World Music Day: 25% off all concerts until Sunday, 21 June at 10 AM.
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British tenor Ian Bostridge’s acclaimed career across the opera, concert and chamber domains takes him to the world’s most prominent halls and festivals. Past residencies include with the Wiener Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall New York, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and London’s Wigmore Hall, while his 2018/19 season Artistic Residency with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra was the first of its kind for the ensemble. Operatic appearances have included Aschenbach (Death in Venice) for the Deutsche Oper and Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw) for Teatro alla Scala. 2021/22 season highlights include European tours with Europa Galante of Monteverdi’s Orfeo and The Seasons with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, the release of his latest album on the Pentatone label, and collaborations with pianists Lars Vogt, Sir Antonio Pappano, Angela Hewitt and long-standing duo partner, Julius Drake.
Lily Maisky was born in Paris but moved to Brussels shortly afterward. She began playing the piano at the age of 4, receiving instruction from Lyl Tiempo, Hagit Kerbel, Ilana Davids, and Alan Weiss. Later, she attended the Purcell School of Music from 2001 to 2005, where she also studied jazz piano. Lily has received guidance from renowned masters and artists such as Martha Argerich, Dmitri Bashkirov, Joseph Kalichstein, Pavel Gililov, Vitali Margulis, Oleg Maisenberg, and Marielle Labèque, to name a few. In addition to her solo performances and collaborations with international orchestras, Lily is an avid chamber musician. She has formed a regular duo with her father, Mischa Maisky, for several years, and she is also a member of the Maisky Trio alongside her brother, Sascha.
One of the most lyrical and intimate voices of contemporary jazz piano, and described by The New York Times as ‘the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years’, GRAMMY Award-winning Brad Mehldau combines the essence of jazz exploration with classical romanticism and pop allure. From critical acclaim as a bandleader, to major collaborations with artists such as jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, soprano Renee Fleming and saxophonist Joshua Redman, Mehldau continues to garner admiration from jazz purists and music enthusiasts alike. His forays into melding musical idioms, in both trio settings (with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums) and solo, have seen brilliant re-workings of songs from writers including The Beatles, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Paul Simon, Gershwin and Nick Drake; alongside a significant catalogue of original compositions.
Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński has quickly emerged as one of the most vibrant performers on the international classical music scene, triumphing on stage, in concert, and on recording. An exclusive artist on the Warner/Erato label, his first recording Anima Sacra has garnered critical accolades and earned him the prestigious Opus Klassik award for Solo Vocal Recording. His sold-out concerts and recitals throughout Europe and the United States have attracted new followers to the art form, and his live performance of Vivaldi’s “Vedrò con mio diletto”, filmed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2017, has amassed more than four million online views. Television appearances, including the “Concert de Paris” at the Eiffel Tower and “Rebâtir Notre Dame de Paris”, both with the Orchestre National de France and Les Victoires de la Musique Classique awards concert accompanied by the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon, have been broadcast to millions worldwide. Last year he was the subject of a major profile in The New Yorker and featured in Polish Vogue. His second album release – entitled Facce d’amore featuring Baroque operatic arias written for romantic male characters – was released in November 2019 and toured throughout Europe with Il Pomo d’Oro. He is also featured on Warner recordings of Agrippina opposite Joyce di Donato and on a disc of selections with L’Arpeggiata with Christina Pluhar.
Jonathan Papp (Artistic Director, GSA) is greatly in demand as a coach and accompanist, having shared recitals with Sir Thomas Allen, Cheryl Barker, Ian Bostridge, Sophie Daneman, Susan Gritton, Katarina Karneus, Christopher Maltman, Amanda Roocroft, Sergei Leiferkus, Marina Poplavskya, Moray Welsh and Catherine Wyn-Rogers, amongst others. Venues have ranged from London’s Wigmore Hall to the Sydney Opera House. He has made radio and television broadcasts here and abroad with such artists as Dame Kiri and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. He has worked as both coach and recital partner with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa for over seventeen years. He has given Masterclasses at the Royal Opera House and abroad, including Japan and New Zealand. He has been on the staff of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, for the Royal Opera House, the Walton Foundation in Ischia and for the Tosti Institute in Ortona. In 2004 he co-founded the Georg Solti Accademia in Italy, of which he is Artistic Director, working alongside an expert hand-picked faculty and inviting an impressive range of artists to give masterclasses, including Frederica von Stade, José Carreras, Richard Bonynge and Angela Gheorghiu. He trained at the RAM in London, where he won prizes for piano accompaniment, solo playing and chamber music, and was appointed the Hodgson Fellow for piano and an Associate of the Royal Academy. He undertook further postgraduate studies with Bruno Canino in Milan and Geoffrey Parsons in London. Jonathan Papp was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014. Papp is a member of the Vocal Faculty and the Opera School at the RAM.
