Composers and Artists

Born in Jerez, Spain. He studied guitar at Conservatorio Superior de Sevilla. Further studies at London College of Music with guitarist C. Bonell, at Guildhall School of Music with guitarist R. Brightmore and the composer M. King, at Mozarteum with Isabel Siewers and at Arizona State University with F. Koonce. Composition studies at Mozarteum under A. Hölszky and R. Febel and at Luxemburg Consevatoire with A. Müllenbach.
Master classes from D. Russell, M. Barrueco, R. Dyens, etc.; and from S. Sciarrino, D. Schnebel, C. Halffter, etc. He was teaching at Conservatorio Profesional de Ceuta, Conservatorio Elemental de Lucena, both in Spain and at Arizona State University.
He had concerts in Europe, Asia and USA. His music has been conducted by D. Russell-Davies, T. Ceccherini, J. Kalitzke, H. Lintu, A. Soriano, H. Schellenberger, etc.
He has written solo, chamber music, orchestral, theater plays, choreographies and two chamber operas. He publishes for Doblinger Verlag.

"A very high degree of originality,
he is always in search for new horizons."
Alexander Müllenbach

Andor Losonczy was born in 1932 in Budapest and, as the son of the composer and pianist L. Deszö, received a thorough musical education (piano and composition). In 1955, he became a soloist for the state concert artists' agency Filharmónia. He and Klara, who would later become his wife, left Hungary in 1960 (within the context of a music competition). In the same year he was hired as a civil servant at the University Mozarteum Salzburg and took on a professorship for piano in 1986 with a focus on contemporary music. He lectured on 20th Century Music and the Romantic era until his retirement in 1998.
All his works composed before 1960 have been lost, with the exception of two, and all electronic and computer pieces (from his time in New York in 1986 and in Paris 1980 with IRCAM) are untraceable. He has performed, as a pianist, some one hundred world premieres of other contemporary composers. He has also performed at numerous festivals and on recordings with various broadcasting stations.
He died 2018 in Salzburg.

Barbara Blumenstingl was born in Passau. During her studies in Vienna (flute with Wolfgang Schulz and Hansgeorg Schmeiser, instrumental education with Barbara Gisler-Haase and vocal and movement education with Robert Wolf), passed with distinction, she was member of Arnold Schönberg Chor. She is currently teacher for flute, chamber music and contemporary music at the local Music school and has been teaching during 2005-2012 at the university of Passau between. As soprano she performs regulary with the “Passauer Vokalsolisten”. As soloist, orchestra- and chambermusician she has been performing in many European countries and at festivals like Frauenmusiktage Ingolstadt, Festspiele Europäische Wochen Passau or Festival für Neue Musik Lüneburg. She has given premiere performances of works by Ruth Zechlin, Gloria Coates, Stefan Soewandi, Klaus Ager, Agustín Castilla-Ávila and others. Member of Gunnar Berg Ensemble she recorded a CD with Contemporary Music and has been two times in Asia with this formation. Barbara Blumenstingl is chairwoman of the competition “Jugend musiziert” in the east of Bavaria.

Benjamin Lang was born in 1976 and studied Composition (with Adriana Hölszky, Johannes Schöllhorn and Michael Edwards) and Music Theory and Conducting in Rostock, Salzburg, Hannover, Lugano, Bremen and Edinburgh. He taught Composition and Music Theory at the Universities of Music in Hannover, Bremen, Rostock and at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück and the University Lüneburg. In 2008 he became lecturer in Composition, Composition Teaching Methods and Music Theory. Since 2010 he has been lecturing at the University of Arts Zurich. His compositions have been premiered and performed at several festivals

