The Artists

Among today’s many exceptional chamber music groups, the Danish String Quartet continuously asserts its preeminence. The Quartet’s playing reflects impeccable musicianship, sophisticated artistry, exquisite clarity of ensemble, and, above all, an expressivity inextricably bound to the music, from Haydn to Shostakovich to contemporary scores. Their performances bring a rare musical spontaneity, giving audiences the sense of hearing even treasured canon repertoire as if for the first time, and exuding a palpable joy in music-making that have made them enormously in-demand on concert stages throughout the world.

Since its debut in 2002, the Danish String Quartet has demonstrated a special affinity for Scandinavian composers, from Nielsen to Hans Abrahamsen, alongside music of Mozart and Beethoven. The Quartet’s musical interests also encompass Nordic folk music, the focus of its newest recording, Last Leaf, on the ECM label. The recipient of many awards and prestigious appointments, including the Borletti Buitoni Trust, the Danish String Quartet was named in 2013 as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and appointed to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two Program.

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 Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is based in equal measure in the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main. Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jacopo Godani serves as artistic director of the company. The repertoire of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company consists primarily of works by Godani. His goal is the production of a vibrant new choreographic language, one that requires virtuosity in its expression while posing physical challenges to the performers. On this journey, dance’s traditional heritage will converge with contemporary thought, giving rise to a highly unique ensemble.  

Cooperation partners are the states of Saxony and Hesse and the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, as well as private supporters and public sponsors. Supported by the city of Dresden and the state of Saxony as well as the city of Frankfurt am Main and the state of Hesse. Company-in-Residence of both HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden and the Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main.

Praised by critics and loved by audiences for her beauty of tone and impeccable artistry, soprano Mojca Erdmann is a star in the international music scene. She is known for her broad repertoire – ranging from baroque to contemporary music – with which she performs in major opera houses, festivals and concert halls worldwide.

The season 2020/21 focusses on some highly fascinating works: Mojca Erdmann kicks off the season with Luca Francesconi’s two-person piece »Quartett«, based on the play of the eponymous piece by Heiner Müller. The German version premieres under the direction of Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, where the soprano can also be experienced as Seele in Frank Widmann’s »Babylon« at the end of the season. She makes her debut as Klara/Therese in a new production of Roman Haubenstock-Ramatis »Amerika«, based on the novel of Franz Kafka at the Zurich Opera House. The soprano’s versatility is also evident on the concert stage: Mojca Erdmann can be heard in 2020/21, initially with Mozart arias together with the Akademie für Alte Musik as part of the Mozartwoche on Tour in the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin, with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in the Leipzig Gewandhaus and as Barmherzigkeit in Mozart’s »Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots« in the closing concert of the Salzburger Mozartwoche. Mozart takes Mojca Erdmann to Oslo before returning to the Boulez Hall in Berlin twice: with Schoenberg’s »Pierrot Lunaire« under the baton of Thomas Guggeis and with Crumb’s »Ancient Voices of Children« conducted by Zubin Mehta. The soprano also performs Richard Strauss’ »Vier letzte Lieder« with the Hof Symphony Orchestra for the first time.

Mojca Erdmann regularly appears in concerts and recitals around the world – for example at the Schubertiade in Vilabertran and in the Berlin Boulezsaal, where she made her debut in 2018 with a Schubert evening. She is a regular guest in Japan and gives sold-out recitals for example in Tokyo with harpist Xavier de Maistre, pianists Götz Payer and Malcolm Martineau and tours with the Bach Collegium Japan. She sings in prestigious concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Philharmonies in Cologne and Berlin, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Tonhalle Zurich, Jones Hall of the Houston Symphony or the Berlin Konzerthaus. Mojca Erdmann has appeared repeatedly at the Salzburg Mozart Week, the Kissinger Summer, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra or the Munich Philharmonic. In 2019 she appeared in concert performances of »Fidelio« with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi in Tokyo. At the renowned Enescu Festival in Bucharest Mojca Erdmann sang a Mozart programme together with Rolando Villazón before she interpreted Schoenberg’s »Erwartung« for the first time on tour with the Basque National Orchestra in Northern Spain. In Örebro she made her debut with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and sang orchestra songs by Richard Strauss with the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra.

