Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. Since September 2015, he has been General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg. He will be the next Chief conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (OCNE) in Madrid starting in September 2026. In addition he is, together with Jan Vogler, committed as Artistic Director of the Ring project “The Wagner Cycles” of Dresdner Musikfestspiele with Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln, and as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival. He has been Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin since 2006, Concerto Köln since 2019, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2021 and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester since 2023.
The 2024/25 season is Kent Nagano's last season as General Music Director in Hamburg and brings four new productions to the Staatsoper under Nagano's musical direction: Carl Orff's Trionfi, Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Unsuk Chin's The Dark Side of the Moon, and Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier's The Illusions of William Mallory. Furthermore, he conducts symphony concerts with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester in the Elbphilharmonie as he does every season, including the New Year's performance and the world premiere of Alex Nante's symphony Anahata, a work commissioned by the Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Highlights of recent seasons in Hamburg have included opera productions such as Boris Godunov, Salome, performances of Sciarrino's Venere e Adone and Britten's Peter Grimes, Les Troyens, Lulu, Lessons in Love and Violence and the world premiere of Stilles Meer as well as Les Contes d'Hoffmann in the new production by Daniele Finzi Pasca (released on DVD by EuroArts, February 2022), the “Philharmonic Academy” in St. Michaelis, open-air concerts at the Rathausmarkt and the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin's work Waves for organ and orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie. Orchestral tours with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg have taken Kent Nagano to Japan, Spain and South America.
In the 2024/25 season, Kent Nagano conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Passau, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in Montréal and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, among others. He also conducts Dusapin's Il Vaggio, Dante in a production by Claus Guth at the Paris Opera and the revival of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre in a production by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
As a much sought-after guest conductor, Kent Nagano regularly works with leading international orchestras worldwide, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris, the Chicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Wiener Symphoniker. A special project was the Bernstein opera A quiet place at the Paris Opera. Other opera productions include the world premiere of Dusapin's Il viaggio, dante at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Hindemith's Cardillac, Henze's Die Bassariden and the world premiere of Saariaho's L'amour de loin at the Salzburg Festival. Other world premieres conducted by Nagano include Bernstein's A White House Cantata and the operas Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin, Three Sisters by Peter Eötvös and The Death of Klinghoffer and El Niño by John Adams.
Under the artistic direction of Kent Nagano and the Intendant of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele Jan Vogler, Wagner's Ring Tetralogy will be performed in the artistic context of the period in which it was composed, based on the latest findings of research into Wagner and performance practice, and integrated into an extensive supporting program as part of the multi-year project The Wagner Cycles of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele from 2023 to 2026. The first performance in 2023 was Das Rheingold at the Dresden Music Festival and the tour to Cologne, Ravello and Lucerne under the musical direction of Kent Nagano. Die Walküre followed in 2024 as the second work in the epochal narrative in Prague, Amsterdam, Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg and Lucerne.
Highlights of Kent Nagano's collaboration with the OSM as Music Director from 2006 to 2020 included the inauguration of the orchestra’s new concert hall La Maison Symphonique in September 2011, performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, concert versions of Wagner's Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde and Das Rheingold, Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bücher, and Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise. Tours have taken Nagano and the orchestra to Canada including the Northern Territories, Japan, South Korea, Europe (latest 2019), Latin America and the USA. In July 2018, Kent Nagano conducted Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion with the OSM at the Salzburg Festival opening concert.
His recordings with the OSM on Sony Classical/Analekta include Mahler’s Orchestral Songs with Christian Gerhaher in 2013 and a complete recording of all of Beethoven’s symphonies in 2015. Decca released a recording of the North American premiere of L'Aiglon, a rarely performed opera by Honegger and Ibert in 2016, conducted by Nagano in 2015. Further releases by Decca are Danse Macabre with works by Dukas, Saint-Saens, Ives and others in 2016 as well as a recording of Bernstein's A quiet place in 2018 on the occasion of the composer's 100th birthday. John Adams' Common tones in simple time & harmony (Decca) was released in 2019, the Lukas Passion by Penderecki (BIS) and works by Ginastera, Bernstein and Moussa (Analekta) in 2020.
At the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he was General Music Director from 2006 to 2013, Kent Nagano commissioned new operas such as Babylon by Jörg Widmann, Das Gehege by Wolfgang Rihm and Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin. New productions included Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites, Messiaen’s Saint François d'Assise, Berg’s Wozzeck, George Benjamin's Written on skin and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Tours took Nagano and the Bavarian State Orchestra through Europe and Japan. In addition to Bruckner's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 (Sony), Kent Nagano has released several opera performances with the Bavarian State Orchestra on DVD: Unsuk Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland (2008) and Mussorgsky's Chowanschtschina (2009) with unitel classica/medici arts, Dialogue des Carmélites with Bel Air Classiques (2011) and Lohengrin (2010) with Decca.
Another very important period in Nagano’s career was his time as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2000-2006. He performed Schönberg’s Moses und Aron with the orchestra (in collaboration with Los Angeles Opera) and took them to the Salzburg Festival to perform both Zemlinsky’s Der König Kandaules and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten, as well as to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with Parsifal and Lohengrin in productions by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Recordings with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Harmonia Mundi include repertoire as diverse as Bernstein’s Mass, Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6, Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge, Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Schönberg’s Die Jakobsleiter and Friede auf Erden, as well as Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 and Schönberg’s Variationen für Orchester Op. 31. In June 2006, at the end of his tenure with the orchestra, Kent Nagano was given the title Honorary Conductor by members of the orchestra – only the second recipient of this honour in their 60-year history. To this day he maintains a close friendship with the orchestra.
In October 2019, Kent Nagano and Mari Kodama expanded their joint recordings of Beethoven's works for piano and orchestra with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 0 E-flat Major WoO 4, a nearly unknown work from the composer’s youth, and his Rondo for Piano and Orchestra WoO 6 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The complete edition of Beethoven’s piano concerti was released on the Berlin Classics label.
Nagano was awarded Grammys for his recordings of Busoni’s Doktor Faust with Opéra National de Lyon, Prokofjew’s Peter and the Wolf with the Russian National Orchestra and Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin with the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin. He has worked with labels such as BIS, Decca, Sony Classical, FARAO Classics and Analekta for many years, and has also recorded CDs with Berlin Classics, Erato, Teldec, Pentatone, Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.
To celebrate Kent Nagano's 70th birthday in 2021, a 3-CD box set of works by Olivier Messiaen was released in October on the BR Klassik label. The release includes live recordings of the works Poèmes pour Mi, Chronochromie and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ from his concerts with the Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, demonstrating Nagano's close familiarity with Messiaen's musical language in a special way.
In September 2021, Kent Nagano published his second book with Berlin Verlag. In "10 Lessons of my Life", he recalls ten deeply personal encounters from which he learned important lessons, not only for his career but for his life more broadly. Among those experiences are encounters with the Icelandic pop artist Björk, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and the Nobel Prize winner in physics Donald Glaser.
