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YuJeong Lee

Young, vibrant cellist YuJeong Lee is emerging as a dynamic presence on the international concert stage and is one of the most sought-out Korean cellists of her generation. Ms. Lee’s warm, lush tone, tremendous musical sensitivity and adventurous performances have earned plaudits from audiences, critics, competition juries alike.

Having started playing the cello at the age of nine, YuJeong Lee has pursued her musical studies internationally at Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris (entering at the age of 15), Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, and has graduated from The Juilliard School by completing Professional Studies where she was a recipient of Genevieve Hustead scholarship.
Ms. Lee gave her debut recital at the age of 13 in Sejong Hall in Seoul, Korea and has been performing extensively in Korea, Europe and the U.S. performing recitals in Belgium, Holland, Italy, France, and in New York in many prestigious halls such as the Kumho Art Hall (Korea), Kauffmann Hall (Belgium), Royal Academy of London (UK), American-Irish Society of NY (USA), Harvard Club of New York (USA), as well as invitations from the Swiss Embassy, American Embassy of Korea, Korean Music Society in Washington D.C., and consistent appearances at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, Recital Hall and IBK Chamber Hall.

She has performed chamber music concerts at Seiji Ozawa Hall of Tanglewood Music Festival (USA), Cite de la Musique (Paris, France), Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center (NY, USA), Juilliard Paul Hall (NY, USA), Franz Liszt Academy at Y.E.S. Music Festival (Budapest, Hungary), Siena Accademia Chigiana (Siena, Italy), Encore Summer School (USA), Sarasota Music Festival (USA), Lindenbaum Festival (Korea) and as an active chamber and ensemble musician, has collaborated with groups such as Ensemble Nouvelle Generation de Paris, Hwaum Chamber Ensemble, Korea Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival Ensemble, and Lindenbaum Festival Ensemble. Her performances have been heard on TBS, KBS FM and WQXR.
Lynn Harrell, one of the most respected cellists in the world today, expresses his ardent support of Ms. Lee, who he affirms that she is “undoubtedly a cellist of extraordinary ability” and “without a doubt one of the very few cellists performing at the highest echelon in the field of music”. 
Her numerous competition awards include Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians (finalist, special prize winner at Sendai, Japan), Ewha, Dong-Ah, Joong-Ang, Korea Music Competition, Holland-America Music Society Competition, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Competition and has studied with cellists Mischa Maisky, Philippe Muller, Myung Wha Chung, Richard Aaron, Joel Krosnick and through masterclasses with Frans Helmerson and Boris Pergamenschikow. 

In addition to her concerts as soloist and chamber musician, in 2009, Ms. Lee has joined the faculty of Seoul Arts Center Academy for Young Musicians.
“Strad”, the internationally acclaimed music magazine described as ‘sensitive, flawless, dynamic’ on her performance of Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with Kangnam Symphony Orchestra with conductor Hyun-Suk Suh at Seoul Arts Center. 

Ms. Lee’s engagements of past seasons have included solo appearances with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Kanezawa Orchestra Ensemble of Japan, Sendai Philharmonic, Wartburg Symphony, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, many of Korea’s leading orchestras such as the Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, Changwon Philharmonic, Daegu Philharmonic, Prime Philharmonic, Kangnam Symphony Orchestra, Wonju Philharmonic, Mokpo Philharmonic, Changwon Symphonietta, Gwangju Philharmonic, as well as numerous reinvitations, performing with maestros such as Mishiyoshi Inoue, Vahktang Jordania, Jose Ferreira Lobo, Shinik Hahm, Hyun-Suk Seo, Bong Kim, Yoon-Sung Chang, Florian Krumpoeck, Perry So.

“YuJeong Lee demonstrated tremendous musical integrity and technical command.  Ms. Lee showed great insight in her soulful performance of the Elgar Concerto, capturing the work’s essence with absolutely no excess affectation.”  
- Korea Daily News 

“YuJeong Lee’s performance of Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations was excellent, showcasing her extraordinary technique and remarquable intonation.” 
- Joong Ang Daily News 

“YuJeong Lee’s interpretation of Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations Op. 33 showed technical flawlessness, rich sound and rational ways of phrasings, all which generated the performance into a success.”
- The Strad

Discography

No-Ce

Few years back actress Cécile Nordegg, known for her appearances in cinema, theatre and television aside artists like Oskar Werner, Helmuth Qualtinger, Edith Nordegg, Daniel Mesguich, Daniel Emilfork, Walter Berry, Jean Kerchbron, Max Müller, Heiner Lauterbach, Matthieu Carrière, Deborah Henson-Conant and many more, decided to realise a long-held dream and focus on her career as a singer. After no-ce . chansons . noce and coincidence, . illusion . now is the 3rd album of Cécile Nordegg alias No-Ce.

