Martin Grubinger - host of the Final
Martin Grubinger will host the final of Eurovision Young Musicians on 11 May live from Vienna’s iconic Rathausplatz. The Austrian percussionist knows the contest well, having taken part in the 2000 edition that was hosted in Bergen in 2000. Whilst he will have hosting duties for the final, Pia Strauss will take over the semi-finals on the weekend of 5 May.
Born in Salzburg, Martin Grubinger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and soon appeared throughout Europe giving recitals and orchestral concerts in renowned venues and at prestigious festivals. In Summer 2007 he received the Bernstein Award from the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival and in 2007/08 was recommended by the Vienna Konzerthaus for the renowned concert cycle “Rising Stars”, in which he appeared as soloist at some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls including the Philharmonie Köln, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Athens Megaron, and New York's Carnegie Hall. He also performed at Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, Berlin Konzerthaus and Baden- Baden Festspielhaus, as well as the Bregenz and Schleswig Holstein Musik Festivals. Regular guest appearances also include performances at the Rheingau Music Festival, Weimar Kunstfest, Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival.
Other milestones in his career include tours with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Andrew Litton, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Martin Grubinger has also appeared with NHK Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Münchner, Hamburger and Dresdner Philharmoniker, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and at the Brass & Percussion Festival at the renowned Suntory Hall in Tokyo. In 2011, he made his US debut with the Kansas City Symphony.
Pia Strauss - host of the Semifinal
Pia Strauss will host the semifinal of this year’s Eurovision Young Musicians, which starts on Saturday 5 May and will be broadcast online via youngmusicians.tv.
Born in born in Carinthia (Kärnten), Austria, Pia trained as an actor, singer and dancer after which she graduated with a diploma from the State board of Musical Theatre from the Performing Arts Studios Vienna. Her studies took her abroad to countries such as Germany, Italy and Slovenia, but she was to venture further afield.
Pia decided to expand her horizons and moved to New York, a city that she had loved since she was a child, where she studied for a Two-year Certificate Programe at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. She was recently seen in the TV pilot “Nowhere Else” and on stage in Michael Ryan's “Evening land”.
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