THE 2026 SEASON IN PALO ALTO

Anna Katharina Wildermuth – violin
Noëmi Zipperling – violin
Caspar Vinzens – viola
Lukas Sieber – cello

Expressive, dynamic, spectacular – the Aris Quartet has been at home on international stages for more than a decade. With its unmistakable sound, it has long been known as one of the world’s top-rank chamber music ensembles.

The musicians have performed in venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Herbst Theatre San Francisco, and the Philharmonie de Paris. Their choice of chamber music partners is exceptional: Christiane Karg, Tabea Zimmermann, Daniel Müller-Schott, Eckart Runge, Kit Armstrong and Nils Mönkemeyer.

The ensemble also devotes itself to cross-genre projects, including with the jazz pianist Omer Klein. From the very beginning, the musicians have also placed a special focus on contemporary music. Composers such as Lukas Ligeti, Gerald Resch, Misato Mochizuki, and Pierre Dominique Ponnelle have entrusted the Quartet with world premieres of their works.

Founded in Frankfurt am Main in 2009, the Aris Quartet, one of whose most important mentors has been Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet), continues to perform to this day in an unchanged format. The ensemble’s success is no coincidence: having earned numerous first prizes at prestigious competitions, the Aris Quartet quickly achieved its international breakthrough. The musicians have also been honored as ECHO Rising Stars by the European Concert Hall Organisation, were among the BBC’s New Generation Artists, and have won five awards at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.

In addition to regular appearances on radio and television, the Aris Quartet has already released six CD productions that have received considerable acclaim from critics. Further releases on Deutsche Grammophon and STAGE+ will follow in 2023 and 2024.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE

Angela Hewitt occupies a unique position among today’s leading pianists. With a wide-ranging repertoire and frequent appearances in recital and with major orchestras throughout Europe, Americas and Asia, she is also an award-winning recording artist whose performances of Bach have established her as one of the composer’s foremost interpreters. In 2020 she received the City of Leipzig Bach Medal: a huge honour that for the first time in its 17-year history was awarded to a woman.

In March 2024, Hewitt embarked on her latest major project entitled ‘The Mozart Odyssey’, comprising the composer’s complete piano concertos, first appearing with Pierre Bleuse and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. This follows Hewitt’s highly acclaimed Bach Odyssey cycle (2016–22), in which she performed the complete keyboard works of Bach across 12 recitals, also presented worldwide. The Mozart project continues in 2024/25 with a variety of engagements spanning nine countries; conductor-led performances include the Brussels Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, NAC (Ottawa), Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony and Ulster orchestras, among others. Hewitt is also much in demand as a play-conductor, collaborating with the Cameristi della Scala, Bochumer Symphoniker, Royal Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Mozart Odyssey. She has previously led Hong Kong and Copenhagen philharmonic orchestras, Lucerne Festival Strings, Zurich, Basel, Swedish and Stuttgart Chamber orchestras, Salzburg Camerata, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan, and Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna’s Musikverein. 

Elsewhere in 2024/25, Hewitt continues to maintain a busy recital schedule, including concerts in New York City, Seoul, Toronto, Vienna, Rome, Milan, Utrecht, Bern and Oxford, as well as her regular appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall. The season also features two return recital tours to Australia and Japan, including performances in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Tokyo and Kyoto.

Hewitt’s award-winning cycle for Hyperion Records of all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as “one of the record glories of our age” (The Sunday Times). Her discography also includes albums of Couperin, Rameau, Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, Ravel, Messiaen and Granados. Her most recent recordings include the first two volumes of Mozart’s complete piano sonatas, released in November 2022 and October 2023, with the final set due for release in 2025. In 2023, Hewitt’s complete catalogue became available on all major streaming platforms following Universal Music Group’s acquisition of Hyperion; included in the first release in July was her critically acclaimed Diapason d’Or recording of the Goldberg Variations, which is also the first of her recordings to be issued on vinyl in September 2024. A regular in the USA Billboard chart, her album Love Songs hit the top of the specialist classical chart in the UK and stayed there for months after its release. In 2015 she was inducted into Gramophone Magazine’s Hall of Fame thanks to her popularity with music lovers around the world. 

Born into a musical family, Hewitt began her piano studies aged three, performing in public at four and a year later winning her first scholarship. She studied with Jean-Paul Sévilla at the University of Ottawa and, in 1985, won the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition, which launched her career. In 2018 Angela received the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2015 she received the highest honour from her native country – becoming a Companion of the Order of Canada (which is given to only 165 living Canadians at any one time). In 2006 she was awarded an OBE from Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, has seven honorary doctorates, and is a Visiting Fellow of Peterhouse College in Cambridge. In 2020 Angela was awarded the Wigmore Medal in recognition of her services to music and relationship with the hall over 35 years.

Angela lives in London but also has homes in Ottawa and Umbria, Italy where, 20 years ago, she founded the Trasimeno Music Festival — a week-long annual event which draws an audience from all over the world.

“… the Quatuor Danel plays with warmth and conviction.” – The Boston Globe

The Quatuor Danel has been at the forefront of the international classical music scene for decades with their bold, vibrant, and concentrated performance style, and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022. The Danel’s 2023-24 North American tour included concerts for Aspect Chamber Music Series, Peoples’ Symphony Concerts, Music Toronto, Chamber Music in Oklahoma, and the McGill International String Quartet Academy. Additional touring activities this season include performances in France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

The Danel is known for its deeply personal interpretations of the string quartet cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Weinberg. Its lively and fresh vision of traditional quartet repertoire has won the Danel lavish praise from both the public and the press. In addition, Russian composers have a vital place in the Danel’s repertoire: the Quartet has regularly championed the string quartets of Shostakovich, and its very recent release of the complete quartet cycle which was recorded at the Gewandhaus Leipzig has already won a range of prizes and has been recognized as the quartet’s next benchmark recording.

