© Marco Borggreve

Lucas and Arthur Jussen are among the most sought-after piano duos of our time. Given their illustrious international careers, it is fair to say the Jussen brothers (born 1993 and 1996) 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 orchestras internationally, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Budapest Festival Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. They collaborate with the renowned conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Sir Neville Marriner, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nezét-Séguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste und Jaap van Zweden.

In the 2024/25 season, the Jussen brothers will be Artists in Residence at the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, performing multiple programmes there. Other highlights of the season include concerts in Leipzig and then a European tour with the Gewandhausorchester. In addition to their debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic, reinvitations will take the Jussens back to perform with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresdner Philharmonie, Bergen Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony, and Warsaw Philharmonic. They will also be performing with the Wiener Kammerorchester at the Konzerthaus Wien. Together with the Brasilian youth Orchestra of Neojibá, they perform the captivating work ‘Nazareno’ by Argentinian Osvaldo Golijov in tour concerts in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and in June 2025, they return to Asia for multiple concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. In recital, they can be heard in Paris, Amsterdam, the Hague, London, Rome, Naples, Zürich, Mannheim, Stuttgart, and Potsdam, among others.

Recording exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon since 2010, their debut recording of works by Beethoven received platinum status and was awarded the Edison Klassiek audience award. Following a Schubert album and ‘Jeux’, a recording of French piano music, in 2015 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 was released and the album 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, and in 2019 they released a recording of concertos and chorales by Bach with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. On ‘The Russian Album’ (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, among others. The recording was awarded an Edison Klassiek, as well as the audience award.

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; and 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 2024/2025

Christiane Karg © Gisela Schenker

Born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, soprano Christiane Karg completed her studies at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under Heiner Hopfner and in the lied class of Wolfgang Holzmair, where she was additionally awarded the Lilli Lehmann Medal for her master's degree in opera performance. While still completing her studies, she made her highly acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival.

Christiane Karg can be heard in the most celebrated roles of her fach, having performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Opéra national de Paris as Pamina, at the Lyric Opera Chicago and at the Met in New York as Susanna, at La Scala in Milan as Sophie and Euridice, at the Vienna State Opera as Mélisande, at the Hamburg State Opera as Pamina, Mélisande, Daphne and Contessa, at the Berlin State Opera as Micaëla, and at the Bavarian State Opera as Pamina, Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Fiordiligi. As Artist in Residence at the Graz Musikverein, Christiane Karg was heard for the first time as Rosalinde in a concert performance of Johann Strauss' „Die Fledermaus“, and as „Rusalka“ in Antonín Dvořák's eponymous fairy-tale opera she made her recent role debut at the Berlin State Opera.

The soprano is an equally sought-after performer on the international concert stage. Her musical partnerships to date have included names such as Ivor Bolton, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Iván Fischer, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Thomas Hengelbrock, Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Christian Măcelaru, Antonello Manacorda, Andrew Manze, Klaus Mäkelä, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kirill Petrenko and Christian Thielemann. These have paved the way for collaborations with major orchestras such as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberg and Vienna Symphony Orchestras and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Engagements in the current season include selected orchestral songs by Richard Strauss with the Japanese NHK Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi, Mahler's Rückert Lieder with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Mahler's Fourth Symphony on tour with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, Schumann's „Szenen aus Goethes Faust“ with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Daniel Harding and - as part of the Johann Strauss Festival Year 2025 - a pasticcio with music, arias and duets from operettas by Johann Strauss II with the Vienna Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann. Christiane Karg will also take on the soprano part in Fauré's Requiem with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Lahav Shani and perform as a soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer.

Christiane Karg continues to cultivate her passion for song and chamber music projects, with regular guest appearances at the Schubertiade in Hohenems and Schwarzenberg, as well as at London's Wigmore Hall, where she was artist in residence for the 2019/2020 season. She has also given numerous recitals at the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival. In addition to a recital dedicated to works by Clara Schumann and others at the Vienna Musikverein, Christiane Karg will also appearing in lied recitals at Tokyo's Oji Hall, at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, at the International Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart and the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg during the current season.

Off stage, Christiane Karg is the leader and creator of her own concert series in her hometown of Feuchtwangen as artistic director of the KunstKlang festival, while spearheading the project "Be part of it! - Music for All", championing music education for children and young people. For her services, she received the Brahms Prize of the Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein, the Bavarian Culture Prize in the category of art, and the Bavarian Order of Merit.

