Danae Dörken - Piano

BIOGRAPHY 2023/2024

"Is the young pianist the discovery of the year?" asked the classical music magazine Crescendo - and answered in the affirmative. The reviewers of the magazine Concerti also see her "on her way to the top". The German-Greek pianist Danae Dörken belongs to the elite of internationally sought-after artists of a new generation, who captivates audiences and fellow musicians alike with her breathtaking technique, extraordinary stage presence and musical depth.

Already supported by Yehudi Menuhin at the age of seven, Danae Dörken caused attention early on in leading European concert halls with "her sparkling joy of playing" (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger). After studying with the internationally revered piano pedagogue Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and the renowned soloist and teacher Lars Vogt, she is now a regular guest with leading orchestras such as the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Norrlandsoperan Symphony, the Staatsphilharmonie Nuremberg, the Staatskapelle Weimar and has performed at London's Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Beaux-Arts Brussels, the Megaron in Athens, the Brucknerhaus Linz, the Philharmonie Cologne, the Gasteig Munich, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Beethovenhaus Bonn. Furthermore, she is a regular performer at major festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, Schwetzinger Festspiele, LuganoMusica, Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the prestigious chamber music festival "Spannungen" in Heimbach.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season include her debuts with the German Symphony Orchester (DSO) at the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Delyana Lazarova, and debuts with the Münster Symphony Orchestra, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, with the Philharmonie Baden-Baden, and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. In addition, recitals this season will take her to the Stadttheater Fürth, Guarnerius Hall Belgrade in Serbia, Waiblingen, Bayreuth, Solothurn in Switzerland and she will be a guest at the Dresden Music Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the GAIA Music Festival and the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker.

Together with her sister Kiveli, Danae Dörken released her first duo CD this year titled "Apollo & Dionysus" (Berlin Classics), as well as three albums together with the French oboist Philippe Tondre (Klarthe). Her benchmark CD recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 and the rarely heard 2nd Piano Concerto by Mendelssohn with the Royal Northern Sinfonia under Lars Vogt received glowing reviews. In 2012 Danae Dörken released her debut album with works by Leoš Janáček. Her solo CD with Fantasies by Schumann, Schubert and C.P.E. Bach (on ARS Produktion) won the ICMA Award. Her latest album ODYSSEE (Berlin Classics) was received with critical acclaim and nominated for several international music awards.

Since 2015, Danae and Kiveli Dörken have been organising the Molyvos International Music Festival on the Greek island of Lesbos. Additionally, to the large summer festival, benefit concerts and events with the festival's artists (including Sebastian Manz, Marlis Petersen, Linus Roth and Maximilian Hornung) take place throughout Germany. Danae Dörken's commitment to Greece, refugees and the musical connections between Greece and Germany have repeatedly been the subject of reports on the television magazines ttt and 3sat kulturzeit, on WDR and in numerous other media.