The Austrian tenor and haute-contre Bernd Lambauer, studied singing with Kammersängerin Lilian Sukis first in Graz, later at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and completed the Lied class of Hartmut Höll. Highly reputed for his Evangelist role in Passion works, Bernd Lambauer appeared as a soloist and ensemble singer in the followings: Salzburger Festspiele, Wien modern, Styriarte, Musik-Biennale Berlin, Ruhr Triennale, Festival di Cremona Claudio Monteverdi, Festival de l’Epau (in Le Mans), Civilta Musicale Veneziana, Wiener Musikverein, Tonhalle Zürich, Philharmonie of St. Petersburg, and Zagrebe Philharmoni, among others. He also worked with conductors including Fabio Luisi, Gustav Leonhardt, Niksa Bareza, René Clemencic, Martin Haselböck and Christian Simonis. Further opera appearances includes: Claudio Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Trancredi e Clorinda, Luciano Berio’s A-Ronne, Beat Furrer’s musical theatre Begehren, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Le Cinesi as well as Rene Clemencic’s Der Berg. He recorded a numerous CD’s as a soloist and ensemble singer with Klangforum Wien, Clemencic Consort, Wiener Akademie, Ensemble Daedalus and others.

Chih-Hui Chang began her studies in violoncello at the Music School in Taichung in 1988. From 1995 until 2004 she studied with Dankwart Gahl and Johanna Picker at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. From 2000 until 2002 she studied with Professor Lluis Claret at Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, and from 2004 until 2005 she studied for the Performance Diploma with Maestro Janos Starker at the Indiana University (USA). She also holds a Master of Music degree from the University Mozarteum in Salzburg. Ms. Chang has participated in master classes given in Croatia by Eleonare Schoenfeld (Los Angeles), Lluis Claret and Bernhard Greenhouse in Prades (France), Janos Starker, Lluis Claret and Stevan Isserlis at the Piatigorsky Seminar in Los Angeles, chamber music classes with the Ysaye Quartet and Charles Tunnel in Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya and participated at the World Cello Congress III 2000 in Baltimore (USA). She was the recipient of the Föderkreis für Musik (Munich) from the Austrian Government.

From 2000 to 2006 she was a member of the Aspekte New Music Ensemble, performing in Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic; the Orquestra Filharmonica de Catalunya in Spain; the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, with the music directors Kurt Masur, Neville Marriner, Dennis Russel Davies and Christoph Eschenbach and with Tilorler Festspieleorchester under director Gustav Kuhn in 2009. Between May and October 2010 she played with the Trio of Austrian Pavilion at the Expo, 2010 in Shanghai.

Chih Hui Chang has been resident in Vienna since 2006 and is active as a soloist and chamber musician. She has made appearances in Austria, Germany and Italy performing the classic violoncello repertoire as well as playing contemporary music with the Gunnar Berg Ensemble. She has been a member of the Ensemble 20. Jahrhundert in Vienna since 2009.

Greg Caffrey 1963 - The Irish composer Greg Caffrey read music at Queen’s University Belfast where he studied composition under Piers Hellawell and James Clarke. He was awarded a B.Mus. in 1995 and completed a PhD in 2002. He has won a number of awards and scholarships that include the Hamilton Harty Scholarship, May Turtle Award and an award from the Harrison Foundation. He was a finalist in the ISME-IVME 2nd International Composition Contest in Brussels in 2008, in the Taukay Edizioni Musicali International Composition Prize in 2012, the Musica Domani International Composition Prize (USA) and he took first prize at the Concorso Counterpoint, Italy in May 2012.
His compositions have been performed in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, U.S. Bangkok, China and Brazil receiving critical acclaim.
His music has been recorded on the Meridian, Naturalstudio, Cactus, CMC, Diatribe, Edition 7 and RTE Lyric FM record labels. The formation of his own ensemble, “Greg Caffrey Circle”, in 2000, allowed him to release an album of his own compositions entitled “Child’s Play”. His latest album, “Ogden Caffrey – First Construction in Nylon”, is a collection of his music for guitar performed by Craig Ogden and it has met with much critical acclaim. Classical Guitar Magazine described the album as “contemporary music at its very best”.
Greg has received commissions from many performers and ensembles as well as from BBC Radio 3 and the Irish national broadcasting station RTE and The Ulster Orchestra. Greg lecturers in Music at SERC. Previously he was composer in residence with the London based orchestra EMFEB and was a registered artist with Creative Youth Partnerships. Greg is represented by the Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin and is a member of the Association of Irish Composers. His music is published by Australian publishers Reed Music.

