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Who or what inspired you to take up the piano and pursue a career in music?

I did not grow up in a musical family and so started playing the piano relatively late, shortly before I turned 10 years old. I was bought a battery-operated keyboard for Christmas – soon outgrown! – and was instantly gripped. I frequently had to be torn away to do my school homework. The real catalyst for my wanting to pursue a career in music was when I attended by first BBC Prom concert. I was so captivated by the atmosphere, the music, the sound of the orchestra and the grandeur of the Royal Albert Hall!

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

My teachers have, without a shadow of doubt, been the greatest influences on my life as a musician. My first principle piano teacher during my formative years studying at the Purcell School and RCM Junior Department (2001-2007) was Emily Jeffrey, and she has had a remarkable and sustained influence on my life and music-making ever since. Ronan O’Hora, my subsequent teacher is a musician of the highest order whose teaching balances high demand on artistic integrity with a philosophical outlook that enables the individual within to find freedom. My current professor, Eliso Virsaladze, is an extraordinary person (not least because she can demonstrate any repertoire sublimely from memory at the drop of a hat, and that she can speak ten languages fluently!). Her artistry and teaching is legendary the world over, and justly so. It is a tremendous privilege to be able to work with her.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Maintaining the willpower to keep growing and developing all the time takes huge energy, but I suppose it gives a certain type of energy back. In real terms, I sometimes struggle with the public aspect of life as a performer – the need to be your best always, the business of “networking” and actively telling people about your work etc. It is sometimes at odds with my rather more introverted nature. Despite what people may see on the outside, or when I am on stage, I am, in principle, a private person and sensitive to my moods. Sometimes I really want to perform yet there is no concert until next week, and when there is a concert to perform, I just want to lock myself away practise late into the night by candlelight or read a wonderful book!

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

Certain performances stand out as more memorable and for different reasons. In 2007 I performed Rachmaninov’s 2nd Concerto with the RCM Junior Department Symphony Orchestra having won the concerto competition the year before. I would probably dislike many things about that performance were I to listen it now, but I remember feeling at the time that it really represented my work over six years with my first main teacher and was somehow my “graduating” performance. Last year I gave my second recital for the Chopin Society, that time on Chopin’s own Pleyel piano. I just felt a complete sense of abandonment of all physical or psychological inhibitions and felt so engaged with the beauty of the music on the piano Chopin himself had played. It was a magical experience. Also, my latest CD for Willowhayne Records is a source of pride, not least because it features the first recording of Thomas Adès’s Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face other that the composer’s own. It’s a monstrously difficult piece (he’s arranged it for two pianos in the hope of having it played more!).

Which particular works do you think you play best?

Some pieces feel as though they come so much more naturally than others. I remember when I first started studying Chopin’s Barcarolle and his Andante Spianato et grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22 they felt as though I had played them before. It usually depends on my affinity with the qualities of individual pieces and sometimes this can change from day to day. Repertoire is rather like people and friends in that sense.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

Mostly this would be wish lists, but I try to find interesting themes, or tailor programmes to suit the requirements of certain organisations. I think being flexible and open to discovery is really important.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

I have been fortunate to have played in some really amazing halls, but the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna and the Philharmonie in Cologne were among the most heavenly experiences. Aesthetic beauty and superb acoustic made them particularly effortless joys. For a pianist, the instrument is every bit as important and, when I was on my ECHO Rising Stars tour, Kawai supplied me with a Shigeru Kawai concert grand (which I had chosen in Germany the year before) and a master piano artisan technician for the concerts. With every venue I could walk out on stage with absolute trust that the instrument would not only respond to my every demand but inspire me further still.

Who are your favourite musicians?

There are too many! At least among the living pianists I would include (in no particular order) Martha Argerich, Richard Goode, Eliso Virsaladze, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Radu Lupu. If I were to talk singers, string players, conductors we’d be here forever! However, I could not fail to mention the likes of Arthur Rubinstein, Cortot, Arrau, Richter, Clara Haskil from the past, however…

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Purely for the fun of it: when the pedal lyre fell off altogether during a Tchaikovsky Concerto and another time when the fire alarm went off during my encore after a Chopin Concerto in Germany. When I played in the same hall the following season I just had to play the same encore to finish it!

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Better for other people to decide!

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Also a difficult question to find a suitable response to, because everybody needs different advice to follow their own unique path. The most important thing may be to have the courage to keep searching for the truth in the music, whatever that may be. Keep your integrity as high as you can, but be flexible and open to discover. Never imitate anyone, least of all yourself. Read lots of books and see as many great paintings as you possibly can!

