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.

Jérémie Rhorer is one of the most versatile and intellectually challenging conductors of his generation. As founder and musical director of the orchestra Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, this French conductor is continuing artist-innovator tradition through his exploration of 18th and 19th century repertoire performed on historical instruments. He is also a renowned composer and winner of the Prix Pierre Cardin. For more than ten years, Jérémie Rhorer has developed a close relationship with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, where he has conducted a wide range of standard, rarely performed and contemporary operas. Rhorer has also conducted major international orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a sought-after opera conductor, he has also conducted productions at the Wiener and Bayerische Staatsoper, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and is regularly invited to Europe’s most prestigious festivals. Highlights of the current season include his debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Bordeaux-Aquitaine and at Zürich Opera House with a new production of Offenbach’s rare opera ›Barkouff‹. In recent years, Rhorer and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie have initiated an innovative residency at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence with an educational programme for new audiences. Jérémie Rhorer has been a regular guest at The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for years. Together they are currently working on a special Tchaikovsky cycle, which will be presented on tour in Germany and Europe this year and in the coming years.