Born in Russia in 1987 and raised in Germany, Igor Levit studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover and now lives in Berlin. The master pianist focuses primarily on Beethoven’s works, both on stage and in his CD recordings - his highly acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s complete 32 piano sonatas is the most recent proof of this.Levit performs worldwide with renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, in addition to his solo recitals.In 2019, Levit accepted a professorship for piano at his former training center in Hanover in order to pass on his experience to the next generation of artists.For his socio-political commitment, Igor Levit was awarded the International Beethoven Prize in 2019 and the Federal Cross of Merit by German President Steinmeier in 2020.

Soprano Elena Stikhina (*1986) is one of the outstanding young artists of our time and has already caused an international sensation in her field: after winning the prestigious Operalia Singing Competition in 2016 – an award that in the past has already been the career springboard for many glorious artists of our times – performances at the Opéra de Paris, the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Dresden Semperoper soon followed. In the 2018/2019 season, Stikhina made her successful debuts in the U.S., both at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where she gave the title role in Giacomo Puccini’s ´Suor Angelica`, and as ´Tosca` at Boston Lyric Opera. In the summer of 2019, the Russian-born singer gave her much acclaimed premiere at the Salzburg Festival with the role of Medee – standing in for Sonya Yoncheva. With this, at the latest, Stikhina is about to establish herself from an outstanding young artist to one of the future big stars in the musical sky.

Born in London on August 3, 1959, Simon Keenlyside made his baritone debut at the Hamburg Staatsoper in The Marriage of Figaro (Count Almaviva). Simon Keenlyside has performed on major international opera stages such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, the Munich and Vienna Operas in roles such as Prospero (The Tempest), Posa (Don Carlo), Germont Father (La Traviata), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Almaviva as well as the title roles of Don Giovanni, Eugène Onéguine, Pelléas et Mélisande, Wozzeck, Billy Budd, Hamlet, Macbeth and Rigoletto.

The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is without doubt one of the most internationally renowned German classical music stars of our time. In her more than 40 years of concert activity, her program has regularly included not only the classical repertoire but also highly acclaimed world premieres and film scores. In addition to her own stage career, which has taken her to all the major renowned stages over the years, Mutter is also committed to promoting young musical talent through her own foundations.The violinist has received numerous international awards for her outstanding musical and social commitment and her cultural achievements, including four Grammy Awards as well as the Mendelssohn Prize, the Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Great Austrian Medal of Honor, and the French Order of the Legion of Honor.Like all artists, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been affected by the pandemic-related break in performance. In order to draw attention to the disastrous situation in the music business, Mutter, together with some of her scholarship recipients, performed sporadically at church services and solicited donations for the emergency relief fund of the German Orchestra Foundation.