Interviews

This year, the record label Alpha is Label of the Year of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Alpha belongs to Belgian music group Outhere (Alpha, Ricercar, Fuga Libera, Ramée, ZigZag, Arcana, Phi, Linn…). ICMA Jury member Juan Lucas (Scherzo, Spain) has made the following interview with Outhere’s Chairman Charles Adriaenssen.

How would you describe your origins and at what point did you decide that you wanted to get involved in the classical record world a serious way?
There were plenty of cultural interests in my family when I was growing up, and music, consequently, played an important part in my education and upbringing. I studied Law and, then, for a period of fifteen years I worked as a diplomat, until 1995, when I became involved with the family business concerns in brewing, and I joined a number of management boards… Yet music was always present there, and even during twenty years of a very active business life I supported many concerts. Read More →

The young Chinese flutist Yuan Yu has won the ICMA Discovery Award 2018. Yuan Yu is a student at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Professor Philippe Bernold, assisted by Florence Souchard-Delépine.In 2012, he won first prize in the children’s section of the inaugural China Flute Association. In 2015 he was given an honorable mention at the 67th International Prague Spring Music Competition.In 2017, at the age of fifteen, he was the winner of the 7th Krakow International Flute Competition. Later in the same year, he also won first prize at the 9th Kobe International Flute Competition.He loved performing since an early age, giving his first solo recital at the age of thirteen at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Yuan receives a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein, and takes part in the intensive music weeks and activities offered by the Academy. Remy Franck and Isabel Roth spoke with the young musician. Read More →

Der Multi-Percussionist Christoph Sietzen, ‘Young Artist oft he Year’ der International Classical Music Awards’ (ICMA), gab im Alter von 12 Jahren sein Debüt bei den Salzburger Festspielen und ist u.a. Preisträger des Internationalen Musikwettbewerbs der ARD. Seine erste Solo-CD ‘Attraction’, die den Titel des für ihn von Emmanuel Séjourné komponierten gleichnamigen Werks trägt, wurde mit dem ‘Pizzicato Supersonic Award’ ausgezeichnet. Der in Salzburg geborene Luxemburger wurde seit seinem sechsten Lebensjahr am Schlagwerk unterrichtet und studierte später Marimba bei Bogdan Bacanu, mit dem er das ‘Wave Quartet’ gründete. Seit 2014 unterrichtet Christoph Sietzen an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Remy Franck hat sich mit dem Musiker unterhalten. Read More →

Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2008, is ICMA Artist of the Year. Musica’s Nicola Cattò met the former Vienna Philharmonic viola player (his brother Rainer is still Concertmaster) in Milan at the beginning of January, after the first of three concerts devoted to a traditional Vienna New Year repertoire that got a thunderstorm of applause in the iconic Milanese theatre. Read More →

In the category DVD Performance, this year’s prize of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) has been awarded to Rileggendo Brahms with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana conducted by Markus Poschner. This OSI production with the complete Brahms Symphonies has been supported by Helsinn, the orchestra’s international partner, and was published on two DVDs by Sony Classical in December 2016. The live recordings were made during the first season at the LAC Theater in Lugano. Nicola Catto has spoken with Denise Fedeli, OSI’s Artistic-administrative Manager. Read More →

In 2017, French violinist Chouchane Siranossian is a double Award winner of ICMA (International Classical Music Awards), for her CD L’ange et le diable with Jos van Immerseel and as Concertmaster of Ensemble Esperanza. Remy Franck made the following interview with her.

Chouchane, your family roots go back to Armenia. What does this mean for your music-making?
For sure, my roots have an influence on my playing and even in general on my life. My father is a well-known specialist of this music and his approach certainly had and has an influence on my own music-making. Read More →

German pianist Robert Neumann (*2001), winner of ICMA’s Discovery Award 2017, has been raised in a musical family. He was eleven, when he was admitted as junior student in the class of Prof. Elza Kolodin at the die Musikhochschule Freiburg, and when he turned 15, be became a regular student. He also studies at the International Music Academy of Liechtenstein. He has given numerous concerts in several countries.  Remy Franck and Andrea Meuli made the following interview with him. Read More →

ICMA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Matti Salminen has been among the most famous basses of opera stages already over 40 years. He is especially famous in Wagner-roles, but his repertoire is large, reaching even to Finnish tangos. His steady, resonant bass is flexible enough also for subtle nuances, and he emphasizes opera always as a comprehensive theatre. Read our article by Harri Kuusisaari, ICMA Jury member for the Finnish magazine Rondo Classic. Read More →