Uniquely among string quartets, the Danel has worked closely with both the late Valentin Berlinsky formerly of the Borodin Quartet as well as Irina Shostakovich to refine the deeply personal interpretations of Russian music for which the Quartet is revered in Europe. The Danel’s long personal relationship and exceptionally close work with Dmitri Shostakovich’s widow Irina informed these performances in a specific and profoundly personal way, offering a very rarely accessed glimpse into Shostakovich’s genius.

The Quatuor Danel was the first quartet ever to record the complete and previously unknown quartet oeuvre of Mieczysław Weinberg, the neglected contemporary of Shostakovich, for the CD label CPO. The Quartet will continue to offer this breathtakingly beautiful and too little known repertoire in coming seasons. In addition, they have collaborated with major contemporary composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Helmutt Lachenmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Pascal Dusapin, and the stars of the younger generation including Jörg Widmann and Bruno Mantovani.

Most recent recording projects consist of the three Tchaikovsky quartets, the Quartet and Piano Quintet by Franck with pianist Paavali Jumppanen, and the earlier mentioned Shostakovich String Quartet Cycle for the label Accentus. The Danel’s next CD release will feature a Prokofiev overview to be released in early 2025. Following that release, the Quartet will concentrate, again in collaboration with Gewandhaus Leipzig and Accentus, on a CD-release of the complete Beethoven String Quartet cycle in 2027.

At the very heart of the Quatuor Danel’s work lies its ambassadorship for young musicians in general and string quartets in particular. As the artist-in-residence at the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) since 2005, the Quartet works closely with students, with teaching and master classes as a fundamental part of their activities.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE

Carion Wind Quintet is an award-winning Danish-Latvian ensemble which brings a truly unique and innovative chamber music experience to audiences. Carion fascinates audiences with its carefully choreographed and dramatized performances of classical and modern works, making music on stage visible and adding a new dimension of traditional concert events.

Carion Wind Quintet’s trademark is its unusual way of presenting on stage: without music stands or chairs, there is space for nuanced choreography that adds a theatrical element to the music. Musical structures are visualized through steps, movements and formations and the distribution of roles within the instruments is made visible, inspiring and delighting audiences and critics alike.

Carion Wind Quintet has performed to critical acclaim in Europe’s most prestigious festivals such as the BBC Proms, Rheingau Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Beethovenfest Bonn, Bergen Festival, and Helsinki Festival. Carion has also performed in Dubai and Japan. The ensemble has received first prizes at the Danish Radio Chamber Music Competition and the Marco Fiorindo Competition in Italy.

Carion collaborated with electronica guru Bjørn Svin, as well as legendary flutist Sir James Galway and the Leipziger Streichquartett.

Since Carion Wind Quintet’s formation in 2002, the ensemble has released five albums, receiving stellar reviews from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, among others. Carion also presents its dynamic music videos on its YouTube channel, accumulating almost 4 million views.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE

With a vivid onstage presence, dazzling technique, and keen musicality, pianist Olga Kern is widely recognized as one of the great artists of her generation, captivating audiences and critics alike.

In 2001, Olga launched her U.S. career at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, winning a Gold Medal— the only woman in the last fifty years to do so. She has since performed extensively with top-tier ensembles, among them the St. Louis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), Czech Philharmonic, and Filarmonica della Scala. She has also scored successes with Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, and Pittsburgh Symphony. She was a soloist on widely acclaimed U.S. tours with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine; and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 2018, 2019, and 2022. Olga performs riveting recitals throughout the world, playing in places such as New York, Fort Worth, Minneapolis, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, and Italy as well as with renowned organizations including The Gilmore Piano Festival, Chamber Music San Francisco, Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia Festival, the Minnesota Beethoven Festival, Bad Kissingen (Germany), Radio France Festival Montpellier, and others.

In the 2022–2023 season, Olga appeared with the Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra, and Colorado Symphony. She performed recitals at American Pianists Association Conference in Indianapolis and the International Piano Festival of Oeiras in Portugal as well as in Milan, Italy; Virginia Beach; Chicago; and San Francisco. Engagements in the 2023–2024 season include performances of Rachmaninoff’s monumental four concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Austin Symphony and Virginia Symphony Orchestra and a nationally broadcast New Year’s concert with the Czech Philharmonic. Other 2023–2024 engagements include Santa Rosa Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Asheville Symphony, a tour of South Africa, and performances with Prague Symphony, Taipei Symphony; and Tokyo Symphony.

Olga has served as a jury chairman of several high-profile competitions, including her own, the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, of which she is Artistic Director. A dedicated educator, she has been on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music since 2017, and in 2019, she was appointed the Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music at the Virginia Arts Festival. She also established “Aspiration,” a foundation that provides financial assistance to musicians around the world. Olga is a Steinway Artist.

Her well-regarded discography includes works of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Brahms, and Shostakovich.

Olga’s iconic dresses are designed by Alex Teih (New York), and her jewelry is designed by Alex Soldier (New York).

ARTIST'S WEBSITE