VITA
"Klare Sopranstimme mit fließendem Klavierklang" Asahi Shimbun
"Federleicht und wohlklingend " Freies Wort
"Ein genussvolles und gleichzeitig pädagogisch verdienstvolles Konzert" Thüringer Allgemeine
Anna Gann and Naoko Christ-Kato founded the Gernsheim-Duo (named after the composer Friedrich Gernsheim) in 2015. Previously they had performed songs of unknown, 19th century Jewish composers, among others at an „Evening with texts of the Jewish philosopher of the Enlightenment Moses Mendelssohn (1829-1886)“ and as a part of the festivities of the „Woche der Brüderlichkeit“ (Week of Brotherhood) in Hannover. From that sprang the desire to intensively study the song production of these composers. In 2016 the Gernsheim Duo first performed the song recital „Eine Melodie singt mein Herz, die du gesungen“ as part of the “Days of Jewish-Israeli culture” in Thuringia.
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.
