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9th edition
2019
Following his studies in organ and composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan, Marcello Mottadelli started his career in 1999, as Chief Conductor of the Berner Symphoniker at the Stadttheater Bern, where he conducted: Hänsel und Gretel, Così fan Tutte, Die Fledermaus, Il Trovatore, Die Zauberflöte, Der Vogelhändler and Marta.
In 2001, he made his USA debut conducting Turandot at the Colorado Opera Company, and in the same year he also conducted “Rigoletto”, and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony at the Opera of Cape Town. From 2002 to 2008, Marcello Mottadelli conducted: Der Freischütz and Rigoletto at the National Danish Opera; and symphonic concerts with the Odense and Aalborg Symphony Orchestras, the Bialystok Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland, the Orchestra Teatro Coccia in Novara in Italy, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava, and the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, in Egypt.
From 2008 to 2011, Marcello Mottadelli was General Music Director of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, also making his debut in South Korea at the Seongnam Arts Centre in Seoul. In the following years, he conducted: Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; La Bohème in Seoul; and has made several appearances with the Nürnberger Symphoniker in Germany. His recent engagements also include: Nabucco, Madama Butterfly and Andrea Chenier, as well as recordings for Bayerische Rundfunk.
From 2016 to 2017, Marcello Mottadelli was nominated Artistic and Music Coordinator of the Bucharest National Opera House, where he premiered on the Romanian stage with: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Tosca and Un Ballo in Maschera.
Zefira Valova was born in Sofia where she obtained Master’s degree at the National Music Academy. From 2009 until 2011 she specialized IN baroque violin at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, having studied with Lucy van Dael.
From 2003 until 2008 she was concertmaster of several orchestras in Bulgaria as well as concertmaster with The National Youth Orchestra of The Netherlands. She appeared as a soloist with the Academic Symphony Orchestra Sofia, Classic FM Radio Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Orpheus, Ars Barocca Ensemble – awarded by theBulgarian National Radio with the prize “Ensemble of 2007”.
Zefira Valova is among the founders of the Sofia Baroque Arts Festival – the only annual event dedicated to early music and historically informed performance in Bulgaria.
As a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra in 2008, working with Roy Goodman, Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Enrico Onofri, she started her experience in the historical performance practice.
She is the concertmaster of Il Pomo d’Oro since 2015, mainly under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev. Since 2016 she is conducting the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra within their early music series.
During the concert season 2018 – 2019 she appears as concertmaster of Il Pomo d’oro with Joyce di Donato – mezzo soprano, as leader of the performances with Ann Hallenberg- mezzo, Franco Fagioli and Jakub Orlinski – counter tenor, Edgar Moreau – violoncello. She collaborates with Helsinki Baroque Orchestra for wide range of baroque, classical and romantic repertoire.
She collaborated also with the orchestras Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, La Chambre Phillharmonique, B’Rock, Les Ambassadeurs and others.
She appears in chamber music ensembles with the pianists Olga Pashchenko, Vasily Ilisavsky, the guitarist Izhar Elias, the recorder player Erik Bosgraaf.
Zefira Valova was awarded in the competition of the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation, which provided her with a violin Lorenzo & Tomaso Carcassi 1760, Florence.
comes from Seville, Spain. He studied conducting and piano in Seville, Paris, and at the Higher Musical School in Frankfurt, from which he graduated with distinction. He assisted Lothar Zagroski in Berlin State Opera, Yakov Kreizberg in Comical Opera in Berlin, Markus Stenz in Cologne Opera, and Paolo Carignani in Frankfurt Opera.
In 2007-2017, Rodrigo Tomillo was employed as a conductor at Pfalztheater, Kaiserslautern. In the 2016/2017 season, he was appointed the first conductor and the deputy General Music Director there. In Pfalztheater, he directed more than 50 works from the musical theatre repertoire, including Verdi’s Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera, Puccini’s La Bohème, Janačka’s The Cunning Little Vixen and ballets: Swan Lake, Snow White and Romeo and Juliet. His German premiere of El Gato Montés by Manuel Penelli was nominated to the 2018 International Opera Awards as the discovery of the year.