Ashley Fripp’s CD of music by J S Bach, Ades and Chopin is available now on the Willowhayne Records label.

British pianist Ashley Fripp frequently appears as solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, having performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Recent international highlights include the Carnegie Hall (New York), Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Philharmonie halls of Cologne, Paris, Luxembourg and Warsaw, the Bozar (Brussels), Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Royal Festival, Barbican and Wigmore Halls (London), the Megaron (Athens), Konserthuset (Stockholm) and the Gulbenkian Auditorium (Lisbon).

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Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

My family owned an old upright piano that had belonged to my grandparents. It was brilliant to muck around on, and I remember trying to play some TV themes: I got quite good at Grange Hill. There was quite a lot of music at home, as my two older brothers also learned the piano and we all sang in the local church choir, along with my Dad. Although, I did find dressing up in a cassock quite funny. I had really good teachers who were disciplined, while letting me do my own thing. When I was 11, my state school put on Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, and that was an incredible experience, even though I was only a badly behaved squirrel. A few years later I heard a recording of Debussy’s Prelude a’apres-midi d’un faune, which opened my ears to how sensuous and sexy music could be, and sent my teenage hormones through the roof. I then devoured music at the piano, mostly borrowing scores from the library.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career both as a performer and a composer?

There’s such a huge range of good music from across the centuries that I love, and nearly of it shares the same philosophy: that music’s essentials (melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, structure) can combine into something that reflects our lives. This shapes my work in what I play and compose/arrange. Making music should also be part of a community, and it can be linked with popular and folk styles while maintaining strength and depth. That’s one of the great legacies of people like Benjamin Britten and Percy Grainger, and their music is a big influence in different ways. Jazz has always had a big impact too, especially the composer/ arrangers like Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Nelson Riddle, or Leonard Bernstein’s fusion of styles. It shows us that music can be dangerous, dirty, brash and raunchy as well.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Self-motivation: maintaining a belief that what you’re doing is worthwhile in a crazy and complicated world, especially during periods of depression. This seems to become harder the older I get.

Which performances/recordings/compositions are you most proud of?

There are so many things I’m lucky to have been involved with, as a performer, composer and arranger. Some of the orchestral pieces I’ve written for the BBC Proms are a highlight: ‘Wing It’ in 2012, ‘Gershwinicity’ in 2018. The ongoing Scary Fairy orchestral fairytale series is a lot of fun, with Craig Charles narrating his poetry. There’s also a concert of orchestral folk song arrangements with the singer Sam Lee, playing jazz songs with Jacqui Dankworth, recording Elgar’s 2nd Symphony on the piano, choral concerts, chamber music… too much to list. And I guess playing the piano at the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony: my Mum died of cancer that morning and I managed to hold it together, even though I was in the middle of having a complete emotional breakdown.

As a performer, how do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

When I do get the chance to choose, it’s always a very eclectic mixture of music, linked thematically in some way. I generally try and get in a new piece or arrangement of some kind, maybe something entertaining. After all, a concert can be fun too.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in?

Although it’s a bonkers barn of a place, playing at the Royal Albert Hall in the Proms always feels like a bit of a party. Playing the organ there can be a ridiculous ego trip.

As a composer, how do you work?

I do get tunes or harmonies that pop into my head, often as I’m just about to fall asleep, which can sometimes be a nuisance. Normally I throw all the ideas together by improvising at the piano, singing along at the top of my voice. This is scribbled down on semi-legible manuscript, worked at and crossed out until I’ve got a full complete draft. Then I typeset it on Sibelius software, so that I can actually read it.

How would you describe your compositional style/language?

There’s often a lot of jazz styles in there: swing, funk, blues and others, mixed with classical structures and colourful tonal harmonies. Clear melodies and strong rhythms play a big part too. Most of the time, the music is about our life experiences and emotions: joy, sadness, love, loss.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

As an audience member it was actually at the ballet, the first time I saw The Rite of Spring danced by English National Ballet. I was hyperventilating by the end.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

In a way, any musician that can make a living as a performer is a success, especially while trying to raise a family. Beyond that, I think anyone that can find new and inspiring ways to connect with audiences is doing it right. Giving people life-enhancing experiences outside of the mainstream is vital, including going into schools, hospitals, prisons.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Be versatile, work hard and try to stay as positive as you can. We’re pretty lucky to be doing this, when you think about it.

What is your present state of mind?

Buzzing like a beehive.

