Spectrum Concerts Berlin

Last updated

Spectrum Concerts Berlin is a German classical chamber music ensemble.

Contents

Biography and career

Founded by cellist Frank Sumner Dodge in 1988, Spectrum Concerts Berlin is a chamber ensemble that performs music from the baroque and classical periods as well as 20th century and contemporary chamber music. The ensemble features a number of musicians, including Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Robert D. Levin, Eldar Nebolsin, Maxim Rysanov, Clara-Jumi Kang, Torleif Thedéen, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Jens Peter Maintz and many others. [1] A sister group, Spectrum Concerts Berlin-USA, Inc., was founded in New York City in 2005 for the purpose of extending the work of the ensemble. Spectrum Concerts Berlin-USA, Inc. opened with two concerts in November 2006 at Zankel Hall, in Carnegie Hall. Reviewers have showered praise for years, both in reviews of their live performances at the Berliner Philharmonie, and of their recordings.

The Vision

A century ago America and Europe were united by strong bonds of musical appreciation. Separated after two wars, these important cultures can be significantly re-connected through the shared experience of high-level chamber music. Music is a medium of powerful and direct communication, which can create moments of profound understanding, and insights that are beyond the power of words. Chamber music, so-called from the smaller spaces and numbers of performers typically involved, provides an especially intimate and compelling musical experience.

The Mission

Founded in 1988 by Frank Sumner Dodge, an American cellist living in Germany, Spectrum Concerts Berlin has become well established and widely acclaimed in its native city. Presentation of music by contemporary American composers has been an integral and important part of its presence. Two American Music Weeks hosted in 1990 and 2000 by high-level political and cultural figures were enhanced by lectures and art exhibitions. Highly praised CD’s have made the group’s work available worldwide. Spectrum Concerts Berlin has also organized programs for European music students including two visits to the USA. With the wide acceptance in Berlin, Spectrum Concerts Berlin – USA, Inc., Expanding the Language of Chamber Music has been organized to extend the work of Spectrum Concerts Berlin – performances by the professional ensemble, master classes and related cultural experiences.

Spectrum Concerts Berlin has recorded extensively for the Naxos label, including three albums devoted to the chamber music of Ernst Toch, two to Robert Helps as well as Ernst von Dohnányi, John Harbison, Paul Hindemith, Stanley Walden, Ursula Mamlok, Anton Arensky, Erwin Schulhoff, in 2020 two releases of chamber music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and in 2022 Béla Bartók and Sergei Taneyev. A second CD of Taneyev's chamber music was released in 2024, and a CD of music for violin and piano by Ernest Bloch is planned for 2026. Additional recordings include an album on New World Records (originally CRI) devoted to new chamber and solo music of David Del Tredici, Robert Helps, Jan Radzynski and Tison Street, the piano quartets of Johannes Brahms co-produced by Sender Freies Berlin (now rbb kultur) in 2000. The quintet "Breezes" by Ursula Mamlok was composed for Spectrum Concerts Berlin, recorded by Deutschlandfunk Kultur and released on Bridge Records Inc. as Volume V of Ursula Mamlok.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janine Jansen</span> Dutch violinist (born 1978)

Janine Jansen is a Dutch violinist and violist.

Theodore Kerkezos is a Greek classical saxophonist.

The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble of four saxophonists which performs classical and modern music.

Jennifer Stumm is a concert violist, professor of viola at the University of Music and Arts of the City of Vienna and director of the Ilumina Festival in São Paulo.

Philippe Quint is an American classical violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Frey</span> Musical artist

Alexander Frey, KM, KStJ, is an American symphony orchestra conductor, virtuoso organist, pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and enjoys success in the concert hall and opera house, and in the music of Broadway and Hollywood. Leonard Bernstein referred to him as "a wonderful spirit".

Ursula Mamlok was a German-born American composer and teacher.

The Carpe Diem String Quartet was founded in 2005 and is a classical string quartet based in Columbus, Ohio. The quartet's repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary chamber music. They regularly perform the works of contemporaries like Reza Vali, Richard Danielpour, Jonathan Leshnoff as well as other renowned classical performers including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn. Carpe Diem performs and tours regularly, in the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and Europe. The quartet is a strong proponent for the overlooked Russian composer Sergei Taneyev, and recorded his nine (9) string quartets, as well as his viola quintet, all for the Naxos label. The quartet regularly performs and collaborates with non-classical artists, including Willy Porter and Jayme Stone. A few of the outstanding artists with whom the quartet has played include Yo-Yo Ma, David Krakuaer, Raul Juarena, and Richard Stoltzman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Schwendinger</span> Mexican composer

Laura Elise Schwendinger was the first composer to win the American Academy in Berlin's Berlin Prize.

The Cassatt String Quartet was founded in 1985. Originally the first participants in Juilliard's Young Artists Quartet Program, the Quartet has gone on to win many teaching fellowships and awards and has toured internationally. Named after impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, the quartet is based in New York City.

Peter Rainer is a German violinist, known by his activity as a concert master and performance of chamber music. He has been performing at famous music halls such as Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Frank Sumner Dodge is a cellist and artistic director of chamber music ensembles. Frank began studying the cello at 16. His instructors were Jacobus Langendoen, Alfred Zighera, Aldo Parisot, Pierre Fournier, Eberhard Finke and Maurice Gendron. He founded the Strawbery Banke Chamber Music Festival, Inc. in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and was artistic director and cellist from 1969-1980 and again in 1997. He moved to Berlin, Germany in 1982 and founded the privately supported Spectrum Concerts Berlin in 1988.

Quintet of the Americas is a wind quintet, established in Bogotá in 1976 and based in New York City since 1979. They have performed concerts throughout the Americas and Eastern Europe, and have recorded eight CDs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lea Birringer</span> Musical artist

Lea Birringer is a German classical violinist and professor at the University of Music Würzburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidan Aghayeva-Edler</span> Azerbaijani pianist

Fidan Aghayeva-Edler is an Azerbaijani pianist best known for her modern and contemporary music performances. She supports the performance of female composers.

Peter Bruns is a German cellist and university professor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Boettcher</span> German editor, musician, and music educator (1935–2021)

Wolfgang Boettcher was a German classical cellist and academic teacher. He was principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and a founding member of The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. From 1976, he was professor at the Hochschule für Musik Berlin. From 1986 to 1992 he was artistic director of the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker chamber music festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Gilman</span> German musician and violinist

Alexander Gilman is a German violinist, academic teacher and artistic director of the LGT Young Soloists. He has been performing internationally as a soloist and chamber musician and regularly conducting masterclasses.

The Klenke Quartet is a German string quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armida Quartet</span> German string quartet

The Armida Quartet, named after the eponymous opera by Joseph Haydn, is a German string quartet. The ensemble includes Martin Funda (violin), Johanna Staemmler (violin), Teresa Schwamm (viola) and Peter-Philipp Staemmler (violoncello).

References

  1. "Spectrum Concerts Berlin - Home".