Impressions 2021

That was the meetMUSIC OPEN AIR 2021.
Many thanks to our artists who made it what it was – a treat for the soul and ears. Many thanks to our guests, it was a feast for us!
We are very much looking forward to delighting you with fresh ideas in the coming year as well. Until then, we invite you to follow our event calendar – it remains sonorous in Draiflessen. Promised.

Credits

© André Schniedergers
© Danial Barazandehpay

The following is archive content from 2021

meetMUSIC OPEN AIR 2021

What can our visitors expect at our OPEN AIR 2021? First, a new setting, a premiere for Draiflessen: The young musicians* play for you in the garden, in a stylish as well as casual ambience and of course Corona compliant. But the great musical diversity of our two-day event is also extraordinary; the musicians combine classical chamber music with jazz and pop in a rousing, multi-faceted program. The special thing about this is that different styles are often played by the same ensembles in one concert, creating an amazing connection between different sound worlds.

Out of conviction, we give young art a chance to present itself. Some of the invited musicians have already performed on important stages around the world, while others are up-and-coming young artists. However, they all stand out for their passion for music and will let us experience ravishingly expressive concerts.

A personal framework is created by the two moderators Marie König and Malte Arkona, who lead through the program. But some of the musicians themselves will also moderate and be available for questions, which opens up a very individual approach to the music.

The idea of holding a summer music event has long been a dream of Isabella van Hamme, director of Draiflessen Conference. After a concert by the duo Anouchka & Katharina Hack in the fall of 2019 in Draiflessen, the musicians, inspired by the imposing building with its extraordinary settings, also expressed the idea of holding an OPEN AIR in this special place. A vision found its beginning here: An OPEN AIR with young excellent artists.

We are happy to welcome our visitors, connoisseurs and beginners, young and old in Mettingen!

Saturday, 21.08.2021

15:00

meetMUSIC concert in the afternoon

At the meetMUSIC concert in the afternoon for families and music lovers, the popular presenter Malte Arkona not only guides the audience through the musical program in an entertaining and informative way, but also introduces the musicians themselves in personal conversations. There is room for all questions of the small and large listeners.

Experience Spanish guitar music, impressionistic harp sounds and the brassy sound of four trombones in three short, highly diverse concerts!

Welcome and introduction with Malte Arkona

Malte Arkona is known to a wide audience as an actor, dubbing artist and TV presenter. He already proved that he is a true master of vocal acrobatics in the radio play for the ARD series
Babylon Berlin
and in the dubbing of the series
Modern Family
(Prof. Arvin Fennerman) demonstrated. As the host of the popular shows
Tigerenten Club
and
Germany’s best class
he is popular with young and old.

Malte’s great passion, already since his childhood at the piano, is classical music. As a music educator, he initially focused on younger classical music listeners, offering children and teens an entertaining, fun, and exciting introduction to the world of “classical” (and romantic, baroque, contemporary…) music. In doing so, he created a completely new, modern style of concert moderation with his authentic manner, which also met with a great response from adult audiences. In the meantime, Malte sees himself as a cross-generational music mediator. He easily manages to infect the audience with his own enthusiasm for the well-known and lesser-known musical works.

www.malte-arkona.com

Special price – concert with Viktor Stryapin

On the occasion of this year’s meetMUSIC OPEN AIRS, Draiflessen GmbH & Co. oHG will for the first time award a special prize for a 1st place in age group V of the national competition “Jugend musiziert”. Viktor Stryapin won this 1st place with 25 points in the category “Plucked Instrument Solo”.

Liv Hansen | Harp

With great musical flair Liv Hansen takes her audience into the sonorous world of the harp. She was a scholarship holder of the Mozart Society Dortmund and performed as a soloist with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot, among others.

www.mozart-gesellschaft-dortmund.de/stipendiaten/stipendiat/article/liv-inger-hansen-harfe

Svevia trombone quartet

The Svevia Trombone Quartet was founded in 2020 at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts.

