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Sebastian Knauer can look back at a career spanning more than three decades since his debut at the age of 14 at the Laeiszhalle in his hometown Hamburg. He has performed in more than 50 countries across 4 continents, playing at important venues, festivals and series in cities such as Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London, Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Warsaw, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul & Tokyo. Now, Sebastian Knauer makes himself a special present for his 50th birthday: he commissioned the legendary composer Michael Nyman (“The Piano”) to write 6 new compositions for him. These titles are complemented with some Mozart pieces. This is how classical music comes alive! “For my project, The Mozart / Nyman Concert, I chose two tremendous and highly esteemed composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Michael Nyman. Both have accompanied and fascinated me since my youth. Mozart’s piano compositions occupy a large and important place in my repertoire, and over the many years since I first heard Michael Nyman’s 'In Re Don Giovanni,' I have followed his musical work with great enthusiasm. It has long been my dream to connect the two composers in a special project. In 2021, for the occasion of my fiftieth birthday, I seek to fulfill this wish and have asked Michael Nyman, who is just as much an admirer of Mozart as I am, to compose six piano pieces directly related to Mozart’s piano sonatas ... The soundscapes of the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries are closely interwoven, the transitions between Mozart and Nyman are fluid, and a listening experience is created which makes the connection between antiquity and modernity a thrilling and innovative concert program for me.” – Sebastian Knauer