Concert Series Komponistin! 

January 31, 2026
7:00 PM
Festsaal Schloss Britz
Karin Fernandes, Pianist

Title: German Composers from the 18th and 19th Centuries
The internationally acclaimed Brazilian pianist Karin Fernandes presents a special evening dedicated exclusively to female composers. Her outstanding musical training took her to Europe, where she studied with masters such as Maria João Pires and Menahem Pressler. With numerous tours across Europe, including regular performances in Germany and most recently in Berlin at the invitation of NAXOS, she has built a deep connection with the European audience.
Karin Fernandes is a multi-award-winning artist who has won 21 piano competitions and is celebrated for her extensive discography, including 16 albums and several world premieres. She regularly collaborates with renowned orchestras and is a dedicated chamber musician. In addition to her active concert career, she teaches at São Paulo and passes on her knowledge to the next generation.
The program features works by Helene Liebmann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Josephine Lang, Emilie Zumsteeg, and Clara Schumann.

February 28
7:00 PM
Festsaal Schloss Britz
Lysistrata Chamber Collective

Title: Light and Shadow.
Songs and Chamber Music on Hope, Courage, and Optimism.
With music by Clara Schumann, Pauline Viardot, Kaija Saariaho, and others.

Text:
The Lysistrata Chamber Collective invites you to an evening that nourishes the soul and strengthens hope: And what could be more hopeful than women making music?
At the center is rediscovered chamber music by rarely performed female composers for cello, flute, piano, and voice. Music that brings to life the worlds of thought and feeling of forgotten artists, bringing them from the past into the present.
In an intimate setting, we want to approach these historical personalities from a personal perspective and collectively honor the lives and works of these and all women.

Anna Schors, Mezzo-Soprano
Rachel Susser, Flute
Lillia Keyes, Cello
Lucia Brighenti, Piano

March 8 - 7:00 PM
Festsaal Schloss Britz
Four-Hand Piano Program for International Women's Day
Andréa Huguenin Botelho and Uta Walther

For International Women's Day, conductor, composer, and pianist Andréa Huguenin Botelho presents an exclusive repertoire for piano four hands. For this virtuoso endeavor, she will be joined by pianist Uta Walther as a special guest, who is also the founder and curator of the Komponistin! series at Schloss Britz.

With music by Florentine Mulsant, Mel Bonis, Julia Schwarz, Andréa Huguenin Botelho.

March 28 - 7:00 PM
Kulturstall Schloss Britz
Musicals! with Marietta Piragine

Title: A CONCERT WITH SONGS FROM MUSICALS WRITTEN BY WOMEN

Marietta Piragine is a Brazilian soprano known for her versatility in opera and musical roles. Throughout her international career, she has gained extensive experience in various genres and distinguished herself through performances in numerous countries. In 2024, she will be part of the cast of the Off-Broadway musical "I LOVE YOU BECAUSE" in Berlin, underscoring her ability to seamlessly transition between opera and musical theater.

Piragine has received significant awards throughout her career, reflecting her talent and dedication in both opera and musical theater. These honors solidify her reputation as one of the leading Brazilian artists of her generation with an outstanding international career.

In 2017, she won the First Prize of the Carlos Gomes Award in Campinas, Brazil, a tribute to the great Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes. In the same year, she was awarded by the website Broadway é Aqui in São Paulo as "Best Musical Performer," highlighting her outstanding performance in the musical genre and her versatility as an artist.

April 25 - 7:00 PM
Kulturstall Schloss Britz

Title: Young Generation - Piano Quintet

Text: The Komponistin! series at Schloss Britz dedicates an evening to promoting young talents who interpret works by female composers. This time, it will be an unforgettable evening with a group of young, virtuoso, and award-winning talents aged 14 to 18. The program includes Franz Schubert's Piano Quintet "The Trout" and Louise Farrenc's Piano Quintet No. 1.