Iain Farrington has an exceptionally busy and diverse career as a pianist, organist, composer and arranger. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London and at Cambridge University. He has made numerous recordings, and has broadcast on BBC Television, Classic FM and BBC Radio 3. Through his multi-faceted work as a musician, he aims to bring live music to as wide an audience as possible. Iain’s concert programmes often mix popular and jazz elements into the traditional Classical repertoire. His many chamber orchestral arrangements allow large-scale works to be presented on an affordable smaller scale, and his compositions range from virtuoso display pieces to small works for beginner instrumentalists.

As a solo pianist, accompanist, chamber musician and organist, Iain has performed at all the major UK venues and abroad in the USA, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong and all across Europe. He has worked with many of the country’s leading musicians, including Bryn Terfel, Sir Paul McCartney and Lesley Garrett. Iain played the piano at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics with Rowan Atkinson, the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, broadcast to a global audience of around a billion viewers. With Counterpoise he has worked with numerous singers and actors, including Sir John Tomlinson, Sir Willard White, Jacqui Dankworth and Eleanor Bron. As a session pianist, Iain has recorded numerous film and TV soundtracks for Hollywood, Disney and independent productions. His solo organ performance in the Proms 2007 on the Royal Albert Hall organ was critically acclaimed, and he performed his Animal Parade in 2015 at the Royal Festival Hall organ for a family concert. Iain was Organ Scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge University, and Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Iain is a prolific composer and arranger, and has made hundreds of arrangements ranging from operas to piano pieces. He has composed two 40 minute Scary Fairy orchestral works combining poems by Craig Charles with a continuous full score, first performed and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ with the BBC Philharmonic. For the BBC Proms he composed an orchestral work Gershwinicity in 2018, A Shipshape Shindig in 2017, a jazz guide to the orchestra Wing It, and a Double Violin Concerto, in 2012 for the Wallace and Gromit Prom. Iain’s choral work The Burning Heavens was nominated for a British Composer Award in 2010. He has made arrangements in many styles, including traditional African songs, Berlin cabaret, folk, klezmer, jazz and pop. Iain is the Arranger in Residence for the Aurora Orchestra who have performed and recorded his compositions and arrangements, including all the songs for the Horrible Histories Prom in 2011. His organ arrangement of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5 was performed at the 2011 Royal Wedding in Westminster Abbey.

iainfarrington.com

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Who or what inspired you to take up the piano and pursue a career in music?

I suppose I was inspired to learn the piano by watching my Father play. He studied at the RNCM and so music was a part of our home life. I was then lucky to study with a great teacher, Heather Slade-Lipkin, initially privately and then at Chetham’s School of Music – and the idea of a career in music followed on naturally.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

My two teachers, Heather and Joan Havill, have been huge influences.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Currently it is finding time to practice with a 20 month old child! More seriously, I think that maintaining your desire to improve, the desire to work every day, and maintaining the love that made you start learning the instrument in the first place takes a deal of mental fortitude and effort.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

My recording of Ronald Stevenson’s Passacaglia on DSCH stands out, in the quality of the finished product and in the sense of achievement in recording one of the longest and most difficult works for solo piano ever written. My performance of the Passacaglia lasts for 85 minutes. The work places colossal demands on technique, stamina, and the ability to pace a performance.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

I don’t know! I think I’ll say Debussy as I am in the middle of performing all his solo piano music this year!

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I tend to look for potential projects and themes. So this year, being the 100th anniversary of the death of Debussy, I have devoted myself to the task of learning and performing all of his solo works. I am in the middle of a complete cycle of performances in Glasgow, and am curating a Debussy Festival in Edinburgh, at St Cecilia’s Hall, in December. The festival will feature the solo piano music, a selection of the songs and the late chamber sonatas.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

The Bridgewater Hall is fantastic. I love the feeling of space, and having to fill that space with sound and character.

Who are your favourite musicians?

I think I am very changeable! If Beethoven, then Brendel. Bach would be Perahia. Schumann would be Radu Lupu or Richard Goode. So I am a bit of a butterfly…

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Performing a Mozart concerto in Calcutta Cathedral. High up the windows of the Cathedral did not have glass panes. It was an evening concert, and during the performance local birdlife came home to roost. That Mozart A major concerto was accompanied by singing from up high, a fitting complement to such a fabulous composer.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Personally I let other people decide as to my own success. I believe that if you are making a living from performing music, if you are trying to be the best musician that you can be, and if you are inspiring others – then that seems to be pretty successful.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

To my students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland I have always stressed the need to be flexible and to be adaptable. Skills as a musician are essential, but on their own they are rarely enough. For most pianists a career playing Bach and Beethoven is difficult to obtain; one’s love of the great classical composers must be complemented by a practical interest in contemporary music, teaching, chamber music, taking music to young people, researching music that has been forgotten or overlooked. All of this is part of a musical career.

