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he Wolfgang Bauer Consort was founded in 1994. Its primary occupation is the performance of authentic Baroque chamber music pieces. The English Baroque term "Consort" accurately describes an ensemble comprising one or two soloists and a continuo of cello and harpsichord. The Consort's open structure provides the fundament for the comprehensive array and musical diversity of this performance in the monastery church, whose outstanding acoustics and atmosphere are able to document the complete range of Baroque virtuosity. An addition is the Sanssouci Trio, a work written by Bernhard Krol especially for the Wolfgang Bauer Consort. The piece underlines the flexibility and power of musical expression of this traditional ensemble in many genres, up to and including contemporary compositions.
Wolfgang Bauer, the winner of, among others, the Munich ARD competition, is one of the leading international trumpet soloists. He is a professor at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts and has had consecutive engagements as solo trumpeter with the Munich Philharmoniker, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio's Symphony Orchestra.
Together with the basso continuo (figured bass), Thomas Strauss on harpsichord and Clemens Weigel on cello, the three form the basis of the Consort who are joined by two or three high strings, depending on the piece. Sebastian Hamann, the first concert master of the Frankfurt Opera and professor in Lucern has performed as soloist with, among others, the Opéra de la Bastille and the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra. He can be heard here as first violin and as soloist on Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata no. 3. Ingrid Albert from the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra on the viola and the violinists Verena Sommer, Gerhard Urban with Thomas Jauch, the solo contrabassist for the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, round off, depending on the piece, the needs of the string section. Ingo Goritzki, professor at the Stuttgart Conservatory and soloist with many orchestras and chamber music ensembles such as Villa Musica and the Stuttgarter Bläserakademie, can be heard here as oboe soloist on the Bach Concert in A Major. The multiaward winning flautist, Heidrun Laukemann, performed regularly for four years with the German Symphony Orchestra. Today, she is a freelance teacher and performer.

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he Wolfgang Bauer Consort was founded in 1994. Its primary occupation is the performance of authentic Baroque chamber music pieces. The English Baroque term "Consort" accurately describes an ensemble comprising one or two soloists and a continuo of cello and harpsichord. The Consort's open structure provides the fundament for the comprehensive array and musical diversity of this performance in the monastery church, whose outstanding acoustics and atmosphere are able to document the complete range of Baroque virtuosity. An addition is the Sanssouci Trio, a work written by Bernhard Krol especially for the Wolfgang Bauer Consort. The piece underlines the flexibility and power of musical expression of this traditional ensemble in many genres, up to and including contemporary compositions.
Wolfgang Bauer, the winner of, among others, the Munich ARD competition, is one of the leading international trumpet soloists. He is a professor at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts and has had consecutive engagements as solo trumpeter with the Munich Philharmoniker, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio's Symphony Orchestra.
Together with the basso continuo (figured bass), Thomas Strauss on harpsichord and Clemens Weigel on cello, the three form the basis of the Consort who are joined by two or three high strings, depending on the piece. Sebastian Hamann, the first concert master of the Frankfurt Opera and professor in Lucern has performed as soloist with, among others, the Opéra de la Bastille and the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra. He can be heard here as first violin and as soloist on Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata no. 3. Ingrid Albert from the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra on the viola and the violinists Verena Sommer, Gerhard Urban with Thomas Jauch, the solo contrabassist for the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, round off, depending on the piece, the needs of the string section. Ingo Goritzki, professor at the Stuttgart Conservatory and soloist with many orchestras and chamber music ensembles such as Villa Musica and the Stuttgarter Bläserakademie, can be heard here as oboe soloist on the Bach Concert in A Major. The multiaward winning flautist, Heidrun Laukemann, performed regularly for four years with the German Symphony Orchestra. Today, she is a freelance teacher and performer.

