Konrad Jarnot

Konrad Jarnot studied with Rudolf Piernay at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he received the Gold Medal in 1997. In 1996 he was awarded the Decca Prize of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and in 2000 he won first prize at the International ARD Competition in Munich. He subsequently studied with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

He is particularly known as a recitalist. Previous recital appearances have included the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch, Beethoven Festival in Bonn and at the Schwetzingen Festival. Forthcoming concert engagements include his debuts at the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Real Madrid, Tonhalle Zurich, Theatre des Champs-Elysees Paris, Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Megaron Athens, Palau de la Musica Valencia, Opera City Hall Tokyo, Kenedy Center Washington, Lincoln Center New York and at the Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein and Ludwigsburg Festivals. He has worked with pianists including Helmut Deutsch, Hartmut Höll, Irwin Gage, Wolfram Rieger and Alexander Schmalcz.

His numerous recordings include discs of Mahler (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) Mozart (songs by Leopold, Wolfgang Amadeus and Franz Xaver Mozart), Strauss (baritone version of Vie Letzte Lieder), Zilcher, Ravel (Baritone version of Scheherazade, Brahms (Die Schone Magelone) and Duparc.

He has worked with many conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Marek Janowski, Marcello Viotti, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Pinchas Steinberg, Jonathan Nott, Gustav Kuhn, Peter Schreier, Helmut Rilling and Philippe Herreweghe and with such orchestras as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and in Germany with the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, the Bamberger Symphoniker, Münchener Runfunkorchester and Bayerisches Staatsorchester.

His opera work includes Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte) in Savonlinna, Onegin (Eugen Onegin) in Baden-Baden, Yeletzky (Pique Dame) in Glasgow, Aeneas in London, Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos) in Garmisch, Leporello (Don Giovanni) in Feldkirch, Pelléas (Pelléas) in Innsbruck, Tambourmajor (Woyzeck/Gurlitt) and Amfortas (Parsifal) in Monte-Carlo and Frankfurt. Konrad Jarnot will make his Royal Opera House debut in June 2007 as Don Fernando (Fidelio), conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Alexander Schmalcz

Born in Weimar, Germany, Alexander Schmalcz began his piano studies at the age of ten in Dresden as a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor, the renowned German boys' choir. He continued his musical studies in Dresden and Utrecht, and in 1993 he moved to London to study with lain Burnside and Graham Johnson at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He took also part in master classes with lrwin Gage, Roger Wignoles, Peter Schreier, Thomas Quasthoff, Charles-Andre Linale and Kyoko Hashimoto.

In 1996, he was awarded the Megan Foster Accompaniment Prize and the Gerald Moore Award. His piano trio, the Pantoum Trio, won the Nederlands lmpresariaat Competition in Amsterdam. He has performed all over Europe, Japan und the U.S.  including such prestigious venues as London Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Frauenkirche Dresden, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 92th Street Y‚ New York, and the Vatican.                 

Alexander Schmalcz has been a guest at international festivals such as Stuttgart (European Music Festival) and Hitzacker in Germany, Windsor in England and Lanciano in ltaly. He has made numerous recordings for the BBC, the Netherlands Radio and the German Radio.

As an accompanist he works regulary with singers including Jörg Hempel, Peter Schreier and Matthias Goerne. Since 1999 Alexander has combined his international career with a teaching position at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule Düsseldorf.

Recent engagements include recitals at Wigmore Hall with Marcus Ullmann and Stephan Loges, several recitals with Peter Schreier in Germany, recital tours with Stephan Loges and Jörg Hempel through the U.S. as well as a recital tour throughout Japan. Future plans include recitals with all these artists throughout Europe and the U.S.