Michala Petri
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Michala Petri (b. 7 July 1958 in Copenhagen) is a Danish recorder player. Petri is sought after as a soloist with many noted orchestras, including the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. She has released 34 recordings, toured extensively over four continents, and has had dozens of pieces written for her. Her debut as a soloist was in 1969.
Petri, who began playing the recorder at the age of three, is noted for her virtuosity and versatility across a wide range of styles, from the baroque repertoire of the height of the instrument's popularity to contemporary works written particularly for her. She has premiered dozens of works, by composers Malcolm Arnold and Gordon Jacob as well as Daniel Börtz, Erik Haumann, Hans Kunstovny, Erling Bjerno, Thomas Koppel, Ove Benzen, Vagn Holmboe, Piers Hellawell, Gary Kulesha, Asger Lund Christiansen, Egil Harder, Michael Berkeley, Butch Lacy, Miklos Maros, Ezra Laderman, Jens Bjerre, Henning Christiansen, Niels Viggo Bentzon, Axel Borup Jørgensen, and Gunnar Berg.
She frequently collaborates with her husband, guitarist and lutenist Lars Hannibal, with whom she has made several recordings. Petri has taken a particular interest in the combination of recorder and guitar, collaborating with guitarists including Göran Söllsher, Kazuhito Yamashita and Manuel Barrueco. One notable collaboration of hers was an album of sonatas by J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel, with Keith Jarrett on harpsichord; she has also recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and Pinchas Zuckerman, among many others.
Petri studied with Ferdinand Conrad at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover. In 2000, Petri was awarded the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, and she was appointed Knight of Dannebrog in 1995 by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Other prizes she has won include the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis (1997), Tagea Brandt Rejselegat (1981), Nordic Council Music Prize, Wilhelm Hansen Music Prize, and the H.C. Lumbye Prize. In 1979 she began an exclusive recording contract with Philips that lasted until 1987; she is currently recording on the BMG Classic label.
