Artists

Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists. The New Yorker has described him as the “collaborative pianist nonpareil”. He appears regularly at all the major music centres and festivals. His passionate interest in song has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall, London, the BBC and The Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. His annual series of song recitals – Julius Drake and Friends – in the historic Middle Temple Hall in London, has featured recitals with many outstanding vocal artists including Thomas Allen, Olaf Bär, Ian Bostridge, Angelika Kirchschlager, Iestyn Davies, Veronique Gens, Felicity Lott, Simon Keenlyside, Christopher Maltman, Mark Padmore, Christoph Prégardien.

Katharina Konradi was born in Bischkek, Kyrgyzstan, and is the first soprano from this country to have an international career as a lied, concert and opera singer. She made her debut as Ännchen (Der Freischütz) at the Hamburg State Opera in 2018 and has since been a member of the regular ensemble there. She has also sung, for instance, at the Semperoper in Dresden (2018/19) as Zdenka (Arabella), at the Bayreuth Festival (2019 and 2021) as the young shepherd (Tannhäuser), and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (2020/2021 and 2021/2022) as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro). She regularly gives recitals at the Schubertíada, the Schubertiade in Hohenems/Schwarzenberg and in the Wigmore Hall in London. She has given recitals at the Philharmonie in Cologne and in the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin.

Soprano Katja Maderer is currently studying for her Master's degree in "Concert Singing" at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in the class of Prof. Lars Woldt. She completed her Bachelor's degree with KS. Prof. Christiane Iven and Sabine Lahm in 2023. The young musician has already performed at renowned concert series such as the Europä ische Wochen Passau, ION Nuremberg, Schubertíada Vilabertran, as well as at the chamber music weeks of Tabea Zimmermann and Christian Gerhaher at Schloss Elmau. She is also a prizewinner of the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin and the International Competition for Lied Art of the Hugo Wolf Academy Stuttgart.

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.