KARSTEN DOBERS, Viola

KARSTEN DOBERS, VIOLA Born in 1964 in Hannover (Germany), KARSTEN DOBERS received his training from chamber musicians of international stature. He studied with Franz Beyer at Munich Musikhochschule, and with Siegfried Führlinger (Vienna String Sextet) at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. He went on to perfect his artistry under the tutelage of great string players such as Sandor Végh, Thomas Riebl, Serge Collot, Günter Pichler and Thomas Kakuska (the latter two were members of the Alban Berg Quartet). During his time in Vienna, Dobers formed part of the Chamber Music Ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper, as well as of a string quartet specializing in traditional Viennese performance practice and repertoire, the “Alt-Wien Quartett”, with which he made appearances throughout Europe and recorded for the Oesterreichische Rundfunk (ORF). Karsten Dobers began his career as an orchestra musician under the batons of Leonard Bernstein and Sergiu Celibidache; in the ranks of Munich Radio Orchestra he participated in a great number of tours and recordings. From 1990 to 1993 he was engaged to play as violist in the ranks of Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and from 1993 to 1994 in the Orchestra of Vienna Volksoper. From 1994 to 1997 he was Principal Viola of the Basque National Symphony Orchestra (San Sebastián, Spain). A great number of symphony orchestras in France, Belgium and Spain have invited him to perform frequently in their ranks as guest principal viola. Karsten Dobers cultivates the art of the string quartet with true passion. He is founding member (2003) of the Novalis Quartet (Munich), with which he made numerous appearances all over Europe and recordings for Bavarian Radio-Television (BR), Oesterreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), and Spanish National Classical Radio (RNE). In 2009 he founded the ISASI QUARTET, which went on to record the complete string quartets of Andrés Isasi (1890-1940) for Naxos, following a painstaking reconstruction and frequent public performances of the Basque composer’s works (musical research is another one of Karsten Dobers’ passions). Those three volumes released by Naxos International are a World Premiere Recording, unanimously applauded by the international music press and featured in broadcasts on Ö1 (Austria), ABC Classic FM (Australia), Radio New Zealand, Radioactivity New York, Sveriges Radio (Sweden), DR P2 (Denmark), and Radio Nacional (Spain). Along with the other members of the Isasi Quartet, Dobers is currently preparing the complete works for string quartet of Henri Marteau (1874-1934) for the German label CPO in collaboration with Bavarian Radio, Munich. The release will consist of three discs, and will include the participation of French mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes. With organist Loïc Mallié, Karsten Dobers has recorded Harold in Italy by Hector Berlioz in a world première version for viola and organ, produced by the French record label Hortus. In contemporary repertoire, Karsten Dobers has participated in a number of world premieres: moving, unforgettable encounters thus took place with some of the most outstanding composers of our time, such as Witold Lutoslawski, Elliott Carter, Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Hans Werner Henze, Olivier Messiaen, Hans Zender, Beat Furrer, Heinz Holliger, Friedrich Cerha and Gerd Kühr – in appearances with Klangforum Wien (Vienna), Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the aforementioned Isasi and Novalis Quartets. In the ranks of renowned orchestras and chamber music ensembles, Dobers has performed at a series of major international festivals: Salzburg, Vienna, Bregenz, Montreux Jazz Festival, Carinthian Summer Music Festival, and others. As a chamber musician he has shared the podium with eminent musicians such as Pavel Vernikov, Philippe Graffin, Jérôme Pernôo, Yuzuko Horigome Roland Daugareil, Valery Oistrakh, Christoph Henckel, Pascal Devoyon, Daniel Grosgurin, Alain Meunier, Sung-Won Young, Daejin Kim, Benedikt Koehlen, José Lluis Estellés, Sung-Sic Young, Young-Ho Kim, Jacques Di Donato, the Quatuor Ebène (Paris) and the Quatuor Danel (Brussels), in recordings for radio-television broadcasting entities in Germany (HR, BR), Austria (ORF), Spain (RNE Radio Clásica, EITB), South Korea (KBS) and Belgium (VRT). Karsten Dobers’ broad interests and talents extend likewise to teaching: he was Professor of Viola at the conservatory of Pau in Southwest France (2000-07), and served as music director of the conservatory symphony orchestras in Pau and in Bayonne, leading to a CD recording for the Agorila label. He has conducted a great number of symphony concerts in both France and Spain. In concert he has also conducted the saxophone ensemble of Musikene, the Superior Music Academy of the Basque Country in San Sebastián (Spain), where he has been a full-time faculty member as Professor of Chamber Music as well as Orchestra Repertoire for Viola since 2002. Karsten Dobers has served as director of the Department of Orchestral Repertoire at Musikene, where he currently trains viola players within the framework of the only Masters Degree in Orchestral Performance officially approved by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture. Karsten Dobers gives masterclasses on a regular basis in Germany (Musikhochschule Lübeck, Musikhochschule Weimar), Austria (Kunstuniversität Graz ), the US (University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee), the Netherlands (Hogeschool voor Muziek Maastricht), Estonia (Estonian Academy of Music Tallinn), Belgium (Lemmensinstituut Leuven), France (Bordeaux Conservatory, Lille Conservatory, International Academy of Music Musicalp Courchevel, International Academy of Music Biarritz,), Spain (International Musical Summer Course of Vielha, International Musical Summer Course of Vilaller, International Music Festival Pirineos Classic, International Musical Summer Course of Toledo), China (International Violin Master Class, Nanjing) and Cuba (Conservatorio de La Habana). The Spanish music press has hailed “the full, gorgeous sound of violist Karsten Dobers”. Karsten Dobers plays a viola made by Romeo Antoniazzi in 1910, as well as a new viola, designed and created for him by Lionel Enard in 2015.