Since 2003, the KlavierOlymp (Piano Olympus) has provided a platform for young pianists in Bad Kissingen, Germany's most famous spa town. This year, for the 22nd time, six outstanding young talents from six countries will present themselves to an expert jury and to the interested public, who will award three prizes and an audience prize. Concert Performances are also guaranteed as part of the Kissinger Sommer 2025. The KlavierOlymp will take place from 3 to 6 October 2024.
The KlavierOlymp is about discovering the next generation of pianists. Every year, six highly talented, promising young pianists aged 27 or under are invited to Bad Kissingen to perform a solo recital of their choice in the magnificent Rossini Hall - named after the Italian composer who was given treatments Kisisngen in 1856 - and a joint final concert in the Max Littmann Hall, one of the best concert halls in the world. The participants have all already won competitions at home and abroad and are at the beginning of a promising career.
Three prizes are awarded by an expert jury and one audience prize is awarded by the audience members who have attended all the concerts. The successful participants in the competition can then be heard in the following year's Kissinger Sommer programme and are also supported in their careers by collaborating with other organisers and arranging further performances. Names such as Behzod Abduraimov, Kit Armstrong, Kirill Gerstein, Martin Helmchen, Igor Levit, Alice Sara Ott, Herbert Schuch and Anna Vinnitskaja, who are all among the former prizewinners and are now winning over audiences on stages around the world, are impressive proof that the stars of tomorrow might be discovered here.
In October 2024, pianists from six countries will compete in the Kissingen KlavierOlymp: Simon Bürki (Switzerland), Onutė Gražinytė (Lithuania), Illia Ovcharenko (Ukraine), Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (Great Britain), Simon Haje (Germany) and Jérémie Moreau (France).
The five-member jury consists of Thomas Ahnert (music critic ‘Saale-Zeitung’, dramaturge and co-founder of KlavierOlymps), Manuel Brug (music critic ‘Die Welt’), Sonia Simmenauer (Managing Director Impresariat Simmenauer), Alexander Steinbeis (Artistic Director Kissinger Sommer) and Christiane Weber (Head of the Lucerne Festival Artistic Office).
The final concert on 6 October in the Max-Littmann-Saal will be recorded by Bayerischer Rundfunk and broadcast on BR Klassik.
PROGRAMME
→ Thu, 3.10., 7.30 pm: SIMON BÜRKI
Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in B minor K. 87
Robert Schumann »Kreisleriana«
Myroslav Skoryk Burlesque
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata Nr. 13 in B flat major KV 333
Sergei Rachmaninoff »Siren« (Lilac) from 12 songs op. 21, arranged for piano by the composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff Étude-Tableaux op. 39 Nr. 5 in E flat minor
Sergei Rachmaninoff Préludes in A flat major op. 23 Nr. 8, in g sharp minor op. 32 Nr. 12 and in D flat major op. 32 Nr. 13
→ Fri, 4.10, 7:30 pm: ONUTĖ GRAŽINYTĖ
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata Nr. 27 e minor
Alexander Skrjabin Préludes in B flat major op. 17 Nr. 6, in D flat major op. 11 Nr. 15, in d minor op. 11 Nr. 24 and in C major op. 48 Nr. 2
Olivier Messiaen Préludes Nr. 1 »La colombe« and Nr. 7 »Plainte calme«
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Préludes in B minor VL 182a, in B major VL 186, in D flat major VL 187 and in F major/A minor VL 188
Mieczysław Weinberg Sonata Nr. 6
Franz Liszt »Après une lecture du Dante – Fantasia quasi Sonata« from »An-nées de pèlerinage«
Alvidas Remesa »Stigmata« – Five miniature
Grażyna Bacewicz Sonata Nr. 2
→ Sat, 5.10., 11 am: ILLIA OVCHARENKO
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata D major KV 311
Franz Liszt Sonata in B minor
Valentin Silvestrov Bagatelle op. 1 Nr. 1
Levko Revutsky Préludes op. 4 Nr. 1 and Nr. 3
Valentin Silvestrov Bagatelle op. 1 Nr. 2
Levko Revutsky Préludes op. 4 Nr. 2, op. 7 Nr. 2 and op. 7 Nr. 1
Valentin Silvestrov Bagatelle op. 1 Nr. 3
Levko Revutsky Sonata b minor
→ Sat, 5.10., 3:30 pm: JENEBA KANNEH-MASON
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata Nr. 7 in D major
Margaret Bonds »Troubled Water«
Alexander Skrjabin Préludes in B major op. 11 Nr. 11 and in C major op. 11 Nr. 1
Alexander Skrjabin Sonate Nr. 2 in g sharp minor
Florence Price »Fantasie nègre« Nr. 1 in E minor
Frédéric Chopin Nocturnes in C sharp minor and in D flat major op. 27 Nr. 1 and 2
Frédéric Chopin Sonate Nr. 2 in B minor
→ Sat, 5.10, 7:30 Uhr: SIMON HAJE
Maurice Ravel »Valses nobles et sentimentales«
György Ligeti Etude Nr. 6 »Automne à Varsovie«
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata Nr. 26 in E flat major »Les Adieux«