In addition to classical training, the members also devote themselves to playing the baroque trombone. With works from the Renaissance to the modern age, the four young musicians show how broad the repertoire is and how diverse the musical expression on the trombone can be.

18:30

Double pack in the evening

On Saturday evening, look forward to two concerts interrupted by an intermission for refreshments.

Vision String Quartet

The Vision String Quartet won the prestigious Geneva Music Competition in 2016 and is considered one of the best and most exciting young string quartets of our time. In addition to profound interpretations of the great classical quartet literature, in which all quartet members always play from memory and thus achieve a particularly intense interplay, the Vision String Quartet also explores and expands the repertoire with plenty of groove and verve in the crossover realm.

www.visionstringquartet.com

HeptaPolka

HeptaPolka is an eight-piece band from Hamburg. She plays mainly Nordic and Balkan folk music, mixed with her own melodies and musical influences from all over the world. HeptaPolka creates a mixture of gentle dream and wild dance. Music that goes from the ear to the heart and from the heart to the hips.

www.heptapolka.com

Sunday, 22.08.2021

11:30 a.m.

Matinee concert

Jazzical Class

A strong interest in music outside the classical realm and in instruments other than their primary ones has united the duo of Peter Fleckenstein and Žilvinas Brazauskas. Their performances at the highest musical level include instruments such as piano, classical guitar and bass guitar, saxophone, clarinet, a wide range of percussion and even the voice. Their repertoire knows no genre boundaries.


www.zilvinasbrazauskas.net
|
www.peterfleckenstein.com

14:00

Lunch concert

Duo Anouchka & Katharina Hack

Anouchka and Katharina Hack have been enlivening concert stages with their musical freshness and passion for several years. Their interplay is characterized by strong collaborative interpretations with great understanding of the works. In 2020, the duo released their debut CD, which was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award.

www.cello-piano.de

17:00

Final concert

Cello Octet

This ensemble is put together especially for the meetMUSIC OPEN AIR. It is composed of some of the most promising young cellists, most of whom study at the renowned Kronberg Academy.

www.kronbergacademy.de

Artistic direction

For years, the sisters Anouchka and Katharina Hack have been successful both as a duo and as soloists, giving concerts at the Beethovenhaus Bonn, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Gasteig Munich, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the Konzerthaus Dortmund, among others.

For meetMUSIC, both have now taken on the artistic direction of a music OPEN AIRS for the first time: “Our vision is to show young, exciting chamber music in all its diversity. To create a colorful festival program as artistic directors with unique young musicians is a long-held dream that will become reality this summer.” In their new capacity, Anouchka and Katharina Hack bring classical music as well as jazz and polka to Draiflessen and offer visitors of all ages a high-quality program in a special environment. “Music needs a place to sound. The atmosphere of Draiflessen provides the perfect space here.”

Katharina and Anouchka Hack received their musical training as young students with Prof. Ilja Scheps and Prof. Hans-Christian Schweiker at the Musikhochschule Köln. From 2014 to 2018 they studied with Prof. Konstanze Eickhorst and Prof. Troels Svane at the University of Music Lübeck. The musicians received further special musical impulses from David Geringas, Gary Hoffman, Andrej Jaszinsiki and Sir András Schiff and from Gautier Capuçon, for whose Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle Anouchka Hack was selected in 2017/18. Currently Katharina Hack is studying in the concert exam with Prof. Bernd Glemser in Würzburg, Anouchka Hack with Prof. Frans Helmerson at the renowned Kronberg Academy, supported by the Casals Patronage. The sisters are supported as scholarship holders by the Mozart Society Dortmund, the Ritter Foundation, the Dumcke Foundation and the German Foundation for Musical Life.

