Sophie Kauer | |
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 Kauer at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2023 | |
| Born | 2001 (age 23) London, U.K. |
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| Years active | 2022–present |
Sophie Kauer (born 2001) [1] is a British and German [2] cellist and actress. She made her screen debut in the 2022 Todd Field film, Tár , where she starred alongside Cate Blanchett. [3]
Kauer was born in London. [4] At the age of 8 she began learning to play the cello; she was accepted 18 months later into the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied with Melissa Phelps. [5] She studied at the Academy on a scholarship for seven years and simultaneously attended Guildford High School. [6]
In 2019 Kauer was named "Young Musician of the Year" by the Woking Music Festival. [7] Since the autumn of 2020 Kauer has been studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Swedish cellist Torleif Thedéen . [4]
Kauer was cast in the role of Olga in the 2022 film Tár ; her previous acting experience had been minimal. [4] According to interviews, she found out about the casting call in a Facebook post [4] in February 2021. [8] A friend had sent it encouraging her to try out. [4] With COVID-19 lockdowns canceling in-person lessons and concerts, as well as restricting people from leaving their homes, Kauer decided to audition because she thought it was "really cool". She also said she had no expectations of success and believed Tár would be an "amazing way to bring classical music to the attention of a whole new audience". [8] She auditioned via Zoom, then later received a call asking her to submit a recording of herself playing Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto. After a week she was informed by Todd Field and one of the film's casting directors that her audition had been successful. [4]
Kauer recorded portions of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack album for Tár. Despite her role in the film, she said that playing the cello remains her focus. [5]
On March 8, 2023, Kauer signed with Deutsche Grammophon." [9] On April 25, 2023, the label announced that her performance of the first of Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 22, reached number one on the Classical On-Demand Audio Streaming chart, making Kauer "the youngest artist since the chart’s inception to achieve this top position at just 21 years old". [10]
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. He has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Westchester Philharmonic. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Perlman has won 16 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and four Emmy Awards.
Jacqueline Mary du Pré OBE was a British cellist, widely regarded as one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century. Born in Oxford, she began studying at the Guildhall School of Music in the mid-1950s with William Pleeth, earning the school's Gold Medal in 1960. Her musical development was further enhanced by advanced studies with prominent cellists such as Paul Tortelier, Pablo Casals, and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme.
The Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129, by Robert Schumann was completed in a period of only two weeks, between 10 October and 24 October 1850, shortly after Schumann became the music director at Düsseldorf.
Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her career by Herbert von Karajan and made her orchestral debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1977. Since Mutter gained prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, she has recorded over 50 albums, mostly with the Deutsche Grammophon label, and performed as a soloist with leading orchestras worldwide and as a recitalist. Her primary instrument is the Lord Dunn–Raven Stradivarius violin.
Pierre Léon Marie Fournier was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound.
Truls Olaf Otterbech Mørk is a Norwegian cellist.
Mischa Maisky is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist.
The Norwegian Academy of Music is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the country's highest level of music education. As a specialized university, it offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Throughout the years the Academy has educated many of Norway's most renowned musicians.
Matt Haimovitz is a cellist based in the United States and Canada. Born in Israel, he grew up in the US from the age of five. He plays mainly a cello made by Matteo Goffriller in 1710.
Nina Kotova is an American cellist of Eastern European descent. As well as being a versatile artist and an established composer she is a recording artist who performs both as a soloist with major orchestras and as a chamber musician.
Maria João Alexandre Barbosa Pires is a Portuguese classical pianist, widely regarded as one of the leading interpreters of the repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Jian Wang is a Chinese cellist. A soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher, he was the first Chinese musician to ever sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Antônio Jeronimo de Meneses Neto was a Brazilian cellist and an academic teacher based in Switzerland. Known professionally as Antônio Meneses, he won the first prize and gold medal at the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He was the cellist of the Beaux Arts Trio from 1998 to 2008.
Sol Gabetta is an Argentine cellist. The daughter of Andrés Gabetta and Irène Timacheff-Gabetta, she has French and Russian ancestry. Her brother Andrés is a baroque violinist.
Yuja Wang is a Chinese pianist. Born in Beijing, she began learning piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Meehae Ryo is a Korean cellist, who performs as an international soloist, especially around Europe. At the age of six, Ryo started her music education and was considered a skillful student. After moving to USA, Ryo entered Juilliard School at the age of 16 and finished her studies with DMA degree at the University of Michigan. Regarded as a late bloomer, in 2014 Ryo published an album produced by Deutsche Grammophon and has been more active within Europe ever since.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason is a British cellist who won the 2016 BBC Young Musician award. He was the first Black musician to win the competition since its launch in 1978. He played at the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle on the 19th of May, 2018 under the direction of Christopher Warren-Green. Also performing at the wedding was the traditional choir of St. George's Chapel led by James Vivian and a gospel choir conducted by Karen Gibson named, the Kingdom Choir. As of 2021, Kanneh-Mason plays a Matteo Goffriller cello that was made in 1700.
Tár is a 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field. Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár, a world-renowned conductor, whose life unravels after being accused of misconduct. The supporting cast includes Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, and Mark Strong. Tár premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September 2022, where Blanchett won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. It had a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 7, 2022, before a wide release on October 28 through Focus Features.
Tár is a concept album consisting of 20 tracks, curated, composed and produced by Icelandic musician Hildur Guðnadóttir. Featuring contributions from Cate Blanchett and cellist Sophie Kauer, and performances from Dresden Philharmonic, London Contemporary Orchestra, and London Symphony Orchestra, the album served as the soundtrack to Todd Field's 2022 psychological drama film, Tár, starring Blanchett in the lead role as Lydia Tár.
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