An unusually versatile performer, Mojca Erdmann is much sought after for her interpretation of contemporary music: She made her debut with the Berlin Staatsoper in the world premiere of »Takemitsu – My Way of Life«, conducted by Kent Nagano. In 2009, she performed the title role in Wolfgang Rihm’s monodrama »Proserpina«.

Mojca Erdmann can be heard on many recordings, including an acclaimed version of Mahler’s Symphony No 4 with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Jonathan Nott released by Tudor and in Ravel’s »L’enfant et les sortilèges« with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, released by Sony. In 2009, the soprano signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon, with the first solo recording, »Mozart´s Garden«, featuring arias by Mozart and his contemporaries, having been released in 2011. She can be heard as Zerlina and Despina respectively on Deutsche Grammophon’s recently released complete recordings of »Don Giovanni« and »Così fan tutte«, both conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

With her innovative programmes and exceptional skill, Asya Fateyeva is making the saxophone a new focus in the world of music. With classical training and multiple awards under her belt, Asya Fateyeva loves to explore a wide range of styles and periods together with musicians from the areas of classical and jazz music.

Born on the Crimean peninsula, Asya Fateyeva dedicates her artistic efforts to a broad repertoire including music from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods in addition to original works for her instrument. At the same time, she continues to expand her repertoire and network of musicians with whom she collaborates, performs and crafts new programmes. In addition to concerts with orchestra and solo recitals, she is also an avid chamber musician. Whether it is an early Baroque programme or Bach’s Goldberg Variations arranged for the violoncello, accordion, and saxophone, music from the 1920s by Erwin Schulhoff and his contemporaries or an encounter between an organ and saxophone – anything is possible. She also has multiple projects featuring jazz and world music. Asya Fateyeva views herself as a musician in touch with multiculturalism, which is also reflected in her work. Her playing combines a wide range of schools and influences.

The classically-trained saxophonist is among the preeminent representatives of her discipline and she has earned numerous accolades. She became the first woman to reach the finals of the renowned international »Adolphe-Sax Competition« in Belgium and received the 3rd prize. That same year, the »Süddeutsche Zeitung« music critic Harald Eggebrecht wrote the following: »The young Asya Fateyeva plays alto saxophone with such elegance and confidence that the beauty of her exceptional sound in Debussy’s Rhapsodie for Saxophone and Piano is sure to captivate anyone.«

Asya Fateyeva performs with various orchestras such as the MDR Symphony Orchestra under Kristjan Järvi, the Wiener Symphoniker under Vladimir Fedoseyev in Vienna’s Musikverein, the Royal Northern Sinfonia under Lars Vogt, the Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, the Bochumer Symphoniker, the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, Zurich as well as Stuttgart and Württemberg Chamber Orchestras. Further highlights include performances with orchestras from Bonn, Frankfurt/Oder, and Kassel.

Her concerts at festivals such as those in Colmar, Fermo, Lucerne, Cologne, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, the Dresden Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and MDR Musiksommer have garnered widespread praise.

Her training combines the Russian tradition with the classical school of French saxophone. After two years as a junior student under Professor Daniel Gauthier at Cologne’s Hochschule für Musik, Asya Fateyeva, then 17, began formal studies there. Studies in France with Claude Delangle in Paris and Jean-Denis Michat in Lyon, among others, helped shape her artistic development. She completed post-graduate studies in chamber music at Hamburg’s Hochschule für Musik und Theater, where she now teaches classical saxophone.

The Hagen Quartet celebrates its 40th anniversary in the 2020/21 season, with concert programs featuring the ten great string quartets and the clarinet quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the piano quintets by Dmitri Shostakovich and Robert Schumann, the string quintet by Franz Schubert and the clarinet quintet by Jörg Widmann. This combination of Mozart's quartets and quintets with guest musicians will be performed especially in the concert series of the Hagen Quartet in the Vienna Konzerthaus. This season, the four musicians will tour to London, Brussels, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Wroclaw, Barcelona, Madrid, Turin, Hamburg, the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, the Salzburg Festival and the Lucerne Festival, to name but a few cities and festivals.

