Frieder Bernius - born 1947 -
Germany. Three dates mark important events
in the artistic career of Frieder Bernius. In 1968 he founded the Kammerchor
Stuttgart(Chamber Choir of Stuttgart) with the intention of raising the a cappella choir music to the
level of professional orchestral music.
Since 1977 Frieder Bernius has
collaborated with leading orchestras in order to reach an acoustical
balance between the vocal and
instrumental parts in the choral-symphonic literature.
In this respect he does not
restrict his work exclusively to any musical period.
In 1985/1987 at his initiative,
the Barockorchester Stuttgart (Baroque Orchestra of Stuttgart)
and the Internationale Festtage
Alter Musik Stuttgart (International Festival of Ancient Music
Stuttgart) were founded. Both of
these institutions are meant to foster a stronger interest in the
authentic performance practice of
17th and 18th -century music.
Frieder Bernius' great success in
Germany and abroad encouraged him to proceed in this style
of interpretation. With the
Kammerchor Stuttgart he won prizes at several international
competitions. He received
invitations from all over the world and made, for example, a tour of
the Far East in 1988 and of the
USA in 1989. He is a guest conductor at all Germany and in many
European radio stations and
conducts his ensembles at many important musical festivals.
Many of Frieder Bernius'
recordings, which now amount to over 40, have been awarded the
Vierteljahrespreis der Deutchen
Shallplattenkritik (Quarterly Award of the German Record Critics)
and the Prädikat des Deutchen
Shallplattenpreises (Predicate of the German Record Prize).
In May 1990 he received the
Edison Prize (Holland) for his recording of Symphoniae Sacrare III
by Heinrich Schütz with the
Musica Fiata Köln. In November of the same year he won the Diapason
d'or (France) for his recording
of of the 'Missa Dei Filii' by Jan Dismas Zelenka with
the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
Frieder Bernius has been on
contract with Sony Classical since 1989. In the field of authentic
performance practices he also
works with ensembles othe than the Stuttgart groups,
for example with the Musica Fiata
Köln, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, Paris and
Tafelmusic from Toronto.
Krastin Nastev
Bulgarian conductor Krastin
Nastev has held professional conducting positions in his home country
as well as in Turkey, Spain,
Switzerland, and Germany. His most recent engagements include
his debut with Sofia Philharmonic
Orchestra and the Sofia National Opera, as well as studio
recordings with the Orchestra of
Bulgarian National Radio.
Krastin Nastev graduated with
degrees in choral and orchestral conducting at the National Academy of Music in
Sofia, Bulgaria and continued his studies at
Accademia Chigiana in Siena,
Italy, as well as the Music Academy in Basel, Switzerland.
He has participated in conducting
master classes led by conductors Frieder Bernius, Lutz Köhler,
Bruno Aprea, Donato Renzetti and
Gianluigi Gelmetti.
As a choral conductor, he has
been a finalist at the conducting competition Mariele Ventre in
Bologna, Italy, and hold several
award from the international conducting competition
Europa Cantat. In 2014, he was a
jury member at the international Saint Petersburg Choral Contest
and a year later was invited as a
member of the jury at Hong Kong International Children´s and
Youth Choirs Festival. Together
with the prominent Bulgarian conductor and teacher Krikor
Chetinyan, he is the founder of
the Plovdiv annual workshop for young choral conductors
in his home country of Bulgaria.
