Carolina Eyck

Carolina Eyck in the Jazz club "Telegraph"

German-born musician and composer Carolina Eyck is one of the world's foremost theremin virtuosi.[3] After her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, she was invited to the Bohuslav Martinu International Music Festival in Basel, the Davos Festival (Switzerland), the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg (Austria), the Teatro Nacional Lisbon (Portugal) and the Palace of Arts Budapest. She has given concerts in Poland, the Czech Republic,[4] Luxembourg, Sweden,[5] Finland,[6] Great Britain,[7] Italy,[8] Switzerland,[9] Austria, Japan, Mexico, Chile, Portugal, Hungary, Pakistan,[10] Turkey[11] and the United States.[12] During her concert tours, Eyck has collaborated with other musicians and orchestras including Heinz Holliger, Robert Kolinsky, Gerhard Oppitz, Andrey Boreyko, Michael Sanderling, Gürer Aykal, John Storgårds, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brandenburg State Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra,[13] the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, the Heidelberg Symphonic Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg. She was guest musician of the Hamburg Ballet performing "The Little Mermaid" by Lera Auerbach in Japan and San Francisco.[12] In 2012, Eyck played the theremin solo at the world premiere of the two symphonies "Mesopotamia" and "Universe" by Fazıl Say.[11] Finnish composer Kalevi Aho dedicated a theremin concerto to Carolina which she performed for the first time in October 2012.[14] The theremin concerto "Dancefloor With Pulsing" by the French composer Regis Campo was written for Eyck and premiered with the Brussels Philharmonic in 2018.[15]

In 2006, Eyck published the first extensive theremin method book entitled "The Art of Playing the Theremin". To play the instrument, a musician relies on specific hand and finger positions in the air around the instrument, never touching it.[16] Since 2010 she has been the artistic director of the Theremin Summer Academy in Colmar, France, and has since conducted workshops, lectures and master classes worldwide. Also in 2006 Eyck was the winner of the International Competition for Composers arranged by Radio/TV Berlin-Brandenburg in 2006.[17] She has since conducted workshops, lectures and Masterclasses in Germany, Sweden, Poland, Great Britain, the United States of America, Mexico and Japan. In 2010, Eyck received her Bachelor of music degree in viola at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden.

In 2015, she received the German Echo Klassik in the category "Concert Recording of the Year (20th/21st century music)" for playing the Theremin Concerto "Eight Seasons" by Kalevi Aho, conducted by John Storgårds and played with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, published in 2014 by BIS records.[1][18]

On 14 August 2020, Eyck appeared on the BBC Radio 3 programme In Tune to discuss the theremin.[19] During the show, she performed an excerpt from the self-composed tribute piece Friend as well as a complete version of the Doctor Who theme, the latter of which was recorded on video.[20]

• "Sciciani—Am wendischen Burgwall" Pictures for Accordion and Strings, world premiere on 16 September 2006 by the Cottbus Philharmonic Orchestra directed by GMD Reinhard Petersen, Soloist: Aidar Gainullin (Moskau)—Bajan
• "CIANI—Am wendischen Burgwall" Pictures for Theremin and Orchestra, world premiere on 4 February 2007 by the orchestra of the Musikgymnasium Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (specialized high school for musicians) in the French Cathedral Berlin
• "Syllableaves" Concerto for Theremin and Orchestra, world premiere on 24 April 2010 by the Gävle Symfoniorkester directed by Fredrik Burstedt at the Konzerthaus Gävle (Sweden)
• "Sauselei" Duet for Viola and Voice (2010)
• "Fantasias" for Theremin and String Quartet (2015)

Besides her engagements in the area of classical and contemporary music, Carolina loves improvising and composing. She was winner of the International Competition for Composers arranged by Radio/TV Berlin-Brandenburg in 2006.[21]

In 2015, she received the German Echo Klassik in the category "Concert Recording of the Year (20th/21st century music)" for playing the Theremin Concerto "Eight Seasons" by Kalevi Aho, conducted by John Storgårds and played with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, published in 2014 by BIS records.[22]

• Carolina Eyck: The Art of Playing the Theremin. SERVI Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-933757-08-8
• Carolina Eyck: Die Kunst des Thereminspiels. SERVI Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-933757-07-X, EAN 4025 1187 0631—German version