Elsbeth Moser
Born in Bern, the accordionist and teacher Elsbeth Moser is one of the outstanding artists on her instrument. She studied accordion and piano at the Bern Conservatory and at the University of Music in Trossingen. In 1983 she was appointed professor at the Hanover University of Music and Theatre.
Elsbeth Moser was awarded an honorary professorship by the Tianjing Conservatory of Music in 1998 and is also a visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the University of Pula (Croatia). Many of her students and graduates have won international prizes as soloists and chamber musicians or are now active as professors at music academies.
Elsbeth Moser, who has been honoured with a number of prizes (1st prizes in Evian and Annemasse in 1969 and 1972 respectively, Bernhard Sprengel Prize of the City of Hanover in 1979), was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by the German President Roman Herzog in 1997 for her services to establishing the accordion as a concert instrument. Her international breakthrough came with Gidon Kremer’s invitation to Lockenhaus, where she gave the Western premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Seven Words together with David Geringas and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under the direction of Mario Venzago. This work was subsequently performed with other great cellists such as Maria Kliegel, Karine Georgian, Heinrich Schiff, Boris Pergamenschikow, Vladimir Toncha and Torleif Tedeen, accompanied by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Kremerata Baltica, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, among others. Elsbeth Moser has a deep friendship with Sofia Gubaidulina, who dedicated to her the trio Silenzio and the Triple Concerto (Orfeo C230121).
The accordionist has performed at festivals including Lockenhaus, Sigulda, Holland, Les Museiques (Basel), Riffelalp (Zermatt, Switzerland), Rheingau, Melos Ethos and „2Tage-2Nächte“ in Odessa (Ukraine). She is co-founder of the quintet that, for which Sofia Gubaidulina, Vinko Globokar, Nikolaus A. Huber and others have composed commissioned works. Concert tours have taken her to many countries around the world: with her long-time partner Nicolas Altstaedt, she has travelled from Baghdad to Cairo, invited by the Goethe-Institut.
Her recording with Boris Pergamenschikow of works by Sofia Gubaidulina for ECM received the „Star of the Month with Reference Value“ award from the magazine Fonoforum.
