Max Volbers & Alexander von Heißen
Biography Max Volbers & Alexander von Heißen
Max Volbers
As a recorder player, harpsichordist and increasingly as an ensemble leader, Max Volbers is one of the most versatile young musicians in the field of early music. In the spirit of the sound worlds of the 17th and 18th centuries, in which musicians mastered several instruments without question, he illuminates the repertoire of early music from very different perspectives as a multi-instrumentalist. He also devotes himself time and again to new music and regularly works with composers on commissioned compositions. He studied at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Dorothee Oberlinger, Walter van Hauwe, Reinhard Goebel and Florian Birsak.
As a prizewinner of the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, among others, he is a welcome guest at the Verbier Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Musikfestspiele Sanssouci, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele or the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik. Deeply convinced that early music should not be the exclusive privilege of the early music movement, he plays with ensembles such as Concerto Köln, La Cetra or the Capricornus Consort as well as with "modern" orchestras such as the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Radiophilharmonie or the Musikkollegium Winterthur. He has been a guest in major halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Elbphilharmonie, the KKL Lucerne, the Casa da Musica Porto, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Konserthuset Stockholm, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Philharmonie de Paris or the MÜPA Budapest.
In addition to his concert activities, Max teaches at the Mozarteum University Salzburg and at various masterclasses.
He has received great support from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the Ernsting Foundation and the GWK Münster (2013 Music Promotion Prize and GWK Cordes Scholarship). After numerous radio productions, his debut CD "Whispers of Tradition" was released by GENUIN in October 2022, which was enthusiastically received by the specialist press. He was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK 2023 in the Young Artist of the Year category for this CD.
Alexander von Heißen
is a young harpsichordist from Germany who started playing the harpsichord at the age of 13 and had his first lessons with Diez Eichler at Dr. Hoch's music conservatory in Frankfurt. From 2014 to 2022 he was studying harpsichord with Eva Maria Pollerus at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. He took part in master classes with Pierre Hantai, Skip Sempé, Christophe Rousset and Jesper Christensen. Additionally he had lessons in pianoforte with Jesper Christensen and Jazz piano with Christoph Spendel.
He was awarded with the first prize at the XXIII. International Bach Competition in Leipzig and with a second prize at the international harpsichord competition „Musica Antiqua“ in Bruges. With the Ensemble 4 Times Baroque he received the Echo follow-up award Opus Klassik in 2018 as young artist of the year. He has released numerous CDs both as a soloist and as an ensemble member, including on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (Sony Classical) label. His newest release is his album with solo works from J.S. Bach and Marchand with the label Hänssler Classics.
In collaboration with artists such as Andreas Scholl, Dorothee Oberlinger, Luca Pianca, Michael Schneider and Reinhard Goebel, he has performed at the MA Festival Bruges, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Händelfestspiele in Halle, the Thuringian Bach Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival and the Mozart Festival Würzburg.
From 2019 to 2022 he has been a lecturer at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. Since 2021 he has been teaching the classes of harpsichord and performance practice at the Münster University of Music and since 2022 harpsichord and basso continuo at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.
Starting in the winter semester 2024, he will be taking up the harpsichord professorship at the
University of Music and Theatre »Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy« Leipzig.
