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The German baritone, Philipp J. Kaven, received at the age of 7 his first musical training in violin. He gained his first singing experience in the Rundfunkkinderchor Berlin, where he was already performing solo roles as a boy soprano. At the age of 15, he was accepted as the youngest member of the Berliner Singakademie. At the same time he began his singing studies with Jochen Voigt (Berlin) and continued with Christiane Bach-Röhr (Berlin, Dresden, Rostock). In 2005 he began his studies at the Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden with Christiane Bach-Röhr and expanded his studies with Kammersänger Professor Olaf Bär and Professor Britta Schwarz, with Margret Trappe-Wiehl and in master-classes by Ruth Ziesak, Gerold Huber, Jorma Hynninen, Ilmo Ranta, Klaus Häger, Edith Wiens, Professor Peter Schreier and Kammersänger Franz Grundheber.
As part of the concerts of the Berliner Singakademie, Philipp Kaven repeatedly took over smaller solo parts under the direction of Achim Zimmermann. In July 2007 he sang the baritone parts in works by Josef Rheinberger, Grieg and Tippet in the Berliner Dom, as well as at the European Music Academy in Montepulciano and Arezzo. Since 2006, he regularly participates in concerts and recordings of the Dresdner Kammerchor under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. In the summers of 2007 and 2008, he received a scholarship from the Internationalen Bachakademie Stuttgart and became a member of the festival ensemble with solo duties under the direction of Helmuth Rilling. As a guest, he has performed with the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart in Germany and abroad, of which he he has been a member since February 2009.
During his concert career Philipp Kaven performed with the Lautten Compagney Berlin (Director: Wolfgang Katschner), Dresdner Philharmonie, Festivalorchester der Internationalen Bachakademie Stuttgart, the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart and Bach-Collegium Berlin, Dresdner Barockorchester and various church music ensembles. Important impulses were conveyed by the co-operation with conductors such as Sir Roger Norrington, Raffael Frühbeck de Bourgos, Helmuth Rilling, Hans-Christoph Rademann and Achim Zimmermann.
Philipp Kaven also feels very close to Lieder singing. For example, in 2007 he debuted successfully with the Lieder cycle Dichterliebe by Robert Schumann, accompanied on the piano by Almut Kaven (née Horwath). Since then, both are regularly heard with different Lieder programs.
His acting skills were shown by Philipp Kaven in various opera productions at the conservatory. Under the direction of Professor Eckart Klemm he sang in 2008 the role of Alcindor in Puccini's La Bohème as well as the role of Ottone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Kleines Haus in Dresden.
In 2009 Philipp Kaven expanded his repertoire also in the new music, with the presentation of world premieres of the competition "Jugend komponiert" at the Musikakademie Rheinsberg. On Good Friday 2010, under the direction of Helmuth Rilling, he debuted as Jesus in J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. In September he sang the solo part in George Frideric Handel's The Messiah at the Ilm Festival in Dresden.
In October 2010, Philipp Kaven completed his diploma with great success and began his studies in the master-class with Matthias Henneberg. In March 2011 he was accepted to the Collegium Vocale Gent, under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe. In addition, he completed his master-class exam at the Hochschule "Carl-Maria-von-Weber" in the summer of 2012. In November 2012, he debuted with Felix Mendelssohn's Elias at the Bachakademie Krasnoyarsk and gave his first master-class to the students there.
In May 2013, Philipp Kaven became a prize winner at the Podium junger Gesangsolisten and received several major engagements. He sang in August 2013 at the inaugural concert of Hans-Christoph Rademann, at the Internationalen Bachakademie in Stuttgart, G.F. Handel's Israel in Egypt. Since September 2013, he is employed as honorary teacher at the Musikschule Pirna. Also this year he was again a guest in Russia. In April 2014, he was invited on a South American tour to perform J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) with Helmuth Rilling. Further engagements led him to the Thüringer Bachwochen, to another trip to Russia, to the Berliner Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt. Concerts such as Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244), , various cantatas by J.S. Bach, several Berlin premieres, as well as other concerts are repeatedly included in his repertoire.
In October 2016, Philipp Kaven was heard with the Konzerthaus-Orchester Berlin and the Berliner Singakademie, under the direction of Achim Zimmermann, at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt Berlin with Dvorak's Die Geisterraut. In December 2016, he sang at the Martin-Luther-Kirche in Dresden the Christmas program with the Magnificat and Vom Himmel hoch by F. Mendelssohn and the Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint-Saëns. Since then he receives further concert engagements which lead him around the world.
In June 2017, Philipp Kaven, together with Almut Kaven, once again immersed himself in the world of Lieder and created a themed evening for Heinrich Heine's anniversary at the Coselpalais in Dresden. The duo repeated this recital in October 2017 at in the Rittersaal des Schlosses Vetschau. In November and December 2017 he performed several times in Berlin; he could be heard at the Gedächtniskirche, Nikolaikirche Berlin-Spandau and Konzerthaus Berlin, in works such as J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248), Claudio Monteverdi's Marian Vespers, W.A. Mozart's Mass in B flat major, F. Schubert's Mass in A flat major and G.F. Handel's Messiah.
In 2018-2019, Philipp Kaven will take over a solo part of a music theater production De Blnden from the Collegium Vocale Gent. He currently lives in Dresden, Germany. |