Carlotta Miehe, Violin
Gahyun Kim, Viola
Fruzsina Bosch, Cello
Duda Botelho, Double Bass
Luca Avram, Piano

June 6 - 7:00 PM
Kulturstall Schloss Britz

Title: Tribute to Emilie Mayer
Text: On June 6, the Komponistin! concert series is dedicated to one of the most remarkable German composers of the 19th century: Emilie Mayer. The extraordinarily productive Mayer (1812–1883) created an extensive body of work encompassing symphonies, overtures, chamber music, operas, and oratorios. Despite the societal resistances of her time as a female composer, she succeeded in asserting herself and having her works performed.
Her musical creation is characterized by romantic depth, melodic richness, and impressive structural clarity. The concert in the elegant setting of Schloss Britz offers the rare opportunity to experience Mayer's compositional genius live and rediscover a pioneer. The "Komponistin!" series aims to honor the work of such artists and make it accessible to a broad audience, illuminating music history from an important perspective.
On this evening, we are particularly pleased to welcome acordo e.V. – a non-profit chamber music club founded by five dedicated young musicians in Berlin. Their common passion is chamber music, and they devote themselves with great enthusiasm to the task of bringing young people together for this demanding and enriching musical form.
The acordo e.V. initiative enriches Berlin's musical landscape with an important platform for young artists and contributes to fostering enthusiasm for chamber music in the younger generation.
In the program:
Emilie Mayer - Piano Concerto
Piano Solo: Katharina Justus
Orchestra Direction: Andréa Huguenin Botelho
Katharina Justus was born in Bielefeld and grew up in Berlin. In 2017, she began her piano studies with Gottlieb Wallisch at the UdK Berlin and completed her solo master's degree at the HfMT Leipzig with Prof. Ammon. Starting in October 2024, she is studying her second master's degree in piano chamber music, repetition, and song accompaniment at the HfMT Leipzig with Prof. Kusnezow. Master classes with Elisabeth Leonskaja, Prof. Iwanzowa, Prof. Groh, Prof. Menrath, and chamber music courses for violin and piano gave her decisive impulses. From an early age, she received first and second prizes in the Bundeswettbewerb Jugend musiziert, Carl Bechstein, Klavier Jugend, and Dvořák mladým, both for piano solo and piano chamber music with violin. Among them were special prizes for the best chamber music or solo interpretations. In 2024, she worked as a repetitor at MDR and has been receiving the German scholarship "David and Agatha Moll" for piano chamber music at the HfMT Leipzig since October 2024. For several years, she has been serving as a young juror in Jugend musiziert in the Berlin and Brandenburg region.

June 27 - 7:00 PM
Festsaal Schloss Britz
Naoko Christ-Kato, Piano

Title: Piano Recital "Rosy Wertheim's Wonderful Worlds"

Text: As one of the first Dutch female composers, Rosy Wertheim (1888-1949) completed a professional musical training and gained international recognition. She lived and worked for many years in Paris, Vienna, and New York. During a seven-year stay in Paris, her home served as a meeting point for artists such as Messiaen, Jolivet, Milhaud, and Honegger. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands in May 1940, Rosy Wertheim was already 52 years old and living in Amsterdam. From September 1942, she had to hide for several years as a Jew to survive. She was one of the few in her family who survived the Nazi persecution. Her catalog of works comprises nearly 90 compositions, which, despite their quality, unfortunately fell into oblivion after World War II.
The pianist Naoko Christ-Kato rediscovered the moody and beautiful piano works of the composer Rosy Wertheim. The pianist's concert in Dorsten is a premiere with this program. Naoko Christ-Kato was born in Yokohama, Japan, studied piano in Tokyo, Hanover with Prof. Konrad Meister, and Lübeck with Prof. Manfred Fock, where she completed her studies with the artistic concert exam. She is a prizewinner of the "Young Artist Piano Contest" and the "Best Players Contest" in Japan. She maintains an active concert activity as a soloist, partner in song recitals, in chamber music ensembles, and projects with artists. In September 2023, she already performed in Dorsten with her piano recital "Waldszenen". Naoko Christ-Kato is a scholarship holder of the Deutscher Musikrat (2022) and the Kulturstiftung des Freistaats Thüringen (2025).