Described by Gramophone Magazine as embodying “superb pianism and intelligent musicianship”, Anna Tsybuleva shot into the international spotlight in 2015 when she was crowned First Prize Winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition. She received wide critical acclaim for her winning performance, and was described as “A pianist of rare gifts: not since Murray Perahia’s triumph in 1972 has Leeds had a winner of this musical poise and calibre” (International Piano Magazine).

Now a regular performer in major cities worldwide, Tsybuleva’s early experiences were more modest. Born in 1990, she was raised in Nizhny Arkhyz – a small village of approximately 500 inhabitants – in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic of Russia, where nature and the beauty of her surroundings proved a constant source of inspiration. These beginnings have served to feed directly into the development of her unique performance style today, which is one of captivating intimacy: drawing the listener into a private sphere of music-making in even the largest of concert halls.

Highlights of Tsybuleva’s 2019/2020 season included major international debuts in recital at Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Istanbul’s Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. Amongst those performances requiring postponement due to the 2020 COVID19 pandemic were Tsybuleva’s German debut as soloist with Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal/Julia Jones, and North American debut at the Brevard Music Festival, North Carolina.

The 2020/2021 season opens with a return to National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia/Vladimir Spivakov, and as the season unfolds we see Tsybuleva performing on prestigious recital stages across Europe, including her French debut at the Salle Cortot, Paris. Tsybuleva also makes her Polish debut with the Silesian Philharmonic Orchesrtra/Sebastian Perłowski, and embarks upon a major Chinese recital tour culminating with a performance at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center. In a major season highlight, Tsybuleva embarks on the debut recording of a newly commissioned piano concerto, at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop.

In recital, Tsybuleva has appeared on some of the greatest international stages, including Palais des Beaux-Arts, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Tonhalle Zürich, and the Wigmore Hall. As concerto soloist, recent highlights have included performances with Basel Symphony, Mariinsky, Oxford Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. She enjoys working regularly with such esteemed conductors as Sir Mark Elder, Michał Nesterowicz, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Temirkanov, and Joshua Weilerstein, amongst others. Tsybuleva is in high demand in Asia, where she recently undertook an extensive 14-concert tour as soloist with the Asian Youth Orchestra, covering China, Hong Kong, the Republic of the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan.

Tsybuleva took her first piano lessons with her mother at the age of 6, before attending the Shostakovich Music School in Volgodonsk aged 9. From age 13, she continued her studies at the Moscow Central Music School and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, under internationally renowned pedagogue Professor Lyudmila Roschina. During this time, Tsybuleva garnered her first major competition wins – including the Grand Prix of the International Gilels Piano Competition (2013), and top prizes from the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2012) and Takamatsu International Piano Competition (2014).

After graduating from the Moscow Conservatoire in 2014 with the coveted award for ‘Best Student’, Tsybuleva furthered her studies with Claudio Martínez-Mehner at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. During these two years, she developed her growing passion for Romantic repertoire of the German School, and won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2015 with her captivating performance of Brahms Piano Concerto No.2, under the baton of Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra. Tsybuleva has since combined her international performance career with a thirst for further knowledge, and has just completed post-graduate studies at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire.

Tsybuleva’s debut recital recording (Fantasien, released on Champs Hill, 2017) comprised piano fantasies by C.P.E. Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. It garnered universal praise in the media for its imaginative and carefully crafted programme, with reviews including: “The playing of this magnetic young Russian artist is thoughtful, elegant, and exciting… I have long admired Sviatoslav Richter’s take, but this new recording is even more satisfying for its broader approach” (Fanfare Magazine).

With her “energetic elan, bravura, and heart-on-sleeve communication” (International Piano Magazine), Anna Tsybuleva is fast emerging as one of the finest pianists of her generation, “destined to become a world piano star” (APE Musicale, Italy).

