As two as one

German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” with Boris Pergamenschikow and later with Eberhard Feltz. He is also a conductor and the Artistic Director of various festivals.  Altstaedt enjoys playing contemporary music and has performed works by composers such as Thomas Adès, Fazil Say, Jörg Widmann, Matthias Pintscher, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Helena Winkelman. New concertos have recently been composed for him by Anders Hillborg, Márton Illés, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Liza Lim. His interpretations and performances of Baroque and classical music are unparallelled; as a soloist in J.S. Bach’s solo suites as well as in collaboration with lutist Thomas Dunford and harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, and with Ensemble Arcangelo in their recording of the complete cello concertos by C.P.E. Bach and Boccherini. In 2018, Nicolas Altstaedt was the Artist in Spotlight at the Concertgebouw, and has been the Artistic Director of the Internationales Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus since 2012, succeeding Gidon Kremer. He has also been the Artistic Director and conductor of the Haydn Philharmonie since 2014.

Cello

Quirine Viersen received her first cello lessons from her father Yke Viersen, who was a cellist in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1971 to 2014. She went on to study with Jean Decroos and later with Dmitry Ferschtman at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She completed her studies at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Heinrich Schiff. Quirine has won many prizes at international competitions. In 1994, she was the first Dutch laureate of the Tchaikovsky Competition. In 1996, she formed a duo with pianist Silke Avenhaus and recorded five CDs with romantic and contemporary music. These were received with great enthusiasm, as were her recordings of the solo suites by Bach and Britten. She has worked with musicians such as Antje Weithaas, Thomas Beijer, Leonidas Kavakos and Liza Ferschtman, and has performed as soloist with various major orchestras in and outside The Netherlands, such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. Her recital in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 2017 marked the successful beginning of her collaboration with pianist Enrico Pace. Ever since the first Cello Biënnale in 2006, she has performed at the festival regularly as soloist, including in concertos by Vieuxtemps and Korngold. At the Cello Biënnale 2018, one of her performances included the world premiere of Glacier, a solo cello piece composed for her by Jacob ter Veldhuis.  Quirine plays a cello by Joseph Guarnerius Fillius Andrea from 1715, made available to her by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.  

Piano, composer

Piano