Aitken in Italy Biographies
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World renowned Canadian flutist, composer and conductor Robert Aitken has been honoured with the Order of Canada and is a Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). In 1970, having previously served as principal flute for both the Vancouver and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Aitken embarked on a solo career that has taken him to virtually every corner of the globe. He has more than 70 recordings to his credit and such notables as John Cage, George Crumb, Elliott Carter, Toru Takemitsu, Gilles Tremblay, John Beckwith and Bruce Mather have dedicated works to him. In 2003 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Flute Association (USA). In 2004, he retired as Professor für Flöte at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, a position he had held for 16 years. In 2009 Aitken was the recipient Canada’s largest arts award, the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. As a composer, he holds Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of Toronto and all of his works are published by Universal Edition, Salabert, Ricordi and Peer Music. Robert Aitken was director of the Banff Centre Winter Program in Music, founder and artistic director of Music Today, Music at Shawnigan and co-founder, with Norma Beecroft, of New Music Concerts which he has directed since its inception in 1971. Photograph: Robert Aitken and Jan Junker
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Born in Boden,Sweden, Junker studied flute as a child in his hometown Sandefjord,Norway and at the Conservatory of Music in Oslo with Professor Torkil Bye and at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg,Germany with Professor Robert Aitken. Junker further his flute studies with Trevor Wye , Ørnulf Gulbransen, Raymond Guiot and Louis Moyse. A flutist at the Norwegian Opera Oslo where Junker had the opportunity to perform with distinguished conductors such as Antonio Pappano and Myung-Whun Chung as well as singers like Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. Since 1999 Junker has performed,toured and recorded extensively with the Stuttgart Philharmonic. Junker has appeared as a guest flutist with the orchestras in Ulm, Bremen, Hamburg, Rostock, Wiesbaden, Oviedo, Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra and Kammerorchester Basel.
With a repertoire of over 40 concertos including Vivaldi ,C.P.E.Bach, J.S.Bach,Mozart, Pergolesi, Albinoni, Tartini, Leclair, Telemann, Quantz, Blavet etc. Junker has toured on all five continents as a flute and piccolo soloist with the Heidelberger Kammerorchester. Since 1998 he has also performed as soloist with Globart Ensemble and since 2001 Camerata Vivaldi. In August 2003, Junker performed two concerts at the National Flute Association's Convention in Las Vegas. In the same year, Junker became a flutist with the Dresdner Sinfoniker. Recently, Junker accepted the title of Principal Consultant for flute & piccolo programmes at the Hong Kong Flute Centre. Mr. Junker is featured as soloist on 7 CDs with Bayer Records.
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Matteo Andri graduated in piano with honors and special mention under the guidance of prof. Maria Grazia Cabai and graduated in composition with 110/110 in the class of prof. Renato Miani in the Conservatory “J. Tomadini” of Udine.
He has attended various master classes with Paul Badura-Skoda, Giorgio Lovato, Siavush Gadjiev, Daniel Rivera, Bruno Canino, Boris Petrushansky and Riccardo Risaliti. He studied chamber music with the “Trio di Trieste” and the “Trio di Parma”. In 2008 he took part to the '"International Ensemble Modern Academy" in Schwaz (Austria), and in 2012 he took part to the "Manifeste", an exhibition of contemporary music organized by IRCAM in Paris.
He played for numerous associations and concert seasons of "Amici della Musica" of Vicenza, Udine , Rovigo and Padua, the International Music Festival "Nei suoni dei luoghi" 2004 and 2005, for the season "Carniarmonie", for the "Academy of Piano Studies" Piano Ricci, for "Udine Contemporanea”, the Soroptimist Club of Italy to the 100 th Council of Delegates in the Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, for "Philological Circle" of Milan, for "Musical Encounters" at the Sala Puccini of the Conservatory of Milan, the "Officers Club of Udine", for the music season "Varese for Varese", for the 2nd “International Piano Festival” in Sacile, for “Camerata Music” in Sulmona; he took part to the "Music Festival 2004" and "Beethoven Marathon" at the "Teatro Giovanni da Udine" . He has played alongside renowned musicians such as the oboe player Jose Manuel Rojas, the clarinetist Nicola Bulfone and Giampiero Sobrino, violinist Laura Bortolotto and trombonist Sergio Bernetti. He has also featured in the Wiener Saal of the Mozarteum in Salzburg both as a soloist and chamber musician.
He has performed several concertos for piano and orchestra in the musical review "The Music of St. Martin" Tolmezzo, the second concert of Franz-Xaver Mozart with 'Orchestra Sinfonica del Friuli Venezia-Giulia, the first concert of Chopin the “Mittelorchestra” for UdinEstate "2010.
His music has been performed in the festival "Udine Contemporary 2007".
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