Florian Birsak
The Salzburg native is one of the most respected specialists in historically informed performance practice on the fortepiano and harpsichord. His outstanding basso continuo playing makes him a sought-after continuo partner for numerous top orchestras, and he also shines as a stylistically confident soloist and chamber musician in baroque and classical music.
About the artist
KEY EXPERT FOR EXCELLENT STYLE
Career
Florian Birsak has been fascinated by early music since his childhood. His instruments are historical fortepianos as well as the clavichord. He enjoyed his musical education first in his hometown Salzburg and later at the Musikhochschule in Munich. Important personalities in his artistic development are Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Liselotte Brändle, Kenneth Gilbert, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Anthony Spiri. Prizes at international competitions, such as the Flanders Festival in Bruges or the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, followed. In 2003, together with the cellist Isolde Hayer, he received the August-Everding Prize of the Munich Concert Society.
Special interest
An essential part of his musical and academic interest lies in the adequate performance of the basso continuo in all its stylistic facets. He was and is a welcome guest in the position of a continuo player in orchestras such as the Camerata Salzburg, the Munich Hofkapelle, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra, Armonico Tributo, the Oman Consort, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble or the Concentus Musicus Wien and many others. In recent years Florian Birsak has focused his efforts on soloistic tasks as well as his own chamber music projects with special programmatic objectives.
Teaching
In 2013 he was called as professor of harpsichord at the Mozarteum Salzburg. In addition, he directs and initiated the "Innsbruck Baroque" academy, which has been offering master classes and workshops in the field of historical performance practice in August since 2014.
