In the seventh edition of the Schneider Buch der Rekorde (Schneider Book of Records) Henriette Gärtner was referred to under the rubric “facts” as the “youngest concert pianist in the world,” because as an eight-year-old she was accompanied by the famous Festival Strings Lucerne chamber orchestra at the International Musical Festival Lucerne, Switzerland in 1983. This was the first time that Henriette Gärtner attracted international attention. At the same time, she gave a concert with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra at the Musical Festival in Colmar.
Henriette’s great musical talent became apparent at an unusually early age; she began playing the piano already as a three-year-old, and just two years later she gave her first major concert in Stuttgart.
Competitions, Concerts and Tours:
In the following years, Henriette Gärtner won a series of piano competitions, lastly the International Master Players Competition in Swiss Lugano, whereupon an associated concert tour of the USA followed.
Since that time a vigorous concert activity has followed, which led Henriette Gärtner to the musical centers of Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Austria, Monte Carlo, the USA, South America and South Africa. Added to that were further invitations from renowned orchestras under conductors such as Karl Münchinger, Rudolf Baumgartner, Petr Altrichter, Thomas Kalb, Richard Schumacher, Thomas Koncz, Howard Griffiths, Elyakum Shapirra, Gerd Albrecht and Edouard d’Stoutz.
In 2006 Henriette Gärtner played again for the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe in London in St. Martin in the Fields and 2008 in St. Jame’s Piccadilly, after having played for the Robert and Clara Schumann Society in Leipzig, the Associazione Mozart Italia in Rovereto (2005, 2008) and the Associazione Culturale Italo-Tedesca a Venice.
Radio, TV and CD Productions:
Besides radio productions, last of all on Bavarian Radio in April 2006, a number of TV portraits were also made, as, e.g., „Treffpunkt Fernsehturm“, „Anneliese Rothenberger stellt vor“, „Wunderkinder“ und „Junge Interpreten“ (“Meeting Place TV Tower,” “Anneliese Rothenberger Presents,” “Child Prodigies” and “Young Interpreters”). In April 2000 a further TV broadcast was produced in Hamburg („Sonntakte mit Anneliese Rothenberger“).
In November 2003 Henriette Gärtner’s newest CD appeared under the title KONTRASTE (HGBS 19016) with works by, among others, Bach/Busoni, Schubert, Chopin, Paderewsky and Franck, after her debut CD came out in 1996 on the ANIMATO label (ACD 6020), and in 1998 the CD Faszination Musik appeared on the same label.
Henriette Gärtner has also several DVD live recordings.
Courses and Scholarships:
Since 1999 Henriette Gärtner has complemented her artistic training with interpretation and master courses with Rudolf Buchbinder, Viktor Merzhanov, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Christian Zacharias, Thomas Lange, Leslie Howard, Sergio Perticaroli, Günter Reinhold and Peter Feuchtwanger.
To round out her artistic training, in 2001 Henriette Gärtner 2001 entered the Accademia Pianistica Incontri col Maestro in Imola, Italy, in order to study with Leonid Margarius, a student of Regina Horowitz. In September 2005, Henriette Gärtner successfully graduated with a diploma from this academy. She worked, among others, with Boris Petrushansky, Piero Rattalino, Giovanni Valentini and Anna Kravtchenko.
In addition, in 2003 Henriette Gärtner 2003 was accepted by the Scuola Pianistica di perfezionamento L. Margarius.
Henriette Gärtner is furthermore a scholarship recipient of the Baden-Württemberg Artistic Foundation, the Foundation for International Master Courses for Music Zürich, the International Music Meeting Place Haus Marteau in Lichtenberg (District Oberfranken) and The German-Italian Society in Como, Italy.