World Music Day: 25% off all concerts until Sunday, 21 June at 10 AM.
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Hailed as “the most promising of today’s up-and-coming song recitalists” (Financial Times), baritone Benjamin Appl is celebrated by audiences and critics alike for a voice that “belongs to the last of the old great masters of song’ with ‘an almost infinite range of colours” (Suddeutsche Zeitung), “exacting attention to text” (New York Times), and artistry that’s described as “unbearably moving” (The Times). Named Gramophone Award Young Artist of the Year in 2016, Appl was a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme from 2014 to 2016, as well as a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and ECHO Rising Star for the 2015/16 season, appearing at major venues throughout Europe, including the Barbican Centre London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Paris and Cologne and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. He was signed exclusively to SONY Classical between 2016 and 2021. He recently partnered up with Alpha Classics for a long term collaboration of multiple albums.
Teodor Currentzis was born in Greece, where he began studying music. In 1994, he entered St. Petersburg State Conservatory to study under the legendary professor Ilya Musin.
Together with his ensembles, Teodor Currentzis regularly tours Europe and the world with performances in numerous prestigious venues including Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonic, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonie de Paris, Kölner Philharmonie, Auditorio Nacional, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, and La Scala. As a stage conductor and musical director, Teodor Currentzis has worked with the leading opera theatres including Opéra de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, Teatro Real, and the Bolshoi Theatre.
He has also collaborated with the key figures in modern Western theatre: Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Peter Sellars, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Theodoros Terzopoulos, and others. Teodor Currentzis is a Resident Artist at the Salzburg Festival as well as at the RUHRtriennale Festival, festivals in Lucerne and Aix-en-Provence.
Works by Mozart, Mahler, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Rameau, and Stravinsky released by Teodor Currentzis on Sony Classical record label have received numerous international music awards: ECHO Klassik, Edison Klassiek, Japanese Record Academy Award, and BBC Music Magazine’s Opera Award. Teodor Currentzis has received the Toepfer Foundation’s prestigious KAIROS Award. He has also been awarded the Greek Order of the Phoenix and the international Musikfest Bremen Award.
South African pianist James Baillieu, winner of prestigious international song and Lied competitions, has partnered with leading singers and instrumentalists around the world. His programming skills have proved their worth at festivals in the UK and Australia, including the Wigmore Hall, at the request of its artistic director. His recordings range from Lieder to the complete works for piano and violin by C.P.E. Bach. In addition to his extensive teaching activities (Royal Academy of Music, Jette Parker Young Artist Programme of the Royal Opera House, Royal Northern College of Music), he leads the Song Programme of the Verbier Festival Academy’s Atelier Lyrique.
Stanislav Kochanovsky, Chief Conductor of the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hannover as of the 2024/25 season, is one of the most interesting artistic personalities of our time. His heart beats for both symphonic music and opera. And with both genres, he has caused quite a stir in the international music world in recent years. His guest conducting engagements have taken him to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Japanese NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonie, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra London, among the others.
In the course of his career, he has also conducted the major orchestras of his native country, including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Moscow Philharmonic and the Mariinsky Orchestra.
With more than thirty operas in his repertoire, recent opera engagements have included The Pique Dame and Evgenij Onegin at the Opernhaus Zürich, Iolanta at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Prince Igor at the Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, working with distinguished directors and singers such as D. Tcherniakov, B. Kosky, L. Davidsen, M. Goerne, C. Gerhaher, E. Nikitin, V. Sulimsky, I. Abdrazakov, P. Mattei.
Since 2017, Kochanovsky is a regular guest at the Verbier Festival where he conducted opera in concerts (Evgenij Onegin, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, Hansel and Gretel) and symphonic programme with soloists Lucas Debargue and Mikhail Pletnev.
In addition to the classical repertoire, Kochanovsky has conducted rare performed works and new compositions, such as Ligeti’s Requiem, Scriabin-Nemtin’s Prefatory Action Mysterium, Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus, Shostakovich’s unfinished opera The Gamblers, Myaskovsky’s Silence, Weinberg’s Symphony No. 21 “Kaddish” and works by living composers such as Dean, Fedele, Broström, Tawfiq, Visman, Campogrande, Martinsson, Golijov, Thorvaldsdottir, Tarnopolski, Rääts, Vasks.