The Hagen Quartet will travel again to the United States and Japan. The Hagen Quartet’s unprecedented 3 1/2-decade career began in 1981. Its early years, marked by a series of prizes in chamber music competitions and an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon that was to produce around forty-five recordings over the following twenty years, enabled the group to work its way through the immensely vast repertoire for string quartet in which this ensemble’s distinctive profile has emerged. Subsequent recordings for myrios classics with Brahms' Clarinet Quintet together with Jörg Widmann and with Mozart's string quartets were highly praised by the international press and received prizes such as the »ECHO Klassik« in Germany and the »Diapason d’Or« in France. In 2019 a recording with the 3rd string quartet and the piano quintet by Brahms together with Kirill Gerstein has been released and in autumn 2020 a recording with the Clarinet Quintets of Mozart and Jörg Widmann (first recording). In January 2019, the Hagen Quartet was awarded the »Concertgebouw Prijs« for the artistic appeal it has radiated over many years and the contribution it has made to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Collaborations with artistic personalities such as György Kurtág and the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt are as important to the Hagen Quartet as its concert appearances with performers including Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff, Jörg Widmann, Kirill Gerstein, Sol Gabetta, Gautier Capuçon and Igor Levit. The ensemble’s concert repertoire and discography feature attractive and intelligently arranged programmes embracing the entire history of the string quartet genre, from its pre-Haydn beginnings right through to Kurtág. The Hagen Quartet also works closely with composers of its own generation: not only reviving existing works, but also commissioning and premiering new pieces. Recently, Myrios Classics released a recording featuring Brahms’ String Quartet No. 3 and his Piano Quintet, with Kirill Gerstein as guest pianist.

Many young string quartets regard the Hagen Quartet as a model in terms of sound quality, stylistic variety, ensemble playing and serious commitment to the works and composers of the genre. As teachers and mentors at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Hochschule in Basel, as well as in international masterclasses, the quartet’s members pass on their great wealth of experience to younger colleagues. The Hagen Quartet plays on old Italian master Instruments.

»[Kozhukhin’s] dazzling performance … must have lifted Orchestra Hall a few feet off its foundation. It was hard, in fact, to imagine any pianist seizing this formidably difficult concerto in a mightier grip than this Russian firebrand … Even in a day when keyboard virtuosos are thick on the ground, Kozhukhin is special.« (»Chicago Tribune«)

Winner of the First Prize in the 2010 »Queen Elisabeth Competition« in Brussels at the age of 23, Denis Kozhukhin has established himself as one of the greatest pianists of his generation. His performances have been praised by critics as »spellbinding«, »imperious« and »mesmerizing«. Technically flawless, Kozhukhin combines wisely the brilliance and power of his playing with a masterful sense of form, maturity, and a very unique approach.

Kozhukhin frequently appears with many of the leading international orchestras, such as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony, Staatskapelle Berlin, Israel Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Vienna Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. In 2018 he debuted at the BBC Proms, performing Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Aurora Orchestra.

The 2020/21 season brings debuts with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, ADDA Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony, Szcezcin Philharmonic, returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Belgium National Symphony, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony, Gavle Symphony, Colorado Symphony and NCPA Orchestra. He will tour in Europe and USA with Janine Jansen and appear in recital at the Boulez Saal, Elbphilharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus, Casa da Musica, Harpa, and will be guest artist at the Prague Spring Festival, Malta International Festival, Klavier Ruhr Festival, Armenia Festival and Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival. His most recent recording featuring C. Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the Luxembourg Philharmonic under Gustavo Gimeno was released by Pentatone in June 2020, obtaining rave reviews. His last solo album, including Mendelssohn’s »Songs without words« and Grieg’s »Lyric Pieces«, was picked by »Gramophone« as »album of the month« as well as nominated to the 2020 »Opus Klassik Awards« in the categories of »Solo recording and Instrumentalist of the year«.

An avid chamber musician, Kozhukhin is frequently invited to the most renowned festivals and collaborates with such artists as Janine Jansen, Jörg Widmann, Julian Rachlin, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Alisa Weilerstein, and Pablo Ferrández, among others.

Born in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, in 1986 into a family of musicians, Denis Kozhukhin began his piano studies at the age of five with his mother. As a boy, he attended the Balakirev School of Music where he studied under Natalia Fish. From 2000 to 2007, Kozhukhin studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid with Dmitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martínez-Mehner.