In 2015 Kent Nagano published "Erwarten Sie Wunder!" also in Berlin Verlag, a passionate appeal for the relevance of classical music in today's world. In 2019 the book was released in English by the Canadian McGill-Queen's University Press under the title ″Classical Music - Expect the Unexpected" and in 2015 under "Sonnez, merveilles!" in French by Éditions du Boréal.
Born in California, Nagano maintains close connections with his home state and was Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra from 1978-2009. His first major successes came with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1984, when Messiaen appointed him assistant to conductor Seiji Ozawa for the premiere of his opera Saint François d'Assise. Nagano’s success in America led to European appointments: Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon (1988-1998) and Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra (1991-2000). Kent Nagano became the first Music Director of Los Angeles Opera in 2003 having already held the position of Principal Conductor for two years.
Kent Nagano was awarded an honorary doctorate from McGill University in Montréal in 2005, an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal in 2006, and an honorary doctorate from San Francisco State University in 2018. Since 2017, Kent Nagano has been a "Compagnon" of the "Ordre des arts et des lettres" of Québec and in the fall of 2023, Kent Nagano was also awarded the title of "Chevalier" in the "Ordre des art et des lettres" of France. In February 2024, Kent Nagano was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal President and in June 2024 he was awarded the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor. Kent Nagano is the recipient of the 2024 Brahms Prize of the Brahms Society of
Schleswig-Holstein.
Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. Since September 2015, he has been General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg. He will be the next Chief conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (OCNE) in Madrid starting in September 2026. In addition he is, together with Jan Vogler, committed as Artistic Director of the Ring project “The Wagner Cycles” of Dresdner Musikfestspiele with Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln, and as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival. He has been Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin since 2006, Concerto Köln since 2019, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2021 and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester since 2023.
The 2024/25 season is Kent Nagano's last season as General Music Director in Hamburg and brings four new productions to the Staatsoper under Nagano's musical direction: Carl Orff's Trionfi, Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Unsuk Chin's The Dark Side of the Moon, and Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier's The Illusions of William Mallory. Furthermore, he conducts symphony concerts with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester in the Elbphilharmonie as he does every season, including the New Year's performance and the world premiere of Alex Nante's symphony Anahata, a work commissioned by the Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Highlights of recent seasons in Hamburg have included opera productions such as Boris Godunov, Salome, performances of Sciarrino's Venere e Adone and Britten's Peter Grimes, Les Troyens, Lulu, Lessons in Love and Violence and the world premiere of Stilles Meer as well as Les Contes d'Hoffmann in the new production by Daniele Finzi Pasca (released on DVD by EuroArts, February 2022), the “Philharmonic Academy” in St. Michaelis, open-air concerts at the Rathausmarkt and the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin's work Waves for organ and orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie. Orchestral tours with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg have taken Kent Nagano to Japan, Spain and South America.
In the 2024/25 season, Kent Nagano conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Passau, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in Montréal and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, among others. He also conducts Dusapin's Il Vaggio, Dante in a production by Claus Guth at the Paris Opera and the revival of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre in a production by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
As a much sought-after guest conductor, Kent Nagano regularly works with leading international orchestras worldwide, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris, the Chicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Wiener Symphoniker. A special project was the Bernstein opera A quiet place at the Paris Opera. Other opera productions include the world premiere of Dusapin's Il viaggio, dante at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Hindemith's Cardillac, Henze's Die Bassariden and the world premiere of Saariaho's L'amour de loin at the Salzburg Festival. Other world premieres conducted by Nagano include Bernstein's A White House Cantata and the operas Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin, Three Sisters by Peter Eötvös and The Death of Klinghoffer and El Niño by John Adams.
Under the artistic direction of Kent Nagano and the Intendant of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele Jan Vogler, Wagner's Ring Tetralogy will be performed in the artistic context of the period in which it was composed, based on the latest findings of research into Wagner and performance practice, and integrated into an extensive supporting program as part of the multi-year project The Wagner Cycles of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele from 2023 to 2026. The first performance in 2023 was Das Rheingold at the Dresden Music Festival and the tour to Cologne, Ravello and Lucerne under the musical direction of Kent Nagano. Die Walküre followed in 2024 as the second work in the epochal narrative in Prague, Amsterdam, Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg and Lucerne.
Highlights of Kent Nagano's collaboration with the OSM as Music Director from 2006 to 2020 included the inauguration of the orchestra’s new concert hall La Maison Symphonique in September 2011, performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, concert versions of Wagner's Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde and Das Rheingold, Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bücher, and Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise. Tours have taken Nagano and the orchestra to Canada including the Northern Territories, Japan, South Korea, Europe (latest 2019), Latin America and the USA. In July 2018, Kent Nagano conducted Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion with the OSM at the Salzburg Festival opening concert.
His recordings with the OSM on Sony Classical/Analekta include Mahler’s Orchestral Songs with Christian Gerhaher in 2013 and a complete recording of all of Beethoven’s symphonies in 2015. Decca released a recording of the North American premiere of L'Aiglon, a rarely performed opera by Honegger and Ibert in 2016, conducted by Nagano in 2015. Further releases by Decca are Danse Macabre with works by Dukas, Saint-Saens, Ives and others in 2016 as well as a recording of Bernstein's A quiet place in 2018 on the occasion of the composer's 100th birthday. John Adams' Common tones in simple time & harmony (Decca) was released in 2019, the Lukas Passion by Penderecki (BIS) and works by Ginastera, Bernstein and Moussa (Analekta) in 2020.
At the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he was General Music Director from 2006 to 2013, Kent Nagano commissioned new operas such as Babylon by Jörg Widmann, Das Gehege by Wolfgang Rihm and Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin. New productions included Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites, Messiaen’s Saint François d'Assise, Berg’s Wozzeck, George Benjamin's Written on skin and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Tours took Nagano and the Bavarian State Orchestra through Europe and Japan. In addition to Bruckner's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 (Sony), Kent Nagano has released several opera performances with the Bavarian State Orchestra on DVD: Unsuk Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland (2008) and Mussorgsky's Chowanschtschina (2009) with unitel classica/medici arts, Dialogue des Carmélites with Bel Air Classiques (2011) and Lohengrin (2010) with Decca.
Another very important period in Nagano’s career was his time as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2000-2006. He performed Schönberg’s Moses und Aron with the orchestra (in collaboration with Los Angeles Opera) and took them to the Salzburg Festival to perform both Zemlinsky’s Der König Kandaules and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten, as well as to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with Parsifal and Lohengrin in productions by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Recordings with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Harmonia Mundi include repertoire as diverse as Bernstein’s Mass, Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6, Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge, Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Schönberg’s Die Jakobsleiter and Friede auf Erden, as well as Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 and Schönberg’s Variationen für Orchester Op. 31. In June 2006, at the end of his tenure with the orchestra, Kent Nagano was given the title Honorary Conductor by members of the orchestra – only the second recipient of this honour in their 60-year history. To this day he maintains a close friendship with the orchestra.
