haydn’s violin and harpsichord concertos as well as a cello album with Edgar Moreau received »ECHO Klassik« awards in 2016. In 2018/19 a number of new recordings were published: Handel Arias with Franco Fagioli, 17th century opera prologues with Francesca Aspromonte, Handel’s »Serse« with Franco Fagioli in the title role, »Anima Sacra« with Jakub Józef Orliński, J. S. Bach violin concerts with Shunske Sato, and Alessandro Stradella’s opera »La Doriclea«. At the occasion of Barbara Strozzi’s 400th birthday the album »Voglio Cantar« with soprano Emöke Barath was released in early 2019. Il pomo d’oro is official ambassador of El Sistema Greece, a humanitarian project to provide free musical education to children in Greek refugee camps. The name of the ensemble refers to Antonio Cesti's opera from the year 1666. Composed to the wedding celebrations of Emperor Leopold I, »Il Pomo d'Oro« was probably one of the most spectacular opera productions in the still young history of the genre.

Marek Janowski was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) from 2002 to 2015. Previously – to some extent simultaneously – he served, inter alia, as the music director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2005–2012), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (2000–2005) and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (1984–2000), which he developed into France’s top orchestra. In addition, he headed up the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne (1986–1990) and the Dresdner Philharmonie (2001–2003) for a number of years. Born in Warsaw in 1939, raised and educated in Germany, Marek Janowski’s creative path took him from Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg as general music director to Freiburg i. Br. and Dortmund. Since the late 1970s there is no opera house of international renown where he has not been a regular guest, from the Metropolitan Opera New York to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, from San Francisco to Hamburg, Vienna and Paris. On the concert circuit, on which he has concentrated since the late 1990s, he continues the great German conducting tradition. He ranks worldwide as an outstanding Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner and Strauss conductor, as well as an expert in the French repertoire. His leave-taking from opera was, however, only institutional in nature, not musical – thus, Marek Janowski is considered one of the most knowledgeable conductors for Richard Wagner’s music, now more than ever. With the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Rundfunkchor Berlin and a phalanx of international soloists, he performed the ten operas and music dramas of the Bavarian canon in concert performances in Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall between 2010 and 2013. All the concerts were released by Pentatone on SACD in cooperation with Deutschlandradio. More than 50 recordings, often winning internationally awards – including several complete opera recordings and complete symphonic cycles – have been contributing for over 35 years to making Marek Janowski’s particular capabilities as a conductor internationally known. In 2016 and 2017 Marek Janowski returned once again to the opera house, conducting the »Ring« at the Bayreuth Festival. In addition, he was invited by the NHK Symphony (Japan’s most important orchestra) from 2014 to 2017 to conduct concert performances of Wagner’s »Ring« tetralogy in Tokyo. He will also perform Wagner’s »Tristan und Isolde« in the spring of 2020 and his »Parsifal« in 2021 with this orchestra. Following recordings of »Cavalleria rusticana« und »Il Tabarro«, the two one-act plays by Mascagni and Puccini, with the Dresdner Philharmonie, a recording of Beethoven’s »Fidelio« for the label Pentatone will be produced in the 2019/20 season.

Berlin-based American soprano Robin Johannsen began her career as a young artist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, after which she joined Oper Leipzig. She has gone on to establish an international career both on the opera stage and in concert with a special affinity for the Baroque and Classical repertoires. Robin Johannsen has appeared at Theater an der Wien, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Athens’ Megaron, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro Regio di Torino, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Frankfurt, Vlaamse Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Komische Oper Berlin, and Bayreuth Festival, where roles have included Susanna (»Le nozze di Figaro«), Norina (»Don Pasquale«), Oscar (»Un ballo in maschera«), Venere/Giuturna (»Amor vien dal destino«), the title role in »Almira«, Soeur Constance (»Les dialogues des Carmélites«), Marzelline (Beethoven’s »Leonore»), Konstanze (»Die Entführung aus dem Serail«), Fiordiligi (»Così fan tutte«), the title role of Telemann’s »Emma und Eginhard«, and Adina (»L’elisir d’amore«). She has a close working relationship with René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester, and is a frequent guest with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Cetra Basel, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Concerto Köln, Academia Montis Regalis, and Belgium’s B’Rock. She has also collaborated with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Teodor Currentzis, Ottavio Dantone, Antonello Manacorda, Andrea Marcon, Alessandro De Marchi, Raphaël Pichon, Jérémie Rhorer, and Christian Thielemann. Recent and future highlights include debuts with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Haydn’s »Die Schöpfung« (Manfred Honeck), with the English Concert and Bach’s »St John Passion« (Harry Bickett), Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espana and Bach’s B Minor Mass (David Afkham), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and »Die Schöpfung« (Philippe Herreweghe) and Wiener Symphoniker and Bach's »Magnificat in D« (Philippe Jordan). Future tours include those with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, La Folia Barockorchester and with RIAS Kammerchor including a recording for Harmonia Mundi. On the opera platform she returns to Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin for Purcell’s »King Arthur«.

was born in Magdeburg in 1964 and began his musical education at the »Spezialschule für Musik« and in the »Rundfunkjugendchor« in Wernigerode. He studied choral and orchestral conducting in Weimar where he founded the successful Vocal Consort Weimar. He was engaged by two renowned boys’ choirs: by the Tölzer Knabenchor and by the Dresden Kreuzchor. From 1994 to 1996 he hold the position of Kreuzkantor. A great number of works belonging to the Central German musical treasury were made accessible and performed anew by him. Jung is also committed to the performance of contemporary vocal music, and a series of works by living composers was premiered by him. With the establishment of the annual »Robert-Schumann-Ehrung des Sächsischen Vocalensembles e.V.« in 2010, the romantic choral works habe become a prominent part of his concert schedule.He is musical director of the Sächsisches Vocalensemble (Saxon Vocal Ensemble) as well as of the Dresdner Motettenchor and the Knabenchor Dresden. He has conducted renowned ensembles including the radio choirs in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne, as well as the Biwako Hall Vocal Ensemble (Japan). He has made successful guest appearances in Europe, the USA and Japan. He is also a sought-after juror. His numerous CD recordings have been awarded the »Cannes Classical Award« and the »German Record Critic’s Award«, among others. Matthias Jung is also a recipient of the »Förderpreis für Kunst und Kultur der Landeshauptstadt Dresden.«

As organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman has appeared in the most prestigious concert halls of the world and played the most beautiful historical instruments of Europe. At the age of 25, he created his first baroque orchestra; in 1979 he founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed in 1992 by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir. Combined as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, the ensemble soon gained worldwide fame as one of the best ensembles on period instruments. With a repertoire ranging from the early Baroque to the late Classics, they have performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Théatre des Champs-Elysées and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Barbican and Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Philharmonie in Berlin, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo as well as in Brussels, Milan, Madrid, Rome, Salzburg, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Munich, Athens, etc. Among Ton Koopman’s most ambitious projects has been the recording of the complete Bach cantatas, a massive undertaking for which he has been awarded the German »ECHO Klassik«, the »BBC Award«, the Hector Berlioz Prize and has been nominated for the »Grammy Award« (USA) and the »Gramophone Award« (UK). In addition to the works of Bach, Koopman has long been an advocate of the music of Bach’s predecessor Dieterich Buxtehude and following the completion of the Bach project, he embarked in 2005 on the recording of the Buxtehude-Opera Omnia. The edition consists of 30 CDs, the last having been released in 2014. Ton Koopman is President of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society. In 2006 he was awarded the »Bach-Prize« of the City of Leipzig, in 2012 the »Buxtehude Prize« of the City of Lübeck, and in 2014 he received the »Bach Prize« of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2016 he received honorary professorships with the Musikhochschulen in Lübeck and in Linz, futhermore he became Honorary Artistic Advisor of Guangzhou Opera House. In November 2017 Koopman received the prestigious »Edison Classical Award«. Since 2019 he is President of the Leipzig Bach Archive.