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Adagio b minor KV 540
György Ligeti Etüde Nr. 13 »L’escalier du diable«
Frédéric Chopin Sonata Nr. 3 in B minor
→ Sun, 6.10., 11 am: JÉRÉMIE MOREAU
Johann Sebastian Bach French Suite Nr. 5 in G major
Béla Bartók »Im Freien«
Maurice Ravel »Jeux d’eau«
Camille Pépin »Iridescence-glace«
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata Nr. 31 in A flat major
→ Sun, 6.10., 6 pm: ABSCHLUSSKONZERT
• SIMON BÜRKI
Fritz Kreisler »Liebesleid«, arranged by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff »Siren« (Lilac) from 12 songs op. 21, arranged for piano by the composer
Frédéric Chopin Ballade Nr. 3 in A flat major
• JENEBA KANNEH-MASON
Alexander Skrjabin Préludes in B major H-Dur op. 11 Nr. 11 and in C major op. 11 Nr. 1
Alexander Skrjabin Sonata Nr. 2 in g flat minor
• JÉRÉMIE MOREAU
Béla Bartók »Im Freien«
• ILLIA OVCHARENKO
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sonata Nr. 2 in B minor
• ONUTĖ GRAŽINYTĖ
Grażyna Bacewicz Sonata Nr. 2
• SIMON HAJE
Franz Liszt »Rigoletto« – Concert paraphase
Richard Wagner »Isoldens Liebestod« from »Tristan und Isolde«, arranged for piano by Franz Liszt
BIOGRAPHIEN
SIMON BÜRKI
was born in St. Gallen and was inspired to play music by his grandmother. At the age of five, he began piano lessons in Kiev with Rada Zagorskaya and studied there alongside his education at a state school in Switzerland. In 2011, Simon's talent was recognised at the International Horowitz Competition for Young Pianists, where he won prizes in all three age categories. In 2017, Simon won first place in several competitions. He has already performed in several European countries and is currently studying at the Juilliard School in New York.
ONUTĖ GRAŽINYTĖ
The Lithuanian pianist was born into a musical family and began her training at the age of five, shortly after which she was accepted into the renowned Čiurlionis National School of Arts in Vilnius. She continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in the class of Kirill Gerstein. The young artist can already look back on many performances at home and abroad and has accepted invitations from the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and the Orchestre National de Lyon, among others.
ILLIA OVCHARENKO
experienced a performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 at the age of six in Chernihiv, Ukraine. After the concert, he realised that he wanted to become a pianist. He recently won the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada. He has also won first prizes at the Busoni and Horowitz competitions. He currently lives in Hanover and is studying for a master's degree with his long-time mentor Arie Vardi. He has already played with the Symphonieorchester de La Monnaie in Brussels, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National d'Île de France.
JENEBA KANNEH-MASON
The English pianist recently made her debut at the BBC Proms with Florence Price's Piano Concerto. She was a finalist in the piano category of BBC Young Musician 2018 and winner of the Murs du Son prize at the International Competition in Lagny-sur-Marne. Jeneba has performed solo programmes at venues including the Zurich Tonhalle, London's Wigmore Hall and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, as well as at the Lenzburgiade, Rheingau, Cheltenham, Bradfield and Lamberhurst festivals. She is a recipient of the Victoria Robey Scholarship at the Royal College of Music.
SIMON HAJE
The up-and-coming German pianist has been taking piano lessons since the age of six and became a junior student at the Berlin University of the Arts at the age of nine. He has won first prize at international competitions, most recently in Enschede, Neuchâtel and Aarhus. At the age of 13, he performed Weber's Concert Piece in F minor with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. He made his debut at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2020 with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. In 2022, he was the soloist in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, and in 2025 he will make his debut with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Christoph Eschenbach.
JÉRÉMIE MOREAU
Born in France in 1999, he began piano lessons at the age of seven. In September 2015, he joined Denis Pascal's class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. After completing his bachelor's degree, he was accepted into Sir András Schiff's class at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. He is a multiple prizewinner of the Vatelot Competition and won the Concours National de Piano Les Virtuoses du Cœur in 2018. He has been studying in the Sir András Schiff Performance Programme at Kronberg Academy since October 2023.