Heidrun Holtmann (Piano)

Born: Münster, Germany

The German pianist, Heidrun Holtmann, began her musical education in Münster at the age of 4. When she was 9, she joined the Class of Renate Kretschmar-Fischer at the Music Academy in Detmold, where she passed Artistic Final Examinations "summa cum laude" and completed her education with "excellent" success.

She was awarded several prizes at national and international competitions, including the first prize of the prestigious Concours Geza Anda in Zürich 1982, after which Heidrun Holtmann's reputation as a concert pianist was successfully established. Appearances with conductors such as Antal Doráti, Iván Fischer and David Zinman followed, and she performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich as well as with many other symphony and chamber orchestras in Germany and abroad.

Heidrun Holtmann is a regular guest at international festivals, including Salzburg, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Lucerne, Stresa, Brescia/Bergamo, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Bonner Klaviersommer, MDR-Musiksommer, Piano Festival in Athens, as well as of Chamber Music Festival in Lockenhouse, Kumo, Prussia Cove and Saint Moritz. She has toured in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, the USA, Canada, South America, South Asia and Southeast Asia. She has most often co-operated with the Goethe-Institute, where she has, for instance, for the occasion of J.S. Bach’s jubilee in 2000 played the Cycle Das Wohltemperierte Klavir II Part (BWV 870-893) in India and Pakistan.

Heidrun Holtmann has frequently been featured on radio and television programs, with an artist's portrait and a televised concert of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg and Klauspeter Seibel as well as a documentary of two early Mozart Piano Concertos with the Orchstra della Svizzera Italiana and Marc Andreae undertaken by Swiss Television in Lugano, which was later released on DVD by Euroarts.

Heidrun Holtmann's discography is wide-ranging, from the complete works for piano and orchestra by R. Schumann with the Deutsches-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the direction of Stefan Soltesz, to several recital discs with compositions by J.S. Bach, Mozart, L.v. Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Scriabin, Debussy, Martin, Holliger et al. Her newest release of "Night Pieces" (2-CD) contains works by various composers of the 19^th and 20^th century.

Source: Heidrun Holtmann Website (2009); BELEF: Concentration Website (2005)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2009)

Heidrun Holtmann: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Heidrun Holtmann - Pianistin (Official Website) [Multi-lingual]

Heidrun Holtmann (Concentration BELEF)
Heidrun Holtmann (Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival) [German]