Combining brilliance and mischief, Patricia Kopatchinskaja always brings a sense of humour and theatrics to her music. Whether performing a violin concerto by Tchaikovsky, Ligeti or Schoenberg or presenting an original staged project deconstructing works by Beethoven, Ustwolskaja or Cage, her distinctive approach can always be found.   Highlights of the 2019/20 season include: European tours with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer, London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle and a Far-East Tour with Teodor Currentzis.
Special highlights include the world premiere of a new commission by Francisco Coll with Philharmonie Luxembourg and a new collaboration with soprano, Anna Prohaska and Camerata Bern. »Maria Mater Meretrix« includes works by Kurtag, Martin and Holst and amongst others, will tour to Cologne, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Kopatchinskaja appears regularly with artists such as: Polina Leschenko with whom she toured recently to Japan and the U.S; Reto Bieri, with whom she premiered a new trio programme at the Wigmore Hall (with Leschenko) which will tour this season and cellist Jay Campbell, whom she will join in January 2020 for recitals in Washington, Boston, Santa Barbara and San Francisco.
In addition to her regular performance schedule, Kopatchinskaja continues to curate interesting and original projects including her most recent, »Pierrot Lunaire«, which was performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker this summer and followed the success of »Dies Irae« and »Bye Bye Beethoven«. 
Kopatchinskaja is also a humanitarian ambassador for Terre des Hommes, the leading Swiss child relief agency. Kopatchinskaja was awarded the »Swiss Grand Award for Music« by the Federal Office of Culture for Switzerland in 2017 and has held positions as Artist in Residence at various festivals including Lucerne (2017) and Ojai (2018). In 2018 she won a »Grammy Award« in the Best Chamber and Small Ensemble Performance category for »Death and the Maiden« with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Alpha).
Recent releases include Michael Hersch’s Violin Concerto recorded with International Contemporary Ensemble and »Deux«, a duo recital disc with Polina Leschenko. Forthcoming recordings include her first release with Camerata Bern, »Time and Eternity« (Alpha) due for release in autumn 2019.

To date, the office of Kreuzkantor (director of the choir) is one of the most prestigious and renowned offices in Protestant church music. The 28th Kreuzkantor since the Reformation is Roderich Kreile, who has been in office since 1997. He was born in 1956 and studied church music and choral conducting in Munich. As a church musician, Roderich Kreile soon received widespread attention beyond regional borders. He taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich between 1989 and 1996, his last position there being one of professor, and he conducted two university choirs. In 1994, he also took on the position of conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Choir. In addition, he accepted invitations to play the organ and to give lectures both in Germany and abroad. Kreuzkantor Roderich Kreile conducts all liturgical performances as well as the concerts and tours given by the Dresden Kreuzchor. He has developed a wide repertoire of religious and secular choral works with the Crucians from the history of music and has conducted many world premieres of contemporary compositions over the last years. He has also increased co-operation with world-famous orchestras and produced numerous radio and CD recordings. Whereas in earlier centuries, the Kreuzkantor’s duties were mostly limited to conducting music for the liturgical services, his tasks today extend far beyond the purely artistic responsibilities. As head of the Dresden Kreuzchor, Roderich Kreile also acts as a director on behalf of the city. Roderich Kreile is a member of the Saxon Academy of Arts, Vice-President of the Neue Bachgesellschaft (New Bach Society) and a member of the board of advisors for the International Heinrich Schütz Society. In 2012 he was awarded the Constitutional Medal of the Free State of Saxony in recognition of his work.

Driven by his strikingly uncompromising artistic philosophy, Gidon Kremer has established a worldwide reputation as one of his generation’s most original and compelling artists. His repertoire encompasses standard classical scores and music by leading twentieth and twenty-first century composers. He has championed the works of Russian and Eastern European composers and performed many important new compositions, several of which have been dedicated to him. His name is closely associated with such composers as Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Luigi Nono, Edison Denisov, Aribert Reimann, Pēteris Vasks, John Adams, Victor Kissine, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, Leonid Desyatnikov and Astor Piazzolla, whose works he performs in ways that respect tradition while being fully alive to their freshness and originality. It is fair to say that no other soloist of comparable international stature has done more to promote the cause of contemporary composers and new music for violin. Gidon Kremer has recorded over 120 albums, many of which have received prestigious international awards in recognition of their exceptional interpretative insights. His long list of honours and awards include the »Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis«, the Bundesverdienstkreuz, Moscow’s »Triumph Prize«, the »UNESCO Prize« and the »Una Vita Nella Musica – Artur Rubinstein« Prize. In 2016 Gidon Kremer has received a »Praemium Imperiale«. In 1997 Gidon Kremer founded the chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica to foster outstanding young musicians from the Baltic States. The ensemble tours extensively, and has recorded almost 30 albums. In 2016/17 Kremerata Baltica was on landmark tours through Middle East, North America, Europe, and Asia to celebrate the orchestra’s 20th anniversary. In the current season, Gidon Kremer will be honoured at the Konzerthaus Berlin with a major »Homage to Gidon Kremer« with over 15 events. He himself pays tribute to the revered composer Weinberg on his 100th anniversary with concerts in Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Linz, Warsaw, Seattle and San Francisco. Deutsche Grammophon is releasing two albums with orchestral and chamber music works by Weinberg, recorded by and with Gidon Kremer.

Donna Leon, born in New Jersey in 1942, has lived outside the USA since 1965 and worked as a travel guide in Rome, as a copywriter in London, and also taught at American schools in Switzerland, Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. Commissario Brunetti made her books world-famous. Many of them were successfully filmed. Donna Leon lived in Italy for many years, and although she now lives in Switzerland, she often visits Venice. Among her recent awards are a »Lifetime Achievement Award« by the »Strand Magazine« (2019), the »B.Z.-Kulturpreis« of the »Berliner Zeitung« and a »Premio Pepe Carvalho« by the City of Barcelona (2016).

Fabio Luisi is Music Director Designate of the Dallas Symphony, General Music Director of the Zurich Opera, Chief Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Designate of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He was Principal Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (2011-2017); prior to this he served as Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (2005-2013), GMD of the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Saxon State Opera (2007-2010), Music Director and Principal Conductor of the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig (1999-2007), Music Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (1997-2002) and of the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna (1995-2000). Fabio Luisi is also Music Director of the Festival della Valle d’Itriain Martina Franca (Apulia, Italy) and he is guest conductor of several major ensembles including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the NHK Tokyo, the Munich Philharmonic, the Filarmonica della Scala, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Saito Kinen Orchestra and in all major opera houses worldwide. Luisi’s CD recordings to date include operas such as Verdi’s »Aroldo«, »Alzira« and »Jerusalem« and Bellini’s »I Puritani« and »I Capuleti e i Montecchi«, all of Schumann’s and Honegger’s symphonies, and the symphonies and the oratorio »Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln« by the largely forgotten Austrian composer Franz Schmidt. He has also recorded various symphonic poems by Richard Strauss and an acclaimed performance of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony together with the Staatskapelle Dresden (which was awarded the 2009 »ECHO Klassik«). His recordings of Wagner’s »Siegfried« and »Götterdämmerung« with the MET Orchestra earned him a »Grammy«; in 2013 he won Italy’s coveted »Premio Franco Abbiati«. In 2014 he was awarded the »Grifo d’Oro« by the City of Genoa. The Philharmonia Zurich’s new Philharmonia Records label has also issued several recordings with Luisi at the rostrum, including CDs of works by Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Rachmaninov, Bruckner, Rimsky-Korsakov and Frank Martin. Fabio Luisi is the holder of the »Bruckner Ring« awarded by the Wiener Symphoniker, and is also Cavaliere of the Italian Republic and Commedatore of the Ordine della Stella.

For four decades, bass-baritone Klaus Mertens’ performances encompassing early music through to the avant-garde, both in concert and on his more than 200 CD recordings, have been praised by the press as »gleaming supernaturally« (klassik.com), »wonderfully lean, with clear declamation« (MDR Figaro) and »unchangedly fresh and incredibly homogenous« (klassik.com). The possibilities of his voice and his awareness of being a »medium« in the creative act of an interpretation striving to be as authentic as possible make him one of the outstanding performers of his discipline. Early music is of particular importance in his artistic work, his natural baroque expression having been applauded across diverse national styles and repertories. A highlight and unique characteristic of his career is the recording series of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach as well as performing them in concerts across the globe. It is unique in recording history for a singer to perform, in such an integral recording project, all parts of their voice type. The same holds true for the recording of the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude, published a little later. Both recording series were made together with the splendid Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, conducted by Ton Koopman. He and his wife Tini Mathot – the producer of all these discs – have been close colleagues and friends of Klaus Mertens for four decades. Apart from Ton Koopman, Klaus Mertens has worked with nearly all renowned early music conductors as well as many international conductors of »modern« orchestras. He is a popular guest performer at major international festivals. For his own CD and concert projects, Klaus Mertens always strives to revive valuable long-lost or unknown works. He also passionately dedicates himself to music of the Renaissance, classical and romantic eras, as well as of contemporary composers, some of whom have written pieces especially for him. The Lied in its manifold varieties plays an important role and Mertens also enjoys novel, experimental forms of music-making, as well as increasingly taking on speaking parts.

