Pianist Stephan Matthias Lademann, born in Meißen (Germany), discovered his passion for chamber music and vocal accompaniment during his studies at the Dresden University of Music. He focused on this genre after his escape from the former GDR. Since 1997, Vienna has been Lademann‘s musical home. His close collaboration with Robert Holl in Vienna as given him important artistic impulses. He has also been the artistic partner of Siegfried Jerusalem and has accompanied many other renowned singers such as Diana Damrau, Edita Gruberova, Paul Armin Edelmann, Mathias Hausmann, Sibylla Rubens, Chen Reiss, Günther Groissböck, Daniela Fally, Marlis Petersen and Robert Dean Smith. Together with these artists, Lademann has performed at several renowned international music festivals and important concert venues in Europe and in the Americas.
His recordings include a live recording of the recital with Diana Damrau at the Salzburg Festival 2005; the world premiere of Gustav Mahler‘s cycle „Des Knaben Wunderhorn“ in the original piano version; the first recording of Mahler‘s „The Song of the Earth“ in the version for tenor, baritone and piano; a CD of Italian songs by Schubert and Donizetti with the Israeli soprano Chen Reiss as well as the song cycle „Myrten“ Op.25 by Robert Schumann under the title „Songs and Letters“ with academy award winners Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch. Furthermore, Lademann has partnered with actor Ulrich Reinthaller for a recording of Rainer Maria Rilke‘s „Duineser Elegies VI-X“ imbueded with a performance of solo piano works.
Complementing his work as accompanist, the pianist has a great passion for projects that combine poetry with music. Since 2009 he has devoted himself increasingly to musicalliterary projects, collaborating with actors such as Peter Matic, Sophie von Kessel, Ulrich Reinthaller, Angela Winckler, Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch.
Stephan Matthias Lademann teaches at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

 

The wind ensemble ‘La Scintilla dei Fiati’ is composed of members of Orchestra La Scintilla at Zurich Opera. Having devoted themselves for many years to performing the substantial repertoire for this instrumentation on modern instruments, their desire grew stronger to play these works on period instruments, and thereby to discover and to experience completely new aspects of the music.

Working with luminaries such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Thomas Hengelbrock and Giovanni Antonini, which sparked in all musicians a lively enthusiasm for period performance, together with the fact that all players dedicate a significant part of their working lives to chamber music, brought the members of this unique ensemble together.
Through their work, the ensemble aims to revive the extensive, partly neglected, yet wonderful repertoire of a musical form which had such a rich tradition in the courts of Europe in the late 18th century, and in doing so to conjure up the Zeitgeist of the period in the context of our modern world.

Over the years, La Cetra has collaborated with a number of star guest conductors such as René Jacobs, Attilio Cremonesi, Konrad Junghänel, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhard and Andrea Marcon, soloists such as Andreas Scholl, Vivica Genaux, Mojca Erdman, Magdalena Kožená, Patricia Petibon, Nuria Rial, Maurice Steger, Giuliano Carmignola and Nicola Benedetti, and choirs such as the RIAS Chamber Choir and Ensemble Orlando Fribourg. It also plays as a chamber ensemble. Since 2009 the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon has been Artistic Director of La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel. In 2012, and upon his initiative, the La Cetra Vocal Ensemble was founded, with whom the orchestra regularly performs.
The explicit philosophy of La Cetra is that the scientific background work and intensive exploration of period instruments, performance practices and historical context should be communicated in lively, gripping, and up-to-date interpretations. For this, La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel was awarded the European Prize for Early Music in 2009.

Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976 in Espoo) is a Finnish musician.

Pekka Kuusisto began studying the violin at the age of three. His first violin teacher was Geza Szilvay at the East Helsinki Music Institute. In 1983 he enrolled in the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He began to study there with Tuomas Haapanen in 1985. He studied with Miriam Fried and Paul Biss at the Indiana University School of Music from 1992 to 1997.

In 1995, Pekka Kuusisto became the first Finn to win the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition and was also awarded a special prize for the best performance of Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto. He has won other prizes, concertised widely and recorded works for the Ondine label. Pekka Kuusisto plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin (1752) lent by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Pekka Kuusisto is constantly working with musicians from many different backgrounds. He regularly performs with electronics, giving concerts consisting of mostly improvised material. During the past few years, he has frequently performed a solo recital programme consisting of the Partita in d minor by Johann Sebastian Bach and electronic improvisations on funeral chorales. The traditional music of Finland serves as a source of inspiration for Kuusisto, and his approach to the violin has changed substantially since he became more involved with folk music and its performers. He has been a guest performer with groups such as Nightwish, Rinneradio, Don Johnson Big Band, The National and Salsa Dura.

Pekka Kuusisto also writes music, but mostly for small ensembles where he is one of the performers. With accordionist Johanna Juhola, he wrote half of the album “Max Höjd” and half of the music for “Auf Wiedersehen Finnland”, a documentary film by Virpi Suutari about Second World War events in Finnish Lapland. He composed the music for the album “Kiestinki”, with lyrics written by Paula Vesala. Currently, Pekka Kuusisto is working on music for a collaboration between himself, Jaakko Kuusisto and the vocal ensemble Rajaton, themed on climate change.