In the 2024/25 season, besides the programs, tours and recording projects with his NDR Radiophilharmonie Orchestra, he will continue his regular collaborations with the Orchestre de Paris, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the NDR ElbPhilharmonie Orchestra, the DR Danish National Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Teatro La Fenice Orchestra, among others.
Stanislav Kochanovsky attended the Glinka Choir School in his hometown of St. Petersburg before going on to graduate with honours at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire, where he studied choral conducting, organ and opera-symphonic conducting.
“Super-soloist” is the way France Musique introduced Dmitry Masleev when he made his debut with the Orchestre National de France at the beginning of 2020, playing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, the work that helped launch his international career, when he won the 2015 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. Diapason described the same concert as “the Triumph of Dmitry Masleev at Radio France. Masleev delivered a soaring interpretation, with his transcendent virtuosity augmented by his delicate touch.” In the autumn of this year Dmitry makes his debuts at the Golden Hall of Musikverein and on the main stage of the Berlin Philharmonic. He returns to Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra on their second joint tour of Germany and to the Philharmonie de Paris with a solo recital featuring recently discovered early works of Dmitry Shostakovich, which the young pianist world-premiered in July 2020 in a virtual concert presented by the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch and broadcast by ARTE, Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk, and Deutsche Grammophon. Dmitry’s tour plans for the 2020-21 season also include multiple performances at René Martin’s Moments Musicaux Festival at La Baule and at the Verbier Festival’s residence at Schloss Elmau. His Verbier Festival debut in 2019 was among many of his performances broadcast on Medici TV to thousands of people worldwide. In the recent seasons Dmitry has also been invited to perform at the Lucerne Festival, Klavierfestival Ruhr, as well as at the La Roque d’Anthéron, Montreux, Rheingau, Bad Kissingen, Bodensee, and Stars of the White Nights festivals. Dmitry particularly appreciates festivals for the opportunities to play chamber music. His regular partners include Boris Berezovsky, who has described him as “a discovery and a brilliant pianist”, Marc Bouchkov, Alexander Ramm, and the Borodin Quartet. Later in the season Dmitry returns to Basel, where he debuted in 2016, jumping in at the last minute for the indisposed Maurizio Pollini. This time, he will perform with the Sinfonieorchester Basel under the direction of Ariane Mathiakh with Rachmaninov’s Variations on the Theme of Paganini. Dmitry’s orchestral collaborations also include the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Robert Trevino), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Mikko Franck), Orchestre National de Lyon (Tan Dun), Bamberg Orchestra (Christoph Eschenbach), and Orquestra Cadaqués (David Robertson). Dmitry continues to perform regularly throughout Russia, appearing in recital and with orchestras, including the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yuri Simonov, at the Tchaikovsky Hall, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Mariinsky Concert Hall, and other venues. Rising to the challenge of Covid 19 crisis, Dmitry has been actively collaborating with the Moscow Philharmonic Society, offering numerous performances via their digital concert hall, reaching hundreds of thousands of people worldwide at the time of great physical, emotional and economic difficulties. His recent media activities also include the release of his second album, Rapid Movement, on Russia’s legendary label Melodia, famous for its recordings of Richter, Gilels, Davidovich and other great Russian pianists. Recorded with Siberian State Symphony and VladimirLande, it features Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside the Jazz Suite by Alexander Tsfasman and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by a contemporary Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin (Dmitry’s performance of Kapustin’s Toccatina has over 350,000 views on YouTube). Shostakovich and Tsfasman enjoyed an artistic friendship: Tsfasman consulted with Shostakovich on the orchestration of his themes, while Shostakovich sought his opinion on his own forays into jazz. Mr. Masleev’s previous album, launched with a performance at the recital hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and featuring solo and orchestral repertoire, has made the Spotify Top Classical 2017 charts and received the prestigious German Critics’ Prize (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) in the solo piano category, where it was nominated alongside