Gernsheim-Duo
Anna Gann, soprano & Naoko Christ-Kato, piano
current / news:
VITA
"Fresh soprano meets catchy chords" Westphalian News (Münster)
"Clear soprano voice with flowing piano sound" Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo)
"What poignant songs. What a moving evening. " Free Word (Suhl)
"An enjoyable and at the same time pedagogically meritorious concert" Thuringian General (Erfurt)
"Anna Gann's multifaceted voice and Christ-Kato's brilliant playing conjure up the special charm of the songs." The Record Geijutsu (Tokyo)
The Gernsheim Duo (named after Friedrich Gernsheim) was founded in 2015 by soprano Anna Gann and pianist Naoko Christ-Kato. It has performed at the Jewish-Israeli Cultural Days in Thuringia and in cities such as Hanover, Konstanz, Berlin and Kiel. In 2021, its concerts were part of the nationwide anniversary program 1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany.
On the occasion of the ensemble's concert tours in Japan in 2019 and 2023 - with performances in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kobe, among others - major Japanese daily and music newspapers reported
newspapers. The public broadcaster NHK broadcast a report in the Japan-wide magazine “Good Morning Japan” in October 2023.
In Germany, articles appeared in various print media, and radio contributions were broadcast in MusikWelt on SR2 Kultur, in Konzertsaa l on hr2 Kultur, in TonArt on WDR3 Kulturradio and in Tag für Tag on Deutschlandfunk.
In 2019, the Gernsheim Duo released the CD “Verborgene Schätze” on the GENUIN label, featuring 22 world premiere recordings of piano songs by its namesake Friedrich Gernsheim.
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Anna Gann was born in 1973 and grew up in the region of Hannover. She has earned the degree of Catholic Master of Theology and is the author of multiple contributions to ARD radio programming concerning Judaism. In 1996 she began her training in song with Ludger Breimann (Münster) and later continued with concert and opera singer Ernestine Kiess (Hannover). She participated in master classes with, among others, Professor Klesie Kelly (Cologne) and was a prize recipient in the Euregio vocal competition Wisch (Netherlands). As a concert singer Anna Gann has worked together with distinguished church musicians such as Thomas Lennartz (Dresden) and Sebastian Bethge (Bad Hersfeld). She has performed as a soloist at the Louis-Spohr Tagen (Kassel), the Telemann Tagen (Eisenach) and the international Händel Festival (Göttingen). In 2006 she performed by invitation in works for soprano, flute, and harp for a series produced by North German Broadcasting Corporation. She is a founding member of the „Trio Saphiro“ (with the instrumentation of harp, oboe, and soprano) and additionally is active in music pedagogy.
Naoko Christ-Kato was born in 1976 in Yokohama. After completing her Bachelor of Music at the Conservatory of Tokyo, she came to Germany and studied with Professor Konrad Meister in Hannover. Her artist’s diploma and concert exams were fulfilled in 2006 with Professor Manfred Fock at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. Naoko Christ-Kato is a prize recipient in the young artist piano contest and the best players’ contest in Japan and also received the promotion prize of the educational council. In 2004 she performed the premiere of "Invention & Etude" by the american composer Michael Tenzer (*1957); in 2009 she recorded Tenzer’s "Let Others Name You" on CD for New World Records. She maintains an active concert schedule as a soloist as well as collaborative pianist for (among others) ballet performances and song recitals. Additionally, she is active as a piano instructor.
