Chamber

Amsterdam Sinfonietta

01.12.23 - 17.12.23

about the tour.

Lucas and Arthur Jussen, together with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, are bringing a new work by Fazıl Say, written for them and beautifully named "Phoenix", to European stages.


Arvo Pärt: "These Words..." für Streichorchester und Schlagzeug

Fazıl Say: Konzert für Klavier zu vier Händen und Orchester "Anka Ku?u" op.97 (2020)

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Franz Schubert: "Lebensstürme"’ - Allegro a-Moll für Klavier zu vier Händen D 947 op. 144

Gustav Mahler: Adagio aus der Symphonie Nr. 10

 

Dates.

03.12.2023

Philharmonie Essen

Essen

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06.12.2023

Festhalle Viersen

Viersen

08.12.2023

Veranstaltungs- und Kongress-GmbH Rosenheim / KuKo

Rosenheim

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09.12.2023

Alte Oper Frankfurt

Frankfurt

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11.12.2023

Kölner Philharmonie

Köln

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12.12.2023

Konzerthaus Berlin

Berlin

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13.12.2023

Elbphilharmonie

Hamburg

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Your contact persons:

Manuela Krug

Associate Director

+49 511 36607-75

manuela.krug@kdschmid.de

An Orchestra full of experience.

Biography – about the orchestra.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta comprises 22 gifted chamber musicians, embodying ensemble-playing at the highest level. Led by its artistic director Candida Thompson, the orchestra tours the world with adventurous programmes and crossovers with other music genres and art forms. Characterised by drive and dedication, Amsterdam Sinfonietta is considered to be the top string orchestra in the Netherlands and enjoys international acclaim. It champions and renews its own genre, captivating audiences with its innovative and refreshing approach. From the start the orchestra has embraced the entire repertoire for string orchestra, ranging from classics to newly commissioned works and striking arrangements.  

Founded in 1988 with Lev Markiz as its first artistic director, Amsterdam Sinfonietta has gone on to enjoy international success under the direction of Candida Thompson since 2003, making successful tours of Europe, Australia, China and North and South America. It has performed in major concert halls throughout the world, including London’s Barbican Hall, Cité de la Musique in Paris, the National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and Berlin’s Konzerthaus. 


Amsterdam Sinfonietta undertakes intensive collaborations with national and international soloists. Top musicians such as Janine Jansen, Sol Gabetta, Thomas Hampson, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Rufus Wainwright and Wende all share our desire to explore and expand the creative process and take an innovative approach.

Besides live performances, we regularly record CDs and music films in the studio. With our regular recording label Channel Classics we have issued 14 CDs since 2004, including The Mahler Album, The Argentinian Album and, most recently, Lento Religioso, a compilation of short arrangements for string orchestra. The orchestra has also made recordings for ECM, Sony Classical and Deutsche Grammophon. Our first classical music film Strings was premièred in March 2020, followed by the films Misirlou (traditional), Atashgah (Jacobsen) and Tango (Piazzolla).

Amsterdam Sinfonietta stands out for its adventurous programming. Besides championing the core string repertoire, the orchestra devises original and captivating combinations of music works, connecting old and new music and familiar and unknown repertoire. It also commissions new compositions and arrangements. Amsterdam Sinfonietta initiates surprising collaborations and creates groundbreaking programmes involving other art forms, such as film, dance and theatre.

SEASON 2023/2024

Solisten

Candida Thompson, Violin

Candida Thompson © Marco Borggreve

Candida Thompson is known for her extraordinary musical communication and honest musicianship. Her curiosity and research led her to pioneering programmes and collaborations crossing boundaries of culture, time and genre.

Candida studied violin with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music in London and completed them at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada. An invitation for a series of masterclasses and concerts with Isaac Stern played an important role in her musical development. Candida has been invited in a play/direct role with groups such as the Chamber orchestra of Europe, City of London Sinfonia, Guildhall string ensemble, Camerata Nordica, Moscow chamber orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Salzburg Camerata. In 2005 she became artistic director of Amsterdam Sinfonietta; a top notch string ensemble with an international focus and reputation. Play/directing the ensemble she has established a well attended adventurous concert series in the Netherlands which frequently tours Europe, South America, China and Australia and has recorded CDs for Deutsche Gramophon, Sony, Decca, ECM and has a long relationship with Channel Classics.