Austrian tenor Martin Mitterrutzner was trained by Brigitte Fassbaender. He had his first experience on stage aged ten as First Boy in Mozart’s Magic Flute. In 2007 he was awarded the »Eberhard-Wächter Medal« of the Vienna State Opera. Martin Mitterrutzner was member of Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck before he joined the ensemble of Frankfurt Opera in the 2011/12 season. In 2011 he guested as Tamino in Mozart’s »Magic Flute« at Zurich’s Opera House. After his debut as Brighella in Strauss’ »Ariadne auf Naxos« under Daniel Harding at the Salzburg Festival in 2012, he gave another guest performance in summer 2013, this time as Ferrando in Sven Erich Bechtolf’s new production of »Così fan tutte« with Christoph Eschenbach on the rostrum. In 2016, Martin made his debut at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien in a new production of Don Giovanni. Since 2014, Martin Mitterrutzner has been a regular guest at Dresden’s Semperoper. The current focal point of his singing is definitely in the operatic field; however, Martin Mitterrutzner also possesses a wide musical repertoire, stretching from the works of Bach and Handel to contemporary composers such as Benjamin Britten and Sven David Sandström. He was a guest performer at concerts by the Munich Radio Orchestra under Jun Märkl, the Internationale Bachakademie with Helmuth Rilling, the MDR Choir under Howard Arman, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra, the Hessische Staatsorchester under Marc Piollet and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano as well as the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. The 2019/20 season sees Martin return to Dresden’s Semperoper as Tamino, star as Narraboth in a new staging of »Salome« at the Theater an der Wien and as Rosillion in Lehar’s »Merry Widow« at Vienna’s Volksoper as well as debut at the Glyndebourne Festival. Furthermore, he returns -together with Gerold Huber and a new recital program- to London’s Wigmore Hall and the Schubertiade Hohenems and can be heard in various concerts in Munich, Dresden, Linz or Kaiserslautern.

The Munich Philharmonic was founded in 1893, and since then, under the direction of renowned conductors, it has vastly enriched Munich’s musical life. Gustav Mahler conducted the orchestra in the world premières of his 4th and 8th Symphonies, and in November 1911, the world première of Mahler’s »Das Lied von der Erde« took place under Bruno Walter’s direction. Ferdinand Löwe led the first Bruckner concerts and established the orchestra’s Bruckner tradition, which was then gloriously continued by Siegmund von Hausegger and Oswald von Kabasta. During the Rudolf Kempe era the Philharmonic made its first tour to what was then the U.S.S.R. The legendary Bruckner concerts with general music director Sergiu Celibidache made a major contribution to the orchestra’s international reputation. The Munich Philharmonic made Zubin Mehta the first »conductor laureate« in the orchestra’s history. For the 100ths anniversary of the première of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Munich, chief conductor Christian Thielemann conducted two performances of this work. He was succeeded as chief conductor by Lorin Maazel, who held the position until his death in 2014. As of the 2015/16 season, the position of chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic is held by Valery Gergiev. Tours have taken the Munich Philharmonic to numerous European cities as well as Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and the USA. Programme highlights conceived by Valery Gergiev include performances of symphonic cycles by Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov as well as new formats, such as the MPHIL 360° festival. Concerts are regularly broadcast via live stream and on radio and TV. In September 2016, the first CD recordings under the orchestra’s own label, »MPHIL«, were released. By the 2020/21 season, all of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies will gradually be released. With »Spielfeld Klassik«, the Munich Philharmonic has developed a comprehensive music education programme for young and old. Under the motto of »MPhil on Site«, the Munich Philharmonic also leaves its home base, the Philharmonie Gasteig, to appear in unusual and varied locations, such as the Hofbräuhaus tavern as well as alpine meadows, clubs and industrial halls.

has a unique place on today’s music scene. Following the tradition of great masters such as Rachmaninov, Busoni and Enescu, Mustonen combines the roles of his musicianship as composer, pianist and conductor in an equal balance that is quite exceptional. During an illustrious career spanning 35 years, Mustonen has brought his extraordinary musical insight to many of world’s most significant musical centres, whether it be in a triple role or as soloist, conductor, recitalist or chamber musician. His intelligence and inspiring presence have led him towards many close musical connections with some of today’s most eminent musicians, and appearances with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, Royal Concertgebouw Orkest, Orchestre de Paris and all the London orchestras. Mustonen’s life as a composer is at the heart of his piano playing and conducting. He has a deeply held conviction that each performance must have the freshness of a first performance, so that audience and performer alike encounter the composer as a living contemporary. As a conductor, Mustonen has worked with all the major Finnish orchestras and many more around the globe. In recent years, Mustonen has conducted the world premieres of both of his large-scale orchestral works: Symphony No.1 »Tuuri« with the Tampere Philharmonic in 2012; and Symphony No.2 »Johannes Angelos« with the Helsinki Philharmonic in 2014. Under Mustonen’s baton, the 1st Symphony has gone on to receive further performances around the world. Mustonen also conducted the world premiere of his Sonata for Violin and Orchestra in 2014 with the Melbourne Symphony, and last season conducted the work with the Helsinki Philharmonic. As a recitalist, Mustonen works regularly with Pekka Kuusisto, with whom he premiered his Violin Sonata in 2013, and Steven Isserlis. One of Mustonen’s important musical friendships is with Rodion Shchedrin, who dedicated his Piano Concerto No. 5 to Mustonen and invited him to perform at his 70th, 75th and 80th birthday concerts.

Established at the Korean National University of Arts in 2007, the Novus String Quartet is one of the leading chamber music ensembles in Korea, and first caused a sensation in Europe in 2012 when they earned the Second Prize in the string quartet category at the renowned ARD Music Competition. Two years later the quartet crowned itself with the First Prize at the Salzburg Mozart Competition. Ever since the quartet is filling the international concert halls and inspires audience and critics likewise. One year after its founding, the quartet celebrated inaugural success at the International Chamber Music Competition Osaka, where the musicians were awarded 3rd Prize. One year later, the quartet received also the 3rd Prize at the 2009 Chamber Music Competition in Lyon. From 2011 to 2014, the Novus String Quartet studied with the Christoph Poppen and Hariolf Schlichtig at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and in the season of 2014/15 at the Hochschule für Musik in Lübeck with Heime Müller, former member of the Artemis Quartet. Since June 2015, the Belcea Quartet has been the mentor of the Novus String Quartet. Their first CD, »Novus Quartet #1«, was released at the French Label Aparté in Spring 2016, presenting works from Beethoven, Webern and the rarely played Korean composer Isang Yun. The 2nd recording including Tchaikovsky’s 1st string quartet as well as the sextet »Souvenir de Florence« was released in Autumn 2017, followed by the recording of the string quartet with Berg’s Lyric Suite and Schubert’s quartet »Death and the Maiden« in the Spring of 2019 which was chosen as »sélection album« by »Le Monde« in January 2019. The 2019/2020 season will see them perform at the Stuttgarter Liederhalle, the Wigmore Hall London, the De Single Antwerp, the Auditório Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Louvre Paris and at the Bayerische Rundfunk in Munich. In addition festival concerts at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the Rheingau Musik Festival as well as the Wissembourg Festival are in their schedule.

