Aurēlija Šimkus

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Aurēlija Šimkus (born November 2, 1997 in Tukums near Riga ) is a Latvian pianist and composer . In 2016 she became BACH for her second solo recording . I call to you with the Echo Klassik award in the category Best Young Artist.

life and work

Aurēlija Šimkus comes from a musical family: Her father Gunārs was an art rock musician and founded the Latvian rock band Katedrāle in the 1960s , her mother Iveta worked as a writer and literature teacher. The 13 years older brother Vestards Šimkus is a trained, internationally renowned concert pianist. Aurēlija Šimkus started playing the piano at the age of four. She gave her first public concert in 2005. Two years later she won first prize in the Latvian Competition for Young Pianists.

On the occasion of the celebrations for the 90th anniversary of Latvia's independence, the eleven-year-old pianist performed with Andris Nelsons , Gidon Kremer and Elina Garanca in 2008 . In the same year she gave her first solo concert at the International Chamber Music Festival in Kaunas ( Lithuania ). Since then she has performed as a soloist , a. a. together with the National Symphony Orchestra of Latvia, the Kaunas Philharmonic Orchestra, the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra, the Dortmund Philharmonic , the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra , the German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate , the English Chamber Orchestra and the Latvia State Academic Choir .

In April 2013 she made her debut in Germany with a solo concert in Herdecke . In November 2014 she gave her first orchestral concert with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Konzerthaus Dortmund with the 18th piano concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . The Mozart Society in Dortmund awarded her a one-year scholarship , which gave her the opportunity to a. to perform Mozart's piano concertos with the Dortmund Philharmonic and the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt . She has been invited to numerous music festivals and concert series, including a. to the Interlaken Classics , the Next Generation Festival in Bad Ragaz , the Puplinge Classique , the Kissinger Sommer , the Kurt-Weill-Fest , the Schumannfest Bonn and Masters of Tomorrow concerts in Herdecke. She also presents her own compositions at concerts .

Aurēlija Šimkus first perfected her piano playing at the Emīls Dārziņš music school in Riga as well as in various master classes with pianists and piano teachers such as Sergejs Osokins, Dominique Merlet, Bernd Goetzke , Pavel Gililov , Peter Jablonski and Ian Fountain. Since 2017 she has been studying piano at the Cologne University of Music and Dance with Claudio Martinez-Mehner.

Solo releases

  • Scherzo (2013)
  • BACH. I call to you (2016)

Prices (selection)

  • First Prize in the Latvian Competition for Young Pianists (2007, 2013)
  • Third prize at the Kissinger Piano Olympics (2013)
  • Echo Classic (2016)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ECHO Klassik names 2016 award winners. July 20, 2016, accessed on February 29, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ a b c Aurelia Shimkus (piano) - Short Biography. Retrieved March 1, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c Aurelia Shimkus (piano) - Martin Müller concert director. Retrieved March 1, 2020 .
  4. ^ Prize winners since 1961: piano / organ. Mozart Society Dortmund, accessed on February 29, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Georgian Chamber Orchestra between tradition and the willingness to take risks. October 27, 2016, accessed on March 1, 2020 (German).
  6. ^ Deutsche Welle: Everything Clara at the Schumann Festival | DW | 06/01/2019. Accessed March 1, 2020 (German).
  7. ^ Kissinger Sommer, Kissinger Piano Olympics. Retrieved February 29, 2020 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Šimkus, Aurēlija
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shimkus, Aurelia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH November 2, 1997
PLACE OF BIRTH Tukums near Riga