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 2022/2023 - THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF THE AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA

© Marco Borggreve

‘It is like driving a pair of BMWs’, remarked conductor Michael Schønwandt, after directing the Dutch brothers Lucas (30) and Arthur Jussen (26). Despite their young age, they have been part of the international concert world for years and are praised vigorously by both press and audience.

The Jussen brothers have performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestras, Concertgebouworkest, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, as well as Montréal, Sydney, Singapore and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras. They collaborate with renowned conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Jaap van Zweden.

In July 2022, the Jussen brothers made their debut at the Tanglewood Festival (USA). Together with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andris Nelsons, they gave the US premiere of "Anka kuşu" (Phoenix) for piano four-hands and orchestra, written for them by Fazıl Say. In the beginning of the new season, they will tour Europe together with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer. Guest engagements in 2022/2023 will take them to Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. They are also "Artists in Residence" with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. In recitals, the duo can be seen in Berlin, London, Paris, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Essen and Dortmund.

Lucas and Arthur received their first piano lessons in their native town of Hilversum. It became clear quickly that they were great talents. As children, they were already invited to perform for the Dutch Queen Beatrix. First awards at competitions followed shortly. In 2005, the brothers studied in Portugal and Brazil for nearly a year at the invitation of Portuguese master pianist Maria João Pires. During the following years they took lessons from both Pires and two 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.

Recording exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon since 2010, their debut CD with works by Beethoven received platinum status and was awarded the Edison Klassiek audience award. A Schubert recording and Jeux, a CD 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, including a 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.

SEASON 2022/2023