Artists
Ever since Kit Armstrong entered the international music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted an enduring fascination upon music lovers. Today he maintains an active career as pianist, composer, and organist. He performs as a soloist in major international venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Suntory Hall Tokyo, and appears with some of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle or NHK Symphony Orchestra. A passionate chamber musician, Armstrong has developed close artistic partnerships with other leading instrumental and vocal artists, as Renaud Capuçon, Benjamin Appl or Julian Prégardien. Born in 1992 in Los Angeles, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music in London and a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI. Alfred Brendel has guided Armstrong as teacher and mentor since 2005.
Konstantin Krimmel, with German-Romanian roots, first got in touch with music singing at the St. George's Choir Boys in Ulm. Even in his student days, Konstantin Krimmel developed a special love for the concert and lied repertoire; since then, he has won numerous competitions, including the German Music Competition 2019 as well as 1st prize at the International Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition and the 2nd prize at the International Singing Competition 'Das Lied' in Heidelberg. He has performed recitals at the Kölner Philharmonie, the Deutsche Opern Berlin, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Oper Frankfurt, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Schubertíada, the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, as well as in Madrid, in London (Wigmore Hall) and at the Lied Festival in Oxford. He is a member of the BBC New Generation Artists (2021-2023) and the Bavarian Opera, where he has performed, among others, the roles of Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Yoshio (Hanjo).
Indian-American pianist Kunal Lahiry is a 2021-2023 BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the 2021 Carl Bechstein Foundation scholarship. He has commissioned and premiered works by Nico Muhly, Molly Joyce, Heloise Werner, Viktor Orri Árnason or Guðmundur Emilsson. Kunal has been invited to several young artist programs for pianists specializing in art song. In 2018, he was selected for the inaugural Royaumont-Orsay Academy. He also joined the first Song Studio, mentored by Renee Fleming, at Carnegie Hall, was invited by Thomas Hampson to participate in the Heidelberg Lied Academy. Originally from Gainesville, Georgia, Kunal was a Schulich Scholar at McGill University, and graduated with distinction in Song Interpretation, under the tutelage of Wolfram Rieger, from the Hochschule for Müsik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.
Nascuda a Cervera (Lleida), inicia els seus estudis musicals als sis anys en el Conservatori de Cervera. Posteriorment estudia en les Universitats de Graz, Basilea i Berlín. En 2012 finalitza el Màster de Gestió Cultural en la UOC. Ha participat com a solista amb l'Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, l'Orquestra Simfònica Julià Carbonell, o la Camerata Musica de Viena. És membre de la Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Catalunya, violoncel principal de la JONDE, la European Union Youth Orchestra i la Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Col·labora regularment amb l'OBC, l'orquestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu, la Konzerthaus Orchester de Berlín o la Simfonieorchester de Basilea, i ha treballat amb directors com Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Colin Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bernhard Haitink, Sir Neville Marriner o Pierre Boulez.
Estudia a Sòria i Madrid i continua la seva formació a Saragossa i a la Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” de Berlín. Ha rebut, entre d'altres, el Primer premi en el 80è Concurso de Jóvenes Intérpretes de España. En l’apartat de música de cambra, ha estat semifinalista en el Concurs de Ginebra i ha guanyat el primer premi de la Irene Steels-Wilsing Competition (Heidelberg, 2018). Ha rebut beques d’IberCaja, el Govern d’Aragó i la Irene Steels-Wilsing Stiftung. Ha actuat en importants sales i festivals d’Europa i Àsia, formant part d'orquestres com la Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, BCN216, l'Aurora Orchestra Festival i la Orquesta de Cámara Reina Sofía. Com a solista ha actuat amb l'Orquestra Do Norte, la Madrid Sinfonietta Orchestra o la Musethica Orchestra Festival. Des del 2016 és membre del Cosmos Quartet, formació que forma part de l’Academia European Chamber Music Academy.