Mark Schumann & Martin Klett
Biography Mark Schumann & Martin Klett
Mark Schumann
born in 1988 near Cologne, Germany, received his first cello lessons at age four. His teachers were Alwin Bauer, Hans-Christian Schweiker, Emil Klein, Heinrich Schiff and Frans Helmerson. Master classes with David Geringas, Gary Hoffman, Steven Isserlis and Bernard Greenhouse broadened his artistic expression.
Radio recordings for WDR, BR, MDR and NHK Japan document his musical development. Numerous concerts with renowned orchestras such as the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Symphony Orchestra, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra have led him to major concert halls such as the Tonhalle Dusseldorf, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, the Berliner Kammerphilharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, Die Glocke in Bremen, the Hamburg Laeiszhalle, the Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, the Victoria Hall in Geneva and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
Mark Schumann is winner of numerous solo and chamber music competitions and was awarded the European Culture Award, the MKK Scholarship and the Special Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Chamber music projects has brought him together with many artists, including Vilde Frang, Gidon Kremer, Albrecht Mayer, Nils Mönkemeyer, Sabine Meyer, David Orlovsky, Christoph Eschenbach and Nicolas Altstaedt, who currently acts as his mentor.
Together with his brothers Erik and Ken and violist Liisa Randalu he formed the Schumann quartet, which, among others, won first prize at the international string quartet competition in Bordeaux in 2013. The quartet is Artist in Residence at the Robert Schumann Hall Dusseldorf. In addition to two CD releases of the Schumann Quartet, a recording of Mark and Erik Schumann featuring the violin and double concertos by Johannes Brahms was released in 2015.
Martin Klett
has made a name for himself in recent years as a piano soloist and chamber musician. Ever since winning the German Music Competition Prize in 2008 in Duo Riul and winning first prize as a soloist a little while later at the International Johannes Brahms Competition, he has been a welcome guest at prestigious music festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein, Lucerne, Heidelberg, Mecklenburg Vorpommern , Schwetzingen and Oberstdorf festivals. Other engagements have taken him to stages across Europe, North Africa and Asia. As sought-after chamber musician, Martin Klett performs regularly with renowned soloists. His primary ensemble partners include Sebastian Manz, Daniela Koch, Jacques Ammon, Sophie Heinrich and Charles-Antoine Duflot. Morevoer, he has been invited for joint projects together with Sabine Meyer, Peter Buck, Amarcord and the Schumann Quartet.
Numerous radio recordings and studio productions with his involvement have been praised by both the press and radio alike.
Born in 1987 in Buxtehude, Martin Klett received piano lessons at the age of six. In studies at the University of Music Lübeck he was particularly influenced by his longtime mentor Konrad Elser. He received further impetus from Elisabeth Leonskaya, Pascal Devoyon, Leon Fleisher, Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet) and Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet). In addition to the numerous international awards and prizes he has received, Martin Klett was once again honored in 2014 as a soloist by a grant from the German Music Competition and a special prize of the German Music Foundation.
Apart from his extensive solo career, Martin Klett is also sought after as an arranger of music and realizes his enthusiasm for Argentinian tango with his Cuarteto SolTango. Founded in 2008, the ensemble has been received enthusiastically by audiences and critics at music and tango festivals.