Hamburg-born Okka von der Damerau began her vocal studies in Rostock and graduated at the University of Music in Freiburg. Her first engagements led her to the theatres of Rostock and Freiburg.
From 2006 until 2010 she was an ensemble member of the Hannover State Opera and performed in the world premiere of Edward Rushton’s DIE FROMME HELENE, in DAS RHEINGLD/ Erda, RIGOLETTO/ Maddalena and DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE/ Dritte Dame. After her debut as Erste Magd in the ELEKTRA-production of the Bavarian State Opera she has been an ensemble member since the 2010/11-season.
In the 2015/16 season she performed in three new productions: Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA/ Ulrica (C: Zubin Mehta), DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG/ Maddalena (C: Kirill Petrenko), Prokoviev’s THE FIERY ANGEL/ Abbess (C: Vladimir Jurowski).
The 2016/17 season lead her to Chicago, where she sang the roles of Erda/ DAS RHEINGOLD and Anna/ LES TROYENS. She also gave her house debut at the Vienna State Opera with the role of Erda/ RHEINGOLD and SIEGFRIED. In June 2016 Okka von der Damerau gave her debut at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Bruck.
In 2017/18 she will, among others, perform in a new production DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE at Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Brangäne / TRISTAN UND ISOLDE in concert with Cleveland Orchestra, as well as concerts with Mahler II. Symphony under the baton of Antonio Pappano at Enescu Festival Bukarest and under Kent Nagano in Munich and Berlin, and IX. Beethoven under Daniel Barenboim in Berlinner’s TE DEUM (C: Riccardo Muti).
Semion Skigin was born in Leningrad and studied at its State Conservatory. In 1972, he appeared as a soloist with the Leningrad Philharmonic and three years later won first prize at the International Competition for Piano Accompanists in Rio de Janeiro.
Semion Skigin’s activity as a teacher led to his appointment as guest professor from 1978 to 1981 at the Carl Maria von Weber Musikhochschule in Dresden. Since 1990 he has been Professor of Song Accompaniment at the Musikhochschule “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin. In addition, he regularly gives master classes at leading conservatories in Germany, Holland, and the U.S.A, and Russia. He is a jury member of numerous international competitions and festivals, the Artistic Director of the music festival at Theaterkahn in Dresden, as well as Vice President and Artistic Director of the Piano Salon in Berlin.
Semion Skigin is one of the most sought-after song accompanists and appears in all the great concert halls of the world, accompanying world-class singers, such as Ekaterina Semenchuk, Evelina Dobračeva, Olaf Bär, Cheryl Studer, Robert Holl, Olga Borodina, and Sergei Leiferkus.
Hailed as ‘The latest phenomenon of the Russian piano school’ (Corriere della Sera), Moscow-born pianist Alexander Malofeev came to international prominence when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2014, aged 13. In 2017 he became the first ever Young Yamaha Artist. He now performs with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, appearing with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailly, Mikhail Pletnev, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Susanna Mälkki, Alondra de la Parra and Kristjan Järvi. As a recitalist he plays in venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Philharmonie de Paris. Malofeev currently studies with Pavel Nersessian at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Born in Aachen, Germany on March 26, 1998, Simon quickly developed musical interest. Inspired by his father’s drumming and his mother’s singing he had a strong connection to all kinds of music right from the start. It didn’t take long for him to abandon children’s music and dive into the world of his fathers record collection which consisted of classic rock, blues and soul music.
Simon began playing the drums at the age of two and, just a couple of years later, discovered the Hammond B3 organ when his father brought home a concert DVD of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Tom Canning on organ. Simon was hooked after hearing the first couple of notes – it was the start of a deep connection to the organ and its musical surroundings.
During the first couple of years after his first encounter with the Hammond Organ, Simon developed his musicality by playing along to blues records by ear, eager to figure out what it was that his heroes played on the recordings. His progress was rapid and by the time he took his first classical piano lessons at the age of 8 he was already a capable blues pianist/organist and had gained his first experience playing in several local bands.
In the following years, Simon acquired more experience playing in local big bands and several other jazz ensembles in Germany and the Netherlands, won a number of Jazz awards and worked with great teachers and mentors, most notably one of his favorite pianists, Frank Chastenier.
Still in the middle of high school, 2010 was the year Simon started playing professionally at the age of 12. He teamed up with his close friend, drum virtuoso Jérôme Cardynaals and formed Twogether. The duo instantaneously won 3 awards at the prestigious Prinses Christina Jazz Concours in Amsterdam which served as a strong career start. In their 10 years of playing together, the dream team of Simon and Jérôme has toured all over Europe, worked with various greats of the Jazz world (Dr. Lonnie Smith, Nils Landgren a.o.) and produced two critically acclaimed albums.
