Biography
Ragna Schirmer, piano
“Vitality, emotionality and intellect — the young German pianist Ragna Schirmer possesses all the prerequisites for a great solo career”, wrote the Presse Wien after her debut at the Salzburg Festival, where she performed Schumann’s A minor Concerto with the Salzburg Camerata conducted by Sir Roger Norrington. Ragna Schirmer is regarded as one of the most promising artists of the young generation. Her repertoire is comprehensive, extending from Bach’s Goldberg Variations to the music of today. “It is difficult to think of anyone else with a comparable ability, a comparable personality. Ragna Schirmer has a lot to say”, states the Berlin Philharmonic Magazine.
Ragna Schirmer studied with Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling in Hanover and Professor Bernard Ringeissen in Paris, getting top marks in all her courses. She proved her skills at competitions whilst still in her teens and was invited to take part in major music festivals. She has been awarded a total of fifteen first prizes, becoming the only person to win the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig twice. She reached the finals of the Busoni Competition at the age of fifteen and attracted particular attention by winning special prizes at the UNISA Competition in Pretoria, South Africa. She was given a professorship at the College of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim at the age of 28.
Ragna Schirmer has performed with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Zubin Mehta, the Gürzenich Orchestra and Andrey Boreyko, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Herbert Blomstedt, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie as well as many further orchestras. Chamber music is also very important to her. She regularly plays with the cellist Michael Sanderling and the Gewandhaus Quartet.
Her CDs have received numerous awards and excellent reviews throughout Europe (Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, Gramophone). She received the Echo Klassik Prize for her Haydn album, while Stereoplay magazine placed the “Etude Fantasy” in the “audiophile” category and named it CD of the year. Her astounding technique enables Ragna Schirmer to impart a very individual sound to her interpretations, which benefit as much from her energy as from her courage in leaving things unsaid.
“Schirmer again proves herself to be a stylish and accomplished artist — she’s a keyboard stroker not hitter — producing a rich, organ-like sonority from the Steinway.” Gramophone
www.ragnaschirmer.de
“Vitality, emotionality and intellect — the young German pianist Ragna Schirmer possesses all the prerequisites for a great solo career”, wrote the Presse Wien after her debut at the Salzburg Festival, where she performed Schumann’s A minor Concerto with the Salzburg Camerata conducted by Sir Roger Norrington. Ragna Schirmer is regarded as one of the most promising artists of the young generation. Her repertoire is comprehensive, extending from Bach’s Goldberg Variations to the music of today. “It is difficult to think of anyone else with a comparable ability, a comparable personality. Ragna Schirmer has a lot to say”, states the Berlin Philharmonic Magazine.
Ragna Schirmer studied with Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling in Hanover and Professor Bernard Ringeissen in Paris, getting top marks in all her courses. She proved her skills at competitions whilst still in her teens and was invited to take part in major music festivals. She has been awarded a total of fifteen first prizes, becoming the only person to win the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig twice. She reached the finals of the Busoni Competition at the age of fifteen and attracted particular attention by winning special prizes at the UNISA Competition in Pretoria, South Africa. She was given a professorship at the College of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim at the age of 28.
Ragna Schirmer has performed with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Zubin Mehta, the Gürzenich Orchestra and Andrey Boreyko, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Herbert Blomstedt, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie as well as many further orchestras. Chamber music is also very important to her. She regularly plays with the cellist Michael Sanderling and the Gewandhaus Quartet.
Her CDs have received numerous awards and excellent reviews throughout Europe (Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, Gramophone). She received the Echo Klassik Prize for her Haydn album, while Stereoplay magazine placed the “Etude Fantasy” in the “audiophile” category and named it CD of the year. Her astounding technique enables Ragna Schirmer to impart a very individual sound to her interpretations, which benefit as much from her energy as from her courage in leaving things unsaid.
“Schirmer again proves herself to be a stylish and accomplished artist — she’s a keyboard stroker not hitter — producing a rich, organ-like sonority from the Steinway.” Gramophone
www.ragnaschirmer.de