In classical circles, Pekka Kuusisto is internationally renowned both as soloist and director and is recognised for his fresh approach to the repertoire. A strong advocate of new music, Pekka regularly collaborates with contemporary composers and in the 2012/13 season, he gave the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s Violin Concerto, written for him and commissioned by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. Other recent highlights have included concerts with the Finnish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Chamber, Toronto Symphony and Washington’s National Symphony orchestras, as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

In 2013/14, Pekka joins frequent collaborators Britten Sinfonia in performances of four Britten works as part of the composer’s centenary celebrations, with choreography by the Richard Alston Dance Company. He also returns to the Cincinnati Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras.

Pekka Kuusisto seeks to engage with people across the artistic spectrum, working on new interpretations of existing repertoire alongside original works. He regularly directs ensembles from the violin, including the Australian, London, Irish, Mahler and The Saint Paul chamber orchestras, as well as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Recent recital partners include Iiro Rantala, Anne Sofie von Otter, Angela Hewitt, Kimmo Pohjonen and Nicolas Altstaedt. He gave the world premiere of Olli Mustonen’s Sonata for Violin and Piano with the composer at the Wigmore Hall in spring 2013, and later this year he tours Europe with his traditional music group, The Luomu Players.

‘Our Festival’, of which Pekka is Artistic Director, provides another opportunity for him to bring a number of artforms together in a single performance. Based in Sibelius’ home town, Järvenpää, it was selected as Festival of the Year by Finland Festivals in 2011. In 2013, Pekka gave the world premiere of an electronic work inspired by Magnus Lindberg’s Violin Concerto, which he co-wrote with Tuomas Norvio. He also gave duo performances with juggler Jay Gilligan, joined the vocal group Rajaton and performed with Finnish schlager legend Paula Koivuniemi.

Pekka Kuusisto has enjoyed a number of prestigious residencies, including at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Concertgebouw’s Robeco Zomerconcerten, and as a ‘Junge Wilde’ artist at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. He oversaw the programming for the 2011 Avanti! Summer Sounds Festival and he continues to work regularly with Tapiola Sinfonietta, where he was formerly Artistic Partner (2006-2013).

Kuusisto was featured in the film 4 as the soloist of the winter quarter of a quartet of young musicians from around the world playing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

Rainer Kussmaul, violin, was born in Mannheim as a son of a musical family, received his first violin lessons from his father and then studied with Riccardo Odnoposoff. He performs worldwide as a soloist and as a member of the Stuttgart Piano Trio, formed in 1968. Rainer Kussmaul was a prize-holder at numerous international violin competitions. Between his concert tours with renowned orchestras and conductors, he records for radio, television and compact disc.

Rainer Kussmaul is also a successful teacher. He gives master classes in many countries and has been director of the violin class at the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden-Baden since 1987. He has been a professor at the Freiburg Music Conservatory since 1977, with the exception of the period from 1993 to 1998 when he was given leave of absence to enable him to take up the position of 1st Concert Master of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Yury Kunets (*1957) ist ein russischer Komponist, Musiker und Produzent.

Seine ersten Kompositionen verfasste Yury Kunets noch in seiner Schulzeit. Diese Tätigkeit setzte er fort und schrieb in den 80er Jahren Songs für die Band ›Impulse Five‹. Ab 2004 beteiligte sich Kunets als Produzent an einigen Musikprojekten im russischen Fernsehen. Zusammen mit dem Autor und Regisseur Maxim Kapitanowsky schuf Kunets zwei Musikfilme, die beide von D. Zawilgelsky betreut wurden: Blame it all on the Beatles (für den staatlichen Sender ›Rossija‹) und Don’t Shoot The Musicians (2007). In Zusammenarbeit mit Michail Tanich und Kirill Krastoshewsky komponierte er Songs für viele Künstler, darunter für die legendäre Band ›Pesnyary‹, Michail Mien und viele andere.

2011 konnte Kunets ein umfangreiches Repertoire von Instrumentalstücken zur Aufnahme und Veröffentlichung vorweisen. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem amerikanischen Dirigenten Lee Holdridge (zwei Grammys und acht Emmys) und dem britischen Musikproduzenten Christopher Alder (zehn Grammys) begann Kunets mit der Aufnahme mehrerer Alben mit symphonischen Werken

In seinen Kompositionen kombiniert Kunets Elemente der klassischen Musik, des Jazz und der Popmusik miteinander. Die Melodik und das romantische Gepräge seiner symphonischen Werke spiegeln das Wesen des Komponisten wider. Kunets über Renaissance: »Diese Musik hat einen sehr lyrischen Charakter; damit versuche ich, meine Sicht auf das Leben und meine Empfindungen zu vermitteln. Sie ist sozusagen das Ergebnis meiner philosophischen Überlegungen, kleine Geschichten über unsere von der Natur umgebene Existenz, die ihrerseits eng mit unserem emotionalen Sein verbunden ist«

Diskografie

Internationally celebrated as both a soloist and conductor, Florian Krumpöck has more than proven his outstanding capability on the international concert scene. Appointed as one of the youngest music directors in German history in 2011, Krumpöck characteristically masters enormous amounts of opera and concert literature as well as piano repertoire, and particularly enthrals his audiences with his double function as a soloist and conductor.

