Following the tradition of touring theatre companies, the El Cimarrón Ensemble approaches contemporary musical theatre from a minimalist point of view.

The ensemble, founded in 1999, became known for its interpretation of Hans Werner Henze's El Cimarrón that has been performed at the Salzburg Festival, the Semperoper Dresden, the NDR Radio, the Cité Universitaire de Paris, the Teatr Scena STU in Krakow and California State University, as well as in cities throughout Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, and the U.S.A.

The El Cimarrón Ensemble is made up of Christina Schorn (guitar), Ivan Mancinelli (percussion), and Michael Kerstan (stage director) as well as their artist friends Robert Koller (baritone), Ran Seo-Katanic (soprano), David Gruber (flute), and Khac-Uyen Nguyen (violin). They work and perform in close collaboration with distinguished composers, such as Agustín Castilla Ávila, Stefan Hakenberg, Sabine E. Panzer, Stefano Taglietti, Vito Palumbo, Mario Pagotto, Luca Lombardi and Balz Trümpy, who have all written chamber operas for the ensemble. In upcoming seasons, the Salzburg-based ensemble will premiere works by Giorgio Battistelli and Jack Fortner as well as new productions of Mauricio Kagel's Mare Nostrum, Peter Maxwell-Davies‘ Eight Songs for a Mad King and Pierre Boulez‘ Le marteau sans maître. The El Cimarrón Ensemble has released two CDs, El Cimarrón on WERGO in 2007 and Memoirs of Elagabalus/The Egg Musher on VDMRecords - RAITrade in 2008. Both were critically acclaimed for highlighting the ensemble's technical and musical prowess.

www.elcimarronensemble.com


Robert Koller

Baritone Robert Koller studied with Lásló Polgár at the Musikhochschule Zürich/Winterthur and received a.o. awards from the Ernst Göhner Association and the  Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund.

Koller's operatic repertoire includes the title role in Carmen Maria Cârnecis' opera Giacometti (Kunsthaus Zürich, Ensemble Phoenix), the Death in Viktor Ullmann's Kaiser von Atlantis (Lyon, Annecy, Grenoble and Chambéry), the King in Händel's Siroe, re di persia (Musikhalle Hamburg and Zellerbach Hall Berkeley, Venica Baroque Orchestra under Andrea Marcon), and Beat Furrer's Invocation (Schauspielhaus Zürich, directed by Christoph Marthaler). Besides opera, Koller has sung e.g. Jesus in Bach's St. Matthew's Passion (Tonhalle Zürich), the bass solo in Hans Ulrich Leihmann's Nachts ist der Himmelnäher als am Tag (Lucerne Festival), in Regamey's Visions du Prophète Daniel (Kiev Philharmonic), and works by Charpentier at the Styriarte in Graz and on a French tour with the Capella Reial de Catalunya under the direction of Jordi Savall. In 2008, opera productions took Koller to the International Orpheus Festival in Fresno, California and to the Krakow Festival, and he also gave solo recitals at ART BASEL and the Gasteig in Munich. Since 2009, he has been engaged in several productions at the Teatro Real and has performed with the Orchestre de Chambre de la Suisse Romande and the Ensemble Contrechamps. At the Lucerne Festival 2011, he sang the main role in Georg Friedrich Haas' Nacht.

 
Christina Schorn

Christina Schorn was born in Hallein, Austria, and took her first guitar lessons at the age of eight with Renate Sölva. She continued her studies with Eliot Fisk and Joaquin Clerch at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg and was awarded a scholarship in 1995 by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to continue her studies with Robert Brightmore. In 1996, she traveled to Montevideo to further her studies under the tutelage of Abel Carlevaro.

Christina Schorn has taken part in master classes with renowned musicians such as Alvaro Pierri (Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg), Leo Brouwer, Hopkinson Sith, Oscar Ghiglia (Accademia Musicale Chigiana/Siena), Rey Guerra and Konrad Ragossnig. Schorn has performed in Brazil, Bulgaria, Germany, England, Italy, Mexico, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the Czech Republic.

In addition to solo performances, she is an active chamber musician. Together with her Portuguese guitar-duo partner M.P. Marques, Schorn won the first prize at the Pippa Portallion Chamber Music Competition in 1995.

 
Ivan Mancinelli

Percussionist Ivan Mancinelli studied with Beniamino Forestiere at the Conservatorio N. Piccinni in Bari and received his diploma with honors in 1996. He continued his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Peter Sadlo, receiving his diploma with honours in 2003.

Mancinelli is an active concert soloist, chamber musician and symphony orchestra member (RAI Symphony Orchestra Torino). He has performed all over the world, including Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, United States, Bulgaria, Slovakia, China, Thailand and the United States.

In 2006, Mancinelli's solo CD featuring Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, transcribed for Marimba, was released by Bongiovanni Records Bologna. In critics, the album was defined a reference recording for all percussionists interested in Bach.

Ivan Mancinelli has performed numerous world premieres by Stefano Taglietti, Stefan Hakenberg, Agustín Castilla-Ávila, and S.E. Panzerand Balz Trümpy e.g. at the Teatro civico in Sassari, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Romanischer Sommer in Cologne and at the Slovakian Festival for New Music Banska Bystrica.


Michael Kerstan

Stage director and dramaturge Michael Kerstan received his Ph.D. in empirical cultural studies after studying in Saarbrücken and Tübingen. As Hans Werner Henze's assistant, he was involved in various music pedagogy projects in Italy, Austria, France and the United States. He has also worked as the artistic director of the Jugendmusikfest Deutschlandsberg (Austria), the Kultur Region Stuttgart, and the Junge Kultur in Hallein/Salzburg.

Theater and opera productions have taken Kerstan to the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Hebbel Theater Berlin, the Salzburg Festival, the Münchener Biennale für Neues Musiktheater, the Tübinger Kammeroper, Steirischer Herbst in Graz, Theater Konstanz and the CrossSound Festival in Juneau, Alaska, among other places.

Michael Kerstan debuted as a film director and scriptwriter in the one-hour feature film Paul's Party. He publishes regularly on contemporary music and cultural pedagogy, and he has also written four plays and an opera libretto. Recent publications include an illustrated volume on Hans Werner Henze and a monograph on the operetta in Nuremberg, Souris Arche. Kerstan lives in Nuremberg and Marino, near Rome.


David Gruber

Flautist David Gruber, born in 1985, received his musical education at the Musikum in Salzburg. He gave his solo debut at fifteen with the Chamber Orchestra Hallein. Gruber has been studying at the Mozarteum Salzburg since 2004 with the Danish flautist Janne Thomsen and the world renowned Irena Grafenauer. In 2007, he was granted the I. E. Boleszny Music Scholarship by the city of Salzburg.

In addition to solo performances, Gruber is an active chamber musician. He collaborates regularly with the Johann Strauss Orchestra Salzburg and various ensembles at the Mozarteum. He joined the El Cimarrón Ensemble in 2008.