In October 2019, Kent Nagano and Mari Kodama expanded their joint recordings of Beethoven's works for piano and orchestra with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 0 E-flat Major WoO 4, a nearly unknown work from the composer’s youth, and his Rondo for Piano and Orchestra WoO 6 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The complete edition of Beethoven’s piano concerti was released on the Berlin Classics label.
Nagano was awarded Grammys for his recordings of Busoni’s Doktor Faust with Opéra National de Lyon, Prokofjew’s Peter and the Wolf with the Russian National Orchestra and Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin with the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin. He has worked with labels such as BIS, Decca, Sony Classical, FARAO Classics and Analekta for many years, and has also recorded CDs with Berlin Classics, Erato, Teldec, Pentatone, Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.
To celebrate Kent Nagano's 70th birthday in 2021, a 3-CD box set of works by Olivier Messiaen was released in October on the BR Klassik label. The release includes live recordings of the works Poèmes pour Mi, Chronochromie and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ from his concerts with the Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, demonstrating Nagano's close familiarity with Messiaen's musical language in a special way.
In September 2021, Kent Nagano published his second book with Berlin Verlag. In "10 Lessons of my Life", he recalls ten deeply personal encounters from which he learned important lessons, not only for his career but for his life more broadly. Among those experiences are encounters with the Icelandic pop artist Björk, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and the Nobel Prize winner in physics Donald Glaser.
In 2015 Kent Nagano published "Erwarten Sie Wunder!" also in Berlin Verlag, a passionate appeal for the relevance of classical music in today's world. In 2019 the book was released in English by the Canadian McGill-Queen's University Press under the title ″Classical Music - Expect the Unexpected" and in 2015 under "Sonnez, merveilles!" in French by Éditions du Boréal.
Born in California, Nagano maintains close connections with his home state and was Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra from 1978-2009. His first major successes came with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1984, when Messiaen appointed him assistant to conductor Seiji Ozawa for the premiere of his opera Saint François d'Assise. Nagano’s success in America led to European appointments: Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon (1988-1998) and Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra (1991-2000). Kent Nagano became the first Music Director of Los Angeles Opera in 2003 having already held the position of Principal Conductor for two years.
Kent Nagano was awarded an honorary doctorate from McGill University in Montréal in 2005, an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal in 2006, and an honorary doctorate from San Francisco State University in 2018. Since 2017, Kent Nagano has been a "Compagnon" of the "Ordre des arts et des lettres" of Québec and in the fall of 2023, Kent Nagano was also awarded the title of "Chevalier" in the "Ordre des art et des lettres" of France. In February 2024, Kent Nagano was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal President and in June 2024 he was awarded the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor. Kent Nagano is the recipient of the 2024 Brahms Prize of the Brahms Society of
Schleswig-Holstein.
Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich and in 1947 launched a conducting career which would take him to the position of general music director and music director at the opera houses in Aachen, Wiesbaden and Cologne, and in 1971 at the Bavarian State Opera. Until 1992 he was the general music director at that opera house, becoming opera director there in 1982 as well. After working with concert orchestras such as the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra (where he was general music director from 1961 to 1973) and the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra (1960-1971) as well as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva (1973-1980), Wolfgang Sawallisch was appointed music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra in the USA in 1993. As a chamber musician and accompanist of the leading singers of our times, Sawallisch also enjoyed a stellar reputation as a pianist. Awards and honours in Germany and abroad confirmed his high artistic rank and the renown he enjoyed throughout the world. Thus, he was the only honorary conductor laureate ever of the Japanese NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, as well as the recipient of the “Golden Toscanini Baton” which La Scala Milan presented him with on the occasion of his 35-year anniversary of his house debut there. Wolfgang Sawallisch was a member of the Bavarian Academy of the Arts and president of the Richard Strauss Society in Munich. In Hamburg he conducted more than 300 concerts. Under his baton in 1963, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra became the first German orchestra to give concerts in Poland again after World War II. Further concert tours took him and the orchestra to Scandinavia, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland. Wolfgang Sawallisch died on February 22, 2013 at the age of 89.
Konradin Seitzer, born in Aachen in 1983, began playing the violin at the age of four and enrolled at the age of 14 as a junior student in the class of Atila Aydintan at the Hanover Academy of Music and Theatre. He then continued his studies with Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, from which he graduated with distinction in January 2009. He has appeared around the world as a soloist with orchestras including the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Brandenburg State Orchestra in Frankfurt and the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie, appearing at venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Glocke in Bremen and the Seongnam Arts Center in South Korea. In addition to his work as a soloist, Konradin Seitzer is also dedicated to chamber music and has given concerts with artists such as Robert Levin, Thomas Brandis and Ulf Hoelscher. Konradin Seitzer was previously First Concertmaster of the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin; since 2012 he has held the same position at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. In 2015 he received the Eduard Söring Prize of the Foundation for the Support of the Hamburg State Opera.
Daniel Cho was born in New Jersey (USA) and began playing the violin in South Korea at the age of six. He received his bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School in the class of Hyo Kang and David Chan. He then continued his studies with Kolja Blacher at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. He won numerous international competitions, including the Max Rostal Competition 2019, in which he received the top prize. As a soloist he played with orchestras such as the Hamburger Camerata, the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra and Sejong Soloists. In 2010 he made his New York debut in the Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall, presented by the Korea Music Foundation, and in 2013 he made his European debut at the Musée du Louvre in Paris as part of the "Concerts du Jeudi". He also appears as a member of Sejong Soloists and has worked closely with artists such as Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin and Vadim Repin. As concertmaster he played with The Juilliard Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. From the 2021/22 season he joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra as first concertmaster.
A native of Vienna, from the age of six Thomas C. Wolf studied violin with Edith Bertschinger and Günter Pichler in his hometown, taking chamber music lessons with members of the Alban Berg Quartet. He participated in master courses with Max Rostal and Sandor Végh and won the Dr. Karl Böhm Prize of the Vienna Philharmonic. At the early age of twenty, he was appointed first concertmaster of the Munich Philharmonic, becoming concertmaster of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra shortly thereafter. In 1989 he became first concertmaster of the Orquesta do Porto; since 1990 he has been concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Joanna Kamenarska studied with Josif Radionov in Sofia and with Ruggiero Ricci and Igar Ozim in Salzburg. She has been performing since her earliest childhood and continues to do so in Germany and abroad. She won various prizes, for example a third prize at the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 2002. Her broad-ranging solo repertoire encompasses everything from baroque to contemporary avant-garde music. As a soloist, Joanna Kamenarska has appeared with orchestras such as the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Hamburger Camerata, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra as well as orchestras in Bulgaria and elsewhere. Her numerous musical partnerships have resulted in two CD recordings: the first was “Initio” with pianist Irina Georgieva, released by the Bulgarian label Gega New; in 2019 a duo album with pianist Moisès Ferández Via appeared on the label Urtext Classics in Tanglewood in the USA. Joanna Kamenarska plays a violin built by J. B. Guadagnini in 1740 (Ex-Flesch), on loan to her from a private donor. Joanna Kamenarska has lived in Hamburg since 2007, when she began a one-year appointment as concertmaster at the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. In 2008 she became associate concertmaster at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Since February 2018 she has been teaching in the orchestral studies programme at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre.
