Intendant of the Dresden Music Festival, Jan Vogler, has extended his contract by five years until 2021. The festival was founded in 1978 and he became director in 2009.
Under his directorship, the Dresden Music Festival has moved to the forefront of leading international festivals.
‘It is a very good sign that Jan Vogler has extended his partnership with Dresden,’ said an evidently pleased Dirk Hilbert, First Mayor of the City of Dresden. ‘You can certainly sense in the city that the music festival has gained in stature since he took to the reins, without having lost any connection to the cities inhabitants. At the same time, the international resonance has increased year on year. Particularly in respect to Dresden’s application as European Capital of Culture, Jan Vogler is an invaluable partner and tireless campaigner for this city.’

The Festival presents itself as an ambassador for the cultural and musical city of Dresden worldwide with its range of themes which change from year to year. It guarantees music of the utmost caliber and offers a stage to all leading international orchestras and conductors as well as artists of international acclaim and ambitious projects to promote young talent. With Jan Vogler’s guidance, the Festival has experienced rapid growth. Between 2009 and 2014, ticket revenues have more than doubled. The development of visitor numbers has also experienced a fantastic surge with the percentage of seats sold increasing from 77 to 94% and a boost in international visitors from 6 to 13%. Additionally, the Festival has been able to acquire renowned sponsors with funds from sponsors having more than trebled. Around 90 media representatives report annually on the Festival, of whom half come from outside Germany.
‘I’m delighted by the reciprocated trust of my colleagues and very much look forward to five more active and motivated years with them. I see it as my mission to open up Dresden further through cultural exchange. It is our vision to sustainably strengthen Dresden’s activities as a cosmopolitan, diverse and dynamic city of culture through the growing appeal of the Dresden Music Festival and to firmly anchor the Festival as one of the first events of choice within the international festival circuit,’ Jan Vogler, Intendant of the Dresden Music Festival.

Jan Vogler’s new CD “Concerti di Venezia” will be released by Sony on 24 October: http://youtu.be/y0DVcij1QSk.

With this recording Jan Vogler tells the story of the cello’s journey from a continuo instrument to a melody instrument that started in Venice in the 18th century: “Within only a few years the dark-toned bass instrument was transformed into a virtuoso instrument capable of singing and joining in a lively debate with the rest of the orchestra. It was the city of Venice, with its breath-taking musical scene, that triggered this revolution, involving a dialogue between composers, musicians and instrument makers,” says Jan Vogler.

Jan Vogler has recorded the CD with works by Vivaldi, Caldara, Porpora, Vandini and Marcello together with La Folia Barockorchester. Giuliano Carmignola is his partner in Vivaldi’s Double Concerto for violin and cello.

Jan Vogler was keen “to find a new and at the same time ‘old’ sound for the cello using a Baroque bow and gut strings, a sound inspired less by our present-day ideas of the ethereal tone of a Baroque cello than by the colours and light of a Venetian painting.”

Jan Vogler and La Folia Barockorchester will present selected pieces of their CD during a joint tour in November:

21 November, Kufstein, Stadtsaal
23 November, Basel, Casino
24 November, Villach, Congress Center
27 November, Dresden, Hochschule für Musik
28 November, Bad Lauchstädt, Goethetheater
29 November, Berlin, Radialsystem
30 November, Rapperswil
Caldara: Concerto da Camera for cello and orchestra
Vivaldi: Concerto for cello and orchestra
Vivaldi: Concerto for violin, cello and orchestrs
Porpora: Concerto for cello and orchestra