Scholarship Holder
Teresa Raff
Harpist Teresa Emilia Raff, born in 1995, sees her instrument as a seismograph for human emotions. "The harp has such a wealth of resonances that I can express a very broad spectrum of emotions on it," says the freelance musician, who has lived in Berlin for many years. There she forges alliances with artists from a wide range of genres, from classical music to jazz and techno. What drives and inspires her is connecting with other people - those on stage as well as those in the audience.
Teresa Raff enjoyed her musical training at the Mozarteum Salzburg until she was ready to perform. She received further inspiration during an extended period of study in London. As a classical harpist, Teresa Raff has engagements this season with the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and ensemble reflektor, among others. Since 2023, she has been a scholarship holder of the Concerto21 Foundation, with whose support she can further develop and realize her artistic visions over a period of three years.
Teresa Emilia Raff's closest musical partner at the moment is cellist and concert designer Anne Keckeis. The two soloists complement each other wonderfully with their temperaments and share a passion for unusual musical thinking. In the 2024/25 season, they will bring their new program "Liebst du?" to the stage. It is about (love) songs, sometimes with words, sometimes without, loosely grouped around Franz Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata, a chamber music powerhouse par excellence, in which Teresa Raff's harp takes on the piano part.
Spring 2024 will also see the premiere of a first solo program for harp at Podium Esslingen, which was created at the suggestion of the festival and is entitled "Alone with the rest of the world". This year, she will also play the harp in the exciting ensemble of young composer and bandleader Fabia Mantwill at the renowned JazzBaltica festival and perform in a duo with bass trombonist Maxine Troglauer at the Beethovenfest Bonn.
To be given so much trust, not only as a harpist, but above all as an artist, is something new and very significant for me. Wishes that seemed difficult to realize can now be approached, discussed, tackled and even financed. Being allowed to give your own artistic voice time is something you have to fight for in our fast-paced society. In a way, the Concerto21 Foundation has now given me the permission and also the mandate to give myself time to actually work artistically - an almost overwhelmingly beautiful gift.
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