Musicians

MUSIC SUMMER

18.05.2024

Frank Muschalle (Berlin) has been on tour for 30 years and is considered to be one of the most sought-after Blues & Boogie-Woogie pianists. He has played concerts all over Europe, Paraguay, Bolivia, the United States and North Africa.

In  2019 Frank was asked to play concerts in the United States (Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and Cincinnati) and Canada (Ottawa). These concerts were organised by the foreign office in cooperation with the local Goethe Institute.
And in 2022 and 2023 there were further invitations from the Goethe Institute for tours through Canada (Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa) and the USA (Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco)

15 CDs have been published so far with various musicians, e.g. Red Holloway, Lousiana Red, Cary Smith, Bob Margolin, Carey Bell, Alex Schultz, Herb Hardesty, Hubert Sumlin, Engelbert Wrobel and many others…

“A far cry from mere virtuoso pyrotechnics, Muschalle demonstrates how to remain within the idiom and still tell little stories with motifs and riffs, instead of simply juggling with them…” (Jazzpodium)

 

 

01.06.2024

We will present the following Buster Keaton short films:
“The love nest” (1923), “One week” (1920), “The Goat” (1921)

The “Moving Band” consists of:
Yorgos Pavlakos – recorder and mouth Harp
Stavros Tsotras – Bassoon and karamouza
Ypapanti Alexandropoulou – a mountain of percussion, whistles, pots
and a deneke of oil
Katerina Miliaresi – another mountain of percussion, whistles, pots and pans
Stathis Giftakis – piano

 

 

 

 

15.06.2024

The pianist, singer and composer Olivia Trummer is one of the most interesting German jazz musicians of her generation. With her keys and voice, she forms completely new connections between the genres, for which she has already received numerous awards. She also leaves an impression as a songwriter with lyrics that sensitively mediate between head and heart. After studying classical piano and jazz piano in Stuttgart, she further deepened her relationship with music at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. She has released 10 albums under her own name, is active on concert stages worldwide as a bandleader of her own projects and has been a permanent member of Kurt Rosenwinkel’s “Caipi” band since 2016. She has shared the stage with artists such as Eric Clapton and Bobby McFerrin, performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, GroundUp Festival, London Jazz Fest and in venues such as Birdland NYC, Blue Note Tokyo, Shanghai & Milan, Ronnie Scott’s, Konzerthaus Wien & Berlin.

Makar Novikov from Moscow, a graduate of the recognised Gnesins’ Russian Academy of Music, is one of the best-known Russian jazz double bassists. An experienced accompanist and virtuoso soloist, he has performed with artists such as Jimmy Cobb, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath and James Spaulding. Stranded in Italy in 2022 with only a suitcase on tour, he decided to take the risk of turning his back on his homeland and starting a new life in the heart of Europe. He began to work intensively with Italian musicians such as Rosario Giuliani and Maurizio Giammarco and to teach jazz bass at the Siena Jazz University. The subsequent encounter with Olivia Trummer, as unexpected as it was significant, unleashed new energies and has had a lasting effect both musically and personally ever since. He now appears regularly as a member of the projects of Alex Sipiagin and Antonio Faraò as well as with the Olivia Trummer Trio and the Isfar Sarabski Trio and will release his debut album “Free Fall” (Rainy Days Records) in early 2025.

 

30.06.2024 

VersaTune Trio: STRINGS ON FIRE

We are a small instrumental ensemble consisting of two guitars and a violin. We offer a wide variety of repertoire that is dynamic, exciting and intense. The guitars combine the warm sound of a classical guitar with the brilliant acoustic or electric colours of the lead guitar. The arrangements of the various guitar parts are wonderfully harmonised and form a passionate sonic embrace. The violin can lead or follow the lead guitar in an unexpected and daring interplay. All this gives the covers we play a very characteristic, fascinating sound in the wonderful world of small instrumental ensembles.

 

 

26.07.2024

Since winning the 2016 International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition at the age of 20, Veriko Tchumburidze has built a reputation as a captivating soloist, chamber musician and recording artist. “She is a breath of future,” said Andrzej Wituski, the competition’s director, “She brings us closer to the world of her own imagination”. Andante, Turkey’s leading classical music magazine named her the country’s Best Emerging Musician.

Born into a Georgian family in Adana, southern Turkey, in 2010 she started to study with Dora Schwarzberg at the MDW in Vienna and Prof. Ana Chumachenko and since 2022 she has been continuing her second master’s degree studies in chamber music with Dirk Mommertz and Raphael Merlin at the Munich’s Musikhochschule.

She has also participated in the masterclasses of Albert Markov, Shlomo Mintz, and Igor Ozim, in the Seiji Ozawa Academy Masterclass and, also in Switzerland, the Verbier Festival Academy. Tchumburidze has appeared with many great Symphony Orchestras as well as numerous remarkable Festivals as a Soloist and in chamber music. For more detail of her wonderful career please check her webpage:  www.verikotchumburidze.com

Since 2016 Veriko Tchumburidze has played a Giambattista Guadagnini violin, made in Milan in 1756 and generously loaned by Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

 

 

The Greek-German pianist, conductor and composer Aris Alexander Blettenberg has established himself as one of the most versatile musicians of his generation.
In October 2021, he gained the first prize at the prestigious International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna, underlining his reputation as an outstanding artist. Here he won a Bösendorfer Concert Grand Piano and has been an official “Bösendorfer Artist” since April 2022.

In recent years, Aris has performed with great success in venerable venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, the Philharmonie Berlin, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and many others. He has been invited to renowned music festivals such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Kissinger Sommer and the Heidelberger Frühling Festival.

As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Aris Alexander Blettenberg has worked with artists such as Christian Tetzlaff, Sharon Kam, Martin Helmchen, Julian Rachlin and Julia Fischer. With her, he has given numerous recitals throughout Europe.
Aris is a regular guest conductor at the Meiningen State Theatre and with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2024, he was appointed Music Director of the Munich Chamber Opera.

In Greece, the young artist has been performing annually at the Mani-Sonnenlink Music Festival since the age of 13 and celebrated his greatest success in our country to date at his debut with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Forget, with whom he interpreted Liszt’s Totentanz. For more information: www.arisalexanderblettenberg.com

 

 

 

 

 

07.08.2024

Nijolé Abaryté is an artist with a remarkable ability to create music that is deeply rooted in the soul. A rising star in the sky of contemporary classical music, her sound defies traditional classifications and breaks the boundaries of genres and expectations. Rather than sticking to the conventional paths of classical music, Nijolé explores a vast landscape of influences and invites listeners on an immersive journey through her rich sonic landscapes.

Her achievements are remarkable: she has received numerous awards and scholarships from prestigious institutions around the world.

Raised in a musical environment in Vilnius, Lithuania, Nijolé moved to Switzerland to study classical piano and jazz at the art universities of Zurich and Lucerne, where she developed a deep connection to various musical styles – classical, jazz, soul and contemporary film music.
Her compositions reflect the warmth of nature, imbued with colours reminiscent of earth, stone, wood, honey and glass.

Whether in a packed KKL concert hall during the Lucerne Festival or amidst the splendour of a Greek amphitheatre, Nijolé plays with the intention of reaching out to each individual listener and creating a personal and heartfelt experience. Her music is a bridge to freedom and humanity, making everyone feel seen, loved and valued.

www.nijoleabaryte.com

 

 

 

 

27.08.2024 

“Fantasies” classic meeting point

“His absolute presence onstage and his clean, attentive sound of his interpretations set new quality standards.”
…stated the WDR Broadcasting Cooperation after winning the First Prize at the International Music Prize in Cologne (Germany).

Whether in Vienna’s Musikverein, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie or Berlin’s Konzerthaus – Philipp Scheucher is at home in the most prestigious concert halls of Europe and beyond – USA, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Russia, China and Japan.

He was born in Graz, Austria in 1993. At the age of ten, his extraordinary musical talent was noticed by Maria Zgubic at the University of Music and Performing Arts (Graz), where his career as a pianist started to develop. Under the guidance of his mentor Markus Schirmer he found his own personality and artistry on the piano. In 2021 he finished his “Konzertexamen” studies with Ilja Scheps in Cologne and in 2022 his Artist Diploma at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London guided by Ian Jones and Dorian Leljak. Philipp Scheucher himself is guest at international masterclasses and currently teaches at the Johann-Joseph-Fux Conservatory in Graz.

Numerous prizes at international competitions and his latest success as the 2nd prize winner at the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna 2021 led to concert engagements around the world. His exceptional programs cover the standard repertoire of today’s classical pianists with an affinity for performing works by living composers such as M.A. Hamelin, Lera Auerbach, Gerd Kühr, Beat Furrer, etc. His solo debut album “QUASI FANTASIA” was released in 2019 followed by his double album “Concert apéritif du Piano” in 2020 and the “BEETHOVEN” album by Naxos in 2022. His musical flexibility, technical abilities, and his interaction with an audience all add to his promise as a leading artist of his generation.
www.philippscheucher.com

Born and raised in Vienna, Austria, Johannes Fleischmann epitomizes the young and aspiring artists of this vibrant city. As the “Viennese Violinist” he has developed a remarkable repertoire.
His versatility and passion for chamber music are evident in multiple collaborations with celebrated musicians like Julius Berger, José Gallardo, Eszter Haffner, André Heller, Hyung-ki Joo, Sebastian Knauer, Daniel Müller-Schott, Sophie Pacini, Michael Schade, Torleif Thedéen, the “NWCS – Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln” and the “Symphoniacs”.

Since his solo debut of the Brahms Violin Concerto at the Wiener Konzerthaus Fleischmann has been appointed by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as ambassador for the NASOM “New Austrian Sound of Music” program. As a chamber musician, he has shared the stage with numerous celebrated artists and performed in famous concert halls like Wiener Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus, the great hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Philharmonie im Gasteig Munich, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Brucknerhaus Linz, Carnegie Hall New York, Suntory Hall Tokio and the Flagey in Brussels.