At the same time, these events also started Simon’s career as a solo artist and sought-after session and live musician. At the age of 25, he is currently touring around the globe with some of the most acclaimed artists in the music world with the mission to make the world a more soulful place and spread love through music.
Just recently, Simon has become a member of German drumming legend Wolfgang Haffner’s band as well as saxophone icon Bill Evans’ new band “Bill Evans & The Spykillers!”. In 2019, he joined the Jazz quartet of world star singer Thomas Quasthoff with Wolfgang Haffner and Dieter Ilg. Another dream came true in 2022 when Simon joined Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez and Ronnie Cuber (alongside the WDR Big Band, arranged and conducted by Michael Abene) to record the album “Center Stage” (Leopard) which received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
After his auspicious debut on Leopard Records, 2020’s “About Time” (feat. Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Ricky Peterson and more), Simon reveals more of himself on his sophomore release for the label, “Peace of Mind”. Backed by an international rhythm tandem of American bassist extraordinaire Will Lee and Germany’s most acclaimed jazz drummer Wolfgang Haffner, Simon displays his prodigious talents on acoustic piano, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano and his signature synthesizer sounds while contributing wordless vocals to the compelling mix.
Brilliant young male soprano Bruno de Sá already has a string of glowing reviews to his name, his extraordinary voice and rare musicianship astonishing professionals, critics and public alike.
While still a student in his native Brazil, he made his first professional appearance in 2013 as Der Knabe in Weill’s Der Jasager (Cultural Centre SESC Belenzinho, São Paulo). During the following season he performed in Joplin’s Treemonisha, and was soprano soloist in Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions at the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus. 2015 saw his major role début, as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Teatro São Pedro in São Paolo: “ … a triumph … an international career awaits …” [concerto.com.br], and he further expanded his oratorio repertoire as soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle at the Teatro L’Occitane in Trancoso, Bahia.
In 2016 he again sang both of these works, making his German début with the Chorakademie, Lübeck, and was the first-prize winner at the 14th Maria Callas Competition in São Paulo. During the 2016/17 season he returned to the Teatro São Pedro as Gherardino (Gianni Schicchi), Harry (Albert Herring), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) and First Lady (Die Zauberflöte). At the 20th Festival Amazonas de Ópera he was the Shepherd in Tannhäuser, and soloist in Triunfo da Voz, a concert celebrating the great castrato Farinelli: “Bruno de Sá drove the audience wild …” [L’Opera]. In April 2017, his appearances as Alberto in a rare revival of Giuseppe Balducci’s Il noce di Benevento also received rave reviews. Later that year, he received a Silver Prize at the 2nd Manhattan International Music Competition.
In June 2018 Bruno de Sá won the 19th Concorso Spiros Argiris in Sarzana, Italy, while in July, at the Passau Sommerakademie his performance in Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle again received critical acclaim: “Amongst the soloists, Bruno de Sá stood out … his tone quality is seductive. If this doesn’t make him famous, what will?” [Passauer neue Presse]. In the following months he made his début at the Teatro Municipal, São Paulo, as soloist in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and John Adams’ opera El niño. Bruno recently impressed a greater number with the role of Aci in Giovanni Bononcini’s Polifemo under the music direction of Dorothee Oberlinger with performances in Potsdam and Bayreuth.
During the season 2019/20, Bruno de Sá joined the young artist programme at Theater Basel where he sung Die Kleine Meerjungfrau in Jherek Bischoff’s Andersens Erzählungen under Thomas Wise (world première), and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by Christian Curnyn. He also sung Sesto in Handel’s Giulio Cesare directed by Peter Konwitschny and under Michael Hofstetter (Oper Halle), as well as Isacio in Hasse’s Irene with Aapo Häkkainen and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra (Musiikkitalo Helsinki and Theater an der Wien).
With the beginning of the 2020/21 season, he makes his debut at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival as Berardo in Carlo il Calvo by Porpora staged by Max Emanuel Cenčic and conducted by George Petrou. The production is then presented in concert version at Theater an der Wien and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He then joins Oper Dortmund for their Baroque pasticcio Sehnsucht staged by Andreas Rosar and conducted by Philip Armbruster. Later, he takes on the role of Abel in Scarlatti’s Il Primo Omicidio conducted by Philippe Jaroussky (Metz, Versailles, Montpellier, Versailles and Salzburg), as well as Volusio in Hasse’s Cajo Fabricio with Martyna Pastuszka and {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna! (Gliwice and Vienna). He sings also Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina (Drottningholm) staged Staffan Waldemar Holm and conducted by Francesco Corti.
Bruno de Sá is a Warner Classics exclusive artist. He recently won an OPER! Award 2020 in the category “Best Newcomer of the Year”.