Called »a vocalist of unerring instinct« by the »New York Times«, Aoife O’Donovan is one of the most sought after vocalists and songwriters of her generation and her career has allowed her to collaborate with some of the most eminent names in music across a wide variety of genres. The most recent example is I’m With Her, the band comprised of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and O’Donovan. Their debut album »See You Around«, released in February 2018, has garnered praise from »NPR«, who instantly hailed the collection as »willfully open-hearted«, and »The Guardian« called their sound both »ethereal and purposeful«. As a solo artist, O’Donovan has released two studio albums. »In the Magic Hour« (2016), a 10-song album full of the singer’s honeyed vocals mixed with gauzy, frictionless sounds: splashing cymbals, airy harmonies, and the leisurely baritone musings of an electric guitar. »Mojo« described the record as »exhilarating and exploratory«, while the »New York Times« named »The King of All Birds« one of the Best Songs of 2016. Aoife toured 2016 in support of the album and ended that year releasing a live album »Man In A Neon Coat: Live From Cambridge« with her touring band. Her debut solo album, 2013’s »Fossils«, is a moody collection of original songs with a country lilt. The record received critical acclaim and was featured on a number of »Best of 2013« lists including »NPR Music«, »American Songwriter«, »New York Magazine«, and »No Depression«. O’Donovan spent the preceding decade as co-founder and lead singer of the band Crooked Still, and as a featured vocalist on »The Goat Rodeo Sessions«, the Grammy-winning album by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. Throughout her career, she has also collaborated with artists such as Alison Krauss and jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas, and is currently a member of the house band on the radio variety show »Live From Here«. Spring 2020 will bring a new program from Aoife entitled »Songs and Strings« where, alongside a string quartet, she will perform the song cycle »Bull Frogs Croon«. Written and developed with Jeremy Kittel and Teddy Abrams, the piece uses stunning text by the late and former Poet Laureate of Oregon, Peter Sears, which premiered in 2015 at the Britt Festival. The remainder of the evening will mix songs from her expansive career with a few traditional favorites.

is Chief Conductor of both the BBC Symphony (BBCSO) and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (RSPO) orchestras. A guest conductor at the highest international level and a prolific recording artist, his performances combine structural cohesion with authority, elegance and passionate delivery. Guest engagements during the 2019/20 season include returns to the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of recent seasons include concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker – in 2018 he conducted the European premiere of Brett Dean’s new Cello Concerto, performed by Alban Gerhardt – NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras. 2019/20 marks Oramo’s sixth and twelfth season with the BBCSO and the RSPO respectively. With both orchestras he continues to champion new and rarely performed works – including William Alwyn’s opera »Miss Julie«, Betsy Jolas’ »Onze Lieder«, and the world premiere of Victoria Borisova-Ollas’ Violin Concerto (performed by Baiba Skride) – presenting them alongside stalwarts such as Mendelssohn’s »Elijah« and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (with Håkan Hardenberger) with the BBCSO, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 (with Beatrice Rana) and Mozart’s Symphony No.40 with the RSPO. The season also includes tours with the RSPO to Germany and the UK, and with the BBCSO concerts in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Dresden and Prague. Oramo is a regular conductor at the BBC Proms, and during the summer of 2019 he conducted several with the BBCSO and Chorus – including the Last Night of the Proms, which he has previously conducted in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Recording successes include the »BBC Music Magazine’s Orchestral Award« for Nielsen Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, which completes their highly acclaimed Nielsen cycle on the BIS label, and a »Gramophone Award« nomination in the Orchestral category for Rued Langgaard Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6 and Jacob Gade’s »Tango Jalousie« with the Vienna Philharmonic and soprano Anu Komsi.

In more than 40 years of performing on the concert stage, American pianist Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time, working with all of the major international music centres and every leading orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured as conductor and pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. Born in New York, Mr. Perahia started playing the piano at the age of four and later attended Mannes College where he majored in conducting and composition. His summers were spent at the Marlboro Festival, where he collaborated with musicians such as Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals, and the members of the Budapest String Quartet. During this time, he also studied with Mieczysław Horszowski. In subsequent years, he developed a close friendship with Vladimir Horowitz, whose perspective and personality were an enduring inspiration. In 1972, Murray Perahia won the Leeds International Piano Competition, and in 1973, he gave his first concert at the Aldeburgh Festival, where he worked closely with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, accompanying the latter in many Lieder recitals. He was co-artistic director of the Festival from 1981 to 1989. Murray Perahia has a wide and varied discography. He is the recipient of two »Grammy Awards« and several »Gramophone Awards« including the inaugural »Piano Award« in 2012. Recently, Murray Perahia embarked on an ambitious project to edit the complete Beethoven Sonatas for the Henle Urtext Edition. He also produced and edited numerous hours of recordings of recently-discovered master classes by the legendary pianist Alfred Cortot, which resulted in the highly acclaimed Sony CD release »Alfred Cortot: The Master Classes«. Murray Perahia is an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, and he holds honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School, Oxford University, the Royal College of Music, Leeds University, and Duke University. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary »Knight Commander of the British Empire« by The Queen, in recognition of his outstanding service to music.

Finnish accordion adventurist Kimmo Pohjonen has revolutionized accordion music, sound and performance with an international career going back to the mid 1990s. Pohjonen has developed his own custom made electrified instrument that includes effects, MIDI and other electronics. His recordings feature dynamic compositions with bold, new and awe-inspiring accordion sounds while his performances feature surround sound and light show combined to make a unique and captivating experience. His latest album »Sensitive Skin« (Octopus / Ondine, 2015) with all new Pohjonen compositions features special guests Tuomas Norvio (electronics), Kronos Quartet (string quartet), Samuli Kosminen (drums, percussion), Timo Kämäräinen (guitar, bouzouki), Sami Kuoppamäki (drums), Inka and Saana Pohjonen (vocals), Arto Järvelä (nyckelharpa), Ismo Alanko (vocals), Lauri Porra (bass), Timo Alakotila (Kronos arrangements) and more. Kimmo Pohjonen’s recent projects include »Ultra Organ«, commissioned by Kölner Philharmonie. Co-composer is Tuomas Norvio with arrangements by Pohjonen, organist Mikko Helenius and sound designer Norvio. For »Ultra Organ«, Pohjonen has invented a totally new instrument whereby the organ sounds are re-created electronically through his accordion. »Ultra Organ« was premiered at Köln Philharmonie in 2017 and was performed in 2018 at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Pohjonen performs worldwide as solo artist and in many ensembles and projects such as Kimmo Pohjonen Skin trio with Inka Pohjonen and Saana Pohjonen, Uniko with Kronos Quartet or Proton String Quartet, KTU with Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto (of King Crimson), Bright Shadow with Finnish ballet dancer Minna Tervamäki and more. He has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals including David Bowie’s Meltdown and Patti Smith’s Meltdown (London), the Proms at Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican in London, Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall in New York and more. The documentary film about Pohjonen, »Soundbreaker«, premiered in 2012, has been shown in over thirty countries and in over fifty German cities’ cinemas. In 2016 Kimmo Pohjonen was awarded from the Finnish government the State Prize for Multidisciplinary Arts for outstanding achievement of high quality art, experimentation and diverse projects in multiple art forms.

Hong-Kong born pianist Tiffany Poon has appeared with orchestras and in recital throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and China since she was first accepted to the Juilliard pre-college program at the age of eight. In addition to performing, she also devotes her time to making videos on YouTube, where she shares insights of her life as a musician with the goal to peel back the curtain on classical music. This season, Tiffany Poon will debut at the Mozarteum with the Philharmonie Salzburg under conductor Elisabeth Fuchs. She will return to Germany for recitals in Münster and Bielefeld, play at the KlavierOlymp of the Festival Kissinger Sommer, and will perform a chamber music recital in Bologna with acclaimed cellist Jan Vogler. In the autumn of 2019, Tiffany makes her Gilmore Keyboard Festival Rising Star debut in Michigan. Recent seasons have seen Tiffany perform celebrated recitals as part of the Klavierfestival Ruhr, the Rheingau Musikfestival’s KlassikMarathon, and the Huayi Festival at Singapore’s Esplanade Theaters by the Bay. She was a fellow of the Bohème 2020 program at the Dresden Music Festival, where her participation focused on fusing her social media know-how with live concert performances, and she performed in the 2019 Moritzburg Festival. Her social media following of over 100,000 subscribers has led to unique opportunities including having a drink named after her as part of Minnesota Public Radio’s 2018 Holiday Insta-Drinks Series for Performance Today with Fred Child. Through her »Get Ready With Me« videos and her practice vlogs, she has created an online community which rallies around classical music, growth, and her desire for her community to »Keep Striving.« Tiffany received a full scholarship from the Columbia University / Juilliard School exchange program and studied piano with Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein. She was named a John Jay Scholar by Columbia University for her outstanding academic and artistic achievements. In May 2018, she graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. In 2014, Tiffany was named »National YoungArts Winner« in the United States. Her awards include first prize and »Best Performance of Concerto Award« at the 8th Moscow International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in 2012. Most recently, she won second prize at the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation International Competition.

