News Archive

Born in Athens, violinist Leonidas Kavakos had by the age of 21 already won the 1985 Sibelius Competition and the Paganini and Naumburg competitions in 1988. This led to him making the first ever recording of the original Sibelius Violin Concerto, which won the Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991. Today he is […]

In 2019, aged 22, Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition, where he also won the Grand Prix, which has only been awarded three times before in the competition’s history. Hailed by critics as the ‘young tsar of the piano’ (Classica) and ‘Liszt reincarnated’ (Fanfare), he […]

“Absolute artist”, and “a true musician” are words frequently used to describe the conductor, composer and orchestrator Mathieu Herzog. His musical soul was shaped through working under the guidance of great masters such as Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Harding, György Kurtäg, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Menahem Pressler, Alfred Brendel, and Mitsuko Uchida. Mathieu has recorded numerous discs for […]

“Christian Zacharias conducted without a baton, but his gestures – painting with arms, hands and fingers – was so inspiring, structuring the wonderful music that was created.” Christian Zacharias is a narrator among the conductors and pianists of his generation. In each of his elaborate, detailed and clearly articulated interpretations, it’s clear what he means: […]

Paul McCreesh has guest conducted many of the major orchestras and choirs across the globe, including most recently the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Verbier Festival orchestras, and Berlin Konzerthausorchester. McCreesh also enjoys regular and ongoing collaborations with Saint Paul and Basel Chamber Orchestras. In […]

Daniele Gatti graduated as a composer and orchestra conductor at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. He is Music Director of the Orchestra Mozart, Artistic Advisor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. From 2024 he will be Chief Conductor of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. He was […]

Neeme Järvi first studied music with his brother Vallo before entering the Tallinn School of Music, where he studied percussion and choral conducting. Having made his public conducting debut in Tallinn in 1954, he continued his studies between 1955 and 1960 at the Leningrad Conservatory, where his teachers in symphonic and operatic conducting included Nicolai […]

Estonian Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi is widely recognised as the musicians’ musician, enjoying close partnerships with the finest orchestras around the world. He serves as Chief Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchester-Zürich and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, and Artistic Director of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Estonian Festival Orchestra, of which he is also Founder. He is Conductor Laureate […]

Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of Bach. He has remained their Music Director ever since, taking them regularly to major venues and festivals in Europe and the USA and building up an outstanding reputation for the expressive refinement and truth of […]

James Gaffigan’s natural ease and compelling musicianship put him in high demand with orchestras (Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zurich Tonhalle, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris…) and opera houses (New York Metropolitan Opera, Munich Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Zurich Opernhaus…) around the world. In 2004, he was Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, and the same year he won the First Prize of the Sir Georg Solti International […]