Kozhukhin completed his studies at the Piano Academy at Lake Como where he received advice from Fou Ts’ong, Stanislav Yudenitch, Peter Frankl, Boris Berman, Charles Rosen and Andreas Staier, and with Kirill Gerstein in Stuttgart. In recent years he has been mentored by maestro Daniel Barenboim.

In the Baroque age, the term »la folia« stood for boldness, wildness, enthusiasm and lust, as well as an artistic attitude of freedom and exuberant creativity. Since its foundation in 2007, La Folia Barockorchester has revived the international music scene on historical instruments with these very attributes, literally causing a sensation. Whether with chamber music or late Baroque opulence, with instrumental music or in collaboration with vocal and instrumental soloists – the young ensemble, together with its founder and artistic director Robin Peter Müller, always stands for vital and rousing interpretations of 17th and 18th centuries’ music.

Historically informed, the musicians of La Folia Barockorchester are looking for ways to bring the emotions and content of past centuries to life in the present. Liveliness, pictoriality, joy in playing, but also respect for music and the certainty of its intense impact are views of the Baroque period, which as an insight underpin the interpretations of this ensemble.

In just a few years, La Folia Barockorchester has enthused audience and press alike. The ensemble performed with great success at international renowned concert venues such as Berliner and Kölner Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal and Prinzregententheater München, the Laieszhalle Hamburg, the Stadtcasino Basel as well as the Musikverein Wien and Graz. It also performed at the International Opera Festival in Bydgoszcz (Poland), the Göttingen International Handel Festival, the Würzburg Mozart Festival, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, the Musikfest Bremen, the Dresden Music Festival, the Al Bustan Festival Beirut, the Rheingau Musikfestival, and the Grafenegg Festival among many others.

The ensemble regularly collaborates with renowned instrumentalists and singers, such as Anna Prohaska, Bejun Mehta, Hille Perl, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, Regula Mühlemann, Robin Johannsen, Mahan Esfahani, Jan Vogler, Dorothee Oberlinger, Dorothee Mields, Maurice Steger and Stefan Temmingh among others. In addition to regular live productions for the BBC, BR, NDR and MDR, La Folia Barockorchester is exclusively recording for the label Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / SONY. Since 2014, the ensemble has recorded a remarkable number of CDs that have won prestigious awards such as the »OPUS KLASSIK«. Highlights of the 2021/22 season include performances at the Festival Europäische Wochen Passau, the Herrenchiemsee Festival, the MDR Musiksommer, the Konzerthaus Dortmund, a tour and recording with Handel’s »Messiah« with the Windsbach Boys’s Choir as well as a recording with Anna Prohaska focusing on music of mankind’s pandemic times over the last 400 years.

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.

is a musical phenomenon: for more than 45 years the virtuoso has now been a fixture in all the world’s major concert halls, making her mark on the classical music scene as a soloist, mentor and visionary.

The four-time »Grammy Award« winner is equally committed to the performance of traditional composers as to the future of music: so far she has given world premieres of 28 works – Unsuk Chin, Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutosławski, Norbert Moret, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir André Previn, Wolfgang Rihm, Jörg Widmann and John Williams have all composed for Anne-Sophie Mutter.

She dedicates herself to supporting tomorrow’s musical elite and numerous benefit projects. Furthermore, the board of trustees of the German cancer charity »Deutsche Krebshilfe« elected her the new president of the non-profit organization in 2021.

The two charitable institutions »Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation e.V.« and Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation provide support for the scholarship recipients, support which is tailored to the fellows’ individual needs. Since 2011, Anne-Sophie Mutter has regularly shared the spotlight on stage with her ensemble of fellows, Mutter’s Virtuosi.

For the 2021/22 season, an extensive European tour with Mutter’s Virtuosi has been scheduled, during which the work »Gran Cadenza« for two violins, which Anne-Sophie Mutter commissioned from Unsuk Chin, is to be given its world premiere. The Brahms Double Concerto will be performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Pablo Ferrández with the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Manfred Honeck. She will also tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, playing Sir André Previn’s Violin Concerto, also dedicated to her. In Asia, works by John Williams from the »Across the Stars« project feature on the programme – in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of David Newman. In the USA, Anne-Sophie Mutter performs Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Chamber music programmes are also planned, featuring violin sonatas and piano trios by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Lambert Orkis and Maximilian Hornung; further recitals with her long-standing piano partner will focus on works by Beethoven, Franck and Mozart. During a chamber music tour with current and former fellows of her foundation, various ensembles will perform Beethoven’s String Quartet in G-major Op. 18 No. 2, Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat-major Op. 20 No. 1 as well as Widmann’s »Studie über Beethoven«, which she gave the world premiere of in Tokyo on February 22, 2020.