Rodrigo Tomillo performed as a guest conductor at Staatstheater, Mainz (La Traviata), Theater in Münster (Tosca), Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck (Hansel and Gretel) and Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater (Otello). In addition, he directed the following orchestras as a guest conductor: Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Orquesta de Valencia, Orquestra Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Osnabrücker Symphoniker, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, and Hofer Symphoniker. Rodrigo Tomillo accompanied international soloists, such as pianists Elisabeth Leonskaja and Alexander Krichel, trumpeter Mathias Höfs and cellist, Peter Bruns. He regularly performs at international festivals, including Saar Music Festival, Sopot Classic, Music Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, and Boluda Fest, Gran Canaria.
Since the concert season 2017/2018, Rodrigo Tomillo has been the first conductor and Deputy Director General of the Musical Theatre in Hagen, where he conducted Tosca, Aida and Simona Boccanegra, Dvořák’s Marmaid and Dido and Aeneas, Cindirella and Handel’s Water Music. In the 2019/2020 season, he will direct at the Theatre in Hagen, including Verdi’s Trubadurem; moreover, he will perform the new staging of Lortzing’s Zar und Zimmermann.
In the 2018/2019 season, Rodrigo Tomillo was a resident conductor at the Theatre in Chemnitz, where he conducted Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. During the 2019/2010 season, he will continue to work with the Theatre in Chemnitz, conducting Magic Flute and Swan Lake.
Paweł Przytocki is one of the most talented and exciting Polish conductors of his generation.He studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he graduated with honors in the Faculty of Conducting (1985) under Professor Jerzy Katlewicz. He perfected his skills at the Bartok International Seminar with Peter Eötvös, the Master Conducting Course within the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene with Helmuth Rilling .
From 1987 to 1988 Przytocki collaborated with the Grand Opera Theatre in Lodz.
From 1988 to 1991 he was the conductor and Music Director of the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra in Gdansk.
In May 1990 he made his debut with the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. From 1995 to 1997 Przytocki was Music Director of the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Łódz.
Przytocki is a regular guest conductor with orchestras throughout Poland as well as with Budapest Concert Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica de Xalapa in Mexico, Real Filharmonia de Galicia in Spain, Capella Istropolitana in Bratislava, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra Ankara,Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, Santiago Philharmonic in Chile,Zagreb Philharmonic ,New Haifa Symphony Orchesta and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Paweł Przytocki has participated in numerous international music festivas, including the Athens Festival 1987, the Musikfest Stuttgart 1988, the Flanders Festival 1989, La Chaise- Dieu Festival 1996, Kissinger Sommer 1998, Bratislava Music Festival 1999, Prague Spring 2001,Wratislavia Cantans/2005.
Hs guest performances and concerts tours have led throughout Europe at a great numer of venues, including the Musikverein in Vienna , the Konzerhaus in Berlin,the Bela Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest, the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Palais des Beaux in Brussels , the Musikhalle in Hamburg and Beethovenhalle in Bonn.
From 2005 Przytocki was the conductor of the National Opera in Warsaw.Highlights of his time at the National Opera included conducting Aram Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus; Tchaikovsky’s opera “Eugene Oniegin”; Verdi’s “La Traviata” ;Puccini’s “La Boheme” and the ballet based on “Eugene Oniegin”- choreographed by John Cranko
He has made archival recordings for Polish Radio and CD for DUX,Aurophon and Point Classic. His recording of Rachmaninoff`s First Symphony in 1991 has been appreciated by the american” La Folia Music Review Magazine” in a very special way.The magazin put it to the world`s five best recordings and compared it to those of Carlos Kleiber and Svjatoslav Richter.
From 2008 to 2012, Pawel Przytocki was the Chairman and Artistic Director of the Philharmonic in Krakow.
In his 30-year career, French-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna has added over sixty roles to his repertoire: Alfredo, Calaf, Cavaradossi, Don Carlo(s), Don Jose, Faust, Manrico, Nemorino, Otello, Radames, Rodolfo, Romeo, Ruggero, Samson, Werther… all in performances which have made him the most famous French tenor in the world. Also, his taste for exploration has shown his love for lesser-known repertory, via productions, concerts and recordings he championed such as Massenet’s Le jongleur de Notre-Dame, Le Cid or La Navarraise, Lalo’s Fiesque, Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Chausson’s Le roi Arthus. He sang as well in Meyerbeer’s Vasco da Gama, a very rarely staged critical edition of L’Africaine and a flamboyant Cyrano de Bergerac by Alfano in its original version of 1935, recently revived at the Met Opera (2017). Even two contemporary operas have been composed especially for him, Vladimir Cosma’s Marius et Fanny, after Marcel Pagnol, and Le dernier jour d’un condamné, after Victor Hugo, which was composed by David Alagna and staged for the first time in France in 2014.