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he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. About Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician". Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Frankfurt, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in August 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana", the "Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim" and the "Silesian Chamber Orchestra" Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in September 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland and Slovakia with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, children's concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano concertos, Schumann's piano concerto, mendelssohn's doubleconcerto, Chopin's e-minor concerto as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34 and Schubert's "trout" quintet. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007 together with his wife Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

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he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders of the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several music-universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartet first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the "Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival", "MDR Musiksommer" and the "Rheingau Musik Festival". Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba and Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

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he German pianist Magdalena Müllerperth excited audiences in many concerts in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Austria, The Czech Republic, France and Switzerland and was also invited to perform in Russia, Ukraine and the USA. In 2008 she performed there as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis. With an impressive recital program she gave her debut recital in 2009 at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn and the Liederhalle Stuttgart, Germany. In 2011 she performed Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Magdalena Müllerperth, born in 1992 in Maulbronn, Germany, began piano lessons at the age of five. When she was seven, she became a student, and in 2003 junior student at the University of Music Karlsruhe, of the renowned Prof. Sontraud Speidel. From 2007 until 2010 she studied with Prof. Alexander Braginsky at Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. At the moment she is a student of the pianist Jerome Rose at Mannes College - The New School of Music in New York City.
Since 1999, she earned many international prizes and awards, amongst others the First Prize at "Les Reoncontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes" in Belgium (2002), the First Prize and Premio della Critica (RAI) at the Concorso Europeo di Musica "Pietro Argento" in Italy (2004), a First Prize at the national competition "Jugend musiziert" (2005) and the First Prize at the Minnesota Orchestra, Young People's Symphony Concert Auditions in Minneapolis, USA (2008). Since 2007 Magdalena Müllerperth is "Youth Ambassadress of Music" of her hometown Maulbronn.
For her outstanding achievements Magdalena Müllerperth was awarded scholarships from the Mayer Foundation, the Karin Riese Foundation, "Lichtenberger Musikpreis", the "Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg", the Foundation "Deutsches Musikleben" and the "Richard Wagner Association".

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he German pianist Magdalena Müllerperth excited audiences in many concerts in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Austria, The Czech Republic, France and Switzerland and was also invited to perform in Russia, Ukraine and the USA. In 2008 she performed there as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis. With an impressive recital program she gave her debut recital in 2009 at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn and the Liederhalle Stuttgart, Germany. In 2011 she performed Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Magdalena Müllerperth, born in 1992 in Maulbronn, Germany, began piano lessons at the age of five. When she was seven, she became a student, and in 2003 junior student at the University of Music Karlsruhe, of the renowned Prof. Sontraud Speidel. From 2007 until 2010 she studied with Prof. Alexander Braginsky at Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. At the moment she is a student of the pianist Jerome Rose at Mannes College - The New School of Music in New York City.
Since 1999, she earned many international prizes and awards, amongst others the First Prize at "Les Reoncontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes" in Belgium (2002), the First Prize and Premio della Critica (RAI) at the Concorso Europeo di Musica "Pietro Argento" in Italy (2004), a First Prize at the national competition "Jugend musiziert" (2005) and the First Prize at the Minnesota Orchestra, Young People's Symphony Concert Auditions in Minneapolis, USA (2008). Since 2007 Magdalena Müllerperth is "Youth Ambassadress of Music" of her hometown Maulbronn.
For her outstanding achievements Magdalena Müllerperth was awarded scholarships from the Mayer Foundation, the Karin Riese Foundation, "Lichtenberger Musikpreis", the "Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg", the Foundation "Deutsches Musikleben" and the "Richard Wagner Association".