The Quatuor Van Kuijk’s international accolades boast First, Best Beethoven and Best Haydn Prizes at the 2015 »Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition«, First Prize and an Audience Award at the »Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition«, as well as becoming laureates of the »Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy«. They were »BBC New Generation Artists« from 2015-2017 and joined the prestigious »ECHO Rising Stars« roster for the 2017/2018 season. Following such high success early in their career, the ensemble is an established presence at major international venues, performing at the Wigmore Hall in London, Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorium du Louvre, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Tonhalle in Zurich, Wiener Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Berliner Philharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Tivoli Concert Series in Denmark, Konserthuset Stockholm, and at festivals including the BBC Proms, Cheltenham, Heidelberg, Lockenhaus, Davos, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier/Radio France, Evian, Auvers-sur-Oise, Stavanger, Concentus Moraviae, Haydn/Esterházy in Fertod, and Eilat. Further afield, they tour each season to North America and will make their Carnegie Hall debut this season. May 2020 will see them return to Australia with debut appearances at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, and UKARIA in Adelaide alongside a residency at the Canberra International Music Festival. Following a celebrated tour to China, Japan, and Taiwan last season they will return to each country in 2021. The Quatuor Van Kuijk records exclusively for Alpha Classics. Their debut recording, »Mozart«, was released to outstanding critical acclaim and won a »Choc de Classic« and »Diapson d’or« – and followed by a CD of French music. Last season, they presented a highly anticipated disc of Schubert’s 10th and 14th Quartets, which is followed this autumn by two further Mozart discs, featuring the String Quartets K421 and 387, and Viola Quintets K515 and 516 with Adrien La Marca. The Quatuor Van Kuijk was resident at Proquartet, Paris, where they studied with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis and Hagen quartets. Having taken their first steps as students of the Ysaÿe Quartet, the young musicians have worked with Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Mùsica Reina Sofia in Madrid; supported generously by the International Institute of Chamber Music of Madrid. The Quatuor Van Kuijk is supported by Pirastro and SPEDIDAM and is grateful to Mécénat Musical Société Générale for their sponsorship.

The conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann is an exceptionally versatile artist with a wide-ranging repertoire, who devotes himself with equal passion to the performance and rediscovery of early music and to the premiering and promotion of contemporary music. Born in Dresden and raised in Schwarzenberg (Saxony), he was influenced from an early age by the great central German tradition of music and church music directors. He was a member of the famous Kreuzchor, and studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Musikhochschule Dresden. During his studies he founded the Dresdner Kammerchor, developing it into a top international choir; he remains its director today. Impressive evidence of the quality of this artistic collaboration is the highly-acclaimed recording of the Complete Works of Heinrich Schütz on the Stuttgart Carus-Verlag label, which reaches its conclusion in 2018. Since June 2013 Hans-Christoph Rademann has also been Akademie Director of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart. In addition he works with leading choirs and ensembles on the international concert scene. From 1999 to 2004 he was chief conductor of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Chorus, and from 2007 to 2015 chief conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor. Regular invitations as a guest conductor take him to the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Akademie für Alte Musik, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Concerto Köln, the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, etc. Hans-Christoph Rademann has received numerous prizes and honours for his artistic work. These include the »Johann Walter Plakette« of the Sächsischer Musikrat (2014), the Saxon Constitutional Medal (2008), the Patrons’ Award and Art Prize of the City of Dresden (1994 and 2014), and the »Preis der Europäischen Kirchenmusik« Schwäbisch Gmünd (2016). He has received many awards for his numerous CD recordings including the »Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik« (German Record Critics’ Award; most recently in 2016), the »Grand Prix du Disque« (2002), the »Diapason d’Or« (2006 and 2011), the »Choc« of the year 2011, the »Baroque Vocal Award« 2014, amongst others. Since 2000 Hans-Christoph Rademann has been Professor of Choral Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. He is also Artistic Director of the Erzgebirge Music Festival.

was born in 1978 in Rudolstadt, Thuringia and grew up in East Berlin. At the age of 6 she started playing the accordion and in her teenage years she added piano and singing lessons as she pursued a musical career and aspired to become an opera singer. Discovered by accident at the age of 13 for a lead role in a television movie, she has been playing in more than 80 television and cinema productions since then. Her most famous part has been the character of »Signorina Elettra« in the film adaptations of Donna Leon‘s »Commissario Brunetti« crime novels, which have been shot in Venice, Italy, since 1999. In 2018 she joined the main cast of the German hit series »In aller Freundschaft« starring as Doctor Maria Weber. Her theatrical career started in 1998 when Peter Zadek casted Renneberg for the Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill opera »Mahagonny« at the Salzburg Festival. Continuing her career under Zadek’s direction, she played the Ophelia in »Hamlet«, the Solveig in »Peer Gynt« and the Ersilia in »Naked«. In 2008 she played the part of Kriemhild at the Nibelungen Festival in Worms under the direction of Dr. Dieter Wedel. Returning to Salzburg in 2016, she played the Queen of the Night in the new staging of the Thomas Bernhard’s play »The Ignorant and the Mad« which was directed by Gerd Heinz at the Salzburg Festival. The production was also brought to the stage for one season at the Vienna Burgtheater. In 2005 Renneberg started her own stage programs consisting of musical elements and readings.
Since 2007, she has been accompanying Donna Leon on her reading tours through German-speaking countries. The television production »Die Wölfe« starring Annett Renneberg received the »International Emmy Award« for best TV Movie/Mini-Series. In addition, the actress was nominated for the »Telestar« and received the »Goldene Kamera«. Annett Renneberg lives in Mecklenburg with her husband and two sons together with sheep, chickens and geese.

Katja Riemann was born and raised near Bremen. She is an actor and singer. She studied contemporary dance and acting in Hamburg, Hanover and Munich. In 1987 she had her first theatre engagement at the Kammerspiele in Munich, then at the Schiller – Theater in Berlin. Since 1993 she is a freelance artist. She had many appearances in movies and on TV, as in 1987 in Peter Bauvais’ movie »Summer in Lesmona« for which she was awarded a »Adolf-Grimme-Preis«. Since then she was awarded with the »Deutsche Filmpreis« three times, three times with the »Bayerische Filmpreis«, the »Ernst-Lubitsch-Preis«, twice with a »Bambi« and a »Goldene Kamera«. She was awarded with a »Golden Lion« for starring in Margarethe von Trotta’s movie »Rosenstraße« in 2003 and with a »Goldene Schallplatte« for writing the soundtrack of the movie »Bandits« together with Jasmin Tabatabai.

Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and thus steeped in tradition. Over its long history many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this one-time court orchestra. Previous directors include Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. The list of prominent conductors of the last 100 years includes Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Blomstedt and Giuseppe Sinopoli. The orchestra was directed by Bernard Haitink from 2002-2004 and most recently by Fabio Luisi from 2007-2010. Principal Conductor since the 2012/2013 season has been Christian Thielemann. In 2016 the former Principal Conductor Herbert Blomstedt received the title Conductor Laureate. The only person to previously hold this title was Sir Colin Davis, from 1990 until his death in 2013. Myung-Whun Chung has been Principal Guest Conductor since the 2012/2013 season.
Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle were closely linked for more than sixty years. Nine of the composer’s operas were premiered in Dresden, including »Salome«, »Elektra« and »Der Rosenkavalier«, while Strauss’s »Alpine Symphony« was dedicated to the orchestra. Countless other famous composers have written works either dedicated to the orchestra or first performed in Dresden. In 2007 the Staatskapelle reaffirmed this tradition by introducing the annual position of »Capell-Compositeur«. Following on from Hans Werner Henze, Sofia Gubaidulina, Wolfgang Rihm, György Kurtág, Arvo Pärt and Peter Eötvös, the German composer Aribert Reimann holds this title for the 2019/2020 season. As »Capell-Virtuos« the cellist Sol Gabetta takes part in various concerts.
The Staatskapelle’s home is the Semperoper, where it performs around 250 operas and ballets each season. In addition, the ensemble presents another 50 symphonic and chamber concerts at the opera house, as well as playing at various musical events at Dresden’s Frauenkirche. As one of the world’s most celebrated and popular symphony orchestras, the Staatskapelle regularly travels abroad to the world’s leading classical venues. Since 2013 it has been the resident orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival, whose Artistic Director is Christian Thielemann.
As patron orchestra of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the Staatskapelle supports the nurturing of young talent. Also active at the local level, it is a partner of Meetingpoint Music Messiaen in the double city of Görlitz-Zgorzelec and, in 2010, helped found the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch, which is the first annual event dedicated to the music and life of Dmitri Shostakovich.
At a ceremony in Brussels in 2007 the Staatskapelle became the first – and so far only – orchestra to be awarded the »European Prize for the Preservation of the World’s Musical Heritage«.

