Valerie Fritz
ECHO Rising Stars
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Date
- 15:00 / Cancelled 15:00 / Sold out Sunday, 15:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation- Cello
- Thomas Wegner Sound director
-
Valerie Fritz
Austrian cellist Valerie Fritz explores her instrument from electronics to gut strings, performing in both contemporary and classical music. Equally open and attentive to detail, she approaches works and audiences with sensitivity. Her wide-ranging repertoire demonstrates how all stylistic approaches benefit from looking beyond their usual boundaries.
Valerie Fritz is a regular guest at festivals such as the Musikfest Berlin, the Salzburg Festival, the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, the Klangspuren Schwaz, and the musica viva of the Bayerischer Rundfunk. Both as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles, she cultivates a direct, sensitive dialogue with her audience and seeks close collaboration with composers. Formative artistic encounters with personalities such as Georg Friedrich Haas and Jennifer Walshe have resulted in new works that are, in a sense, tailor-made for her and incorporate performative elements such as singing, whispering, or speaking.
Valerie Fritz impresses with her versatile profile and innovative programming, for which she has received several awards. Among other honours, she received the Berlin Prize for Young Artists and was nominated as ECHO Rising Star of the 2025 / 26 season - an award that brings her to the leading concert halls of Europe. Her debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is considered a special highlight of her artistic career. Her first CD recording, featuring works by York Höller, Rebecca Clarke, and Claude Debussy, was released in autumn 2025 on the NEOS Music label.
Born in Tyrol, Valerie Fritz grew up in a family with a deep-rooted musical tradition. This lively musical environment shaped her from early childhood and laid the foundation for her artistic development. She received her musical training at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Clemens Hagen and Giovanni Gnocchi.
Valerie Fritz plays an instrument made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in 1744, which is provided to her privately.
Georges Aperghis
Récitation II, from Quatre Récitations pour violoncelle seul
Johann Sebastian Bach
Prélude and Courante, from the Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Jennifer Walshe
THE SHEER TASK OF BEING ALIVE*
Benjamin Britten
Introduzione: Lento, from the Cello Suite No. 3
George Crumb
Toccata, from the Sonata for Solo Cello
Valerie Fritz
Additional value, for cello-bow and live electronics
Peter Eötvös
Two poems to Polly (solo for a speaking cellist)
Birgitta von Schweden
Latuit in blando, for cello and electronics (arr. Josef Haller)
Michael Gordon
Industry, for amplified cello and electronics
* Commissioned by Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Bozar Brussels, Casa da Música, Kölner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Musikverein Wien, with the support of ECHO.
Valerie Fritz is presented by Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Bozar Brussels, Casa da Música, Kölner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Musikverein Wien.
Total approximate duration: 60 min. / Concert without intermission
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As a member of the ECHO – European Concert Hall Organisation network, comprising a group of prestigious concert halls across Europe, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is once again opening its doors to receive the Rising Stars cycle.
Throughout a musically intense day, the focus will be on the rising stars of contemporary interpretation and music creation, and the public will be able to see live the exceptionality of some of the youngsters selected to be part of the Rising Stars. Once again, the programme privileges the diversity of proposals, with performances by musicians of exceptional talent. In the context of Open Doors, a varied programme and a festive musical atmosphere is provided in an informal setting.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.
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