Herbert Kefer & Markus Schirmer
Biographie Herbert Kefer & Markus Schirmer
Herbert Kefer
was born in Eisenerz, Austria, in 1960. At the age of five he received his first musical education on the violin. He continued his studies with Prof. Karl Frischenschlager in Leoben and with Prof. Karl Stierhof at the University of Music in Vienna. In 1986 he graduated with distinction.
In 1980 he founded, together with three colleagues, the Artis-Quartett. From 1984 to 1985 they spent one year in Cincinnati/Ohio with the LaSalle-Quartet to profit from their knowledge as much as possible. After that, an international career including concerts at all well known festivals began (‘Salzburger Festspiele’, ‘Schubertiade Feldkirch’, ‘Wiener Festwochen’, ‘Casals Festival’ to name a few). The quartet has made more than thirty recordings, some of which have been honoured with the Grand Prix du Disque and the Diapason d´Or.
In 1991 Herbert Kefer was appointed to head of Viola at the University of Music in Graz / Institution Oberschuetzen. From 2005-2010 he was director of the Weinklang-Festival. He is in demand as a soloist as well as a sought after partner for chamber music groups.
Herbert Kefer is playing a J.B. Guadagnini from 1784 out of the collection of the Austrian National Bank.
Markus Schirmer
No matter where he tours he receives audience acclaim for his charismatic musicianship and his ability to tell vivid stories with the instrument. One of his reviews sums him up precisely:
“A pied piper on the piano…music that comes straight from the heart, the brain and the fingertips.”
After intense studies with Rudolf Kehrer, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling or Paul Badura-Skoda
the Graz born artist went on to win numerous prizes and honours and to take a number of major concert halls and festivals by storm: the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Herkulessaal and Philharmonic (Munich), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Wigmore Hall (London), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Philharmonie and Konzerthaus (Berlin), Rudolfinum (Prague), Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Finlandia Hall (Helsinki), Teatro Teresa Carreño Caracas), Palau de la Musica (Valencia), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza), Megaron (Athens), Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival international de piano “La Roque d´Antheron“, Ruhr piano festival, “Stars of White Nights Festival” (St.Petersburg), Festival pianistico internazionale “Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli” (Brescia), Vilnius Festival, Kissinger Sommer, styriarte, Bregenz Festival, Mondseetage, ISCM Music Festival and many more.
He has worked with renowned orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra St.Petersburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Vienna, Munich and Leipzig, Borusan Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Sir Charles Mackerras, Michael Gielen, John Axelrod, Fabio Luisi, Yan-Pascal Tortellier, Philippe Entremont, James Judd, Paul Goodwin and Philippe Jordan among others.
He adores Schubert above all but is also enthusiastic about more obscure works such as Britten’s ironic piano concerto, the transcendental solo piano oeuvre of Szymanowski or “Castelli Romani”, an epic piano concerto by Joseph Marx.
Chamber music plays an important role in his work and his partners have included Vadim Repin, Renaud Capuçon, Julian Rachlin, Benjamin Schmid, Veronika & Clemens Hagen, Isabelle van Keulen, Sharon Kam, Nils Mönkemeyer, Christian Poltéra, Linus Roth, Natalia Prishepenko, Danjulo Ishizaka, Boris Giltburg, Patrick Demenga, Christian Altenburger, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, the Artis-, the Auryn-, the Carmina Quartet, the String Trio Berlin and many others.
His love affair with the unusual, his daring and his eagerness to explore new territories ensure the development of sensational events outside the traditional classical repertoire:
– SCURDIA is an improvisation project which brings together extraordinary musicians from all over the world on one stage, thus allowing new artistic and creative energies to be set free by bridging various cultures.
– Markus Schirmer has great pleasure in working with actors, combining literature and music, and has developed unusual programs which are celebrated by audience and critics alike.
In collaboration with the American singer and actress Helen Schneider f.e. he presents his own adaptation of Kurt Weill’s ”The Seven Deadly Sins” for voice and piano.
For his exceptional artistic diversity Markus Schirmer was awarded the “Music Manual Award“ at the Euromusic International Music Convention and is a recipient of one of Austria’s most prestigious awards, the Karl Böhm Interpretation Prize.
He received the German Record Critics’ Award for his debut CD of Schubert Sonatas.
Further recordings including works by Haydn, Beethoven, Ravel, Mussorgsky and his strongly acclaimed outing “THE MOZART SESSIONS” together with the uplifting US chamber orchestra A FAR CRY have won numerous international prizes.
In the upcoming season he will be performing at many festivals and concert series in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Russia and Austria.
In addition to his work as a very successful Professor of Piano at the Music University in his hometown Graz – many of his students are acclaimed prizewinners – Markus Schirmer regularly gives international masterclasses for piano and is a sought after adjudicator at several prestigious piano competitions.
Furthermore, Markus Schirmer is artistic director of the annual international music festival ARSONORE, which every September engages top chamber musicians to perform in the Hall of Planets at Eggenberg Castle (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage) in Graz.