Fleischmann has been the artistic director of the renowned Palais Coburg Matinee in Vienna since 2018, has curated his own series of chamber music concerts at the MuTh in Vienna (2020-22) and began teaching violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna as an assistant to Elisabeth Kropfitsch in October 2020. In 2021, he released his album “EXODUS” (Odradek Records), which has since been nominated for the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik” 2021 and for the “International Classical Music Awards (ICMA)” 2022. He is the founder and artistic director of the master classes and music festival “Althofener Meisterklassen” in Carinthia/Austria which premiered in 2022.
www.johannesfleischmann.at 

 

 

 

 

03.09.2024

Adolfo Barabino, is an artist who combines a refined touch with a profound musical interpretation and the “Musical Opinion” describes him
“…with a sound so rich in nuances that make him one of the most interesting Chopin  interpreters of his generation.”

He lives between Italy and England where he recently debuted with the London
Philharmonic Orchestra recording for BBC Radio.
With the London Symphony Orchestra he recorded Chopin’s Second Concerto and the disc was nominated for the Grammy Award.

He got a ten-year contract of concerts in Japan where he has already realised 12 tournée and regularly plays in major venues such as Suntory Hall, Tokyo Hamarikyu Asahi Hall, Kitara Hall-Sapporo, Minato Marai Concert Hall-Yokohama, Aoi Concert Hall- Shizuoka, also making several radio recordings.
In 2016, he participated in the Piano Narapi Festival in Nara, Japan, recorded live by MBS TV.
One of the most evocative experience was the performance of Liszt’s Concerto No.1 for piano and orchestra in Sendai, where he was the first pianist to perform this concerto in a Buddhist temple.

For his artistic value in London in 2013 he was awarded the “Copy of Freedom-City of London” previously awarded by the tenor Luciano PavarottiIn 2018, his debut in the United States.
In addition to his concert activity, Adolfo is recording in England the complete Chopin’s works and hold masterclasses in Italy, England, Usa and Japan.Since 2019 he has been a member of the jury of the “Concours International de piano Nice Côte d’Azur” and President of the jury for the final of “Steinway & Sons European Piano Competition”. In 2020 he founded the ” Sant’Apollinare International Piano Festival” of which he is the Artistic Director in collaboration with the Berceuse Association.

Among his upcoming engagements, he will perform all five Beethoven’s Piano Concertos in London with the English Chamber Orchestra, they will perform as well in Italy and in Japan.

www.berceuse.org

 

10.06.2023

The pianist and singer Olivia Trummer enthrals her audience with a vivid stage presence and a unique style which the press has started out to call the „Olivia Trummer style“. Recipient of the prestigious Jazz Award Baden-Württemberg in 2019, she fascinates equally as a pianist, singer and composer. With her complex and likewise catchy music she is considered internationally to be one of the most interesting jazz musicians of her generation. The formative years spent in the jazz metropole of New York alongside her deep connection to Classical music serve as ongoing sources of inspiration within her own musical universe. Olivia Trummer has been invited to perform her music in the US, in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, England, Ireland, France, Israel, Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia. Apart from leading several projects of her own, she is a member of Kurt Rosenwinkel’s „Caipi“ band that has toured extensively through America, Canada, Europe, China and Japan. Moreover, for several years she is bonding more and more with the vibrant jazz scene of Italy which manifests in collaborations with Fabrizio Bosso, Rosario Bonaccorso and Mario Biondi. During the concerts, the Olivia Trummer Trio displays pure joy and a wide range of dynamics that also include powerfully silent, intense moments. Olivia Trummer is leaving a mark with her songs that reveal a personal view on love and letting go while arbitrating between heart and mind. Rhythmically and harmonically intertwined, the trio is heading into a wide cosmos between jazz, pop and singer-songwriter and optimistically follows their own compass.

 

24.06.2023

Kostas Siskos was born in Greece, on the island of Corfu. In 2000 he began his postgraduate studies in French Horn at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, under the direction of Professor Hector McDonald (principal horn of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra). During his studies he received lessons on the modern double horn, the Viennese horn and the natural horn, graduating with honours in 2002.  From 2000 to 2003 Kostas Siskos was the principal horn of the Athens National Opera Orchestra and since 2004 he has been the principal horn of the Athens State Orchestra. Kostas Siskos has also been a regular substitute with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (on the Viennese horn), the Concentus Musicus under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt on the natural horn, and several other European orchestras. In addition to his orchestral activities, Kostas Siskos performs regularly as a horn soloist and is a member of several wind chamber music ensembles in Athens. Kostas Siskos has been active as a pedagogue for many years, with a special emphasis on teaching very young people. Since 1997 he has been teaching at the “Diethnes Conservatory” in Athens and at the “Ionian Conservatory” in Corfu. With students ranging from 7 to 35 years old, he is the teacher of the largest horn class in Greece in terms of number of students. He is also the first and so far only horn teacher who teaches his students both the Natural horn and the Viennese horn. His students are very successful and hold positions in several of the leading Athens orchestras as well as orchestras in Austria. Mr. Siskos is tireless in his efforts to organize workshops and symposia in Athens, for his students as well as for horn players throughout Greece, both students and professionals. He frequently invites world-renowned horn players to Greece for this purpose.

Evie Papathanassiou studied piano and harmony at the Municipal Conservatory of Larissa, counterpoint and fugue at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki, musicology at the Music Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and cello at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. She continued her studies at Trinity College London and at the University of London. She won numerous first prizes in competitions. As a member of the string quartet TetARTon and various other ensembles, she performs and records regularly in Greece and abroad. Since 2001 she has been a permanent member of the Athens State Orchestra. She also conducts a choir.

Kostas Chardas has studied accordion, piano, harmony, counterpoint, fugue and musicology in Greece and abroad. In 2005, he received his PhD in music analysis from the University of Surrey. He is an associate professor of systematic musicology at the Department of Music Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research and teaching areas are Music theory and analysis, 20th and 21st-century music, Greek music, theoretical approaches to music performance, and Greek pop/rock.  In addition to being a pianist, he is an author and lectures for the Hellenic Studies Program at Columbia University and the Harvard Summer Program in Greece.

 

09.07.2023

Kirill Petrenko, the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra has described her as “a mature personality at the piano” 🙂 Born in 1993, Hanna Bachmann has established herself as an internationally renowned pianist. She has performed at venues including the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, the Bonn Beethovenfest, the Blüthner Konzertreihen Vienna, the Kultursommer Semmering and the Bodenseefestival. In 2018 she made her American debut, which was followed in 2019 by a promising tour of the USA and Canada and her debut in Israel. In addition to her solo activities, Hanna Bachmann is a passionate chamber musician and lied pianist. In 2023, for example, she made her debut with mezzo-soprano Isabel Pfefferkorn in Saudi Arabia. She has already released two piano albums, including Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, as well as an album as a member of the Schwarzenberg Trio and the album ‘Dream with me’ with singer Elsa Janulidu.   www.hannabachmann.com

Greek-Romanian violist Ilias Livieratos, Principal Violist of the Athens State Orchestra has been awarded prestigious prizes. Originally from Preveza Greece, Livieratos studied at various institutions, including the Mozarteum Salzburg, in Munich, Würzburg and Stockholm. Although he had begun studying medicine in Athens, he decided to abandon it in favour of music. Livieratos has worked as a solo violinist and violist in various Greek and German orchestras. As a soloist, Livieratos has performed among others Vivaldi’s Concerto for 3 Violins and Bach’s 6th Brandenburg Concerto on original instruments. Since April 2022 Livieratos has worked closely with Greece’s most famous soloist, Violinist Leonidas Kavakos, originally for a charity concert for Ukraine, where they performed Brahms’ Piano Quartets. Later as soloists with Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. More concerts in Europe and Asia are planned for 2023 and 2024, as well as a recording for Sony Classical. Livieratos plays a rare viola by Giuseppe Antonio and Giovanni Gagliano from 1800 sponsored by Handelsbanken Sverige and awarded as part of the Jan Wallander Prize.    www.koa.gr/en/musicians/ilias-ion-livieratos

 

23.08.2023

The German-Greek Aris Alexander Blettenberg, was born in 1994. His maternal family is from Kalamata, where he spends a large part of his life. His studies in piano, chamber music and conducting followed with Antti Siirala, Lars Vogt (†), Silke Avenhaus and Bruno Weil in Munich, Hannover and Salzburg. In October 2021, he won the 16th International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and has also been a Bösendorfer Artist since 2022. He has already performed at the Vienna Musikverein, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and many other venerable venues. In spring 2023, Blettenberg made his debut as conductor and pianist with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra with a tour that was highly acclaimed by audiences and the press.

In another collaboration with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra as conductor, Blettenberg took over the musical direction in place of the recently deceased Lars Vogt. In May 2023, Blettenberg opened the Saxon Mozart Festival as pianist and conductor. As a 2023 scholarship recipient, he performed at the Ruhr Piano Festival. He also made his debut this summer at the Schwetzingen Festival with the Trio Neo and performed at the Vienna Musikverein with Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock Tchaikovsky’s 2nd Piano Concerto.

Blettenberg is the designated music director of the Munich Chamber Opera. In April 2023, a CD (Genuin) of Beethoven piano concertos, custom arrangement by himself for twelve musicians was recorded. In May 2023, his first solo album entitled “Hommage à Beethoven” (including own transcriptions) was released on the AVI/Deutsche Grammophon label. www.arisalexanderblettenberg.com

Philipp Scheucher
His musical interpretations, in addition to his passion for playing, are of such concentrated power! Be it the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig or the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg – Philipp Scheucher has already played in concert halls whose podiums rank among the most important in Europe. Particularly significant for the young Austrian pianist is his natural charisma and the joy of making music, which carries away the audience.

