“A crystal-clear touch, almost sober, thoughtful and transparent, free of pathos yet full of poetry” – this is how Bayerischer Rundfunk describes the playing of pianist Alexandra Sostmann. Critics and audiences alike appreciate the exceptional stylistic breadth of her programmes, which range from William Byrd and Johann Sebastian Bach through the Romantic repertoire to music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Sostmann combines interpretative clarity with a pronounced curiosity for unusual programmatic connections and for the dialogue between tradition and the present.
The music of Johann Sebastian Bach holds a special place in her artistic work. At the same time, Alexandra Sostmann continually seeks encounters with contemporary music and direct exchange with composers. She has enjoyed long-standing collaborations with, among others, jazz pianist and composer Markus Horn, German composer Klaus Hinrich Stahmer, and internationally renowned Chinese composer Xiaoyong Chen, who composed and dedicated a work to her for one of her solo recordings. Reinhard Febel has also written a work for Alexandra Sostmann. Commissioned works by Rouzbeh Rafie and Apollonio Maiello further enrich her repertoire and underscore her particular interest in the music of our time.
Artistic collaboration with artists from other disciplines is also of particular importance to Alexandra Sostmann. Her interdisciplinary projects include work with choreographer and ballet director Jutta Ebnother and the Nordhausen Ballet Company on a production of The Lady of the Camellias. She also took part in a Bach project with John Neumeier and a dancer from the Hamburg Ballet.
Her solo recordings reflect the remarkable breadth of her repertoire and her intensive engagement with music from different periods. The recordings have received widespread acclaim from the international music press and have been nominated for awards including the German Record Critics’ Award, Opus Klassik, and the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). In 2027, her recording of Book II of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier will be released.
For more than a decade, Alexandra Sostmann was also a member of the successful and multiple award-winning Duo Villarceaux, dedicated to repertoire for two pianos and piano four hands. Alongside numerous radio and television productions, the duo made several CD recordings and complemented its concert activities with international masterclasses. Following an extended artistic hiatus, the duo returned to the concert stage together in 2022.
Alexandra Sostmann studied at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg with Prof. Volker Banfield and renowned Bach interpreter Prof. Evgeni Koroliov, as well as at the Royal College of Music in London with Dr Peter Katin, where she completed her studies with the Konzertexamen. Periods of study at the Mozarteum Salzburg and the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris completed her artistic education.
While still a student, she won First Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta in 1998. Further awards at international piano and chamber music competitions followed. Alexandra Sostmann has been a Steinway Artist for many years.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Alexandra Sostmann performs at renowned concert venues and festivals in Germany and internationally, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. As a soloist, she has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Kammersymphonie Berlin, Cappella Istropolitana, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, and the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg.
Her regular concert tours of South America hold a special place in her international activities, and she also gives masterclasses there. Her appearances have included the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Teatro del Libertador in Córdoba, and the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá. Mar del Plata, the birthplace of Astor Piazzolla, awarded her the title of Guest of Honour.
In 2024, Alexandra Sostmann founded the international music festival Bach & now! – Agathenburger Bachtage, of which she is Artistic Director. The festival was held for the first time in spring 2025 and will enter its third edition in 2027. At its heart is the connection between the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, contemporary music, and new artistic perspectives – an approach that also reflects an essential part of Alexandra Sostmann’s artistic vision.
