New Year's Concert

Ragna Schirmer, piano

"…one of the most intelligent, judicious and committed artists of our country."
- Jan Brachmann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Award-winning pianist Ragna Schirmer ranks among the most extraordinary musical personalities of our time. In her interpretations, she combines the art of nuance with an uncompromising love of detail and great sensitivity to historical context. As a student, she first attracted international attention after winning the prestigious Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, then returned and won the prize a second time - the only contestant ever to achieve this in the competition's history. This courage to undertake the unusual became the hallmark of her career.

It manifests in her tireless effort not merely to perform music, but to communicate it and continually develop new concert formats. Her carefully curated and moderated solo programmes go far beyond conventional concert-lectures. They lead to places where music meets history, perception, and perspective.

In her latest project "Den Himmel im Herzen", Ragna Schirmer explores the life and work of Maria Theresia Paradis, a blind composer and contemporary of Mozart. The audience listens to the concert in partially dimmed light, experiencing how sound perception changes when sight recedes into the background.

A particular focus of Ragna Schirmer's work lies on the life and influence of Clara Wieck-Schumann. Through her recordings "Liebe in Variationen", "Clara" and "Madame Schumann", as well as hundreds of moderated concerts featuring reconstructed original programmes - often at original venues and on period instruments - she has not only made this composer and pianist's works newly accessible, but has also firmly established her significance in music history.