Clarinetist Sebastian Manz has been praised for his “enchantingly beautiful intonation and technical prowess” by Fono Forum. He has performed as a soloist with major European orchestras such as the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. On the chamber music stage, he has given performances at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Beethovenhaus Bonn, and has appeared at festivals including the prestigious Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern and the MDR Musiksommer in Germany, collaborating with artists like Sebastian Studnitzky, Sarah Christian, Julian Steckel, Danae Dörken, the Danish String Quartet, and the Armida Quartett. At the ARD International Music Competition in 2008, he won not only first prize in the clarinet category, which had not been awarded for 40 years, but also the coveted Audience Prize and other special prizes. He is Principal Clarinet of the SWR Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart. He is also active in the “Rhapsody in School” organization founded by Lars Vogt, which is committed to bringing classical music into schools. His recording A Bernstein Story was awarded with the Opus Klassik award in 2020. He recently released his recording of clarinet concertos by Carl Nielsen and Magnus Lindberg, as well as a recital recording of works by Brahms and Schumann with pianist Herbert Schuch. Manz was born in Hanover, and his teachers include the acclaimed clarinetists Sabine Meyer and Reiner Wehle. He is an alum of CMS's Bowers Program.

“Is the young pianist the discovery of the year?” asked the classical music magazine Crescendo — and answered in the affirmative. The reviewers of the magazine Concerti also consider her to be “on her way right to the top.” The German-Greek pianist Danae Dörken belongs to the elite of a new generation of internationally sought-after artists and captivates audiences and fellow musicians alike with her breathtaking technique, exceptional stage presence and musical depth.

Danae Dörken was already supported by Yehudi Menuhin when she was seven years old and caught the attention of audiences in leading European concert halls early on with “her sparkling joy of playing” (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger). After studying with the internationally revered piano pedagogue Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and with the renowned soloist and teacher Lars Vogt, she is now a regular guest with leading orchestras such as the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg and the Staatskapelle Weimar. She has performed at London's Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Tonhalle Zürich, the Bozar in Brussels, the Megaron in Athens, the Brucknerhaus Linz, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Gasteig in Munich, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Beethovenhaus Bonn. Furthermore, she regularly performs at major festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, Schwetzinger Festspiele, LuganoMusica, Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the prestigious chamber music festival Spannungen in Heimbach.

Highlights of the 2023–24 season include her debuts with the German Symphony Orchestra (DSO) under the direction of Delyana Lazarova in the Berlin Philharmonic and debuts with the Münster Symphony Orchestra, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. In addition, recitals this season will take her to the Stadttheater Fürth, Guarnerius Hall in Belgrade and to Waiblingen, Bayreuth and Solothurn in Switzerland. She will also be a guest of the Dresden Music Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the GAIA Music Festival and the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker.

Together with her sister Kiveli, Danae Dörken released her first duo CD in August 2023 entitled Apollo & Dionysus (Berlin Classics). She has also recorded three albums together with the French oboist Philippe Tondre (Klarthe). Her benchmark CD recording of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 and the rarely heard Second Piano Concerto by Mendelssohn with the Royal Northern Sinfonia under Lars Vogt received glowing reviews. In 2012 Danae Dörken released her debut album with works by Leoš Janáček. Her solo CD with fantasies by Schumann, Schubert and C. P. E. Bach (on ARS Produktion) won the ICMA Award. Her latest solo album ODYSSEE (Berlin Classics) was received with critical acclaim and nominated for several international music awards.

Danae and Kiveli Dörken founded the Molyvos International Music Festival on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2015. In addition to the large annual summer festival, they organize benefit

concerts and events throughout Germany in which the festival’s artists (including Sebastian Manz, Marlis Petersen, Linus Roth and Maximilian Hornung) participate. Danae Dörken’s commitment to Greece, to supporting refugees and to strengthening the musical connections between Greece and Germany have repeatedly been the subject of reports on television and in other media.