Described by the New York Times as one of the »most important artists of his generation«, this Russian-born pianist regularly performs with the world’s leading orchestras. He studied the piano in Hanover and was awarded the highest score in the institute’s history. As a multiple award-winning artist, he was named ›Artist of the Year 2020‹ at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards, followed in November 2020 by a nomination for a Grammy in the category ›Best Classical Instrumental Solo‹. His first recording of all the Beethoven piano sonatas, released in 2019, instantly went to Number 1 in the official classical charts.

Igor Levit played his Beethoven piano sonata cycles at the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Musikfest Berlin, in the Elbphilharmonie and in London’s Wigmore Hall, among others. Additionally, he has regularly given recitals in New York’s Carnegie Hall, in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and also in Vienna’s Musikverein. Concerts for the coming season are planned across the world in metropolises from Tokyo to Los Angeles. In spring 2021, the Lucerne Festival announced the first of a new piano festival curated by Igor Levit, planned for May 2023.

Igor Levit is also well-known for his political commitment for which he was awarded the 5th International Beethoven Prize in 2019. This outstanding pianist has been working together with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for many years.

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.