Christoph Eschenbach
Conductor

Christoph Eschenbach is a phenomenon amongst the top league of international conductors. Universally acclaimed as both a conductor and pianist, he belongs firmly to the German intellectual line of tradition, yet he combines this with a rare emotional intensity, producing performances revered by concert-goers worldwide. Renowned for the breadth of his repertoire and the depth of his interpretations, he has held directorships with many leading orchestras and gained the highest musical honors.

In exploring the conditions that led to the emergence of such a charismatic talent, we can look to his early years – born at the heart of a tempestuous, war-torn Europe in 1940, his early childhood was scarred by a succession of personal tragedies. It can truly be said that music was his saviour, and his life began to change when he learned the piano. Now, at the age of 80, his keen artistic curiosity is undiminished, and he still thoroughly enjoys working with the finest international orchestras. He is also well-known as a tireless supporter of young talent – this is his greatest passion, and he values his contribution to mentoring up-and-coming talent over and above his own distinguished career. Moved by the energy and the drive of young people – „Those one hundred percent artists“, as he calls them – he has a personal mission to pass the torch to the next generation. His discoveries to date include the pianist Lang Lang, the violinist Julia Fischer and the cellists Leonard Elschenbroich and Daniel Müller-Schott. As Artistic Advisor and lecturer at the famous Kronberg Academy, he accompanies young violinists, cellists and violists on their way to become world-class soloists. Christoph Eschenbach continues to explore new horizons and since September 2019 he is Musical Director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

Stathis Karapanos
Flute recital

Born in Athens, Greece in September of 1996, son to a ballet dancer, a banker and future brother to a then-unborn sister, at the age of 5, I declared my love for the flute, practiced and performed in all the places I have lived and in the airplane in between.

When I realized my love for music and after a long year of trying to persuade both of my parents, I enrolled at the National Conservatory in Athens and received my first lessons from Ms. Myrto Tsakiri.

After having moved to Bulgaria with my family, at the age of 13 I was accepted at the National MusicSchool of Sofia “NMU Lyubomir Pipkov”, to study under Prof. Georgi Spassov. In 2011, after participating in Prof. Robert Winn’s masterclass, I was lucky enough to begin working with him, on an intermittent basis. In 2012 ,thanks to his referral, I met Prof. Greiss-Armin and her assistant Matthias Allin at their annual masterclass in Thomashoff, a meeting that marked the next stage of my musical development.

In June of 2013, at the age of 16, I was accepted to study with them at the Music University of Karlsruhe and graduated in July of 2018 with distinctions. In February 2016, I was selected to be the only student representative in the committee that would select the new flute professor in our university, Prof. Pirmin Grehl.

During my studies, I regularly premiered different pieces from the composition class of Prof. W. Rihm and was often invited to perform as a member of both youth and professional orchestras like the State Theater of Karlsruhe, Kölner Kammerorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France between others.

Searching for inspiration is a never-ending and vitally crucial journey in one’s life. In my case some of the most inspiring figures have been Maestro Zubin Mehta whom I saw for the first time on stage in 2005 conducting “Carmen”, Maestro Christoph Eschenbach whose recordings I grew up with, Maestro Yutaka Sado conducting one of the most impressive performances of the “Requiem” by G. Verdi. I consider myself extraordinarily lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from and be invited to collaborate with them as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician.

As a chamber musician I have collaborated with artists like Vilde Frang, Matthias Goerne, Nicolas Altstaedt, Daniel Hope, Lang Lang and Marisol Montalvo between others and have had teacher and mentors like Mathieu Dufour, Vangelis Papathanassiou, Petra Müllejans, Henrick Wiese, Peter Lukas Graf.

As a soloist I have been honoured with the “Bernstein Award” from the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (2020), the “Lotto Prize” from the Rheingau Festival (2019) and have been awarded with numerous prizes from International Competitions. Past and upcoming performances and recordings include : the World Premiere of “für Inge” of Leonard Bernstein and “Lamentation” of Craig Urquhart, the World Premiere of the “Zorbas Suite” by M. Theodorakis and A. Wastor which I commissioned together with the Young Euro Classic Festival, the NCPA Orchestra (Beijing), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra (St. Petersburg), Athens State Symphony Orchestra (Greece), HR Symphony Orchestra (Frankfurt), Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), Munich Symphony Orchestra between many others.

My ultimate dream is to understand and serve music to its fullest extent, which has led me to explore all possible variations of my instrument like the Shakuhachi and the Traverse flute to the Contrabass flute. Keen on musical experimentation, I have often joined different bands, groups and world-renowned artists on stage like Richard Smith, Tico Pierhagen, Vassilis Rakopoulos with whom we meander through musical forms ranging from free jazz to hard rock.

In 2016 I assisted in organizing the 3rd edition of the “Santorini Arts Factory” festival and the following year I was appointed “Music Director”. Shortly after, I was appointed First Principal Flute of the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, a post that I left in July of 2018 to continue my studies with Prof. Bernold at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris and to further pursue my career.