Exclusive artist with EMI (1993–2004) then Deutsche Grammophon (2005-2017), he has signed in 2017 with Sony Classical. With recordings for Erato, Sony, EMI and Deutsche Grammophon these past ten years, his discography covers a wide range: complete sets, duets, oratorios, operas, anthologies of great works, religious and popular songs. Credo, Viva Opéra, Airs de Berlioz, Bel canto, Robertissimo, Luis Mariano, Sicilian, Pasión are some of the numerous albums included in his discography, reflecting the musical eclecticism of his career. In addition to his extensive discography, he appears widely on DVD. Films have also solicited him, first for director Benoît Jacquot’s Tosca (2001), and then for Romeo et Juliette directed by Barbara Willis Sweete (2002). He was praised for his album released in late 2014, My life is an Opera, a recital of arias and duets illustrating his career and his life. In fall 2016, he brought out a songs’ album, Malèna, offering original creations as well as reinterpreted great Neapolitan classics. In October 2018, Sony released his first duets album fully dedicated to Puccini, recorded with soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, and Warner Classics a full recording of La Navarraise by Massenet.
On the stage, over the last 3 years, he took on several new roles, e.g. Des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at the Metropolitan Opera, Azaël in L’enfant prodigue by Debussy in concert in Paris, Eleazar in Halévy’s La Juive in Munich. He made great debuts as Samson in Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns in Vienna, opened a new season 2018/2019 with a new production of this work at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as sung for the first time Rodolfo in Luisa Miller in concert version in Monte-Carlo.
In the nearest future Roberto Alagna will sing his 100th performance at the Royal Opera House as Andrea Chenier. He will perform in Don Carlo in Paris, Cavalleria/Pagliacci in Barcelona, Pagliacci at the ROH in London, La Bohème at the MET in New York, Turandot in Vienna and Otello in Munich.
Inga Kalna, born in Riga, studied singing and musicology at the Latvian Music Academy. After her first engagements with the Latvian National Opera she continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Inga Kalna has won the Latvian Theatre Award twice and she is one of the very few singers who was awarded the Great Music Award of Latvia five times. In the United Kingdom she received the Goldberg Operatic Prize and the Bruce Millar Memorial Trust Award.
In 1999 the soprano joined the Hamburgische Staatsoper where she still regularly appears as guest. Further engagements brought Inga Kalna to the Netherlands Opera Amsterdam, Vlaamse Opera, Belgium, Tampere/Finland, Opéra de Lausanne and Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Bolshoi Moscow and the Salzburg Festival.
Her parade role is Alcina, with which Inga Kalna debuted at the Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, and the Wiener Staatsoper.
Remarkable is Inga Kalna’s cooperation with two conductors: Marc Minkowski under whose baton she sang Alcina (Staatsoper Wien), Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Desinganno (Staatsoper Berlin), Lucio Silla (Salzburg) and René Jacobs who repeatedly invited her to the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. Innsbrucker Festwochen, Staatsoper Berlin and Festival Aix-en-Provence.
Important roles in Inga Kalna’s extensive opera repertoire are Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Desdemona (Otello), Elettra (Idomeneo), Violetta (La Traviata), Donna Fiorilla in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, and the title roles in Maria Stuarda, Alcina and Agrippina, Lucio Cinna (Lucio Silla) which she performed at the Salzburg Festival, La Scala, Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Toronto and the Staatsoper Berlin.
In 2018 she sings Piacere (Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Desinganno) with Emmanuelle Haïm in Stockholm and Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito) under direction of Marc Minkowki at Prague National Theatre, and Romilda in Serse in a European tour with il Pomo d’Oro. At Riga Opera House she will sing Elvira (Ernani) and Norma.
Apart from her opera activities Inga Kalna is also highly in demand as Lied interpreter and concert singer. She has worked with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Ingo Metzmacher, Andrea Marcon, Stefan Soltesz, Gerd Albrecht, Marc Soustrot, Simone Young.
CD-recordings include Rinaldo (Harmonia Mundi/René Jacobs), Vivaldi’s Motezuma (DGG/Archiv, conductor Alan Curtis), Mathis der Maler (Oehms Classics, conductor Simone Young) and Händel’s Serse (Deutsche Grammophon/Maxim Emelyanychev).
