Manuela Wiesler was born in Brazil in 1955, the daughter of an Austrian cameraman and a ballerina. In 1957 she moved with her family to Vienna, where she entered the Academy of Music in 1967, later studying in Paris. In 1973 she moved with her husband to Iceland and in 1976 won the Nordic Chamber Music Competition in Helsinki. Further study with James Galway was followed by success in the Copenhagen Biennale in 1900, since when she has enjoyed a career as a soloist including in her repertoire Carl Nielsen's flute concerto, which she has performed in Copenhagen.

The Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester (South Jutland Symphony Orchestra) was established in 1963 and gives concerts in a region consisting of the southern part of Jutland and South Schleswig (Germany), providing an indispensable part of regional cultural life. The orchestra consists of 65 musicians, and it performs about fifty symphony concerts a year. Other activities include church concerts, performances with the Danish National Opera, open air concerts and a comprehensive programme of concerts aimed at young people. In addition several recordings are issued each year.

The orchestra’s repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary. From 1965 to 1980 the chief conductor was Carl von Garaguly. He was followed, from 1997 to 2003, by the English violinist, Iona Brown, former musical director of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, succeeded in 2003 Niklas Willén and from 2006 the Russian conductor Vladimir Ziva. The orchestra has toured in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France and the Faroe Islands and played at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. From 2007 the orchestra has rehearsed and played in the Alsion Concert Hall in Denmark, currently one of the best concert halls in Europe for symphonic music.

Photo courtesy of Claus Thorsted

Tamas Vetö was born in Budapest in 1935. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy—as both a pianist and conductor—and later with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1957, Tamas Vetö moved to Denmark and the following year began his musical career, establishing the pioneering vocal ensemble Cantilena and conducting the orchestra of the Royal Danish Opera.

Since 1961, Tamas Vetö has also conducted the Danish National Radio Choir and for eighteen years was instructor of the Royal Opera Choir. For four successful years, he conducted the University Choir Lille, winning several prizes in international choral competitions.

From 1982 to 1984, Tamas Vetö was the principal conductor of the National Theatre at Mannheim in Germany and from 1984 to 1987 he was chief conductor of the Danish Odense Symphony Orchestra. His close connection with this orchestra, as well as with the Royal Opera Choir, continued until 1989. During this time Vetö conducted numerous concerts with all the Danish orchestras, including the Danish National Radio Orchestra, and with most other Scandinavian orchestras.

Tamas Veto has an extensive repertoire, especially in contemporary music, and is a noted interpreter of newer works. In this capacity he conducted the first European performance of Witold Lutosławski’s Third Symphony.

Opera productions have included Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Marseilles Opera in 1992 and Drot og Marsk by Heise at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1993. At the Danish National Opera he conducted Der Ring des Nibelungen in 1996. He has also conducted Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at the same opera house.

For Marco Polo, Tamas Veto has conducted the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra in Volume 5 of Lumbye’s complete orchestral works. For Da Capo he has made acclaimed recordings of works by Norgard, Langgaard, Jorgensen and Norholm.