Discography

Miku Nishimoto-Neubert

Miku Nishimoto-Neubert received a thorough musical education at the State Conservatoire of Tokyo. She completed her piano studies at the Conservatoire for Music and Theatre in Hanover, where her mentor was Professor Karl-Heinz Kaemmerling. She received further artistic impulses through working with of Conrad Hansen, Germaine Mounier and, finally, Klaus Schilde.

She won prizes at piano competitions, among others, at Porto, Vevey and at the renowned Bach competition in Leipzig. Since then Miku Nishimoto-Neubert has made frequent appearances in Europe, Japan and North America, both as soloist and as accompanist. Her solo repertoire embraces all genres of piano music; her priority lies in the music of Bach, the German
Romantic repertoire and in modern classics.

Besides her fine sense of rhythm is a clear, impulsive tone quality, which makes her playing so engaging and exciting. In addition to carefully chosen tempi she achieves a structural clarity, enabling the listener to experience the music as a dramatic vision. Thanks to an exceptional technical versatility her approach to the works she performs remains respectful in regard of textual detail. Miku Nishimoto-Neubert aims for an intensely spiritual approach to the music, elevating her interpretations to something out of the ordinary.

Miku Nishimoto-Neubert is rightly regarded as an “outstanding Bach soloist”. In order to identify with the complex and differentiated sound-world of Bach, she has, in the past years, made his works something of her own. In her many new Bach interpretations, his best-known works appear as new.

Her playing draws its strength and vitality from a consistent identification with the structural and spiritual demands of Bach’s music. These can be transmitted to the discerning listener only through an open approach and a consistent re-appraisal of one’s own mental and technical resources.

Miku Nishimoto-Neubert is on the faculty for Piano Accompaniment at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.

Discography

Natalia Nikolai

The Russian pianist delights audiences in the concert halls of Russia, Spain, France and Germany with her emotional approach, colourful interpretations and passion. She is a welcome guest at many international music festivals.

Natalia Nikolai was born in a small village in the Volgograd region, some 1,300 km south of Moscow. Like her virtuoso accordionist father, she also had a passion for keyboard instruments. When her father noticed that the little Natalia kept on trying to play his accordion, he decided to enable her to receive pianistic training at a music school. The family moved to the nearby town of Kotelnikovo, where Natalia graduated with distinction from the music school at the early age of twelve.

After winning the southern Russian competition for young musicians, she continued her studies at the local music college, from which she also graduated with distinction. Natalia won prizes for the best artistic presentation and virtuoso playing during that period.

In 1987 Natalia Nikolai began comprehensive studies in piano and music education with the acclaimed Prof. Evgeny Liebermann at the famous Gnesin Conservatory in Moscow, from which she graduated most successfully as a solo and chamber pianist. Natalia Nikolai then studied further with the world-famous Prof. Oleg Maisenberg at the College of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart in Germany. He later wrote thus: “To my mind, Natalia Nikolai is an exceptional pianist with great expressive power. She belongs in the major concert venues.”

The CD she recorded in Germany with works by Skrjabin, Rachmaninov and Liszt was praised by the recognized critic Dr. Eckhardt van den Hoogen, Pro Classics: “… this artist is itinerant, like the objects of her musical passions, so it is no wonder that in her programme selection as well as in her interpretations she betrays a degree of inner feeling that is possessed only by great pianists.”

Wilhelm Riekert, long-time friend of the world-famous pianist Wilhelm Kempff and reviewer of important pianistic events in all of Europe as music critic for the Stuttgarter Zeitung for more than thirty years, wrote: “So involved was I by the expressiveness of her performance that fine electrical charges sparked over to me; a performance in which fundamental and highly differentiated musicality fused into a perfect whole.”

Discography

 

Neue Philharmonie Westfalen

Neue Philharmonie Westfalen

The Neue Philharmonie Westfalenwas formed in 1996, when two orchestras in the northern Ruhr region merged: the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra of Recklinghausen and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gelsenkirchen. The orchestra is jointly financed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen and the district of Unna. The Austrian conductor Johannes Wildner was general music director of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalenfrom 1997 to August 2007. He was followed in the summer of 2007 by Heiko Mathias Förster, who had previously conducted the symphony orchestras of Brandenburg and Munich.

