T8.A5. ADDA SIMFÒNICA/ BALANAS/KLOECKNER “Canto de luz”

Benedict Klöckner is today among the most outstanding cellists of his generation. Winner of numerous international competitions, he pursues an intense career as a soloist with top-tier orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Kremerata Baltica, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

Throughout his career he has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Sanderling, Ingo Metzmacher, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Oana Mallwitz, Cristian Măcelaru and Sir Simon Rattle.

His artistic presence has taken him to internationally reference venues such as the Philharmonie de Berlín, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Tonhalle in Zürich and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

A regular guest at international festivals, he has shared the stage with musicians such as Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Gidon Kremer and Anne-Sophie Mutter, consolidating a trajectory that combines solo projection, chamber music and a close relationship with some of the world's main music centers.

For over ten years he has been the founder and artistic director of the International Music Festival of Koblenz, IMUKO.

In the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 seasons he maintains an especially outstanding international agenda, with performances at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Philharmonie de Berlín, the Philharmonie de Colonia, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, in addition to his return to New York at Lincoln Center and his debut with the NCPA Orchestra in Beijing.

His recent discography includes the album Dvořák, published by Berlin Classics in 2024 with Cristian Măcelaru, the Romanian Chamber Orchestra and Danae Dörken, as well as the recording of the Brahms sonatas with Yu Kosuge, edited by Sony in 2023.

He has also recorded the complete Suites for cello by Bach, and his recordings have been recognized with distinctions such as the OPUS Klassik Award and the Supersonic Award.

Trained at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe with Martin Ostertag and at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman, Benedict Klöckner is currently a professor at the École Normale de Musique de París.

He plays the cello "Ex Maurice Gendron", built by Francesco Ruggeri in 1680.

Also committed to contemporary creation, he has premiered works by Wolfgang Rihm, Eun Hwa Cho, Eric Tanguy and Dai Fujikura in important international concert contexts.

The Latvian cellist and conductor Margarita Balanas has consolidated herself as one of the most singular musicians of her generation, with performances at Carnegie Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Fondation Louis Vuitton and L'Auditori de Barcelona.

She has received the Grand Prix of Music of Latvia and has performed as a soloist with the Munich Philharmonic, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, in addition to participating in festivals such as the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the International Cello Festival Shanghai, the Moritzburg Festival and the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier.

She is an artist for Decca Classics and, together with her sister, the violinist Kristine Balanas, has published Interior Castle by Pēteris Vasks. She has also collaborated closely with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Mutter Virtuosi.

Balanas is also a pioneering figure in orchestral conducting: the first female symphony conductor of Latvia, founder and director of the ANONIMI Orchestra and Charity, and former assistant conductor of Paavo Järvi in the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich during the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

She plays the cello Charles-Adolphe Gand "Auguste Tolbecque" from 1849, donated by The Little Butterfly Foundation, the same instrument linked to the premiere in 1873 of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto no. 1.

Born in Dobele, Latvia, and without a family tradition in classical music, she began by singing rock and roll with her family and playing on the street with her brothers to help pay for instruments and trips.

At 15 she obtained a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School and later studied cello and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she received the Bicentenary Scholarship.

Guided artistically by Lynn Harrell and selected for the Gautier Capuçon Cello Excellence Class, she has traced an extraordinary journey from the streets of Latvia to the world's great halls.