Called “the discovery of the year” by Crescendo Magazine and described as “on her way to the very top” by Concerti Magazine, German-Greek pianist Danae Dörken is among the elite of internationally acclaimed artists of a new generation, electrifying audiences and peer musicians alike with her stunning technical skills, exceptional charisma, and great profundity of her musical thinking.
A uniquely gifted talent, Danae Dörken received the support of Lord Yehudi Menuhin when she was only seven years old and soon began to cause a stir at major European venues with her “sparkling joy of playing” (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger). After studying with internationally venerated teachers Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Lars Vogt, she is now a regular guest of major orchestras including the Munich Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Norrlandsoperan Symphony and Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Dörken has performed to great critical acclaim at London‘s Wigmore Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, KKL Lucerne, Tonhalle Zurich, Beaux-Arts Brussels, Cologne Philharmonie, Philharmonie Essen, Gasteig in Munich, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Tonhalle Dusseldorf, Frankfurt Alte Oper, and Beethoven-Haus Bonn. Danae Dörken also performs regularly at major festivals including Kissinger Sommer, Schwetzingen festival, LuganoMusica, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the renowned ‘Spannungen’ Festival in Heimbach.
Highlights of the 2021/2022 season are Danae Dörken’s concerts with the Staatskapelle Weimar in the Cologne Philharmonie under Dominik Beykirch and the Staatsphilharmonie Nuremberg, her recital debuts in the Cesis Concert Hall in Latvia, Coesfeld theatre, as well as re-invitations to the Konzerthaus Berlin, Brucknerhaus Linz and the Dresden Music Festival. She will be the artist in residence of the Boswil Summer Festival in Switzerland.
During the 2020/21 season, Danae Dörken celebrated her solo debuts at the Schumannfest Düsseldorf and Logensaal Biel and she was the first artist to ever perform using the ImmerSphere combination of augmented reality technologies. Furthermore, chamber music engagements brought her to Wigmore Hall London, Festival du Forez and a tour through Cyprus, where she performed the world premiere of a newly commissioned piece for 2 pianos by Faidros Kavallaris together with her sister, Kiveli.
Danae Dörken’s groundbreaking recording of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 and Mendelssohn’s rarely performed Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Royal Northern Sinfonia was released in 2016 to rave critical acclaim. Previously, her solo recording of fantasies by Schumann, Schubert, and C.P.E. Bach on ARS Produktion was nominated for an ICMA Award. Her 2012 debut CD (also on ARS Produktion) featuring solo works by Leoš Janáček received equally enthusiastic reviews. Her latest albums EAST and WEST (ARS Produktion) and Between Nostalgia and Revolution (GENUIN) were nominated for an ICMA Award, the Opus Klassik Award and the German Record Critics’ Award.
The concerts are generously sponsored by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and by individual donors.
