“Is the young pianist the discovery of the year?” asked the classical music magazine crescendo – and answered in the affirmative. “On her way to the top” is also how the reviewers of concerti magazine see her: 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 breathtaking technique, extraordinary stage presence and musical depth.
Already encouraged by Yehudi Menuhin at the age of seven, Danae Dörken attracted 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 with Lars Vogt, she is now a regular guest with leading orchestras such as the Munich Symphony, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Norrlandsoperan Symphony and the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, and has given concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, Tonhalle Zurich, Beaux-Arts Brussels, KKL Lucerne, Philharmonie Cologne, Philharmonie Essen, Gasteig Munich, Konzerthaus Berlin, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Alte Oper Frankfurt and Beethoven-Haus Bonn. She can be heard regularly at important festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, LuganoMusica, the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the prestigious chamber music festival “Spannungen” in Heimbach….
Highlights of the 2020/21 season include concerts with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, recital debuts at the Cesis Concert Hall, Latvia, and return invitations to the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Dresden Music Festival and the Schumannfest Düsseldorf. Together with her sister, Kiveli, she performs the premiere of Faidros Kavallaris’ work for 2 pianos in Cyprus.
In the 2019/20 season, Danae Dörken made recital debuts at the Lucerne Piano Festival and Tokyo Musashino Cultural Hall, among others, and debuted with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and Neues Kammerorchester Potsdam. Her chamber music performances have included Wigmore Hall London, again with American violinist Benjamin Beilman at the Brucknerhaus Linz, and with her sister Kiveli at the Ruhr Piano Festival.
A passionate chamber musician, she has performed with artists such as Lars Vogt, Gustav Rivinius, Sharon Kam, Artur Pizarro, Christiane Oelze, Carolin Widmann, Benjamin Beilman, Benedict Klöckner and Katia & Marielle Labèque. Together with her sister Kiveli, Danae Dörken regularly presents groundbreaking four-hand piano repertoire. With oboist Philippe Tondre, she is recording three new albums for Klarthe Paris in cooperation with SWR.
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, released in 2016, received glowing reviews. Previously, Danae Dörken had released solo CDs of fantasias by Schumann, Schubert and C.P.E. Bach (on ARS Produktion), for which she won the ICMA Award, and her debut CD of works by Leoš Janáček (also on ARS Produktion) in 2012, which was enthusiastically received by critics. Her two current albums, “EAST and WEST” (ARS Produktion) and “Between Nostalgia and Revolution” (GENUIN), were nominated for both the German Record Critics’ Award, the Opus Klassik, and an ICMA Award.
In 2015, Danae Dörken, who is of Greek descent, founded the Molyvos International Music Festival (MIMF) on the island of Lesbos with her sister. Between the financial crisis and the refugee drama, the MIMF not only brings the tradition of classical music to Lesvos, it also strengthens the musical relationship between Germany and Greece in the long term. Today, year-round benefit concerts and events are held throughout Germany together with leading MIMF soloists such as Marlis Petersen, Sebastian Manz, Maximilian Hornung, Philippe Tondre, Linus Roth and Lars Vogt. Danae Dörken’s commitment has repeatedly been the subject of reports in the television magazines ttt and 3sat kulturzeit, on WDR and in numerous other media.
Photo: Nikolaj Lund
