Timothy Hopkins & Vita Kan
Biography Timothy Hopkins & Vita Kan
Timothy Hopkins
born in 1995, is a German/American cellist living in Germany.
Soloistic and chamber musical performances so far have brought him to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Czech republic, Switzerland, and the USA. As a soloist he performed several times accompanied by the Göttinger Symphonieorchester, the MDR- Sinfonieorchester as well as the Castello Symphony Orchestra (Spain), and he is a prize winner in both national and international competitions.
As a very passionate chamber musician he was invited twice to perform at the HARMOS chamber music festival in Portugal, once with the Lipsia String Quartet and again with the Max-Klinger-Piano Trio, with the latter also at the Rice University in Houston/Texas. Furthermore, he forms the Cello Duo Grancelli together with his colleague Moritz Klauk.
He began his musical studies while he was still going to school as a pre-student in Münster and later on in Leipzig. After his high school graduation, he completed his bachelor's degree with honors at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ in Leipzig, studying with Prof. Peter Bruns. At the moment, he is working on his master's program supervised by Prof. Troels Svane at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.
He received additional insights through working with artists such as Steven Isserlis, Wen-Sinn Yang, Sergio Azzolini, Antoine Tamestit, Wolfgang Boettcher, Viviane Hagner, Norman Fischer, Antje Weithaas, Eberhardt Feltz, Heime Müller, and the members of the Quarteto Casals.
A special interest for him lies in performing arrangements and transcriptions of pieces from other instrument’s literatures to the cello. Examples are his own arrangement of the Chaconne from the second violin Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns, Scherzo-Tarentelle by Henryk Wieniawsky, as well as numerous transcriptions for different cello ensemble constellations.
Timothy Hopkins holds a scholarship of Villa Musica and from 2018 to 2020 he was a scholarship holder of the Kammerakademie Potsdam. He is also supported by Yehudi Menuhin „Live Music Now“ Leipzig e.V. Winning the competition of the SINFONIMA-foundation entitled him to play a cello by Nicolas Vuillaume from 1860 for a period of two years.
Currently, he plays on a French cello from the late 19th century of an unknown maker.
Vita Kan
began to receive piano lessons at the age of five. The foundation of her musical education was laid by Prof. Timur Urmanchejev in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In 2011 Vita Kan came to Germany for studying with Gerald Fauth and Jacques Ammon at HMT Leipzig where she was also a scholarship holder of DAAD and Ad-Infinitum Foundation as well as the Deutschland - Stipendium (scholarship). Furthermore, Vita Kan gained valuable insights by collaborating with artists such as Robert Levin, Jacques Rouvier, Pavel Gililov, Bernd Goetzke, Peter Bruns and David Geringas.
Vita Kan was honored as a sensible and passionate chamber musician at the most important chamber music competitions of the music industry. She became prize winner at the 2018 ARD Competition in Munich as well as receiving the 1st Prize at the Mendelssohn Hochschulwettbewerb Berlin and the 2nd Prize along with two special prizes at „Chamber Music Competition Trio di Trieste“ in the genre of piano trio. Vita Kan and Trio Marvin were also declared winners at „Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne“ competition in Graz, Austria, as well as securing not only the 1st Prize but also the Gran Prix at the worlds largest chamber music competition „Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition“ in Australia. Her variety in chamber music formations also shows in winning the 1st Prize along with four special prizes at the 12th „Concours International Musique de Chamber de Lyon“ in 2016 playing as a cello-piano duo. Besides her former collaborations with Leipziger Streichquartett and Rolston String Quartet Vita Kan plays frequently at chamber music concerts from Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Bamberger Symphoniker.
Vita Kan performs regularly at festivals in China, Italy, Lithuania, France, the Netherlands, Australia and Switzerland. She had appearances in the chamber music hall of Berlin Philharmonic Hall and Konzerthaus Berlin, in Prinzregententheater Munich, in Recital Hall in Melbourne as well as Salle Gaveau in Paris. Her projects led her to the leading musical festivals in Europe and Australia, such as Mozartfest in Würzburg, SWR Festspiele in Schwetzingen and the participation in the latest Huntington Music Festival in Australia as well as performing forgotten sonatas at Palazetto Bru Zane in Venice.
Vita Kan takes part in productions from Radio France, BR, SWR, SR, NDR and HR. Her debut CD „Echoes of War“ with Trio Marvin was released in 2019 in collaboration with SWR and under the Genuin label. Vita Kan shows great interest in the educational field and holds a teaching position at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich. She also gives great value to the education of children and therefore leads a piano class at New Music School in Leipzig.
