Piano
Biography:
The pianist and harpsichordist Moritz Ernest was born in East Westphalia in 1986. He began playing the piano at the age of 5 and shortly afterwards received lessons from teachers at the Detmold University of Music. After graduating from high school, at the age of only 16, he began his artistic training there, with an additional minor in musicology. In 2005 he moved to the Musikhochschule Basel to complete his studies there in 2008 with Jean-Jacques Dünki. Already during his studies he began an active concert career at home and abroad, which he expanded to include performances with the harpsichord after additional harpsichord studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In addition, from 2002 he was a student of Prof. Peter Feuchtwanger in London, who had a great influence on him.
Moritz Ernst's extraordinarily broad repertoire ranges from baroque virginal music to modern music, often switching between harpsichord and piano in the same concert. In the field of contemporary music, he works with leading contemporary composers (including Klaus Huber, Sandeep Bhagwati, Wolfgang Rihm, René Wohlhauser, Michael Pelzel, Jimmie LeBlanc, Miklós Maros, Kent Olofsson, Michael Edgerton), who often dedicate works to him. In addition, works for the harpsichord are also created through his commitment and suggestions. In addition to his main focus on Rameau, Handel, Beethoven, Hadyn, Brahms, Busoni and Debussy, Moritz Ernst supports unknown or forgotten composers. This is also proven by his recordings of the piano works by Malcolm Arnold (Gramophone: »sparking and stimulating interpretation«) or the complete recording of the surviving sonatas by Viktor Ullmann and Norbert von Hannenheim on EDA, described as a reference recording. He also recorded piano works by Arthur Lourié and Joseph Haydn. Moritz Ernst's interpretations were broadcast by German and international radio stations (including WDR, DeutschlandRadio, DLF, BR, SR, SRF2, BBC); he is regularly invited to recordings.
In addition to his worldwide activities as a soloist and with conductors such as Gabriel Feltz and Mario Venzago, Moritz Ernst regularly gives master classes at the Stuttgart Music Academy, the Royal Academy of Malmö, the Conservatoire de Montréal, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the University of Malaya. The 2015/16 season includes his debut in Canada, performances with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie and extensive recordings for DeutschlandRadio.
Albums:
