NEWS

For the previously scheduled performance on 12th October in the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ARK NOVA in Matsushima, which opened on 28th September, six soloists from the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA will perform.

The musicians and program are as follows:
<Members>
Raphael Christ, violin
Henja Semmler, violin
Wolfram Christ, viola
Tanja Christ, viola
Jens Peter Maintz, cello
Giovanni Gnocchi, cello

<Program>
Johannes Brahms: String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18 (1859/60)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: String Sextet in D minor, Op. 70 "Souvenir de Florence" (1887/1890; rev. 1891/92)

Profile: Six soloists of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
 
The violinist Raphael Christ, who was born in 1982, comes from Berlin and received his training under Thomas Brandis, Antje Weithaas, and Rainer Kussmau, among others; he has taken master classes with Igor Ozim, Christian Altenburger, and Zakhar Bron. In 1998 he made his solo debut with the Berlin Staatskapelle under Daniel Barenboim and since then has played with numerous European orchestras. Christ, who has garnered many awards, served from 2003 to 2006 as concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra; he also regularly performs in the same position with the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna. In addition, since 2006 he has led the second violin section in the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA. Christ has appeared at the Lockenhaus, Jerusalem, and Chambéry Festivals. As a chamber musician he collaborates with such musicians as Emmanuel Pahud, Bruno Canino, Brigitte Engerer, Gérard Caussé, Nikolaj Znaider, and Renaud Capuçon.
A student of Rainer Kussmaul, Thomas Brandis, and Gerhard Schulz, the violinist Henja Semmler, who was born in 1979 in Berlin, launched her career as a victor at the German Music Competition, the Louis Spohr Competition, and the Premio Franco Gulli. She is a founding member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra as well as of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA. She has also regularly performed as a chamber musician and has partnered with such musicians as Kolja Blacher, Renaud Capuçon, Tabea Zimmermann, Natalia Gutman, and Jörg Widmann, with whom she has appeared at the Berlin, Rheingau, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festivals, the Heidelberg Spring, and Young Artists in Concert in Davos. Semmler is equally devoted to early music – for which she specializes on the Baroque violin – and contemporary music, playing works by Jörg Widmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Heinz Holliger.
 
Wolfram Christ, who studied with Ulrich Koch in Freiburg, joined the Berlin Philharmonic as first principal violist in 1978, where he remained until 1999. During this time he performed more than 60 solo concertos with the orchestra, under such conductors as Karajan, Abbado, Maazel, Haitink, and Ozawa. Since 1995 Christ has himself appeared as a conductor, leading such ensembles as the Royal Danish Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic, the Sinfónica de la Juventud Venezolana, and the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna. From 2004 to 2008 he served as head of the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra and, starting in 2009, as Principal Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. In addition to teaching viola at the Freiburg Music Academy, Christ is active as a soloist and chamber musician and every summer plays first viola in the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA.
 
The violist Tanja Christ, a native of Berlin, studied with Hatto Beyerle at the Music Academy in Hannover. In 1992 she won the German Music Competition, and a year later she became a member of the Berlin Philharmonic, where she remained until 1999. While there she was a cofounder of the Berlin Baroque Soloists in 1995; Christ has performed with this ensemble, of which she is still a member, throughout Europe as well as in Japan and Taiwan. She is currently active as a freelance chamber musician, performing at such venues as the Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festivals, and since 2003 has been a member of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA; she has performed with various groups comprising members of this orchestra in chamber concerts in the the KKL Luzern. Christ’s discography includes quintets by Brahms and Bruckner as well as works by Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.
 
The cellist Jens Peter Maintz, a native of Hamburg, studied with David Geringas and took master classes with Heinrich Schiff, Boris Pergamenschikow, and Siegfried Palm. In 1994 he won the ARD Music Competition in Munich and soon after was named principal cellist of the DSO Berlin, where he remained until 2004. Since then he has been on the faculty of the Berlin University of the Arts. As a soloist, he has appeared with such conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Marek Janowski, and Franz Welser-Möst; he has also performed many works by contemporary composers. For several years he was a member of the Trio Fontenay, and he has additionally played chamber music with the casalQuartett, the Artemis Quartet, and the Auryn Quartet, as well as with Kolja Blacher, Isabelle Faust, Janine Jansen, Hélène Grimaud, and Wolfram Christ. Since 2006 Maintz has been principal cellist of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA.
 
Born in 1977 in Cremona, the Italian cellist Giovanni Gnocchi completed his training with Clemens Hagen at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he himself has since become a teacher. He won the Haydn Competition in Vienna, was a victor at the Prague Spring Cello Competition, and garnered the London Parkhouse Award as well as a scholarship from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. From 2002 to 2010 Gnocchi was principal cellist with the Camerata Salzburg, and he has played in the same position as a guest artist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra Mozart. Gnocchi is a passionate chamber musician who has partnered with such colleagues as Leonidas Kavakos, Ilya Gringolts, Andrea Lucchesini, Alexander Lonquich, and Christine Schäfer. He has also played as a soloist in orchestral concerts under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, Christopher Hogwood, and Carlo Rizzi.