Marcel Worms – piano

Marcel Worms & Irene Maessen
during the recording at the Chamber Music Hall of Deutschlandfunk

Marcel Worms (b.1951) studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Hans Dercksen, and later with the Russian pianist Youri Egorov and with Alicia de Larrocha. After graduating in 1987, he specialized in chamber music and 20th century piano music.
Marcel Worms is active as a chamber music player and soloist. In 1990 he premiered early works of Schoenberg at the Icebreaker in Amsterdam and in 1991 he performed the complete piano works of Janáček. In 1992 his program Jazz Influences in 20th Century Piano Music, often performed on Dutch concert-stages, was released on the BVHAAST label.
In 1994, Mondrian’s memorial year, Marcel Worms performed and released a CD of the program Mondrian and the Music of his Time, with performances among others in Russia and the USA, including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. He likewise paid tributes on CD to Picasso (Picasso and the Music of his Century) and Van Gogh (Pictures at a Van Gogh Exhibition).
From 1996 onwards, Marcel Worms initiated a unique ongoing Blues project: to date, around two hundred composers, from fifty countries on all continents, have contributed a Blues for piano solo. The project has been presented in most of these countries; in the Netherlands (North Sea Jazz Festival) and other European countries, in Russia, the Middle East, the Far East, the United States, in many African countries and in South America. Seven CD’s of this project have so far been released.
A selection of the newly composed Blues scores has been published by Donemus (Amsterdam) and by Peer Music (Hamburg).
Since 2002, Marcel Worms has been actively engaged with the piano works of Federico Mompou. In 2007 two CDs with his music were released and a three-day Mompou Festival was organized in Amsterdam. In 2009 he recorded the CD premieres of some 40 unpublished works of Mompou, which had been rediscovered in Barcelona in 2008.
www.marcelworms.com
 
 
Irene Maessen – soprano

Irene Maessen studied with Cora Canne Meijer at the Amsterdam Conservatory where she received her diploma as Performing Artist cum laude as well as her opera certification. She took lessons with Arleen Auger and was prize winner of the Elly Ameling Competition, the Cristina Deutekom Competition and the International Vocalists Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. She also was awarded the Silver Wreath of the Friends of the Concertgebouw.
As an opera singer, Irene Maessen has interpreted many roles, particularly in several Mozart operas. She was connected to the opera houses of Innsbruck and Salzburg and has sung guest roles with the Dutch National Touring Opera.
Irene Maessen performs regularly as a soloist with orchestra, and she is a significant interpreter of vocal chamber music. Her song repertoire is copious and she has a great affinity for French Impressionist music. She has also performed much forgotten Dutch chamber music. Besides many radio and CD recordings, she regularly performs contemporary music.
Since 2007 she has been a teacher and vocal coach at the Conservatory of Arnhem.
www.irenemaessen.nl
 
 
Ursula Schoch – violin

Marcel Worms & Ursula Schoch during the recording at the Chamber Music Hall of Deutschlandfunk

Ursula Schoch was born in Ludwigsburg in 1971 and received her first violin lessons at the age of four. After finishing school she studied at Cologne academy of music with Saschko Gawriloff. At the same time she undertook chamber music lessons with the famous Viennese Alban Berg Quartet and attended master classes with Igor Ozim and Ruggiero Ricci.
Ursula Schoch won several first prizes in the German competition ‘Jugend Musiziert’, in both chamber music and solo violin. In 1992 she won the German Music Competition of the German Music Council, which opened the door to an international career.
Since then Ursula Schoch has been invited to numerous festivals and has toured the European continent as well as Japan, Central Asia, the USA and Africa.
Ursula was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for two years.
In 2000 she was appointed Second Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
www.concertgebouworkest.nl