The Artists

ist ein Schweizer Pianist und Komponist und wurde 1991 geboren. Als Solist trat er bereits u.a. in der Tonhalle Zürich, dem Palau de la Música in Barcelona, der Koerner Hall in Toronto, der Carnegie Hall in New York, der Royal Festival Hall sowie der Barbican Hall in London auf. Auch bei zahlreichen Festivals wie den Ittingere Pfingstkonzerten, dem Luzern Festival und dem Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music ist er gern gesehener Gast. Sowohl für sein Klavierspiel als auch für seine Kom¬positionen erhielt Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula verschiedene Preise, u.a. den »Prix culturel« der Fondation Leenaards, die ersten Preise des Concours d’Interprétation Musicale de Lausanne und der International Edvard Grieg Competition for Composers. Außerdem ist er Träger des renommierten »Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize« und des »Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award«. Jean-Sélim Abdelmoulas Werke werden regelmäßig von renommierten Musikerinnen und Musikern aufgeführt. Seine Begeisterung für das Kino führte zu Projekten, wie dem Soundtrack für den Film »Chasse à l’âne« von Maria Nicollier, der für den offiziellen Wettbewerb beim Festival in Locarno ausgewählt und beim London Film Festival mit dem Preis für den besten Kurzfilm ausgezeichnet wurde. Auch für den Film »Love After Sunrise« von Hadi Ghandour schrieb er die Musik. Dieser Film gewann Preise beim Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival und beim Norwich Festival. Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula studierte bis 2010 Klavier bei Christian Favre an der Haute École de Musique de Lausanne und anschließend Kammermusik an der Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London bei Ronan O’Hora und Komposition bei Julian Anderson. Er besuchte Meisterkurse bei Ferenc Rados, András Schiff, Dénes Várjon, Mitsuko Uchida, Imogen Cooper, Stephen Hough, Angela Hewitt, Richard Goode und Leon Fleisher. Von 2018 bis 2021 war er einer der beiden Studenten des Sir András Schiff Performance Programme für junge Pianisten der Kronberg Akademie. In seiner Freizeit spielt Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula in der Tischtennisliga in Berlin. Außerdem besucht er regelmäßig kranke oder einsame Menschen mit seinem E-Piano.

Being born into a musical family, Clara and Marie’s talent and special interest in the piano was recognized and encouraged very early. In addition to recitals and concerts with orchestras in Germany and abroad, the sisters regularly receive invitations to festivals such as Musikfest Speyer, Festival Pianoscope Festival Classiche FORME and the International Piano Fest Subotica.

They studied with Bruno Canino in Florence and regularly work with Isabelle and Florence Lafitte in Paris. They broaden their horizons by taking Master Classes with internationally acclaimed artists. The young pianist’s multifaceted repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary for either one or two pianos and they hope to encourage new compositions for this genre.

Since beginning of the year the twins commit themselves to the new chamber music series MUSIKEN in their home city Kirchheimbolanden inviting and bringing together emerging and acclaimed musicians from all around the world.

The sisters describe themselves as very curious. In their free time, they enjoy learning new languages and experimenting in the kitchen. While Clara Becker likes to draw and spend time by the water, Marie Becker finds balance in sports. They gather inspiration for their music from various areas, such as fine art and fashion, but also from nature and history.

»A big challenge for me, which at the same time makes being a musician so exciting, is that every day looks different, you can never plan exactly and in the morning you don’t know what surprises the day has in store. It is like reading a book and opening a blank page. There is so much to discover and learn – and the best part is that it never stops.« Marie Becker »It is a great gift that music is what fascinates and fulfills us both equally and that we can walk this path together. We fuel, complement and inspire each other and are stronger together as a team.« Clara Becker

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, Ivor Bolton 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.

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 BBC’s »Children In Need« television fundraising campaign.

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).

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 embarked upon a unique project to learn all the sonatas across the year, filming and blogging about the process, and appearing on BBC TV. He is recording the complete Beethoven piano concerti for Naxos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko.

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.

Following his First Prize triumph at the 2018 »Queen Elisabeth Competition«, Samuel Hasselhorn is quickly establishing himself as a multifaceted artist, on the international level, who is at home equally in the genres of opera, Lied, and oratorio. Highlights of the 2020/21 season for German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn are his role debut as Wolfram von Eschenbach (»Tannhäuser«) with Opéra de Rouen, the title role in Viktor Ullmann’s opera »Der Kaiser von Atlantis« with the Swedish Radio Orchestra, a tour of St. Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and recitals with Helmut Deutsch, Malcolm Martineau, and Graham Johnson. He released his latest album »Stille Liebe« with pianist Joseph Middleton under the record label Harmonia Mundi in September 2020.