Artist portraits

(c) Anna Jaissle

Marie König (*1991 in Stuttgart) studied music journalism at the Technical University of Dortmund with Holger Noltze.
As a freelance writer, she works for Deutschlandfunk, SWR and WDR, among others. Since September 2019, she has been part of the team of presenters of the weekly live program “Musikjournal” on Deutschlandfunk.
At the Aalto Theater in Essen, she worked in press relations for the music theater, philharmonic and concert divisions. She has been a member of the PODIUM Festival Esslingen team since 2014 and took over the festival’s project management for the 2015/16 season. In the dramaturgy department of the Theater Dortmund she was responsible for opera introductions, dramaturgical support and writing program texts.

At the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Heidelberger Frühling and other organizers she gives concert introductions and moderates various events. In 2021, she founded a solidarity collective for music journalism with fellow writers: MUJK.

Malte Arkona, (c) Nicolaj Lund

Malte Arkona is known to a wide audience as an actor, dubbing artist and TV presenter. He has proven that he is a true master of vocal acrobatics in the radio play for the ARD series Babylon Berlin and in the dubbing of the series Modern Family (Prof. Arvin Fennerman), among others. As host of the popular shows Tigerenten Club and Die beste Klasse Deutschlands, he became popular with young and old.

Malte’s great passion is classical music. As a music mediator, he now offers all generations an entertaining, fun and exciting introduction to the world of “classical” (and romantic, baroque, contemporary…) music. With his fresh and modern presentation style, he is now one of the most sought-after music mediators in the German-speaking world. He easily manages to infect the audience with his own enthusiasm for the well-known and lesser-known musical works.

Among others, he has already moderated the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Orchestre
Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the WDR Funkhausorchester, the Münchner Philharmoniker, the
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, the
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the NDR
Radiophilharmonie. In the process, he repeatedly encounters the big stars of the scene, who in conversation with him not only
about the music, but also like to chat from time to time out of the sewing box. Thus revealed
Pianist Lang Lang told what he does when he doesn’t feel like practicing, Maestro Lorin Maazel told about
his yoga sessions at the airport, Andris Nelsons raved about his martial arts exercises and the
Labèque sisters let Malte look into their brightly painted notes.

In 2020 Malte started an exclusive collaboration with the label Berlin Classics (Edel Kultur). For adults
he recorded an extraordinary version of the “Carnival of the Animals”. In his own radio play series “Malte &
Mezzo”, he slips into the role of the “classical music discoverer”, who, together with his friend “Mezzo”, a small red
Being, adventures experienced in the music world.

In doing so, he presents well-known works and composers in funny and
stirring text versions of their own. Previous releases include: “Creepy
Pictures at an Exhibition,” “On Tour with Mozart,” “A Party with Beethoven,” and “No Trouble with The Magic Flute.”
The same applies to these radio plays: they are interesting and worth listening to not only for children. “Malte & Mezzo” will be in
will also be heard live this season, among others with the RSB Berlin and the Dortmund Philharmonic.
In December 2021, a “Malte & Mezzo” Christmas album will be released, on which not only many well-known
musicians, but also some of Malte’s former KiKa TV colleagues.

In 2021/2022, Malte will be the new face of the family concerts at the Nikolaisaal Potsdam and will be part of the
the Kammerakademie Potsdam and the Brandenburg State Orchestra. At the Beethoven Orchestra
Bonn and at the Theater Erfurt for the first time. A special highlight will be the opening of the new
“Isarphilharmonie” in Munich, where he continues his work with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. In Ludwigshafen
he will regularly present concerts for adults at BASF’s concerts. At the Georgian
Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt he presents his version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. For the
Sinfonieorchester Basel and the Rheingau Music Festival, he developed a new intergenerational
concert format, which will also be repeated in Basel. He is also a member of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-
Vorpommern and at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Likewise, he will once again celebrate the “Children’s Day” of the
Cologne Philharmonic Hall. Further re-invitations lead him to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, to the
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the
Festival “Spannungen” in Heimbach, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, the Bergische Symphoniker
and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, Malte will also work as an “orchestra detective” at the NDR
Radiophilharmonie “investigate”. The adventure “Beethoven on the trail!” from the “Orchestra Detectives” series
was released in 2020 in cooperation with NDR on Sony Classical.

