Ana de la Vega, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Ramón Ortega Quero, Cyrus Allyar, Johannes Berger, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
Biography Ana de la Vega, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Ramón Ortega Quero, Cyrus Allyar, Johannes Berger, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
Ana de la Vega
Few flautists of her generation have performed so extensively worldwide as soloist and chamber musician. Ana de la Vega’s Wigmore Hall debut was reviewed as ‘Outstanding’ (Classical Source), her Cadogan Hall London performance as ‘true artistry’ (Musical Opinion), and her Berlin Philharmonie debut as ‘first-class’. Highly acclaimed for her recent Mozart Flute Concerto performance with the English Chamber Orchestra in London, Ana has recorded her debut concerto disk with the same orchestra to be released in 2017. Having just returned from a concerto tour of Ukraine, coming months highlights include a Wigmore Hall recital and the world premier recording of Beth Barfield-Brown’s Flute Sonata.
Her premiere of Mysliveček’s lost flute concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, made Critics’ Choice in London TimeOut and received rave reviews in BBC Magazine, Gig Magazine and the Daily Telegraph. Having discovered numerous lost works for flute which she pioneeres in expanding the flute repertoire, Ana de la Vega is rapidly becoming one of the most exiting ambassadors of her instrument today.
Ana was student of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris where studied for her Premier Prix under Catherine Cantin, as well as with Philippe Pierlot and Raymond Guiot. Born in Australia to British and Argentinian parents, Ana is a successor of the great French school of Flute playing. At the age of 23 she won the position of Principal Flute with the Orquestra Sinfonica do Norte in Portugal. Since then she has held Principal Flute positions with the EPK Europa Philharmonie in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, and the Philharmonie der Nationen in Hamburg.
Ana is founder and artistic director of the London International Players, a dynamic London ensemble which brings together the finest musicians of her generation. On the wings of her dynamism they have already in their first season performed in Europe’s greatest halls to high regard, making headlines in the UK and abroad with their ‘explosive and ‘dazzling’ performances (World Of Classical Music, Wigmore Hall review).
Ramón Ortega Quero
The two-time ECHO Award winner Ramón Ortega Quero is recognized around the world as one of the most inspiring musicians of his generation.
He received solid training from Miguel Quirós early on at the conservatory of his native city of Granada. In 2003, he was invited by Daniel Barenboim to join the East-West Divan Orchestra and soon after was introduced to Prof. Gregor Witt, with whom he studied for four years. He went on to win First Prize at the ARD Music Competition held in Munich in September 2007 and in the 2010/11 season was nominated a “Rising Star” by the European Concert Hall Organisation. He is also a fellowship award-winner of the Borletti Buitoni Trust London.
Ramón Ortega Quero has been Principal Oboist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2008, under its Principal Conductor Mariss Jansons. He also works with Riccardo Muti, Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Colin Davies, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernhard Haitink and Sir Simon Rattle.
He appears regularly as a guest soloist with major international orchestras including the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, MDR Sinfonieorchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchester, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Sao Paulo Symphony, Prague Philharmonia, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and Düsseldorfer Symphoniker. On the chamber music platform, Ramón has performed with Elena Bashkirova, Kit Armstrong, Mitsuko Uchida, Herbert Schuch and Sebastian Manz, amongst others at concert series in Vienna, Salzburg, Baden-Baden, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hanover, Valencia, Cologne, Vancouver and at the international festivals in Gstaad, Jerusalem, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Lucerne Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Rheingau Musik Festival. He also collaborates regularly with renowned musicians such as Janine Jansen, Guy Braunstein and Tabea Zimmermann.
In 2015 Ramón performed the world premiere of the oboe concerto Legacy, which composer Oscar Navarro dedicated to him. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in recital in 2016. Other recent highlights include concerts with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin conducted by Ivan Fischer, the Scottish Chamber orchestra under Robin Ticciati and concerts with the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. In 2018/19 he was Artist in Residence at the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada.
Ramon’s debut CD Shadows for Solo Musica, released in October 2010, was awarded the ECHO KLASSIK as “Newcomer of the Year”. In October 2012, he won his second ECHO Klassik award in collaboration with Sebastian Manz, Marc Trenel, David Alonso Fernandez and Herbert Schuch for the “Chamber Music recording of the year”. In the same year he released The Romantic Oboist with pianist Kateryna Titova on the Genuin label. His most recent releases include Variation 5 for Berlin Classics in 2018 and a disc of Haydn & Stamitz for Pentatone in 2020.
Highlights of the 2020/21 season include guest appearances with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stadtorchester Friedrichshafen and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra as well as recitals in Toronto, Australia and Germany.
Alexander Sitkovetsky
was born in Moscow into a family with a well-established musical tradition.
His concerto debut came at the age of eight, and in the same year he moved to the UK to study at the Menuhin School. Lord Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years and they performed together on several occasions.
Highlights of his recent concerto performances include appearances with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Rīga, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin’s in the Fields, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bolivia, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest The Hague, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau.
He is also much in demand as a director and has directed and performed as a soloist regularly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Players, Camerata Zurich and the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.
He is also regularly invited as guest soloist with orchestras touring the UK and these have recently included the Russian Philharmonic Novosibirsk, Brussels Philharmonic, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Tonkünstler Orchester.
The forthcoming season will see his debuts with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra Tennessee and Romanian Sinfonietta, as well as return visits to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Rīga, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Youth Orchestra, and Camerata Salzburg. Further highlights will be appearances at various chamber music festivals and venues, tours with the Julia Fischer Quartet and the Sitkovetsky Trio and extensive periods of chamber music in Australia and the USA.
His critically acclaimed CPO recording of Andrzej Panufnik’s Violin Concerto with the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin commemorating the composer’s 100th birthday won an ICMA Special Achievement Award. His most recent recording with the English Symphony Orchestra of the Philip Sawyers’s Violin Concerto was released to great critical acclaim.
Alexander was awarded 1st prize at the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition alongside pianist Wu Qian. He is an alumnus of the prestigious ‘Chamber Music Society Two’ programme at the Lincoln Center, and in 2016 received the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
Alexander is a founding member of the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio, with whom he has won various prizes including the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Kammermusik Prize. The trio has performed all over the UK and Europe including Alte Oper Frankfurt, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Wigmore Hall, and toured Asia recently.
