Trio Spiegelbild
Biography Trio Spiegelbild
The Trio SpiegelBild
with its unusual line-up of saxophone, accordion and piano, dares to take a new look at famous works of classical music, but also works with young artists who compose specifically for the ensemble.
Two young graduates of the renowned Moscow Gnessin Music Academy complement each other on the keys in Trio SpiegelBild: Konstantin Zvyagin and Vadim Baev. Shortly after graduating in 2014, the two came to Cologne to study at the University of Music and Dance. And soon the two began to play together as a duo. The enthusiastic response from the audience and their encounter with the gifted saxophonist Xavier Larsson inspired them to found the Trio SpiegelBild, which has a very active concert life and performs in numerous cities in Germany and abroad. Their creative collaboration with young composers, the search for original works for this unusual line-up and the work on new transcriptions and arrangements enable the trio to develop a varied repertoire for this exciting sound experience.
Xavier Larsson
was born in 1991 in Ciutadella on Menorca. There he began his musical education by studying the violin and saxophone. He later deepened his saxophone skills at the Cologne University of Music and Dance, where he completed a concert exam under the direction of Prof. Daniel Gauthier and obtained a master's degree in new music under Prof. David Smeyers.
As a soloist, Larsson has performed on prestigious stages around the world, including the Cologne Philharmonic, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid and the Chicago Cultural Center.
During his career, Larsson has won over 20 first prizes in prestigious national and international competitions, both as a soloist and in chamber music, including the Classic Winds International Festival 2016 in Germany, SaxoVoce 2016 in France, Intermusica 2014 in Austria, Michal Spisak 2014 in Poland, Concurso Permanente Jóvenes Intérpretes Juventudes Musicales 2009 in Spain, the 20th International Chamber Music Competition in Illzach, France (2017) and the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy University Competition 2014 in Germany.
He has been awarded scholarships from prestigious institutions such as the Hezekiah Wardwell Scholarship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Märkische Kulturstiftung in Lüdenscheid and the Alfred Toepfer Scholarship in Hamburg.
In addition to his solo career, Larsson is a versatile chamber musician and member of the Fukio Quartet and Trio SpiegelBild. Larsson contributes to the development and expansion of the original repertoire for the saxophone through collaborations with various composers.
Xavier Larsson is a lecturer at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin and leads the saxophone ensemble at the Cologne University of Music and Dance.
Vadim Baev
was born in the Russian city of Severodvinsk on the White Sea. He received his first accordion lessons at the age of 5 from Tamara Faleva and later at the music college with Svetlana Farber. In 2008 he moved to Moscow and began musical training at the Gnesins Music Academy under the direction of Prof. Yuri Sidorov. From 2014 to 2017 Vadim completed the master's program at the Cologne University of Music and Dance with Helmut Quakernack.
Vadim has impressive credentials and is a prizewinner in both Russian and international competitions. His talents have been supported by several scholarships and grants, including those from the Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation and Live Music Now (Cologne).
His regular concert activities as an accordionist and member of several projects such as the Trio SpiegelBild, the play La Môme Piaf, the Klezmer group The Klezmer Tunes and the band Chanson Trottoir have led him to numerous solo and chamber music concerts in Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Russia.
Since May 2022 he has been working as an accordion teacher at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne.
Konstantin Zvyagin
was born in 1990 in the old Russian city of Novgorod. He graduated from the Gnessins Music Academy in Moscow as a student of Prof. Tatiana Zelikman. He then completed his master's degree at the Cologne University of Music and Dance under Prof. Nina Tichman.
As a young pianist, Konstantin Zvyagin already has impressive references. He is a prizewinner in Russian and international competitions. His talent has been supported by several scholarships and grants. His active concert activity as a pianist and member of the SpiegelBild trio has led him to numerous solo and chamber music concerts, various festivals and master classes in Ireland, Poland, Germany, the USA, France, Italy, Spain, Israel and Russia.
In recent years, Konstantin Zvyagin has been particularly intensively involved with Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung. This work resulted in a suite in eight scenes, "Wagner's Ring," with his transcriptions for piano. Konstantin Zvyagin was awarded for this by the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation in summer 2023. His musical commitment was particularly recognized by the festival management with a certificate.
The music he transcribed for piano was released on CD A Path Through Wagner's Ring by the Spektral label in March 2024. The sheet music for his work was also published by APOLLON Musikoffizin Verlag in Bonn.
He has been teaching at the Academy of Music in Darmstadt since January 2020.