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Who or what inspired you to take up piano, and pursue a career in music?

Though I didn’t start having piano lessons until the age of 7, I was already very interested in classical music much earlier. My great-grandmother was a piano teacher and we had a beautiful carved upright at home, which I loved. My parents, who were not musicians, loved classical music, especially operas, so they took me and my sister regularly to the opera. I enjoyed these performances enormously and listened to recordings at home as well. I especially loved Verdi and La Traviata was my absolute favourite opera (I still love it).

When at the age of 6 I started to attend school, I went to a music school, where we had singing lessons every day. I was singing in a choir as well and about twice a week we also had folk dance lessons. My parents didn’t want me to start having piano lessons during that year because school was already a big change in my life. But from my second school year it was natural to start piano and I had solfege lessons as well. I enjoyed it very much, though until the age of 11 I practised very little. Something happened to me at that time and suddenly I started to practise a lot and music really became the most important thing in my life. I was also reading a lot of music and at the age of 12 I made a successful entrance exam to the preparatory class for talented children at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of music and this changed my life completely. Here, I basically listened to concerts every evening, could meet and play for a lot of great musicians like Ferenc Rados, Zoltán Kocsis, Albert Simon. At around the age of 14, I started to have chamber music lessons as well, and a year later I was already a student of György Kurtág, with whom I studied for nearly 10 years. It was a very happy time of my life, full of great experiences and challenges and at the age of 16 I was able to start the first year at the Academy (today the Ferenc Liszt University of Music).

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I was very lucky, because the time when I studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy we still had Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág working very intensively. They were both teaching chamber music, but all pianists played solo pieces for them as well. They both had an enormous impact on me and on my way of thinking about music and life. We usually had very long lessons, sometimes 2-3 times a week, and they worked in a very detailed way – sometimes with Kurtág we worked on just 8 bars for 2-3 hours. Of course it was not only about these few bars, but through working on a phrase he opened up and showed a whole universe with a lot of associations from music, literature, other arts, and this all happened with such an intensity I could not imagine before. He is also an incredible pianist, plays like only a great composer can play. As I often said with my musician friends, working with Ferenc Rados was like an X-ray examination. After playing 5 minutes for him, we got a diagnosis, which wasn’t easy at all, but was a task for a whole life. Studying with him was a very complex process, everything – the actual piece, the instrument, my own feelings, questions etc – were all in an incredible connection with each other. I learned from him how to practise, which is an incredibly important part of a musician’s life.

Besides these two great masters, another determining and most important experience was meeting András Schiff when I was 17. I regularly took masterclasses with him for the following 5-6 years in Vienna, at Prussia Cove, Siena etc, and later in Marlboro (USA) as well. It was a huge influence for me to play for him, to listen to his concerts, and to talk to him about music, literature, life etc. No other pianist made such an important impact on my development as a musician as him. Later I had the chance to play concerts with him as well, which meant a lot to me. I got to know through András, Sándor Végh and Heinz Holliger from whom I learned a lot and admired very much. For Sándor Végh I played chamber music several times in Prussia Cove and later had the chance to perform with his Camerata Salzburg with him as a conductor.

Heinz Holliger is also a kind of musical “Father figure” for me. During the last 20 years I played many concerts with him, as a soloist, in many different chamber groups. We have also made several recordings together and I also play his music, which I admire a lot.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

The greatest challenge is the music itself. Every morning when I start practising I think of the fact that I am trying to get nearer and nearer to these great masterpieces and this is a greatest challenge. In my career, it’s quite challenging that I love equally playing solo and chamber music. I feel the best when I can find a good balance between the solo repertoire and chamber music.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

I am extremely happy to record for ECM. De la nuit is my 4th album for them and I enjoyed all the recordings very much. For me sound is extremely important and I was always very inspired by the sound I could hear in the studio. Manfred Eicher has created something very special with his label and I am very happy and proud of my recordings for him.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

