About
Born in Copenhagen on 7th July 1958, Ms Petri began playing the recorder at the age of three and was first heard on Danish Radio when she was five. Her debut as concerto soloist took place at the Tivoli Concert Hall in 1969, the year in which she began her studies with professor Ferdinand Conrad at the "Hochschule für Musik und Theater" in Hannover. Since then the Danish artist has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Israel, Australia and the Far East, and she has appeared at many of the world's most prestigious festivals.
She has performed with musicians such as Heinz Holliger, Pinchas Zukerman, James Galway, Salvatore Accardo, Maurice André, Keith Jarrett, Christopher Hogwood and Claudio Abbado, and appeared as soloist with many of the worlds major Chamber Orchestras and Symphony Orchestras.
Michala Petri has received the highest praise for her astonishing virtuosity in a repertoire ranging from the early baroque to contemporary works, many of them written especially for her.
For many years Michala Petri has had an interest in working with the combination recorder/guitar and she has toured with guitarists like Göran Söllsher, Kazuhito Yamashita and Manuel Barrueco. In 1992 Ms. Petri formed a duo with her husband, Danish guitarist and lute player Lars Hannibal, with whom she has toured in Europe, USA and Japan. Future plans include tours in Germany, England, Japan, USA and Australia.
Ms Petri has been an exclusive recording artist for Philips from 1979 to 1987, and since then for BMG/RCA Red Seal. In 1998 she released a new album with "Berliner Barock Solisten", and in 1999 an album with Scandinavian popular music with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Her latest release, in spring 2001, is an album with Lars Hannibal, inspired by Fritz Kreisler, and featuring romatic music for recorder and guitar.
Other recordings include a Grieg album and an album of contemporary concertos written for Ms. Petri, both with the English Chamber Orchestra; two albums of Bach and Handel Sonatas with Keith Jarrett; and several albums of Baroque Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Her latest CD with Vivaldi "The Four Seasons", and Saint-Saêns "Rondo Capriccioso" with Thomas Dausgaard and Swedish Chamber Orchestra was released ultimo 2005 on EMI.
For her exciting collaboration with Vladimir Spivakov and the "Moscow Virtuosi" performing Vivaldi flute concertos, she received the German award "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis" 1997. The same year she was nominated to the Nordic Council Music Prize. In 1995 the Queen of Denmark awarded her the Order Knight of Dannebrog, and in 1998 she received the Wilhelm Hansen Music Prize as well as the H.C. Lumbye Prize for her achievement in bringing classic music to a wide audience.
In June 2000 Michala Petri received the most prestigious Sonning Music Prize, and in 2005 she got the European Soloist Prize " Pro Europa ". |