The Schumann Quartet has reached a stage where anything is possible, because it has dispensed with certainties. This also has consequences for audiences, which from one concert to the next have to be prepared for all eventualities: »A work really develops only in a live performance,« the quartet says. »That is ›the real thing‹, because we ourselves never know what will happen. On the stage, all imitation disappears, and you automatically become honest with yourself. Then you can create a bond with the audience – communicate with it in music.« This live situation will gain an added energy in the near future: Sabine Meyer, Menahem Pressler, Andreas Ottensamer and Anna Lucia Richter are among the quartet's current partners. A highlight in the 19/20 season is its three-year residency at the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center in New York City, which began back in December 2016. Furthermore, the quartet will go on tour twice in the US, will give guest performances at festivals in Germany, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands and will also perform concerts in the big musical metropolises of London, Munich, Madrid, Hamburg and Berlin. In addition, the ensemble is part of the opera production »Inferno« at Opera Frankfurt and is looking forward to their annual concerts as part of its long-term residency at the Robert-Schumann-Saal in Düsseldorf.
Its album »Intermezzo« has been hailed enthusiastically both at home and abroad and received the award »OPUS Klassik«. It is celebrated as a worthy successor to its award-winning »Landscapes« album, in which in which the quartet traces its own roots by combining works of Haydn, Bartók, Takemitsu and Pärt. Among other prices, the latter received the Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, five »Diapason d’or« and was selected as »Editor's Choice« by the »BBC Music Magazine«. For its previous CD »Mozart Ives Verdi«, the Schumann Quartet was accorded the 2016 »Newcomer Award» at the BBC Music Magazine Awards in London.
The three brothers Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann have been playing together since their earliest childhood. In 2012, they were joined by violist Liisa Randalu, who was born in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and grew up in Karlsruhe, Germany. Although the individual personalities clearly manifest themselves, a common space arises in every musical work in a process of spiritual metamorphosis. The quartet's openness and curiosity may be partly the result of the formative influence exerted on it by teachers such as Eberhard Feltz, the Alban Berg Quartet, or partners such as Menahem Pressler. Teachers and musical partners, prestigious prices, CD releases – it is always tempting to speculate on what factors have led to many people viewing the Schumann Quartet as one of the best in the world. They charmingly sidestep any attempt to categorise their sound, approach or style, and let the concerts speak for themselves.

is one of the foremost violinists of our time: his flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit has solidified his renown as an American master. The »Grammy Award«-winner, also named »Musical America’s» »Instrumentalist of the Year,« is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals. Highlights of recent years include the acclaimed recording and performances of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin. In the coming seasons in addition to championing these solo works he will join his long time duo partner pianist, Akira Eguchi in recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Appearances with orchestra regularly include the Berlin Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and San Francisco Symphony as well as multi-year residencies with the Orchestras of Montreal, SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart and Singapore. Mr. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, earning multiple »Grammys«, a »Grand Prix du Disque«, »Diapason d’Or«, and »Gramophone Editor’s Choice«. Many of these recordings appear on Canary Classics, the label he founded in 2004. His CDs include »1930s Violin Concertos«, »Virtuoso Violin Works«, Elgar’s Violin Concerto, »Hebrew Melodies«, »The Butterfly Lovers« and many more. His most recent recording in the series »1930s Violin Concertos Vol. 2«, including Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto and Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2 was nominated for a »Grammy Award«. Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music at the age of 7, receiving annual scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic, and the following year, took the first prize in Israel's Claremont Competition. He then became a scholarship student at Juilliard, and also studied at Columbia University. Mr. Shaham was awarded an »Avery Fisher Career Grant« in 1990, and in 2008, received the coveted »Avery Fisher Prize«. In 2012, he was named »Instrumentalist of the Year« by »Musical America«. He plays the 1699 »Countess Polignac« Stradivarius, and lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.

Celebrated as an »exceptional talent» (»Der Tagesspiegel«), violinist and conductor Emmanuel Tjeknavorian has quickly become one of the most sought after musicians of his generation. Highlights of the 19/20 season include debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and re-invitations from the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. He will perform alongside conductors such as Alain Altinoglu, Christoph Eschenbach, Jakub Hrůša, Markus Poschner and Yuri Temirkanov. Furthermore, as the youngest ever Artist in Residence of the Vienna Musikverein, he will have his own subscription series throughout the season and returns to the Konzerthaus Dortmund as one of the »Junge Wilde«. As a conductor he will debut in the Vienna Konzerthaus with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and will lead the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, Württembergische Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Vienna Concert-Verein and Albanian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, In February 2020, his second album, featuring the violin concertos by Jean Sibelius and by his father, Loris Tjeknavorian, with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Pablo Gonzales will be released as part of a new exclusive contract with Berlin Classics. His debut album »Solo«, released by Sony Classical, won the »OPUS Klassik« in 2018. Emmanuel first came to international attention when he won the prize for the best interpretation of the Sibelius Violin Concerto as well as Second Prize at the Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in 2015. Since then, he has received invitations from world-renowned orchestras. As a regular guest at the most important summer festivals, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian won the »LOTTO Sponsorship Prize« of the Rheingau Music Festival, as well as the »NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize« from the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival (with his piano-partner Maximilian Kromer). As a »Rising Star« of the European Concert Hall Organisation, »Great Talent« of the Vienna Konzerthaus and a protege of the Orpheum Foundation in Zurich, he has performed in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls. Since September 2017 he has hosted his own radio show »Der Klassik-Tjek« on Vienna’s Radio Klassik Stephansdom. Born in Vienna in 1995, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian grew up in a family of musicians. After initial studies with Petros Haykazyan, Artashes Mkrtchyan and Arkadij Winokurow, Gerhard Schulz has been his main teacher since 2011. In 2014, he began to study conducting with his father, Loris Tjeknavorian, and has taken part in masterclasses for young conductors in England and Italy. Emmanuel Tjeknavorian plays a 1698 violin by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, generously loaned to him by a benefactor from the »Beare’s International Violin Society« in London.

Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov – winner of »Musical America’s« 2019 Artist of the Year – has made a spectacular ascent of the classical world as a solo artist, concerto collaborator, chamber musician, and composer. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, he recently added a first »Grammy Award« to his string of honors, winning Best Instrumental Solo Album of 2018 for his Liszt collection, »Transcendental«. »The Times« of London calls him »without question the most astounding pianist of our age.« This fall brings the Deutsche Grammophon release of Trifonov’s »Destination Rachmaninov: Arrival« recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. As 2019-20 Artist-in-Residence of the New York Philharmonic, the pianist joins the orchestra for concertos in New York and Europe, and gives the New York premiere of his own Piano Quintet. His upcoming highlights also include collaborations with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony; Bach-themed solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Boston, and Europe; and a return to Carnegie Hall with fellow pianist Sergei Babayan.
Trifonov recently undertook four major season-long residencies: at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein, and with the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic. Other recent highlights include launching the New York Philharmonic’s 2018-19 season, headlining the gala finale of the Chicago Symphony’s 125th anniversary celebrations, and collaborating with such preeminent ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He regularly gives solo recitals at venues including Carnegie Hall, DC’s Kennedy Center, Boston’s Celebrity Series, London’s Barbican and Royal Festival Halls, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs Élysées and Salle Pleyel, Brussels’s Palais des Beaux-Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Vienna’s Musikverein, Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Opera City, the Seoul Arts Center, and Melbourne’s Recital Centre.
In 2010-11, Trifonov took First Prize in Tel Aviv’s »Rubinstein Competition«, Third Prize in Warsaw’s »Chopin Competition«, and First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s »International Tchaikovsky Competition«. Having won Italy’s Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist in 2013, three years later he was named »Gramophone’s« Artist of the Year. Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, he attended Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music, before pursuing piano and composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

