Born in Berlin in 1982, Martin Helmchen has established himself as one of the younger generation’s top pianists. This musician enjoys an international career, working with numerous renowned orchestras such as the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Orchestre de Paris, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He studied at Berlin’s ›Hanns Eisler‹ College of Music as well as at the College of Music, Drama and Media in Hanover and his mentors are William Grant Naboré and Alfred Brendel. Martin Helmchen has been Associate Professor of Chamber Music at the Kronberg Academy since 2010.

Chamber Music is a particular passion for this pianist. He performs regularly with partners such as Julian Prégardien, Veronika Eberle and Christian Tetzlaff. Alongside this year’s concert with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, there are also engagements planned with the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, with the WDR Sinfonieorchester, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic and with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo.

Martin Helmchen is an exclusive artist for Alpha Classics. In Beethoven’s jubilee year 2020 he will be releasing all of Beethoven’s piano concertos with Andrew Manze and the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin.

The Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has served as Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this long standing collaboration was the widely acclaimed Beethoven cycle, whose performances were celebrated by critics around the world and honoured with numerous awards, including the Echo Klassik for “Conductor of the Year.” The Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms; both cycles likewise received multiple distinctions. Since autumn 2021, the orchestra has turned its focus to Joseph Haydn’s twelve London Symphonies, followed in 2024 by an in depth engagement with the symphonies of Franz Schubert.

Since the 2019/20 season, Paavo Järvi has also served as Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. Starting with the 2028/29 season, Järvi will assume the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival, which he established in 2011. As a guest conductor, he regularly appears with leading orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, Paavo Järvi was named Artist of the Year by both Gramophone magazine (UK) and Diapason (France). This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for Conductor of the Year. Further honours 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 recognition of his commitment to promoting the music of Jean Sibelius, he received the Sibelius Medal in 2015, and in 2012 he was awarded the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. For his dedication to Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013, and in 2024 he received the Bremen Senate Medal for Art and Science.