In his versatile projects Malte works with the “who’s who” of the classical music industry, among others in
Collaborations with top-class soloists and conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Michael Sanderling, Lars
Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Sebastian Weigle, Christian Tetzlaff, Daniel Hope, Joana Mallwitz, Patrick Hahn, Edgar
Moreau, Claire Huangci, Javier Perianes, Tanja Tetzlaff and Andrew Manze.

In addition to developing new concert concepts for classical music, Malte 2021 also conducted for the first time
Directed both a music video of the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Dresden, and several clips
of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Also, his podcast “MPhil with Malte” in collaboration with the Munich-based
Philharmonic Orchestra got off to a successful start this year.

The vision string quartet is a unique ensemble that plays not only works of classical literature. The repertoire also includes original compositions and arrangements from jazz, pop and rock. The wide range of playing techniques, rhythms, harmonies, improvisations and timbres required in these genres ensures that classical music in particular is interpreted in a variety of ways and performed in a wide range of formats.

The musicians completed their studies with the Artemis Quartet and Günter Pichler. Heime Müller, Eberhardt Feltz and Gerhard Schulz provided further impetus. In 2016, the quartet won 1st prize and all special prizes at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition (Berlin). Great waves were made by the success at the Concours de Genève 2016, which seems spectacular with the 1st prize and all four special prizes. This was followed in 2018 by the Chamber Music Prize of the Jürgen Ponto Foundation.

In the 2019/20 season, debut tours in Japan and the USA were on the schedule. Performances at the Wigmore Hall, the Elbphilharmonie and in Oslo and Bergen became further highlights. The debut CD was released in 2020 by Warner Classics and received the OPUS KLASSIK as best string quartet recording in the same year.

The Duo Jazzical Class, founded in the University of Music Lübeck, played its debut in 2013 in Kiel at the concert series “Start – Young Artists on Tour”, followed by numerous concerts in Schleswig-Holstein.

Since then, Žilvinas Brazauskas (clarinet and piano) and Peter Fleckenstein (vibraphone and percussion) have played several times at the Lunch Concerts in the foyer of the Berlin Philharmonie, and in 2018 they performed at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin at the concert “The Graduates,” which was broadcast live on rbbKultur. The German Foundation for Musical Life invited the duo to the Tchaikovsky Hall in Hamburg in 2019.

Multiple prize winners Žilvinas Brazauskas and Peter Fleckenstein both chose to study classical music; moreover, they share the joy of improvisation and musical spontaneity, crossing the boundaries of existing genres. The audience can look forward to an exciting session between classical music, energetic world music and jazz!

As a duo, Anouchka and Katharina Hack enliven the concert stages in Germany and Europe with their musical freshness and passion. Her recitals are well received by audiences and the press, who have described her playing as “simply breathtaking” and a “star hour” (General-Anzeiger Bonn).

In 2017 they were awarded the “Young Artist Award” at the International Music Festival Buxtehude and performed at “Best of NRW” in the 2017/18 season. In November 2018, Anouchka and Katharina Hack made their debut at the Berlin Philharmonic’s Lunch Concerts. They were first heard at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in summer 2019. A recital tour of the duo through Germany and Switzerland was planned for the 2020/21 season, and the duo also appeared on stage for the first time in a double concerto for piano, cello and orchestra together with the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. Concert tours have taken Anouchka and Katharina Hack throughout Europe and to the USA; a tour of China is planned for the 2021/22 season. Radio recordings were made with WDR, NDR and medici.tv.

The duo’s debut CD with works by Dmitri Shostakovich and a joint encore with Gautier Capuçon was released by GENUIN in June 2020. “A promising debut,” praised Dorothee Riemer in Fono Forum, and Susanne Stähr of SWR2 attested that the sisters had “passed the maturity test with flying colors with this impressive interpretation.” The album was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award.