I don’t know which works I play the best, I can only say which works and composers I love the most. For me a “love forever” composers are Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart and Bartók. Recently I’ve played Beethoven very frequently. I have been learning his last 5 Piano Sonatas and I have not enough words to express what it means to me to work on those masterpieces.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I love playing a lot of repertoire, I am not a type of pianist who would enjoy playing 2-3 programs a season. I play usually around 4-5 solo programs, 6-7 concertos and many chamber programs during a season. I always learn new pieces, especially for my recital programs.T here are certain pieces I come back to from time to time. For example, I just learned the Hammerklavier Sonata which I will play in many different programs during the next 2 to 3 seasons. Sometimes it goes together with Bartók, sometimes with Berg-Liszt-Kurtág, sometimes with Bach and Brahms. I also love creating festival programs. I organise a chamber music festival with my wife (pianist Izabella Simon) in Budapest. The Festival has a different theme every year which is the title of a great book. Each time, we make devise about 7-8 different chamber music programs around the theme, which is such a creative experience and gives so much to both of us.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

I have a lot of favourite concert halls, but I have to mention two which are my absolute favourites. The first is the Great Hall of the Ferenc Liszt Academy, which is actually my second home. It’s a beautiful Secession style hall with a very warm atmosphere, and of course there a lot of personal aspects as well. I gave my so-called first “important” concerts there in my teens and still play there very often every season. I also had so many wonderful concert experiences there as a listener, hearing, for example, Richter, Annie Fischer, András Schiff or Sándor Végh.

The other Hall I would mention is the Wigmore Hall in London which is a most wonderful venue with an incredible acoustic. The audience is also so knowledgeable, I always feel it’s a feast to play there.

Who are your favourite musicians?

It’s a difficult question to answer since I have so many. From the past, Rudolf Serkin, Annie Fischer, Alfred Cortot, Pablo Casals, Sándor Végh, Carlos Kleiber, Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Maria Callas, Kathleen Ferrier just to name a few. The pianists I’ve listen to the most recently are András Schiff, Radu Lupu, Alfred Brendel. And I am really lucky because for many years I’ve played chamber music with some of my very favourite musicians like Steven Isserlis, Miklós Perényi, Tabea Zimmermann, Jörg Widmann, and Radovan Vlatkovic, among others.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

My career started when I got the first prize at the Géza Anda Competition in Zürich in 1991. I was 23 years old and had very little experience playing with an orchestra. In the final round I played the Third Piano Concerto by Bartók (which is a very important piece for me) for the very first time. Of course I was very nervous but playing this incredible piece with the wonderful Tonhalle Orchestra in the beautiful Tonhalle Great Hall was an incredible experience for a young musician, as I was that time.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

I am the type of musician who believes in a slower and persistent development rather than fast and spectacular jumps. I never wanted to make things to happen faster and I always wanted to give time for certain things. For me success is when I feel that a long process has a result and things are getting ripe. It is an inner process and that is the most important part of it, but if other people also notice it and react to it, that means a lot and can “give wings”.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

This is also a hard question to answer. I would say the first is to love music and love the process of searching for the meanings of the great pieces we are playing. I also think it’s important that our every day practising should happen with a lot of curiosity and with the feeling that through practising, I am not only getting nearer to the masterpieces I am playing but also learning a lot about myself – this is a great chance for development.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness means for me an inner balance with a lot of challenges at the same time and of course sharing this with those people-especially my family-whom I love the most.

What is your most treasured possession?

My most treasured possessions are the drawings of my 7 years old daughter which she has made for me. She has done a lot and when I am travelling I always take them with me.

What is your present state of mind?

Quite positive and balanced. I just turned 50, which is a bit strange to believe, but I am full of plans and really enjoy the way my life goes now.

Dénes Várjon’s new disc De la nuit, featuring music by Schumann, Ravel and Bartok, is released on 31 August on the ECM Records label

Dénes Várjon, born 1968 in Budapest, studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, receiving tuition in piano from Sándor Falvai and chamber music from György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados. Parallel to his studies, he was a regular participant of master classes with András Schiff. He was first prize winner of the Piano Competition of the Hungarian Radio,the Leo Weiner Chamber Music Competition in Budapest, and the Concours Géza Anda in Zürich.

Várjon is a regular guest at festivals including Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik-Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Marlboro Festival (USA), Klavierfestival Ruhr, Kunstfest Weimar, and Edinburgh International Festival, and has been a frequent contributor to András Schiff’s and Heinz Holliger’s Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte.

He has performed with major orchestras such as the Camerata Salzburg, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra Budapest, the Camerata Bern, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchestra Zürich, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Bremen Philharmonic, Gidon Kremer’s Kremerata Baltica, and many others, and working with conductors including Heinz Holliger, Adam Fischer, Leopold Hager, Iván Fischer, Hubert Soudant, Peter Rundel, Thomas Zehetmair and many more.