Johanna Beisteiner was born in 1976 in Wiener Neustadt (Austria) and received her first guitar lessons at the age of nine. Only sixteen of age she became a student at the Vienna University of Music, from where she graduated as a concert guitarist as well as a Doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.). She is internationally active as a soloist on the classical guitar in concerts and recordings (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Spain, USA).
In 1998 Johanna Beisteiner met the Hungarian composer Robert Gulya and inspired him to new guitar pieces: Fairy Dance, Capriccio, Concerto for guitar and orchestra and Nightsky Preludes. All these works are published by Éditions BIM (Switzerland). Moreover she worked with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the conductors Béla Drahos and Domonkos Héja as well as the pianist Wanda Mazalin.
Johanna Beisteiner plays on a classical Spanish concert guitar made by Paulino Bernabé. Her CDs are published by GRAMY Records. The repertoire of the guitarist contains all styles from the Renaissance to the present (such as Albéniz, Bach, Carulli, Diabelli, Dowland, Giuliani, Granados, Gulya, Händel, Legnani, Llobet, Pujol, Paganini, Piazzolla, Rodrigo, Schubert, Shafransky, Sor, Tárrega, Villa-Lobos, Vivaldi, Weber,...).
IMPORTANT CONCERTS AND PROJECTS:
2006:
- CD Virtuosi italiani della chitarra romantica with music by N. Paganini, M. Giuliani, F. Carulli, L. Legnani (Gramy Records GR-070).
- World premiere of Capriccio for guitar and piano by Robert Gulya at Teatro della Concordia (Italy) with Wanda Mazalin (piano).
- Soundtrack for feature film SOS Szerelem - SOS Love (Hungary 2006; director: Tamás Sas, music: Robert Gulya).
2005:
- Recital at Centro Asturiano (Madrid, Spain).
- Recital for the Festival Lange Nacht der Museen at Schloss Thürnthal (Austria).
- Recital at Zentrum interkultureller Begegnung (Baden bei Wien, Austria).
- Dissertation Art music in figure skating, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics; The American specialist journal Aquatic Artist wrote: ”Johanna Beisteiner has made a major contribution to the performance field of synchronized swimming in her doctoral dissertation. ... This 449-page opus is ...an enormous undertaking.“ (article by Bert Hubbard; New Jersey, June 2006).
2004:
- Soundtrack for feature film Truce (USA 2004; director: Matthew Marconi, music: Robert Gulya).
- CD Between present and past with music by A. Vivaldi, J. S. Bach and R. Gulya (Budapest Symphony Orchestra; conductors: Béla Drahos, Domonkos Héja; piano: Wanda Mazalin); Gramy Records GR-052.
- World premiere of Requiem for guitar solo by Russian composer Eduard Shafransky at church St. Blasien (Paudorf, Austria).
- Performance at the International Music Festival Mini festivál magyar est, Budapest.
2003:
- Christmas concert at Teatro della Concordia (Italy). The Italian TV channel RAI broadcasted following commentary after the concert: ”Great success at the Christmas concert of Johanna Beisteiner at the Teatro della Concordia in Montecastello, a talent on the classical guitar who established among European artists.“.
- Recital at Heilig Kreuz-Kirche (Berlin, Deutschland).
- Recital at Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus, Hiddensee (Germany).
2002:
- CD Salon with music by F. Schubert, C. M. v. Weber, F. Sor and A. Diabelli (Robert Gulya, piano); Gramy Records GR-036.
- Début in Russia (Dom Aktjora,Ekaterinburg).
- TV performance at Kanal 4 (Russia).
2001:
- CD Dance Fantasy with music by I. Albéniz, A. Piazzolla, F. Tárrega, R. Gulya and A. Barrios; Gramy Records GR-029.
- Début in Italy at Teatro della Concordia (Montecastello di Vibio) on the occasion of the opening of the theatre's restored historical stage curtain.
2000:
- World premiere of Fairy Dance by Robert Gulya at Bernardisaal Wr. Neustadt (Austria).
- Performance at the concert cycle for modern music Új magyar müvek hangverseny ciklusa at Fészek Müvészklub, Budapest. The concert was broadcasted by Bartók Rádio.
- Recital at Schloss Esterhazy (Eisenstadt, Austria).
