Håkan Hardenberger & Martyn Brabbins
Biography Håkan Hardenberger & Martyn Brabbins
Håkan Hardenberger
is one of the world’s leading soloists, consistently recognized for his phenomenal performances and tireless innovation. Alongside his performances of the classical repertory, he is also renowned as a pioneer of significant and virtuosic new trumpet works.
He performs with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, all the major Nordic orchestras, the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic. Conductors with whom he collaborates regularly include Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Ingo Metzmacher, Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Storgårds and David Zinman. The works written for Hardenberger stand as highlights in his repertory and include compositions by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, H K Gruber, Hans Werner Henze, Rolf Martinsson, Olga Neuwirth, Arvo Pärt, Tōru Takemitsu, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Rolf Wallin.
His recording début in 1985, on BIS, formed the start of a distinguished and extensive discography on numerous labels. For BIS, Hardenberger has recorded music by H K Gruber, Arvo Pärt and Vagn Holmboe among others. Most recently, he has appeared in Sally Beamish’s Trumpet Concerto on a disc [BIS-2156] which was selected as Concerto Choice of the Month in BBC Music Magazine.
Hardenberger also conducts orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, St Paul and Swedish Chamber Orchestras, Dresden Philharmonic, Real Filharmonía de Galicia and Malmö Symphony Orchestra. In recital he has duo partnerships with pianist Roland Pöntinen and percussionist Colin Currie. He is also artistic director of the Malmö Chamber Music festival.
Håkan Hardenberger was born in Malmö. He began studying the trumpet at the age of eight with Bo Nilsson and continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire with Pierre Thibaud and in Los Angeles with Thomas Stevens. He is a professor at the Malmö Academy of Music.
Gothenburg Symphony (Göteborgs Symfoniker)
Founded in 1905, the Gothenburg Symphony (Göteborgs Symfoniker) currently numbers 109 players. The great Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar was appointed principal conductor in 1907, contributing strongly to the Nordic profile of the orchestra by inviting his colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to conduct their own works. Subsequent holders of the post include Sergiu Comissiona, Sixten Ehrling and Charles Dutoit. During Neeme Järvi’s tenure (1982–2004), the orchestra became a major international force. Described by The Guardian as ‘one of the world’s most formidable orchestras’, it has toured in the USA, Japan and the Far East, and in 1997 was appointed the National Orchestra of Sweden. During his celebrated tenure as music director (2007–12), Gustavo Dudamel took the Orchestra to major music centres and festivals in Europe, making acclaimed appearances at, for example, the BBC Proms and Vienna Musikverein. The distinguished American Kent Nagano has been principal guest conductor since 2013 and has made suc- cessful tours with the orchestra in China and Germany. The list of prominent guest conductors has included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Pierre Monteux, Herbert von Karajan, Myung-Whun Chung, Herbert Blomstedt, Vladimir Jurowski, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sakari Oramo and Sir Simon Rattle. The orchestra also runs extensive con- cert projects for children, and digital live concerts are available on www.gsoplay.se. The Gothenburg Symphony is a company owned by the Region Västra Götaland.
John Storgårds
Having begun his career as a violinist, John Storgårds is one of the most remarkable Finnish conductors of his generation. He is widely recognised for his creative flair for programming and his commitment to contemporary music. Former chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (2008–15), Storgårds is artistic director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra (since 1996) and principal guest con- ductor of the BBC Philharmonic (since 2012) and the National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa (since 2015). He has also made guest appearances with, for example, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker and the orchestras of Boston, St Louis, Toronto and Cleveland. Storgårds has made numerous acclaimed recordings featuring not only standard repertoire but also rarities and contemporary music. He also appears frequently as a chamber musician and violinist at festivals, and as a violin soloist with orchestras such as the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne. John Storgårds studied orchestral conducting, composition and violin playing in Finland – where his teachers included Esther Rautio and Jouko Ignatius – and in Israel under the legendary violinist Chaim Taub. He gained his conducting diploma from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 1997. He received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002 and the Pro Finlandia Prize in 2012.
