Rocking Classics

Teatime Classics

The composers on the programme are not any of the well-known classical ones – and unjustly so, as cello star Sterling Elliott would like to demonstrate. He has chosen three African-American composers and a female composer, also from the USA. Together with Gabriele Strata, an exceptional piano talent from Italy, he presents expressive music which sometimes sounds very romantic, sometimes with a hint of jazz and sometimes highly relevant. What a start to the Teatime Classics series! American cellist Sterling Elliott was born into a musical family and initially wanted to play the violin like his older siblings. After some encouragement, he then, however, completed the Elliott Family String Quartet as a cellist, which shaped his childhood. Although he is still in the final stages of his studies at the prestigious New York Juilliard School, Sterling has already given concerts with large American symphony orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2023, the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust designated him as the YCAT-Music Masters Robey Artist, a two-year programme, within which YCAT undertakes the booking and management in the UK and conducts Sterling Workshops for school children. Italian pianist Gabriele Strata is also here to establish himself on the big international stages after his studies at the famous Yale University. Apart from awards such as the first prize at the prestigious Italian competition XXXV Premio Venezia, performances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berliner Philharmonie, London’s Barbican Centre and at the Cadogan Hall and with the La Fenice Orchestra at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice already demonstrate this. He has also already celebrated successes with solo recitals and chamber music.

Teatime Classics

Whilst still at school, Johanna Schubert, Merle Geißler and Philipp Kirchner established the Amelio Trio – and have, now in their mid-twenties, already played together for over a decade. It shows: in 2023, they won second place in the ARD International Music Competition, one of the most important career springboards on the classical music scene, and won several prizes at the German Music Competition in March 2024. While Joseph Haydn’s trio, which was composed for a London piano virtuoso, comes across more cheerfully and dance-like, Franz Schubert’s trio displays dramatic, symphonic dimensions in an intimate setting. Since it was formed in 2012, the Amelio Trio delights audiences with its expressive and dynamic playing. Violinist Johanna Schubert, cellist Merle Geißler and pianist Philipp Kirchner got together in Frankfurt am Main and have since given numerous concerts including at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Klangbrücken Festival in Hanover and at the Piano Trio Fest in Bern. The young ensemble has been honoured at several international competitions, for instance with the second prize at the ARD International Music Competition and first prize at the International Schumann Chamber Music Prize Frankfurt in 2022. After many years of working with Angelika Merkle, the trio has been under the artistic guidance of Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet) as well as Stefan Heinemeyer (ATOS Trio) and Markus Becker at the HMTM in Hanover since 2019. They also received significant inspiration from Eberhard Feltz, Steven Isserlis and the Fauré Quartet.

Teatime Classics

Guido Sant’Anna »has charisma, stage presence and an astonishing maturity and depth in his playing,« wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung after the young Brazilian violinist had opened the Rheingau Music Festival in 2023 together with the hr-Sinfonieorchester. Be it large concert stages or prestigious competitions – at not even 20 years old, Guido Sant’Anna wins over audiences, the press and judges equally. With Martina Consonni, sponsored by star pianist Sir András Schiff, who celebrated her debut at the Elbphilharmonie in 2024, he presents a programme from Schubert to Ravel, which entertains both with breakneck virtuosity and expansive melody arcs – and even blues. Both Guido Sant’Anna and Martina Consonni study at the prestigious Kronberg Academy. Guido Sant’Anna was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2005. He achieved international recognition when he was the first South American violinist to win the prestigious International Fritz Kreisler Competition in 2022. A historic success had already preceded this triumph in Vienna in 2018 when he was the first Brazilian violinist to be invited to the International Yehudi Menuhin Competition in Geneva and won both the audience prize and the chamber music prize. In October 2022, he filled in for Christian Tetzlaff at the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in São Paulo for which he received rave reviews. Praised for her innate musicality and overwhelming sensitivity, combined with exceptional instrumental technique and brilliant sound, Martina Consonni has established herself as one of the most promising young pianists of her generation. Born in Como in 1997, she achieved two Masters degrees at the Pavia Conservatory and at the HMTM in Hanover. She also received a Masters degree in chamber music at the National Academy »Santa Cecilia« in Rome and an Artist Diploma at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin under Sir András Schiff. She has been selected to participate in several master classes where she encountered musicians of international standing, such as Daniel Barenboim, Kirill Gerstein, Steven Isserlis and Christoph Eschenbach.

Teatime Classics

Usually, the harp is in the middle of the orchestra and caters for dreamy tonal colours – Tjasha Gafner takes it from there into the limelight and shines as a soloist. The Swiss not only won First Prize in her category at the ARD Music Competition, but also the even more sought-after audience prize. She honours two great harp virtuosos in Henriette Renié and Marcel Tournier, who composed themselves. With two of her own arrangements of Bach and Haydn, she also shows her passion to expand the repertoire for her instrument. Harpist Tjasha Gafner, born in Switzerland in 1999, completed her studies at the Juilliard School in New York under Nancy Allen, after she had completed her Masters as a soloist under Letizia Belmondo at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. Since 2022, she has been studying education at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne under Sandrine Chatron. She is the prize winner of several Swiss and international competitions. Since the age of 10, she has performed in Germany, France, Hong Kong and many other countries and has been on the stage as a soloist with the chamber orchestra of the Bayerische Philharmonie, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the London Mozart Players.

Teatime Classics

The NOVO Quartet from Denmark currently commutes between Vienna and Copenhagen to get the final touch to its training in its studies with string quartet greats. The musicians have already scooped up many prizes. As the final concert of this season’s Teatime Classics, they combine a classic with a rare piece: one of the famous »Rasumovsky« quartets by Beethoven encounters a quartet by Grazyna Bacewicz, whose fascinating music borrows from Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Bartók – highly recommended listening! The NOVO Quartet, formed in Copenhagen in 2018, is one of the most promising young ensembles in Denmark. The quartet, which currently resides in Vienna and Copenhagen, consist of violinists Kaya Kato Møller and Nikolai Vasili Nedergaard, violist Daniel Sledzinski and cellist Signe Ebstrup Bitsch. The quartet was recently awarded the First Prize and four special prizes at the 77th Geneva International Music Competition, amongst others. The NOVO Quartet is currently studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna as part of the ECMAster programme under Professor Johannes Meissl. The quartet receives further musical inspirations from Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartett), Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartett), Heime Müller (Artemis Quartet), Asbjørn Nørgård (Danish String Quartet) and Fredrik Sjölin (Danish String Quartet). The NOVO Quartet gives concerts throughout Denmark and has also performed in countries such as China, the USA, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Greenland.

Teatime Classics

Young pianist Magdalene Ho wins one competition after another, most recently for instance the renowned and prestigious Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Switzerland. For her Teatime Classics performance, she has chosen the six bagetelles by Beethoven and the fantasy sonata by Franz Schubert. Two works with which Magdalene Ho can demonstrate her technically brilliant playing as well as her talent for heartfelt renditions. Magdalene Ho was born in 2003 and started to have lessons in her homeland at the age of four. At aged nine, she moved to the UK to study at the Purcell School under Patsy Toh. As part of a prize she won at the PIANALE Piano Festival in Fulda, she released an album with works by Bach and Messiaen in 2019. In the same year, she was nominated for the BBC Inspire Competition. In 2022, she was a finalist at the International Schumann Competition Düsseldorf and won the Clara Haskil Piano Competition in 2023.

Modern Classics

Modern Classics

Modern Classics

Modern Classics