In 2000 she joined Hamburg State Opera’s Young Artist Programme where she jumped in as Ruggiero in their new production of Alcina in 2002, after which she joined the company as a member of their ensemble in 2003 until 2006.
Plans this season include her role debut as Isabella in Rossini L’italiana in Algeri under Riccardo Frizza at Liceu Barcelona; title role Handel Agrippina with Christophe Rousset & Les Talens Lyriques at Konzerthaus Dortmund and Meg Page Falstaff in a new production by Laurent Pelly with Daniele Rustioni at Teatro Real, Madrid. In concert she will perform Pergolesi Stabat Mater with the Navarra Symphony Orchestra and Falla L’amour sorcier with Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon and Daniele Rustioni.
During the 17/18 season Maite performed Melibea Rossini Il Viaggio a Reims at Liceu Barcelona; Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro at Staatsoper Hamburg; Ottavia L’incoronazione di Poppea on tour with Ensemble Matheus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi, and the title role Handel Rinaldo with Harry Bicket & The English Concert at Maestranza Seville.
On the concert platform she has recently sung Mozart Mass c minor with Orquesta Nacional de España and David Afkham; Beethoven 9th Symphony with Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and Dima Slobodeniouk; Mahler 3rd Symphony with Elihau Inbal and the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra; Handel arias at the Ernen Music Festival with La Scintilla orchestra; Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Navarra Symphony Orchestra and Dorabella Così fan tutte with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Jonathan Nott.
Maite has performed Siébel in Gounod Faust in Toulouse; Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro at Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile; Ruggiero Alcina and Irene Tamerlano on tour with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques and Sesto La Clemenza di Tito at Teatro Real with Rousset.
Other recent opera highlights include Ruggiero Alcina at La Monnaie and De Nationale Opera Amsterdam (Rousset / Audi); Dorabella Così fan tutte at Liceu Barcelona (Pons / Michieletto); La Cenerentola at Semperoper Dresden (Sagripanti / Piontek); Sesto in Giulio Cesare at Teatro Regio di Torino (De Marchi / Pelly); Meg Page in Falstaff in Amsterdam (Gatti / Carsen); Donna Elvira Don Giovanni in Toulouse (Syrus / McVicar) and in concert with Harnoncourt at Theater an der Wien.
Maite has performed in many other of the world’s major opera houses and concert venues including Opéra National de Paris; Bayerische Staatsoper; Saatsoper under den Linden; Teatro della Scala; Lyric Opera Chicago and at the Salzburg Festival.
The ensemble il pomo d’oro was founded in 2012. It is characterized by an authentic, dynamic interpretation of operas and instrumental works from the Baroque and Classical period. The musicians are all well known specialists and are among the best in the field of historical performance practice. The ensemble so far worked with the conductors Riccardo Minasi, Maxim Emelyanychev, Stefano Montanari, George Petrou, Enrico Onofri, and Francesco Corti. Concert master Zefira Valova leads the orchestra in various projects. Since 2016 Maxim Emelyanychev has been its chief conductor.
Il pomo d’oro is a regular guest in prestigious concert halls and festivals all over Europe. With the program of the 2016 recording with Joyce DiDonato, In War and Peace, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev and awarded with an Echo Klassik 2017, the orchestra is on tour worldwide.
The discography of il pomo d’oro includes several opera recordings: Händel’s Serse, Tamerlano, Partenope and Ottone, Vinci’ s Catone in Utica, Recitals with the countertenors Jakub Józef Orliński, Franco Fagioli, Max Emanuel Cencic, and Xavier Sabata, with mezzosopranos Ann Hallenberg and Joyce DiDonato and with sopranos Francesca Aspromonte and Emöke Barath. Among the instrumental albums the recordings of Haydn’s violin and harpsichord concertos as well as a cello album with Edgar Moreau received Echo Klassik Awards in 2016. Further instrumental recordings are dedicated to the violin concertos and the harpsichord concertos by J.S. Bach with Shunske Sato and Francesco Corti as soloists.
In the year 2018 a number of new recordings were published: Handel Arias with Franco Fagioli, 17th century opera prologues with Francesca Aspromonte, Handel’s Serse with Franco Fagioli in the title role, Anima Sacra with Jakub Józef Orliński, J.S.Bach violin concerts with Shunske Sato, and Alessandro Stradella’s opera La Doriclea. At the occasion of Barbara Strozzi’s 400th birthday the album Voglio Cantar with soprano Emöke Barath is il pomo d’oro’s first release in the year 2019.
