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.

Her musical intuition, her inspiring charisma and her ability to combine passion with precision make Anja Bihlmaier one of the leading conductors of her generation. According to SWR Kultur, »Sensitivity, openness and curiosity« always define the work of this conductor who inspires with a broad repertoire on the opera stage – most recently with Wagner’s ›Fliegender Holländer‹ in Tampere or with Verdi’s ›La Traviata‹ at the Norske Opera in Oslo – as well as on the concert podium. She has recently conducted several international orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the Danish National Symphony, the Swedish Radio Symphony and many more. Bihlmeier has been principal conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague since August 2021.

Numerous debuts await the conductor in the 2023/24 season, including with the hr-Sinfonieorchester, the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg in the Elbphilharmonie, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. In the summer of 2023, she made her Proms debut with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and this exciting conductor is now also celebrating a premiere with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.