As first prize winner of the “International Music Competition Cologne”, he is described by the WDR with the following words: “His absolutely present appearance and the lightning clean, alert sound of his interpretation set new quality standards.” It is also a great concern for him not only to make music himself, but also to pass on his knowledge to others. Philipp Scheucher teaches at the Johann-Joseph-Fux Conservatory in Graz and is a lecturer at international master classes in the USA, Brazil, Russia, Japan, etc. As second prize winner of the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna, his concert activities take him all over the world.

Phillip Scheucher’s active collaboration with renowned conductors and orchestras, such as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Dirk Kaftan, the Great Orchestra Graz “recreation” under Michael Hofstetter and Mei-Ann Chen, the K&K Philharmonic Orchestra or the WDR Radio House Orchestra under Alexander Prior, should also be emphasized. Many times his concerts have been recorded and broadcast on international radio. Since 2022 Philipp Scheucher is a member of SYMPHONIACS, an international electro-classical music project of the Berlin-based composer and producer Andy Leomar, which combines classical music and electronic club music.
www.philippscheucher.com

 

 

07.09.2023

The German-Greek pianist, conductor and composer Aris Alexander Blettenberg, was born in 1994. His maternal family is from Kalamata, where he spends a large part of his life. His studies in piano, chamber music and conducting followed with Antti Siirala, Lars Vogt (†), Silke Avenhaus and Bruno Weil in Munich, Hannover and Salzburg. In October 2021, he won the 16th International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and has also been a Bösendorfer Artist since 2022. He has already performed at the Vienna Musikverein, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and many other venerable venues.

In spring 2023 Blettenberg made his debut as conductor and pianist with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra which is highly acclaimed by audiences and the press.

In May 2023, Blettenberg opened the Saxon Mozart Festival as pianist and conductor. As a 2023 scholarship recipient, he performed at the Ruhr Piano Festival. He also made his debut this summer at the Schwetzingen Festival with the Trio Neo and performed at the Vienna Musikverein with Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock Tchaikovsky’s 2nd Piano Concerto.

Blettenberg is the designated music director of the Munich Chamber Opera. In April 2023, a CD (Genuin) of Beethoven piano concertos, custom arrangement by himself for twelve musicians was recorded. In May 2023, his first solo album entitled “Hommage à Beethoven” (including own transcriptions) was released on the AVI/Deutsche Grammophon label.
For more information: www.arisalexanderblettenberg.com

Andrej Skorobogatko was born in Ukraine. He studied oboe at the Moscow Gnesin Academy of Music, at the University of Arts in Graz and at the University of Music in Hannover, as well as orchestral conducting at the University of Arts in Graz. He has many years of relevant orchestral practice as principal oboist in the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Graz Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Bach Soloists. Numerous international concert tours from Germany to China. Andrej Skorobogatko has been the musical director of various projects of the Graz Children’s Theater “Next Liberty” for over ten years and has participated in numerous opera productions. The works “Nabucco” by Giuseppe Verdi and “The Creation” by Joseph Haydn were performed under his direction and arrangement not only in Graz but also in Vienna, Essen and Leipzig (Gewandhaus). Andrej Skorobogatko has been the conductor of the Graz University Orchestra since 2011. During this time, the orchestra participated in the ” Styrian Autumn”, performed at the Castle Concerts in Gleinstätten and traveled to Maribor, St. Petersburg, Trieste, Zagreb and Mérida, Mexico.

The Graz University Orchestra, since 1992, consists to a large extent of students, members and graduates of the University of Graz and the Graz University of Technology – from students to university professors.
In addition to the symphonic semester concerts held twice a year in the auditorium of the University of Graz, additional concerts, chamber music projects and concert tours are always on the program. In 2015, an associated chamber orchestra was founded. Tours have taken the orchestra to Greece, Holland, Spain, Finland, Turkey, Slovenia, Russia, Italy, Croatia and Mérida. www.guo.at

 

 

 

23.6.2012 Opera, Arias & Greek Songs

Theodora Baka started her studies at the Municipal Conservatoire of Larissa, after which she graduated in opera and chamber music at the Hanover Academy of Music and Theatre. She has performed in chamber music concerts and song recitals as a soloist or with various Ensembles in Germany, Greece, Portugal, and Italy. Her repertoire ranges from Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary music, including Greek music. She has recorded several CDs, of both operas and traditional Greek songs.

Maria Papapetropoulou studied piano at the “Athenaion” Conservatory. After being awarded an Onassis Foundation Scholarship, she studied vocal accompaniment at the University o Karlsruhe. She has appeared in a large number of recitals and chamber music concerts in Greece, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey. She has worked as a soloist with the Athens National Orchestra, The Orchestra of Colours, The Philarmonic Orchestra of Riazan in Russia and the Youth Orchestra of Munster in Germany. She teaches accompaniment and chamber music at the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata.

 

 

30.6.2012 Songs from Musicals and Films

Eleni Lydia Stamellou

At the age of five, she started ballet lessons at the school of Yannis Metzis and piano lessons with Lenia Erodiadou and Aliki Vatikioti at the Athens Conservatory. She continued her ballet lessons at the school of Elwa Molin in Tampere, Finnland. She got her first singing lessons from the Bass Fragiskos Voutsinos. She continued her classical vocal studies in Germany with Prof. Markus Goritzki at the Music Academy of Freiburg, where she took her Diploma and during that period she also studied with the “Erasmus” scholarship with Prof. Ralf Döring at the University of Music in Vienna. With the scholarship of the “Onassis Public Benefit Foundation” she continued her studies at the Music Conservatory of Bologna ” G.B.Martini” in Italy with Stella Parenti and at the Music Conservatory of Napoli ” San Pietro a Majella” in Italy with conductor Antonio Florio, where she studied Baroque Singing. Currently, she studies with the soprano Maria Candida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.7.2012

Christos Papageorgiou

Christos Papageorgiou is a graduate of the Athens State Conservatory, and as a recipient of the Onassis Foundation Scholarship, also graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London, obtaining his Master’s degree. He has appeared worldwide as a solo pianist and composer and performed with distinguished conductors (M. Plasson, P. Entremont) and famous orchestras (Philarmonia, Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse etc..), in musical venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Barbican Center, Carnegie Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall, Kensington Palace e.t.c. and has recorded for international radio and T.V. programs (BBC, Berlin Radio 3, Swiss Radio, RAI, ARD e.t.c.). Christos Papageorgiou is a multiple international prizewinner in piano and composition competitions (USA, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, England e.t.c.) and has been honored by the National Union of Music and Theatre Critics. His music is performed by great musicians around the world (Oscar Gighlia, New York Phil. Chamber Soloists etc..). For many years he has been teaching music at the Ionian University In Corfu, at the State Dance School, in seminals and masterclasses across the world and produces his own weekly broadcast on Satelite National TV Channel 1 and at the National Radio 3.

 

 

Theodore Kerkezos

The saxophone soloist and professor Theodore Kerkezos was twice nominated for the 50th Grammy Annual Awards 2007 in New York in the categories #102: “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra” and #98: Best Classical Album”. He has performed and recorded the complete repertoire for saxophone with orchestras including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia (of London), St. Petersburg Philharmonic, “Tchaikovsky” Symphony. of Moscow Radio, Moscow Soloists, Moscow New Opera Orch., Zurich Symphony, Berliner Symphony, Nuremberg Symphony, Sudwestfalische Philharmonie, Thuringen Philharmonie Gotha, Janacek Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony, Athens and Thessaloniki State Symphonies Orchestras, Bucharest Philharmonic, Bucharest Radio Symphony, Sofia Radio, Slovak Radio, Slovak Philharmonic, Armenian Philharmonic. He has worked with Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Fedoseyev, and Yuri Simonov. Theodore Kerkezos graduated from Babis Farantatos’ class at the Athens Conservatoire and continued in Bordeaux with Jean-Marie Londeix and in Paris with Daniel Deffayet. He has given concerts at the: Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall -London, Carnegie Hall-New York, “Shostakovich Hall”- St. Petersburg, “Tchaikovsky Hall” Moscow State Conservatory, Tonhalle (Zurich), Opera of Rome, Athens Megaron Concert Hall, the ancient Theatre of Herod Atticus (under the Athens Parthenon), and the Beijing Concert Hall. Works have been dedicated to him by Iannis Xenakis and Mikis Theodorakis. He is a professor at the Athens Conservatoire and has given master classes at Conservatories in Moscow, Boston, New England, at Princeton and Boston Universities (USA), the Agricultural Univ. (Beijing); also at the Chopin (Warsaw), Gnesin (Moscow) and Kyiv Academies. He is the Artistic Director of the Saxophone Orchestra of the Piraeus Prefecture.

 

 

14.7.2012 Cabaret: with Songs from the Sixties

Barbara Spitz

Just in case you really want to know… I was born and raised in Putney, London, my parents were both Viennese refugees. Went to Putney High School from age 5-18, and graduated. 3 years Alsager College of Education in drama and social and community studies. I worked as a school teacher but realised after four scary years teaching in London´s more problematic schools, that I was destined for a different career. I cut my teeth in London´s finest pub/punk rock bands in the mid-late1970s, including The Elgin Marbles, Framed, and Dana Gillespie and toured with the now legendary „Sadista Sisters“ in 1977, culminating in a 4-week residency at the Quartier Latin Club, Berlin. As an internationally ignored rock star, I worked at various jobs on the way; a follow spot operator, stage manager, photographer assistant, night porter, dishwasher, cook, babysitter, breathy telephone hotline voice… whatever. In 1983 I auditioned for and got the role of „Columbia“ in „The Rocky Horror Show“ at Hans Gratzers Schauspielhaus in Wien. Ever since I have been working and living in Vienna as an actress, singer/performer in the theatre, musicals, musical theatre, writing my own solo shows, voice-overs, translating and singing at concerts and galas.

 

 

 

 

21.7.2012 Classical: Recital Violin & Piano

Danae Papamattheou-Matschke

Born in Athens in 1988, she had her first violin lessons in Greece. At the age of 13, she entered, as a pupil of exceptional talent, the Special Music School Belvedere in Weimar (Germany), enrolled in the class of Professor Jost Witter. She follows this with studies under Professor Igor Ozim at the University Mozarteum of Salzburg, where in 2011 she obtained the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, with distinction. She is currently a post-graduate student in the class of Professor Igor Ozim in the same university, following a scholarship from the “Alexandros S. Onassis Foundation”.

