Christian Benning Percussion Group

Multi percussionist Christian Benning (*1995) is meanwhile perceived internationally as a formative personality of a young and progressive generation of percussionists. Concerts as a soloist as well as with his ensemble Christian Benning Percussion Group have taken him to the Hercules Hall of Munich, to Glocke in Bremen, to Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, to the Beethoven House in Bonn, to the Musikverein of Graz, to the Duomo di Milano, to the Egyptian State Opera, to the Royal Opera House of Oman or to the Abbey of San Diego. Competitive successes and concert tours through Asia, Africa, Europe and North America with renowned orchestras underpin his artistic versatility as well as concert projects at the Rheingau Music Festival, the Heidelberg Spring, La Folle Journée or productions on behalf of Deutschlandfunk, Bavarian and Südwest-Rundfunk, when he also premiered and recorded some of his own compositions. In addition to his work as solo timpanist at the Opera Mauritius of Port Louis and as teacher at the National Conservatory of Mauritius, he is currently developing a new hybrid percussion instrument, called CreativeBeats. As scholarship holder of the German Scholarship Foundation and as culture award winner of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the city of Pasing, he works interdisciplinary in cooperation with Holger Geschwindner on innovative training methods through an effective combination of music and sport, for which he invented an own notation system. Since 2009 he has already been studying as pre-college student at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Adel Shalaby, where he then completed his Ba - chelor and Master studies with Prof. Dr. Peter Sadlo, Prof. Arnold F. Riedhammer and Prof. Alexej Gerassimez. He gained further study experience in the USA with Prof. Robert van Sice at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and at the Yale School of Music. In 2021 he has been selected to be promoted in the very first grade of the new postgraduate excellence program in Munich called Excellence in Performance. Master classes and joint concerts with Evelyn Glennie, Martin Grubinger, Marin Alsop, Leon Fleisher, Lang Lang or Kent Nagano complete his huge range of artistic experiences.

Patrick Stapleton (*1993) is a graduate from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich where he initially studied with Prof. Adel Shalaby, Prof. Dr. Peter Sadlo and Prof. Alexej Gerassimez. Apart from performing as soloist, he particularly contributes to countless chamber music projects, during which he has worked together with world-famous artists such as Steve Reich and has already appeared on two recordings released by the renowned label Genuin Classics. He is a founding member of the Christian Benning Percussion Group, plays at The Lion King in Hamburg and frequently is a part of successful crossover projects like MEUTE or the VKKO. Amongst others, he has played at such famous concert halls as the Philharmonic Hall of Munich, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Royal Opera House of Muscat, the Cairo Opera House and the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Stapleton is a multiple laureate at international musical competitions. Most recently he was awarded the Music Sponsorship Prize 2020 of the Konzertverein Ingolstadt as well as the 1st prize of the Kulturkreis Gasteig Music Competition 2020 in Munich

Godwin Schmid was born in Landsberg am Lech in 1996. He got his first drum lessons from his father when he was three years old. In 2014 he was awarded with Landsberg‘s Cultural Scholarship. In 2013/14 he attended the Vocational School of Music in Krumbach where he was taught by Stefan Blum. In October 2014 he began his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Franz Bach. From 2016 to 2018 he was an intern in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Würzburg. He was also able to gain valuable experiences in orchestras such as the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Hof Symphony Orchestra, the Augsburg State Theater and the Munich State Opera. In 2019 he completed his Bachelor‘s degree with Claudio Estay, then began his Master‘s degree with Prof. Raymond Curfs. Since 2020 he is member of the Christian Benning Percussion Group

Felix Kolb was born in Nuremberg in 1994, studied Percussion in Munich at the University for Music and Performing Arts and was part of the renowned academy program of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. As freelance percussionist he concentrates on the symphonic repertoire and has already played concert projects all over Europe, but also in Egypt and in the United States of America. He has worked with many famous musicians and conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Harding and Sir Simon Rattle.

Marcel Kentaro Morikawa (*1992 in Cologne) took his first percussion lessons in 2006 with Robert Schäfer (Gürzenich Orchestra), as well as piano lessons with Susanna Cizmarovic. He began his Bachelor‘s degree in 2009 with Prof. Carlos Tarcha at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne, while he spent one year as an Erasmus student at the University of Music in Bucharest in the percussion class of Prof. Alexandru Matei. In 2014 he started a pedagogical degree and an artistic Master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Prof. Dr. Peter Sadlo, after whose sudden death he continued his studies with Claudio Estay (Bavarian State Opera). In 2017/18 he was an intern at the Hof Symphony Orchestra, where he is still substituting on a regular basis ever since, as well as at the Munich Chamber Opera, in the Gärtnerplatz Theater and in the Bavarian State Orchestra. In 2018 he won the 2nd prize at the international percussion competition ItalyPAS (vibraphone category).
 

Season 2024/25

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