Il pomo d’oro is official ambassador of El Sistema Greece, a humanitarian project to provide free musical education to children in Greek refugee camps. Il pomo d’oro plays charity concerts and offers workshops and music lessons according to the El Sistema method on a frequent regular basis in various refugee camps in Greece.
The name of the ensemble il pomo d’oro refers to Antonio Cesti’s opera from the year 1666. Composed to the wedding celebrations of Emperor Leopold I and Margarita Teresa of Spain, Il Pomo d’Oro was probably one of the largest, most expensive and most spectacular opera productions in the still young history of the genre. 24 different stage designs, a horse-ballet of 300 horses, a fireworks display of 73,000 rockets, numerous ‚special effects’ – superlatives, which should make the Emperor’s court the highlight of cultural splendour in Europe.
Jazz pianist, composer. Winner of a Grammy for the „Night in Calisia” album- the only one in the history of Polish jazz. His albums have regularly been reaching the status of Golden and Platinum Records for their high sales. He performs on all the continents meeting with enthusiasm by the audiences and critics around the globe. Włodek Pawlik has worked with a numer of legendary jazz musicians, such as Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Tom kennedy, Billy Hart, Arturo Sandoval, Rufus Reid, Scott Hamilton, Herb Geller, Richie Cole and many others. He worked with the American group Western Jazz Quartet for over a decade, giving numerous concerts in Asia, Europe and the USA. Paraller to his jazz career, he has been a celebrated film music composer. He has been an author of soundtracks to such films as „Rewers” by Borys Lankosz, „Pora Umierać” by Dorota Kędzierzawska and „Within the Whirlwind” by the Oscar-winning Marleen Gorris, among others. His Włodek Pawlik Trio has featured such eminent bassists as the late Zbyszek Wegehaupt, Hans Hartmann (Switzerland), Lucas Lindholm (Sweden), Tom Knific (USA), and, recently, Paweł Pańta. Among many great drummers that have performed with the trio for over 30 years, the most prestigious records by the leader, such as „Standards Live”, „Anhelli”, „America”, „Jazz Suite Tykocin-Nostalgic Journey”, and the Grammy-winning „Night in Calisia”. Last year Włodek Pawlik Trio feat. Randy Brecker played two highly acclaimed concerts at the Blue Note Jazz Club NYC opening the Blue Note Jazz Festival.
Is an outstanding Polish acoustic and electric bass player. He is a graduate of F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and the Jazz Study. In 1995 he was a member of Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, directed by Claudio Abbado. He has worked with the leading Polish jazz musicians, as well as some world-famous jazz notables, such as Randy Brecker, Mike Stern and Gregory Porter. He has worked with Włodek Pawlik since 2001. This by far the most important musical collaboration of his career has been marked by such albums as „Shakspeare’s Sonnets, „Anhelli”, „Jazz Suite Tykocin” , „Struny na Ziemi”, „Wieczorem” , „4 Works 4 Orchestra”, and last but not least, by the Grammy – winning (2014) „Night in Calisia”.
Born in 1990, is a polish jazz drummer, ; graduated at Academy of Music in Poznań (PL) Syddansk Musikkonservatorium in Odense (DK) and Prins Claus Conservatorie in Groningen (NL). Recently he takes part of program „Jazz Soloist” at Musikkonservatorium in Odense (2016-2019). After finishing that program , he will have the highest level of Graduation in Denmark (phD). On a daily basis he is involved in many projects in Poland: Weezdob Collective, Adam Zagórski Quartet, Zagórski/Kądziela Collaboration, Zagajewski/Pawlik, Włodek Pawlik Trio, Poznań Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra. He cooperates with many international artists such as: Gustavo Triffonoff, Dominique Di Piazza, Igor Zakus, Attila Muehl, Jasper Greve.
Born in Erfurt in 1973, Stephan Genz is an internationally recognized German baritone, particularly known for his excellency in the Lied repertoire.
After receiving his first musical training as a chorister of the Thomanerchor in Leipzig, he followed his vocal studies with Hans-Joachim Beyer at the conservatory of Leipzig, Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Höll at the conservatory of Karlsruhe and later, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
He came to prominence by winning prestigious competitions such as the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Hamburg (1994) and the International Hugo Wolf Competition in Stuttgart (1994).