Robin Green

Robin Green enjoys an active career as a chamber musician, piano accompanist, conductor and ensemble pianist. A former recipient of the Leverhulme Chamber music fellowship at the Royal College of Music, Robin is now a staff pianist at the RCM for the conducting program. He graduated from the school in 2008, having studied piano with Yonty Solomon and Andrew Ball. He also studied conducting with Neil Thomson and Peter Stark. Supporting his studies, Robin has participated in masterclasses with Vladimir Ashkenazy, Meneham Pressler, Ivry Gitlis, Ferenc Rados, Dénes Várjon, Imre Rohmann and Rainer Schmidt.

 

 

28.7.2012 Classical: Recital Piano Solo

Aris Alexander Blettenberg was born in Mülheim an der Ruhr in 1994. He received his first piano lessons at the age of seven as a pupil of Eva-Maria Bleicher at the Mülheim Municipal Music School. After early attempts at composition and steady musical progress, he transferred to the Niederrheinische Musik- und Kunstschule Duisburg and became a pupil of M. Mus. Lucie Samson (piano) and Johannes Schwarz (composition, harmony, aural training). From the age of nine, he also took mandolin lessons with Petra Tübben at the Mülheim Music School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

04.8.2012 Greek/poetic translation

Gabriele Kastner, a German actress, sings Greek ballads, rebetika and famous film songs. We are listening to popular Greek composers from Hatzidakis, Kougioumtsis, Tsistsanis, Theodorakis and others also a Greek ballad from Lorena McKennit. Gabriele Kastner is singing the songs in Greek, and for a better understanding, she is reading the poems in English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.8.2012 Martina Schaeffer (Austria) – Classical Guitar

Martina Schaeffer is recognized today as one of Austria’s most interesting guitarists. Her spirited, original interpretations have inspired lovers of both classical and contemporary guitar music. Schaeffer’s outstanding talent and ability to grasp and convey emotions have surfaced from the very beginning of her musical career. Born in Austria in 1976, Schaeffer studied classical guitar at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory in her hometown of Eisenstadt, at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and at the University of Music in Lübeck, Germany. As a soloist as well as a member of the German band Lübecker Gitarrentrio, the young artist soon drew audiences’ attention with her performances in live concerts, radio and TV shows and several CD and DVD productions.   www.konzertgitarre.at

Martina plays an instrument built by Pavlos Gypas, a famous Greek guitar builder, and compositions from the Baroque to the Spanish Romantic era (romanticism).

 

 

 

17.8.2012 Klaudia Delmer – Mezzo Soprano, Mimis Plessas – Piano

This unique concert is dedicated to one of the most beloved and popular Greek composers Mimis Plessas. Mimis Plessas is a prolific composer with hundreds of hit songs, film scores, theatre music, jazz music and symphonic pieces throughout his 60-year music career. Klaudia Delmer is a singer who brings again to the foreground the amazing melodies of Greek music and bridges them with today through a modern sound. She is often called by the Greeks the new Nana Mouskouri for her charismatic voice and presence. In the first half of the concert, there will be a presentation of Klaudia Delmer’s most recent album entitled “ Lamar – Dromoi tis Thalassas (Ways of the Sea)” with music composed by Mimis Plessas. The main theme of the album is the sea and what the sea relates to in our lives (adventure, loneliness, love, loss, danger, intimacy, longing, diverse cultures, distance, communication, homecoming) through the lyrics of great Spanish and Greek poets and lyricists. The second half of the concert will consist of the older and very well-known melodies and songs of Mimis Plessas and unpublished pieces.

Klaudia Delmer “LaMar-dromoi tis thalassas”

Lamar… love and sea in one word… I grew up away from the sea: in Warsaw, an inland city which, however, has a mermaid for its symbol and in Madrid where I was intrigued by the sea in an imaginary painting of a woman standing at the window and gazing at the sea, in Ernesto Sabato’s book “The Tunel”.  A few years later I encountered this same image in a friend’s house who in turn introduced me to Alvaro Mutis’ books. This happened in Attica, in Greece; a country that is not a land surrounded by sea, as it usually happens, but a country which is a sea surrounded by land. And here in Greece, I came to know it and to love it. Anybody who learns the sea in this very place is lucky. However, I am more than lucky as I am singing it with these luminous and enlightened melodies of Mimis Plessas.

 

 

 

25.8.2012 Mani String Quartet with Solo Flute & Solo Clarinet

Joanna Gaitani is born in Athens, in 1986. She started at the age of 6 with the flute, and in 1998 changed to violin. Since 2000 began to perform as soloist in Greece with the Greek Youth Radio and Television Orchestra and the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Patras Soloists Orchestra, and in many recitals. Participated in Masterclasses with S. Kravtchenko, P. Sheppard, D. Zsigmondy, T. Gabora, N.Chumachenko. In 2004 she received her Diploma from the Conservatory in Athens with excellence and received the first prize. In her competition experience she received prizes at the Eurovision Competition for Young Soloists, at the Arts Violin Competition 2003 and 2009 in Thessaloniki(2nd prize), and as Top prize winner at the Violinesporlapaz International Competition 2006 in Jaen, Spain. Since 2003 she has lived in Germany and is a scholarship holder from the Villa Musica Foundation. Played in 2004 on a V. Panormo violin and from 2005 on a P. Guarneri, given to her from the same foundation. She performed as soloist on tour in Germany with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, under Heibert Beissel, with the Greek Radio Orchestra and most recently with the National Orchestra of Athens at Megaron concert hall in Athens, the Athens Symphony Orchestra at Parnassos Concerthall. and the Thessaloniki State Orchestra. Chamber music experience performing together with the Professors: Jose Gallardo, Christian Altenburger, Oliver Triendl, Christof Schiller, Esther Haffner, Nicolas Chumachenko, Rainer Kussmaul, Wenn-sin Yang, etc. Currently studying at the Cologne Music School with Zakhar Bron.

Ursula Korstchak was born in Graz and studied in Vienna, then at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl and baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum with Chiara Banchini. Since 1992 she has played in Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien. She also participates in Clemencic Consort, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, but also in the ensemble for new music series. Numerous records document the work of the artist. Most recently, she recorded with Hiro Kurosaki sonatas by Biber and Fux.

Merkourio Karalis was born at 04. May 1983 in Munich (D). He studied at the National Conservatorium Athens with a Scholarship from the «Manolis Kalomoiris» association by Prof. Ilias Demirtzoglou. He graduated with his «Diploma du professor» with Excellent and 1st Prize. In 2005 he won the national competition for clarinet X.O.N in Athens and he received the gold medal from the UNESKO association. Live recordings in Greek radio and television already at the age of 16 years old established Merkourio as one of the most talented clarinet players of his generation. From 2005 until 2008 he studied at the University of Arts Zürich in Switzerland by Prof. Fabio Di Casola the «Master of Performance Orchestra». After passing the exams on his studies, he had the opportunity to do a practicum with the Zürich Opernhaus and the orchestra Musikkollegium Winterthur. In 2007 he won the «Saverio Mercadante» international clarinet competition in Bari (Italia). Since 2008 he has been cooperating with the Opera of Athens as a bass-clinet player. From 2008 until 2010 he studied the of Arts Zürich with Prof. Fabio Di Casola. From 2005 until 2010 Merkourio Karalis was a national scholar of the Athens Association. During this period the Greek clarinet player gave concerts as a soloist and music partner at the Artsfactory in Greece, Switzerland and Europe. Since December 2010 he has been the principal diploma soloist at the University clarinetist at the National Symphony Radio Orchestra in Athens.

Nikolas Kavakos was born in Athens in 1969 and began cello at the age of seven with Vyron Fidetzis and Dana Hantzigeorgiou. He continued his studies in Germany with J.F.Sellheim and Xenia Jankovic supported by the “Onassis Foundation scholarship”. He attended also lessons with Phillip Muller, and Hatto Bayerle (Alban Berg quartet) and recently he received a Master’s Degree in chamber music with Vladimir Mendelssohn. Since then Kavakos Nikolas has been active as a soloist and also in chamber music around Europe, the United States and Latin America, collaborating with artists such as Igor Oistrach, Dimitris Sgouros, Alexandra Papastefanou Vladimir Mendelssohn and others. He recorded for Greek and German radio and television and recently a CD with works of Christos Mentis (in memoriam). He is a founding member of the “Artis piano trio” with appearances in various festivals and concert halls (Athens-Epidaurus festival, Nafplion festival, Carnegie Hall, and the National Gallery). He has given lessons in Spain and Switzerland (Siguensa festival, Initiative Music Wochen) and teaches regularly in Athens at the “Orpheus Conservatory”. Nikolas Kavakos is since 2001 a solo cellist of the National Opera of Greece. Next appearances, Athens megaron, Istanbul (borusan music house), Paris (rivegauchemusique).

