Babette Haag

Babette Haag (born October 31, 1967 in Munich) is a German percussionist, who specialises in Marimba playing.

Early life and education

The daughter of Konzertharfenistin Gudrun Haag (nee Diel) and the flutist Wolfgang Haag (Bayerische Staatsoper Munich), she received her first piano lessons at age six. Together with her partner Natasha Schmidt, she won a number of awards in duet playing, including first prize with distinction for her interpretation of Witold Lutoslawski's "Paganini Variations" and Sergei Rachmaninoff's' Suite for two Pianos ".

At seventeen, she heard the 1st prize winner of the ARD Competition, Peter Sadlo, and was so impressed that she decided to study percussion instruments. In addition to her musical education, she joined the Pestalozzi–Gymnasium München in 1987. From 1988 to 1994 she studied classic percussion and timpani at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg under Bernhard Wulff. In 1991 she took part in the "Deutscher Musikrat" composition, winning a scholarship for the 36th National Selection of "Concerts of young people" in 1992-1993, a season in which she made over 40 solo performances throughout Germany.

Concert career

Since completing her studies in the spring of 1994, Babette Haag has performed in a number of percussion recitals, concertos for marimba or percussion and orchestra, and has performed with the likes of Anthony and Joseph Paratore, Alexei Lubimov and Alexander Rabinovich. Her performances have taken her to many countries in Europe and in the Baltic states, the USA, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua and Sudan. Haag has been a guest at major international music festivals and has performed with numerous symphony orchestras. Her appearances include Rheingau Musikfestival, Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele, Staatstheater Oldenburg, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Berliner Festwochen, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Frankfurter Museumsorchester, Musikcollegium Schaffhausen, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonie Thüringen, and Dresdner Kapellsolisten.

Her debut as a soloist came in 2004 with a series of recitals and concerts with an orchestra in Latin America, as well as TV and radio recordings of her performances, including with the Sala São Paulo, the most prestigious series of concerts in Brazil. In spring 2005 she was invited to Saudi Arabia and in 2006 she sang on the luxury cruise ship MS Europa on a trip around the UK before embarking on several concerts in the Sudan.

At home and abroad Babette Haag are their experiences in high traffic master classes, seminars or workshops continue like at the University of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the College of Music and Drama of Khartoum, the Braunschweig Classix Festival and the Dresden Music Academy.