The Neue Philharmonie Westfalenis one of the largest orchestras in the region, giving almost 300 performances at home and abroad each season. The 130-strong ensemble is able to cover the entire range of orchestral literature from the Baroque to present-day. Film and crossover concerts are also part of the ensemble’s programme. In addition to performing at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen and at symphony concerts throughout the Ruhr region, the orchestra spends a good deal of its time working with children and young people.

The largest of the three orchestra administered by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalenpursues a policy of passing outstanding projects down to posterity by recording them. CDs released of works by Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms and Max Bruch conducted by Johannes Wildner have been followed by various recordings conducted by Heiko Mathias Förster that include Gustav Mahler’s First and Fifth symphonies, three CDs of works by the Strauss family and the “cool rhythm” CD together with the Berlin saxophone quartetclair-obscur.

In recent years, the orchestra has succeeded in making a name for itself far beyond the Ruhr region. The Neue Philharmonie Westfalenhas, for example, given acclaimed performances of the “Lord of the Rings” Symphony at places like Speyer Cathedral (a World Heritage site), the philharmonic halls of Cologne and Berlin, Die Glockein Bremen, the Franziskanerin Villingen, the Teatro Dante Alighieri Ravenna, the Teatro Comunale di Modena, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Musical Theater in Basel and the Kölnarena(now Lanxess Arena, Cologne). The orchestra performed Heiko Mathias Förster’s Wagner adaptation “Ring ohne Worte” (Ring without words) at the Great Festival Theatre in Salzburg in September 2009. The ensemble made its overseas debut quite early on, in the autumn of 2000, when it accepted an invitation to perform at the Beijing Festival.

Recently, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalenhas increasingly made a name for itself by touring with leading soloists. Concerts with Lucia Aliberti, Elina Garanca, Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock, Edita Gruberova and Vittorio Grigolo were followed in 2012 by a tour with Anna Netrebko, Ramón Vargas and Erwin Schrott in Münster, Mannheim and Wiesbaden.

Heiko Mathias Förster
General music director

As a student registered for piano studies, Mecklenburg-born Heiko Mathias Förster could have had no inkling that he would one day become the conductor of a large orchestra. He soon gave up the piano for conducting, however, and at the age of only twenty-three became principal conductor at the Brandenburg Theatre and later took over the Munich Symphony Orchestra.

Since the summer of 2007, Heiko Mathias Förster has been general music director of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, an orchestra that not only performs at symphony concerts but is also the opera orchestra of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen.The operas he has conducted there include Verdi’s Otello, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila and the German first performance of Isaac Albéniz’s Merlin. Förster also regularly conducts opera productions in Prague and Bratislava.

Förster is a favourite with opera stars. The singers he has worked with include Rolando Villazón, Elina Garanca and Angela Gheorghiu, and he also collaborated with the brilliant German humorist Vicco von Bülow alias Loriot in his project called “Der Ring an einem Abend” (the Ring in a single performance).

Heiko Mathias Förster makes regular guest appearances with orchestras all over the world. The Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin and the Prague Symphony Orchestra are among those he has conducted in recent years. Young concert-goers are also catered for: Förster regularly conducts concerts aimed especially at families and children.

Discography

 

Nas, Christian

Christian Nas wurde in Cluj, Rumänien geboren.Er absolvierte in seiner Heimatstadt die Musikhochschule.

Auf Einladung des Dirigenten Nikolaus Harnoncourt, erhielt Christian ein Stipendium, das ihm ermöglichte die Ausbildung an der Musikhochschule in Graz, Österreich fortzusetzen.

1997 wurde er 1. Solobratschist des Grazer Sinfonieorchesters.

Seit 1999 ist er Mitglied im Radio-Sinfonieorchesters Stuttgart des SWR.

Christian gastiert regelmäßig bei zahlreichen Festivals in Deutschland, Österreich, Rumänien, Japan und der Schweiz, darunter der Chiemgauer Musikfrühling, das SoNoRo Festival oder der Boswil Sommer.

Discographie

Marlis Petersen

The main focus of Marlis Petersen’s repertoire is the field of classical coloratura, however she has also made a name for herself as an interpreter of contemporary music. After studying at the Music Academy Stuttgart and with Sylvia Geszty, she supplemented her training in the specialized areas of opera, new music and dance. She started her career as a member of the ensemble at Städtische Bühnen Nuremberg, where she sang roles such as Ännchen, Blonde, Adele, Rosina, Lulu and Queen of the night. From 1998 to 2003 she was engaged at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Dusseldorf.