 

 

 

29.9.2012 DIMINUITA Swing Trio

DIMINUITA first appeared under this name in November 2007, after many years of love and extensive research in this rare, for Greece, style of music. As a swing band, they have held many shows in various well-known venues around Athens. Namely: Kyttaro, Parafono Jazz Club, Tsai sti Sahara, Baraki tou Vasili, Bacaro Jazz Club, Dizzy Miles Jazz Club,   Gagarin 205 etc. They also performed at the 2008 Volos Music Festival and in 2009 they performed in Preveza, Parga, Larisa and Technopolis in Athens. In 2010 they participated in the 17th International Guitar Festival, in Herloupolis Syros. The band also organized the 1st Athens Gypsy Jazz Festival in May 2010, dedicated to 100 years of Django’s Reinhardt birth, with total success. In March and October 2010, the group performed outside of Greece, on a small tour to Belgium (Music Village, Archiduc, Art Base, Bonnefooi and Magic Mirrors in Brussels, Hot Club Reserva in Gand, Jacques Pelzer Jazz Club in Liege, Rosario in Bever) and Netherlands (Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, De Badcuyp in Amsterdam). Until November 2008, the band cooperated occasionally with the Romanian-born violinist Damian Dudu. He has lived in Greece for many years and has played with some of Greece’s greatest names in the music industry; He has taken part in a great number of recordings as a session musician utilizing the color and the traditional style of his country’s music.  He is a musician who perfectly combines virtuosity and deep emotion with great ease. From August 2009 Kostas Arsenis has joined the band as their double bass player. The band’s first official CD album is expected in March-April 2011, full of original compositions! The members: Giorgos Papadogiannis on lead guitar, Effie Saranti on rhythm guitar, and Kostas Arsenis on double bass. www.diminuita.com

29.8.2012 & 01.9.2012 Gregor Huebner

1994-1996
Manhattan School of Music, Master of Music in Jazz / Performance / Composition. Studied with Harold Danko, John Hicks, Richie Beirach and Ludmilla Uhlela (composition)

1990-1994
Hochschule für Music, Stuttgart.
Studied classical violin with Prof. Voss (Melos Quartet) and Jazz piano with Paul Schwarz. Graduated in Performance and Education.

1988-1990
School of Music, Vienna
Studied classical violin with Prof. Zwiauer, first chair of the Vienna Symphonics.

 

 

 

01.9.2012 Olivia Trummer

Olivia Trummer (* 1985 in Stuttgart) is a German pianist, vocalist and composer. She is known for her unusual musical versatility, performing a repertoire out of original compositions and songs, classical piano music, improvisation and jazz. Therefore, she has been invited to perform at top-class concert halls like the Carnegie Hall (NYC), Schloss Elmau (Germany) or at the “Schlossfestspiele” festival in Ludwigsburg (Germany). In the press she is celebrated as a sensational musical talent: “The future belongs to Olivia Trummer” (Jazzpodium, 2010), “Doubtlessly, Olivia Trummer has the potential to become a star” (Mannheimer Morgen, 2010), “Young, gifted & deutsch” (jazzthing 2006).

 

 

 

 

 

08.9.2012 Moraites

Georgia Marini:  Violin, Stavros Panagiotopoulos: Clarinet, Stavros Roussis: Flute, Theodossis Diskos: Percussion

Moraites started off in 1992 in Kalamata. Since then, they have participated in many events about traditional Greek music, inside and outside the city of Kalamata. They accompany dance groups, they play traditional Greek music in theatre plays, they participate in concerts and of course, they play in weddings and festivals that want to preserve a traditional tone. In the winter of 2009-2010, two of the group’s musicians, Georgia Marini (violin) and Stavros Panagiotopoulos (clarinet) participated in the recording of a children’s theatre play “Romeo and Juliette, like the Dog with the Cat” directed by Anneta Papathanasiou based on the music of Maria-Christina Krithara. In 2010 they started transcribing traditional songs of the areas Ksiromero and Zagori. These transcriptions are based on performances of great musicians such as Vasilis Soukas and Grigoris Kapsalis. The ultimate goal is the presentation of these songs in musical and educational events.  www.moraites.gr

25.6.2011 Maria Garzon (Spain) – Piano

The Spanish concert pianist Maria Garzon studied in Madrid, Salzburg, Cologne and London, and lives now in Mani in the village of Riglia. She is performing as a soloist all over the world and has recorded for TVE, BBC, WDR, NDR and RAI amongst others, and various CDs. Maria has discovered the works of the Czech 18th-century composer J.L. Dussek and has recorded CDs with are available now.

In 2009 she co-founded the Mani-Sonnenlink Festival as it was always her wish to create a venue for classical music in the Mani.

Works of Italian, Spanish and Greek song composers (writers), classic to contemporary.

 

 

 

25.6.2011 Neil Latchmann (Trinidad) – Tenor

Neil Latchmann is a Classical and Opera Tenor born and raised in Trinidad, from where he moved later in his career to London. He has a very flexible and rich repertoire – from Songs of the Latin American culture to Italian Operas and Oratorios. His speciality is recitals esp on Italian songs. For more information look at his very interesting and impressive webpage: www.neillatchman.com He has been singing and recording with Maria Garzon for 12 years, and that’s how he found us here in the beautiful Mani.

 

 

 

02.7.2011 Martina Schaeffer (Austria) – Classical Guitar
Martina Schaeffer is recognized today as one of Austria’s most interesting guitarists. Her spirited, original interpretations have inspired lovers of both classical and contemporary guitar music. Schaeffer’s outstanding talent and ability to grasp and convey emotions have surfaced from the very beginning of her musical career. Born in Austria in 1976, Schaeffer studied classical guitar at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory in her hometown of Eisenstadt, at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and at the University of Music in Lübeck, Germany. As a soloist as well as a member of the German band Lübecker Gitarrentrio, the young artist soon drew audiences’ attention with her performances in live concerts, radio and TV shows and several CD and DVD productions.   www.konzertgitarre.at
Martina plays an instrument built by Pavlos Gypas, a famous Greek guitar builder, and compositions from the Baroque to the Spanish romantic era (romanticism).

 

 

 

 

09.7.2011 Klaudia Delmer – Mezzo Soprano, Mimis Plessas – Piano

This unique concert is dedicated to one of the most beloved and popular Greek composers Mimis Plessas. Mimis Plessas is a prolific composer with hundreds of hit songs, film scores, theatre music, jazz music and symphonic pieces throughout his 60-year music career. Klaudia Delmer is a singer who brings again to the foreground the amazing melodies of Greek music and bridges them with today through a modern sound. She is often called by the Greeks the new Nana Mouskouri for her charismatic voice and presence. In the first half of the concert, there will be a presentation of Klaudia Delmer’s most recent album entitled “ Lamar – Dromoi tis Thalassas (Ways of the Sea)” with music composed by Mimis Plessas. The main theme of the album is the sea and what the sea relates to in our lives (adventure, loneliness, love, loss, danger, intimacy, longing, diverse cultures, distance, communication, homecoming) through the lyrics of great Spanish and Greek poets and lyricists. The second half of the concert will consist of the older and very well-known melodies and songs of Mimis Plessas and unpublished pieces.

Klaudia Delmer “LaMar-dromoi tis thalassas”

Lamar… love and sea in one word… I grew up away from the sea: in Warsaw, an inland city which, however, has a mermaid for its symbol and in Madrid where I was intrigued by the sea in an imaginary painting of a woman standing at the window and gazing at the sea, in Ernesto Sabato’s book “The Tunel”.  A few years later I encountered this same image in a friend’s house who in his turn introduced me to Alvaro Mutis’ books. This happened in Attica, in Greece; a country that is not a land surrounded by sea, as it usually happens, but a country which is a sea surrounded by land. And here in Greece, I came to know it and to love it. Anybody who learns the sea in this very place is lucky. However, I am more than lucky as I am singing it with these luminous and enlightened melodies of Mimis Plessas.

 

 

 

16.7.2011 Christos Papageorgiou (Athens) – Piano

Compositions by Franz Liszt, Mozart and C. Papageorgiou.

Christos Papageorgiou is a graduate of the Athens State Conservatory, and as a recipient of the Onassis Foundation Scholarship, also graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London, obtaining his Master’s degree.

He has appeared worldwide as a solo pianist and composer and performed with distinguished conductors (M. Plasson, P. Entremont) and famous orchestras (Philarmonia, Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse etc..), in musical venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Barbican Center, Carnegie Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall, Kensington Palace e.t.c. and has recorded for international radio and T.V. programs (BBC, Berlin Radio 3, Swiss Radio, RAI, ARD e.t.c.).

Christos Papageorgiou is a multiple international prizewinner in piano and composition competitions (USA, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, England e.t.c.) and has been honored by the National Union of Music and Theatre Critics. His music is performed by great musicians around the world (Oscar Gighlia, New York Phil. Chamber Soloists etc..).

For many years he has been teaching music at the Ionian University In Corfu, at the State Dance School, in seminars and masterclasses across the world and produces his own weekly broadcast on Satelite National TV Channel 1 and at the National Radio 3.

 

 

 

23.7.2011 DIMINUITA Swing Trio

DIMINUITA first appeared under this name in November 2007, after many years of love and extensive research in this rare, for Greece, style of music. As a swing band, they have held many shows in various well-known venues around Athens. Namely: Kyttaro, Parafono Jazz Club, Tsai sti Sahara, Baraki tou Vasili, Bacaro Jazz Club, Dizzy Miles Jazz Club,   Gagarin 205 etc. They also performed at the 2008 Volos Music Festival and in 2009 they performed in Preveza, Parga, Larisa and Technopolis in Athens. In 2010 they participated in the 17th International Guitar Festival, in Herloupolis Syros. The band also organized the 1st Athens Gypsy Jazz Festival in May 2010, dedicated to 100 years of Django’s Reinhardt birth, with total success. In March and October 2010, the group performed outside of Greece, on a small tour to Belgium (Music Village, Archiduc, Art Base, Bonnefooi and Magic Mirrors in Brussels, Hot Club Reserva in Gand, Jacques Pelzer Jazz Club in Liege, Rosario in Bever) and Netherlands (Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, De Badcuyp in Amsterdam). Until November 2008, the band cooperated occasionally with the Romanian-born violinist Damian Dudu. He has lived in Greece for many years and has played with some of Greece’s greatest names in the music industry; He has taken part in a great number of recordings as a session musician utilizing the color and the traditional style of his country’s music.  He is a musician who perfectly combines virtuosity and deep emotion with great ease. From August 2009 Kostas Arsenis has joined the band as their double bass player. The band’s first official CD album is expected in March-April 2011, full of original compositions!

