Annika Treutler began learning the piano at the age of four, first with Almut Eckels and later on with Prof. Renate Kretschmar-Fischer. She studied under Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit at Rostock University of Music and Drama, graduating at the age of 21 with the top grade. She recently completed her concert exam with Brahms’ 2nd Piano Concerto with Prof. Bernd Goetzke at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover (Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media). She has also attended masterclasses with Richard Goode, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Ferenc Rados and Arie Vardi, among others, and regularly receives artistic inspiration from Leif Ove Andsnes and Murray Perahia. Annika Treutler has a particular interest in bringing musical education to the younger generation and has been involved for several years with the “Rhapsody in School” project initiated by Lars Vogt, which recently appointed her to the role of ambassador. She began lecturing at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin in October 2018. The upcoming 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945 has prompted the young German pianist to revisit the musical and social legacy of Forbidden Music: the works of composers like Viktor Ullmann, Eric Zeisl, Bohuslav Martin and others who died at the hands of the Nazis. Much of their oeuvre has sadly been forgotten. Treutler’s objective with the project is to investigate what responsibility and role young artists have and can take on in the world of today. She wants to use her profession – music making – to help achieve something for society as well, to raise political awareness and use music to enable dialog between cultures, religions and history.

Photo: Stefan Höderath