Introducing the performers…

Adrian Brendel (cello)

One of the most versatile and original Cellists of his generation, Adrian Brendel has travelled the world as soloist, collaborator and teacher. His early immersion in the core classical repertoire inspired an enduring fascination that has led to encounters with many fine musicians at the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls. His discovery of contemporary music through the works of Kurtag, Kagel and Ligeti in his teenage years opened a new and vital avenue that he continues to explore with huge enthusiasm alongside his passion for jazz and world music.

Adrian first studied the cello with William Pleeth, with whom he developed a deep attachment to chamber music. He then went on to study with Alexander Baillie and Frans Helmerson in London and Cologne, also frequently attending the masterclasses of Gyorgy Kurtag, Ferenc Rados, members of the Alban Berg quartet and his father Alfred Brendel. An acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s cello sonatas with his father is available on the Philips label, recorded during their recital tours of 2003/2004. Projects with contemporary composers and conductors during this time such as Kurtag, Thomas Ades and Peter Eotvos amongst many inspired him to cultivate new music in his concert programmes wherever possible. A three year project with Sir Harrison Birtwistle led to premieres of his song cycle ‘Bogenstrich’ and a piano trio released on the ECM label in 2013. He also premiered York Hoeller’s cello concerto ‘Mouvements’ in January of the same year with NDR Hamburg alongside Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s ‘Canto di Speranza’.

In great demand as a recitalist and soloist, Adrian works with Aleksandar Madzar, Imogen Cooper, Till Fellner, Tim Horton and Kit Armstrong. His chamber music partners include Henning Kraggerud, Lisa Batiashvili, Lars-Anders Tomter, Andrej Bielow, Katharine Gowers and Alasdair Beatson to name a few. Over the last two years he has visited the Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Verbier, Ernen, Salzburg, Sonoro, Enescu, Schubertiade and Ruhr international festivals, and is a frequent visitor to London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and many other important venues in Europe. He has performed concertos with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, RSNO, SCO and many orchestras across Germany and eastern Europe. His annual visit to the International Musicians’ Seminar in Prussia Cove, founded by the late Sandor Vegh as a perfect environment for music-making, is of great personal and artistic importance. Outside of his performing life, Adrian divides his time between south London, Berlin and Plush.

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Noam Greenberg (piano)

Israeli-born pianist Noam Greenberg studied at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv and at Yale University, before moving to London to study with Maria Curcio. His life was changed by his visit to the International Musicians’ Seminar Prussia Cove in 2001 for Master Classes with Ferenc Rados and Andras Schiff. Many lessons with Ferenc Rados followed in Budapest, and regular visits to the Open Chamber Music Seminars, again at IMS Prussia Cove.

Noam now enjoys a busy concert schedule as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in both the traditional repertoire and new music, and has appeared on many European stages including the Wigmore Hall in London, the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Parco della Musica Roma, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Auditorio Nacional Madrid.

An avid performer of contemporary music, Noam has given many Israeli premieres including Ligeti’s Piano Concerto, in a performance broadcast live by the European Broadcasting Union. He has participated in the festivals of Lucerne, Aldeburgh, Banff, Norfolk, Lapland, Orlando, Schleswig-Holstein, Stage-Barcelona, and IMS Prussia Cove. He teaches annually at Burg Fesitritz in Austria, and has also given masterclass courses at the Britten Pears School in Aldeburgh, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold. He is artistic director of the Music at Tresanton festival, which he founded in 2006.