The members: Giorgos Papadogiannis on lead guitar, Effie Saranti on rhythm guitar, and Kostas Arsenis on double bass.

www.diminuita.com

 

 

 

30.7.2011  and  06.8.2011 Jaques Bernier (Paris) – Piano

Jaques Bernier began his musical studies with the national academy of Toulouse. He graduated from the international training course of Salzburg and later obtained a Licence in concert at the teacher training school of music of Paris.

Since 1992, he has been a full-time professor.

Jacques Bernier performs regularly in Paris (Gaveau Hall, Cortot Hall) and all over France and abroad in various formations. Pianist and educationalist, Jacques Bernier attempts to defend all the styles of music. To teach, according to him, obliges a musician to have a personal introspection which can enable him to evolve as a concert performer. He devotes most of its activity to chamber music.

 

 

 

06.8.2011 Joanna Gaitani (Koroni/Cologne) – Violin

Joanna Gaitani was born in Athens, in 1986.

She started at the age of 6 with the flute, and in 1998 changed to violin. Since 2000 began to perform as a soloist in Greece with the Greek Youth Radio and Television Orchestra the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Patras Soloists Orchestra, and in many recitals. Participated in Masterclasses with S. Kravtchenko, P. Sheppard, D. Zsigmondy, T.Gabora, N.Chumachenko. In 2004 she received her Diploma from the Conservatory in Athens with excellence and received the first prize. In her competition experience, she received prizes at the Eurovision Competition for Young Soloists, at the Arts Violin Competition 2003 and 2009 in Thessaloniki(2nd prize), and as Top prize winner at the Violinesporlapaz International Competition 2006 in Jaen, Spain. Since 2003 she has lived in Germany and is a scholarship holder from the Villa Musica Foundation. Played in 2004 on a V. Panormo violin and from 2005 on a P. Guarneri, given to her from the same foundation. She performed as a soloist on tour in Germany with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, under Heibert Beissel, with the Greek Radio Orchestra and most recently with the National Orchestra of Athens at Megaron concert hall in Athens, the Athens Symphony Orchestra at Parnassos Concerthall. and the Thessaloniki State Orchestra. Chamber music experience performing together with the Professors: Jose Gallardo, Christian Altenburger, Oliver Triendl, Christof Schiller, Esther Haffner, Nicolas Chumachenko, Rainer Kussmaul, Wenn-sin Yang, etc. Currently studying at the Cologne Music School with Zakhar Bron.

 

 

 

13.8.2011 Mercourios Karalis – Nikolas Kavakos

Merkourio Karalis was born at 04. May 1983 in Munich (D). He studied at the National Conservatorium Athens with a Scholarship from the «Manolis Kalomoiris» association by Prof. Ilias Demirtzoglou. He graduated with his «Diploma du professor» with Excellent and 1st prize. In 2005 he won the national competition for clarinet X.O.N in Athens and he received the gold medal from the UNESKO association. Live recordings in Greek radio and television already at the age of 16 years old established Merkourio as one of the most talented clarinet players of his generation. From 2005 until 2008 he studied at the University of Arts Zürich in Switzerland by Prof. Fabio Di Casola the «Master of Performance Orchestra». After passing the exams on his studies, he had the opportunity to do a practicum with the Zürich Opernhaus and the orchestra Musikkollegium Winterthur. In 2007 he won the «Saverio Mercadante» international clarinet competition in Bari (Italia). Since 2008 he has been cooperating with the Opera of Athens as a bass-clinet player. From 2008 until 2010 he studied the of Arts Zürich with Prof. Fabio Di Casola. From 2005 until 2010 Merkourio Karalis was a national scholar of the Athens Association. During this period the Greek clarinet player gives concerts as a soloist and music partner at Artsfactory in Greece, Switzerland and Europe. Since December 2010 he has been the principal diploma soloist at the University clarinetist at the National Symphony Radio Orchestra in Athens.

Nikolas Kavakos was born in Athens in 1969 and began cello at the age of seven with Vyron Fidetzis and Dana Hantzigeorgiou. He continued his studies in Germany with J.F.Sellheim and Xenia Jankovic supported by the “Onassis Foundation scholarship”. He attended also lessons with Phillip Muller, and Hatto Bayerle (Alban Berg quartet) and recently he received a Master’s Degree in chamber music with Vladimir Mendelssohn. Since then Kavakos Nikolas has been active as a soloist and also in chamber music around Europe, the United States and Latin America, collaborating with artists such as Igor Oistrach, Dimitris Sgouros, Alexandra Papastefanou Vladimir Mendelssohn and others. He recorded for Greek and German radio and television and recently a CD with works of Christos Mentis (in memoriam). He is a founding member of the “Artis piano trio” with appearances in various festivals and concert halls (Athens-Epidaurus festival, Nafplion festival, Carnegie Hall, and the National Gallery). He has given lessons in Spain and Switzerland (Siguensa festival, Initiative Music Wochen) and teaches regularly in Athens at the “Orpheus Conservatory”. Nikolas Kavakos is since 2001 a solo cellist of the National Opera of Greece. Next appearances, Athens megaron, Istanbul (borusan music house), Paris (rivegauchemusique).

 

 

 

23.8.2011 Erato Duo

The music ensemble „ERATO“ comprises Theodora Baka (voice) and Maria Papapetropoulou (piano). Theodora Baka started her studies at the Municipal Conservatoire of Larissa, after which she graduated in opera and chamber music at the Hanover Academy of Music and Theatre. She has performed in chamber music concerts and song recitals as a soloist or with various Ensembles in Germany, Greece, Portugal, and Italy. Her repertoire ranges from Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary music, including Greek music. She has recorded several CDs, of both operas and traditional Greek songs.

Maria Papapetropoulou studied piano at the “Athenaion” Conservatory. After being awarded an Onassis Foundation Scholarship, she studied vocal accompaniment at the University o Karlsruhe. She has appeared in a large number of recitals and chamber music concerts in Greece, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey. She has worked as a soloist with the Athens National Orchestra, The Orchestra of Colours, The Philarmonic Orchestra of Riazan in Russia and the Youth Orchestra of Munster in Germany. She teaches accompaniment and chamber music at the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata.

 

 

 

27.8.2011 Sphaira Trio

Ursula Kortschak violin (Vienna), Effi Minakoulis lute and voice (Athens), Tobias Schlierf  Violoncello and Voice(Hamburg).

Ursula Korstchak was born in Graz and studied in Vienna, then at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl and baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum with Chiara Banchini. Since 1992 she has played in Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien. She also participates in Clemencic Consort, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, but also in the ensemble for new music series. Numerous records document the work of the artist. Most recently, she recorded with Hiro Kurosaki sonatas by Biber and Fux.

Tobias Schlierf Cello and vocal studies in Munich. He first worked as a countertenor in a variety of vocal ensembles (Chamber Choir Stuttgart, Singer Pur, etc.) and soloist in oratorio and opera. In 1996 he chose the bass part. 1997-2000: he performed as a solo singer at the Munich Opera Liebfrauendom and other various venues. In 2000 he started composing as well. 2002/03 Member of the Choir of the Radio-Television’s Society of Greece and a regular guest at Greek official ceremonies. He also performs as a freelance singer in all the German radio guest choirs, the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, with the Stuttgart New Vocal Soloists, Collegium Vocale Gent and others. http://www.myspace.com/tobiasschlierf

Effi Minakoulis was born in Athens. She studied French Literature, classical guitar and classical singing and completed her studies with distinction and first prize. As a singer, she is active in the Early Music scene promoting the vocal music of the 16th and 17th centuries. She has also collaborated with the Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens and the Orchestra of the American College of Athens in the performance of J.S.Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Magnificat, A.Vivaldi’ s Gloria, and W.A.Mozart’s Requiem. Mrs. Minakoulis teaches at the Early Music Department of the Nakas Conservatory and the Music Department of the American College of Greece. She has also collaborated with Megaron Moussikis in the presentation of Sunday Morning Concerts.

 

 

 

10.9.2011 Moraites

Georgia Marini:  Violin, Stavros Panagiotopoulos: Clarinet, Konstantinos Spiropoulos: Lute/Voice, Theodossis Diskos: Percussion

Moraites started off in 1992 in Kalamata. Since then, they have participated in many events about traditional Greek music, inside and outside the city of Kalamata. They accompany dance groups, they play traditional Greek music in theatre plays, they participate in concerts and of course, they play in weddings and festivals that want to preserve a traditional tone. In the winter of 2009-2010, two of the group’s musicians, Georgia Marini (violin) and Stavros Panagiotopoulos (clarinet) participated in the recording of a children’s theatre play “Romeo and Juliette, like the Dog with the Cat” directed by Anneta Papathanasiou based on the music of Maria-Christina Krithara. In 2010 they started transcribing traditional songs of the areas Ksiromero and Zagori. These transcriptions are based on performances of great musicians such as Vasilis Soukas and Grigoris Kapsalis. The ultimate goal is the presentation of these songs in musical and educational events.  www.moraites.gr

26.06.2010   Maria Garzon (Spain) – Piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Variations Duport

Jan Ladislaus Dussek (1760-1812):

Sonata op. 23 – Allegro con spiritu-Pastorale

Frederick Chopin (1810-1849): Berceuse Scherzo no. 1

Jan Ladislaus Dussek:

Sonata op. 39 no. 1 Allegro-Andantino

Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Selection of variations from “Enigma”

Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909): Cataluna, Sevilla

Antonio Soler (1729-1783): Fandango

The Spanish concert-pianist Maria Garzon studied in Madrid, Salzburg, Cologne and London, and lives now in Mani in the village Riglia.

She is performing as a soloist all over the world and has recorded for TVE,BBC,WDR,NDR and RAI amongst others, and various CDs.

Maria has discovered the works of the Czech 18th century composer J.L.Dussek and has recorded CDs with are available now.

In 2009 she co-founded the Mani-Sonnenlink Festival as it was always her wish to create a venue for classical music in the Mani.

