Artistic directors

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

Andreas Ottensamer is a sought-after clarinettist and conductor worldwide. As a soloist, he performs with orchestras such as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Sir Simon Rattle and others. As a conductor, Ottensamer works with orchestras such as the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the MDR Sinfonieorchester and the Orchestra Gulbenkian Lisbon. As a chamber musician, he plays with Yuja Wang, Lisa Batiashvili, Sol Gabetta and Gautier Capuçon, among others. He has been an exclusive artist of Deutsche Grammophon since 2013. He was awarded an Echo Klassik for “Brahms - The Hungarian Connection” in 2015 and an Opus Klassik Award for “Blue Hour” in 2019. Ottensamer has been principal clarinettist with the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2011. 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.