Benjamin Lyko, Alex Potter, e.g.baroque & Clemens Flick
Biography Benjamin Lyko, Alex Potter, e.g.baroque & Clemens Flick
Benjamin Lyko
Countertenor Benjamin Lyko, born and raised in Niederlausitz, studied singing at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin with Prof. Renate Faltin and Magdaléna Hajóssyová. In master classes with Andreas Scholl, Axel Köhler, Wolfgang Katschner and Sigrid T'Hooft he received valuable artistic impulses in the field of historical performance practice and baroque gesture.
Guest engagements have taken him to the Konzerthaus Berlin, Schlosstheater Potsdam, Theater Freiburg and the Wuppertal Bühnen. Further invitations followed to festivals such as TONarten, Vielklang Tübingen, the Innsbruck Festival and the Winter in Schwetzingen. On the opera stage, he embodied the title role in Handel's Xerxes, Polinesso (Ariodante), Athamas (Semele), Sesto (Giulio Cesare) with performing dedication. Productions of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea (Oslo Academy) and Purcell's King Arthur (Theater Freiburg), as well as "La Liberazione" by Francesca Caccini at the Theater an der Wien should also be highlighted.
The premiere recording of David Pohle's "Liebesgesänge" after texts by Paul Fleming will soon be released by Audite.
In addition to his solo activities, Benjamin Lyko devotes himself to sacred music from the Renaissance and early Baroque as part of various ensembles, without losing touch with contemporary art forms: Experimental music theatre productions (Don Giovanni in the Underworld / Junges Forum Hamburg; Out of this world! / toy piano weekend) and world premieres continue to arouse his interest and testify to the wide range of his musicality.
Alex Potter
praised by The Times for his "ethereal tone and beautiful control", is one of the leading countertenors on the European music scene. In addition to numerous performances of works by Bach, Handel and other established composers, he has a particular interest in exploring lesser-known repertoire, which he sings in concerts and recordings under his own direction. He performs with prominent conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Hans Christoph Rademann, John Butt, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Jordi Savall, Jos van Veldhoven and Stephen Layton.
Notable recent performances include Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Concertgebouw Orchestra/Philippe Herreweghe, concertos and a recording of works for solo countertenor by Vivaldi, Lotti and Caldara with the orchestra La Festa Musicale, a performance of works by Bach and Telemann with Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen at the Wigmore Hall and Benjamin Britten's Abraham and Isaac with tenor Thomas Hobbs in Vancouver, Canada. Most recently, he performed Handel - Friends and Enemies with soprano Marta Mathéu and the Vespres d'Arnadí Orchestra at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, based on his own programme concept of works by Handel and lesser-known contemporaries.
Alex Potter has an extensive discography with numerous ensembles and several solo recordings. Among others, he can be heard on the recent recording of Bach cantatas with Philippe Herreweghe/Collegium Vocale Gent. A new CD of two solo Bach cantatas with Il Gardellino has just been released on the Pasacaille label.
After beginning his musical career as a choirboy at Southwark Cathedral, Alex Potter was a Choral Scholar and studied music at New College, Oxford. He then studied singing and baroque performance practice at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Gerd Türk and took additional lessons with Evelyn Tubb.
Clemens Flick
was born in Karlsruhe. The conductor, harpsichordist and pianist began his musical education as a young student in the piano class of Prof. Fany Solter and Prof. Miguel Proença at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe. After graduating from high school, he studied orchestral conducting with Prof. Hans-Dieter Baum at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. In addition, he studied early music theory at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis on a DAAD scholarship.
After his training, Clemens Flick was initially solo repetiteur with conducting duties at the Freiburg Theatre. There he conducted numerous opera productions, including Mitridate, Lucio Silla and Idomeneo (Mozart), Peer Gynt (Grieg), Stormen (Sibelius) and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini). His productions of Purcell's King Arthur (director: Robert Schuster) and Il Gran Teatro del Mundo (music: Carles Santos, director: Calixto Bieito) received great acclaim.
As a specialist in historically informed performance practice, he has directed opera productions at Operahøgskolen Oslo (L'Ormindo/Cavalli; L'incoronazione di Poppea/Monteverdi) and at the International Handel Academy Karlsruhe (Theodora; Semele). At the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin he was a visiting professor from 2012-15, responsible for the coordination and direction of music theatre projects.
Further concerts and opera productions have taken him to the Heidelberg Theatre (Magnificat/Bach&Vivaldi), the Wuppertaler Bühnen (La liberazione di Ruggiero/Francesca Caccini) and the Vielklang Festival Tübingen 2019, among others.
In addition to conducting, Clemens Flick has performed as a harpsichordist with Ensemble Resonanz, La Folia Barockorchester, Lautten Compagney, Kammerakademie Potsdam, B'Rock Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. His CD recordings include C.P.E. Bach's Concertos for Violoncello with Jean Guihen Queyras (Ensemble Resonanz/Riccardo Minasi/harmonia mundi), Cantata with Bejun Mehta and Handel's Concerti grossi op. 3 (Akamus/Pentatone).
Since 2015 he has regularly assisted René Jacobs as musical assistant. Productions have taken him to the Staatsoper Berlin, the Theater an der Wien and the Opéra National de Paris. In 2017 he represented him at the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra with Beethoven's Leonore. Together with René Jacobs, he is working on an edition of the Prague version of Mozart's Finta giardiniera, which will be published by Boosey & Hawkes in 2020.