Monika Bruggaier joined the violin class of Dieter Vorholz at the Frankfurt Music Academy as a junior student in 1984. After graduating from high school in 1987, she continued her studies there, graduating with distinction in 1991. She subsequently completed postgraduate studies with Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet) at the Vienna Music Academy. Various master courses, including in baroque violin, complemented her education. During her studies, she received scholarships from the German National Merit Foundation, “Villa musica” and the Yamaha Foundation in Vienna; in 1993 she received the encouragement award of the Gustav Lenzewski Foundation in Frankfurt. She has been assistant section leader of the first violins at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1994 and has been teaching at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre since 2004.
Bogdan Dumitrașcu received his first violin lessons at the age of 7 from Natalia Epure in his home town of Iași in Romania. He was one of the first prizewinners in national competitions every year and performed in numerous recitals for Romanian radio and television programmes. From 1996, Bogdan Dumitrașcu studied at the Rostock University of Music in the violin class of Professor Petru Munteanu, graduating with honours in 2003. He perfected his studies by attending international masterclasses with Igor Ozim, Ștefan Gheorghiu, Lewis Kaplan, Sherban Lupu and Eduard Grach. He has won prizes at several international competitions, including "Citta di Stresa"/ Italy 1987, "Eugeniu Coca"/ Moldavia 1995, "Kloster Schöntal"/ Germany 1997. Bogdan Dumitrașcu has been a permanent 1st violinist in the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2002 and has been a principal violinist since 2013. Between 2009 and 2017, he was also a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. In addition to his orchestral activities, Bogdan Dumitrașcu is a sought-after chamber musician and regularly performs in various chamber music formations.
Stefan Herrling received his first violin lessons from his father when he was seven. At the age of 17, he began studying with Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn at the Karlsruhe Music Academy. After graduating with a degree in orchestral performance, he studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy DeLay at the College Conservatory in Cincinnati, USA. In addition to chamber music studies with the LaSalle String Quartet and the Tokyo String Quartet, he completed these studies with an Artist Diploma degree. After that he studied with Max Speermann in Würzburg, attaining a performance master’s degree. His first professional engagement took him to the Hanover State Theatre; since 1992 he has been a member of the first violin section at the Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Jens-Joachim Muth, born in Reinbek near Hamburg in 1959, received his first violin lessons at the age of ten and has been attending the Hamburg State Opera (including all the Wagner operas) enthusiastically since that time, as well as concerts at Hamburg’s Musikhalle, where he had a predilection for Bruckner and Mahler. At the age of 16 he became a junior student at the Lübeck Music Academy; his most important teacher was Friedrich Wührer, the former concertmaster of the Philharmonic State Orchestra. During his studies, Jens-Joachim Muth played as a substitute with the Orchestra of the Hansa City of Lübeck and in the second violin section of the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra. At the early age of 20, he successfully auditioned for the first violins, completing his studies three years later. On the side, he founded the Reinbek Chamber Orchestra, leading it for many years. He continued his education and is active as a violist and baroque violinist, conductor and chamber musician, all of which he also teaches. His interest in the basics of free and healthy music-making and in rising to the special physical and psychological challenges of a musician’s life led him to complete a three-year training course to become a certified teacher of Alexander Technique (ATVD).
Hildegard Schlaud received her first musical education in her hometown of Würzburg. After graduating from high school, she studied with Rainer Kussmaul in Freiburg and, as a scholarship recipient from the German National Merit Foundation, with Emanuel Hurwitz in London. Hildegard Schlaud has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1987.
Born in Lübeck, Solveigh Rose went to the Berlin University of the Arts after studying at the Lübeck Academy of Music and studied with Thomas Brandis, the former 1st concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Scholarships from the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes” and the “Jürgen Ponto Stiftung” supported her studies until she won an audition as 1st violinist with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 1990.
From 2000-2009 she performed with the Trio Kairos throughout Germany and in several European countries, as well as at the International Music Festival Puebla, Mexico, where she also gave a master class. She has recorded several CDs as a chamber musician for the Musicaphon label. Recently she has been playing in a new piano trio formation in the Brahms Trio Hamburg, together with Clemens Malich and Wolf Harden.
Her solo appearances have included the Berlin Symphony Orchestra with Beethoven's Violin Concerto, the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra under Gerd Albrecht with Mozart's 5th Violin Concerto and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra under Kent Nagano with the world premiere of “The Seasons of Life” by Régis Campo. Productions with SFB, the former Rias Berlin and NDR complemented these.
In addition to her commitment as an orchestral and chamber musician, Solveigh Rose devotes herself intensively to the promotion of young talent as a lecturer at the Hamburg Conservatory and at the Initiative Jugend-Kammermusik Hamburg. Since 2023, she has been playing a violin made especially for her by Hamburg master violin maker Klaus C. Grumpelt.
Annette Schäfer studied with Rainer Kussmaul in Freiburg and with David Takeno in London. Master courses with Pinchas Zukerman, Franco Gulli and Ricardo Odnopossof gave her further artistic impulses. Since 1991 she has been a member of the first violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Together with friends, she founded the octet ensemble acht that same year. Apart from concerts in Germany and abroad, various radio recordings and festival appearances, several CD productions by Dabringhaus & Grimm, cpo, Antes and Thorofon document her work in chamber music. Furthermore, Annette Schäfer is a sought-after chamber musician with her Trio Chaminade, which features the unusual combination of mezzo-soprano, violin and piano. Working with contemporary composers, she has been entrusted with numerous world premiere performances. She also dedicates herself to baroque music and historically informed performance practice. Annette Schäfer has been teaching violin for instrumental pedagogy and school music at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre since 2019.
Imke Dithmar-Baier was born and raised in Berlin. She studied with Klaus Peters at the Hanns Eisler School of Music and with Ilan Gronich at the Berlin University of the Arts. For many years she was a member of the Ensemble Oriol and a substitute at the Staatskapelle Berlin. She participated in numerous concerts and projects of the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin and the ensemble L’ART POUR L’ART. She has been a member of the Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1993.
