Artistic directors

Since 2013, the Bürgenstock Festival’s artistic directors have been Andreas Ottensamer and José Gallardo.

Andreas Ottensamer has captured audiences and critics alike with his distinct musicianship and versatility as clarinettist, artistic director and conductor. As a clarinet soloist, he has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. His artistic partnerships as a chamber musician include work with Yuja Wang, Seong-Jin Cho, Lisa Batiashvili, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Phillippe Jaroussky, Gautier Capuçon and Sol Gabetta. He regularly performs at festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and the Rheingau Musik Festival and is an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon. Website of Andreas Ottensamer.

The Argentine José Gallardo, born in 1970, is one of the most sought-after chamber music pianists in the world. Having studied at the conservatoire in his home city of Buenos Aires, he then studied under Prof Poldi Mildner at the University of Mainz and today works as a lecturer at the Leopold Mozart Centre in Augsburg. He has won numerous national and international awards and plays in renowned festivals and concert halls around the world such as the Tonhalle Zürich, the Musikhalle Hamburg, the Teatro della Pergola in Florence and London’s Wigmore Hall. The Süddeutsche Zeitung describes him as “a gentleman pianist with the all-rounder’s subtle, but interpretatively rich art of reduction.” W ebsite of José Gallardo.