Interviews

Ermonela Jaho is the winner of the ICMA 2021 award in the « Vocal Music » category with the album « Anima rara », published by Opera Rara and dedicated to the repertoire of Rosina Storchio, with particular emphasis on that commonly defined as verista-naturalista. The great Albanian singer, who has lived in Italy for 18 years, now resides in New York, but did not think twice about getting on a plane and coming to Vaduz expressly to receive the award and to sing, at the gala with the Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, a simply memorable ‘Addio del passato’, which earned her a standing ovation from the audience present. The day before the concert, ICMA Jury member Nicola Cattò (Musica, Italy) met her for a long conversation, in which Jaho spoke about many topics, starting from her arrival in Italy in 1993.

How was the world of music back in 1993?
I came from Albania, which had been under Communism for 50 years: everything was closed, what happened outside was unknown to us. And the world of opera was for us the one that passed through the Italian films in black and white, with the biographies of Bellini and Verdi. Read More →

The Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein (SOL) is hosting this year’s International Classical Music Awards Gala on 27 June in Vaduz. In an interview with René Brinkmann, the president of the orchestra’s foundation board, Dr. Ernst Walch, and the head of the SOL’s artistic operations office, Florian Thierbach, talk about the past, present and future of the orchestra, which has been appearing more and more frequently on the « classical music map » in recent times.

 When you look at the history of the Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, the first thing that strikes you is that the orchestra, with its founding date in the 1980s, is quite a young orchestra compared to the orchestras in the surrounding countries of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Could you perhaps first give our readers a brief summary of the orchestral tradition in Liechtenstein: Was there no professional symphony orchestra in Liechtenstein at all before the foundation of the Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein?
EW: That’s right, the Liechtenstein Chamber Orchestra was founded on 10 September 1988 with the pragmatic aim of providing the music teachers of the Liechtenstein Music School with their own orchestra. Otherwise, the Vereinskultur has always been very strong in this country, so that in a broader sense there are many ensembles, but until 1988 there was no professional (national) orchestra. Read More →

Currently based in Paris, Italian violinist, conductor and record producer Johannes Pramsohler and his Ensemble Diderot won an award in ICMA’s category of Baroque Music with The Berlin Album, works by Benda, Graun, Janitsch, Kirnberger, von Preußen and Schulz (Audax ADX13726).
Born in 1980 in Sterzing in the autonomous Italian province of South Tyrol he studied in Bolzano, in Paris, at the Mozarteum Salzburg, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Read More →

Since the age of 4, Munich-born Maya Wichert has been playing the violin. Her enormous talent became apparent very early on. Master classes with Julia Fischer, Christoph Poppen, Ingolf Turban, countless competition successes, sponsorship awards and scholarships underline the potential of the young violinist. Many reasons for the jury of the International Classical Music Awards to present Maya Wichert with the Discovery Award 2021. Jury member Guy Engels (Radio 100.7, Luxembourg) made the following interview with her.

At the age of 15, you are still fully involved in the daily school routine, which is not easy to cope with, especially in times of a pandemic. Apart from the current difficulties, how do you generally manage school and music studies and still keep some free time as well?
I just try to combine everything well: the time for school, for practicing and for myself.  I usually do my schoolwork first, then I get out the violin.  Read More →

We no longer present Paul van Nevel, to whom we owe a unique work on the choral repertoire and so many unexpected discoveries. At the helm of his Huelgas Ensemble, van Nevel recorded Simone de Bonefont’s Messa pro Mortuis. This album Cyprès won in ICMA’s Early Music category. ICMA jury member Pierre-Jean Tribot (Crescendo)  made the following interview with the conductor. Read More →

Among the winners of the International Classical Music Awards 2021 is the CD Fantasque produced by Audite and played by the violinist Franziska Pietsch and the pianist Josu de Solaun. It contains Sonata no. 1 op. 13 in A major by Gabriel Fauré, the Sonata in G minor by Claude Debussy, the Sonata no. 2 in G major by Maurice Ravel and the Sonata for violin and piano by Francis Poulenc. Florica Jalba from Jury member Radio Romania Muzical made the following interview with Josu de Solaun. Read More →

The CD with the performances of the Croatian Glagolitic Requiem by Igor Kuljeric and the Hymn to Freedom by Jakov Gotovac, released by BR Klassik, won the prestigious International Classical Music Award in the choir category. Jury member Sanda Vojkovic made the following interview with Ivan Repusic, the chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, the guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the chief conductor of the Zadar chamber orchestra and the person responsible for the selection, performance and recording of the award-winning program. Read More →

Ivan Boumans, winner of this year’s ICMA Composer Award is a very versatile musician. Besides composing, he is also a passionate teacher and conductor. His newest orchestral work, Organic Beat, was to be premiered at the ICMA Gala in Seville. After the cancellation of this event, the ICMA Board decided to cancel the 2021 Award and to postpone the one from 2020, so that Ivan Boumans’ work can be premiered at the next Gala with the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra in 2021. Jury member Guy Engels (Radio 100,7, Luxembourg) made the following interview with the awardee. Read More →

Sixteen-year-old German cellist Philipp Schupelius is the winner of the Discovery Award of the International Classical Music Awards 2020. The musician, who grew up in Berlin, is currently studying with Wolfgang-Emmanuel Schmidt at the Julius Stern Institute of the Berlin University of the Arts, one of the largest and most renowned institutions for the promotion of young musicians in Germany. At the occasion of concerts at the VP Bank Classic Festival in Bad Ragaz (Switzerland), Isabel Roth, Martin Hoffmeister and Remy Franck made the following interview with Philipp Schupelius.

Philipp, what does it mean for you as a young musician to have won the Discovery Award of the ICMA?
It is a very great honour! I am happy because the award is so important and helpful for young musicians and because I know about the career of previous award winners. And I am especially looking forward to the gala in Seville, where I will play two movements from one of my favourite concertos, the Elgar Concerto, with the Seville Orchestra under John Axelrod. Read More →