Christiane Wulff, a native of Hamburg, received her first violin lessons at the age of four. She studied with Winfried Rüssmann in Hamburg and with Thomas Brandis at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 1992 she received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD to study for a year with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Christiane Wulff was concertmaster of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, concertmaster of the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Since 1994 she has been a member of the first violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Esther Middendorf, born in Marburg in 1973, began playing the violin at the age of seven. She studied with Attila Aydintan at the Hanover Academy of Music and Theatre and with Mi-Kyung Lee and Uwe-Martin Haiberg at the Berlin University of the Arts. She began gathering orchestral experience at a young age in the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), then as a member of the orchestral academy of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Since 2000 Esther Middendorf has been a member of the first violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. She spends her free time with her four children in Berlin, where she also occasionally plays as a substitute in various orchestras.
Sidsel Garm Nielsen was born in Thisted, Denmark, in 1973. She studied in Lübeck and Freiburg with Nora Chastain and Rainer Kussmaul. Even during her student days, she was third concertmaster of the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra (1996-1997), followed by a limited contract with the Staatskapelle Dresden (2001-2002). Since 1999 she has been a member of the Linos Ensemble; since 2002 she has been a member of the first violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Born in Saigon, Tuan Cuong Hoang began studying violin at the age of five with his father, Cuong Hoang, at the Ho Chi Minh Conservatory. At the age of eleven, he received the first prize at the Hanoi Violin Competition, which was followed by further awards. In 1994 he received a scholarship from the Pflüger Foundation to join the violin class of Wolfgang Marschner in Freiburg. That same year, he won a special award at the International Ludwig Spohr Violin Competition in Freiburg; in 1996 he won the first prize at the International Max Reger Chamber Music Competition in Sondershausen. In 1998 he began studying with Rainer Kussmaul at the Freiburg Academy of Music. One year later, he received an encouragement award at the Leopold Mozart Violin Competition. Tuan Cuong Hoang attended numerous master classes with Wolfgang Marschner, Aaron Rosand, Ruggiero Ricci, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Thomas Brandis and Rainer Kussmaul. He has given recitals in Germany and abroad and appeared as a soloist with the Max Bruch Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of the Oratorio del Gonfalone in Rome and the Saigon Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2004.
Hedda Steinhardt, a native of Oldenburg, began playing the violin at the age of six. She started her education as a junior student of Maria Grevesmühl at the Bremen Music Academy, winning several competitions as a violinist and pianist. She then studied with Gerhard Peters and Susanne Rabenschlag (primarius of the Verdi Quartet) at the Cologne Music Academy, from which she graduated with distinction. She also received chamber music instruction from the Amadeus Quartet. Further musical impulses were provided by master courses with Isabelle van Keulen, Herman Krebbers and the Melos Quartet, among others. Hedda Steinhardt was concertmaster of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and has been a member of the first violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1995. In addition, she dedicates herself intensively to chamber music and gives regular concerts.
A native of Poland, Piotr Pujanek studied with Bartosz Bryła in Poznan and completed a concert degree at the Berlin University of the Arts, where Ilan Gronich was his teacher. He attended master courses with Thomas Brandis, Kolja Blacher, Christian Tetzlaff and Igor Oistrach. In 2003 he received the Encouragement Award at the Gerhard Taschner Competition in Berlin. He gathered experience as an orchestral musician playing with the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Since 2006 he has been a member of the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra.
Daria Pujanek was born in Poznan, Poland. She studied in her hometown with Janusz Purzycki and Michal Grabarczyk, in Berlin with Ilan Gronich and in Dresden with Jörg Faßmann, completing her studies with distinction. She complemented her training by attending master courses with Felix Andrievsky and Krzysztof Wegrzyn and others, as well as Thomas Brandis, who was a lasting influence. Daria Pujanek is the winner of several competitions. From 2003 to 2005 she held a scholarship of the Paul Hindemith Foundation in Berlin. She gathered orchestral experience as a concertmaster of the Young Chamber Opera Cologne, in the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Kammerakademie Potsdam. In 2007 she became a member of the Bremen Philharmonic; in 2009 she joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Katharina Weiß was born in Hamburg in 1985. At the age of twelve she became a junior student of Nora Chastain at the Lübeck Music Academy. She then continued her education with Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin and with Thomas Brandis at the Lübeck Music Academy. She was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic’s orchestral academy and was invited as a guest leader of the second violins by the Bavarian State Orchestra. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Gotha Philharmonic of Thuringia and the World Youth Orchestra. Katharina Weiß is a passionate chamber musician and has performed at renowned festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Classic Con Brio Festival, appearing with such artists as Leif Ove Andsnes, Albrecht Mayer and Gustav Rivinius. Since 2017 Katharina Weiß has been a member of the first violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Sonia Eun Kim began playing the violin at the age of seven.
playing the violin.
After her junior studies with Prof. Ulf Wallin at the Hanns Eisler Berlin she continued her studies with Prof. Nora Chastain at the University of the Arts Berlin and Conservatoire national superieur de Paris with Prof. Boris Garlitzky.
She won numerous prizes and scholarships, such as several 1st national prizes at the Jugend Musiziert competition and was accepted into the Yehudi Menuhin "Live Music Now" Foundation and W. Richard- Dr.C. Dörken Foundation, which enabled her to give numerous concerts with solo programs and as a soloist with orchestra.
She has performed in many European countries, including the Salzburg Schlosskonzerte and the Julian Rachlin Festival in Dubrovnik.
She gained orchestral experience as a scholarship holder of the Orchestra Academy of the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin.
A portrait film about her was shown by RBB television in Berlin in 2013.
Since 2017 she is a member of the 1st violins of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg.
Yuri Katsumata-Monegatto was born in Yokohama in 1992 and began playing the violin at the age of seven. She studied with Sonoko Numata at the Tokyo University of the Arts and with Nora Chastain and Marlene Ito at the Berlin University of the Arts, which she attended as a DAAD fellow. She received further musical impulses from the Artemis Quartet, among others. She gained orchestral experience in the Academy of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and at the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and at numerous international festivals such as the Verbier Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Pacific Music Festival. Yuri Katsumata is the winner of several competitions. As a soloist, she has performed numerous concerts, including Krzysztof Penderecki’s Double Concerto conducted by the composer himself. Since 2020 she has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Hugo Moinet was born in Royan, France, in 1992. After graduating from the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris, where Annick Roussin was his teacher, he began studying with Julia Schröder at the Freiburg Music Academy, then moving on to the class of Heime Müller at the Lübeck Music Academy, where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He has been a member of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes, the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ensemble Resonanz, and of the Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Born in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) in 1988.
At the age of 6, began studying the violin with Polina Kadashevich. In 2003, he was admitted to the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music to the class of Vladimir Andreev. In 2007, he won the Yudina International Competition along with pianist Pavel Andreev. In 2007 started his studies in the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of Professor Antonina Kazarina.
He was associate concertmaster at the St. Petersburg Capella. After that he was associate concertmaster at the Mikhailovsky Theater.
Since 2014 - Associate concertmaster at the Mariinsky Theatre.
Member of the Mikhailovsky Quartet, since 2012 - first violin. Was a member of the Tonali project. A permanent participant of the Russian-German Music Academy project.
