Michala Petri & Marie Nishiyama
Biography Michala Petri & Marie Nishiyama
Michala Petri
For almost 50 years, Michala Petri has been one of the most universally recognized and beloved recorder players in the world. She has performed more than 5.000 concerts and has a discography of more than 80 critically-acclaimed and award winning recordings. Michala Petri was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 7, 1958 to musical parents. A child prodigy, she first picked up a recorder at the age of three and by the time she was ten, she made her concerto debut in Tivoli Concert Hall and began her formal studies at the at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany, with Professor Ferdinand Conrad. By the time she was seventeen her full time carreer started.
Her repertoire spans the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras and extends into contemporary and improvised music and multi-media. This versatility, together with a flawless technique, an insatiable curiosity, and the ability to make an emotional connection with her audiences has contributed to her special appeal as an artist. Her list of collaborators reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of late 20th century classical music, including such legendary artists as Sir Neville Marriner, Claudio Abbado, Sir James Galway, Gidon Kremer, Heinz Holliger, Henryk Szeryng, Pinchas Zukerman, Maurice Andre, Joshua Bell, Mahan Esfahani, Hille Perl and Keith Jarrett. From her youth, Petri was fascinated with the musical potential of her chosen instrument, however, at the time of her studies the recorder was considered mainly an instrument for early music. But gradually, contemporary composers began taking interest and through Petri’s prompting – and virtuosity - started composing works for her. The first work dedicated to her was when she was just 6 years old, was "To Play for a Child" by the multi-faceted Danish Fluxus artist Henning Christiansen. Petri has constantly sought new ways to expand her musical horizons and explore creative musical dialogues with other genres and cultures, often performing with musicians outside the baroque and classical music scene such as her longstanding relationship with many of the finest members of the Scandinavian jazz and improvised music scene. Her innovative collaboration with famed composer/trumpet player Palle Mikkelborg, "Going to Pieces - without falling Apart" for recorder, harp (Helen Davies) and strings was a major statement as a Crossover/World Music/Indie album. More than 150 pieces have been composed especially for Petri including major works by Sir Malcolm Arnold, Gordon Jacob, Daniel Kidane, Per Nørgaard, Ib Nørholm, Vagn Holmboe, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Axel Borup-Jørgensen, Olav Anton Thommessen, Sunleif Rasmussen, Bent Sørensen, Steven Stucky, Michael Berkerley, Joan Albert Amargos, Chen Yi, Bright Cheng, Thomas Koppel, Fabrice Bollon, Markus Zahnhausen, Anders Koppel, Roberto Sierra, Sean Hickey, Anthony Newman, Ugis Praulins and Daniel Børtz. For more than a decade, Petri and her label have been on a mission to commission and record a new repertoire of Recorder Concertos for the 21st century. Beginning with 2010 release of the Grammy-nominated Chinese Recorder Concertos, featuring the works of Chen Yi, Bright Sheng, Tang Jianping and Ma Shui-Long, Petri has continued her musical globetrotting with English Recorder Concertos (2012), Danish/Faroese Recorder Concertos (2015), German/French Recorder Concertos (2016) and American Recorder Concertos (2019). Future titles will include Pacific Recorder Concertos, South American Recorder Concertos and Middle East Recorder Concertos. Petri’s numerous honors and awards include nominated for Nordic Council Music Prize 1996 and 2015; Wilhelm Hansen Music Prize 1998; Léonie Sonnings Music Prize 2000; European Soloist Prize: Pro Europa 2005; Knight of the Dannebrog, 1. Rank in 2011; and Danish Radio Artist of the year 2019. Awards for her recorded work: 5 ECHO Klassik Awards (Deutsche Schallplattenpreis) 1992, 1997, 2002, 2012, 2015, Danish Music Award P2-Prize 2006 and Nominated for Danish Music Award P2 – Prize 2012 and 2015. Nominations for US-Grammy: 2008, 2011, 2012. ICMA 2016 Award (International Classic Music Award) 2 FMA Awards 2016 (Faroese Music Award). Since September 2012, Michala Petri has served as Honorary Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and since January 2015 as Vice President of the Society of Recorder Players (UK). For many years Michala Petri was Vice-president of the Danish Cancer Society and an Ambassador for UNICEF, Denmark.
Marie Nishiyama
The Japanese harpsichordist and harpist, Marie Nishiyama is one of Japan’s most respected early music specialists. She began studying piano at age 3 and would go on to receive a diploma in piano and a master’s degree in harpsichord from Tokyo Music University where she studied under Yoshio Watanabe (harpsichord) and Yoshiko Ueda (organ).
Her interest in early music led her to the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland to study with Andreas Staier, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Rinaldo Alessandrini and Nicolau de Figueiredo (harpsichord), Heidrun Rosenzweik and Mara Galassi (historical harp), Jesper Christensen (Basso continuo and ensemble performance), and Pedro Memelsdorff (medieval ensemble). She further pursued her Baroque harp studies with Mara Galassi at Scuola di Musica Civica di Milano.
In 1997 she received 1st prize in the Early Music Kofu in Japan. Among other awards and accolades, she won 1st prize at the 11th Yamanashi Early Music Festival for her harpsichord performance.
Marie Nishiyama’s concert activity has led her to appearances throughout Europe, Brazil and the USA.
She is regularly invited to participate in international festivals and recordings for radio and television, both as a soloist and with the most prestigious orchestras and chamber groups (Concerto Vocale, René Jacobs, Crawford Young, Ferrara Ensemble amongst many others). She is a member of the early music ensemble Anthonello and an accomplished international soloist on both harpsichord and historical harp.
Marie Nishiyama’s extensive discography includes several solo recordings, both in Japan and internationally. Her highly acclaimed original recording Taner Fantasia - Spanish keyboard music, released 1999 in Japan, made its Spanish release in 2003 on the Enchiriadis label and was a Critic’s Choice. Each of her solo albums, Dance du Roy et Chanson (renaissance harp), Lamento di Tristano (medieval gothic harp), Jupiter - Les orages des passions - Forqueray Pieces de Clavecin and J.S. Bach French Suites (harpsichord) have received enthusiastic reviews.
She has recorded for Fauxbordon and ALM Records (Japan), Symphonia (Italy), BIS (Sweden), Harmonia Mundi (France) and Enchiriadis (Spain). Since 2007, she has released a series of J.S. Bach’s main keyboard works under the Anthonello label.
