Education

The gambist and cellist Heidi Gröger (born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1976) studied music education with cello, piano and singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich (D). Thereafter she decided to specialize in Early Music, studying viola da gamba with Philippe Pierlot at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen (D) and the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag (NL). Heidi completed a Master´s degree in viola da gamba with distinction in June 2007, the main focus having been: “stylus phantasticus – theoretical and practical aspects for string instruments”. Whilst at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, Heidi also studied baroque cello with Jaap ter Linden. During her studies she won several scholarships: the Erasmus/Sokrates exchange program of the Musikhochschule Trossingen (2003/2004), the Huygens-Stipendiums of the Netherlands (2005/2006) and the Honoursprogramma Muziek of the conservatories Amsterdam/Den Haag (2006/2007).

Prizes

Heidi has been a recipient of several prizes in international early music competitions:

First Prize and Audience Prize with “ensemble fidicinium” at the “Biagio-Marini-Competition” in Neuburg/Do., Germany (2003),
Second Prize and Audience Prize ex aequo with “ensemble fidicinium” at the “Van Wassenaer Concours” in Den Haag, Netherlands (2004),
Finalist at the “3rd International Telemann Competition” in Magdeburg, Germany (2005),
First Prize with “ensemble fidicinium” at the “Early Music Network Young Artists Competition” in York, United Kingdom (2005),
Finalist at the “Bach-Abel-Competition” for viola da gamba in Köthen, Germany (2006),
First Prize at the Biagio-Marini-Competition” in Neuburg/Do., Germany (2007) for the second time.

Ensembles

Heidi Gröger is a founding member of the instrumental group ensemble fidicinium, with whom she has won a number of prizes at major early music competitions. Formed in 2003, the group has been invited to perform in international festivals all over Europe. “ensemble fidicinium” concentrates on music for strings from the austro-german region in the late 17th century, and consists of two violins, two viola da gambas and continuo.

In 2005/2006 Heidi was a member of the European Baroque Orchestra , directed by Lars Ulrik Mortensen. Every year, EUBO provides the opportunity for talented young musicians to perform around 40 concerts a year at various early music festivals. During her time in EUBO she played the gamba solo from J. S. Bach´s St.John Passion with Edward Higginbottom, New College Choir Oxford and the Hilliard Ensemble.

Heidi made her debut with the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra in 2007 playing cotinuo gamba in G.F. Händels "Giulio Cesare" with René Jacobs. Since then she has participated in various productions with Freiburger Baroque Consort directed by Petra Müllejans. More recently she was also invited to take part in the legendary production of F. Cavallis "La Calisto" at the opera house "La Monnaie" in Brussels (BE) with René Jacobs.

Trio Mende-Gröger-Weiss

calamus consort

Trio Fleury