Michala Petri (Recorders) & Lars Hannibal (Lute, Guitar)

The 12th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival opens with a concert with Lars Hannibal and Michala Petri on 16 May at The Shoe Factory. Coinciding with the Danish Presidency of EU, the concert is supported by the Embassy of Denmark.

“….it's to the credit of the considerable musicianship of this amiable duo, who even the most tired compositional device commands attention” William Yeoman, Gramophone

Petri/Hannibal duo first appeared on stage in the winter of 1991, and performed their first full concert in the summer of 1992 at the Monastery La Cartuja de la Sierra in Andalusia, Spain. Since then, they have appeared in concert halls and festivals around the world, giving nearly 1500 concerts in programs of music from the late renaissance and early baroque, the classical and romantic periods, to contemporary works written especially for them.

Their musicality and virtuosity have delighted audiences all over the world. Together they have performed numerous concerts in the world's most famous concert venues such as the Wigmore Hall in London and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. They have also participated in countless festivals, including the Verbier Festival in New Zealand, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany and the Shanghai International Festival of Arts.

For their concert at The Shoe Factory the Petri/Hannibal duo will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Tartini, Joseph Küffner, Carl Scheindienst, Astor Piazzolla, Michala Petri, and Edouard Lalo.

Michala Petri / Recorders

Since her concert debut at the Tivoli Concert Hall in 1969, Michala Petri has established herself as one of classical music’s most beloved performers and the leading exponent of her instrument, the recorder. She has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Israel, Australia and the Far East, performing with musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, James Galway, Joshua Bell, Maurice André, Keith Jarrett, Gidon Kremer and Claudio Abbado and has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s major chamber 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 written especially for her. In 1992 she formed a duo with Danish guitarist and lute player Lars Hannibal, with whom she tours all over the world. In addition to maintaining a vigorous performing schedule, Michala Petri has produced many recordings including her Deutscher Schallplattenpreis winning discs of Vivaldi Concerti, with Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi (1997), Kreisler Inspirations with Lars Hannibal (2002), two discs of Bach and Handel Sonatas with Keith Jarrett and the critically acclaimed Los Angeles Street Concerto: Michala Petri plays Thomas Koppel (Dacapo), which received the Danish Music Award as Best Classical Album in 2006

In 2006, together with Lars Hannibal, Michala launched OUR Recordings. To date, OUR Recordings has released more than a dozen titles including the 2 Grammy® nominated Movements and Chinese Recorder Concertos and the on-going Dialogue- East meets West series. English Recorder Concertos is the latest installment of Michala’s contemporary concerto project, featuring both World Premieres and works especially composed for her.

Lars Hannibal / lute, guitar

When guitarist and lute player Lars Hannibal began playing at 15 years old, in 1966, it was the folk/rock guitar with inspiration from Bob Dylan and The Beatles. Some years later, a recording by Andres Segovia, playing the Gavotte from Bach's E-Major Partita for violin solo, impressed him so much, that he decided to start playing the Classical guitar.

In 1972 Lars Hannibal started his guitar studies at the Conservatory in his hometown Århus, and from 1977-80 he continued in The Hague, studying the lute by Toyohiko Satoh. Already during his studies Lars Hannibal decided to concentrate on Chamber music. In the interplay with other musicians he found his musical identity.

Immediately after finishing his studies in Århus and The Hague, Lars Hannibal formed Duo Concertante with violinist Kim Sjøgren, and as such in the period 1980 to 1994 toured in Denmark, Germany, France, Spain and UK, giving more that a thousand concerts and recording 10 CDs for EMI. From the beginning, they created a concert concept where stories, information, anecdotes and even jokes and humour were an integrated part of the performance, which often included music from different genres.

The openness of these other genres was influential in forming Birth of a Quartet in 1988 with Palle Mikkeborg and Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Many Danish composers wrote for this fruitful musical partnership Duo Concertante during the period.

Lars Hannibal first met recorder player Michala Petri in 1991, and the same year they did their first performance. (They married in 1992 and divorced in 2010.) Since then, they have toured the world playing more than 1500 concerts. During the numerous of concerts they have established a musical comprehension that is seldom heard.

The Petri/Hannibal Duo released on RCA/BMG their first cd “Souvenir” in 1994, and in 1997 “Air” followed. The release “Kreisler Inspirations” from 2001 received the German Schalplattenpreis ECHO in the category chamber music. Their recording of music by Danish composer Thomas Koppel “Los Angeles Street Concerto” was awarded Best Classical CD 2006 in Denmark.

In late 2006, Michala Petri and Lars Hannibal launched their own recording company OUR Recordings. On this label they release music where at least one of them is performing. On OUR Recordings they released 3 Duo CD's Siesta, Café Vienna and Virtuoso Baroque.

Since 2004 Lars Hannibal has done a lot of work with Chinese music and musicians, and the concept for all this work is called Dialog - East meets West. The first recording in this artistic commitment was “Spirits-East meets West” from 2007 with Chinese Xiao player Chen Yue. The same year he formed an ensemble with Chen Yue, Michala Petri and Pipa player Yan Jiang called Quartet-East meets West. During Quartet concerts, new compositions by Chinese and European composers are played along, with Chinese and European Classical music, and creates a new exiting world of sound with these similar instruments from East and West.

In 2010 Hannibal released the CD Melodies with Classical highlights together with Chinese violin virtuoso Chen Yi.

Lars Hannibal was the curator of the Danish National Galla Concerts in EXPO Shanghai 2010, a concert that was broadcast on CCTV more times, and seen by more that 200 million people.

The event is part of the 12th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival

Ticket Prices:
Adults: €25
Friends and Supporters of the Pharos Arts Foundation / Concessions: €20

Box Office: Tel: 7000 9304 - opening hours: 9.30 am - 11.30 am / www.pharostickets.org