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he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. About Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician". Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Frankfurt, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in August 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana", the "Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim" and the "Silesian Chamber Orchestra" Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in September 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland and Slovakia with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, children's concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano concertos, Schumann's piano concerto, mendelssohn's doubleconcerto, Chopin's e-minor concerto as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34 and Schubert's "trout" quintet. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007 together with his wife Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

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he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders of the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several music-universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartet first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the "Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival", "MDR Musiksommer" and the "Rheingau Musik Festival". Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba and Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

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he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. About Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician". Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Frankfurt, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in August 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana", the "Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim" and the "Silesian Chamber Orchestra" Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in September 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland and Slovakia with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, children's concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano concertos, Schumann's piano concerto, mendelssohn's doubleconcerto, Chopin's e-minor concerto as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34 and Schubert's "trout" quintet. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007 together with his wife Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

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he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders of the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several music-universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartet first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the "Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival", "MDR Musiksommer" and the "Rheingau Musik Festival". Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba and Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

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he Maulbronn Chamber Choir (German: Maulbronner Kammerchor) was founded in 1983 and counts today as one of the renowned chamber choirs in Europe. Awards like first places at the Baden-Württemberg Choir Competitions in 1989 and 1997, second place at the German Choir Competition in 1990, first prize at the German Choir Competition in 1998, second place at the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf 2009 and first place at the Malta Choir Competition show the extraordinary musical calibre of this ensemble. The Chamber Choir has managed to make quite a name for itself on the international scene, too. It was received enthusiastically by audiences and reviewers alike during its debut tour through the USA in 1983, with concerts in New York, Indianapolis and elsewhere. Its concert tours in many European countries, in Israel and Argentina as well as in South Africa and Namibia have also met with a similar response. The choir has performed oratorios by George Frideric Handel each year annually since 1997. All these performances were documented on disc; because of that the Maulbronn Chamber Choir holds a leading position internationally as an interpreter of this genre.

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rof. Jürgen Budday (born 1948) is a German conductor and director of church music. His musical focus lies in historical and contemporary vocal music and in historically informed performances of oratorios, masses and other sacred works. He studied music education, church music and musicology at the Academy of Music in Stuttgart from 1967 to 1974. From 1979 to 2012, he taught at the Evangelical Seminar in Maulbronn, a Protestant boarding school at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn abbey with famous former students like Johannes Kepler, Friedrich Hölderlin and Hermann Hesse, and led, from 1979 till 2013, the concert series at Maulbronn monastery as artistic director. In 1992, Jürgen Budday was named Director of Studies, in 1995 came the appointment as Director of Church Music and in 1998 he was honored with the Bundesverdienstkreuz (German Cross of Merit) as well as the Bruno-Frey-Prize from the State Academy in Ochsenhausen for his work in music education. In 1983 Budday founded the Maulbronn Chamber Choir (Maulbronner Kammerchor), which he conducted until June 2016 and with whom he has won numerous national and international awards. At the Prague International Choir Festival, for example, he received an award as best director. Since 2002, Budday has also held the chair of the Choral Committee of the German Music Council and became director and jury chairman of the German Choir Competition (Deutscher Chorwettbewerb). In 2008, he received the silver Johannes-Brenz-Medal, the highest honoring of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, following by the awarding with the honorary title Professor in 2011. In May 2013 Prof. Jürgen Budday was awarded by the Association of German Concert Choirs with the George-Frideric-Handel-Ring, one of the highest honors for choir conductors in Germany. Thus Jürgen Budday followed Helmuth Rilling, who was honored with the ring from 2009 till 2013.
Jürgen Budday has started a cycle of Handel oratorios that is planned to span several years, which involves working with soloists like wie Emma Kirkby, Miriam Allan, Michael Chance, Nancy Argenta, Mark Le Brocq, Charles Humphries, Stephen Varcoe (to name but a few). The live recordings of these performances, produced and released by Josef-Stefan Kindler and Andreas Otto Grimminger via their label K&K Verlagsanstalt, received highest praises from reviewers and gave Jürgen Budday's musical work international recognition.
"No conductor and no choir have so consistently recorded so many Handel oratorios as Jürgen Budday and his Maulbronn Chamber Choir." (Dr. Karl Georg Berg, Handel Memoranda Halle 2008).

