teachers | Thüringische Sommerakademie

EDUARD BRUNNER (clarinet)
Born in Basel, professor for clarinet and chamber music in Saarbruecken. For many years he was the 1st solo clarinettist of the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk with Rafael Kubelik. Being one of the world’s most thought after chamber music musician Eduard Brunner has been forming the music life for a period of more than 40 years now as a solo player. Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Alfred Brendel, Natalia Gutman as well as the Borodin Quartet number among his performing partners. Owing to his particular interest in contemporary music, many compositions for clarinet have been stimulated.

NATALIA PRISHEPENKO (violin) Born in Siberia in 1973, Natalia studied with her mother, Tamara Prishepenko, an eminent pedagogue in the Soviet Union. She had played in all the leading concert halls in the USSR, and had already won important prizes such as those of the Wieniawski International Competition and the All Union Competition. In 1988 Natalia Prishepenko arrived in Lübeck to study at the Musikhochschule with Zakhar Bron. She came to prominence in three of the most prestigious international competitions: the Paganini in 1990, the Tokyo in 1992, and the Reine Elisabeth de Belgique in 1993. Following these successes, her solo career took flight.In 1994 Natalia Prishepenko was member of the Artemis Quartet. They soon entered the international arena after winning first prize at the ARD Competition in 1996 and the Premio Borciani a year and a half later. Since its successful debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 1999, the quartet has played in all the leading concert halls and international festivals of Europe, the United States, Japan, South America, and Australia. This time is inspired by the teachings of Walter Levin, the Alban Berg, Juilliard, and Emerson Quartets, Alfred Brendel, and David Geringas; also by the results of a direct contact with composers such as Kurtág, Lachenmann, Lutosławski, Nono, and Ligeti; and not least inspired by a musical exchange with artists like Sabine Meyer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Juliane Banse, Jörg Widmann, Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Thomas Kakuska, Valentin Erben, and the Alban Berg Quartet. Natalia Prishepenko did leave the quartet in 2012. Remembering this exceptional 18 years there exist an extensive discography with her and the Artemis Quartet on Virgin Classics/EMI, which has been saluted by prestigious prizes, including the Gramophone Award, the Diapason d’Or, the Echo-Klassik-Preis and the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros in France.Teaching is one of the numerous passions of this artist, who despite her youth can already speak of a pedagogical legacy. For the Armida Quartet, one of today’s promising young quartets and the winner of the ARD Competition in 2012, is the outcome of the passion she has lavished on this branch of her activity and of her teaching as a Professor at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

MANUEL FISCHER-DIESKAU (violoncello) Born in Berlin in 1963 Manuel Fischer-Dieskau studied the cello in his home town with Prof. Wolfgang Boettcher, former principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Later on he continued his studies in the USA with Janos Starker. Back in Europe, at the age of 24, he became principal cellist at the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, while still looking after the artisitic advice of such masters as William Pleeth in London or Arto Noras in Helsinki.

He became then member of the wellknown Cherubini-Quartett, traveling with this ensemble around the world and recording for EMI-Classics. Manuel Fischer-Dieskau worked and recorded with chamber music partners such as Christian Zacharias, Sabine Meyer, Tabea Zimmermann, Katja & Marielle Labèque, Isabelle Faust, Eduard Brunner, Victoria Mullova, and many more. In 2007 he became Professor for cello and chambermusic at the Hochschule für Musik at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

www.manuelfischer-dieskau.de

TATEVIK MOKATSIAN (piano) The Armenian pianist Tatevik Mokatsian has an international reputation as a pianist, soloist, chamber music partner and university lecturer. Since 2001, she has been working as a professor of piano – chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Germany (University of Music).Tatevik Mokatsian studied in her hometown Yerevan under Natela Aharonian and Prof. Juri Hairapetian, a student of the outstanding Russian pedagogue Jakow Flijer. She completed her piano education with the postgraduate art studies and the solo performance Konzertexam ” with exellence” at the Musikhochschule Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) under Prof. Michael Leuschner. Tatevik Mokatsian gained further inspiration by Ludmila Ginsburg, Barry Snyder, Sebastian Benda, Felix Gottlieb and Robert Levin. As a soloist and chamber musician, Tatevik Mokatsian gave numerous concerts in Europe, South Korea and in the USA. Recordings of piano literature for two and four hands as well as chamber music recordings are available at diverse Radio stations in Germany and USA, also CDs by Ars Musici and by Crystal Records. As a chamber music partner Tatevik Mokatsian gave concerts, not least with Eduard Brunner, Kim Kashkashian, Boris Pergamenschikow, Nikolas Chumachenko, Diemut Poppen, the Hába-Quartett, Mikhail Kopelman, Gustav Rivinius, Antje Weithaas, Albrecht Laurent Breuninger, Gaby Pas van Riet, Manuel Fischer-Dieskau and Tanja Becker-Bender. She has a long-standing cooperation as a duo with Prof. Carol Rodland.