english | deutsch
Clemens Berg
Biography:
Piano, conducting, mathematics and acting – Clemens Berg’s interests have always been very diversified. In 2005, he played the leading role in the movie “Ping Pong”, that was awarded with several prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. Nevertheless, the love for music was stronger and so in 2006, he started studying piano playing and conducting. His teachers Prof. Karl-Heinz Will, Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit and Prof. Markus Schirmer gave him essential pianistic impulses. Since 2011, he studies in the “Meisterklasse” of Prof. Lev Natochenny in Frankfurt am Main.
The breakthrough happened in 2007, when he won the “German Business Music Prize”. He played concerts at such renowned venues as Klavierfestival Ruhr, Heidelberger Musikfrühling, Musikkreis Leyda Ungerer Frankfurt a.M., Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Kasseler Musiktage or Musikverein Steiermark. In addition, he worked together with many famous orchestras. His repertoire of piano concertos is very varied: he played modern concertos such as Schnittke´s Piano Concerto with the Duisburg Philharmonic, 2010, Bartok´s 3rd Piano Concerto in the Philharmonie Graz, 2009, virtuoso concertos such as Rachmaninoff´s 2nd Piano Concerto with the Stralsund Philharmonic, 2008 and Rachmaninoff´s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Rostock Philharmonic, 2010, and of course concertos of the German repertoire, such as Brahms First with the Rhein-Ruhr Philharmonic and Beethoven’s Fourth in the Philharmonie Berlin, 2010. Several concerts were recorded by the radio.
Besides, Clemens Berg played numerous concerts for the business and political circles. He played Chopin on the Kultusministerkonferenz and Tango for the Bundespräsident. In 2008, his debut CD was released on the “Oehms classics” label. Carsten Dürer, editor-in-Chief of “Piano News”, euphorically summarizes his review at the end: “Clemens Berg – a name you should remember!” His second CD was released in July 2010 and is a live recording of his debut concert at the piano festival Ruhr.
Clemens Berg is recipient of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes Scholarship, as well as the scholarship of Jüttingstiftung. He likes to moderate his own concerts, presenting stories and interesting background information about the program – he then benefits from his experiences as an actor as well. Apart from his love for the German repertoire he often champions modern and contemporary works. For example, he played the world premieres of 2 preludes of Manfred Trojahn andthe Klavierstück by Hei-Yung Pak. Since 2010, Clemens Berg lives in Frankfurt am Main. He did not lose his curiosity for different subjects: in addition to his studies with Prof. Lev Natochenny he is studying mathematics at the Goethe University.