Pablo Barragán, Clarinet

 “This evening it was Pablo Barragán who had you under his spell. In addition to his perfect performance style in all respects, it was precisely his soulful tone that kept you holding your breath in suspense.” (Westdeutsche Zeitung) 

The clarinetist, Pablo Barragán is recognized for his refined sound paired with a high skill of craftsmanship, stage charisma and boundless curiosity for the programming of his performances. Pablo trained at the Seville Conservatory with Antonio Salguero and with Matthias Glander at the Fundación Barenboim-Said in Seville. He is the winner of the Prix Crédit Suisse Jeunes Solistes in 2013, amongst other competitions. He has worked with orchestras such as the Brucknerhaus Orchestra Linz, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra with conductors such as Anja Bihlmaier, Thomas Dausgaard, Daniel Raiskin, and Zsolt Hamar. Pablo is humbled to collaborate with fabulous chamber music partners such as Liza Ferschtmann, Elena Bashkirova, Beatrice Rana, Kian Soltani, Emmanuel Pahud, the Modigliani Quartet, Schumann Quartet and many more. His Chamber music invitations included performances at Rheingau Music Festival, Classiche Form, the Martha Argerich Festival, the Wigmore Hall London and Tonhalle Zurich. The 2023/24 season brings solo appearances with orchestras such as the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra in Neumarkt and at the Heidelberger Frühling led by cellist & conductor István Várdai, the Brasov Philharmonic under the direction of Paul Meyer, and the Bursa Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Adrian Prabava among others. He has been invited to open the season for the Cordoba Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alvaro Albiach. In the realm of chamber music, he will perform with Noa Wildschut and pianist Frank Dupree at Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam among other venues. Further concerts bring him to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Cologne Philharmonic Hall, as well as to Teatro Ristori in Verona and Auditorium C. Pollini in Padova with the Sitkovetsky Trio and with the Cremona Quartett to Amici della Musica in Florence. Other festival invitations are the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, the Kaposfest in Hungary, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, Festival Monteleón in Spanish León, as well as Música Musika in Bilbao. Pablo will also participate in a tour with Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival Ensemble in South America. Pablo’s curiosity and eagerness to create are also reflected in the repertoire selection for his February 2022 album BOUNDLESS, on which he has united the diverse sound universes of Weinberg, Bernstein, Prokofiev and Poulenc clarinet sonatas with Sophie Pacini for the music label, Aparté. Together with Noa Wildschut and Frank Dupree they will release a recording 24/25, featuring works by Paul Schoenfield, Béla Bartók and Ernest Bloch. Since 2020 Pablo Barragán is as a Professor at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Seville and at master classes such as Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Nuron Mukumi, Biography:

“Nuron Mukumi combines empathetic, perfect technique with a sure eye for the dramaturgy of piano compositions: a talent that combines rigour and playfulness.” – Werner Theurich, Spiegel Online His second Album „Tchaikovsky – 18 Pieces for Piano“ was released in October 2022 (Prospero Classical). The Album has been nominated for the Opus Klassik 2023 Awards, and for the Preis der deutschen Schallplatten Kritik 1/2023 Last October Nuron Mukumi released his second CD “Tchaikovsky – 18 Pieces for Piano” on Prospero Classical, which he recorded at the Teldex Studio in Berlin with the Tonmeister Martin Sauer . The CD was nominated for the Preis der deutschen Schallplatten Kritik 1/2023 and for the Opus Klassik 2023 in two categories – “Young Artist of the Year” & “Solo Instrument”.

At the same time Nuron was on tour with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, performing Liszt’s 1st Piano Concerto in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany and finally in Austria, at the Brucknerhaus in Linz. This Season 2023/24 Nuron is on tour with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Germany, performing among other places in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall and giving recitals at the Brucknerhaus in Linz (Austria) and in the Frauenkirche in Dresden (Germany). The German-Uzbek Pianist Nuron Mukumi was born in 1996 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He began playing the piano at the age of six in the class of Prof. Tamara Popovich in Tashkent.

A year later, he began conducting lessons with Prof. Vladimir Neymer. Nuron’s “take-off” from Uzbekistan to Europe was made possibly by a video of a concert in which, as an 8 year old boy, he conducted the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan whilst also playing the piano part of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Minor. As a result of the video, Nuron was offered a scholarship at the Purcell School of Music in London, which he accepted at age eleven. Three years later at age 14, Nuron was invited to the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main as a junior student to study with Prof. Lev Natochenny and ultimately stayed with him for twelve years.

Nuron finished his Bachelor of Music degree with honours with Prof. Natochenny at the Kalaidos Hochschule für Musik in Zurich. In the spring of 2021, he received the Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste at the École Normale de Musique de Paris in the class of Marian Rybicki. Furthermore, the young pianist was a scholarship holder of the Bad Homburg Schlosskonzerte Foundation between 2017 and 2022. Since 2022, Nuron is studying for his Konzertexam with Prof. Hubert Rutkowski at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

Nuron Mukumi has performed in the following concert venues in recent years: Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Salle Cortot in Paris, Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, Konzerthaus Bozen. He also performed at several international festivals such as the Biarritz Pian Festival, Oxford Piano Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Mozartfest in Würzburg, Mosel Music Festival and at the Rheingau Music Festival.