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ranz Vorraber is one of the internationally renowned interpreters of Schumann. He repeatedly performed the complete solo oeuvre in cycles of twelve concertos and was published it in a thirteen-part CD recording at Thorofon, receiving numerous international awards and honors. Being born in Graz, his studies have been shaped by the First Viennese School and the German School, and he graduated with a soloist diploma and unanimous decoration. Franz Vorraber was invited as soloist to internationally famous festivals as the Viennese Musiksommer, the piano festival Ruhr, the music festival Schleswig Holstein, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Mendelson fest in Leipzig, the Klosterfestspiele Maulbronn, the Musiksommer of Chorin, the European Weeks of Passau, the Frankfurter Feste, the festival Santander, the Schubertiade, the Rheingau music festival, the Hohenloher Kultursommer, the Bebersee festival et cetera. He worked with conductors like Dennis Russell Davies, Fabio Luisi, Alun Francis, Gabriel Feltz, Mar Tardue or Marcus Bosch. His repertoire of piano concerts includes 50 different concerts, many of them have been have been released on CD. His own works as a composer have been increasingly performed lately. There have been many premieres of pieces of chamber music at the Mendelson Fest at the Gewandhaus or at the Schumann Fest in Bonn in cooperation with the blowers of the Staatskapelle Berlin and musicians of the Gewandhaus Leipzig. A great success was the premiere of his first piano concerto at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn. Some works of piano were published by Thorofon and by K&K Verlagsanstalt, i. a. 'Sentences of Love' in cooperation with the poet and writer Peter Härtling.

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he German pianist Magdalena Müllerperth excited audiences in many concerts in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Austria, The Czech Republic, France and Switzerland and was also invited to perform in Russia, Ukraine and the USA. In 2008 she performed there as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis. With an impressive recital program she gave her debut recital in 2009 at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn and the Liederhalle Stuttgart, Germany. In 2011 she performed Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Magdalena Müllerperth, born in 1992 in Maulbronn, Germany, began piano lessons at the age of five. When she was seven, she became a student, and in 2003 junior student at the University of Music Karlsruhe, of the renowned Prof. Sontraud Speidel. From 2007 until 2010 she studied with Prof. Alexander Braginsky at Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. At the moment she is a student of the pianist Jerome Rose at Mannes College - The New School of Music in New York City.
Since 1999, she earned many international prizes and awards, amongst others the First Prize at "Les Reoncontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes" in Belgium (2002), the First Prize and Premio della Critica (RAI) at the Concorso Europeo di Musica "Pietro Argento" in Italy (2004), a First Prize at the national competition "Jugend musiziert" (2005) and the First Prize at the Minnesota Orchestra, Young People's Symphony Concert Auditions in Minneapolis, USA (2008). Since 2007 Magdalena Müllerperth is "Youth Ambassadress of Music" of her hometown Maulbronn.
For her outstanding achievements Magdalena Müllerperth was awarded scholarships from the Mayer Foundation, the Karin Riese Foundation, "Lichtenberger Musikpreis", the "Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg", the Foundation "Deutsches Musikleben" and the "Richard Wagner Association".

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everin von Eckardstein was born in 1978 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He took his first piano lessons when he was six years old. At the age of 12 he was accepted into Barbara Szczepanska's young talent class at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Dusseldorf. During his school years, von Eckardstein continued his piano studies in Hannover and in Salzburg with Karl-Heinz Kaemmerling. After his graduation from high school, he attended the Universität der Künste, Berlin, to take lessons with Klaus Hellwig. Following his degree in 2002, he continued his studies also at the International Piano Academy Lake Como, Italy.
Von Eckardstein won numerous competitions, both national and international ones. Among these are the Hamburg Steinway Competition (1st prize in 1990), the Incontro Internazionale Giovani Pianisti in Italy (1st prize in 1991), the Feruccio-Busoni Competition in Bozen (1998), and the ARD Competition in Munich (2nd prize in 1999). In 2000, von Eckardstein received the third prize and in addition the special prize for best interpretation of contemporary music at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Many of the music critics that were present at the time, unanimously chose Severin von Eckardstein as their winner.
In June 2003 Severin von Eckardstein won the first prize at the highly prestigious international Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. During the final round of the competition, he gave a phenomenal performance of works by Beethoven and Prokofiev. This combination certainly shows the amazing versatility of this young master pianist.
Meanwhile he has played on many great stages in the world. Among others he gave highly appreciated concerts in Berlin, Munich, London, New York, Miami, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Seoul. Prestigious festivals invited him, such as "Klavier Festival Ruhr", the "Aldeburgh Festival", "La Roque d'Anthéron" in France and the "Gilmore Festival", Michigan/USA.
Having participated several times in the series "Meesterpianisten" in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, von Eckardstein just opened the Jubilee Concert of this top-class piano series which has been existing for 25 years by now.

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everin von Eckardstein was born in 1978 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He took his first piano lessons when he was six years old. At the age of 12 he was accepted into Barbara Szczepanska's young talent class at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Dusseldorf. During his school years, von Eckardstein continued his piano studies in Hannover and in Salzburg with Karl-Heinz Kaemmerling. After his graduation from high school, he attended the Universität der Künste, Berlin, to take lessons with Klaus Hellwig. Following his degree in 2002, he continued his studies also at the International Piano Academy Lake Como, Italy.
Von Eckardstein won numerous competitions, both national and international ones. Among these are the Hamburg Steinway Competition (1st prize in 1990), the Incontro Internazionale Giovani Pianisti in Italy (1st prize in 1991), the Feruccio-Busoni Competition in Bozen (1998), and the ARD Competition in Munich (2nd prize in 1999). In 2000, von Eckardstein received the third prize and in addition the special prize for best interpretation of contemporary music at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Many of the music critics that were present at the time, unanimously chose Severin von Eckardstein as their winner.
In June 2003 Severin von Eckardstein won the first prize at the highly prestigious international Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. During the final round of the competition, he gave a phenomenal performance of works by Beethoven and Prokofiev. This combination certainly shows the amazing versatility of this young master pianist.
Meanwhile he has played on many great stages in the world. Among others he gave highly appreciated concerts in Berlin, Munich, London, New York, Miami, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Seoul. Prestigious festivals invited him, such as "Klavier Festival Ruhr", the "Aldeburgh Festival", "La Roque d'Anthéron" in France and the "Gilmore Festival", Michigan/USA.
Having participated several times in the series "Meesterpianisten" in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, von Eckardstein just opened the Jubilee Concert of this top-class piano series which has been existing for 25 years by now.

Miriam Allan - Soprano (Achsah, Angel)

Miriam Allan, master class graduate of Emma Kirkby and Julianne Baird, last year won the London Handel Competition. The young Australian studied at Newcastle University (Australia) and graduated from there with several distinctions. She has performed the most important works of Bach, Handel and Purcell with leading choirs and orchestras such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonic. She has also appeared as a guest with the Song Company and Sounds Baroque, including at their concertante performances. In addition to this - and rather unusual for such a young singer - she also gives recitals. These have so far focussed mainly on works from the 17th and 18th centuries, but now increasingly include Romantic and Modernist pieces. In the summer of 2003, she sang not only the title role in the Handel opera "Semele" for the Pinchgut Opera, she also appeared in the world premiere of "Dreaming Transportation" at the Sidney Festival and sang in the first Australian performance of Bach's St Mark Passion by the Sidney Philharmonic under Arno Volmer as well as performing in Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater". At the beginning of this year, Miriam Allan made her debut at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with the Bach Mass in B Minor.

David Allsopp - Alto (Othniel)

David Allsopp attended the King's School in Rochester and was at the same time a chorister and Choral Scholar at the city's cathedral. Later he studied computer science at Cambridge University and graduated from there with distinction in 2004. He continued his career as a singer in Cambridge as a Choral Scholar und Lay Clerk with the famous King's College Choir. An important highlight from those days was the performance of the Chichester Psalms with Leonard Bernstein in Manchester, which received tremendous reviews from the critics. At the moment, David Allsopp holds the position of Countertenor Lay Clerk at Westminster Cathedral, but also continues to appear as a soloist with the King's College Choir under Stephen Cleobury, including an appearance in 2007 in a performance of Handel's Solomon in King's College Chapel. As a soloist, he has participated in performances of the Bach Mass in B Minor and the St John Passion in England and in other European countries. The Messiah and some of Handel's bigger oratorios are also part of his repertoire. Later this year, David Allsopp will make his debut at St. John's, Smith Square, London, with a performance of Israel in Egypt.

Mark Le Brocq - Tenor (Joshuah)

Mark Le Brocq studied English at St Catherine's College, Cambridge, where he was also a Choral Scholar. He received a scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied under David Brown, and other scholarships from the Draper's Company and the Wolfson Trust. He has won many awards and distinctions at the Royal Academy of Music, including the Blyth Buesset Opera Prize, den Royal Academy of Music Club Prize and the Worshipful Company of Musician's Medal. He subsequently continued his education at the National Opera Studio. He was employed as a soloist with the English National Opera in London. Over the years, the tenor has worked with many important directors, including David Alden, David Poutney, Jonathan Miller, Niklaus Lehnhoff, Graham Vick and David Freeman. Mark Le Brocq has appeared as a concert singer in the USA, France, Germany, Spain and the Middle East as well as on all the big-name London stages. He regularly appears at concerts with the Gabrieli Consort under the direction of Paul McCreesh, with whom he has also performed Handel's Saul and Solomon. He has appeared with Monserat Caballé and Dennis O'Neill at Verdi Opera Galas in Bath, has sung the Mozart and Verdi Requiems at the Barbican Centre as well as the Mozart Requiem with The English Concert under Trevor Pinnock in Salzburg.. He sang Handel's Messiah with the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Gideon Kraemer and the Schubert Mass in E-Flat Major with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiri Belohlavek.

James Rutherford - Bass (Caleb)

James Rutherford studied at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio in London. In 2000, he was elected "New Generation Artist", a programme run by the BBC to support and provide awards for young artists. He has a very wide repertoire. He is equally comfortable with the Baroque operas of Handel (Rinaldo) and Bach oratorios as he is with Mozart (Le nozze di Figaro), Wagner (The Meistersinger), Verdi (Falstaff), Stravinsky und Benjamin Britten. His engagements have led him to the Paris Opera, the Welsh National Opera and, in London, to the Royal Opera House. He has sung with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera and appeared as a guest at the music festivals in Montpellier and Innsbruck. In Germany, he has sung "Rinaldo" with René Jacobs at the German State Opera in Berlin. Besides performing with famous English symphony orchestras, he has also appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic and the SWR Rundfunk Orchestra. In August 2006, James Rutherford won the first International Wagner Competition at the Seattle Opera.

Hanoverian Court Orchestra (Hannoversche Hofkapelle)

The Hanoverian Court Orchestra under concertmistress Anne Röhrig remains totally faithful to the tradition of historic court orchestras and performs both chamber music and symphonies. The sound of this ensemble is hallmarked by the fact that the musicians also have experience of playing with different music ensembles on the European Baroque scene and view historical performance practices as a means of keeping current. The repertoire of the Orchestra is not restricted to the many forms of Baroque music alone, but also includes classical works, with Mozart operas and the Romantic era being particularly favoured. Their constant involvement with 17th and 18th-century music has made the Court Orchestra musicians masters of their respective instruments. The result is the expressive and elegant style of playing that assures the orchestra its prominent position. The Hanoverian Court Orchestra has been the orchestra in residence at the Herrenhausen Festival Weeks since 2006.