The son of a cellist and an art historian, Krumpöck can count Rudolf Buchbinder and Gerhard Oppitz among his teachers, as well as one of the most distinguished female pianists of our time, Elisabeth Leonskaja. Pronounced by none other than Daniel Barenboim after hearing him play as being a “simply wonderful pianist”, Krumpöck was well on the way to a promising international career.

Receiving outstanding reviews for his debut in the Zurich Tonhalle with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev, Krumpöck was subsequently invited to play at other major European music centres such as Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and Zurich, as well as further afield in Israel, the USA, China and South Korea. Critically acclaimed solo recitals at international festivals such as the SalzburgFestival, the Salzburg EasterFestival, the BregenzFestival, the Bad Kissingen Summer Music Festival, the Bachfest in Leipzig, the Mecklenburg–Vorpommern Music Festival and the ViennaKlangbogen, all helped to cement his future career as a soloist. Furthermore, at an early stage Sir Peter Ustinov had presented the young musician to a wider audience.

Florian Krumpöck makes regular appearances as a soloist at great concert halls such as Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Herkulessaal in Munich, and the Meistersingerhalle in Nürnberg. Other appearances include the great concert hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. In the course of his career, he has played several complete cycles of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas. Upon the advice of his mentor Daniel Barenboim, Krumpöck expanded his repertoire to include numerous symphonic works and operas and began to work increasingly on conducting.

In 2006 Krumpöck gained the opportunity to stand in at the Jerusalem Symphony for the first time as a conductor. The performance was an international sensation and he was subsequently appointed principal conductor of the Baden Sinfonietta.

2007 saw Krumpöck conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra with great success as a part of a New Year’s concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington. He was then employed by the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, where he notably worked with the former director of the Vienna Burgtheater, Matthias Hartmann.

Krumpöck was appointed in 2011 as music director for concerts and opera at the Rostock Volkstheater and as principal conductor of the Norddeutsche Philharmonie. In this role, and as one of the youngest music directors in Germany, Krumpöck directed numerous music theatre premieres and symphony concerts which included a Mahler cycle, a Beethoven marathon which involved the nine symphonies being played on four consecutive days, and several other concerts as both soloist and conductor.

2012 saw Krumpöck lead the Lichtenstein Symphony Orchestra as artistic director and principal conductor. In the following three years he was the driving force behind the highly successful artistic reorganisation of the orchestra, which thus developed into the most important cultural ambassador for the country. Collaborations with some of the most important soloists of our time marked the artistic ascent of the orchestra, as did a concert series that was completely sold out to subscribers alone.

Despite the Norddeutsche Philharmonie requesting to extend Krumpöck’s contract at the end of his tenure, he opted instead for purely freelance work. This has included his debut at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen conducting the Royal Danish Orchestra, with two inaugural open-air concerts and a production of Der Rosenkavalier, produced by Marco Arturo Marelli.

Florian Krumpöck has been a guest conductor for many of the most celebrated orchestras in the world, conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the golden hall of the Vienna Musikverein, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Copenhagen Royal Danish Orchestra, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Linz Bruckner Orchestra, the Staatskapelle of Halle, the Nürnberg Staatsphilharmonie,the philharmonic orchestras of Kiel, Würzburg, Hagen, Oldenburg, Bremerhaven, Neubrandenburg and Trier, the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra, and numerous orchestras in China and South Korea. In 2012 he was also the premiere conductor for Rigoletto at the opera festival in Gars am Kamp, Austria.

Last season, in guest appearances, Florian Krumpöck conducted the Norddeutsche Philharmonie in the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg and the Lichtenstein Symphony Orchestra in a live concert broadcast by Bavarian Radio in Munich. He also conducted the traditional New Year’s concert at the Salzburg Festspielhaus, with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

The foundation for what was to become a close co-operation with UNIVERSAL was laid when he won critical acclaim at the Klassik am Dom Gala in July 2015, with soloists Angelika Kirchschlager and Michael Schade, conducting the Linz Bruckner Orchestra.
He has formed a close working relationship with Angelika Kirchschlager, the two of whom perform many lieder recitals together.
Numerous CD recordings as a pianist and conductor (the most recent being Dvořák’s Piano Concerto with the Nürnberg Staatsphilharmonie under Markus Bosch, chamber music by Karl Weigl with David Frühwirth and Benedict Klöckner, and Schubert’s Winterreise with Wolfgang Bankl), radio broadcasts and several television features, all document the varied work of the artist. For the current Blüthner concert series in Vienna, he is for the sixth time taking charge of music management. Since summer 2015, Florian Krumpöck has been the director of Kultur.Sommer.Semmering.