Present and Future: Tugan Sokhiev A new chapter opened for the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO Berlin) on 7 September 2012: Tugan Sokhiev conducted the DSO as Music Director for the first time during the Musikfest Berlin, 65 years to the day after the orchestra’s first public concert. After two years as the Designated Music Director he thus officially succeeded Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kent Nagano and Ingo Metzmacher. The response speaks for itself: »At his inaugural concert, Sokhiev – a springy, intelligent conductor who reacts to the music as quick as a flash – enthralled his orchestra, controlling with a light touch right from the start Stravinsky’s ›Pulcinella‹ Suite and, on the second half, Sergei Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony, which is rarely performed in Germany,« the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote.
Founding by RIAS In 2013, the DSO looks back on a 67-year tradition as a Berlin radio and concert orchestra. Founded in 1946 as the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester by Radio in the American Sector (RIAS), its first Principal Conductor Ferenc Fricsay set standards in repertoire, sound ideal and media presence starting in 1948. Music of the 20th century immediately became a programming staple, in addition to interpretations of the classical repertoire characterised by transparency, structural conciseness and plasticity.
From RSO to DSO Starting in 1956 the radio station Sender Freies Berlin (now Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, rbb) participated in sponsoring the orchestra; this is why it changed its name to Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin (RSO Berlin). The RSO acquired an excellent reputation in Berlin and on numerous tours, with radio and television productions, through its concert programs, as well as significant conductors who committed to them. After Ferenc Fricsay’s early death, the young Lorin Maazel 1964 took over artistic responsibility for the orchestra, followed by Riccardo Chailly in 1982 and Vladimir Ashkenazy in 1989. In 1993 the RSO changed its name to Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
As of 1 January 1994 the existing RSO GmbH was extended to become Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH (roc berlin). Its shareholders are Deutschlandradio (40%), the Federal Republic of Germany (35%), the state of Berlin (20%) and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (5%).
The DSO in the new millennium Kent Nagano was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director in the 2000|2001 season. He led the orchestra to engagements at the Salzburg Festival, the Baden-Baden Festival House and the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet. Kent Nagano bade the orchestra farewell in 2006; since then he has been associated with them as its honorary conductor. Ingo Metzmacher held the position of the DSO’s Music Director from 2007 to 2010. His annual programs were characterised by overarching themes. By launching the Casual Concerts concert format he emphasised the orchestra’s openness and its desire to address new groups of listeners.
The DSO in the media The DSO’s symphony concerts in the Berliner Philharmonic Hall are recorded by Deutschlandradio Kultur and by the rbb Kulturradio, and are regularly broadcast in Germany and throughout Europe and beyond via the European Broadcasting Union. Selected concerts outside of Germany are recorded by Deutsche Welle, the German international broadcaster for radio and television.
The DSO is also globally present with numerous prize-winning CD recordings. In 2011 it received the ›Grammy Award‹ for the world premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho’s opera ›L’amour de loin‹, conducted by Kent Nagano. Among other CD publications of recent years, recordings with Ingo Metzmacher on ›Phoenix Edition‹, Christoph Eschenbach on ›Capriccio‹ and with Yutaka Sado on ›Challenge Classics‹ stand out. Recordings of contemporary music have been released on ›Neos‹ and ›Kairos‹. Furthermore, the orchestra has released several live opera recordings from the Baden-Baden Festival House as DVDs on ›Arthaus Musik‹. The DVD series ›Monuments of Classical Music‹ produced by Deutsche Welle has received several awards.
The DSO on tour Over and above its concerts in Berlin, the DSO is active in international music life with numerous guest appearances. Concert tours have led the orchestra to Russia, Asia, North and South America and Lebanon. In recent years it has given guest performances in Brazil and Argentina, in Japan, China, Malaysia and Abu-Dhabi, and a number of tour concerts in Eastern Europe in an ongoing collaboration with Deutsche Welle and the German Federal Foreign Office.
Besides performances at national and international festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Salzburg Festival, the BBC Proms and the Beethovenfest Bonn, the DSO can regularly be experienced in the major concert halls of Europe such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Salle Pleyel in Paris and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.