In 2019, Anne-Sophie Mutter was honoured to receive the »Praemium Imperiale« in the music category as well as the »Polar Music Prize«. In February 2018 she was named an Honorary Member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma. Romania awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of a Grand Officer to Anne-Sophie Mutter in November 2017; during the same month France honoured her by presenting her with the insignia of a Commander of the French Order of the Arts and Literature. In December 2016, the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports awarded her the »Medalla de Oro al mérito en las Bellas Artes« (»Gold Medal for Merits in the Fine Arts«). Moreover Anne-Sophie Mutter resceived the »Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award« and the »Brahms Prize« as well as the »Erich Fromm Prize« and the »Gustav Adolf Prize« for her social activism. The violinist has been awarded the German Grand Order of Merit, the French Medal of the Legion of Honour, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, and numerous other honors.

For years, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been performing together with various scholarship students of her foundation – in order to familiarise them with the life of a professional musician and to introduce them to a broader audience. In the spring of 2011 she started the additional project Mutter‘s Virtuosi: this ensemble under the violinist’s artistic leadership consists of current and former scholarship holders of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation as well as selected other young musicians. On their tours through Europe, North America and Asia, Mutter‘s Virtuosi regularly introduce their audience to new works; benefit concerts are also a fixed part of every tour programme. Furthermore, the soloists’ ensemble can now be heard on recordings and video.

The first tour in 2011 featured stops in eleven European cities. The programme included Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings Op. 20, Vivaldi’s »Four Seasons« and a work commissioned by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation from Krzysztof Penderecki: »Duo concertante per violino e contrabbasso«. As part of this tour, Mutter’s Virtuosi played two benefit concerts: one for the Hanna and Paul Gräb Foundation which supports people with handicaps, and one for the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society. »It is important to me that our scholarship students realise their social responsibility as artists,« says Anne-Sophie Mutter. »Music is a gift for everyone, a possibility to share feelings regardless of your background, to do something meaningful and serve society as a musician.«

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s club performances at Berlin’s »Neue Heimat« in May 2015 saw her Virtuosi on stage with her for Vivaldi’s »Four Seasons« and the Bach Double Concerto. Deutsche Grammophon and the ZDF television channel were the local co-producers, recording the event which is now available on CD, Vinyl, DVD and Blu-ray Disc. »I really wanted to share the stage with my Virtuosi,« says Anne-Sophie Mutter. »They are an integral part of my life with the ideal of what one can do with music in society. Ultimately the point is that music allows us to truly encounter other people, that it builds bridges not only between generations, but between different cultures which we have constructed; it transcends religious and sometimes dogmatic walls we have erected between us.«

The seventh tour takes Anne-Sophie Mutter and her soloists’ ensemble Mutter’s Virtuosi to numerous European cities in October and November 2021. The programmes feature the world premiere of the »Gran Cadenza« for two Violins which Anne-Sophie Mutter commissioned from Unsuk Chin, complemented by Mozart’s String Quintet in E-flat-major K. 614, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins in B-minor Op. 3 No. 10 RV 580, as well as his »Four Seasons«. Twelve string players and Knut Johannessen at the harpsichord will perform under Anne-Sophie Mutter’s leadership.

is a singer songwriter and percussionist of Yemenite / Israeli / American origin that has been blessed with an angelic voice and magnetic stage presence. Together with her long-standing musical director and guitarist Gil Dor, Noa has thrilled, captivated and mesmerized audiences the world over with her unique, passionate and intelligent style of writing and performing.