In spring 2017, Christiane Karg released her critically acclaimed solo CD „Parfum“ with settings of texts by Charles Baudelaire, Leconte de Lisle, Paul Verlaine, Tristan Klingsor and Victor Hugo on the Berlin Classics label. She also received the coveted Echo Klassik for her recording of Mozart's „Le nozze di Figaro“ under Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the category Opera Recording of the Year. Her additional discs „Scene!“ with the Arcangelo Baroque Ensemble under Jonathan Cohen as well as her first lied dis „Verwandlung - Lieder eines Jahres“ were honoured with the renowned music prize in the category Solo Recording. Her recordings „Amoretti“ with arias by Mozart, Christoph Willibald Gluck and André Grétry, and „Heimliche Aufforderung“ with songs by Richard Strauss are also available on the Berlin Classics label. The Harmonia Mundi label, where Christiane Karg is now an exclusive artist, released Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado, followed by her solo album „Erinnerung“ (Memory) with lieder by Gustav Mahler. Her latest recording „Das Licht der Welt - A Christmas Promenade“, on which she is accompanied by Gerold Huber at the piano and the Bavarian Radio Choir under Howard Arman illuminates enchanting rarities of the Christmas repertoire. Excerpts from the disc she has taken to the stage of the Vienna Musikverein. As a soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony with the Czech Philharmonic under Semjon Bychkov and in Haydn's „Creation“ with the Dresden Philharmonic under Marek Janowski, she can also be heard in two recordings recently released on the Pentatone label.

SEASON 2024/2025 -THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF MACHREICH ARTISTS MANAGEMENT.

Nikola Hillebrand ©Franziska Schrödinger

German soprano Nikola Hillebrand has gained recognition as a regular name at the world's leading opera houses and concert halls including the Bavarian State Opera, Glyndebourne, the Salzburg Festival, Vienna Musikverein, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Vienna Konzerthaus, the Cologne and Paris Philharmonie, Hamburg Laeizshalle, Bremen Music Festival and with conductors such as Adam Fischer, Fabien Gabel, Stephan Gottfried, Manfred Honeck, René Jacobs, Vaclav Luks, Raphaël Pichon, Andris Nelsons, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Jérémie Rohrer, Alexander Soddy, Robin Ticciati and Franz Welser-Möst.

Upon completing her studies in Munich, Nikola Hillebrand was engaged by the Mannheim National Theatre, and from 2020 to 2024 was a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden, where she appeared in roles such as Pamina “Die Zauberflöte”, Susanna “Nozze di Figaro”, Musetta “La Bohème”, Zdenka “Arabella”, Sophie “Der Rosenkavalier”, Ännchen “Der Freischütz”, Gretel “Hänsel und Gretel” and Adele “Die Fledermaus”.

Additional highlights to date have included Zdenka in Richard Strauss' “Arabella” at the Bonn Theatre and Zurich Opera House, as well as Pamina “Die Zauberflöte” and Adele “Die Fledermaus” at the Hamburg State Opera. In January 2024, she made her acclaimed debut as Kunigunde in Bernstein's Candide at the Theater an der Wien. In summer 2024, she will make her debut as Agathe in a new production of Weber's “Der Freischütz” at the Bregenz Festival and in the 2024/2025 season, Nikola Hillebrand will sing Pamina for the first time at the Opéra de Bastille in Paris and Susanna “Nozze di Figaro” at the Zurich Opera. This was followed by concert performances in the latter role with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Giovanni Antonini in Luxembourg, Paris, Hamburg and Basel. Nikola Hillebrand can be heard in concert performances of “Der Freischütz” as Ännchen with the Kammerakademie Potsdam and under the direction of Antonello Manacorda in Potsdam, Paris, Baden-Baden and Berlin.

On the concert stage in the coming season, Nikola Hillebrand will perform Mahler's “Symphony No. 4” under Roberto González-Monjas in A Coruña and with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons in Vienna and Budapest, followed by Mozart's “Mass in C minor” with Concentus Musicus under Stefan Gottfried at the Vienna Musikverein, Mahler's “Symphony No. 2” under Marin Alsop at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Schumann's “Faust Scenes” under David Afkham in Madrid.

Nikola Hillebrand is a passionate Lied singer in addition to her opera and concert activities. She is the winner of the international song competition "Das Lied 2019" in Heidelberg and recently celebrated her song recital debuts at the Heidelberger Frühling Festival, the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence, the Leeds Lieder Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, London's Wigmore Hall, the Essen Philharmonie, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and the Musikverein Graz.

SEASON 2024/2025 -THIS BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE BY COURTESY OF MACHREICH ARTISTS MANAGEMENT.