Asya Fateyeva, Eckart Runge, Andreas Borregaard
Biography Asya Fateyeva, Eckart Runge, Andreas Borregaard
Asya Fateyeva
brings the saxophone back into the spotlight of musical life—with innovative programs and exceptional virtuosity. Classically trained and the recipient of numerous awards, Asya Fateyeva delights in exploring a wide array of musical styles and eras.
Born in Crimea, Asya Fateyeva embraces a broad repertoire. In addition to original works written for her instrument, this includes music from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. Concurrently, she continues to expand both her repertoire and her network of collaborators—musicians with whom she works, performs, and develops new programs. Beyond her classical orchestral engagements and solo recitals, she is particularly keen on experimenting with chamber music in every form that sparks her interest. Whether it is an early Baroque program, Bach’s *Goldberg Variations* (arranged for cello, accordion, and saxophone), music from the 1920s by Erwin Schulhoff and his contemporaries, or a dialogue between organ and saxophone—anything is possible. This also extends to projects involving jazz and world music; Asya Fateyeva views herself as a musician who thinks and works from a deeply multicultural perspective. Her playing is a synthesis of diverse influences.
A classically trained saxophonist, she ranks among the most distinguished figures in her field and has garnered numerous accolades. Notably, in 2014, she became the first woman to reach the finals of the prestigious International Adolphe Sax Competition in Belgium, where she was awarded third prize.
Asya Fateyeva performs with numerous orchestras. Notable examples include performances under the direction of Robin Ticciati with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Dirk Kaftan with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Michael Sanderling, Kristjan Järvi with the MDR Symphony Orchestra, John Axelrod, Sébastien Rouland, Christoph-Mathias Müller with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, and Vladimir Fedoseyev with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein. She has performed on multiple occasions with the Moscow Virtuosi under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov. She has also appeared as a guest soloist with the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, and the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, her engagements include performances with orchestras from Bonn, Frankfurt an der Oder, and Kassel.
Her concerts have met with great acclaim at festivals in Lucerne, Colmar, Moscow, Cologne, and St. Petersburg, as well as at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Dresden Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the MDR Musiksommer, and the "Spannungen" Music Festival in Heimbach.
With a total of 17 concerts and events—including symphonic works, chamber music, early and contemporary music, as well as a workshop—Asya Fateyeva serves as the "Portrait Artist" at the 2024 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
After two years as a junior student under Professor Daniel Gauthier at the Cologne University of Music, Asya Fateyeva began her regular degree studies there at the age of 17. Study periods in France—including time spent with Claude Delangle in Paris and Jean-Denis Michat in Lyon—provided significant artistic inspiration. She also completed an advanced postgraduate program in chamber music at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg. Currently, the Hamburg-based musician teaches classical saxophone at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg and the Lübeck Academy of Music.
Eckart Runge
has established himself as one of the most versatile musicians of his generation—distinguished as a cellist, university professor, curator, and music educator.
He became known to international audiences as the founder of the Artemis Quartet, with which he toured and performed worldwide for thirty years. He shaped the ensemble’s distinctive sound; conversely, his deep engagement with the great quartet repertoire—both artistically and personally—profoundly shaped him as an artist. His ensemble’s albums have received numerous accolades, including multiple Diapason d’Or awards, *Gramophone* Awards, and four ECHO Klassik awards. In 2011—during the Beethoven Year—the ensemble’s complete recording of Beethoven’s string quartets was honored by the newspaper *Die Zeit* as one of the four most significant recordings of the cycle.
In 2019, Eckart Runge decided to strike out on his own artistic path, dedicating himself to solo projects as well as to his duo, Runge & Ammon—an ensemble with which he has performed in concert series, at festivals, and in clubs for 25 years. The duo has dedicated several recordings to his great passion: exploring the intersections between classical music and jazz, tango, rock, and film music. Released exclusively on the EDEL Berlin Classics label, the albums *Baroque in Blue* and *Beethoven: Revolutionary Icons* appeared in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
In 2020, his debut album featuring orchestral accompaniment was released on the Capriccio label. This recording—which included the premiere recording of Nikolai Kapustin’s jazz-inflected Cello Concerto, Op. 85, alongside Alfred Schnittke’s Cello Concerto No. 1—was honored with the German Record Critics’ Award (*Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik*).
Eckart Runge currently serves as Artist-in-Residence for both the Bremen Philharmonic Society and BASF Ludwigshafen. At the latter venue in 2022, he gave the premiere performance of Nikolai Kapustin’s Cello Concerto No. 1, accompanied by the German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate under the baton of Clemens Schuldt. Upcoming engagements will take him to venues including the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Beethoven House Bonn, and the IUC Rome.
Born in Heidelberg, Runge studied with Edmond Baert in Brussels and David Geringas in Lübeck, as well as with the Alban Berg Quartet in Vienna. He received further artistic inspiration from Walter Levin, Boris Pergamenschikow, Alfred Brendel, and György Kurtág. Prizes—including those at the Premio Stradivari in Cremona, the Concours International de Genève, and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich—laid the foundation for his multifaceted concert career.
He has shared his expertise with students from around the world at the Berlin University of the Arts, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, and the Academia Stauffer in Cremona, as well as through numerous masterclasses. Since 2023, he has served as a professor at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf.
Eckart Runge views social engagement as an integral part of his artistic ethos; through regular benefit concerts and hands-on involvement, he supports organizations such as Jeunesses Musicales Germany, Yehudi Menuhin’s *Live Music Now*, and *Mit-Mach-Musik*—an integration project for refugee children.
Eckart Runge plays a cello of exquisite tone by Matteo Goffriller (1710), on private loan from an anonymous patron.
Andreas Borregaard
Born in Allerød, Denmark. Throughout an extensive career as a soloist and chamber musician, Andreas Borregaard introduces broad audiences to the fascinating qualities and expressive versatility of the accordion. Through collaborations with composers across Europe, he actively influences the development of both the playing technique and the repertoire of this young instrument—thereby expanding the boundaries of artistic stage presence.
In recent years, he has developed and premiered a considerable number of performative works (by composers such as Jennifer Walshe, Simon Steen-Andersen, Philip Venables, Maja S. K. Ratkje, Laura Bowler, and others)—partly in connection with his doctoral project in artistic research titled "Just Do It! – exploring the musician’s use of bodily performance" (Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, 2018–23).
Andreas Borregaard is Professor of Accordion at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hannover. In 2025, he will serve as a lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for the second time.