Her indefatigable, courageous work for peace in her country, and her numerous voluntary engagements throughout the world have earned her a long list of titles and accolades, including UN Goodwill Ambassador for the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Italy’s version of knighthood), the »Chrystal Award« of the WEF (World Economic Forum) in Davos, the »Dove of Peace« by Shimon Peres, and many more. Noa is a gifted, committed artist of the type rarely seen in the popular music scene today. She has been compared to Barbra Streisand, Joan Baez, Nana Mouskouri, Joni Mitchell, and Elis Regina amongst others. Her talent and artistic integrity have caught the attention, and hearts, of some of the musical legends of our time, including Quincy Jones, Sting and Pat Metheny, who produced her first international Geffen Records release, »Noa«, in 1994.

Noa has performed her original version of »Ave Maria« for Pope John Paul the 2nd at Vatican, she was the only major Israeli artists to agree to perform at the historic peace rally where Yitzhak Rabin was murdered, she has co-written and recorded the theme song for Roberto Benigni’s Oscar-award winning film, »Life is beautiful«, collaborated with a long list of renowned artists the world over and written hundreds of songs in English and Hebrew. She has a loyal following in Europe and Israel, where she was born and now lives, and a growing audience in the US, where she was raised.

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.

Born in Hungary in 1991, Tamás Pálfalvi started to study the trumpet with István Szabó in Salgóarján at the age of 8, then studied at the Leó Weiner Conservatory of Music in Budapest as a student of Gábor Huszár from 2005-2009. At the age of 15 he won the first prize and the »Grand Prize« at the National Trumpet Competition in Hungary.

In 2008 he was awarded the »Talent of Prague Prize«, and was invited to perform Hummel's Trumpet Concerto as a soloist with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2009 he performed with Gábor Boldoczki and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and was also featured at the concerts of the Hamburger Camerata and the Mecklenburg Kammersolisten.

Tamás won a scholarship at Bard College/New York in 2009 and continued his studies in the United States as a student of Carl Albach and Edward Caroll. By winning the »Bard College Concerto Competition« as the first trumpet player, he performed as a soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra. In the meantime, he participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Pacific Music Festival and Bard Music Festival.

During his tours all over the world he appeared in such prestigious concert venues as Carnegie Hall, Fisher Center, Alice Tully Hall in New York, Sanders Theatre at Harvard, Palace of Art, Franz Liszt University Grand Hall in Budapest, Suntory Hall, Kitara Hall in Japan, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Shanghai Grand Theatre and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Bejing. Furthermore he performed concerts with such a conductors as Fabio Luisi, Peter Eötvös, Christoph Eschenbach, Zoltán Kocsis and Matthias Pintscher.

In 2012 Tamás went back to Hungary and received a Bachelor of Music degree as a student of Gábor Boldoczki at the Franz Liszt University in Budapest, where he currently doing the last semester of his Master studies. During this period he performed with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra.

Tamás made his debut on the clarino (baroque trumpet) by performing the 2. Brandenburg Concerto with the baroque chamber orchestra Capella Savaria at the Bologna Festival. During his University studies Tamás has been honored at several European competitions including Chieri, Cluj-Napoca and Brno. In the USA he was received a special award at the International Chicago Brass Festival. Tamás is the first winner of the »Fanny Mendelssohn Förderpreis«. Recently he won the »Franz Liszt University Artist Manager Competition« and the scholarship of the Yamaha Music Europe GmbH.

Tamás performs on Adams instruments.

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.

Jan Vogler’s 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. His 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 (with WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Semyon Bychkov), John Harbison (with Mira Wang and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Udo Zimmermann (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), Wolfgang Rihm (Double Concerto with Mira Wang), Jörg Widman (Cello Concerto »Dunkle Saiten«, dedicated to Jan Vogler himself) and Nico Muhly/USA, Sven Helbig/D and Zhou Long/CHN (»Drei Kontinente – Konzert für Cello und Orchester«, composed for Jan Vogler). In June 2020 a recording with the cello concerto by Muhly, Helbig and Long with the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Cristian Măcelaru and Shostakovich’s 2nd Cello Concerto with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev was released by Sony Classical.

Highlights of Jan Vogler’s career as a soloist are concerts with the New York Philharmonic – both in New York and Dresden at the occasion of the reopening of the rebuilt Dresdner Frauenkirche under the direction of Lorin Maazel in 2005 –, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and Montréal Symphony Orchestras, Mariinsky Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia – Roma, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic as well as with The Knights. He collaborates with conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Fabio Luisi, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Thomas Hengelbrock, Manfred Honeck and Kent Nagano.

