DUO
“ Fantastic, bravo! I can see your deep musical work! “
Cuban conductor and composer (Grammy winner 2017), Leo Brouwer to the Lux Nova Duo
Award-winning group Lux Nova Duo, founded in 2012 in Barcelona, is formed by peruvian guitarist Jorge Paz Verastegui and German accordionist Lydia Schmidl. It brings fresh light to the contemporary music world with its unusual combination of timbres. The duo, based in Hamburg, is also a couple outside of music.Exploring the interesting artistic cultural differences of their countries of origin, they create together exciting concert programmes and experimental sounds: from shining Baroque music to South American rhythms. In addition to performing classical repertoire, they collaborate regularly with other renowned artists on a number of projects such as multimedia concerts, ballet productions (Winnie Dias, formerly Ensemble John Neumeier), choir performances (Cuori Ensemble, Coro de Madrigalistas de la PUCP) and are regular collaborators to ensembles such as Kammerensamble Konsonanz or Rungholdt ensemble.
Because of their strong commitment to the performance of contemporary music, composers from around the world have dedicated their compositions to Lux Nova Duo. Among others, Jose Maria Sanchez Verdú–one of the most recognized european composers, and 2017 Grammy winner Leo Brouwer– considered one of the most important composers of Latin America. Additionally, the Argentinian composer Mario M. Mary wrote “Misteriosa persistencia” for Lux Nova Duo, and the Nigerian- Swiss composer Charles Uzor used a Sephardic melody and parts of the Bach chorale BWV 640 on his composition for this duo and recording of Theorbes. In their debut concert at the Elbphilharmonie in 2018 they premiered a work by Peruvian composer Alejandro Nunez Allauca, who combines European composition techniques with mystical sounds of the Andes.
Lux Nova Duo is also deeply dedicated to education and the promotion of new talents, and for this purpose works actively with young composers and performers, facilitating them the platform to grow musically. With this objective, they founded Hamburg Dialogues, a new music festival that is already in its third edition. This festival helps create a “dialogue” between established and emerging composers and performers connected in different ways to the city of Hamburg. They also often give masterclasses and pedagogic concerts both in Europe and Latinoamerica. For Jorge Paz carries a special significance to bring to life works by composers from Peru, his home country.
Their first CD, Intuiciones, with Spanish and Latinoamerican music, was awarded the First Prize in the University of the Arts ‘ competition in Bremen. The following year they recorded the CD Hamburg Dialogues (Hamburg composers in focus) with the recording Label Costa Records. Lux Nova Duo has performed in Spain, Italy, South America and Germany. It has played in some of the most important halls and Festivals in Europe such as the Elbphilharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Glocke Bremen, Laeiszhalle, the Resonanz Raum Hamburg, the Auditorium Enrique Granados in Lleida (Spain), the ZKM Karlsruhe, the Festival Klub Katarakt – Kampnagel, the Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte Festival, the Josep Soler Barcelona Festival and the Forum Neue Musik Hamburg. In 2014 and 2018, they toured South America performing among other places at the German-Peruvian Institute and the Catholic University of Lima.