Marc-Antoine Charpentier Noël. Christmas cantatas

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The solistenensemble stimmkunst was founded by Kay Johannsen in 2003 for a highly regarded concert cycle of Bach’s cantatas. The ensemble sings mostly in the formation of 12 professional singers who take on both solo as well as choral roles. The emphasis of their work currently lies in the area of early music. They have already recorded a CD entitled Göttlichs Kind for Carus containing Advent and Christmas cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann (Carus 83.180). A number of concerts performed in the Stiftskirche and at the Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart with works by Charpentier, Monteverdi, Bach, Brahms and Reger were recorded by the Southwest German Radio. Personal details

The Ensemble 94 was founded by Kay Johannsen in 1994 to participate in musical activities in the Stiftskirche (collegiate church) in Stuttgart, but since then it has also performed in many independent orchestral projects. Its members come from Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, and they are widely experienced as soloists and in chamber music. An uncommon feature of the ensemble is the fact that the players have the ability to play either baroque or modern instruments, in accordance with the stylistic epoch of the music being performed. The concert master of the ensemble is Christine Busch, Professor of violin at the Stuttgart Conservatory. According to the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, this ensemble is characterized by “boundless zest for music making” as well as “subtile dynamic” and “joy in articulatory detail.” The Stuttgarter Zeitung stated “soloists performing with verve, elegance and stylistic sensitivity” and found that the group “need not shun comparison with the best Baroque orchestras.” The Württembergische Blätter für Kirchenmusik wrote about the Telemann-CD “In the accompaniment by Ensemble 94, founded by Johannsen in 1994, the singers were provided with an appropriate ensemble of exquisite articulation, at all times subservient to the vocal line, which left nothing to be desired.” Personal details

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Whether Baroque or contemporary music, Lieder or opera, the soprano Andrea Lauren Brown is equally convincing through the brilliant lightness of her interpretations. She made her operatic debut at the age of seventeen in Libby Larsen’s A Wrinkle in Time. This was followed by studies at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Winner of numerous prizes, in Europe she has given guest performances at the Theater an der Wien, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, at the Schwetzingen and Ludwigsburg Festivals, Spoleto Festival and Schumann Festival in Düsseldorf. Personal details

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Daniel Schreiber began playing the piano at the age of five and the organ at the age of ten, then decided to study school music with principal study organ in Stuttgart. Alongside this, he sang a great deal with conductors such as Frieder Bernius, in the Chamber Choir of Europe and the Hochschule vocal ensemble, going on to study singing. As well as a busy career as a soloist, Daniel Schreiber regularly sings with SWR and BR and has been a member of “Die Singphoniker” since 2009. Personal details

Jens Hamann was a member of the Stuttgart Hymnus Boys’ Choir, the Kammerchor Stuttgart and the Gächinger Kantorei. After vocal studies with Rudolf Piernay in Mannheim, the baritone was awarded Saarland Radio’s “Special Early Music Award” in 2006. The world premiere recording of Michael Haydn’s Requiem (Carus 83.353), on which he sang, was honored with the 2007 MIDEM Classical Award. In the oratorio field he works with Helmuth Rilling, Georg Grün and Ralf Otto, and he has appeared as a guest at the Stuttgart European Music Festival and the Opernschlossfestspiele Hallwyl. Personal details

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