 

 

03.07.2010   Kostantis Kourmadias (Athens) & Laura Shannon (Scotland/USA)

Love Songs of Heaven and Earth

Traditional Songs from Greece, Armenia, Turkey, Kurdistan and the Balkans

with saz, voice & percussion:

 

 

Kostantis Kourmadias – Saz, vocals

Kostantis Kourmadias is a master of the violin and the saz. He specialises in the oldest forms of traditional Greek music, particularly island music and the Greek music of Asia Minor, where his grandparents were born. Kostantis also plays rembetika and music of the Balkans

and the Middle East. In 1986 he co-founded the Ravanastro, the first acoustic traditional music club in Athens. He has played with Ross Daly, Yiannis Sevgolis, Christos Tsiamoulis, Marisa Koch, Methorios and others. Much in demand for weddings and baptisms in Greece, Kostantis also teaches Byzantine music at the Pallini Music High School in Athens.

 

Laura Shannon – bendir, dajre, doumberleki, zills, spoons, vocals

Laura’s passion for dance led her to Balkan and Middle Eastern music in the early 1980s. Born in the United States, living in Findhorn since 1998, Laura has devoted her life to researching and teaching traditional folk dances and their music. She is known worldwide for her inspiring performances, workshops, teaching and articles, and for her pioneering approach to women’s ritual dances as a spiritual practice.

Kostantis and Laura give concerts and workshops regularly in Greece, Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, the US and the UK. The profoundly healing quality of their music recently earned them a grant from the Blessing Foundation to produce their first CD.

www.laurashannon.net

 

 

10.07.2010   Giuseppe Maria Ficara (Italy)

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): Aria con Variazioni detta “La Frescobalda”, transcribed for guitar from organ original by Andrés Segovia;

Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840): Grande Sonata per Chitarra sola M.S. 3: Allegro risoluto, Romanza, Andantino variato ( Scherzando, Varation I, II,  III,  IV,  V, VI )

Fernando Sor (1778-1839): Introduction and Variations on an air by Mozart from “Zauberflöte”, op.9: Andante Largo, Andante moderato, I Variation, II Variation, III Variation, IV Variation, V Variation;

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Chaconne in D minor from violin Partita n° 2  BWV 1004;

William Walton (Oldham 1902- Ischia 1983): Two Bagattelles: Lento, Alla Cubana;

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Prélude n° 2.

Athanasios Leontaridis: Three Greek Dances: Allegro Moderato, Thalassáki, Teápiko;

Manuel Maria Ponce (1882-1948): Thème varié et Finale:  Andante un poco mosso, I. Allegro Appassionato, II. Molto moderato, III. Allegro moderato, IV. Agitato, V. Vivace, VI. Molto più lento, Finale: Vivo scherzando.

Giuseppe Ficara studied at Bari’s National Conservatory, where he graduated in Guitar with a first-class honours degree and studied Composition. He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels where he obtained a «First Prize Diploma» equivalence.

In 1979 he organized the first «Mauro Giuliani Festival», in Bari, Italy.

During his long careeer as a concertist and chamber music player, he has played in the most important musical venues in Rome, Bari, Perugia, Brussels, France, South Africa and has performed in various radio and television broadcasts.

He has been awarded for his musical merits in various international contests in Palermo, Rome, Siena, and Tunisia.

Since 1976 he has been teaching in many Italian national Conservatories, as well as in various music academies in South Africa, France, and Belgium. He has published various successful records and CDs.

www.giuseppeficara.com/divx.htm

 

 

17.7. 2010  „Thou Shalt Sing!“

Barbara Spitz (London/Vienna) and Ulli Winter (Vienna)

A Musical Journey of Unplugged Songs from the 60s and 70s based around the 10 commandments with 2 voices and 2 guitars.

Ulli Winter is a freelance musician. As a guitarist, he worked for Ulli Bäer, Gary Lux, Christian Kolonovits, Andy Lee Lang, Wr. Kramuri (with Gerald Pichowetz), Barbara Spitz, United Stages Vienna (Abba, Rocking Musical), Klagenfurt City Theatre (Evita, Rocky Horror Show, etc.) Schauspielhaus Wien.

He also worked for film soundtracks, advertising jingles and in countless studio sessions.

Most recent co-operations for Gebrüder Ullrich (Ulli Bäer duo), The Untouchables, various productions of TTM Promotions (Abbariginal, Fully, Glory Days), VGB (Vintage Guitar Band), Danube Island Festival, Concert with Chuck Berry, Blues Opening Spring 2009 Wr. Stadthalle, etc.

In addition, he teaches guitar and works as an arranger and composer.

Barbara Spitz performed in many bands in the 1970s in London including the legendary Sadista Sisters. In 1983 she moved to Europe where she has been working as an actress and singer performing in musicals, galas, as well as classical theatre and her solo, shows in Berlin at die Sofiensaelen, die Arena, die Komische Oper and in Vienna at das Schauspielhaus, das Raimundtheater, das Volkstheater, die Volksoper, Theater der Jugend, das Metropol and at the Edinburgh Festival and the Sydney Opera House.

 

 

24.07.2010   Orpheon Trio (Vienna/Madrid):
José Vazquez – Baritone, Christa Opriessnig – Viola, Lúcia Krommer – Cello

www.orpheon.org

“Eine Haydn Arbeit”

Soirée zu Esterhazy

interpreted on original instruments

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)Trio 109 in C–Dur für Baryton, Viola und Basso

Adagio – Menuett – Allegro

Andreas Lidl (1769-1774): Divertimento in G–Dur für Viola da gamba, Viola und Basso

Allegro – Andante – Allegro molto

Joseph Haydn: Trio 96 in h-moll für Baryton, Viola und Basso

Largo – Menuett – Allegro

Andreas Lidl: Divertimento in G–Dur für Viola da gamba, Viola und Basso

Moderato – Andante – Presto

Joseph Haydn: Trio 28 in D–Dur für Baryton, Viola und Basso

Adagio – Menuett – Finale: Presto

Orpheon is an ensemble specialized in the performance of the music of the Renaissance and the Baroque respecting the aesthetics of the diverse styles which these periods encompass. The ensemble employs instruments of the private collection of its director, Prof. José Vázquez, of the University for Music and the Performing Arts Vienna, which comprises over 170 choice string instruments – violins, violas, violoncellos and violas da gamba – from the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries and historical bows, all in original condition or faithfully restored to the original measurements of the Renaissance the Baroque and the Classical Periods. This collection of fine old instruments, recognised as unique in the world by the directors and curators of prestigious museums (Metropolitan Museum in New York, Smithsonian Institute in Washington, Sotheby’s London) is at present being presented as an exhibition all over Europe, together with concerts of Orpheon, funded in part by a generous grant of the European Commission Culture-2000, Mozart-Call. A permanent museum, with its own institute for performance practice and workshop for the restoration of historical string instruments, will be established in the near future.

José Vázquez was born in La Habana, Cuba.

He studied and performed in Chicago before undertaking professional studies of the viola da gamba and baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. In 1980 he was appointed to the Conservatory of Music in Winterthur, Switzerland, where he teaches performance practice, viola da gamba and baroque violin. In 1982 he was appointed professor for viola da gamba at the University of Music in Vienna, Austria. Concerts as a soloist with various European orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Zürich Opera Orchestra, Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and The Smithsonian Chamber Players.

Recordings with diverse ensembles, among which the Orpheon Baroque Orchestra and Orpheon Consort, that he founded.

In recognition of his artistic achievements the Austrian Government awarded José Vázquez the Silver Cross-of-Honour for Merit of the Republic of Austria. (Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich).

Christa Opriessnig born in Graz (Austria), completed her musical education in the same city (violin and music education) and afterwards in Cincinnati (USA) with Henry Meyer (LaSalle-Quartett).

After an intense activity as a concertist of early music in Vienna (with Wien Barock, Orpheon Consort, Salzburg Barockensemble, Concilium Musicum, Rene Clemencic and Christophe Coin), she joined the Styria Quartet for concerts and radio productions.

She also teaches German and music at the lyceum in Vienna.

Born in Hungary, Lúcia Krommer received in Budapest her diploma with distinction for the violoncello, the viola da gamba and chamber music in 1996. She subsequently studied the viola da gamba with José Vázquez at the University for Music in Vienna, with whom she appears frequently in concert. She taught viola da gamba, Baroque violoncello and chamber music at the Department for Early Music at the University of Brno from 2002 to 2006, as well as in numerous academies in France, Spain, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Hungary. She travels all over Europe with the viola da gamba and baroque violoncello as a soloist and as a member of numerous Baroque ensembles. She concertises and records regularly with the Orpheon Consort.

 

 

31.07.2010   Jacques Bernier (Paris) – Piano

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):

Noctune op. 27 no. 1

4 Mazurkas op. 17

Scherzo no. 2

Piano Concerto op. 1 in E minor

version for piano solo and string quartett: Christa Opriessning – violin 1,

Burgi Bläuel violin 2, Elisabeth Grabner – viola, und Samira Eisenbach – violoncello)

Jaques Bernier began his musical studies with the national academy of Toulouse. He graduated at the international training course of Salzburg and later obtained a Licence in concert at the teacher training school of music of Paris. Since 1992, he has been a full-time professor.

Jacques Bernier performs regularly in Paris (Gaveau Hall, Cortot Hall) and all over France and abroad in various formations. Pianist and educationalist, Jacques Bernier attempts to defend all the styles of music. To teach, according to him, obliges a musician to have a personal introspection which can  enable him to evolve as a concert performer. He devotes most of its activity to chamber music.

 

 

07.08.2010  Maria Papapetropoulou (Athens/Kalamata & Jacques Bernier (Paris) – Piano

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Valses op. 39

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Variations sur un thème original, op. 35

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Polonaises no. 1, no. 3, no. 7

Robert Schumann: Six Impromptus, op. 6

Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances, no. 1-6

Maria Papapetropoulou studied piano at the “Athenaion” Conservatory. After being awarded an Onassis Foundation Scholarship, she studied vocal accompaniment at the University o Karlsruhe. She has appeared in a large number of recitals and chamber music concerts in Greece, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey.