A deeply intelligent and sensitive pianist, Mitsuko Uchida has built up a reputation as a superlative performer of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven. Her devotion to Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg has illuminated the piano music of these two composers and their place within the central repertoire. Mitsuko Uchida has a long history of performing with the world’s most respected orchestras – Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony and London Philharmonic Orchestras. She has worked with many renowned conductors including Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons and Gustavo Dudamel. Since 2016, Mitsuko Uchida has been an Artistic Partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom she is embarking on a five-year touring project across Europe and North America. She also appears regularly in recital in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York and Tokyo, and is a regular guest at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg and Salzburger Festspiele. Mitsuko Uchida records exclusively for Decca and her extensive discography includes the complete Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas. She received a »Grammy Award« in 2011 for her recording of Mozart concerti directing The Cleveland Orchestra, and in 2017 for an album of Lieder with Dorothea Röschmann. Her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland Orchestra won four awards, including a »Gramophone Award« for Best Concerto. A trustee of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and Director of Marlboro Music Festival, in 2015, Uchida was awarded the »Golden Mozart Medal« from the Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2012 and received an Honorary Degree from the University of Cambridge in 2014. Mitsuko Uchida was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2009.

With the arrival last season of Jaap van Zweden as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, a new era began. As an international presence on three continents over the past decade, he also continues as Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, a post he has held since 2012. Guest engagements this season include the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Van Zweden has appeared as guest conductor with many other leading orchestras around the globe, among them the Orchestre de Paris, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, and the London Symphony Orchestra. In this his second season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, Jaap van Zweden fuses past and present, representing today’s composers and the new-music landscape while reflecting on relevant historic achievements. He conducts repertoire ranging from seven World Premieres (including opening week with a Philip Glass commission and the season-concluding hotspots festival with works by Nico Muhly and Sarah Kirkland Snider, as well as three other works by women composers for Project 19) to symphonic cornerstones (including Mahler both in New York and on a European tour in 2020, when the Philharmonic becomes the first-ever American orchestra to appear at the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam). Other season highlights include a fully staged production of »Bluebeard’s Castle and Erwartung«. He conducts his first Young People’s Concert and once again invites his fellow New Yorkers to Phil the Hall. Added to his repertoire of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Schoenberg will be Björk, Steve Reich and John Adams. Jaap van Zweden has made numerous acclaimed recordings, the most recent of which are live New York Philharmonic performances of Stravinsky’s »Le Sacre du printemps« and Debussy’s »La Mer«, continuing the Philharmonic’s partnership with Universal Music Group’s Decca Gold label. In 2018 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, he completed a four-year project conducting the first-ever performances in Hong Kong of Wagner’s »Der Ring des Nibelungen«, which have been recorded and released on Naxos Records. His highly praised performances of »Lohengrin«, »Die Meistersinger« and »Parsifal«, the latter of which earned Maestro van Zweden the prestigious »Edison Award« for Best Opera Recording in 2012, are available on CD/DVD. Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden was appointed at age nineteen as the youngest-ever concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He began his conducting career nearly twenty years later in 1996. He remains Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic where he served as Chief Conductor from 2005 - 2013, served as Chief Conductor of the Royal Flanders Orchestra from 2008 - 11, and was Music Director from 2008 - 2018 of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra where he currently holds the title Conductor Laureate. Van Zweden was named »Musical America's 2012 Conductor of the Year« and was the subject of an October 2018 CBS 60 Minutes profile. In 1997, Jaap van Zweden and his wife Aaltje established the Papageno Foundation, the objective being to support families of children with autism. Now, over 20 years later, the Foundation has grown into a multi-faceted organization which, through various initiatives and activities, focuses on the development of children and young adults with autism. The Foundation opened the Papageno House in August 2015 (with Her Majesty Queen Maxima in attendance) for young adults with autism to live, work and participate in the community.

His distinguished career has brought him together with renowned conductors and internationally acclaimed orchestras around the world, such as New York Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Jan Vogler’s great ability allowed him to explore the sound boundaries of the cello and to establish an intensive dialogue with contemporary composers and artists. This includes regular world premieres, including works by Tigran Mansurian, John Harbison, Udo Zimmermann, Wolfgang Rihm, Jörg Widman’s Cello Concerto »Dunkle Saiten«, dedicated to Jan Vogler and Nico Muhly, Sven Helbig and Zhou-Long (»Three Continents – Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra«, composed for Jan Vogler). The »New York Times« praises his »soulful, richly hued playing« and the »Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung« grants him the ability »to make his cello speak like a singing voice«. In the 2019/20 season Jan Vogler performs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Christian Măcelaru, the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin under Alondra de la Parra and the newly founded Milan orchestra LaFil – Filarmonica di Milano under Daniele Gatti. With the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and its new Chief Conductor Omer Meir Wellber he will tour England and Germany. He will give solo concerts at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with Bach‘s Suites for cello and play duo recitals at the Teatro Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna.
In addition to his classical concert activities, Jan Vogler has collaborated with actor Bill Murray for their joint musical-literary project »Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends – New Worlds«. The innovative program drew international attention and brought together works by Twain, Hemingway, Whitman, Cooper, Bernstein, Bach, Piazzolla, Mancini, Gershwin and Foster for an unexpected and exciting exploration of the relationship between literature and music.
Jan Vogler has been working successfully with the Sony Classical label since 2003 and in the course of this cooperation around 20 CDs have been produced so far. The CD »Songbook« was his most recent collaboration with the Finnish guitarist Ismo Eskelinen. Previous recordings include a recording of double concertos for violin and violoncello by Rihm, Brahms and Harbison, together with violinist Mira Wang, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian as well as Tchaikovsky’s »Rococo Variation« with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
Jan Vogler has been Director of the renowned Dresden Music Festival since October 2008 as well as Artistic Director of the Moritzburg Festival since 2001. In 2006, he received the »European Award for Culture« and in 2011 the »Erich-Kästner Award« for tolerance, humanity and international understanding. In 2018 he received the »European Culture Award TAURUS« as Director of the Dresden Music Festival. Jan Vogler plays the Stradivari 'Ex Castelbarco/Fau' 1707 cello.

has built a remarkable bridge from her time as a child prodigy in Beijing, China to an acclaimed soloist on the world stage today. She has appeared as a soloist with many prestigious orchestras all over the world including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Saarbrücken Radio Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and NDR Philharmonic Hannover. An avid chamber musician, Mira’s partners include Hélène Grimaud, Oli Mustonen, Alice Sara Ott, Lise de la Salle, Louis Lortie, Jeremy Denk, Daniel Müller-Schott, Gautier Capuçon, Jan Vogler, Roberto Diaz, Lawrence Power and Lars Anders Tomter. She is an enthusiastic exponent of contemporary music, premiering the violin concerto »Spring in Dresden« by Chinese-American composer Chen Yi with the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Ivan Fischer and John Harbison’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Carlos Kalmar. In 2015 she premiered the double concerto by Wolfgang Rihm, with Jan Vogler and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mira has recorded extensively for many labels including Sony Classical and Edel Classics. Her discography includes violin concerto No. 2 by Prokofieff with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony, the violin concerto No. 3 by Saint-Saëns with NDR Philharmonic Hannover, a duo album with cellist Jan Vogler and several chamber music recordings with Artists of the Moritzburg Festival. Mira has been Artistic Director of the Model Room Musicales concert series in New York City since 2005 and in 2013, she became Director of the Moritzburg Festival Academy in Germany, a training program for young musicians that is part of the annual Moritzburg Chamber Music Festival. Born in China, Ms. Wang studied at Central Conservatory in Beijing. She was sponsored by renowned violin teacher, the late Roman Totenberg to further her studies at Boston University, where she graduated summa cum laude and received the prestigious »Kahn Award« given to outstanding performers. She has won 1st prizes in several international violin competitions including the Geneva Competition.

