CHAMBER CONCERT — FOR FOUR HANDS

GUGG PIANO DUET
TEREZA GUGG-KALABOVE, JOHANNES GUGG piano
Franz Schubert - Sonata in C major Grand Duo, D. 812
Hanna Kulenty - Van... for piano for four hands
Helmut Schmidinger - Toccata for piano for four hands
Antonin Dvořák - Aus dem Bohmerwalde op. 68 (From Szumawy)
cycle of five pieces for piano for four hands

The chamber concert “On Four Hands” will feature the Gugg Piano Duo, formed by Teresa Gugg-Kalabove and Johannes Gugg. The evening will begin with Franz Schubert's Sonata in C major “Grand Duo” D 812 - an extensive four-part work with almost symphonic momentum, one of the most important compositions for the piano for four hands.

Then comes the VAN... by Hanna Kulenty, a contemporary composition showing the wide sonic possibilities of the piano duo, and Helmut Schmidinger's Toccata, based on the expressive rhythm, motor skills and precise interaction of the performers.

The programme will be completed by Antonín Dvořák's Aus dem Böhmerwalde op. 68 (“From the Sumava River”) - a series of five miniatures inspired by the landscape and atmosphere of the Bohemian Sumava.

Gugg-Piano Duo

is the winner of the International Franz Schubert and Contemporary Music Competition (FSMM) 2025 and regularly performs in prestigious concert halls — most recently at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Brahms Hall in Vienna's Musikverein, Stefaniensaal in Musikverein in Graz and at the Athenaeum in Bucharest, where they replaced Martha's duet Argerich and Cristina Marton-Argerich during a duet evening. They have been selected as BBC New Generation artists for the years 2026—2028.

Tereza Gugg-Kalabova and Johannes Gugg met at the age of 14 at a course for particularly gifted students at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. On the initiative of their then professor, they began to create music together and after a few months they won national and international awards. Over the years they have developed an intuitive musical collaboration and a deep personal bond; today they are married and, as the “Kleine Zeitung” writes, “inseparable both in life and at the piano”

The Gugg-Piano Duo has won the first prize many times. In addition to the FSMM competition, the duo won first prize at the Suzana Szörenya Duet Competition in Bucharest (including the Audience Award), the ArtPiano Competition in Castelnuovo di Farfa, the Franz Schubert Competition in Jeseník, the “Music and Earth” Competition in Sofia, the Vlastimila Lejska Piano Duet Competition in Brno The Martha Debella scholarship competition organized by the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, the Austrian music competition “Prima la musica” and the International Summer Academy mdw. Their other distinctions include second prizes at the Piano Competition in Rome and at the “Duettissimo” competition in Krakow, where they also received the Mozart Prize, as well as a special prize at the ARD Competition in Munich. Both graduated with honors in solo piano playing under Ayami Ikeba and instrumental pedagogy at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. They also graduated with honors with a master's degree in piano duet playing in the Silver-Garburg duet class.

They have performed with such orchestras as the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brno Conservatory Orchestra, the Webern Chamber Philharmonic and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Their performance of the piano concerto for four hands by Carl Czerny and the Webern Chamber Philharmonic was broadcast by ORF as part of the charity concert for the “Licht ins Dunkel” action. The duo has also appeared on television and radio programs in Austria (Ö1), Germany (ARD), Poland (Radio Kraków), Czech Republic (Radio Vltava) and the Netherlands (NPO). Concert invitations have taken the duo to Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Austria, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Brazil. In the upcoming season they will also perform for the first time in France, England and the United States, as well as at the Musikverein in Graz, at the Styriarte Festival and at the Ljubljana Festival.

As artists of the Jeunesse Austria program in the 2026/27 season, they will perform as part of several events, including their debut in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein as soloists accompanied by an orchestra.