• Fri. 22.02.
  • 7.00 p.m.

Art and humanity

Human, inter-relational and super-human

The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s academy musicians’ concert

Entrepreneurial courage and an openness for new formats as well as excellent musical talents, these are the characteristics which are crucial for a career in the 21st century music world. Four Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie academy musicians spend two years following the rigorous training programme and the four current graduates of the Orchestra Academy are now about to give their own concert, to be completed as part of their training programme and which will be organised and performed entirely autonomously – from the programme design to the pre-concert talk, right through to marketing and sales. What is also unusual is the format as this particular concert has a very experimental character in that the audience can listen to Bach’s ›The Art of Fugue‹ while relaxing on cushions. For Pierre Jalbert’s contemporary work, the audience will be invited to become active and either draw, paint or sketch their associations onto a canvas. The pictorial results will then be available for general viewing while enjoying some refreshments during the interval. The second half of the concert promises to be more classical; together with cellist Tanja Tetzlaff the Academy Musicians will be performing Schubert’s String Quintet in C.

Programme

    • Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
    • The Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus 1 (arr. for string quartet by Richard Klemm and Carl Waymar)
    • Pierre Jalbert (*1967)
    • Icefield Sonnets
    • Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
    • String quintet in C Major op. post. 163 D956

Violin

Astrid Kumkar

Astrid Kumkar was born in Langenthal (Switzerland) and received her first violin lessons aged 5. She later studied with – among others – Midori Seiler, Andreas Lehman and Sönke Reger at the Franz Liszt Music College Weimar.

As well as winning a number of prizes in competitions such as the national Jugend Musiziert competition, the international Szymon Goldberg Award and also the 2016 Lions Musikpreis, this young violinist has also been also awarded a Konrad Adenauer Foundation Scholarship. She is a member of both the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and of the Gaechinger Cantorey. As concertmaster, she has performed with renowned conductors such as Jonathan Nott, Sebastian Weigle and Michael Sanderling, and has already given many solo as well as chamber music performances at festivals such as the Niedersächsische Music Festival, the Fasch Festival and the Usedom Music Festival.

Violin

Emma Yoon

Originally from New Zealand, Emma Yoon began her studies with Stephen Larsen at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. She then completed her master’s degree and concert exam with Elisabeth Kufferath at the Hanover College of Music, Drama and Media. She also studied chamber music with Oliver Wille in Hanover. Among other prizes, this violinist has won the New Zealand National Concerto Competition. In 2010 she made her solo debut with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. Emma Yoon is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with outstanding artists such as Sarah Christian, Florian Donderer and Tanja Tetzlaff. Her most recent recording, the chamber music album ›Jonny‹, was nominated for an Opus Klassik in 2020.

Both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, Emma Yoon has performed concerts throughout Europe, the UK, the USA and New Zealand, and has appeared at international festivals such as the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, the Rottweil Musikfestival Sommersprossen and the Heidelberger Frühling. She was an academist with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen from 2017 to 2019 before becoming a permanent member of the orchestra, and has played as concertmaster in ensembles such as the Kammer­philharmonie Landshut, Musica Assoluta and Camerata Hamburg.

She has also completed an internship with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover and has played as a section leader in ensembles such as the Kammer­philharmonie Landshut and the Camerata Hamburg. Since 2018, Emma Yoon has also been a member of the Estonian Festival Orchestra, working with Paavo Järvi at the Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia.

Viola

Tomohiro Arita

Born in Osaka, Japan, Tomohiro Arita began playing the violin from an early age and first came into contact with the viola at the age of 15. He graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, one of Japan’s most prestigious universities. He was a finalist of the ›Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition 2014‹ in Birmingham, and was awarded 2nd prize in the ›Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Music Competition‹ in Tokyo. Tomohiro Arita has played with the Geidai Philharmonia, the Birmingham Conservatoire String Orchestra and has performed at various music festivals, including the famous Swiss Verbier Festival in Lucerne or the Le pont Music Festival in Japan.

Violoncello

Leander Kippenberg

Leander Kippenberg (*1991) grew up in an artistic family and received his first cello lessons aged 9. At 15 he began studying with Michael Sanderling at the Frankfurt College of Music and the Performing Arts and moved the following year to the Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach School in Berlin where he played solo cello with the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie. The young cellist then returned to Frankfurt where he studied first at the Music College there before moving to London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2011, where he studied with Louise Hopkins and obtained his MMus with Honours in 2017.