Chamber music is always at the core of her musical activities. Performing with kindred musical spirits like Bruno Giuranna, Fazil Say, Xenia Yankovich, Victor Julien-Laferrière, Iris Juda and Janine Jansen, she shaped her musical taste and standard. Candida is invited to festivals such as the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, Ernen Festival in Switzerland, La musica Sarasota in the US, ‘Harriet & Friends’ in Austria and also performed at the Utrecht Kamermuziek Festival.

Most recently Candida, Harriet Krijgh and pianist Magda Amara also performed at the the Schubertiade in Hohenems. In 2022 Candida and Harriet founded a festival Heuvelrug Chamber Music in Holland where they are joint ‘Artistic leaders’.

As a strong advocate for the heritage of classical music but also with a keen interest in today’s cultural developments Candida seeks artistic dialogue. This leads to compelling projects involving living composers such as Jorg Widmann, Thomas Larcher, Michel van der Aa, but also involving philosophers, photographers, urban dancers, actors and light designers. Because Candida values the development of younger musicians highly, she is a regular guest at institutions like Villa Musica Chamber Music in Germany or the Guildhall School in London to coach and play with young talents.

Candida plays on a Guarneri, del Gesù (1698-1744) kindly on loan from a private collector.

SEASON 2023/2024 - THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF THE AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA

Lucas & Arthur Jussen, Piano

© Marco Borggreve

Lucas and Arthur Jussen are among the most sought-after piano duos of our time. In view of their illustrious international career, one could remark that the Jussen brothers (30 and 26) are the Netherland’s pre-eminent ambassadors for classical music. With their energetic, almost symbiotic playing, their great refinement of sound and gripping interpretations, they are praised vigorously by press and audiences alike. ‘It is like driving a pair of BMWs’, exclaimed conductor Michael Schønwandt about the two pianists after directing them in concert.

The Jussen brothers have performed with eminent orchestras internationally, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Budapest Festival Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, as well as the Montréal, Sydney, Singapore and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras. They collaborate with the likes of renowned conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Sir Neville Marriner, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Jaap van Zweden.

In August 2023, Lucas and Arthur Jussen performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Kazuki Yamada at the Tanglewood Festival. This will be followed by festival appearances at the Rheingau Musik Festival, Gstaad and Amsterdam. With the Sinfonieorchester Basel they open the 2023/24 concert season in the city of Basel. Further highlights of the new season include debuts with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Wiener Symphoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra London and Taiwan Philharmonic. Other guest engagements take them back to the Münchner Philharmoniker, WDR Sinfonieorchester, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. They perform the concerto "Anka kuşu" (Phoenix), written for them by Fazıl Say, with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and on tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Touring projects take them around Europe along with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. This season they are "Artists in Residence" with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. In recital they can be heard in Hamburg, Berlin, Bratislava, Prague, Antwerp, Brussels, Chicago, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Taiwan.


Recording exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon since 2010, their debut recording with works by Beethoven received platinum status and was awarded the Edison Klassiek audience award. A Schubert recording and Jeux, a recording dedicated to French piano music, were subsequently released. Their recording of Mozart’s piano concertos KV 365 and KV 242 together with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner reached gold status. The Jussen brothers also recorded Poulenc’s double piano concerto and Saint-Saëns’ ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ with the Concertgebouworkest and Stéphane Denève, as well as concertos and chorales by Bach with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. On "The Russian Album" (March 2021) they interpret works for two pianos by Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Arensky. The latest addition to their discography is "Dutch Masters" (April 2022) which is devoted to works by Dutch composers, in collaboration with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Karina Canellakis. The recording was awarded an Edison Klassiek in the category "Chamber Music", as well as the audience award in September 2022.

Lucas and Arthur received their first piano lessons in their native town of Hilversum. As children, they were invited to perform for the Dutch Queen Beatrix. Then distinctions and awards in competitions followed. In 2005, the brothers met the Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires. During the following years they took lessons from both Pires and renowned Dutch teachers. Lucas completed his studies with Menahem Pressler in the US and with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid. Arthur graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he studied with Jan Wijn.

SEASON 2023/2024

Listen, See & feel the music.

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Publicity material:

Silke Musfeldt

+49 511 36607-42

silke.musfeldt@kdschmid.de