Ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion  

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		Ya-ou Xie - piano, conductor “Ya-ou Xie understands how to create a magical, beguiling aura…” commented the French magazine „Lettre du Musicien“ about the pianism of Ya-ou Xie. Born in southwestern China, the pianist has performed before international audiences at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, both Cité de la Musique and Salle Cortot in Paris, the Hong Kong Art Center, the Beijing Concert Hall, the Shanghai Concert Hall, and the  Vienna Konzerthaus. As a soloist she has appeared with grand orchestras, including the China National Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, the Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, the New Philharmonic Orchestra Westfalen, and the National Orchestra Lille under conductors such as Victor Yampolski, Lutz Köhler, Madame Zheng Xiaoying, Michael Helmrath, Victor Puhl, and Li Xincao. She is a guest performer at numerous festivals, such as Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, MaerzMusik Berlin, the Beijing New Music Festival, the Centre Acanthes in Metz, and Festival de Sceaux in France. As the winner of important prizes at the Orléans Concours XXème Siècle, Concours Olivier Messiaen, Concorso Premio Jaén, the International Piano Competition Lake Como, and the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, she received accolades for her interpretations of works by Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Arnold Schönberg, George Crumb, and Luciano Berio. Her teachers were Wan Ing Ong (Stuttgart), Hans Leygraf (Berlin), Pascal Devoyon (Berlin), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (Paris), Claude Helffer (Paris), Zhao Pingguo (Beijing), Li Mingqiang, and Lin Eryao (Shanghai). With a scholarship from the prestigious International Piano Academy Lake Como, she has studied intensively with great musicians such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Boris Berman, Leon Fleisher, Alicia de Larrocha, and William Grant Naboré among others. Additionally, Ya-ou Xie studied conducting in Shanghai with Xiaotong Huang. She works regularly with the Kairos Quartett, Cellist Claudius von Wrochem, and recorder player Prof. Ulrike Volkhardt. Alongside classical literature, both Chinese and Western contemporary music occupy a important place in Ms. Xie's repertorire. She has worked with composers such as George Crumb, Qigang Chen, Xiaogang Ye, Xiaoyong Chen, Helmut Lachenmann and has given frequent premieres in many countries. Her recordings and live appearances have been broadcasted by several radio stations including Deutschland Radio, China Central TV, Radio 4 Hong Kong, Radio3 Brussels and Südwestdeutsche Rundfunk. Her latest CD features compositions by Debussy, Schoenberg, Schulhoff, and Messiaen. * * *
		Prodromos Symeonidis - piano Ever since winning seven prizes at the „Concours Olivier Messiaen piano contemporain 2003“ (Paris) and the „Concours International de piano d'Orléans 2006“ Prodromos Symeonidis has been recognized as an important interpreter of contemporary music and classical music in general. His playing has elicited enthusiasm and praise from some of the world's top musicians and critics... „un grand artiste“, „un roi du piano“ (Yvonne Loriod Messiaen), „I love very much his sound“ (Claude Helffer), „an outstanding technique and a superb musical sensitivity“ (Kent Nagano), „geistig wie manuell eindringliches Spiel“, „außerordentlich anschlagsvariabel“ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), „d'une maîtrise époustouflante“ (ConcertoNet). Prodromos Symeonidis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1972. Apart from music, composition and the piano, which were his constant companions from early childhood, he also had a great fondness for mathematics and astronomy. As a youth, he won many prizes at national and international contests for mathematics, including a bronze medal at the 30th International Mathematical Olympiad in 1989. In 1990 he moved to Germany, where he pursued and completed his musical studies in Munich, Cologne and Berlin under Michael Endres, Karin Merle, Arbo Valdma and Georg Sava. Besides piano, he studied instrumental pedagogy and composition. Parallel to his studies, he also worked with Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, Claude Helffer and Dimitri Bashkirov. His international competition successes have led to solo appearances in numerous concert halls and music festivals, recordings for the german radios SWR2, Radio Bremen and the french radios France Musique, RCF Orléans, as well of several CDs for the german label telos music records. In 2008 he founded together with the pianist and conductor Ya-ou Xie the internationally active ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion, of which he is a member and the artistic director. Aside from his activities as an interpreter and ensemble director, Prodromos Symeonidis is an active composer and teacher. His chamber music pieces have been successfully performed in Germany and France. He gives regularly concerts of pedagogical character like Messiaen's cycle Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus or Maurice Ohana's complete piano works. In 2008 he was part of the teaching team in the contemporary music centre Acanthes in Metz. * * *
