Born in 1988, the conductor Jonathan Bloxham is an unusually versatile artist whose »innate musicality« is very much esteemed. Alongside his »deep knowledge and understand of the symphonic repertoire« (Paavo Järvi), Bloxham also has great passion for contemporary music.

This British artist began his musical career as a cellist. Having already won several awards, he gave his solo concerto debut in the Philharmonie Berlin. In his role as conductor, he works with well-known ensembles, most recently with the City Chamber Orchestra Hong Kong, with the RTE Concert Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and, as cover conductor with the New York Philharmonic. Until 2018, Bloxham was also Assistant Conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In Summer 2019 he assisted in Glyndebourne with “Rusalka” and in 2020 he will be directing productions of “Madame Butterfly”. Bloxham is also Founder and Artistic Director of the Northern Chords Festivals.

This season, debuts will see him with The Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxemburg and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Bloxham is a founder member of the Busch Trio, with whom he performed until 2015 and during which time it won several awards. He continues to play chamber music with some of the most renowned musicians. Many concertgoers local to Bremen will remember Bloxham’s thrilling debut at the 2018 ›Summer in Lesmona‹ for many years to come.

Since it was founded in 1986, this five-member ensemble has been capturing audiences not only in the concert hall but also at the most prestigious Jazz, Classical and World Music festivals across three continents. With a lively, open musical language, stunning virtuosity and their rousing, tangible sense of enjoyment, the Kolsimcha musicians create a unique atmosphere in all their performances. Approximately twenty years ago, this Swiss group began by playing traditional Klezmer music at traditional Jewish weddings. However even then, Kolsimcha combined this music with Jazz and Classical elements, thereby creating unmistakeable soundscapes beyond all common Klezmer clichés; simply ›Contemporary Klezmer‹.

Continually striving to expand their musical horizons, clarinet and flute, accompanied by piano, double bass and percussion, combine a wide variety of styles and influences to create a most original sound structure. Spontaneous jazz improvisations meet virtuosic elements from the Western Classical musical tradition and melodies from the Mediterranean, seamlessly fused via laid-back beats and grooves. Whether jointly with the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Saarland State Orchestra or as Quintet in New York’s Carnegie Hall, at the Montreux International Jazz Festival and the Rheingau Music Festival, wherever Kolsimcha performs – with its invigorating repertoire compiled exclusively of original compositions – it never fails to wow its audiences.