Biography

The pianist Christina Brandner combines in her playing superior virtuosity with an extremely wide range of tone colours and nuances. The atmospheric presence of her profound and moving interpretations is immediately conveyed to the listener. Her concerts and recitals are always received enthusiastically by audiences and critics alike. The reviews speak of the “best pianistic touch” and praise her “unconsumed pianistic strength, her energy” and treasure her “mature and impressive interpretations”. In June 2014 she received a special award at the Adilia Alieva International Piano Competition in France for her outstanding performance of Schumann’s works.

Her solo recitals, chamber music projects and appearances with orchestra (among others with the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester) have led her to Great Britain, Poland, Spain, China, Iran and Switzerland. Radio recordings came into being at “DeutschlandRadio Berlin” (German Radio Berlin), MDR (Middle German Radio) and “Bayerischer Rundfunk” (Bavarian Radio). At SWR (German Southwest Radio) she was several times special guest of the radio programme. A focal point of her solo activity sees Christina Brandner in her attention to the piano music of the Russian composer Aleksandr Scriabin. Accordingly she presents highly noted recitals, which are dedicated exclusively to his music. Her CD containing the complete Mazurkas of Scriabin was released in 2004 on the “Ars musici” label.

Christina Brandner received her first piano instruction in Freiburg, where she was accepted into the preparatory school of the Freiburg University of Music (class of Prof. Elza Kolodin). Early on she won numerous prizes and honours at “Jugend musiziert” (Youth Perform) on the state as well as national levels, the “Tonkünstlerverband Stuttgart” and the “Grotrian-Steinweg-Wettbewerb” (Grotrian Steinweg Competition) in Braunschweig. As she was twelve years old she appeared with orchestra for the first time.

Supported by the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes” (German National Academic Foundation), she studied in Hanover, Minsk (Belorussia) and Dresden with professors Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Vladimir Krajnev and Arkadi Zenzipér, under whom she successfully completed her master class examinations in Dresden in 2003. Additional artistic impetus came through renowned international master classes. During this time Christina Brandner was honored with special prizes at the competition of the University of Music in Hanover and the International Torrefranca Competition in Italy and participated successfully in the UNISA Competition in Pretoria, South Africa.

With the cellist Olivia Jeremias (solo cellist of the State Opera of Hamburg) Christina Brandner founded a duo, that has developed a broad repertoire and a distinguished tonal consistency through years of continued cooperation.

Christina Brandner teached from 2002 to 2006 at Dresden University of Music. She lives since then near Freiburg as a concert pianist and piano educator.