The English way

Sir Andrew Davis has served as the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2000. Maestro Davis’ career spans over 45 years during which he has been the musical and artistic leader at several of the world’s most distinguished opera and symphonic institutions, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate; Chief Conductor 1991–2004), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Music Director 1988–2000), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate; Chief Conductor 2013-2019), and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate; Principal Conductor 1975–1988), where he also served as Interim Artistic Director through 2020. In addition, he holds the honorary title of Conductor Emeritus from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

One of today’s most recognized and acclaimed conductors, Sir Andrew has conducted virtually all of the world’s major orchestras, opera companies, and festivals. Born in 1944 in Hertfordshire, England, Maestro Davis studied at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar before taking up conducting. His wide-ranging repertoire encompasses the Baroque to contemporary, and spans the symphonic, operatic, and choral worlds. A vast and award-winning discography documents Sir Andrew’s artistry, with recent recordings including the works of Massenet, Goossens, Berlioz, Bliss, Elgar (winner of the 2018 Diapason d’Or de l’Année – Musique Symphonique), Finzi, Grainger, Delius, Ives, Holst, Handel (nominated for a 2018 GRAMMY® for Best Choral Performance), and York Bowen (nominated for a 2012 GRAMMY® for Best Orchestral Performance).

He currently records exclusively for Chandos Records. In 1992, Maestro Davis was made a Commander of the British Empire, and in 1999, he was designated a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours List.

Born in Salzburg in 1995, cellist Julia Hagen is one of the most promising instrumentalists of her generation. She received her first lessons at the age of 5 with Detlef Mielke at the Musikum Salzburg. She then studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Enrico Bronzi, as well as at the University of Vienna with Reinhard Latzko and from 2013 to 2015 in the class of Heinrich Schiff. In 2015, the young musician moved to the Berlin University of the Arts, where she studied with Prof. Jens Peter Maintz. Since 2019, Julia Hagen has been a stipendiary of the Kronberg Academy with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.

In the 2020/2021 season, Julia Hagen was featured as a soloist and chamber musician as part of the “Great Talent Cycle” at the Wiener Konzerthaus. This includes a recital with pianist Igor Levit. She has also performed with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. She made her debut at the Mehuhin Festival Gstaad and joined Aaron Pilsan in a recital at the Brucknerhaus Linz.

Highlights of the 2021/2022 season include a concert with the City of Birmingham Orchestra conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla at the Brucknerhaus Linz, her debut with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin conducted by Sir Andrew Davies, and her debut at the Schubertiade Hohenems with a recital together with Igor Levit. She will form a close artistic partnership with the Brucknerorchester Linz with concerts in Salzburg, in Linz and at the Gasteig in Munich. In January 2022, she will again embark on an extended tour of Japan. Chamber music-wise, she will play numerous concerts with the French Quatuor Arod, as well as be a guest at the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern. At the invitation of artistic director Maximilian Hornung, she can also be heard at the “VivaCello” festival in Liestal.

Julia Hagen plays a violoncello by Francesco Ruggieri (Cremona, 1684), which has been made available to her by a private donor.