As a member of the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, he performed at the best venues in the world, such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Concertgebouw, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Elbphilarmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic and many others.
He has worked with many famous conductors: Valery Gergiev, Maris Jansons, Gianandrea Noseda, Vladimir Fedoseev, Vladimir Yurovsky and many others.
Since 2022 started leading a big portion of the theaters’ repertoire as concertmaster
He also performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra as a soloist.
Hibiki Oshima was born in Yokohama. At the early age of eleven, she had made up her mind to get to know Europe and its culture, and a year later she had the chance to implement this plan on a lengthy journey. These impressions led her to enrol at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts after completing her secondary education. There, her teachers included Rainer Küchl, Johannes Meissl and Avedis Kouyoumdjian. She has performed at numerous music festivals, including Wien Modern, the Pacific Music Festival, the Bienal Musica Hoje and ECMA in Switzerland. She completed her education by taking courses with Gerhard Schulz, Anner Bylsma, Hatto Beyerle and Heime Müller. In 2006/07 Hibiki Oshima was a fellow of the Herbert von Karajan Centre. She won the First Prize at the Chamber Music Competition Pietro Argento as well as the Second Prize and special prize at the Premio Internazionale di Musica “G. Zinetti”. In addition, she received the Eduard Söring Prize of the Foundation for the Support of the Hamburg State Opera in 2011. Her passion for chamber music and contemporary music led her to join ensembles such as the Hibiki Quartet and the Ensemble Platypus, with which she has presented numerous world premieres by young composers. After an engagement as First Concertmaster with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, she has been section leader of the second violins of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2010. When she is not playing the violin, she likes to cook and dedicates herself to her secret passion, paragliding.
Sebastian Deutscher was born in Berlin. He received his first violin lessons from his father. During his studies at the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Music High School in Berlin, where he was taught by Ursula Scholz, he was awarded a scholarship, as a result of which he spent the summer of 1997 at the Interlochen music camp in the USA. He completed his studies with Werner Scholz at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and with Antje Weithaas at the Berlin University of the Arts as well as with Sebastian Hamann at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Numerous masterclasses in Cologne, Schönthal Monastery, Rostock, Weimar and Lucerne, among others, complemented his studies.
He began his orchestral career in 2003, played at the Deutsche Oper Berlin until 2004, was principal violin of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra from 2005 to 2015 and has been principal 2nd violin of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2015. As part of his work, he played as a soloist in the Elbphilharmonie under Kent Nagano.
The connection between tradition and the present is particularly close to his heart. In 2020, he founded the Hej Hans Festival, an intergenerational cross-over music festival on Lake Plön. He also initiated Classic-Tunes, a project that uses blockchain technology to combine classical music and visual arts in a new way. He is also a founding member of the Franco-German ensemble Oriol, which performs vocal music in a jazz club atmosphere.
He plays a violin by P. Guarneri from 1750, which is privately owned and has been loaned to the Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Marianne Engel received her first violin lessons at the age of four at the Rostock Conservatory with Christa Jokisch. She completed her studies at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin in the master class of Werner Scholz. Already during this time she performed as a soloist with various orchestras. Under the direction of Claudio Abbado she acted as concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Since 1991 she has been deputy principal of the 2nd violins with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Her chamber music activities range from concerts with her baroque ensemble to participation in Wien Modern.
Stefan Schmidt, born in Stuttgart in 1963, began studying the violin during his school days as a junior and guest student in Augsburg and Munich. He then completed full-time violin studies in Munich, Salzburg and Lübeck. Since 1996 he has been associate section leader of the second violins at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, where he also founded the Philharmonic String Quartet.
Dorothee Fine, born and raised in Berlin, began playing the violin at the age of six. After taking lessons while still in high school at the Berlin University of the Arts, where Koji Toyoda was her teacher, she studied with Klaus Maetzel at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. After further studies with Uwe-Martin Haiberg at the Berlin University of the Arts, she graduated with a performance degree. She was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and also participated in master classes with Christian Tetzlaff, Régis Pasquier and Antje Weithaas. Since 2008 Dorothee Fine has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Felix Heckhausen was born in Bochum. At the age of 16 he became a junior student at the Munich Academy of Music. After his graduation from secondary school, further violin studies took him to Düsseldorf, where Michael Gaiser was his teacher, and to Freiburg, where he studied with Rainer Kussmaul. Master courses with the Amadeus Quartet and Walter Levin and baroque violin courses, among others, rounded out his education. During this time he was an active member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. Since his concert examination in 1995, he has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. An enthusiastic chamber musician, he dedicates his free time to his children and likes to cook. He is also a passionate paraglider.
Anne Schnyder Döhl was born in Zurich. There, she studied violin with Slobodan Mirkovic, subsequently moving on to the Lübeck and Winterthur Music Academies. At the latter, she studied with Nora Chastain and completed her artistic diploma. During her studies she attended numerous master courses, for example with Ana Chumachenco, György Pauk and the Beaux Arts Trio. Her chamber music teacher Walter Levin provided her with decisive impulses in chamber music. Anne Schnyder Döhl received the encouragement awards from the Swiss Association of Musicians and the Kiefer-Hablitzel Foundation three times. She has given numerous concerts as a soloist and chamber musician at home and abroad. Thus, her Pythagoras Piano Trio has appeared at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, while she has played a recital at the Gstaad-Saanenland Music Festival and undertook a tour of South America with the Auriga Piano Trio. Since 1999 Anne Schnyder Döhl has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Since 2003 she has also been concertmaster and leader of the Camerata Kiel.
Annette Schmidt-Barnekow was born in Lübeck and received her first violin lessons at the age of six. She was a member of the National German Youth Orchestra and studied with Axel Gerhardt at the Berlin University of the Arts, with Michael Vogler at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music and with Winfried Rademacher at the Trossingen Music Academy. In addition, she attended chamber music courses with the Vogler Quartet and Trio Fontenay as well as master courses with Nora Chastain and Ulf Wallin. From 2000 to 2002 Annette Schmidt-Barnekow was a member of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. After a one-year internship with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, she became a regular member of its second violin section in 2003.
Anne Frick was born in Karlsruhe in 1979. She studied violin with Nicolas Chumachenco in Freiburg and with Christiane Edinger in Lübeck. She also attended master courses with Rainer Kussmaul, Kolja Blacher, Zakhar Bron and Christian Ostertag. During the 2005/06 season she was an intern with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg. Since 2008 she has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, where she also forms a string quartet with some of her colleagues.
Mette Tjærby Korneliusen, born in Copenhagen in 1975, began playing the violin when she was four years old. She studied her instrument in Copenhagen and London. From 1994 to 1997 she was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the European Union Youth Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2003. As a chamber musician, she has formed the Duo Mignon with pianist Mimi Kjær since 1993; she was also a violinist in the Helios Quartet for about ten years. Since 2011 she has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Laure Kornmann was born in Colmar, France, in 1987. She studied with Nachum Erlich at the Karlsruhe Music Academy, with Kolja Lessing at the Stuttgart Music Academy and with Bartlomiej Niziol at the Berne Academy of Arts, where she received her bachelor of music with distinction. She then studied with Hans-Peter Hoffmann at the Saarbrücken Music Academy, graduating with a master’s degree in orchestral music. Laure Kornmann gathered orchestral experience with the Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse, the Saarland State Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and the German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. She has been a member of the second violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2014.
