G.A.P. Ensemble
G.A.P. Ensemble
The letters G.A.P. not only reveal the initials of the baroque violinist and composer Giovanni Antonio Piani, whose violin sonatas were a part of the group’s first CD in a world premiere recording back in 2012. They also point out the Ensemble’s intention to close the existing GAPs between the different musical eras and their stylistics and the audience. The Ensemble performs on both period and modern instruments, giving the listener an exceptional experience of colors.
Apart from the regular trio performances, the G. A. P. ensemble collaborates currently with the singers Dorothee Mields, Valer Sabadus, Julia Lezhneva, and the Flutist Maurice Steger performing most recently at the Haendel – Festspiele in Halle, Duisburg Philharmonic, Zeughaus Neuss, Mosel Festival, Festival du Saintes i.a.
Working with artists like Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Hope, Cecilia Bartoli, Christophe Rousset, and Hille Perl as well as performances at some of the most renowned concert halls in the world, for example, Berliner Philharmonie, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Tokyo Opera City Center Hall and Palau de la Musica Barcelona, are only one part of the experiences that the members bring to the joint work. For the performance of larger repertoire such as operas, oratorios, cantatas, and instrumental works, the ensemble takes the form of a chamber orchestra.
The three CD productions “Affettuoso”, “I musicisti del imperatore” and “Vivaldi per Pisendel” received unanimous praise from the press (Diapason, Strad, Gramophone, Fanfare, Web music international, etc.). Since 2013 the G.A.P. Ensemble works closely with the Italian soprano Raffaella Milanesi, the successful cooperation was crowned in 2014 with the world premiere recording of the cantatas by Piani, Caldara, and Alessandro Scarlatti and was also highly praised by the critics. The recording of Antonio Vivaldi’s violin sonatas dedicated to his friend Johann Georg Pisendel, a known violin virtuoso and concertmaster of the Sächsische Hofkapelle in Dresden, received international acclaim and was awarded the distinction “5 de Diapason” by the Diapason Magazine: “The G.A.P. Ensemble creates jewels of subtlety (…) These long underestimated pieces of Vivaldi’s work have finally met their match.”
Since 2006, Emilio Percan has been performing as soloist and concertmaster with leading European orchestras, collaborating with renowned artists such as Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Hope, Simone Kermes, Dorothee Mields, Ivry Gitlis, Maurice Steger, Julia Lezhneva, Vivica Genaux, Edita Gruberova, Daniel Müller-Schott, and Chen Reiss. His concert activities have taken him throughout Europe, South America, Japan, China, Israel, and the USA, appearing at venues such as the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Cologne Philharmonie, Gewandhaus Leipzig, and Berlin Philharmonie. He has recorded more than 20 CDs for labels including Deutsche Grammophon, DECCA, SONY, Harmonia Mundi, Capriccio, Pan Classics, and Onyx Classics. In 2017, he released an acclaimed recording of Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 1, performing both as conductor and soloist – praised internationally for its period-informed sound and interpretative freshness. Equally at home in historically informed performance, Percan has led projects as concertmaster and soloist with ensembles such as Concerto Köln, l’arte del mondo, Das Neue Orchester, and the FAMES European Institute. His stylistic versatility and cross-disciplinary curiosity are also reflected in his role as artistic director of the G.A.P. Ensemble, which he founded in 2012. The ensemble’s productions, often in collaboration with artists from dance, theatre, and visual arts, have toured internationally and been documented in award-winning CD and radio recordings. Alongside his performing career, Emilio Percan is a dedicated pedagogue. Since 2012 he has held teaching positions at institutions such as the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Folkwang University of the Arts Essen, Kalaidos Music Academy Zürich, the State University of Arts and Culture Moscow. His students are prizewinners of major international competitions (Tibor Varga, Rodolfo Lipizer, Eugene Ysaÿe), perform at leading festivals such as Verbier and Kronberg, and hold permanent positions in world-class orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses worldwide, including at the Schloss Akademie (Hamburg, Vienna), TMMC Brescia, and Gifted in Music Kapfenberg. Since 2013 he has also directed the Jeunesses Musicales International Summer Academy in North Macedonia. Born in Skopje, Macedonia, Emilio Percan received his earliest training with Isabela Golovina in Moscow and continued his studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with Pieter Daniel, Dirk Mommertz, and Stephan Schardt, shaping his artistic identity at the crossroads of modern and historical performance traditions.
The Catalan-born cellist Oriol Aymat Fusté is active as a baroque cellist in orchestras as l’arte del mondo, Elbipolis Baroque Orchestra and Vespres d’Arnadí. He also performs as a modern cellist with the orchestra Camerata XXI, as a chamber musician, and committed interpreter of contemporary music. In the area of entertainment music, he works for such leading personalities of the Catalan popular music scene as Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Lídia Pujol and is also a member of the band Blaumut. Oriol Aymat Fusté studied with Leonid Gorokhov at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey before continuing his studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with YoungChang Cho. His musical talent has been honored with stipends from the Pau Casals and Alexander von Humboldt Foundations. He has won prizes at a number of national and international competitions (Germans Claret, Lions Club, European Youth Cello Competition, etc.).
The harpsichordist Luca Quintavalle has collaborated with orchestras such as Concerto Köln, Les Talens Lyriques, Harmonie Universelle, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Academia Montis Regalis, Divino Sospiro, Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Orchestra and Hamburger Symphoniker. He has performed throughout Europe and in Israel, the USA, and Japan and have recorded for the labels Sony-Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Capriccio, Onyx, Hyperion, Hänssler Classics, and TYXart. He was a lecturer at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and gave masterclasses at the Moscow State University for Art and Culture, in St Petersburg and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. Quintavalle studied piano with Ernesto Esposito and harpsichord with Giovanni Togni in Como. As a DAAD stipend-holder, he completed his studies with Christian Rieger at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with concerto examinations. He also attended courses given by Kristian Bezuidenhout, Jesper Christensen, Andrea Marcon, Stefano Demicheli, Christophe Rousset, Andreas Staier, and Alexei Lubimov. In 2007, he received an award at the G. Gambi basso continuo competition in Pesaro.