ARTISTS
(alphabetical order)
Andrea Cazzanida: orchestral conductor - www.ensemblekuraia.es
Born in Italy in 1969. He is the musical director of the Kuraia Ensemble, with which he actively promotes contemporary music including numerous premiers, international tours and recordings. He has collaborated personally with composers like Leonardo Balada, Luis de Pablo, Gabriel Erkoreka, Joan Guinjoan, Félix Ibarrondo, Ramon Lazkano and others.
Andrea Cazzaniga has conducted orchestras and ensembles in Spain, Italy, Finland, Holand and South America, among which are the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Vaasa City Orchestra, Sinfonia Finlandia, Trento Chambre Orchestra, E5 Kuopio Festival Orchestra, Musikene Symphony Orchestra. He has also collaborated with celebrated soloists as Asier Polo and Séverine Ballon.
In the opera field, he premiered in Bibao the opera “Der Kaiser von Atlantis”, and the critic reviewed: “with Andrea Cazzaniga’s musical direction the representation achieved a great strength… An irresistible performance” (El Correo).
He has conducted in important international festivals - Quincena Musical Donostiarra, Alicante Festival, Musika-Música in Bilbao, FIMC in Lina, among others.
In the cinema field he conducted the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and recorded, for the label EMI-Hispavox, the soundtrack of the film “El bosque animado” (The Living Forest), that received the Goya Award in 2002. He has recorded works by Gabriel Erkorera for the label Sintonia as well.
Andrea Cazzaniga has developed an intense teaching activity, participating in conferences and conducting courses concerning
the performance of contemporary music in Europe (Klangzeitort – Institut für neue Musik, Berlin) and America (Morelia Conservatorium in Mexico and National Conservatorium in Lima, Peru).
He received the guidance of conductors like Jorma Panula, Enrique García Asensio and Josep Caballé in Musikene (Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain), and for four consecutive years has received the award of the Asociación de Intérpretes y Ejecutantes (AIE, Spanish Association of Performers), in recognition of his academic achievements.
Ander Tellería: accordionist - www.andertelleria.com
Internationally acclaimed by critics as an “accordion prodigy”, Ander Tellería is one of the most active accordionists in current times.The passion he feels for the instrument he plays, the combination of styles and periods in the programmes he plays in his concerts and the importance he always places on the connection between the performer and the public make Tellería an outstanding musician.
Besides showing his huge talent as an accordionist in the concerts he regulary gives in countries like Spain, Argentina, Germany, France and Japan and Holland or in prestigious festivals like Brucknerfest Linz in Austria , Ander Tellería is developing a solid career as a soloist, having offered concerts with orchestras like Norddeutsches Philarmonisches Orchester, Ensemble Ciklus and Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española (ORTVE), under the baton of Rafael Payaré or Gil Raveh. He has performed in venues like Palau de la Música Catalana, Palacio Euskalduna, Teatro Monumental de Madrid, Beethoven Saal of Hannover or Buckerhaus of Linz and has been involved in recordings under the name of Ander Tellería accordió y Acordeón Clásico. His performances have been broadcast on national and international media like Televisión Española, Radio Clásica, Radio Nacional de España, PuntoRadio, Norddeutsche Radio or NDR TV Hannover, to name a few.
The extraordinary quality of his performances has been acknowledged with numerous international awards, highlighted among them John Cage International Prize for New Music Players, First Prize International in the Accordion Competition of Pula (Croatia), First Prize Juventudes Musicales of Spain, Prize Ayuntamiento de Sitges in the International Chamber Music Competition Mirabent i Magrans, Prize for the Best Performance of a Catalan author in the Primer Palau or First Prize in the Concurs Instrumental Saint Anastassi. Graduated from the Music Conservatory of the Basque Country (Musikene) under the leadership of Iñaki Alberdi and from the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (Germany), where he earned a Master in Music Interpretation under Stefan Hussong, with a grant from the Basque Government. He has completed his training with the most representative teachers of the different accordion schools like Matti Rantannen, Claudio Jacomucci, Geir Draugsvoll, Carlos Iturralde, James Crabb, Jacques Mornet, Nathalie Boucheix, Miren Iñarga, Janne Rattya, Francesco Palazzo, Joseph Maccerolo, Aitor Furundarena or Elsbeth Moser.
