SCHOLARS (2018–2020)
Following excellent auditions in Hamburg and Paris in the spring of 2018 four young musicians were selected to attend the Balthasar Neumann Academy and are receiving scholarships since the summer of 2018.
Maïlis Bonnefous, violin
Maïlis was born in France and studied violin at the conservatory in Toulouse. In 2012 she moved to Berlin in order to study with Latica Honda-Rosenberg and Mirijam Contzen. Since 2016 she has been studying for her master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig with Andreas Seidel.
“When I work on a new musical piece I always want to find out as much as I can about the historical context of the time it was written. It inspires me and helps me to be able to interpretate the piece in a more vivid way. I would like to deepen my experiences with the different playing techniques from baroque to contemporary music. For me it is always a pleasure to play together with other musicians and it is a great honour for me to experience this with the members of the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles.”
Patrons: Ernst-Herbert und Christiane Pfleiderer Stiftung / Christiane & Ernst-Herbert Pfleiderer
Rebecca Krieg, violoncello
Rebecca Krieg is 24 years old and studied with Prof. Lázló Fenyö at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. She has recently moved to Berlin for her master’s degree and is studying with Prof. Konstantin Heidrich.
“I am looking forward to the direct exchange with the other scholars as well as with the members of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble. I’ve always been interested in baroque musique but still have the feeling of knowing just a tiny part of it and I am looking forward to extending my knowledge. In my opinion the most beautiful thing about music is to play together with others – and if one then has the same imagination of the sound and a siminlar consciousness for the historical background of the work, it can just be amazing!”
Patrons: Poolhaus-Blankenese Stiftung / Ingeborg & Bernd Kahnert
Jonathan Ponet, viola
Jonathan Ponet was born in Belgium in 1993. He is currently studying for his master’s degree in the class of Thomas Riebl at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
“In 2016 I had the pleasure of participating in the CuE. Afterwards, my interest and motivation towards historical performance practice has only increased. This resulted in participating in numerous historical performance projects (baroque until early romantic repertoire) at the Mozarteum and elsewhere as well as taking historical performance classes within my studies. Taking part in this academy I look forward to dive into the world of historically informed performance and to get acquainted with all its different facets. In a way I expect to cross many cultural borders and to find connections to the music through other means of expression such as language, dance and different art forms.”
Patrons: Karen & Stefan Müller
Muhammedjan Sharipov, violin
Muhammedjan Sharipov was born in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). He studied violin at the statal Conservatory in Ankara and at the Bilkent University. Since 2013 he has been living in Salzburg where he is currently studying with Prof. Harald Herzl at the Mozarteum.
“I would like to extend my baroque repertoire, approach the particular sound and interpretation. Besides solo playing, I am a huge admirer of chamber and orchestral music. In my opinion it is quite important and also efficient to feel individual compositions and styles. Working on these certain aspects of understanding will enlarge my perspective and put me on a different level. I am incredibly happy to be a part of this academy and study programme. This is a big chance for me to get the essence of baroque music and extend my knowledge about the historical classical background.”
Patrons: Polhaus-Blankenese Stiftung / Ingeborg & Bernd Kahnert