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 2017 the Moritzburg Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary as one of the most established chamber music festivals internationally.

Clarinetist, composer and conductor Jörg Widmann is one of the most versatile and intriguing artists of his generation. As Carnegie Hall’s 2019/20 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer Chair his work was the season’s focus. Further performances see him appear in all aspects as clarinetist, composer and conductor as artist in residence at WDR Sinfonieorchester, at Prague Spring and Kammerakademie Potsdam.

Chamber music performances will see him in concerts with long-standing chamber music partners such as Andras Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, Denis Kozhukhin, the Quiroga and the Hagen Quartet at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Salzburg Festival, Internationales Musikfestival Heidelberger Frühling and Wiener Konzerthaus amongst others.

Continuing his intense activities as a conductor, Jörg Widmann performs this season with the National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Riga Sinfonietta, Orchestra Nacional Espana, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra amongst others.

In November 2019 he led the Irish Chamber Orchestra as their Principal Conductor on tour through the US and in concerts throughout Europe. Widmann studied clarinet with Gerd Starke in Munich and Charles Neidich at the Juilliard School in New York. He performs regularly with renowned orchestras, such as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestra National de France, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He collaborates with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach and Christoph von Dohnányi.

Widmann gave the world premiere of Mark Andre’s Clarinet Concerto »über« at the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015. Other clarinet concerti dedicated to and written for him include Wolfgang Rihm’s Musik für Klarinette und Orchester (1999) and Aribert Reimann’s »Cantus« (2006).

Widmann studied composition with Kay Westermann, Wilfried Hiller and Wolfgang Rihm. His works continue to receive many awards such as the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s »Elise L. Stoeger Prize« (2009), the »Paul Hindemith Prize« in 2001, the »Arnold Schönberg Prize« by the Vienna Arnold Schönberg Centre and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (2004) and both the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg’s composition award and the Berliner Philharmoniker Academy’s »Claudio Abbado Composition Award« in 2006.

Widmann’s compositions are performed regularly by conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Harding, Valery Gergiev, Kent Nagano, Christian Thielemann, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons and Simon Rattle and premiered by orchestras such as the Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra and many others. Widmann is Fellow at the Wissenschaftskollegs in Berlin and a full member of the Bayerischen Akademie of Schönen Künste, and since 2007, the Freien Akademie der Künste Hamburg, the Deutschen Akademie der Darstellenden Künste and the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz. He is professor for composition at the Barenboim-Said Academy, Berlin.

Nineteen-year-old Kevin Zhu has amassed an outstanding record of concert performances and competition wins since he began playing violin at age three. Praised for his »awesome technical command and maturity« (»The Strad«) and »absolute virtuosity, almost blinding in its incredible purity« (»L’ape musicale«), Kevin regularly performs on the world’s largest stages, ranging from Carnegie Hall in New York to London’s Royal Festival Hall to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Initially coming to international attention after winning the 2018 »Paganini Competition« and 2012 »Yehudi Menuhin Competition«, he has established himself as a leading figure among the next generation of musicians, astonishing audiences with his peerless technical mastery and inimitable artistic voice.

In the 2020/21 season, Kevin will make debuts with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and returns to the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa performing Elgar’s Violin Concerto. He also performs solo recitals in Dresden, New York City, and Washington D.C., embarking on a project to perform Paganini’s complete 24 Caprices in one concert, one of few violinists to ever do so.

Recent orchestral highlights include concerto appearances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, and China Philharmonic Orchestra. A highly sought-after recitalist, he has toured across the United States and Europe with repertoire ranging from Beethoven to contemporary commissions. Kevin is also a passionate chamber musician, collaborating with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Lawrence Power, and Jan Vogler.

In addition to his efforts on stage, Kevin serves as a Culture Ambassador of the Lin Yao Ji Music Foundation of China. He has repeatedly been featured on BBC Radio 3, NPR’s »From the Top«, and RAI Radio 3. Kevin is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he studies with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin. He performs on the c1722 »Lord Wandsworth« Antonio Stradivari violin, which is on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.