Prof. Markus Groh and Prof. Konstantin Heidrich - crescendo was under a dual artistic leadership for the first time in 2017. Here they report on their work in the Tagesspiegel. 

The Frankfurter Allgemeine described Markus Groh's piano playing as a "symbiosis of furor and poetry". The Süddeutsche Zeitung already made comparisons with the "temperament of an Argerich and the aesthetic rigour of a Swjatoslaw Richter" at his debut in the Herkulessaal. After the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in 2007, the New York Times wrote of an "energetic, substantial" interpretation that offered "both bravura and sensitivity", and in 2009, after the Brahms B-flat Major Piano Concerto performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, he was described as "particularly well suited to this gigantic work. A complete virtuoso". The winner of 1st prize at the famous Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (1995), he now makes guest appearances with major orchestras in Europe, the USA and Asia. He has appeared several times with orchestras such as the London Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and many top German orchestras under conductors such as Ivan Fischer, Neeme Järvi, Hannu Lintu, Fabio Luisi, Kent Nagano and Jonathan Nott. Markus Groh has performed worldwide at numerous renowned festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, and repeatedly gives piano recitals in many music centres around the world, including Amsterdam, Antwerp, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, London, Mexico City, Munich, New York, Paris, Seattle, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Toronto, Osaka, Washington D.C., Vienna and Zurich. The "Bebersee Festival" in the north of Berlin, which he founded in 2003, also developed into a very special event. Markus Groh received several awards for his first Liszt SACD, released in 2006, including the coveted "Editor's Choice" in Gramophone Magazine. A second SACD with works by Brahms was awarded the "Star of the Month" by the specialist magazine FONOFORUM. Markus Groh has lived in Berlin since 1989 and studied there with Prof. Hans Leygraf at the University of the Arts (UdK) until his concert exam. From 1999-2003 and from 2010 he was a professor at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH). His students have already won numerous prizes at important international competitions (including 1st prizes in San Marino, Hong Kong, Leverkusen (Bayer stART Prize), Prague...). Recently, recordings of his students have been released on Naxos (Dongkyu Kim) and on SONY CLASSICAL (Alexander Krichel). In the summer semester of 2014, Markus Groh began his work as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, succeeding Prof. Klaus Hellwig.

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Konstantin Heidrich is the cellist of the Fauré Quartet and professor of cello at the Berlin University of the Arts. Born in Hamburg, he has worked as a soloist with conductors such as Andrea Marcon and Kristjan Järvi. Orchestras such as the MDR Symphony Orchestra or the Duisburg Philharmonic have accompanied his concerts. He has been a guest solo cellist with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Kammerakademie Potsdam. His students are international prize winners. Konstantin Heidrich also gives courses in London, Washington D.C., Dresden, Karlsruhe, Bonn, Bad Sobernheim as well as in Italy, Norway, Brazil or Singapore.
The Fauré Quartet is the centre of Konstantin Heidrich's musical life. The magazine "The Strad" described the quartet thus: "They achieve superlatives wherever they appear!". With the same line-up since its foundation almost 20 years ago, the piano quartet is one of the most successful chamber music formations internationally. The "Quartet in Residence" of the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe is booked for tours and festivals all over the world and performs at venues such as the Musikverein Vienna, Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Conservatorio G. Verdi Milan, Palau de la Música Barcelona, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires or Frick Collection New York. In 2015, the Fauré Quartet will artistically direct the Festspielfrühling Rügen in cooperation with the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for the fourth time. The Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft released recordings with works by Mozart, Brahms and Mendelssohn, as well as the albums Popsongs and Pocket Symphonies. In 2014, SONY released a CD with works by Strauss and Mahler. Among the more than a dozen prizes and awards the Fauré Quartet has received are the Brahms Prize, the Rhineland-Palatinate Art Prize, the German Record Critics' Prize and two ECHO-Klassik awards.