Félix Ardanaz: pianist and orchestral conductor - www.felixardanaz.com
Having garnered international prizes and performed to great acclaim on many of the world’s most important stages (Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Palau de la Música, Salle Pleyel, Salle Cortot, Unesco, Spanish National Auditorium, Euskalduna, Kursaal, Caixa Forum, Auditorium Príncipe Felipe, etc.), Spanish pianist and conductor Félix Ardanaz (25) has become one of the most internationally-renowned Spanish musicians.
In May 2014, he obtained the first prize at the “Brahdshaw and Buono Piano Competition” in New York and performed a solo recital in the Carnegie Hall. In July 2013, at the Great International Piano Competition in France, Ardanaz was unanimously awarded the First Prize as well receiving the Audience Prize. In previous years, he won first prizes at the following international competitions: Paris-Ile de France (First Prize, by unanimous decision, in 2011 and 2012), Barcelona (Eugènia Verdet), Rome International Competition, and Val Tidone. Ardanaz also received the Critics’ Award in 2012 for his piano recital at the Palau de la Musica Concert Hall in Barcelona.
Félix Ardanaz studied piano and orchestra conduction at the Royal Academy of Music in London – where he completed a Master’s Degree with distinction – the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and Musikene, the Higher School of Music of the Basque Country. The list of his professors includes widely acclaimed musicians like Alicia de Larrocha and Brigitte Engerer.
For many years, Ardanaz has pursued his career both as a concert pianist and as an orchestra conductor. In addition to many solo piano recitals across Europe, he has worked with a number of professional orchestras in Spain, including the Basque National Orchestra, and the orchestras of Bilbao, Asturias, Extremadura, and La Rioja. His repertoire as orchestra conductor spans across all periods, from baroque to contemporary compositions. He has conducted operas by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini and Debussy.
In November of 2007, he appeared as the soloist in the world premiere (and subsequent recording for the Musikene label) of Charles Bordes's “Rhapsodie basque pour piano et orchestra,” a new work inspired by popular Basque folk melodies. These and other performances have been broadcast on France Musique, RNE (Spanish National Radio), and Catalunya Clásica (Classical Catalan Radio).
Recent engagements include the performance of the Piano Concerto nº1 by Tchaikovsky as soloist with the Basque National Orchestra, as well as an appearance at the Wigmore Hall in London. He has collaborated has assistant conductor at Royal Opera House with "La Triaviata" and at Opera di Roma with "Madame Butterfly".
In 2009, Ardanaz recorded his first solo CD, “Hymn to Light”, with the label Verso, one of Spain’s most important recording companies for classical music. This project included works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Ravel and Albéniz. Two new albums were recently released through the “Orpheus” label. The first is an all-Liszt CD, which includes the titanic Sonata in B minor, Mazeppa and the Mephisto Waltz (which received the Melomano Golden Prize); the other is dedicated to the French Harpsichord School, with pieces by Couperin, Rameau, Forqueray, De la Guerre and Marchand.
Gustavo Díaz Jerez: pianist and composer - www.gustavodiazjerez.com
One of the foremost Spanish pianists of his generation, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez has gained an international following among audiences as well as unanimous critical acclaim for his performances of both contemporary music and the timehonored repertoire. Born in the Spanish Canary Islands, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez studied piano with J. A. Rodriguez at the Conservatorio Superior of Santa Cruz (Tenerife), and subsequently with Solomon Mikowsky at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he was awarded the prestigious Harold Bauer Award and won the first prize in the conservatory’s concerto competition with his performance Bartók’s 2nd Piano Concerto. Gustavo Díaz-Jerez has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, the UK and the USA, in many of the world’s most renowned halls, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, Royal Festival Hall in London, Sydney Opera House in Sydney and numerous other eminent venues. He has performed as soloist with many of the world’s great orchestras, such as the Berlin Symphoniker, The Budapest Festival Orchestra, The Turin Symphony, The Northern Sinfonia, as well
as the major Spanish orchestras (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Galicia, Nacional de Cataluña, Castilla y León, Sinfónica de Madrid and others). He has collaborated with such conductors as Ivan Fischer, Victor Pablo, Cristian Mandeal, Matthias Bamert, Gunther Herbig, Adrian Leaper, José R. Encinar, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and others. He has been invited to play at various international music festivals, including the Festival Internacional de Canarias, La Roque d’Anthéron, Quincena Musical Donostiarra, Festival Internacional de Santander, Lucena, Granada, Úbeda. His forthcoming engagements include an extensive tour of Europe where he will present Albéniz’s Iberia in its entirety, in commemoration of the centenary of its composition. Gustavo Díaz-Jerez has recorded a significant portion of his native country’s repertoire for piano, including Albéniz´s Iberia; the complete works of Manuel de Falla; the music of Carlos Surinach for piano solo and piano with orchestra with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife under the baton of Victor Pablo; the major works of Canary Island composer Teobaldo Power (RALS); music of Oscar Esplá for violin and piano with Margherita Marseglia (RTVE Música); and a CD of his own works for various chamber ensembles (RALS). Since 2002, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez has taught piano at the Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco, Musikene.
María Eugenia Luc: composer - www.mariaeugenialuc.com
Italian-Argentinian composer born in 1958. She studied at the National University and L.I.P.M. (Argentina), Civica Scuola di Milano, École Nationale de Musique and University Paris VIII, University of the Basque Country. She received scholarships in the following international courses: Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Accademie Chigiana di Siena, Música en Compostela, Manuel de Falla, Latinoamericano of Contemporary Music, under the guidance of Dieter Schnebel, Luis de Pablo, Brian Ferneyhough, among others.
She has received awards for her music by the Instituto I.I.L.A. of Rome, I.M.E.B.-Bourges, I.S.C.M., SGAE, the Basque Government, Ars Contemporanea. Her compositions have been premiered in venues and festivals in Europe, Asia and America: Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Kunitachi College of Music (Tokio), Hochschule für Musik (Berlín), Royal Academy of Music (Londres), Théâtre du Port de la Lune (Bordeaux), Palazzo Chigi Saracini (Siena), Instituto Goethe in Paris, Accademia Internazionale della Musica (Milano), Euskalduna Palace and Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Auditorium MACBA (Barcelona), Reina Sofía Centre of Art (Madrid), Kursaal (San Sebastián), Quincena Musical Donostiarra, Musica Strasbourg, Aujourd'hui Musique (Perpignan), Festival Arte e Scenza in Rome, Cycle of the BBVA Fondation in Bilbao and others.
María Eugenia Luc’s output has been performed by prestigious soloists such as Mario Caroli, Harry Sparnaay, Piette Strauch, Séverine Ballon, Claude Delangle, Jean Geoffroy, Jean Pierre Dupuy; ensembles such as Barcelona 216, Taller Sonoro, Plural
Ensemble, Proxima Centauri, Duo Levent, Cello Octet Amstersdam and the following orchestras: Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Rosario Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestros Ernest Martínez Izquierdo, Pablo González, Juanjo Mena, Marcelo de Jesús, among others.
She was a former Professor at the High School of Music and National University in Buenos Aires and collaborated with Ricordi in Milan. Between 2003 and 2010 she was a professor at the BB.AA Faculty, as well as the Master faculty of Scenic Arts in the University of the Basque Country. She is currently a professor at Musikene – High School of Music of the Basque Country.
María Eugenia Luc has been invited to lecture in seminars and conferences by international institutions: Hochschule für Musik and Universität der Künste in Berlin, LIEM-Madrid, University of Salamanca, University of the Basque Country, Comune di Milano, High School of Music of Buenos Aires and National University of Rosario (Argentina).
In 1997 she founded Kuraia (Group of Contemporary Music) and in 2001 Klem (Laboratory of Electro-acoustic and Multimedia). She is the current Artistic Director of the Kuraia Ensemble.
