Günter Haumer: Exceptional Vocalist

MAGDA AMARA: Devoted to Perfection

As a soloist and one of the most passionate and in-demand pianists in chamber music, Magda Amara has performed in many prestigious concert venues, such as the Musikverein, Konzerthaus Wien, Mozarteum Salzburg, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tivoli Utrecht, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Tonhalle Zürich, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and the Lincoln Center in New York. Magda Amara has participated in many renowned festivals, including the Lucerne Festival, Utrecht International Chamber Music Festival, Festspiele MecklenburgVorpommen, Le Sion Festival, Festival Dvořákova Praha, Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, Best of NRW, Neuberger Kulturtage and Attergauer Kultursommer, and has enjoyed successful collaborations with orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, North Netherlands Orchestra, German State Philharmonic Rheinland-Pfalz, and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, to name a few. She is a devoted chamber musician, whose repertoire includes over 70 chamber music pieces, and she collaborates with outstanding partners, amongst them Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Renaud Capuçon, Candida Thompson, Daniel Lozakovich and Baiba Skride as well as leaders and members of the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and Czech Philharmonic. Magda shares a very close musical relationship with the Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh, with whom she recorded two CDs of the Brahms and Rachmaninoff Cello Sonatas, released by the Austrian label Capriccio in 2013 and 2015. Her discography comprises six CDs so far, all awarded with prestigious prizes.

Magda Amara was born in Moscow and graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory in the classes of Sergei Dorensky and Alexander Bonduryanskiy. She completed her studies with Stefan Vladar at the University of Music in Vienna and is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including first prizes at the Jeunesses Musicales and Ennio Porrino Piano Competitions as well as several chamber music competitions, and the third prize at the Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition.

GÜNTER HAUMER: Exceptional Vocalist

The up-and-coming Austrian baritone Günter Haumer has sung under the baton of Christian Thielemann, Fabio Luisi, Gustavo Dudamel, Jesús López Cobos, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Ivor Bolton, Sylvain Cambreling and Philippe Herreweghe among others, at venues such as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus (Vienna), Salzburg Festival, Cité de la Musique (Paris), Dresden Philharmonic, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Jones Hall in Houston and the Warsaw Philharmonic. Günter Haumer has been a member of the Ensemble of the Volksoper in Vienna since 2012. He has performed the title role in Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Ping in Turandot, Danilo in The Merry Widow, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus and the title roles in Zar und Zimmermann and Gasparone in Europe and South America. He is most well-known for his performances of contemporary repertoire. Günter Haumer has worked with stage directors such as Rolando Villazón, Deborah Warner, Otto Schenk, Christiane Lutz and Christoph Schlingensief. As a Lieder singer, Günter Haumer is recognised as one of the best performers of the genre, often accompanied by Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake and James Baillieu, with many CDs, DVDs, and broadcasts to his name. In addition to his busy performing schedule, Günter Haumer teaches singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.