TrioVanBeethoven

Why van Beethoven? Beethoven stands for independence of mind, for revolutionary ideas, for music that reaches far beyond his own time. Beethoven was a lone wolf, but at the same time the central figure to begin new traditions of composing that influenced many of his successors.

Beethoven as a symbol of the three musicians’ closeness to the works of Viennese Classic, but also as a visionary and the creator of a new mode of composition – this fits in with the main mission of the TrioVanBeethoven: the care of the classical trio works, but also the commissioning of new compositions or crossover projects.

In conjunction with the Scottish singers Lorna Anderson, soprano and Jamie MacDougall, tenor the TrioVanBeethoven places a focus on Beethoven’s and Haydn’s folksong arrangements in order to present this unique combination of classical music and folksong tradition to a broader public.                                                                                      

In its foundation year in 2011, the Trio held its debut at the renowned Festival Tage der Alten Musik in Herne (Germany). Since then, the ensemble has performed in many countries throughout Europe, in Iran and in China.

They have appeared in the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the Brucknerfest Linz, the Festwochen Gmunden, the Musikwochen Millstatt, the Lisztfestival Raiding, the Haydn Festival Bruhl (DE), in London Kings Place, Glasgow and Edinburgh (GB), at the Pažaislis Music Festival in Kaunas (LT), the Haydn Biennale in Mechelen (BE), the Festival Nuova Consonanza in Rome (IT), the Festival Imago Sloveniae in Ljubljana (SL), the International Chamber Music Festival in Esbjerg (DK) and the Festival Rencontres Musicales en Artois (FR).

From 2014 to 2018, the TrioVanBeethoven presented a concert series in Upper Austria (Kremsegg Castle), since 2017 they offer a subscription series in the „MuTh“ concert hall in Vienna.

For the renowned Austrian label Gramola the ensemble has released all of Beethoven’s piano trios on 4 CDs. This recording has been awarded the Ö1 Pasticcio-Prize by Austrian Classical Radio in 2017.

In July 2018 a CD comprising Scottish, Irish and Welsh folksong arrangements by Beethoven with Lorna Anderson, soprano and Jamie MacDougall, tenor, has come out again for the label Gramola.

Clemens Zeilinger, 2011/12 “Artist in Residence” at the Brucknerhaus Linz, ranks among Austria’s leading pianists. He was the winner of the European Youth Music Competition in Antwerp and won awards at the European Chamber Music Competition in The Hague and at the Beethoven Competition in Vienna. 

As a soloist, Clemens Zeilinger has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Royal Academy in London, the Bruckner Orchester Linz, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and the Tonkünstler - Orchester Niederösterreich. He has given concerts in many European countries, in the USA and Japan as well as in Korea, Morocco, Iran and Oman.

In 2008, Clemens Zeilinger played all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, and in 2010 he presented a series of Schubert’s piano works at the same venue.

He teaches at the University of Music in Vienna and at the Anton-Bruckner-University in Linz.

Verena Stourzh was a member of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt from 1998 to its disbanding in 2010 and has an impressive record of concert appearances worldwide.

With Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Verena Stourzh released complete CD-recordings of the piano trios by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert as well as the first complete recording of Haydn’s 429 folksong arrangements of Scottish and Welsh folk songs (with Lorna Anderson, soprano and Jamie MacDougall, tenor).

In 2009, the Haydn commemorative year, Verena Stourzh played a violin by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona 1714, loaned to her by the Austrian National Bank.

As a soloist, she has appeared with the Tonkünstler - Orchester Niederösterreich, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Brasilia Symphony Orchestra.

Verena Stourzh performs on violins of Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, 1770, and Patrick Robin, 2003.

Franz Ortner, as a soloist and chamber musician, acquired an international reputation at an early age. He was a prize winner of the International Brahms Competition in 2004 and at the Cello Competition „Gradus ad Parnassum“ in 2005 and was also a scholarship holder of the Lucerne Festival Academy under Pierre Boulez for two years.

From 2006 to 2009 Franz Ortner was the principal cellist of the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra in Lisbon (Portugal) and from 2009 to 2014 he was the cellist of the Esbjerg Ensemble in Denmark. Currently he is a member of Musikkollegium Winterthur, Switzerland as well as of Le Concert Olympique, Belgium.

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie, the Kammerorchester Rheinland-Pfalz, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.

In 2010, together with the pianist Caroline Boirot, Franz Ortner released a CD with works by Brahms, Fuchs, Kirchner and Schumann and in 2011 a live CD was published with the Cello Concerto by Antonín Dvořák.

Franz Ortner plays a cello of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, 1856.

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