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CHRISTIAN BENNING PERCUSSION GROUP
Felix Kolb
Felix Kolb was born in Nuremberg in 1994, grew up in Upper Franconia and lives as a freelance percussionist in Munich. He received his training from renowned teachers such as Raymond Curfs, Adel Shalaby, Peter Sadlo and Stephan Maass at the Munich Academy of Music, the Bruckner University Linz and as a scholarship holder at the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He regularly plays with top orchestras such as the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has also made numerous CD recordings. He has worked with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Simon Rattle, Susanna Mälkki, Wladimir Jurowski, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kirill Petrenko, as well as composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Steve Reich, Lisa Streich, Peter Ruzicka, Minas Borboudakis and Matthias Pintscher. He has played as a chamber musician with Kolja Blacher, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Jens Peter Maintz, Ferhan and Ferzan Önder, among others. He is also active in jazz and pop and has made guest appearances with bands such as Meute and the Jazzrausch Bigband.
Concert tours have taken Felix Kolb to countries such as Israel, Egypt, Latvia, Romania, Belgium, England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Austria, France, Latvia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA and to concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Royal Albert Hall and the Vienna Musikverein.
Felix has been a member of the Christian Benning Percussion Group since 2016.
Marcel Morikawa
Marcel Kentaro Morikawa (*1992 in Cologne) took his first percussion lessons in 2006 with Robert Schäfer (Gürzenich Orchestra), as well as piano lessons with Susanna Cizmarovic. He began his Bachelor‘s degree in 2009 with Prof. Carlos Tarcha at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne, while he spent one year as an Erasmus student at the Universi- ty of Music in Bucharest in the percussion class of Prof. Alexandru Matei. In 2014 he started a pedagogical degree and an artistic Master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Prof. Dr. Peter Sadlo, after whose sudden death he continued his studies with Claudio Estay (Bavarian State Opera). In 2017/18 he was an intern at the Hof Symphony Orchestra, where he is still substituting on a regular basis ever since, as well as at the Munich Chamber Opera, in the Gärtnerplatz Theater and in the Bavarian State Orchestra. In 2018 he won the 2nd prize at the international percussion competition ItalyPAS (vibraphone catego- ry).
Since 2015 he has been permanent member of the Christian Benning Percussion Group, with which he has already performed in halls such as the Philharmonie am Gasteig .or the Elbphilharmonie. He is currently studying with Prof. Raymond Curfs (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra)
» Christian Benning Percussion Group [...] is transforming the undiscovered: Bringing classics of modern percussion literature in line with works by the greatest composers of the past centuries has been simply spectacular – especially in these Holy Halls of Bayreuth. «
Festival Bayreuth
Godwin Schmid
Godwin Schmid was born in Landsberg am Lech in 1996. He got his first drum lessons from his father when he was three years old. In 2014 he was awarded with Landsberg‘s Cultural Scholarship. In 2013/14 he attended the Vocational School of Music in Krumbach where he was taught by Stefan Blum. In October 2014 he began his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Franz Bach. From 2016 to 2018 he was an intern in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Würzburg. He was also able to gain valuable experiences in orchestras such as the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Hof Symphony Orchestra, the Augsburg State Theater and the Munich State Opera. In 2019 he completed his Bachelor‘s degree with Claudio Estay, then began his Master‘s degree with Prof. Raymond Curfs.
Since 2020 he is member of the Christian Benning Percussion Group.
Patrick Stapleton
Patrick Stapleton (*1993) is a graduate from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich where he initially studied with Prof. Adel Shalaby, Prof. Dr. Peter Sadlo and Prof. Alexej Gerassimez.
Apart from performing as soloist, he particularly contributes to countless chamber music projects, during which he has worked together with world-famous artists such as Steve Reich and has already appeared on two recordings released by the renowned label Genuin Classics. He is a founding member of the Christian Benning Percussion Group, plays at The Lion King in Hamburg and frequently is a part of successful crosso- ver projects like MEUTE or the VKKO.
Amongst others, he has played at such famous concert halls as the Philharmonic Hall of Munich, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Royal Opera House of Muscat, the Cairo Opera House and the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
Stapleton is a multiple laureate at international musical competitions. Most recently he was awarded the Music Sponsorship Prize 2020 of the Konzertverein Ingolstadt as well as the 1st prize of the Kulturkreis Gasteig Music Competition 2020 in Munich.
» A breathtaking version of Beethoven’s legendary Moonlight Sonata arranged for two Marimbas, Vibraphone, Mallet- KAT and Drumset by Peter Lawrence unleashes a frenetic audience. «
Hamburger Magazin
JAN ČIBEJ
Jan Čibej graduated with top marks in 2017 from the Conservatory for Music and Ballet in Ljubljana in the percussion class of Prof. Simon Klavžar. He is currently studying at the University of Music and Perfor- ming Arts in Munich with Prof. Alexej Gerassimez.
In 2014 and 2016 he won first prizes as soloist at the Svirél International Music Competition and in 2015 a first prize as member of the Sloveni- an Percussion Trio. In 2016 he was finalist of the international Marimba Festiva Competition in Bamberg. In addition, he won prizes at the TEMSIG competitions in 2011, 2014 and 2017. In 2017 he won the third prize at the international Percussion Youth Competition in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. As Dendrocopos Percussion Duo with Luka Poljanec he won the internatio- nal percussion competitions in Luxembourg (including audience award) and in Svirél in 2018. In 2019 he participated in the Concours de Geneve International Competition.
In 2021 he primarily was part of the Christian Benning Percussion Group.
Ivan Femina
Ivan Femina was born in Pedreguer (Alicante), Spain, and started playing the drums at the age of 7. He later studied at the Conservatory of Music in Dénia and completed his bachelor's degree at the Joaquín Rodrigo Superior Conservatory of Music in Valencia. At the same time, he took part in masterclasses with Gratiniano Murcia, Rafa Mayans, Conrado Moya and Paco Inglés.
In 2019, he received a scholarship for the summer course through the international marimba competition Malletlab and had the opportunity to meet professors Ivan Treviño, Ian Grom, Josh Jones and Stefon Harris.
In the orchestral world, he has been part of the Youth Orchestra and Choir of the Community of Madrid (JORCAM), the Youth Symphony Band of the Valencian Community (FSMCV), the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Munich and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, as well as working with the Grup Instrumental de València, the Alma Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Heidenheim Opera Festival, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, the Hof Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian State Opera.
He is currently studying for a Master's degree at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich with Carlos Vera Larrucea and Raymond Curfs.
Maximilian Schwarz
Maximilian Wolfgang Schwarz (*1997 in Vienna) is recognised as an extremely versatile percussionist. The award-winning multi-percussionist has been performing on major international stages for many years, both as a soloist and together with renowned ensembles at extraordinary festivals and as part of spectacular projects. In addition to selected works of contemporary classical music, his constantly growing solo repertoire mainly comprises his own compositions. Max Schwarz cultivates a hybrid compositional style consisting of classical compositional approaches from different eras and cultures, his own serial concepts and electronic production. His avant-garde pieces are published by Edition Svitzer (Copenhagen) and he also regularly produces for television, film and theatre. As a percussionist, he fuses driving grooves, elements from world music and complex polyrhythms with live electronics. With this distinctive style, he is part of the electronica band CozmicRip and the avant-garde trio maTrigal. In 2023, Max Schwarz performed in Germany, Italy, France and Spain.
Daan Wilms