Chamber Concert with Claire Huangci, Felix Klieser, Rabia Brooke, Desirée Ruhstrat

Works by Beethoven, Chopin, Paderewski, Dukas and Brahms

Kammerkonzert mit Claire Huangci, Felix Klieser, Rabia Brooke, Desirée Ruhstrat

About the event

Four outstanding artistic personalities devote themselves to masterworks of chamber music: after solo piano works by Chopin and Paderewski, Claire Huangci joins Rabia Brooke for Beethoven’s passionate Violin Sonata No. 7. The evening concludes with Brahms’s Romantic Horn Trio, performed by Felix Klieser, Desirée Ruhstrat and Claire Huangci – an evening full of virtuosity, beauty of tone and chamber-musical intensity.

Biographies

Claire Huangci— Piano

The young American pianist Claire Huangci, winner of the 2018 Géza Anda Competition, repeatedly delights audiences with her “radiant virtuosity, artistic sensitivity, pronounced sense of interaction and subtle aural dramaturgy” (Salzburger Nachrichten). Through solo recitals and as a partner to international orchestras such as the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, she has established herself as a sought-after artist. She has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall New York, Suntory Hall Tokyo, the NCPA Beijing, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Munich Gasteig, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under Eleanor Sokoloff and Gary Graffman, before moving in 2007 to study with Arie Vardi at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. Her discography includes the Scarlatti sonatas, honoured with the German Record Critics’ Award, as well as complete recordings of Chopin’s Nocturnes and Rachmaninoff’s Préludes. (clairehuangci.com)

Felix Klieser— Horn

Felix Klieser is one of the most extraordinary horn players of his generation. He began playing the horn at the age of five and, at 13, became a junior student at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. In 2014 he received the ECHO Klassik as Young Artist of the Year, as well as the Music Prize of the Association of German Concert Agencies; that same year his autobiography „Fußnoten – Ein Hornist ohne Arme erobert die Welt“ was published. In 2016 he received the Leonard Bernstein Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. After a two-year residency with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, he made his debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in 2023. Klieser performs worldwide with renowned orchestras such as the Camerata Salzburg, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Kammerakademie Potsdam. Since 2018 he has led his own horn class at the Münster University of Music. (felixklieser.de)

Rabia Brooke— Violin

Internationally admired for her clarity of expression and fearless musical curiosity, violinist Rabia Brooke is praised for her ability to “create that magical moment with the audience” (Art Link, Zagreb). She devotes equal passion to the classical repertoire of Beethoven, Brahms and Bach and to the music of our own time. Recent engagements include Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the North Bohemian Theatre and concert tours across Europe. In the USA she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall Chicago and the Ravinia Festival, among others. Born in Chicago, she is a founding Artist-in-Residence of Nova Linea Musica, studied at the Juilliard School, and plays the 1731 Stradivari violin “Lady Jeanne”. (rabiabrooke.com)

Desirée Ruhstrat— Violin

Twice GRAMMY-nominated violinist Desirée Ruhstrat is among the most sought-after soloists, chamber musicians and teachers internationally. She made her solo debut in Chicago at the age of seven, followed at twelve by her professional debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under Lukas Foss. Her accolades include the international Tibor Varga Competition and top prizes at the Carl Flesch, Julius Stulberg and Mozart Festival competitions. She is a founding member of the twice GRAMMY-nominated Lincoln Trio and co-founder of the Black Oak Ensemble. She trained at the Curtis Institute of Music under Aaron Rosand and now teaches at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. She plays a 1685 Goffredo Cappa violin. (desireeruhstrat.com)

Date7 September 2026

Start7:30 pm

VenueOrangerieBessunger Str. 44, 64285 Darmstadt

AdmissionAdvance tickets available via Ztix and the usual outlets. Remaining tickets at the door. Reduced rate for members and students.

Programme