Josephine Nobach was born in Kassel and received her first violin lessons at the age of five. After graduating from secondary school, she studied with Elisabeth Kufferath, first at the Detmold Music Academy, then at the Hanover Academy of Music, Theatre and Media. She participated in numerous master courses and workshops, including with Donald Weilerstein, Tanja Becker-Bender, Hagai Shaham and the Vogler Quartet. Josephine Nobach was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Chamber Orchestra Louis Spohr, also completing an internship at the NDR Radio Philharmonic in Hanover and participating in the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra’s academy. She is a member of the “Orchester im Treppenhaus” in Hanover and has participated in its special projects and experiments in new performance practice since she began her studies. Since 2015 she has been a member of the second violin section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Gideon Schirmer was born in Stuttgart in 1990. At the age of eight, he began playing the violin, taught by Ulrike Abdank during his school years. He graduated from secondary school one year after winning a First Prize at the federal round of the competition “Jugend musiziert”. He went on to study with Winfried Rademacher and Christoph Schickedanz. He gathered orchestral experience as a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, as a member of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra’s academy and with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden. He became a regular member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra at the beginning of the 2018/19 season. Gideon Schirmer is passionate about water sports; when he is not sailing on the Alster, he might be surfing in other German or far-away coastal waters.
Myung-Eun Schirmer was born in Münster in 1987 and received her first violin lessons at the age of four. From 1999 to 2003 she was a junior student with Alexander Kramarov in Dortmund and Düsseldorf, then moving on to the class of Mihaela Martin, who accompanied her from her first diploma to her master’s degree and artistic diploma. She gained orchestral experience through an internship with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, as a member of the Staatskapelle Berlin’s academy and a limited contract with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Myung-Eun Schirmer won several first prizes as a soloist and with string quartets and has performed at such festivals as the Pablo Casals Festival, the Santander Music Festival and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. She was supported by the Mannheimer Sinfonima and received a Kees Wibenga Scholarship. As a soloist, Myung-Eun Schirmer has performed with the Santander Festival Orchestra and the Bergische Symphoniker. She has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2018. Myung-Eun Schirmer plays a violin by Klaus Grumpelt.
Chungyoon Choe was born in Seoul, South Korea, and took up playing violin and piano at the age of four. She began her bachelor’s studies at the Korean National University of Arts and completed them after studying with Viviane Hagner at the Berlin University of the Arts from 2012 onwards. She graduated with a master’s degree from the Mannheim Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Chungyoon Choe is a winner of the Rodolfo Lipizer Violin Competition and has given numerous recitals in Germany and abroad. She has appeared as a soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic and the Jena Philharmonic. Chungyoon Choe attended master classes with Thomas Brandis, Rainer Kussmaul and Donald Weilerstein, among others. She completed her training as an orchestral musician as a Ferenc Fricsay Scholarship holder at the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester and as a member of the academy of the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin. Since 2018 Chungyoon Choe has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Kathrin Wipfler was born near Stuttgart in 1992. She was a junior student of Emily Körner in Stuttgart, then studying with Elisabeth Kufferath in Hanover and, as an exchange student, with Nora Chastain in Zurich for one year. During her studies, she was supported for five years by the String Instrument Collection of the State of Baden-Württemberg. She also attended numerous master courses given by Nora Chastain, Mi-Kyung Lee, Donald Weilerstein, Mauricio Fuks and András Keller, among others. A passionate chamber musician, in 2016 she received a scholarship to attend the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, USA, where she had the opportunity to work and perform with members of the Cleveland, Juilliard and Brentano String Quartets. She has also performed chamber music with Elisabeth Kufferath and Donald Weilerstein. Kathrin Wipfler gained orchestral experience as an intern and regular substitute at the NDR Radio Philharmonic in Hanover, at the NRD Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Stuttgart State Orchestra. Since 2018 she has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Sawako Kosuge was born in Tokyo and received her first musical education at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Tokyo. After gaining orchestral experience in Japan, including with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, she came to Germany in 2018. In 2021, she completed her master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig with Prof. Henrik Hochschild, and continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden with Prof. Ralf-Carsten Brömsel. In the seasons 21/22 and 22/23 Sawako Kosuge was an academist of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2023 she plays in the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg.
Kazim Kaan Alicioglu was born in 1999 in Ankara/Turkey. He began his studies as a student of Dania Kainova at the age of nine years old at the State Conservatory of the Çukurova University in Adana/Turkey. At 11 years old, he first started to play as soloist with symphony orchestras in Turkey.
He won first place in international competitions like “SFORZANDO” (Berlin 2011), “Belgrad Music Competition” (Belgrad 2011), ), "WE PLAY TOGETHER" (Paris 2012),
"INDIVIDUALIS" (Ukraine 2013), "Premio Crescendo" (Italy/Florence 2016) and third place at “TALENTS OF EUROPE” (Slovakia/Dolny Kubin 2012).
Over the years he also played highly virtuous pieces with the State Symphony Orchestras of Çukurova and Eskişehir, like M. Ravel Tzigane, P. de Sarasate Introduction and Tarantella and C. Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. In 2019, he played the famous violin concerto by the Turkish Composer Ulvi Cemal Erkin with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra as part of the young soloist generation.
Currently since 2017, he is the concert master of the Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and performs in concert halls all over Europe, like the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Rudolfinium, the Vienna Radiokulturhaus and the Smetana Hall, and participated in Festivals like Young Euro Classic, the Tsinandali Festival and the Moritzburg Festival. Kazim Kaan has worked with famous conductors like Gianandrea Noseda, Lahav Shani and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Lately he has participated in a multitude of chamber music projects and has also partaken in Ballet productions at the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has continued his studies with Prof. Andreas Röhn at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg as a Scholarship holder of the “Contemporary Education Foundation” and “Borusan Foundation”.
He is currently playing a violin by Hippolyte Chrétien Silvestre from 1870, which was generously made available to him by a private sponsor.
Naomi Seiler began performing early on with her siblings in the Seiler Quartet, and joined the class of Jürgen Geise at the Mozarteum Salzburg as a junior student when she was 14. She continued her studies with Ulrich Koch in Freiburg and with Hirofumi Fukai in Hamburg. The winner of several awards performs both chamber music (including with the Seiler Quartet and Via Salzburg in Toronto) and as a soloist in Germany, France, Italy, South America and Japan, combined with radio and television appearances. Naomi Seiler has been principal viola of the Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1989. A sought-after chamber musician, she is a champion of chamber music within her own orchestra and teaches at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre.