		Sawami Kiyoshi - piano Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Sawami Kiyoshi received her Master of Music degree at Elisabeth University of Music where she studied with Futaba Inoué (piano), Yasuko Mitsui (harpsichord) and Jo Kondo (music analysis). Having been awarded a scholarship by the the city of Hiroshima she subsequently came to Germany where she continued her study of the piano at the Academy of Music „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin with Klaus Bäßler. She passed her graduate recital and received her solo diploma both with distinction. Parallel to her studies she took part in master courses at the Centre Acanthes and in Darmstadt where she worked closely with among others Toshio Hosokawa and Claude Helffer. In 2004 she was resident guest pianist at the Académie Musicale de Villecroze in France where she had the opportunity of working together with Noël Lee in the field of contemporary music. She has appeared with among others the Berliner Symphonikern, the Slovakian Chamber Orchestra and the Elisabeth University Orchestra and has recorded several works for the radio stations FSB, rrb and for the recording company Sony BMG. Along with her career as soloist she is also a permanent member of the ensembles for contemporary music Berlin PianoPercussion and Saitenblicke, as well as co-founder of the Trio Lotus. * * *
		Friedemann Werzlau - percussion Friedemann Werzlau was born in Potsdam-Babelsberg in1964 and received instruction in piano and voice at an early age. After an apprenticeship as an offsetting printer and after several years of private percussion lessons he graduated from the Academy of Music „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin with a diploma in classical percussion and timpani. Further studies in the fields of improvisation, solo percussion and composition followed. From 1989 until its disbandment he was assistent solo timpanist of the Brandenburg Philharmonic in Potsdam and has worked independently since then as musician, conceptual-composer and programme organizer. Since 2004 he has been a member of the Chamber Academy of Potsdam (solo timpanist and percussionist), of BICE (Berlin Improvising Composers Ensemble), Techester (techno and orchestra), Balance-Schlagwerke and Triode (percussion ensemble) and „pinx.it (tuba and percussion) as well as Apeiron (non-fixed instrumentation with DJ). * * *
		Adam Weisman - percussion Adam Weisman studied with Chris Lamb and Fred Hinger at the Manhattan  School of Music in New York, with Sylvio Gualda at The Conservatory of Versailles and with Peter Sadlo and Robyn Schulkowsky at the Hochschule for Music in Munich. In 1991 he won 3rd prize at the ARD music competition in Munich and in 1992 2nd prize at the International Music Competition in Geneva. In the television series "Orchestra!" with Sir Georg Solti and Dudley Moore he played percussion. He composed and played music for theater pieces in Munich, Esslingen and Linz. He performed with New Music Consort and NewBand in New York in 1998-90, and since then with Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien (residenceship 1997-98 and 2004-05) Zeitkratzer (concerts with Lou Reed in Berlin and Venice), MusikFabrik, and  Scharoun Ensemble (members of the Berlin Philharmonic). He premiered pieces from Peter Eötvös, Tan Dun, David Lang, Matthias Pintscher, Helmut Oehring...; played under Pierre Boulez, Emilio Pomarico, Stephan Asbury, Sylvain Cambreling...; and he played on many CD's, including one with Ensemble Modern, Frank Zappa and music from Varese. As soloist he has performed in Athens (concert in honor of Iannis Xenakis), Paris, Munich, Geneva, Berlin, Vienna, Danzig, Perugia and Mar del Plata in Argentina. He played folk music from the Andes mountain region with the famous Quechua musician Uña Ramos and is the Drummer with the rock band Landis Mackellar and the Diatribes. * * *
		Matthias Buchheim - percussion Matthias Buchheim was born in Neustrelitz. From 1984-88 he studied percussion with Hans-Hürgen Lüdecke and Rudi Liebetrau at the Academy of Music „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin. After finishing his exams he was a member of the orchestra of the Kleist Theater in Frankfurt (Oder) from 1988 until 1990. In 1990 he moved over to the Large Radio Orchestra of Berlin and remained there until its disbandment in 1992. Until 1994 he worked as a freelance musician specifically in the area of contemporary music. Since 1994 he has been the solo timpanist of the State Orchestra of Brandenburg again in Frankfurt (Oder). Matthias Buchheim is also a member of the Percussion Project Rostock. He performs together with Friedemann Werzlau - of the Chamber Academy of Potsdam - in the duo „Balance Schlagwerke“. He is also fond of jazz.