Hasselhorn was a member of the Vienna State Opera for two seasons where he was given the opportunity to perform a wide repertoire of roles such as the title role in Don Giovanni, Figaro (»Il barbiere di Siviglia«), Belcore (»L‘elisir d’amore«), Harlekin (»Ariadne auf Naxos«), Ping (»Turandot«), Schaunard (»La Bohème«) Ottokar (»Der Freischütz«), Don Fernando (»Fidelio«). He also made his debut in 2019/20 at the Opéra de Rouen and the Musikverein Vienna.  

Samuel Hasselhorn is recipient of the 2018 Emmerich Smola Prize, First Prize winner of the 2017 Das Lied International Song Competition in Heidelberg, First Prize winner of the 2015 Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York, and First Prize winner of the 2013 International Schubert Competition in Dortmund. Other notable prizes include Second Prize at the 2015 »Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition« in London, Third Prize in the »Hugo Wolf Competition« in Stuttgart in 2016, and the »Prix de Lied« in the 2013 »Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition« in Paris.  

His first two CDs »Nachtblicke«, and the highly acclaimed »Dichterliebe²« were released in 2014 and 2018 with GWK RECORDS. Samuel Hasselhorn earned his degree in Opera Performance from the Hannover University of Music, Drama, and Media with Professor Marina Sandel, in addition to a semester abroad at the Paris Conservatory with Malcolm Walker. He received further musical influences in masterclasses with Kiri Te Kanawa, Kevin Murphy, Thomas Quasthoff, Helen Donath, Annette Dasch, Susan Manoff, Jan-Philip Schulze, Anne Le Bozec, and Martin Brauß. Samuel received grants from the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation, the Gundlach Music Award, and was recipient of the prestigious Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

Now embarked on its second decade, Juilliard’s full-scholarship Historical Performance program offers a comprehensive two-year immersion in music of the 17th and 18th centuries on historical instruments. Thanks to the generous support of Bruce and Suzie Kovner, the Historical Performance graduate program is tuition-free. Along with a high-profile concert season of opera, orchestral, and chamber music at the level of technical excellence and musical integrity for which Juilliard is renowned, this intensive program also offers an academic curriculum focused on the study of historical sources, theory, and practice. Its faculty is made up of many of the leading performers and scholars in the field. 

Juilliard415, the school’s principal period-instrument ensemble, has made significant contributions to musical life in New York and beyond, bringing major figures in the field of early music to lead performances of both rare and canonical works by composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. The many distinguished guests who have led Juilliard415 include Harry Bicket, William Christie, Monica Huggett, Nicholas McGegan, Rachel Podger, Jordi Savall, and Masaaki Suzuki. Juilliard415 has now performed on five continents, with notable appearances at the Boston Early Music Festival, Leipzig Bachfest, and Utrecht Early Music Festival (where Juilliard was the first-ever conservatory in residence), and most recently its second 10-concert tour of New Zealand.

Recent highlights include performances with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants at the Philharmonie de Paris, Handel’s »Rinaldo« conducted by Nicholas McGegan, the Juilliard415 debut of Pablo Heras-Casado in a program of music from the Spanish Baroque, and the second of a continuing series of side-by-side collaborations with Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco and with its frequent musical collaborator, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

In collaboration with Juilliard’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, Juilliard415 has performed major oratorios and baroque operas every year since its founding, including a rare fully-staged production of Rameau’s »Hippolyte et Aricie« during the 2017/18 season. During the 2018/19 season, the ensemble presented Purcell’s »Dido and Aeneas« at Opera Holland Park in London and the Royal Opera House of Versailles.

Graduates of Juilliard Historical Performance have gone on to join many leading period-instrument ensembles, including Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, Les Arts Florissants, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, and Portland Baroque Orchestra. They have also launched their own new ensembles like Ruckus, The Sebastians, House of Time, New York Baroque Incorporated, and New Vintage Baroque.

Ute Lemper's career is vast and varied. She has made her mark on the stage, in films, in concert and as a unique recording artist on more than 30 CDs over 30 years of career. She has been universally praised for her interpretations of Berlin Cabaret Songs, of the works of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht and the Chansons of Marlene Dietrich, Édith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Jacques Prévert, Nino Rota, Astor Piazzolla, and many others, for her own compositions, as well as for her portrayals in musicals and plays on Broadway, in Paris, Berlin, and in London's West End.