Marlis Petersen gave her debut at the Vienna State Opera with Lulu. This central role of her repertoire she also sang in Peter Konwitschny’s much admired staging in Hamburg, at the Chicago Lyric Opera und in a new production in Athens. In the meantime she is a regular guest at the most important opera houses worldwide, e.g. Opéra de Paris, Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels, state operas of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna, Theater an der Wien, Metropolitan Opera New York, Los Angeles Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and at the Festivals of Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence.

Important roles of her repertoire are e.g. Lulu, Violetta (Traviata), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Adele and Rosalinde (Fledermaus), Marguerite (Les Huguenots), Manon, Thais and Elettra (Idomeneo).
Recently, she had a sensational success in a new Lulu production at Bavarian State Opera, which she repeated at the Metropolitan Opera New York as an extraordinary farewell from this role. Outstanding attention was also paid to her Traviata in the Peter Konwitschny production in Graz and Vienna.

Marlis Petersen participated in important world premieres such as Werner Henze’s Phaedra in Berlin and Brussels, Manfred Trojahn’s La grande magia at Semperoper Dresden and Aribert Reimann’s Medea at the Vienna State Opera.

In the concert field, the soprano has already worked with the greatest conductors worldwide such as Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Louis Langrée, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Ingo Metzmacher, Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle and Jeffrey and collaborated also with several specialists in the historical performance practice as René Jacobs, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ton Koopman, Trevor Pinnock and Helmuth Rilling.

Marlis Petersen has worked with leading orchestras such as Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Concertgebouw Orkest, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker, RAI Orchester Turin, the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Freiburger Barockorchester, Akademie für Alte Musik and Ensemble Modern Frankfurt.
In January 2017 she had the honour to participate at the opening festival of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with a world creation of Jörg Widmann under the baton of Kent Nagano. And later in 2017 she made a very successful debut as Marietta in “Die Tote Stadt” in Warsaw.

In 2013, Marlis Petersen received the very first Austrian Music Theatre Award for her interpretation of the three female main roles in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Theater an der Wien,  and by the magazine Opernwelt she was elected “Singer of the year” for the third time. During the season 2017/2018 Marlis Petersen gave recitals in Dubai, at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Mozart Week Salzburg, the Mozart Festival Würzburg, the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin and at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. Further highlights are concerts of Beethoven’s “Leonore” in Brussels, Amsterdam, Athen, Baden-Baden, Cologne and Paris under the baton of René Jacobs and a tour with Beethoven’s “Christus am Ölberg” with the Concert Olympique and Jan Caeyers.

For the 2019/20 season, Marlis Petersen was awarded “Singer of the Year” for the fourth time by the magazine “opernwelt” for her interpretation of Marietta at the Bavarian State Opera and won the “Opus Klassik 2020”, also as Singer of the Year for the CD “INNENWELT” released by Solo Musica.

Discography

Marlis Petersen: Dimensionen – Welt (Dimensions – World)

Artists: Marlis Petersen

Stephan Matthias Lademann

Title: Dimensionen – Welt

Catalogue No.: SM 274

Release: 03.11.2017

Description

In the first part “world” of their new “dimensions” trilogy Marlis Petersen and Stephan Matthias Lademann make a journey through 100 years of musical romanticism – an epoch in which natural images of various kinds play a central role as the projection and reflection surface of human feelings and longings. We can hear compositions by Franz Schubert, Clara and Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Sigurd von Koch and Hans Sommer, who are concerned with the themes of “heaven and earth”, “man and nature”, “lot and knowledge” and “hope and longing “.

Marlis Petersen is a lyrical soprano, touring worldwide since 2003. Everybody knows her as Alban Berg’s heroine Lulu, which she presented in ten different productions worldwide, most recently at the Bavarian State Opera (just released on DVD) and Metropolitan Opera. The magazine “opernwelt” has already honored her for the third time with the title “Singer of the Year”. In January 2017 she was part of the great Elbphilharmonie-opening with Jörg Widmann’s “Arche” under the direction of Kent Nagano. Marlis Petersen has been dedicated to the genre “Lied” for several years.