Kuraia Ensemble - www.ensemblekuraia.es
Kuraia Ensemble was founded in Bilbao in 1997 by the composer María Eugenia Luc, its current artistic director. The group's main goal consists in making contemporary composers' works available to a broader public, while providing the composers with a high quality ensemble they can collaborate with.
Kuraia has performed throughout Spain and abroad (Berlin, Milan, Paris, Mexico City…), winning acclaim from both the general public and the specialized critics (“an excellent interpretation"-Ritmo-, “an excellent ensemble" -Docenotas-, "solid and very capable" -El diario vasco, Spain-, "of the highest quality" -El Comercio, Peru). The group has a variable number of musicians, adapted in every case to the demands of the project. All its members stand out as brilliant technicians with genuine musical qualities, supported by a solid professional and soloistic career.
Kuraia Ensemble is the resident ensemble at the Kuraia Festival in Bilbao and Conservatorio "J.C:Arriaga". It takes part regularly in other important festivals and new music concert series: Alicante Music Festival, BBVA Foundation, CDMC (Madrid), Rondó season (Milan and Monza, Italy), National Arts Center (Mexico City), Lima International Festival (Peru), Malaga contemporary music season and Bernaola Festival (Vitoria), among others. Some of these concerts have been recorded and broadcasted on the Spanish National Radio (RNE-Radio Clásica).
Quality, variety and innovation are the features that identify the Kuraia Ensemble. These include the production of documentaries, CD and DVD recordings (Sintonía Label) and portrait-concerts of important Spanish composers such as Luis De Pablo, Joan Guinjoan, Félix Ibarrondo, José Manuel López López, but also the premieres of new chamber operas and music theatre productions, among which we could mention some XXth century masterpieces such as "L'histoire du soldat" (Stravinsky) or the Czech composer Viktor Ullman's opera “Der Kaiser von Atlantis”. Kuraia Ensemble commissions new works and often develops new music awareness programs in collaboration with the Universität der Künste and Musik Hochschule in Berlin, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Basque Country University (UPV-EHU) and the Bilbao Conservatory "J.C.Arriaga".
Ensemble Kuraia is sponsored by the Culture Ministry-INAEM of the Spanish government, the Basque government, the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia and the Etxepare Basque Institut.
Patrick Hemmerlé - www.patrickhemmerle.com
Patrick Hemmerlé is a French pianist, born in 1981. He studied the piano in France, firstly privately with Nadine Wright and then at the Conservatoire in Paris with Bill Eidi. He received advice from Ventislav Yankoff, Joaquín Soriano and Eric Heidsiek. He is a prize winner at several international competitions: the Scriabin Competition in Grosseto, Italy (second prize), Toledo (first and Spanish music prize), Valencia (4th prize, Spanish music Chopin and Beethoven concerto prizes), CFRPM competition in Paris, etc. His career has led him to play in many European countries, North America and China. He has worked on several occasions with the Alliance Française.
The main focus of his activities is German music. This has led him to present programmes with the last three Beethoven Sonatas in parallel with the last three Schubert Sonatas, or Bach's Goldberg Variations with Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. He is also interested in French music written at the turn of the 20th century. In 2012, he presented a series of five concert, in which he analysed and played the works of nine French composers. Patrick is the musician in residence at Clare Hall, part of Cambridge University, where in addition to giving concerts, he lectures on various musical subjects.
Pierre Delignies - www.pierredelignies.com
Pierre Delignies is without a doubt a rising musical talent, that little by little is consolidating as a reference in his incipient new generation in Spain. From a sincere, temperamental and implicated with esence style, this pianist is building what public and many artist already demand: music that goes to its roots, without banal ornaments, and an honest and close artist with his audience.
"Depth as opposed to sensationalism. This is the statement of the Cantabrian young pianist, understood by him as a service for the society (...). Claims the main prominence of the composer, the true genius and artist, against excessive egos." <E.M.C, El mundo Cantabria>.
Educated according to the russian tradition, Delignies has been pupil of Galina Egiazarova in the Queen Sofía music School, in Madrid, and also of Marta Zabaleta and Miguel Borges.
