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The German pianist, Andreas Woyke, had an education shaped by various international influences - the Argentine pianist Aldo Antognazzi taught him in Siegen. In Cologne and Vienna he studies with the Russian pianists Pavel Gililov and Rudolf Kehrer. That time he won a number of international prizes: 1st prize at Brahms-Competition Hamburg, 1st prize at Austro Mechana in Vienna and 2nd prize and recital prize at UNISA Transnet competition in Pretoria.
Andreas Woyke has been performing already at important concert places of the world, i.e.: Musikverein und Konzerthaus Wien, Townhall New York, Philharmonie im Gasteig München, Philharmonie Köln, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Radiohuset Stockholm, Tschaikowsky-Konservatorium Moskau, Kennedy Center Washington D.C., South Africa State Theatre Pretoria, Teatro Municipal Viña del Mar, Oriental Arts Centre Shanghai (Location in Simon Rattle's "Trip To Asia"). His collaboration with famous artists as mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, the actors Julia Stemberger and Wolfram Berger or author Michael Krüger had a significant impact on his artistic personality as well as his work with conductors like Kazushi Ono (Staatskapelle Karlsruhe and Zagreb Philharmonic), Heribert Beissel (Klassische Philharmonie Bonn), Gerard Korsten (Transvaal Symphony), Pál Molnár (Baden-Baden Philharmonic), Rolf Agop, Volker Wangenheim and many others.
An intensive quest and constant search for new and unconventional ways to express music determines the artistic vita of Andreas Woyke. He crosses borders. Improvisation is a very meaningful part of his life. On his Solo-CD “Braiding Bach” (Ars, 2008) he combined piano works by J.S. Bach with his own compositions. In these strongly jazz-inspired sound images the improvising element shows as important effect as in the Baroque embellishing of J.S. Bach's Sarabandes. Both free and conceptual improvisation such as “Acconci-Island”, inspired by the Mur Island in Graz, and his fusion jazz band “D’yamba”, founded in 2003, underline the profound significance improvisation has in his life. Woyke is open minded for any styles like rock, jazz-rock, funk, soul, ethno or house as well as the classical epoques and ancient music.
In his live concert programmes Andreas Woyke strives for improvisatory momentum as well. In solo concerts he is building improvising bridges between classical works and his own compositions and jazz. He also improvises or composes the cadenzas in classical piano concertos himself. Mozart’s in part sketchily composed Coronation Concerto, for instance, he refreshingly created a unique rearrangement of the work, which differs strongly from the well-known and widely played version of Mozart’s contemporary André.
Chamber music and accompaignment of singers is a fixed part in Woyke's activities as well. Since the spring of 2003 he has been collaborating very successfully with the vibrant cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl. The duo is performing all over the world and a number of CD-recordings have been published with Ars-Produktion. For their recording of the sonatas by Dmitri Shostakovich they have been rewarded with the Pasticcio-Preis of the ORF, Vienna, the CD with the sonatas by Sergei Rachmaninov and César Franck recieved the Supersonic Award and their two recordings of all L.v. Beethoven-sonatas including their own transcription of the 10th violin sonata has been honored with the renowned Excellentia Award 2009 and 2010.
Andreas Woyke currently works as a freelance concert pianist living in Graz and teaches piano and chamber music at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (university for music and the performing arts) there. Between 2001 and 2010 he had been a regular guest teacher at the “Musik zentral” music festival in the Steiermark region of Austria, where, as well as giving conventional master classes, he managed an improvisation course specialising in jazz improvisation. |