Tracklist

Himmel und Erde
1 Himmel und Erde 1:49
2 Cora an die Sonne 2:03
3 An die untergehende Sonne 6:18
4 Herbstabend 3:02
5 Die Mutter Erde 3:48
Mensch und Natur
6 Naturgenuss, D 188 2:43
7 Die Hütte 2:50
8 Die Berge, D 634 2:17
9 Juchhe 2:27
10 Des Sennen Abschied, op. 79 2:10
11 Dämmrung senkte sich von oben 3:52
Los und Erkenntnis
12 Gesang des Lebens 2:21
13 Der Strom, der neben mir verrauschte 1:14
14 Serenade op. 70 (Vier Gesänge) no. 3 1:34
15 Das Los des Menschen 3:19
16 Sehnsucht op. 51 2:18
17 Stehe still 3:34
Hoffnung und Sehnsucht
18 Am See 2:05
19 Mein Stern 2:06
20 Feldeinsamkeit 2:57
21 Mondnacht 3:48
Conclusio
22 Erinnerung 1:51

Max Müller

Schauspiel- und Gesangsstudium an der Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Wien sowie bei Edith Nordegg, Charlotte Grubenmann und Kammersänger Walter Berry.
Theater- und Konzertengagements
Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Wiener Metropol, Théâtre de la Bastille, Paris, Schauspielhaus Wien, Renaissance-Theater Berlin, Theater in der Josefstadt, Wien (1993-2000), Wiener Lustspielhaus, Festspiele Reichenau, Seefestspiele Mörbisch, Herkulessaal, Carinthischer Sommer, Operndebüt: Titelrolle in der Kirchenoper “Franziskus“, GottfriedVonEinem-Tage, Schloss Amerang, KuKo Rosenheim, Literaturhaus Hamburg, Musikverein Wien, Prinzregententheater München

Nominierung Max-Ophüls-Preis für die Hauptrolle im Kinofilm “Fleischwolf“
Seit 2000 vermehrt Arbeit für das Fernsehen: u.a. Kommissar Rex, Schlosshotel Orth, Weißblaue Wintergeschichten, Ein Fall für Zwei sowie mit durchgehenden Rollen, in den RTL-Serien Der Clown, Bernds Hexe und als Michi Mohr in der ZDF-Produktion „Die Rosenheim-Cops“

Ständige Arbeit als Sprecher für den ORF, Soloprogramme, Liederabende und Lesungen Zusammenarbeit mit Otto Schenk, Fritz Muliar, Gerda Fröhlich, Dietmar Pflegerl, Heinz Marecek, Rosemarie Fendel, Houchang Allahyari, Sissy Löwinger, Werner Schneyder, Jörg Schneider, Gunter Krää, Walter Bannert, Werner Siebert, Erhard Riedlsperger, Cyprien Katsaris, Robert Holl, Duo Theiner & Breitner und den Münchner Symphonikern.

CDs: „Ewig dein Mozart“, „Weihnachten!“, “Der Nussknacker” und im Frühjahr 2017 „Tierisch!“

Discographie

Flavio Motalla

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, composer Flavio Motalla studied piano and composition with Boris Mersson and Gunhard Mattes. He later graduated from the University of Southern California’s advanced studies program in “Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television”, where he studied among others under tutorship of Elmer Bernstein, David Raksin and Leonard Rosenman.

His highly emotional and compelling compositions are rooted in the late romantic era, and are often compared to the works of Sibelius, Debussy and Rachmaninoff. However, with his love and passion for music in all its diversity, he never shies away of exploring new musical frontiers, incorporating more contemporary style elements from today’s rock/pop/electronica music, or engaging himself in projects off the beaten path.

Since his move to Los Angeles he has been working as a composer, arranger and orchestrator on dozens of films of any genre, style and budget. He has contributed to a multitude of projects ranging from smaller independent films (e.g. Naomi, Wonder Boys, The Shipping News) to big Hollywood productions (e.g. Spider-Man 3, Drag Me to Hell, Swordfish), and has collaborated with many top industry professionals.

Aside from his work in film, he also continues to write concert music. Up to now, his classical compositions include pieces for chamber and symphony orchestra, various string concertos, as well as the four vocalises for soprano and orchestra featured on this recording. He has been commissioned and written works for renowned soloists such as flutist Myriam-Hidber Dickinson, violist Karen Elaine, and most notably soprano Elena Moșuc.

His works have been performed internationally, among others by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Bucharest, the Vidin State Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the International Chamber Orchestra of Washington DC, and the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra.

He currently works and resides in Los Angeles.

Discography