Nicola Jürgensen (born 1975) is a German

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

and academic teacher. She played principal clarinet with the

WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra performs at two main concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. Histo ...

from 2001 to 2018, and has been professor of clarinet at

Folkwang University of the Arts The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in ...

in Essen from 2018. She is active internationally as a soloist and chamber music player, and has made recordings. Besides the traditional repertoire, she is focused on contemporary music. She performed on stage in a production of Karlheinz Stockhausen's '' Michaels Reise um die Erde'' in Vienna and New York City, among others.

Life

Jürgensen was born in Bangkok and grew up in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. She studied at the

Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating to , it has reorganised and changed names as it developed over the years, ...

with

Hans Deinzer Hans Deinzer (14 January 1934 – 26 February 2020) was a clarinetist and clarinet teacher who taught at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hannover for thirty years, and retired in 1996. Biography Born in , Deinzer received his first clar ...

and from 1996 at the Lübeck Academy of Music with

Sabine Meyer Sabine Meyer (born 30 March 1959) is a German classical clarinetist. Biography Born in Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Meyer began playing the clarinet at an early age. Her first teacher was her father, also a clarinetist. She studied with Otto ...

. She was solo clarinetist with the

from 2001 to 2018. In 2018, she was appointed professor of clarinet at

in Essen. Together with the pianist Matthias Kirschnereit and the

violist The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the v ...

and husband Volker Jacobsen she founded the Trio Mirabeau. They made their debut in 2004 at the

Dresden Music Festival The Dresden Music Festival (German: Dresdner Musikfestspiele) is an annual music festival which takes place in Dresden, Germany in May and June. Although classical music, including contemporary classical music, forms the core of its performances, wo ...

. Jürgensen has played as a soloist with orchestras including the

Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (''unofficial English translation'': Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic) is a chamber orchestra based in Bremen (Germany), with place of residence in the historical building Stadtwaage. History A group of ...

, the

Beethoven Orchester Bonn The Beethoven Orchester Bonn is a German symphony orchestra based in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It dates back to 1907, when a professional orchestra was established. Named for Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn, the orchestra's princ ...

, the

Hamburger Symphoniker The Symphoniker Hamburg (''Hamburg Symphony Orchestra'') is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra in residence in the Lae ...

, the

Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg (Freiburg Philharmonic) is the symphony orchestra of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, founded in 1887. It plays concerts in the Konzerthaus Freiburg and opera in the Theater Freiburg. History The Freiburg Ph ...

and the

Ensemble Resonanz The Ensemble Resonanz is a German string instrument, string ensemble that combines the performance and promotion of Neue Musik with the interpretation of classical repertoire. It sees itself at the interface between chamber orchestra and Solo ( ...

. In 2008, she played a major role in a staged production of '' Michaels Reise um die Erde'' (''Michael's Journey Around the Earth''), the second act of Karlheinz Stockhausen's ''

Donnerstag aus Licht 275px, Karlheinz Stockhausens grave with the score to LICHT . (''Thursday from Light'') is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, three acts, and a farewell, and was the first of seven to be composed for the opera cycle '' Licht: die s ...

'', directed by of

La Fura dels Baus La Fura dels Baus () is a Spanish theatrical group founded in 1979 in Moià, Barcelona (Spain), known for their urban theatre, use of unusual settings and blurring of the boundaries between audience and actor. "La Fura dels Baus" in Catalan me ...

. Jürgensen played Eve (basset horn),

Marco Blaauw Marco Blaauw is a Dutch trumpet soloist known for his work in the field of new music and with Eau de Cologne, Cologne-based contemporary music group Ensemble Musikfabrik. He plays a double bell trumpet, an invention that has allowed for numerous n ...

played Michael (trumpet), and

Peter Rundel Peter Rundel (born 1958 in Friedrichshafen), is a German violinist and conductor. A recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque in 1998 for his recording of Jean Barraqué's complete works, he became conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Fla ...

conducted the ensemble

musikFabrik The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

; the production was first presented by the Vienna

Wiener Taschenoper Wiener Taschenoper (Vienna pocket opera) is an Austrian opera company based in Vienna. Insight Guides cite them and the Neue Oper Wien as "two of the independent groups which perform exclusively 20th and 21st-century opera". Productions Choreo ...

as part of the

Wiener Festwochen The Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) is a culture festival that takes place in Vienna for five or six weeks in May and June every year. The Vienna Festival was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the Participants in World W ...

. It was recorded on video. The production was revived in 2013 at

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

in New York City. In 2013, Jürgensen played Carl Nielsen's

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

with the

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra The Auckland Philharmonia (formerly Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall, and it is also the accompanying ensemble for Auckland stage ...

, conducted by Eckehard Stier. In 2019, she served in the jury of

Deutscher Musikwettbewerb The Deutscher Musikwettbewerb (German music competition; ) is a national music competition in Germany for classical soloists and chamber music ensembles held annually by the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council). It was first held in 1975 and ...

Recordings

Jürgensen recorded works by Berg, Brahms Debussy, Reger and Stravinsky for the Ars Musici label. She took part in a recording of ''Songs and Cycles'' by

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

with soprano

Laura Aikin Laura Aikin (born June 20, 1964) is an American operatic coloratura soprano. She is noted for her portrayal of the title character in ''Lulu'', which has received very positive reviews in the press. She has also appeared as Mozart's Queen of th ...

and pianist Donald Sulzen, playing the clarinet part in the cycle ''Ariel'' composed in 1971 setting poems by

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...

. A reviewer of

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

noted: "Nicola Jürgensen provides a spectacular clarinet obbligato to the slightly jazzy settings". She recorded ''Dans la Nuit'' with pianist in Michael Kirschnereit in 2012, a collection of French melodies adapted for clarinet, by composers including Fauré, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns and Massenet. *2000: Claude Debussy – '' Première rhapsodie pour clarinette et piano'' *2001: Nicola Jürgensen – Klarinette, Ars Musici – Primavera (Freiburger Musik Forum) *2004: ''Songs and Cycles'' by

(soprano), Donald Sulzen (piano), Gerhard Zank (cello), ORFEO International *2012: ''Dans la Nuit'', ORFEO International *2012:

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

– ''Michaels Reise um die Erde'', WERGO (Note 1 Musikvertrieb)

Awards

* 1998: Mozart-Preis of the Wiesbaden Mozartgesellschaft * 1999: Prize of

for soloists in Berlin * 2002: , ''Förderpreis'' by

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in t ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jurgensen, Nicola German classical clarinetists Women clarinetists 1975 births Living people Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover alumni Lübeck Academy of Music alumni Academic staff of the Folkwang University of the Arts Nicola Jurgensen Players of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne