100 years Tango Jalousie

Violinist Niklas Walentin has received more than 25 international music awards, released 11 albums and managed a row of festivals in Europe as an artistic director. He especially performs works from the virtuosic and salon genres, and he combines classical chamber music with contemporary ballet. Recently, he has made his debut with jazz, performing his own virtuosic arrangements for solo violin and jazz trio.
 
Niklas performs in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall in New York, The Phillips Collection in Washington, Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and Wigmore Hall in London with celebrated conductors and musicians such as Mario Venzago, Marc Soustro, Henrik Schäfer, Nabil Shehata, Hartmut Rohde, Nikolaj Znaider m.m.
 
As triple prize winner of The 9th Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition, working with Nielsen’s music is a major part of his artistic identity. His award winning album „4 Grand Works for Violin by Carl Nielsen” was released at Carnegie Hall.

Nabil Shehata gave up his position as principal bass player of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and successfully embarked on a career as a conductor. He has developed a conducting style deeply rooted in chamber music, believing that this approach fosters the kind of music that delivers what audiences, orchestras, and conductors alike desire: unforgettable concert experiences.
 
From 2019 to 2024, he served as the chief conductor of Philharmonie Südwestfalen. Before that, he was chief conductor of the Munich Chamber Opera and expanded his experience at the Berlin State Opera as an assistant to Daniel Barenboim. In January 2025, Daniel Barenboim personally handed over the directorship of the Barenboim-Said Academy Orchestra to Shehata.
 
As a professor of double bass and chamber music in Munich and Berlin, as well as a member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, he has dedicated many years to mentoring young musicians. In his hometown of Verden, he founded the ‚Maiklänge‘ chamber music festival.
 
 
The Philharmonie Südwestfalen has carried the title of State Orchestra of North Rhine-Westfalia since 1992. Based in Siegen / Siegen-Wittgenstein, the Philharmonic is active in the entire South Westfalia region, in addition to regular guest-performances across Germany, as well as in Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
 
Successful tours to France and in 2006/07 to China underline the international recognition of the orchestra. Guest performances have included the 2007 Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, Rome in 2010, as well as in Milan in 2011, 2014, and 2017. In the summer of 2016, the orchestra was engaged as a festival orchestra in Switzerland. From 2017 the Philharmonie will perform regularly at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and made a guest appearance at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg in 2023.