The clarinet trio Schmuck - with Sayaka Schmuck, Johann-Peter Taferner and Kristóf Dömötör - is particularly popular in this unusual combination of clarinet/basset horn/bass clarinet. The press writes about the trio as an "absolute top-class performer" - the "trio is one of the finest in this field". Not least thanks to Praetorius Prize winner Sabine Meyer and her Trio di Clarone, this line-up has become well-known, but is nevertheless rare. Thanks to their virtuoso mastery of their instruments, combined with a deep love of chamber music, the three award-winning musicians never fail to enchant their audiences. Sparkling joy of playing, magical dialog and homogeneous interplay come together in these musicians. The trio's program ranges from classical music to jazz and modern music.
Sayaka Schmuck, born in Bad Waldsee, studied at the music academies in Weimar with Prof. Martin Spangenberg, Hanover with Prof. Johannes Peitz and "Hanns Eisler" Berlin with Prof. Wenzel Fuchs. She has won prizes at various competitions, including the "Concursul International de Muzica Jeunesses Musicales" in Bucharest, a prize at the International Stockhausen Masterclasses in the same year and the "Hans Sikorski Memorial Prize" from the "Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben" for the interpretation of contemporary music in 2000. After engagements in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Hanover State Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, she was solo clarinetist in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the NDR Hanover and also plays as a substitute in renowned orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, SWR Freiburg Baden-Baden and many more. She devotes her free time to sports, nature and the joy of traveling by bike and hiking. www.sayakaschmuck.com
Johann-Peter Taferner (JPT) was born in Hamburg and was initially influenced musically by his mother, a singer. JPT completed his music studies with Prof. Ralph Manno in Cologne. He received further clarinetistic impulses from professors Martin Spangenberg, Hans-Dietrich Klaus and Johannes Peitz. He deepened his chamber music studies with professors/teachers Renate Greiss-Armin, Georg Klütsch, Christian Wetzel, Robert Winn, Eberhard Feltz, Anthony Spiri and Roglit Ishay. JPT is solo clarinettist of the Hamburger Camerata, member of the Ensemble Obligat and the Klarinettentrio Schmuck, director of the Bad Neuenahrer QuAHRtett - an ensemble specializing in salon music with its own concert series at the eponymous venue - and member of the Ensemble Opus 45. Various projects as a soloist and chamber musician have also brought him together with renowned artists such as Martina Gedeck, Matthias Brandt, Hanns Zischler, Roman Knizka, Simone Young, Martin Stadtfeld, Joanna Kamenarska, Gustav Frielinghaus, Marianna Shirinyan, Kiveli Dörken, Harri Mäki and Helge Slaatto. He has performed as principal clarinettist in the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the Gürzenich Orchestra and the orchestras of the Essen, Wuppertal, Solingen, Remscheid, Recklinghausen and Gelsenkirchen theaters and has worked under conductors such as Lothar Zagrosek, Kristjan Järvi, Michael Sanderling, Stefan Soltesz, Simon Gaudenz, Helmut Müller-Brühl and Ralf Gothóni. He has been invited to perform in the USA, the Middle East, North Africa and throughout Europe. In Germany, he has performed at the Rheingau Music Festival, the Hohenloher Musiksommer, the Ludwigsluster Schlosskonzerte and several other chamber music series. He regularly performs at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
Kristóf Dömötör studied clarinet at the Cologne University of Music and Dance (class of Prof. Ralph Manno). At the same time, he devoted himself to saxophone chamber music and took lessons with Prof. Daniel Gauthier. This was followed by jazz saxophone studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen (Prof. Hugo Read and Prof. Matthias Nadolny). As a passionate teacher at various music schools, he also spent several semesters as a lecturer at Arnhem University of Applied Sciences. Before he became a tenor saxophonist in the music corps of the German Armed Forces in Siegburg in 2020, he held the same position in the big band of the Saarland police. He is a welcome soloist/guest in various orchestras. Participations include: WDR-Funkhausorchester, orchestras of the stages of Recklinghausen/Gelsenkirchen, Wuppertal, Bochum, Dortmund, Essen, Hagen, Mönchengladbach, Münster, Osnabrück, Solingen/Remscheid, Bonn and Kassel as well as Palast Orchester (Max Raabe) and Kasalla. His greatest passion, however, is chamber music. This includes the following ensembles: Sirocco Saxophone Quartet, Bad Neuenahrer QuAHRtett and the clarinet trio Schmuck. In addition to various scholarships, he is one of the few who have won competitions in both classical and jazz music.
Programme "From Classical to Jazz":
W.A. Mozart (1756-1791): from "The Magic Flute"
for 2 clarinets and basset horn
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Hungarian Dances
for 2 clarinets and bass clarinet
W. A. Mozart (1756-1791): from "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Don Giovanni"
for 2 clarinets and basset horn
Voi che sapete (Say, fair ladies)
Là ci darem la mano (Give me your hand my life)
The Beatles: Medley
Paul Desmond (1924-1977): Take Five
Henry Mancini (1924-1994) Moon River
Benny Goodman/Turner Layton: After you've gone
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992): Tango
for 2 clarinets and bass clarinet
Program subject to change
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