Hepta Polka stands for folk music from different corners of Europe, their songs connect pure life. It is folkloric traditions, danceable rhythms and heart-touching melodies from the diverse styles of our continent that Hepta Polka takes up, rediscovers and from whose inspiration their own pieces spring.

With a diverse and special selection of instruments, Hepta Polka makes listening concert halls dream or ignites devastating wildfire on the dance floor.

With Hamburg as their home port, the now eight-piece lineup from various corners of the country has been coming together on and off since 2017, with many of the guys studying music and active as musicians of various orientations. The band consists of: Finn Stamer, Giacomo Schmidt, Florian Ding (v.a. string instruments), Melf Torge Nonn (wind instruments), Mathias Greenslade (guitar), Robin Klein (accordion), Pay Bandik Nonn (double bass), Daniel Schierhorn (percussion).

The cellist
Brannon Cho
is one of the outstanding musicians of his generation. He won the first prize of the prestigious 6th Paulo International Cello Competition in Finland and was awarded in other competitions.

Brannon Cho has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, working with conductors such as Susanna Mälkki, Stéphane Denève, and Christian Arming.
A lover of chamber music, Brannon Cho has shared the stage with artists such as Anne- Sophie Mutter, Christian Tetzlaff, Gidon Kremer and Joshua Bell. He was invited to various international festivals and won several scholarships.

Highlights of his solo career include debuts at Wigmore Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. Brannon Cho participates in the Kronberg Academy graduate program with Frans Helmerson. He plays a rare violoncello built by Antonio Casini in Modena, Italy in 1668.

The cellist, born in 1999
Erica Piccotti
has already made guest appearances at many renowned music festivals in Italy. She has performed as a soloist with the Zagreb Soloists, the Orchestra Sinfónica del Estado del México and the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, among others.

In addition to numerous awards from Italian instrumental competitions, she earned first prize at the 2014 International Cello Competition Antonio Janigro in Zagreb and second prize at the 2017 International Johannes Brahms Competition. Since 2017 she has been sponsored by the Associazone Culturale Musica con le Ali. She received a special honor in 2013 when she was awarded the Alfiere della Repubblica for outstanding musical achievement by young artists by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. In 2020, she was named Young Artist of the Year by ICMA.

She released her debut CD in 2018 with pianist Itamar Golan on the Warner Classics label. Erica Piccotti began her training in her native Rome in the class of Francesco Storino at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. At the age of 14, she joined Antonio Meneses, who taught her at both the Bern University of the Arts and the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona. Since October 2017, Erica Piccotti has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson.

© Martin Raphael Martiq

The Italian born in 2000
Luca Giovannini
has earned numerous awards in various national and international competitions since 2011, including the first prize of the Johannes Brahms Competition, the Grand Prix Salzburg, the Rising Star Berlin, the “Crescendo” in Florence, the “Maura Giorgetti” of the Milan Scala Philharmonic, the Antonio Janigro in Croatia, the “A. Zinetti” Sanguinetto (VR), the Grand Prix at the International Music Competition London and the third prize at the Alice & Eleonora Schoenfeld String Competition Harbin.

He has performed on prestigious stages around the world, such as the Museo Casa Barezzi Busseto, the Theaterphilharmonie in Berlin, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Harbin Opera (China), the Argenta Little Rock in Arkansas and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Luca Giovannini plays a cello by Ansaldo Poggi from 1927, provided to him by Mario Brunello. Since October 2019, he has been studying with Frans Helmerson as part of the Precollege Program at Kronberg Academy. The study is made possible by the Angela Winkler Patronage.

The first cellist ever to be
Killian White
awarded the RDS Music Bursary, the most important prize for classical music in Ireland and one of the most important in Europe. Michael Duffy (RDS CEO) described White as “undoubtedly an artist who has a very exciting career ahead of him.”

Killian White studied first with Martin Johnson, principal cellist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and later with Christopher Marwood at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He enjoyed great success early on, winning several other prizes and awards in addition to his current scholarship.

He is very active chamber music-wise, including appearing at the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering from 2017-2019. He has also performed as a member of several string quartets at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and on tours throughout Ireland supported by the National String Quartet Foundation.

As a soloist, Killian White has performed with renowned orchestras such as Camerata Ireland, RTE Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, Hibernian Orchestra, Dublin Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra or the New York Concerti Sinfonietta on the great stages of the world, such as the National Concert Hall in Dublin and Carnegie Hall in New York. He is currently studying with Prof. Frans Helmerson at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.

© Kaupo Kikkas


Maciek Kułakowski
was born in Gdansk in 1996 and started playing the cello at the age of six. He has won many awards, including first prize and a special prize at the 10th Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition in 2015. He earned a second place at the Tonali Competition in 2015. In 2016, he was awarded a scholarship at the German Music Competition in Bonn as well as a special prize from the German Foundation for Musical Life. He was one of the finalists at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2017.

In many European countries Maciek Kułakowski played as a chamber musician and soloist under conductors such as Frank Brailey, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Stéphane Denève and Marek Pijarowski. His chamber music partners have included musicians such as Alfred Brendel, Arnold Steinhardt and Charles Neidich. In 2011 he performed at the opening concert of the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice under Krzysztof Penderecki. At the Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary he played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Calgary Symphony Orchestra and was awarded prizes there as well. In 2010, he played a leading role with the Kassak Brass Ensemble in the premiere of the composition “McKulak” by Tadeusz Kassak, which was dedicated to him. With the Wiłkomirski Trio he recorded a CD with works by Anton Arensky for the DUX label.

As an active participant, he took part in the Kronberg Academy Cello Master Classes in 2014 and 2016, where he was awarded the Landgrave of Hesse Prize in 2014. In 2015 and 2017 he participated in the Kronberg Academy Festival. Since October 2017, Maciek Kułakowski has been studying at the Kronberg Academy with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. The study is made possible by the Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff Patronage.
Maciek Kułakowski plays a cello by Charles Gaillard, Paris 1867, made available to him by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.



Lia Chen Perlov
, born in Tel-Aviv in 1994, received her first cello lessons at the age of 9. For her further musical education she moved to Germany. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Music Lübeck and her master’s degree at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig.

As a soloist, Lia Chen Perlov has performed with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, the Thelma-Yellin Symphony Orchestra and with the Israeli Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Lia Chen Perlov was a finalist at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin and at the Aviv Competitions. She won first prize at the Paul Ben-Haim Competition and second prize at the Possehl Music Prize, as well as first prize at the Israel Conservatory Competition, the Turgeman Competition and the competition of the Israeli classical music station Kol HaMusica. Since 2005, Lia Chen Perlov has received annual grants from the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation.

One of her main interests is chamber music – she has performed at many festivals with artists* such as Shmuel Ashkenazy, Sabine Meyer, Guy Braunstein, Eckart Runge, Jonathan Brown and others. Lia Chen Perlov was part of the renowned Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and has been principal cellist of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn since March 2021.
Her instrument is privately and very generously provided to her by Mrs. Regina Weinberg.

The cellist
Li La
was born in Hangzhou (China) in 2002 and began her musical training on the piano at the age of four before switching to the cello at the age of seven. Her teachers in the early years included Zhang Baojun and Cao Min.

At the age of nine, she was accepted to the elementary school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2016, Richard L. Aaron and Sieun Lin accepted her into their classes as a precollege student at The Juilliard School in New York. She gained further experience through master classes with renowned cellists such as Frans Helmerson, Natalia Gutman, Mischa Maisky, Lynn Harrell and David Geringas.

Li La was awarded numerous first prizes at international competitions early on. These include the 2011 Osaka International Music Competition, the 2012 Antonio Janigro International Violoncello Competition in Zagreb, the Fulham International Music Competition in Paris, and the 2014 Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow, from which she emerged as the youngest prize winner. She won second prize at the 43rd Stulberg International String Competition in 2018.