Leander Kippenberg performs as soloist, chamber musician and with various orchestras across Europe and has taken part in several international music festivals. His concert tours and solo performances have taken him to the Tonhalle Zurich, the ›Glocke‹ and the Sendesaal in Bremen as well as The Barbican in London.

Violoncello

Tanja Tetzlaff

Both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, Tanja Tetzlaff is one of the leading cellists of her generation. Her repertoire is broad and varied, bridging the standard repertoire with contemporary compositions from the 21st century. She studied cello with Bernhard Gmelin at Hamburg College of Music and Drama, followed by studies with Heinrich Schiff at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She has won many international competitions, including the ARD Competition and has also worked with numerous renowned orchestras – the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de Paris and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Harding and Vladimir Ashkenazy. She has also recorded the cello concertos Wolfgang Rihm and Ernst Toch with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen on the Neos label.

Last season saw Tanja Tetzlaff in Tokyo with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and also on stage with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. For the 2018 season she is Artist in Residence with the SWR Schwetzinger Festival where she can be heard in a number of performances throughout the season. She has a particular interest in chamber music und performs regularly with Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt and can be seen on stage at the renowned Heidelberg Spring Festival, at festivals in Bergen, Baden-Baden and at the Edinburgh Festival. This much sought-after performer is a core member of the Heimbach Festival ›Spannungen‹ as well as being a member of the Tetzlaff Quartet, which she co-founded in 1994 with Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabeth Kufferath and Hanna Weinmeister. She was, for many years, principal cellist with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen; a post she held until 2018.

Violin

Astrid Kumkar

Astrid Kumkar was born in Langenthal (Switzerland) and received her first violin lessons aged 5. She later studied with – among others – Midori Seiler, Andreas Lehman and Sönke Reger at the Franz Liszt Music College Weimar.

As well as winning a number of prizes in competitions such as the national Jugend Musiziert competition, the international Szymon Goldberg Award and also the 2016 Lions Musikpreis, this young violinist has also been also awarded a Konrad Adenauer Foundation Scholarship. She is a member of both the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and of the Gaechinger Cantorey. As concertmaster, she has performed with renowned conductors such as Jonathan Nott, Sebastian Weigle and Michael Sanderling, and has already given many solo as well as chamber music performances at festivals such as the Niedersächsische Music Festival, the Fasch Festival and the Usedom Music Festival.

Viola

Tomohiro Arita

Born in Osaka, Japan, Tomohiro Arita began playing the violin from an early age and first came into contact with the viola at the age of 15. He graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, one of Japan’s most prestigious universities. He was a finalist of the ›Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition 2014‹ in Birmingham, and was awarded 2nd prize in the ›Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Music Competition‹ in Tokyo. Tomohiro Arita has played with the Geidai Philharmonia, the Birmingham Conservatoire String Orchestra and has performed at various music festivals, including the famous Swiss Verbier Festival in Lucerne or the Le pont Music Festival in Japan.

Violoncello

Tanja Tetzlaff

Both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, Tanja Tetzlaff is one of the leading cellists of her generation. Her repertoire is broad and varied, bridging the standard repertoire with contemporary compositions from the 21st century. She studied cello with Bernhard Gmelin at Hamburg College of Music and Drama, followed by studies with Heinrich Schiff at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She has won many international competitions, including the ARD Competition and has also worked with numerous renowned orchestras – the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de Paris and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Harding and Vladimir Ashkenazy. She has also recorded the cello concertos Wolfgang Rihm and Ernst Toch with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen on the Neos label.

Last season saw Tanja Tetzlaff in Tokyo with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and also on stage with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. For the 2018 season she is Artist in Residence with the SWR Schwetzinger Festival where she can be heard in a number of performances throughout the season. She has a particular interest in chamber music und performs regularly with Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt and can be seen on stage at the renowned Heidelberg Spring Festival, at festivals in Bergen, Baden-Baden and at the Edinburgh Festival. This much sought-after performer is a core member of the Heimbach Festival ›Spannungen‹ as well as being a member of the Tetzlaff Quartet, which she co-founded in 1994 with Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabeth Kufferath and Hanna Weinmeister. She was, for many years, principal cellist with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen; a post she held until 2018.