She has worked as a soloist with the Athens National Orchestra, The Orchestra of Colours, The Philarmonic Orchestra of Riazan in Russia and the Youth Orchestra of Munster in Germany. She teaches accompaniment and chamber music at the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata.

Jaques Bernier: see above

 

 

14.08.2010   ERATO – Trio:

Theodora Baka – Voice, Mariella Kesisoglou – Clarinet,  Maria Papapetropoulou (Athens/Kalamata) – Piano

ERATO – Trio: Songs With and Without Words

from: G. Sfiridis, M. Hatzidakis, Ch. Mendis, N. Kypourgos

ERATO ENSEMBLE

The music ensemble „ERATO“ comprises of Theodora Baka (voice), Mariella Kesisoglou (clarinet) and Maria Papapetropoulou (piano). All three of them have studied in Music Academies in Germany and got together in order to unite their knowledge and express a common interpretation approach of the Greek musical art.

The main part of their programme includes Manos Hatzidakis’cycles of songs arranged for a trio (voice-clarinet-piano), as well as songs of other Greek composers, such as Nikos Kypourgos and Giorgos Kouroupos.

Furthermore, their interpretations include other contemporary Greek composers, such as Stathis Gyftakis, Giorgos Sfiridis, Nikos Tsotras and others, who have composed music especially for the “ERATO ENSEMBLE”.

The ensemble has performed with great success in Greece, Germany, Poland and Italy (among other at the Munich Philharmonic and the Piccolo Teatro in Milan). Critics in German newspapers call them “the three Muses of Greek music” and especially emphasize their sensitive interpretation, which reveals in all aspects the “euphoric melancholy” of this kind of music.

Theodora Baka started her studies at the Municipal Conservatoire of Larissa, after which she graduated in opera and chamber music at the Hanover Academy of Music and Theatre.

She has performed in chamber music concerts and song recitals as a soloist or with various Ensembles in Germany, Greece, Portugal, and Italy.

Her repertoire ranges from Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary music, including Greek music.

She has recorded several CDs,  of both operas and traditional Greek songs.

Mariella Kesisoglou was born in Athens. She began studying clarinet at the Conservatorium of Athens and then continued her studies in Germany and Switzerland obtaining an Orchestral Diploma and a Chamber Music Diploma.

As a member of diverse chamber music ensembles, she has performed in Greece, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Canada and Brazil as well as made recordings for the Greek and the German television (ARD).

Since 2001 she has been teaching clarinet in Berlin and  Potsdam.

She is a founder member of the “Trio Viaggio”, the “Erato Ensemble” and contributed to the festival “Milano incontra la Grecia” at the “ Piccolo Teatro” in Milan.

Maria Papapetropoulou see above

 

 

21.08.2010   Denos Gianopoulos (San Francisco) – Piano

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Sonata op. 90

1st movement: Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck

2nd movement: Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Sonata op. 11

1st movement: introduzione – Un poco Adagio – Allegro vivace

2nd movement: Aria

3rd movement: Scherzo – allegrissimo e Intermezzo – lento alla burla, ma pomposo

4th movement: Finale – allegro un poco maestoso   

Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949): Tango – from the 32 piano pieces

Enrique Granados (1867-1916): Escenas Romanticas [in 6 movements]

The Concert pianist Denos Gianopoulos is performing with symphony orchestras, recitals and chamber music.

Gianopoulos has based himself in Berkeley California, the home of the great University of California, in whose department of music he taught music for 34 years.

He was born in the San Francisco bay area of Greek parents from the Peloponnese.

Denos inaugurated, as soloist, the Mid-Summer Mozart concerts in California, and beyond California has performed recitals in cities all over US and in Vancouver, Canada.

In Europe he has performed in England and in Greece – in Athens, at the music megaro in recital, and with the Camerata orchestra.

28.08.2010   SPHAIRA – Trio: Ursula Kortschak (Vienna) – Violin, Effi Minakoulis (Athens) – Lute and Voice, Tobias Schlierf (Hamburg) – Violoncello and Voice

Bernard de Ventadorn (1130–1140; † 1190–1200):  ……………………..    Can vei la lauzetta

Walther der Vogelweide(1170-1230):   …………………………………………       Under der linden

Beatritz de Diavon(born c. 1140):   ………………………………………………                  A chantar

Oswald von Wolkenstein(1377-1445):   ………………………………………         Ain tunkle farb

Walther der Vogelweide:……………………………………………………………    Palestinalied

Llibre Vermel: (14th century)   ………………………………………………………..              Imperayritz

Francesco Landini(1325-1397):   ………………………………………………..      Ecco la primvera

Anonymus:   …………………………………………………………………………………  Lamento di Tristano

with medieval instruments (lute, hurdy gurdy, portable organ, rebec, flute und voices)

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713):

op 5  Nr. IX in A-major with 4 movements:

1. Preludio – Largo  2. Giga – Allegro  3. Adagio  4. Tempo di Gavotta – Allegro

Dario Castello (1590-1644): Sonata seconda: for violin and basso continuo

Arvo Pärt (* 11. September 1935): Mirror in the Mirror for violin and piano

Manos Hatzidakis (1925-1994): Matomenos Gamos (Bloodwedding)

for voice, guitar, strings, piano…

 

Ursula Kortschak (Vienna) – Violin

Ursula Korstchak was born in Graz and studied in Vienna, then at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl and baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum with Chiara Banchini.

Since 1992 she plays in Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien. She also participates in Clemencic Consort, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, but also in the ensemble for new music series.

Numerous records document the work of the artist. Most recently, she recorded with Hiro Kurosaki sonatas by Biber and Fux.

Tobias Schlierf (München, Athen) – Violoncello and Voice

Cello and vocal studies in Munich. He first worked as a countertenor in a variety of vocal ensembles (Chamber Choir Stuttgart, Singer Pur, etc.) and soloist in oratorio and opera. In 1996 he chose the bass part. 1997-2000:

he performed as a solo singer at the Munich Opera Liebfrauendom and other various venues. In 2000 he started composing as well. 2002/03 Member of the Choir of the Radio-Television’s Society of Greece and a regular guest at Greek official ceremonies. He also performs as a freelance singer in all the German radio guest choirs, the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, with the Stuttgart New Vocal Soloists, Collegium Vocale Gent and others.

http://www.myspace.com/tobiasschlierf

Effi Minakoulis (Athens) – Lute and Voice

Effi Minakoulis was born in Athens. She studied French Literature, classical guitar and classical singing and completed her studies with distinction and first prize.

As a singer she is active in the Early Music scene promoting the vocal music of the 16th and 17th centuries. She has also collaborated with the Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens and the Orchestra of the American College of Athens in the performance of J. S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Magnificat, A. Vivaldi’ s Gloria, and W. A. Mozart’s Requiem.

Mrs. Minakoulis teaches at the Early Music Department of the Nakas Conservatory and the Music Department of the American College of Greece. She has also collaborated with Megaron Moussikis in the presentation of Sunday Morning Concerts.

 

who else performed for our festival:

04.07.2009   Neil Latchmann (Trinidad) – Tenor

Neil Latchmann is a Classical and Opera Tenor born and raised in Trinidad, from where he moved later in his career to London. He hast a very flexible and rich repertoir – from Songs of the Latin American cultur until Italian Operas and Oreatores. His speciality is recitals esp on italian songs.

For more information look at his very interesting and impressive webpage: www.neillatchman.com

He has been singing and recorded with Maria Garzon since 12 years, and thats how he found us here in the beautiful Mani.

11.07.2009   Vicky Vasiliadi (Athens) – Flute

Vicky Vasiliadi was born in Athens. Studied at the Philosopical School of the University of Athens, and flute at the “Athenaion” Conservatory.

and at the Conservatoire de Boulogne in Paris.

She has also attended flute seminars with W. Bennett and J.CI. Girard, and seminars of traditional (Greek) music and orchestral music in Athens. She has given solo recitals and many chamber music concerts in Athens, various festivals around Greece and abroad. She has worked as a solist with the Baroque and teaches flute at the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata.

18.07.2009  Berta Metz-Kukuk (Austria) – Violin

The Austrian violinist Berta Metz-Kukuk lives in Germany, where she now plays first violin in the Düsseldorf Symphony-Orchstra.

Besides her wirk in the orchestra, she lays regularely chamber music in different formations.

She works as a teacher in different positions on Universities and Highschools. She has created an holiday academy  for children.

She plays a Violin by L. B. Guadagnini from 1760.

 

04.07.2009   Neil Latchmann (Trinidad) – Tenor

Neil Latchmann is a Classical and Opera Tenor, born and raised in Trinidad, from where he moved later in his career to London. He has a very flexible and rich repertoire – from Songs of the Latin American culture to Italian Operas and Oratorios. His speciality is recitals esp on Italian songs.

For more information look at his very interesting and impressive webpage: www.neillatchman.com

He has been singing and recording with Maria Garzon for 12 years, and that’s how he found us here in the beautiful Mani.

 

11.07.2009   Vicky Vasiliadi (Athens) – Flute

Vicky Vasiliadi was born in Athens. Studied at the Philosophical School of the University of Athens, and flute at the “Athenaion” Conservatory.

And at the Conservatoire de Boulogne in Paris.

She has also attended flute seminars with W. Bennett and J.CI. Girard, and seminars on traditional (Greek) music and orchestral music in Athens. She has given solo recitals and many chamber music concerts in Athens, various festivals around Greece and abroad. She has worked as a soloist with the Baroque and teaches flute at the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata.

 

18.07.2009  Berta Metz-Kukuk (Austria) – Violin

The Austrian violinist Berta Metz-Kukuk lives in Germany, where she now plays the first violin in the Düsseldorf Symphony-Orchestra.

Besides her work in the orchestra, she plays regularly chamber music in different formations.

She works as a teacher in different positions in Universities and Highschools. She has created a holiday academy for children.

She plays a Violin by L. B. Guadagnini from 1760.