In 1998, Stephan Genz was awarded the “Brahms-Preis” of Schleswig- Holstein and in 2000, the Belgium music critics elected him “Young Artist of the Year”.
Since then, he appeared in leading opera houses, including the Berlin Staatsoper, Hamburg Staatsoper, Paris (Bastille, Theatre des Champs- Elysees, Chatelet), Teatro alla Scala Milano, Grand Theatre de Genève, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro La Fenice Venice, Bolshoi Moscow, Strasbourg, Cologne, Zürich and the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence and Baden- Baden. He worked with conductors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Gerd Albrecht, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Thomas Hengelbrock, Gustav Kuhn, Sigiswald Kuijken, Rene Jacobs, Jesus Lopez-Coboz, Fabio Luisi, Georges Pretre, Bruno Bartoletti, Kent Nagano, Jeffrey Tate, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Kurt Masur, Eliahu Inbal, Mario Venzago, Lothar Zagrosek, Edo de Waart, Jaap van Zweden and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
Stephan Genz’s highly successful début-recital at London’s Wigmore Hall led to invitations for recitals in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Philharmonie Köln, Brussels (Opera Royal de la Monnaie), Paris (Chatelet, Champs-Elysees, Louvre), New York (Alice Tully Hall, Frick Collection, Rockefeller Center), Moscow, Hong Kong, Tokyo (City Opera, Oji Hall, Suntory Hall), Osaka, the Schubertiade (Feldkirch, Hohenems, Schwarzenberg), the Edinburgh Festival, the Maggio Musicale Firenze, Zermatt Festival…
More than 50 recordings document his widely spread repertoire.!His recital recordings won major awards such as the “Gramophone Award”, the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”, the “Timbre de Platine” and numerous “Diapason d`Or”.
Recent opera appearances include Eisenstein in “Die Fledermaus“ at the Moscow Bolshoi and the Opera of Lausanne, Wolfram in „Tannhäuser“ at the Zürich Opera and at the Grand Théâtre de Geneve „ Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff and Demetrius in Brittens „Midsummer Night´s Dream“.
Since September 2012 Stephan Genz is appointed to the Conservatoire National de Paris as Professor for the German repertoire.
Zen Hu was born into a musical family in Chengdu, China.
At the age of 6 she started to take piano lessons with her mother, and a year later violin lessons with her father. Already at the age of 13 she won first prize at the Sichuan Violin Competition, in the following year she was a Grand Prize winner at the National Chinese Violin Competition.
After finishing her studies with professor Hu Wei Min at the Sichuan Music Conservatory, she continued to study with Ana Chumachenko at the Munich Conservatory in Germany where she graduated with a master degree.
Lord Yehudi Menuhin invited her to collaborate with him at the famous Menuhin Academy in Gstaad (Switzerland) where she performed and toured regularly with Camerata Lysy.
Shortly afterwards, chief conductor of Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Sergiu Celibidache, invited her to become the youngest and at the same time the first Chinese member of this fine orchestra. Since then, she has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the Munich Philharmonic as well as with the highly acclaimed German brass ensemble “Blechschaden”.
Meanwhile, Zen Hu performed in numerous European countries, both Americas, Asia, and in Australia as a soloist, as a member of Gothoni String Quartet, and as a member of various chamber music groups, including Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Lucerne Festival Strings, Salzburg String Sextet and Mozarteum Ensemble Salzburg.
She also participated at several international festivals in Italy (Chiavari, Trasimeno), Spain (Ibiza Summer), France (Biarritz), Finland (Rauma), Germany (Aschau), Austria (Lockenhaus, “toujours Mozart” in Vienna and Salzburg), The Netherlands (“EPTA” Amsterdam, Eindhoven), Slovenia (Maribor), Czech Republic (Prague Spring), Poland (Warsaw, Cracow), USA (New York, Long Island), China (Shanghai, Beijing), Japan
(Tokyo), Chile (Valparaiso), and Australia (Sydney Opera House, “Four Winds” Festival).
In 2017 Zen Hu toured on both instruments, violin and Erhu (Chinese two-stringed traditional violin) with Sinfonietta Cracovia & Jurek Dybal, and in 2018 she gave the European Premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Symphony No. 6 “Chinese Songs” in Kulturpalast Dresden, Germany, with Dresdner Philharmonie conducted by Christian Macelaru in the presence of the composer. This concert was repeated in Warsaw
Philharmonic Hall, and in 2020 Zen Hu will perform it once again in Zürich Tonhalle.
