From Baroque to Tango Nuevo
Weimar Germany Scholarship Recipients Present a Chamber Music Evening in Berlin
Exceptional young artists are presenting a chamber music evening in Berlin. The students from the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar were awarded a Christoph Stölzl Germany Scholarship from the Ernst Freiberger Foundation during the current academic year. At the foundation’s invitation, they will now present an in-house concert for selected, invited guests on Saturday, September 19, at 6:00 p.m. in the Kutscherhof of the Telegraph Office, featuring works spanning five centuries of European and American music history.
Following welcoming remarks by Sabine Kamrath, Executive Director of the Ernst Freiberger Foundation, and University President Prof. Anne-Kathrin Lindig, eleven up-and-coming musicians—in varying ensembles—will take the audience on a journey spanning from the Italian Baroque through the Romantic period, Viennese operetta, and the American musical to the 20th-century Argentine tango nuevo. Arild Hansen will guide the audience through the evening with introductory remarks that place the works and composers in their respective historical and stylistic contexts.
The concert opens musically with a key work of the early Romantic period—the first movement from Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49, performed by Erika Cherkez (violin), Ben Lepetit (piano), and Victoria Ohnimus (cello). This is followed by a foray into Italian bel canto opera: Alrun Sawallisch (soprano) and Emily Hoppe (harp) perform the aria “Cari giorni” from Giuseppe Persiani’s “Ines de Castro.”
Flutist Tatevik Meliksetyan builds a musical bridge to the 20th century with Jindřich Feld’s “In Memory of Mozart.” Elina Serebriakova then takes the audience back to the roots of Baroque keyboard music with Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in E minor. Frank Wildhorn’s musical number “The Longer I Live” from “Dracula” provides a stylistic contrast. This is followed by Théodore Dubois’s chamber music piece “Terzettino” for viola, harp, and flute, the “Prélude, Op. 7, No. 1” by Ukrainian composer Levko Revutsky, and Rachmaninoff’s dance-like “Danse Hongroise.”
The festive finale features two highlights of light music: the duet “Lippen schweigen” from Franz Lehár’s operetta “The Merry Widow,” sung by Mikhail Verkhoglyadov and Alrun Sawallisch, as well as “Primavera Porteña” from Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons” —a rousing finale in the spirit of Argentine Tango Nuevo.
Thanks to the active support of foundations, companies, and private donors, a total of 42 Germany Scholarships can be awarded for the current academic year at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar. Once again, the Ernst Freiberger Foundation is one of the largest scholarship providers. It awards a total of ten “Christoph Stölzl Germany Scholarships.”
The scholarship recipients will receive 300 euros per month from October 2025 through September 2026. The scholarships, which are funded equally by private donors and the federal government, are awarded for demonstrated outstanding artistic, pedagogical, or academic achievements prior to or during their studies, or for exceptional accomplishments. Social engagement as well as special personal and family circumstances are also taken into account in the selection process.
The Ernst Freiberger Foundation carries on the tradition of its founder, Ernst Freiberger. Established in 1994, it underscores the entrepreneur’s social responsibility toward society and the citizen’s commitment to the common good. It is an independent, nonpartisan foundation with its own distinct mission. Its activities focus on promoting remembrance, art and culture, education and upbringing, as well as supporting family caregivers and addressing scholarly topics that have a decisive impact on the sustainability of our society.
[14 September 2026]