Vitae - Prof.Margit Anna Süß-Schellenberger
Born in Munich, Margit-Anna Süß studied the harp with Ragnhild Kopp at the Richard Strauss Conservatoire and with Prof. Ursula Lentrodt at the Music Academy in Munich and successfully completed her Masters degree.
As a scholarship-holder of the “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes” and the DAAD she spent two formative years in Paris with Pierre Jamet who, as a young harpist, had been introduced to the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel by the composers themselves.
At the age of 20 she became principal harp of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg and was among the young soloists selected nationwide by the Deutsche Musikrat, which brought her numerous concert engagements.
She also played as a guest for many years with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and for more than 10 years with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (at that time under the direction of Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado), where she played under all the great conductors, and participated on numerous CD recordings. For more than 20 years, she has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra during the Salzburg Easter Festival.
Concert tours have taken her from Europe to Japan, South-East Asia, South America and the USA. As a soloist, she has performed in festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Festival, the Rheingau Festival, the Jerusalem Festival and at the World Harp Congresses in Maastricht, Strasbourg and Prague.
As a concerto soloist she has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, the National Orchestra of Lyon under Emanuel Krivine, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under David Shallon, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Heilbronn Chamber Orchestra, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, the North German Radio Orchestra Hanover among others.
She has played with partners such as Hansjörg Schellenberger, Wolfgang Schulz, Wolfram Christ, Emmanuel Pahud, James Galway, A. Adorjan, Albrecht Mayer, Klaus Stoll, Stephanie Hamburger, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, the Jerusalem String Quartet, the Haydn Ensemble Berlin and many more.
CD recordings are available on Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Denon and Campanella Musica, including the following prize-winning recordings:
"Grand Prix du Disque" for French Chamber Music with Ensemble Wien-Berlin and the actress Catherine Deneuve on Deutsche Grammophon.
"Quarterly list of the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis 1999" for Double Concertos by W. Lutoslawski and Frank Martin on Campanella Musica.
As a teacher she continues to be invited nationally and internationally to give master classes at various music academies such as the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Petersburg Conservatoire, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the University of Tokyo…
She also teaches at the Wolfgang Sawallisch Foundation, an institution for talented musicians im Chiemgau, Bavaria; in 2007 she coached the 7 harpists in Wagners “Ring” at the Tyrol Festival in Erl.
M.A. Süß is expected to take the professorship at the music-faculty of the University of Maribor, which is coming into being hopefully soon...
Margit-Anna Süß has also dedicated herself to the Baroque harp and for many years has played Louis Seize harps by Beat-Wolff and singles-pedal harps by J. Fischer and A. Schroll.
She lives with her husband Hansjörg Schellenberger and their 4 children in the Chiemgau mountains.