She has recorded already several CDs, including highly acclaimed recording for Channel Classics entitled “China Connection” in duo with violinist Ning Feng, and has performed for various international TV and radio broadcasting companies.
Zen Hu also regularly gives master classes in Europe, China, and in Australia.
She currently lives in Amsterdam.
Polish soprano, Adriana Ferfecka, studied at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the class of Professor Jolanta Janucik. In the 2014/2015 season she has been a member of the Opera Academy at the Polish National Opera. In 2015 she has been a participant of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.
Adriana Ferfecka is a laureate of first prizes at numerous competitions, amongst them: International Competition for Opera Singers “Ferruccio Tagliavini” in Austria (2014), International Competition Le Grand Prix de l’Opera in Romania (2014), Classical Singing Competition DEBUT in Germany (2014), International Opera Competition “Ottavio Ziino” in Italy (2014), International Singing Competition Iris Adami Corradetti in Italy (2016). In October 2018 she won the Third Prize and Soroptimist Club Vercelli Prize at the 69th Viotti International Music Competition in Italy.
As a scholarship singer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the years 2015-2017, she has sung the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Xanthe in Die Liebe der Danae, Anna in Nabucco, Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Frasquita in Carmen or Zerlina in Don Giovanni amongst others. In the 2016/2017 season she has debuted at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims.
In the 2017/2018 season Ms. Ferfecka has performed Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Nella in Gianni Schicchi at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, Valencienne in Die lustige Witwe at the Teatro La Fenice and Micaëla in Carmen at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She debuted on Polish opera stages in the 2018/2019 season with the part of Mimi in La bohème at the Silesian Opera in Bytom. This season her engagements also include the part of Suor Angelica at the Inauguration of Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Festival at The Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice.
Adriana Ferfecka has cooperated with such directors as: Damiano Michieletto, David Herman, Ole Anders Tandberg, Jan Philipp Gloger, Roland Schwab and conductors: Stefano Montanari, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Marc Albrecht, Donald Runnicles, Andrea Battistoni.
Baritone. He graduated from the class of prof. Bogdan Makal, Wrocław University of Music. He is a winner of numerous competitions, both in Poland and abroad. He received scholarships from the Wrocław Local Government in Culture and Art for Young Talented Wrocławians and of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. In 2001-2002, he earned a scholarship in Vienna, where he studied under the supervision of prof. Leopold Spitzer.
The year of 2002 saw his debut at the National Opera in Warsaw. He sang the Pelleas’ part in Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande. He is a permanent singer at the Wrocław Opera, appearing in a number of opera houses, both in Poland and abroad.
In 2011, he sang in the premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki Powiało na mnie morze snów at the National Concert Hall in Warsaw. He was invited by Valery Gergiev to perform at the Festival of White Nights in Sankt Petersburg. In 2013, he sang during the Beijing Music Festival, directed by Krzysztof Penderecki. In 2014, he was awarded Jan Kiepura Theatre Musical Award in the Best Singer category for his part of Scarpii baron in Puccini’s Tosca and for Zurga in Bizet’s Les pecheurs de perles.
In 2015, he was nominated for the cultural award of the Wrocław Radio for his excellent performance of Eugene Onegin’s part in Tchaikovsky’s opera. In 2019, the record with 27 songs of Stanisław Moniuszko commissioned by the National Institute of Frederick Chopin was released, performed together with Radosław Kurek, piano.
His repertoire includes numerous leading opera parts, such as Count in the Marriage of Figaro, Guglielm in Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the title role of Eugene Onegin in Tchaikovsky’s opera, Escamilla in Carmen and Zurga in Bizet’s Les pecheurs de perles, Dr Malatest in Don Pasquale and Lord Enric Asthon in Donizettie’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Doctor in Hagith and the title role in Szymanowski’s King Roger, Tarquinius in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia, Marcell in La boheme, Sharpless in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Cavaliere di Belfiore in Verdi’s A One-Day Reign, Germont in Traviata and Giacomo in Joanne d’Arc, Homonay in Strauss’ Gypsy Baron, Janusz in Halka and Stanisław in Verbum nobile by Moniuszko, Adam in Paradise Lost by Penderecki, Dapertutt and Dr. Miracle in Offenbach’s the Tales of Hoffmann, Woodraven in Kulenty’s Mother of Black-Winged Dreams, Il Ragazzo in Knapik’s Call of Freedom, Franz Kafka in Trap by Krauze and Tadeusz in Weinberger’s Passenger. Finally, the artist performs vocal lyrics by Schubert and Brahms as well as German and English Baroque music.
