My name is Kristoffer Emil Appel. I was born 20 May 1990 in Copenhagen and is
I sing 1st tenor in DR KoncertKoret
As a child, I went to school at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium, where I sang in the Copenhagen Boys' Choir. Naturally, this has given me a basic choir education and given me a great love for singing in a choir. I never really intended to become a professional musician as a child or teenager. After high school, I got a scholarship for a year at LaGrange College in Georgia, USA.
My plan was to return to Denmark after that year and study political science. But that never happened. I ended up staying in Georgia for four years and got a bachelor's degree in classical singing. I came back to Denmark in 2013 and started at the Royal Danish Academy of Music as a classical singer. In 2017, I started the master's programme at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen.
I started in the choir in August 2017.
I do a lot of different projects outside DR, especially in baroque and early music, both as an ensemble singer and as a soloist in oratorios.
In February 2018, I was selected as a soloist for the Young Soloists Academy during the annual Barokkfest in Trondheim. I sang the role of Tempo in Handel's opera Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. Paul Agnew from Les Arts Florissants conducted and the orchestra was TSO Early. In addition to all travelling and living expenses being covered by the festival, a grant of DKK 5,000 was included.
I'm absolutely crazy about early music. There's nothing cooler than singing music from the Baroque period played on original instruments. But I listen to pop music just as much. I don't come from a home where classical music was played, so pop was my first music. Kate Bush is without a doubt my favourite artist. I faithfully go to Roskilde Festival every summer - I've been going since 2007.
The hardest thing I've ever played/sung? Whispers from Heavenly Death (1948) by Hans Werner Henze.
My name is René Mathiesen
I was born on 21 February 1961
With instrument: Timpani
My path to music and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra was long and winding.
I come from a home with piano and 3rd generation Tivoli Gardens, so it's safe to say that I fell into the (timpani) pot as a child. My first encounter with symphonic music and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra was through my teachers in TivoliGarden, Poul Leerhøj and Tom Nybye, who were both employed as percussionists in the orchestra.
When they talked about their daily lives and about music, I got so excited that I decided very early on that when I grew up, I wanted to be like them!
In my last year in Tivoli, I tried to apply to the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Danish Academy of Music, but failed because of my performance in the minor subject ear training. However, the conservatoire decided to give me another chance that same year, as they thought that ”there was a strikingly large difference between my main subject performance and my minor subjects”.
It didn't help much, so I had to try again the following year. Before the second attempt, I took percussion lessons with Solojanitshar in the DR Symphony Orchestra Ib Jarlkov.
These were extremely interesting lessons that took place at Ib's private home in Valby. In addition to percussion, the lessons also included electronics and aeroplane routes, as Ib was an avid radio amateur and aircraft spotter. These interests were cultivated while he was teaching.
The second time was the charm for me, and in 1978 I started at DKDM, where my teachers were the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Kapelmusikus Hans Fulling and Bent Lylloff.
During my studies, I was lucky enough to join the European Youth Symphony Orchestra from 1978 until 1981, conducted by Maestro Claudio Abbado.
At the same time, Big Band classes were set up at DKDM with Thad Jones as the leader, and I was lucky enough to join them, thus getting big band jazz as part of my education.