Li La was invited to the Verbier Festival and the 5th Mini Verbier Festival in Munich. She has performed with orchestras such as the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra as well as the Moscow Virtuosi and the State Symphony Orchestra “New Russia”. In 2019, she performed at the Kronberg Academy Festival. She has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson since October 2018. The study is made possible by the Verena von der Groeben Patronage.

© Anoush Abrar


Anouchka Hack
inspires press and audience in her concerts with her variety of sound and strong will of expression. After appearing at renowned venues such as the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, the Beethovenhaus Bonn and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, she can be heard in three seasons of solo performances and recitals at the Nikolaisaal Potsdam as part of the “Debut” series. Anouchka Hack has also worked with the Zagreb Soloists and Sinfonia Rotterdam, among others.

Engagements for the upcoming season include performances with the Erfurt Symphony Orchestra and the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, recitals with Katharina Hack, and the duo’s first tour of China. Anouchka Hack is also a scholarship holder of the Verbier Festival Academy 2021.

Anouchka Hack was born in Antwerp in 1996 and studies with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy. She plays a cello by Bartolomeo Tassini, Venice 1769, made available to her by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

Liv Hansen from Dortmund was a scholarship holder of the Mozart Society Dortmund, the Artur and Lieselotte Dumcke Foundation, the Richard Wagner Association, the Casino Dortmund Society and the “Live Music Now” Foundation, as well as a prize winner of the competition of the Association of German Harpists.
She discovered her enthusiasm for the harp at an early age. Her junior studies in Düsseldorf at the Robert Schumann Hochschule were followed by bachelor studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts Essen and master studies at the University of Music Würzburg.
Several concert tours, including with the Bundesjugendorchester and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, have taken Liv Hansen to Italy, France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Poland and China, as well as to many important concert halls in Germany.

The Svevia Trombone Quartet was founded in 2020 at the HMDK Stuttgart. Florian Helbich, Julian Pfeil, Ann-Catherina Strehmel and Alexander Tauber are currently studying in the class of Prof. Henning Wiegräbe. In the “Stuttgarter Posaunen Consort” they performed several times in large ensembles before they also formed a chamber music quartet.

They also play in orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Stuttgart State Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to classical training, the ensemble is also dedicated to playing the baroque trombone. The four young musicians regularly participate in courses for historical performance practice.

With works from the Renaissance to the modern age, they would like to present the wide repertoire of their instrument and the variety of musical expression on the trombone.

Viktor Stryapin was born in Leipzig in 2004 and learned the classical concert guitar from Rostislav Uciteli since the age of six. From 2016 he was added to the students of the “Johann Sebastian Bach” Music School Leipzig.

Between 2012 and 2021 Viktor won numerous first prizes at the competition “Jugend musiziert” in the category “Guitar Solo” and ” Guitar Duet”. In 2019 he received 1st prize at the national competition with his duet partner Alexander Podolnyy.

In 2018, he also won First Prize as a soloist at the national competition with the highest score of 25 points and a special prize from the German Foundation “Musikleben”. He also received the special prize of the “Finkenburg Foundation” as part of the Saxony state competition.

In addition, Viktor received the first prize at the Youth Music Competition in Bad Sulza in 2013 and a third prize each at the international “Anna Amalia” Competition for Young Guitarists in 2017 and at the “Roland Zimmer” Youth Competition for Solo Instruments Guitar, Mandolin and Zither in 2018.

In 2018 Viktor joined the Landesjugendzupforchester (LJZO) Sachsen and in 2020 he joined the Bundesjugendzupforchester (BJZO).

Since September 2020 he is a student at the Saxon State High School for Music Carl Maria von Weber and receives lessons from Sina Neumärker.

In 2021 he participated in the national competition “Jugend musiziert” in the category “guitar solo” and won the first prize with the highest score of 25 points and special prizes of the Draiflessen GmbH & Co. oHG and the German Foundation “Musikleben”.