Joanna was born in 2008. Her piano education with the Suzuki method started when she was five years old, in the class of Marzena Jasińska–Siudzińska. At present, she is a student of the 5th grade at Emil Młynarski 1st Level General Education State Musical School at Musical Schools No 1 in Warsaw. She is taught piano by dr hab. Anna Stempin-Janowska, prof. AM in Bydgoszcz.
Despite her young age, the artist has already performed with several orchestras. In December 2015, she debuted as a soloist with the Koszalin Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Aleksander Gref, playing I. Berkowicz’s C major piano concert opus 44. She also played at the Lvov Concert Hall accompanied by the Inso Lemberg Symphony Orchestra directed by I. Vokulin during the International Festival ‘European Music Meetings’. In 2017 and 2019, she performed with the Lvov’s ‘Academia’ Chamber Orchestra directed by I. Pylatiuk, playing I. Bortniański’s D major piano concert and Bach’s f minor piano concert within the 12th and 14th International Piano Forum ‘Bieszczadas without Borders’ in Sanok. She also played Chopin at the National Concert Hall for a young audience. In the summer 2017, having won two international competitions, she played during the Musikverein Festival in Brahms-Saal, Vienna.
She is a winner of numerous piano and chamber music competitions. She was awarded many a time for her performances of F. Chopin’s music. She was first to receive the award of Tatiana Szebanowa for special Chopin predispositions (during the International Piano Forum in Sanok).
Simon Höfele, 24, is one of the most exciting trumpeters of the up-and-coming generation. He is BBC Radio3 new generation artist, “Junger Wilder” at Konzerthaus Dortmund, “SWR2 New Talent” of the German public-service broadcaster SWR, and furthermore he won the special “U21” award at the ARD International Music Competition and the German Music Competition in 2016 a.o. In the season 2019/20 Simon will be Rising Star of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), nominated by Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
He has already made his solo debut with such orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, SWR Symphonieorchester, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Münchener Kammerorchester and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, also at Bozar Brussels, Konzerthaus Berlin and important festivals such as Cheltenham Music Festival, MiTo in Milano and Torino, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg- Vorpommern and many others. In the season 18/19 Simon gives his debut at Wigmore Hall and Saffron Hall London, Tonhalle Zürich, Casino Basel, Konzerthaus Wien, Prinzregententheater München, Konzerthaus Dortmund and with Berner Symphonieorchester, MDR Sinfonieorchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Staatskapelle Halle, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and others.
In addition to well-known trumpet repertoire ranging from Telemann, Tartini, Haydn, Hummel and Mozart to Jolivet, Arutjunjan and Zimmermann, Simon Höfele also frequently performs contemporary music. For example, in 2012, together with Reinhold Friedrich and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra conducted by Matthias Pintscher, he gave the first performance of Pintscher’s double concerto for two trumpets and orchestra (“Chute d’étoiles”). In 2015, he premiered “Tangle”, a work for solo trumpet and brass quintet by Nina Šenk, in Weingarten, Germany, and “Imaginary Garden” by Hope Lee at a master course run by the School of Creative and Performing Arts of the University of Calgary, Canada.
Simon Höfele also plays chamber music of every variety with great enthusiasm. His partners include the pianists Frank Dupree, Magdalena Müllerperth, Eriko Takezawa and Kärt Ruubel.
Born in 1994, Simon Höfele first had trumpet lessons aged seven in his home town of Darmstadt. Five years later, he became a preparatory student of Reinhold Friedrich, who took him into his trumpet class at the Karlsruhe Musikhochschule as a 14-year-old. A year later, he became a member of the German National Youth Orchestra (Bundesjugendorchester), then also of the Vienna-based Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Orchestral Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. He has also attended courses held by Ensemble Modern and German Brass, and received instruction from well-known professors such as Edward H. Tarr, Klaus Schuhwerk, Wim van Hasselt, Frits Damrow, Urban Agnas, Luis Gonzalez, Peter Lohse, Hannes Läubin, Kristian Steenstrup, Eric Aubier and Jeroen Berwaerts.
Alongside his musical projects, Simon Höfele is also active in cultural politics, and has founded the association “Kunstverlust”, for which he, as a photographer, portrays people who work to support art and prevent its destruction.