He has also recieved advice from great pianists such as Claudio Martinez Mehner, Eldar Nebolsin, Luca Chiantore, Josep Colom, Pavel Gililov, Robert Levin or Ricardo Descalzo, among others.
Delignies' performances have been bringing him big success in spanish cities including Santander, Oviedo, Lugo, Bilbao, Pamplona, Vitoria, San Sebastián, Alicante, León, Segovia, El Escorial and Madrid, taking part of festivals such as: International Festival of Santander, "MúsikaMúsica" Festival in Bilbao or "Quincena Musical" Festival in San Sebastián. Also in countries such as France, Italy, Portugal and The Netherlands. Some of his performances have been aired in Spanish National Radio and the portal classicalplanet.com.
He has colaborated with orquestras such as: Youth Orchestra of Cantabria, Youth Orchestra of Spain or the Symphonic Orchestra of Euskadi, performing with conductors such as Paul Murphy, Jaime Martín or Jun Märkl.
Delignies has been given scholarships by important foundations: Botín Foundation, Albéniz Foundation, Promete Foundation and Musical Youth of Madrid.
Symphony Orchestra of the Basque Country - www.euskadikoorkestra.es
Principle conductor: Jun Märkl
The Symphony Orchestra of the Basque Country is firmly determined to contribute to the diffusion of the Basque musical culture, to be a stimulating platform for its performers and always to support contemporary compositions. This is the case of “Jing”, work created by María Eugenia Luc and recorded by this orchestra, that is contained in the present CD with other Luc’s creations of the cycle “of air and light”.
The Symphony Orchestra of the Basque Country has a established and well-structured activity. It performs regularly in its four venues in Bilbao (Euskalduna Palace), Vitoria (Main Theatre), San Sebastian (Kursaal Auditorium) and Pamplona (Baluarte Auditorium); it celebrates two other cycles dedicated to chamber music, children and families, and develops a recording philosophy centred in the symphonic production of Basque composers. The Symphony Orchestra of the Basque Country completes its activity performing as an invited formation in festivals, opera and special concerts; performing in each region of the Basque geography, and developing with workshops and concerts a commitment to help handicapped people. It has had 16 international tours, in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Great Britain and Italy. All this activity is planned, developed and projected from its headquarters in Miramon, a venue built 25 years ago. Today the orchestra is renowned with an average of 150.000 listeners per season in the Basque Country and in Spain, and 7000 people are current subscribers.
The Orchestra of the Basque Country was created in 1982 by the Culture Department of the Basque Country. Jun Märl is the Principle Conductor and Andrey Boreyko is the Main invited Conductor.
Sigma Project - www.sigmaproject.es
Summam indicabimus signo Σ, with this statement, the mathematician Léonard Euler inaugurated in 1755 the use of the capital letter sigma as the addition symbol. From henceforth Sigma would represent the addition of finite and infinite elements.
The ensemble Sigma Project was constituted in 2007 by four recognized saxophone soloists, firmly engaged with musical composition: Andrés Gomis, Josetxo Silguero, Ángel Soria and Miguel Romero. They aimed to change the perception of chamber music in Spain with a continuous reflection and study of sound, through a constant search to use new technologies and enjoy doing it.
After their debut of Rigorous White by Stockhausen at the Kursaal Auditorium (the colour that distinguishes them), Luis de Pablo wrote: “If I had to sum up in two words the personality of the SIGMA Project Quartet, I would not have doubts: originality and perfection. Originality in the young and inventive way to approach the ceremony of concert and the performed pieces; perfection, since this ludic and daring spirit doesn’t exclude rigour and profundity, and increases it with brightness, strength and passion. It is a joy to share music with them: they communicate it, making it alive.” (Luis de Pablo, Quicena Musical in San Sebastian, 2008).
Orpheus’ artists (performers and composers), are chosen for their artistic excellence and outstanding personality. For this reason, Orpheus offers the possibility to accompany our artists and to trace the promotional strategies, that can go beyond their one specific project, and on into their future professional career.
The wide variety of promotional and management services offered by Orpheus embraces:
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