Krystian Zimerman’s Schubert album (DG). “One can only revel in the poetic spontaneity of this Scarlatti recording, not least because of the brilliance, precision and ease of Masleev’s playing” (Westdeutsche Rundfunk). Within the first six months of the release, Mr. Masleev’s own arrangement of Shostakovich’s Elegy from the Ballet Suite No. 3 has been downloaded on iTunes over 43,000 times. In acknowledgement of these achievements, ARTE’s primetime TV show Stars von Morgen, hosted by Rolando Villazon, featured Dmitry Masleev as the pianist to watch. “It is fascinating to witness his artistic development. One cannot be taught to play like this. It takes a lot of natural musicality… Masleev shows how within a small space one can open up an entire cosmos of a soul. That is great art and that is what you always want and rarely get as a listener: watching the artist looking for himself and listening to him find it,” wrote Helmut Mauró in Süddeutsche Zeitung in 2019 North America fell in love with Dmitry Masleev when he made his Carnegie Hall recital debut at the Isaac Stern Auditorium in January 2017 and repeated the same program at Toronto’s Koerner Hall in March. In 2018, he toured coast-to-coast with the Moscow State Symphony and Pavel Kogan. Annual visits to South America have established Dmitry as an audience favorite in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador. This season Dmitry collaborates with Allegro HD, the main arts and culture TV network of the continent, to deliver music to his fans despite the travel restrictions. Dmitry regularly performs in the Asian capitals, both with orchestras such as Seoul Philharmonic, New Japanese Philharmonic, and National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, as well as in recital. A solo recital tour of China and Japan is planned for this season, along with a return to Taipei for a performance with NSO Taiwan and Joshua Weilerstein. Born and raised in Ulan-Ude (a Siberian town between Lake Baikal and the Mongolian border), Dmitry was educated at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Professor Mikhail Petukhov, and at the International Music Academy at Lake Como.
Adam Newman began his musical studies aged 7, learning a variety of instruments including violin and piano before focusing on the viola aged fourteen. He proceeded to study at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music with Louise Lansdown. Newman graduated with first class honours from the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Matthew Souter, Philip Dukes and Hu Kun. He then continued his studies in the class of Tatjana Masurenko at the Hochshule für Musik in Leipzig and in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Louise Hopkins. He is currently studying in Basel with Rainer Schmidt of the Hagen Quartett.
Newman has attended Verbier Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, Thy Chamber Music Festival, Tibor Varga Masterclasses and the London Masterclasses where he has studied with renowned musicians such as Tabea Zimmerman, Bruno Giurana, Ana Chumachenco, Gábor Takács- Nagy, Thomas Riebl, Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Lawrence Power and Alfred Brendel.
He has had considerable success in both competitions and recitals. They included a Sir John Barbirolli Foundation Award towards the purchase of a new bow and the Duchess of Cornwall / English Chamber Music Award. He was also a finalist at the Windsor International String Competition where he was awarded the Bishops Instruments and Bows Prize for the most deserving finalist.
Newman has worked with the English Chamber Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Camerata Variabile Basel, Cappa Ensemble, London Conchord Ensemble, Razumovsky Ensemble, Aronowitz Ensemble, Nash Ensemble, and with such musicians as Patricia Rozario, Nicolas Daniel, Jorg Widmann and Valentin Erben.
Born in 1999 in Lausanne, Çiğdem Tunçelli began her studies at the age of 5 at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with Tina Strinning. In 2012, she entered in the pre-college section in the class of François Sochard. She pursued in the class of Prof. Stuller and started her Bachelor degree at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in 2015, from where she graduated with distinctions. Since 2019 Tunçelli is studying at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Prof. Schönweiss’ class.
During her musical upbringing, Tunçelli won several prices in solo, duo and with her former ensemble at the Swiss Youth Music Competition. She also took part in masterclasses of artists such as Shmuel Ashkenazy, Vadim Gluzman, the Ysaye Quartet, the Aviv Quartet. As a passionate and engaged musician in orchestra and chamber music, she participated in many youth orchestras and academies. She has also spent her last 5 summers playing in the different orchestras at the Verbier Festival and is currently a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy.