Ute Lemper was born 1963 in Munster, Germany and completed her piano, dance, and theater studies at Cologne Dance Academy, the Max Reinhardt Seminary Drama School in Vienna as well as in Salzburg and Berlin. Countless musical roles in London, New York, Las Vegas, Berlin, and Vienna resulted in awards such as the French »Molière Award« (1986), and the »Olivier Award« (1998).

Maurice Béjart specifically created the ballet »La mort subite« for Ute Lemper, which had its world premiere in Paris in 1990. After several tours around the globe, Ute Lemper started turning to the big screen more often as well. In film, her many credits include »L'Autrichienne« (Pierre Granier-Deferre), »Prospero’s Books« (Peter Greenaway), »Moscow Parade« (Ivan Dykhovichny), »Prêt-à-Porter« (Robert Altman), »Bogus« (Norman Jewison) and the most recent releases, »Combat de fauves« (Benoît Lamy), »A River Made to Drown In« (James Merendino), and »Appetite« (George Milton). She has appeared on television in »Rage/Outrage«, »The Dreyfus Affair« (Arte), »Tales from the Crypt« (HBO), »Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill« (Bravo), and many others. In the last years, Ute Lemper has been touring the world with Lieder by Astor Piazzolla, Jacques Brel, and Hanns Eisler as well as with creations of her own. Simultaneously, she developed the stage show »Nomade« with Robert Carsen, which premiered to high acclaim at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in June 2003.

Furthermore, she launched a song project devoted to Charles Bukowski and was nominated for a »Grammy« for her CD: »Berlin Days/Paris Nights« with the Vogler Quartet and Stefan Malzew on Piano, featuring songs between love and war composed by Hans Eisler, Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel, Édith Piaf, and Astor Piazzolla, as well as folksongs in Yiddish and in Russian. The group did an extensive North American Tour in 2012.

In 2015, Ute Lemper completed her compositions »9 Secrets«. The album is a song cycle consisting of 9 songs, all based on the words of best-selling author Paulo Coelho’s book »Manuscript found in Accra«. The finished album is a poetic symphony of Coelho's words and combines various musical influences and genres.

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 Liverpool and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. From 1980 to 1998, Sir Simon Rattle was Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and was appointed Music Director in 1990. He moved to Berlin in 2002 and held the positions of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic until he stepped down in 2018. Sir Simon Rattle became Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017 and spent the 2017/18 season at the helm of both ensembles.

Sir Simon has made over 70 recordings for EMI record label (now Warner Classics) and has received numerous prestigious international awards for his recordings on various labels. Releases on EMI include Stravinsky’s »Symphony of Psalms« (which received the 2009 »Grammy Award« for Best Choral Performance), Berlioz's »Symphonie fantastique«, Ravel’s »L'enfant et les sortilèges«, Tchaikovsky’s »Nutcracker Suite«, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Stravinsky’s »The Rite of Spring«. From 2014 Sir Simon Rattle continued to build his recording portfolio with the Berlin Philharmonic`s in-house label, Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings, which led to recordings of the Beethoven, Schumann and Sibelius symphony cycles. Sir Simon’s most recent recordings include Debussy’s »Pelléas et Mélisande«, and Turnage’s »Remembering« on Blue-Ray & DVD with the London Symphony Orchestra’s record label, LSO Live.

Music education is of supreme importance to the conductor, and his partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic broke new ground with the education programme Zukunft@Bphil, earning him the »Comenius Prize«, the »Schiller Special Prize« from the city of Mannheim, the »Golden Camera« and the »Urania Medal«. He and the Berlin Philharmonic were also appointed »International UNICEF Ambassadors« in 2004 – the first time this honour has been conferred on an artistic ensemble. Sir Simon Rattle has also been awarded several prestigious personal honours which include a knighthood in 1994, becoming a member of the »Order of Merit« from Her Majesty the Queen in 2014, and most recently, was bestowed the »Order of Merit« in Berlin in 2018. In 2019, Sir Simon Rattle was given the »Freedom of the City of London«.

From 2013, Sir Simon took up residency at Baden-Baden Easter Festival performing »Die Zauberflöte« and a series of concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic in his first season. Since then the partnership led to performances of Puccini’s »Manon Lescaut«, Strauss’s »Der Rosenkavalier«, Berlioz’s »La damnation de Faust«, and many others. He has also conducted Wagner's »Der Ring des Nibelungen« with the Berlin Philharmonic for the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Salzburg Easter Festival and most recently at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Vienna State Opera.

Sir Simon Rattle has longstanding relationships with the leading orchestras in London, Europe and the USA; initially working closely with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and more recently with The Philadelphia Orchestra. He regularly conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, with whom he has recorded the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos with Alfred Brendel, and is also a Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Founding Patron of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

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«.