Maulbronn Chamber Choir (Maulbronner Kammerchor)

The Maulbronn Chamber Choir was founded in 1983 and is directed by Juergen Budday. Today it counts as one of the top choirs in the Federal Republic of Germany. First place at the Baden-Württemberg Choir Competition in 1989 and 1997, second place at the 3rd German Choir Competition in Stuttgart in 1990 and First Prize at the 5th German Choir Competition in Regensburg in 1998 - these awards show the extraordinary musical calibre of this young ensemble. The Chamber Choir has managed to make quite a name for itself on the international scene, too. It was received enthusiastically by audiences and reviewers alike during its debut tour through the USA in 1983, with concerts in New York, Indianapolis and elsewhere. Its concert tours in many European countries, in Israel and Argentina (1993, 1997, 2003) as well as in South Africa and Namibia have also met with a similar response.

Jürgen Budday

Jürgen Budday - Conductor

Jürgen Budday is artistic director and founder of the Maulbronn Chamber Choir. He studied church music and musicology at the Academy of Music in Stuttgart from 1967 to 1974 and, since 1979, has taught at the Evangelical Theology Seminar in Maulbronn. This also involved his taking over as artistic director of the Maulbronn Monastery Concerts and the cantor choir. In 1992, he was named Director of Studies, in 1995 came the appointment as Director of Church Music and in 1998 he was awarded the "Bundesverdienstkreuz" (German Cross of Merit) as well as the Bruno-Frey Prize from the State Academy in Ochsenhausen for his work in music education. Since 2002, Jürgen Budday has also held the chair of the Choral Committee with the German Music Council. Together with the Maulbronn Chamber Choir, he has started a cycle of Handel oratorios that is planned to span several years, which involves working with the best-known singers in the genre (e.g. Emma Kirkby and Michael Chance, to name but a few) and has won him international recognition. At the Prague International Choir Festival, he received an award as best director. He has made several CD recordings that have received the highest praise from reviewers and include G.F. Handel's Messiah, Solomon, Belshazzar, Saul, Samson and Judas Maccabaeus.

Maulbronn Chamber Choir

Soprano ~ Teresa Frick, Susanne Fuierer, Ute Gerteis, Hannah Glocker, Elisabeth Hofmann- Ehret, Ilka Hüftle, Katja Körtge, Susanne Laenger, Heidi Lenk, Veronika Miehlich, Anne Nonnenmann, Silke Vogelmann, Irene Vorreiter
Alto ~ Erika Budday, Mirjam Budday, Barbara Hirsch, Marianne Kodweiß, Roswitha Fydrich-Steiner, Kathrin Gölz, Margret Sanwald, Angelika Stössel, Bettina van der Ham, Evelyn Witte
Tenor ~ Johannes Budday, Sebastian Fuierer, Andreas Gerteis, Ulrich Kiefner, Hartmut Meier, Mathias Michel, Konrad Mohl, Sebastian Thimm
Bass ~ Ingo Andruschkewitsch, Karl Bihlmaier, Jo Dohse, Bernhard Fräulin, Matthias Leeflang, Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, Eberhard Maier, Werner Pfeiffer, Conrad Schmitz

Hanoverian Court Orchestra

Concert Master ~ Anne Röhrig
Violins ~ Christoph Heidemann, Susanne Busch, Birgit Fischer, Stephanie Bücker, Barbara Kralle, Susanne Dietz, Eva Politt, Corinna Hildebrand
Violas ~ Judith Mac Carty, Hella Hartmann, Klaus Bona
Cellos ~ Dorothee Palm, Daniela Wartenberg · Bass viols ~ Cordula Cordes, Ulla Hoffmann
Harpsichord, Organ ~ Bernward Lohr · Theorbe ~ Ulrich Wedemeier
Flutes ~ Brian Berryman, Martin Heidecker · Oboes ~ Annette Berryman, Julia Belitz
Bassoons ~ Marita Schaar, Tobias Meier · Horns ~ Thomas Crome, Malte Mory
Trumpets ~ Friedemann Immer, Ute Rothkirch · Timpani ~ Friethjof Koch

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he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition. The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast. Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.

T

he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition. The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast. Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.