Norwegian baritone Johannes Weisser has established himself as one of the most fascinating European vocal artists of his generation. Johannes Weisser is a much sought-after concert and oratorio singer, with repertoire that spans from the early 17th century music of Monteverdi to the works of Weill, Britten and contemporary composers. With the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra he recently sang Mahler’s »Des Knaben Wunderhorn«. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra invited him to sing Mahler’s »Kindertotenlieder«. Recent seasos also saw him appear in Beethoven’s »Missa Solemnis« with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Mendelssohn‘s »Erste Walpurgisnacht« at Klarafestival. With Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin he toured »St Matthew Passion« across Europe. An accomplished Lied singer, Johannes Weisser has won international critical acclaim for his performances of Schumann’s »Dichterliebe« and Grieg’s »Vinje Songs« in recitals, and for his recent recital appearance at Eppaner Lied Festival, directed by the legendary Brigitte Fassbaender. His recording of Grieg Songs has received international critical acclaim. Widely known for the numerous award-winning recordings that he has already produced, Johannes has appeared on disc in the title role of »Don Giovanni« (René Jacobs / harmonia mundi), Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s original »Leonore« and Haydn’s »Die Schöpfung« (René Jacobs / harmonia mundi), Bach’s »St Matthew Passion« and »St John Passion« (both René Jacobs / harmonia mundi), but also in the role of Achilla in »Giulio Cesare« (Alan Curtis/naive), and Ståle Kleiberg’s »Mass for a Modern Man« with Trondheim Sinfonietta. Johannes Weisser studied at the Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and at the Royal Danish Academy of Opera in Copenhagen with Susanna Eken. In the spring of 2004, aged 23, he made his debut at the Norwegian National Opera as well as at Komische Oper Berlin, in both houses as Masetto in »Don Giovanni«. He lives in Oslo.

has established himself as one of today’s leading conductors of operatic and orchestral repertoire alike. He has held the position of Principal Guest Conductor at the Semperoper Dresden since September 2018, the Chief Conductor position of the BBC Philharmonic since July 2019 and the Music Director of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo since January 2020. He has conducted some of the world’s most prestigious ensembles including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, RAI Torino, WDR Sinfonieorchester and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and is a regular guest conductor at the Bavarian State Opera Munich. Omer Meir Wellber made his literary debut on October 14, 2019, with his first novel »Die vier Ohnmachten des Chaim Birkner« published by Berlin Verlag. Despite Omer Meir Wellber’s demanding schedule of international engagements, he maintains a deeply rooted commitment to ensembles in his native country, Israel, and considers music to be a tool for social change in Israel. Since 2009, he has been Music Director of the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, which dedicates itself to music education projects in particular, reaching more than approx. 70,000 children each year. The conductor also is a Good Will Ambassador for Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli-based non-profit organization that provides critical cardiac medical support. In addition, Omer Meir Wellber collaborates with various institutions through outreach programs and fosters the next generation of conducting students through educational lectures. 2019 saw his debut at the BBC PROMS with the BBC Philharmonic with two concerts featuring works by Mozart, Haydn and Ben-Haim. Born in Be’er Sheva in 1981, Omer Meir Wellber began studying accordion and piano at the age of five. He took composition lessons with Tania Taler starting at the age of nine before continuing under Michael Wolpe until 2004. He graduated from the Be’er Sheva Conservatory in 1999 and received a music scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation which he used to study Conducting and Composition at the Jerusalem Music Academy from 2000-2008 with Eugene Zirlin and Mendi Rodan.

Founded in 2006 by Andrzej Kosendiak, it is a resident ensemble of the Witold Lutosławski National Forum of Music (NFM), one of few cultural institutions in Poland boasting its own Baroque orchestra performing on historical instruments. During each NFM concert season, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra presents its own concert series, always ardently applauded by the audience. The repertoire encompasses works from early Baroque to Romanticism, from chamber music to colossal oratorios. The superb cellist Jarosław Thiel has been Artistic Director since its inception. Today, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra counts among the most important Polish ensembles playing historical instruments. The orchestra’s output and high level of performance result in collaborations with the biggest names on the international early music scene. The ensemble has performed under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe, Giovanni Antonini, Andrew Parrott, Paul McCreesh, Andreas Spering, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Laurence Cummings, Rubén Dubrovsky, and Christian Curnyn. It has invited excellent ensembles and soloists like Collegium Vocale Gent, Cantus Cölln, Taverner Consort, Dresdner Kammerchor, Gli Angeli Genève, Olga Pasichnyk, Vivica Genaux, Julia Lezhneva, Renata Pokupić, Nicholas Mulroy, Daniel Taylor, and Aleksandra Kurzak. The orchestra is a guest at prestigious festivals and participates in radio broadcasts and recording sessions. The first CD won a »FRYDERYK award«, and the following recordings have been nominated for the same award several times. 2017 saw the release of a new album – »Haydn The Seasons« – a result of the collaboration with Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort & Players (the recording was nominated for a »Gramophone Award« and was recording of the month of the »BBC Music Magazine« in June 2017). In 2018 the premiere recording of the original version of »Phantoms« by Stanisław Moniuszko, with the participation of an orchestra, and the album »17th-century Sacred Music in Wrocław«, recorded with Gli Angeli Genève and Concerto Palatino under the direction of Stephan MacLeod for Claves were released. The latter won an »International Classical Music Award« in 2019.

Conductor Laureate of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, having completed his 19-year tenure as Music Director in summer 2014, David Zinman has held positions as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony orchestras and more recently at the Orchestre Français des Jeunes, Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Distinguished Visiting Artist at the Eastman School of Music, and Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival, School and American Academy of Conducting. The 2019/20 season includes appearances with hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony), as well as Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and Dresdner Philharmonie. Zinman also returns to conduct the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He has long-standing collaborations with soloists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Radu Lupu, Truls Mørk, Lisa Batiashvili, Gil Shaham, Julia Fischer, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and András Schiff. In addition to his guest conducting engagements, Zinman also gives regularly world-renowned masterclasses which he began as part of his tenture in Zurich – most recently students at the Sibelius Academy and Royal Academy of Music have benefitted from his expertise as a teacher and coach. Last season included masterclasses in collaboration with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Orchestre National de Lyon. David Zinman's extensive discography of more than 100 recordings has earned him numerous international honors, particularly for his interpretation of Beethoven’s symphonies with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, including five »Grammy awards«, two »Grand Prix du Disque«, two »Edison Prizes«, the »Preis der Deutschen Schalplattenkritik« and a »Gramophone Award«. Recent releases include a 50 CD box set »David Zinman: Great Symphonies – The Zurich Years«, which commemorates his recording legacy with the Tonhalle-Orchester. In 2000 the French Ministry of Culture awarded David Zinman the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in October 2002 the »City of Zurich Art Prize« was awarded to him for his outstanding artistic efforts – making him the first conductor and first non-Swiss recipient of this award. More recently, Zinman received the prestigious »Theodore Thomas Award« in recognition of outstanding achievement and extraordinary service to one's colleagues in advancing the art and science of conducting. In 2008 he won the »Midem Classical Artist of the Year award« for his work with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. He was also the 1997 recipient of the prestigious »Ditson Award« from Columbia University in recognition of his exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers.

Founded in 1945 by Edmond de Stoutz, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra is now one of the leading ensembles of its kind. Under the direction of Edmond de Stoutz and later Howard Griffiths and Muhai Tang, the orchestra won international recognition. In the years of the world-acclaimed Principal Conductor Sir Roger Norrington, from 2011 to 2015, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra did much to establish and enhance its excellent reputation. Since the 2016/17 season, the orchestra has been led by Music Director Daniel Hope. Regular invitations to international festivals, performances in Europe's leading centers of music, concert tours on almost all continents and numerous critically acclaimed CD releases testify to the worldwide renown of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. The repertoire is broadly based, extending from the Baroque through the Classical and Romantic eras to the present day. The orchestra is also notable for its work with musicians from other fields such as jazz, folk music and popular entertainment. The concerts for children of all ages, outreach work with children and young people and encouragement of young instrumentalists are in every way as important to the Zurich Chamber Orchestra as its close and continuing collaboration with world-renowned soloists.