Andreas Frölich - Germany, piano
Claude Villaret - Switzerland, conductor
Berliner Symphoniker - Germany
German pianist Andreas Frölich studied with Stefan Askenase, Vtaly Margulis and Pavel Gililov. He is prizewinner of several international piano competitions suc as Senigallia, Finale Ligure, Milano and Vienna. He played in the most famous venues in Europe, South America, Asia, South Africa and Australia like Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Cologne Philharmonie, Munich Philharmonie “Gasteig”, Konzerthaus Berlin, Hamburg Musikhalle, Stuttgart Liederhalle, Teatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, Salle Gaveau Paris, Caroussel de Louvre Paris, Mozarteum Salzburg and many others as well as in the most important music fertivals such as Rheingau Musikfestival, Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, Salzburg, Schubertiade Roskilde and many others.
As a soloist Andreas Frölich appeared with many famous orchestras. Among them: Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Wiener Kammerphilharmonie, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, Münchener Kammerorchester, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, Würtembergisches Kammerorchester, Suk Chamber orchestra Prag , Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic Moskau, Radio Symphonique Luxembourg, Lutoslawski Philharmonie Wroclav, Stettin Philharmonic, Orchestre de Bretagne, Concerto Málaga, Thüringer Philharmoniker, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim, Kyimi Sinfonietta Finnland, Philharmonic Orchestra of Europe, Heidelberger Sinfoniker, Vogtland Philharmonie, National Philharmonic of Peru, etc.
Andreas Frölich is pianist of the Mendelssohn Trio Berlin and he often performed with Ensemble Wien led by the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. He recorded for many national and international radio stations and released more than 35 CD´s (a number of them award-winning) for different labels like OEHMS CLASSICS, CPO, EMI, BMG, Divox, Signum, Fono.
He is professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln/Standort Aachen and guest professor at the international Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg. In the last years his students won more than 50 prizes (first and second) at international piano competitions.
He is often inivited as a jury member in many international piano competitions (Madrid, Beethoven competition Bonn, Valencia, Ferrol, Granada, Campillos, Larnaca/Cyprus, etc.).
Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Claude Villaret studied piano and conducting. He received important artistic inspiration from Sergiu Celibidache and Bernard Haitink and was invited by Bernard Haitink to follow his work with the European Youth Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
After his studies he lived in Argentina where he has founded the Youth Orchestra of Latin America in 1990, and worked as its artistic director at the famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
Four years later he returned to Europe and won the conducting competition of the music academy in Biel. Since then he has celebrated countless triumphs in major European musical centers such as Berlin, Salzburg, Milan, Vienna, Prague and London as well as in the great concert halls around the world, such as the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Sala Sao Paolo in Brazil, the Megaron in Athens, the Smetana Hall in Prague, the Tonhalle in Zurich and the KKL in Lucerne. He conducted orchestras such as Berliner Symphoniker (Germany), Symphony Orchestra Zurich (Switzerland), Musikkollegium Winterthur (Switzerland), The New Orchestra of Geneva (Switzerland), Sinfônica Nacional (Brasil), Camerata Boemica Prague (Czech Republic), Dvorak Prague Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), South Bohemian Chamber Orchestra (Czech Republic)
He elicits the best out of ensembles with his precise technique in combination with impassioned interpretations. He works regularly with soloists such as Francisco Araiza, Dimitris Sgouros, Antonio Meneses, Peter Bruns and Patricia Pagny, who particularly value his skills as an accompanist.
He is the principal guest conductor of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra since December 2005, enjoying success for his first performances of the major orchestral works by Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich as well as by Ravel, Debussy and Bartók in Thailand.
Villaret has earned widespread praise for his innovative programs and many premiere performances as the head conductor ctor of the TKO Thurgau Chamber Orchestra since 2004. Claude Villaret is likewise an impassioned opera conductor of works from Mozart to premieres by contemporary composers.
The Berliner Symphoniker are one of the most important symphony orchestras in Berlin. Famous conductors and chief conductors guaranteed the high quality of the concerts. Since 1997 Lior Shambadal is chief conductor of the Berliner Symphoniker and keeps up this tradition.
The Berliner Symphoniker are particularly renowned for their series of performances of classical concerts and special concerts in the Philharmonic Hall. They also perform regularly with the choirs of Berlin and from abroad.
Almost every year the Berliner Symphoniker are performing concerts with international opera singers as well as Opera productions which belong to the repertoire of the Berliner Symphoniker.