The ensemble was founded by Yvonne Zehner and Klaus Ager in 2008 and is named after the avant-garde, Danish composer Gunnar Berg (1909-1989). In its inaugural year the ensemble performed works by Gunnar Berg and his Austrian contemporaries Kurt Anton Hueber and Franz Richter Herf. It is a flexible ensemble that varies in membership from project to project. Since 2009 various composers like Andor Losconczy, Klaus Ager, Greg Caffrey, Benjamin Lang, Julia Deppert and Agustín Castilla-Ávila wrote pieces for the Ensemble. The ensemble’s aim is to promote the latest in contemporary music and this recording features music composed specifically for the ensemble.

Joseph Perez Mirandilla, a Filipino guitarist, received his first training of the guitar at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Ruben F. Reyes. In 2005, Joseph went to Japan to pursue his post-graduate studies focusing on contemporary guitar music with Norio Sato, a world renowned leader of the contemporary music group Ensemble NOMAD, at the Elisabeth University of Music. Currently, he is an assistant professor for guitar performance at the Sichuan Conservatory
of Music in China.
Joseph has performed in numerous concerts in Japan, China, Singapore and the Philippines, where he continues to inspire many by teaching in masterclasses and workshops.

German soprano Katharina Schwarz holds a Masters degree with distinction in Opera and Music Theatre from the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Outstanding roles from the young soprano are Despina, Pamina, Fiordiligi and Euridice (Gluck). Lately she performed her debutrole as the Female Chorus in Benjamin Britten´s The Rape of Lucretia at the Theater Nordhausen in Germany and in e-Werk Weimar. With the famous baroque orchestra “Lautten Compagney Berlin” she performed in the opera “Didone Delirante” of Alessandro Scarlatti. During the 2012-13 season Katharina Schwarz is singing the role of Caterina Cavalieri in Peter Schaffers play “Amadeus” at the Landestheater Eisenach. Katharina Schwarz has performed as a soloist in several festivals, including the Festspiele Europäische Wochen Passau, the Spanish Evenings in St Petersburg and the Salzburger Taschenopernfestival. She performed in many works of the composer Agustín Castilla-Ávila as in his chamber opera “Don Quichotes Dulcinea”.

Klaus Ager was born in Salzburg in 1946. He studied music at the Mozarteum and at the University of Salzburg, as well as at the Conservatoire National et Superieur in Paris under Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Schaeffer.
From 1975 - 1986 Ager was the artistic director of the Austrian Ensemble for Contemporary Music and gave numerous concerts in Austria and abroad. Since 1977 he has been artistic director of the Salzburg festival Aspekte. In 1954 he founded the Aspekte new music ensemble, touring in Europe and overseas (Italy, Latvia, Brazil and Austria). He then went on to work as assistant for music theory at the University of Music and the Performing Arts Mozarteum from 1973 - 1979; as professor for composition at the conservatory in Bregenz, Vorarlberg, from 1978 -1986; and, from 1986 on, as professor of musical analysis at the Mozarteum. There, Ager was appointed Deputy University Principal from 1991 - 1995, before taking over as Principal from 1995 - 2000. Since 2004 he has held the post of president of the Austrian Composer’s Association.
Over the past few years, his activities as guest composer and lecturer have increased at various North and South American universities, as well as at institutions in China, Taiwan and Japan. As a composer, he is particularly known for his chamber and orchestral music, as well as electronic and computer music. Ager’s music has been performed at the most important festivals for contemporary music worldwide.
Numerous works are available on records or CDs (Hoshi for wind quintet; Atacama for solo guitar; Alinkonie for various sound generators; wind um ein grab; CLB512; sondern die sterne sinds; Gesang zur Nacht; serenade for piano and orchestra; La regle du jeu etc.)

