Lars Vogt has rapidly established himself as one of the leading pianists of his generation and is an internationally sought-after soloist and chamber musician. He first came to public attention when, aged 20, he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition.

In recent years, Lars Vogt has enjoyed a rapid rise to fame internationally in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia, working with such conductors as Riccardo Chailly, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, Kurt Masur, Sir Simon Rattle and Franz Welser-Möst. He has appeared at guest concerts for example with the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra as well as the orchestras in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Lars Vogt’s versatility is reflected in his repertoire, which includes works from the Classical and Romantic periods, through to compositions from the 20th century. Apart from his career as a soloist, Mr Vogt continues to develop his new role as conductor. In 1998 he founded his own festival in Heimbach/Eifel. Known as ›Spannungen‹, this has become a major venue for high-profile chamber music concerts.

Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this collaboration has been the acclaimed, globally celebrated performances of the Beethoven cycle, for which Järvi received numerous awards including the ›Echo Klassik Conductor of the Year‹ award and the prestigious annual ›German Record Critics‹’ award. Their Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Schumann and Brahms; both cycles also received numerous awards. Since autumn 2021, the focus has been on Joseph Haydn’s twelve London symphonies, and since 2024, an intensive exploration of Franz Schubert’s symphonies.

Paavo Järvi has been Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich since the start of the 2019/2020 season. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival, which he established in 2011. He regularly appears as a guest conductor with major orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he was named ›Artist of the Year‹ by both the British magazine Gramophone and the French magazine Diapason. This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for ›Conductor of the Year‹. Other awards include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’ Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the title ›Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres‹, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015, Paavo Järvi also received the Sibelius Medal in recognition of his work in bringing this Finnish composer’s music to a wider audience, and in 2012 he received the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. As a committed supporter of Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013.