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Culture

Discovering talent and promoting cultural diversity. These are the guiding principles of the Funk Foundation with regard to the promotion of cultural projects. In particular, the field of classical music and promoting artists and works outside of the musical mainstream are central to what the Funk Foundation does. This website will give you an overview of the manifold cultural projects supported by the foundation.

Projects of 2023 and before

6th October 2023

Original works for piano and transcriptions of Beethoven, Messiaen, Skrjabin and Strauss

„From fog to blinding light”. In the year 1914 the mystical visionary Aleksander Skrjabin characterized his newly composed piano work, the Poème Vers la flamme (Toward the Flame) in this way. In the same way the virtuoso pianist Severin von Eckardstein describes the idea of his new album, which bears the same title: Vers la flame. more

25. September 2023

TONALi supports musicians with a qualification program

It is not uncommon for highly qualified musicians to be confronted with economic challenges when they enter the profession, start a business or want to realize an individual, artistic impulse. For this reason, TONALi has launched a three-day training program to support prospective or trained musicians. The "Artepreneurship" training program is aimed at socially committed cultural entrepreneurs who would like to gain a deeper insight into TONALi's successful approaches and thereby develop individual and professionally relevant impulses. more

7th July 2023

Lydia Maria Bader with "Tales of the sea"

"Water pieces" by Bloch, Zhu Gongyi, Samazeuilh, Bridge, A. Rubinstein and MacDowell On her new solo album, pianist Lydia Maria Bader presents original "maritime" repertoire for piano with works by Ernest Bloch, Zhu Gongyi, Gustave Samazeuilh, Frank Bridge, Anton Rubinstein and Edward MacDowell. more

6th November 2020

Recording: Lux Nova Duo with "Inspiración Bach"

The CD of the Lux Nova Duo presents pieces of music by the baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach and places them in a context especially with contemporary works that have been influenced or directly inspired by Bach. more

18. Februar 2020

Recording: „The Young Beethoven“ – The Piano Quartets, WoO 36 (Bonn, 1785)

‘Dear Beethoven! You are going to Vienna to realise a long-desired wish: the genius of Mozart is still in mourning and weeps for the death of its disciple. In the inexhaustible Haydn it found refuge, but no employment; through him it seeks to be united with another being. By incessant application, receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s hands.’ more

12th December 2019

Recording for ensemble: „Grieg | Sibelius“

On the day of recording producer Philipp Nedel spoke with concertmaster Sayako Kusaka about the concept of the album. more

6. May 2019

Recording for ensemble: "Johann Sebastian Bach"

In April 2019, harpsichordist and conductor Alexander Grychtolik released a new CD with two reconstructed Bach cantatas under the title Entfliehet, ihr Sorgen (Flee, o worries) on Sony (DHM) with his ensemble Deutsche Hofmusik. more

5. March 2019

Recording for piano duo: "Schubert | Stravinsky | Vasks"

The pianists Linda Leine and Daria Marshinina from Russia and Latvia, who are based in Hamburg, have been playing together as a permanent piano duo for several years. Now they have released their first CD. The recording was funded by the Funk Foundation. more

18th February 2020

CD with various fugues for the piano: „Fugenpassion“ – Romantic fugues of Beethoven, Franck, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Szymanowski and Tanejew

Under the title Fugenpassion, Violetta Khachikyan has recorded a new CD with various fugues for the piano from the Romantic era. Khachikyan is a versatile concert pianist and celebrated chamber musician, ‘a master of timbre’ (Westdeutsche Zeitung). Born in Krasnodar (southern Russia), she studied at the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, among others, under Prof. Tatiana Zagarovskaya, and at the Lübeck Academy of Music under Prof. Konstanze Eickhorst, where Khachikyan completed her graduate recital. She won the European Piano Contest Bremen and hold awards from a number of international competitions. more

14. Dezember 2018

Recording for piano: "Variations sérieuses"

Once again here, the theme of "Variations" is the focus of a project largely funded by the Funk Foundation. In this case, it is the second solo CD from Armenian pianist Lilit Grigoryan, appropriately entitled "Variations sérieuses". more

5. October 2018

Recording for ensemble: "Schönberg | Beethoven"

"Music without Borders" and the idea of ​​promoting works that do not get the well-deserved public attention are important concerns of the Funk Foundation. The Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin also promotes such ideas. more

5. October 2018

Recording for piano: "Burgmüller | Schuncke | Hummel"

Heidi Tsai is a musician who excels with her versatile skills. Not only on the modern grand piano, but also on the harpsichord and the pianoforte, she performs regularly. Her concert activities have taken her to music festivals in the United States, Central America, Asia and Europe. more

2. May 2018

Recording for viola and piano: "Romantic Viola Sonatas"

The interplay of viola and piano is always a joy for the ear. The musicians Hiyoli Togawa (viola) and Lilit Grigoryan (piano) used these two instruments to record an extraordinary program on CD. more

19. April 2017

Recording for piano: "Quasi una fantasia"

The young pianist Kateryna Titova, who comes from Ukraine, has been awarded first or second prize in twenty international piano competitions. 2002 at the Alicia de Larrocha Competition Andorra, 2004 at the Int. Russian Music Piano Competition in San José, California, 2005 at the Int. Rubinstein Piano Competition in Dresden and 2008 James Mottram Int. Piano Competition. more

24. March 2017

Recording for ensemble: "Johann Sebastian Bach"

Especially during his time in Leipzig Johann Sebastian Bach cultivated manifold relationships with private music lovers and patrons. The prospering trading and trade fair city offered an ideal environment for this - quite unlike the small residential cities of Weimar and Köthen. more