"Why does a living composer write a fragment? Here we can see one possible reason: my first idea for a piece for the Gunnar Berg Ensemble was to write eleven short movements. After finishing the first movement it was noticeable that on its own it was already quite long: so eleven movements would result in a piece of a duration of at least one hour. I therefore decided to shorten the project to 5 movements and after finishing the third part – which has some quotations that link to the first movement – I was convinced that the piece made sense with just these three movements. I decided not to continue the sketches for a fourth and fifth movement.
All three pieces refer to Alexander Scriabin in one particular way; all titles of the three movements are taken from Scriabin’s piano music. The first piece is “ lent, avec douceur” the second “avec une ardeur profonde et voile” and the third “modéré, très doux et pur”. The first movement is full of quotations from the 10 Piano Sonatas of Scriabin (mainly the late Sonatas). Some of the quotations are exact note for note quotations and others with some variations. Hence, the last 8 bars of the first movement quote the end of the 10th Sonata note for note with some alterations. A Trill is added to the flute and violoncello part and some of the notes are transposed an octave higher. In any case, since the instrumentation sounds quite different, the fact that the end of this piece is the same as in the 10th Piano Sonata is not immediately evident.
The second movement is a four-part canon between Flute and Violoncello, with a sort of ostinato accompaniment on the Guitar and a Coda where flute and Violoncello join the Guitar. The four parts of the canon reflect the classic possibilities of canonic writing: normal canon, canon in inversion, canon in retrograde motion and Canon in retrograde inversion.
The third movement is in the manor of a song on the flute with an accompaniment on the Guitar and (close to the end) the Cello. This third movement includes quite a long quotation from a previous piece of mine for flute, guitar, percussion and mezzo-soprano based on poems of Georg Trakl “dem schweigenden Antlitz der Nacht” (“to the silent image of night”). This was also quoted in the first movement."

Klaus Ager

Coming soon...

The Trio Collage was founded in 2005 by Shiri Coneh, Ulrike Schuh and Yvonne Zehner.
In its inaugural year the ensemble performed works by Antonio Diabelli, Filippo Gragnani, Stefan Rak and others. Right from the beginning the ensemble was member of “Live Music Now” , founded by Yehudin Menuhin and Ian Stoutzker. During their various concert tours they augmented their repertoire with their own transcriptions and music of different composers like the Irish Greg Caffrey or Israelian composer Yuval Halpern.

Coming soon...

Composer for Concert Hall, Film, Theatre and Musicals.
Winner of the Berlinale Today Award 2012 for the film "Batman at the checkpoint", for which he wrote the Soundtrack.
His music style is a mixture between Contemporary, Jazz, Pop and Folk music. A blending of tonality with dissonance, groove with complex rhythms and triads with clusters. In his music, expression, feeling and musicality are as important, if not more, than structure, complexity and concept.
Composed 2 Musicals ("Vice", "Bluebeard") which were performed in The Hague and Berlin, and currently working on 2 new Musicals.
His music is performed throughout Europe by various ensembles, among them the Leipzig Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Trio Collage.
In addition to Conducting the gospel Choir "Sense of Touch" in Berlin, he is the musical director and singer in the Iranian and Israeli peace-promoting music ensemble Sistanagila.
Graduate of the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, and the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, the Netherlands.
Studied composition under the guidance of Maria Baptist, Gilius van Bergeijk and Benjamin Yusupov.

Yvonne Zehner studied with Mathias Seidl, Eliot Fisk and Joaquin Clerch at the University Mozarteum, with Oscar Ghiglia at the “Accademia Musicale Chigiana” in Siena and Basel and with Nicolas de Souza Barros at the “UNIRIO” in Rio de Janeiro. She performes regularly as a soloist and with Enemble Mobile, with Gunnar Berg Ensemble and with Trio Collage. Yvonne Zehner’s close collaboration with contemporary composers has led to the dedication of several works to her. She has worked with Sofia Gubaidulina, Konstantia Gourzi, Benjamin Lang, Greg Caffrey, Agustín Castilla-Ávila, Klaus Ager etc. on premieres of their works. Yvonne Zehner has performed at a variety of international festivals and concert series including the ASPEKTE Festival in Salzburg, Summer in Stuttgart – Music of the Centuries, the Passau European Festival, Incontri Chitarristici di Gargnano and others. She has toured to many solo and chamber music engagements in Europe, China, Taiwan and Brasil. Various CD productions document her musical work.