Tunçelli has also been very engaged in social services by giving numerous concerts with Musethica, whose ideology is to bring music to underprivileged communities.
Martha Argerich was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She began her first piano lessons at the age of five with Vincenzo SCARAMUZZA. Considered a child prodigy, she soon performs in public. In 1955, she moved to Europe and continued her studies in London, Vienna and in Switzerland with SEIDLHOFER, GULDA, MAGALOFF, Mrs LIPATTI et Stefan ASKENASE.In 1957, she won the Bolzano and Geneva Piano Competitions, and in 1965 the Warsaw International Chopin Competition. Since then, she has been one of the most prominent pianists in the world both in popularity and ability.
Martha Argerich has been rated highly for her performance of the virtuoso piano literature of the XIX and XX centuries. Her large repertoire includes Bach and Bartok, Beethoven and Messiaen, as well as Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Franck, Prokofiev, Stravinski, Shostakovitch, Tchaikovski.
Though she is permanently invited by the most prestigious orchestras, conductors and music festivals in Europe, Japan, America and Israel (with Zubin Mehta and Lahav Shani), chamber music takes a significant part of her musical life. She regularly plays and records with Nelson FREIRE, Alexandre RABINOVITCH, Mischa MAISKY, Gidon KREMER, Daniel BARENBOIM: « This harmony within a group of people gives me a strong and peaceful feeling ».
Martha Argerich has recorded for EMI, Sony, Philips, Teldec, DGG and many of her performances were broadcasted on television worldwide. She has received many awards : “Grammy Award” for Bartok and Prokofiev Concertos, “Gramophon – Artist of the Year”, “Best Piano Concerto Recording of the Year” for Chopin concertos, “Choc” of the Monde de la Musique for her Amsterdam’s recital, “Künstler des Jahres Deutscher Schallplatten Kritik”, “Grammy Award” for Prokofiev’s Cinderella with Mikhael Pletnev and lately a “Grammy Award” for Beethoven Concertos 2 & 3 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Claudio Abbado (DGG / Best Instrumental Soloist Performance), “Sunday Times – Record of the Year” and “BBC Music Magazine Award” for her Shostakovitch recording (EMI – 2007). Last recordings: Mozart concertos K466 and K503 with Orchestra Mozart et Claudio Abbado, duo recital with Daniel Barenboim (Deutsche Grammophon.)
Since 1998 she is the Artistic Director of the Beppu Festival in Japan; in 1999 she creates the International Piano Competition and Festival Martha Argerich in Buenos Aires, and in June 2002 the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano.
Martha Argerich has received numerous distinctions: – “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres” in 1996 and “Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres ” in 2004 by the French Government – “Accademica di Santa Cecilia” in Rome in 1997 – “Musician of the Year” by Musical America 2001 – « The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette » by the Japanese Emperor and the prestigious « Praemium Imperiale » by the Japan Art Association in 2005. – Kennedy Center Honors by Barack Obama in December 2016 – Commendatore dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by Sergio Mattarella in October 2018.
Spanish cellist Onomeya (Alfredo Ferre) has performed in many of the world’s leading concert halls, including the National Music Auditorium in Madrid, the Shostakovich Hall in St Petersburg and the KKL Luzern, and has collaborated with artists such as Mischa Maisky, Claudio Martínez-Mehner, Sol Gabetta, Lily Francis, and Ettore Causa. After initial studies with Francisco Pastor, Ferre entered the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid to work with Natalia Shakhovskaya and Michal Dmochovsky. He continued his training with Ivan Monighetti and Claudio Martinez Mehner at the Musik Akademie in Basel. In addition to his career as a concert cellist, Ferre explores his creativity in other musical fields, including composition, electronic music production and sound therapy, all under the artistic name Onomeya. He plays a cello on loan from an anonymous patron, probably built by Francesco Gofriller around 1740. Alfredo Ferre attended the Verbier Festival Academy in 2017, where he received the Prix Jean-Nicolas Firmenich, which is awarded each year to an outstanding cellist.