Isabelle-Fleur Reber-Kunert was born into a German-Hungarian family of musicians in Heidelberg in 1986. She received her first viola lessons from her mother. Isabelle-Fleur Reber-Kunert has performed repeatedly with various members of the Berlin Philharmonic, for example as part of Der Philharmonische Salon: Götz Teutsch, at the Zermatt Festival in Switzerland with the Scharoun Ensemble or at the Festival Sv. Marka in Croatia and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg under the baton of Valery Gergiev. She studied with Wilfried Strehle, the Berlin Philharmonic’s former principal violist, at the Berlin University of the Arts, graduating with distinction in 2012. Isabelle-Fleur Reber-Kunert won several first prizes at the competition “Jugend musiziert”, including the special prize of the Baden-Württemberg State Foundation; she was awarded the prize of the Mozarteum Salzburg Summer Academy and won a scholarship from the German Richard Wagner Association. She was also a fellow of the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin and participated in the orchestra academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. She participated in several master courses with the renowned violinist, violist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman, which influenced her musical development profoundly.
Sangyoon Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1989 and began playing viola at the age of nine. He has performed as a soloist with the Gangneung Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seoul National University String Ensemble in South Korea. He is also a first prize winner of the Hanyang and the Seoul Baroque Ensemble Competitions and won further international awards, for example at the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition in France, the Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Award in Switzerland and the International Max Rostal Competition in Berlin. Sangyoon Lee studied with Nimrod Guez at the Würzburg Academy of Music. He gained orchestral experience at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra when he held a limited contract there, and as an assistant section leader at the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. He is Section Leader Viola at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Minako Uno-Tollmann began studying at the Tokyo Music Academy in 1989 and continued her studies with Hirofumi Fukai at the Hamburg Music Academy in 1993. She did post-graduate work with Jürgen Kussmaul in Düsseldorf, which she completed with a performance degree in 2001. She participated in master courses with Wolfram Christ, Gérard Caussé and the Amadeus Quartet, among others. After being a member of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, she has been member of the viola section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2006/07, where she had already had a one-year engagement in 1996.
Bettina Rühl studied with Rainer Schmidt in Würzburg and Ingrid Philippi in Stuttgart. During this time, she was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and was an intern at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, also attending master courses with Serge Collot and Madeleine Prager, among others. She appeared as a chamber musician with the Trio Giocoso (viola clarinet, piano), the Ensemble Kontraste in Nürnberg and others. After five years as principal viola at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, Bettina Rühl joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2001. She is a regular substitute at the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. She strives to perform musical rarities and to focus more on chamber music. Bettina Rühl is a sought-after chamber music partner, appearing regularly in the chamber music series of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and with ensemble acht. In 2013 she joined her colleagues in recording the collected chamber music of Felicitas Kukuck. Since 2015 she has been a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Annette Hänsel took up her first orchestral position as a violist at the age of 23 at the Bremen Philharmonic State Orchestra. In 1988 she joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. She is still delighted to be able to play operas, ballets and concerts in turn, with performances at the Elbphilharmonie as a particular highlight. She is still proud of having been the first woman engaged to join the viola group of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra in 1995. Furthermore, chamber music in all its facets is particularly dear to her heart. Together with her string quartet, she received important impulses at several courses with the Melos Quartet. By mentoring an amateur orchestra, Annette Hänsel also aims to broaden the appeal of classical music.
Elke Bär received her first violin lessons at the age of five in her hometown of Dresden. After moving on to the viola, she won a third prize in the Music Competition of the GDR. Three years later, she began studying with Günter Jahn at the Dresden Music Academy Carl Maria von Weber. For years, Elke Bär played as a substitute in the Staatskapelle Dresden. In 1993, the year she graduated, she became a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Since 2002 she has also been a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Liisa Tschugg is originally from Finland. She studied with Rainer Moog at the Cologne Music Academy. In 1991 she won the second prize at the Finnish Viola Competition. Before joining the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, she was a member of the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Saarländischer Rundfunk and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Regensburg in 1978, violist Thomas Rühl received his first violin and viola lessons at the age of nine. After graduating from secondary school, he began studying viola in 1998 with Gertrude Rossbacher at the Bremen Music Academy. In 2002 he took up studies with Barbara Westphal at the Lübeck Music Academy, where he received the artistic diploma in 2005 and a postgraduate degree in 2008, both with distinction. He attended master courses with Jürgen Kussmaul, Heidi Castleman, James Dunham and Walter Levin and received the award of the Marie-Luise Imbusch Foundation. From 2002 to 2005 Thomas Rühl was principal viola of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. An internship took him to the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg in 2003/04. For six years, he taught at the Lübeck Music Academy; today he coaches for Jeunesses Musicales of Germany. Since 2006 he has been a member of the viola section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Stefanie Frieß was born in Hamburg. She originally studied violin at the Lübeck Music Academy, then viola with Barbara Westphal. She also attended courses with Serge Collot, Nobuko Imai, Siegfried Führlinger and Walter Levin. During her student days, she toured Europe with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. This was followed by positions with the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hamburger Camerata. In 1993 Stefanie Frieß first played with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra; she has been its member since 2013. Her favourite piece is “Die Frau ohne Schatten”.
Maria Rallo Muguruza was born in Hondarribia, Spain, in 1996. She studied viola with Pauline Sachse in Dresden. She gained her first orchestral experiences as a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the academy of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. She has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2017.
Yitong Guo was born in Lanzhou (China) and grew up in Beijing. He studied at the Juilliard School in New York, the Manhattan School of Music, the Berlin University of Arts as well as at the Mozarteum Salzburg. He is currently continuing his Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. At the same time, he is a teaching assistant for viola at HfMT Hamburg. His teachers and mentors include Thomas Riebl, Pinchas Zukerman, Hartmut Rohde, Anna Kreetta, Patinka Kopec, and Samuel Rhodes. Yitong Guo received the 1st prize at the International Clara Schumann Competition, the 2nd prize at the Hudson Valley String Competition, the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Centre in Canada, and 5th place at the International Max Rostal Competition. As a musician, he has participated in various festivals and masterclasses, such as the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Festival, the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, and the Seiji Ozawa International Academy. Since 2020, Yitong Guo has been a violist in the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg.
Tomohiro Arita is from Osaka, Japan. He learned to play the violin as a young child and discovered the viola for himself when he was 15 years old. He completed his bachelor studies with Toshihiko Ichitsubo at University of the Arts Tokio, followed by his master studies with Simone von Rahden at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Already during his studies, he gained orchestral experience with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra as a member of the Orchestra Academy, as well as international festivals, such as the Verbier Festival and the Lucerne Festival. As violist with the Japan National Orchestra, he performs in Japan regularly. Tomohiro Arita has been playing with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since August 2021.
Born in Izmir, violist Iris Icellioglu discovered her passion for the viola at the age of nine. She began her studies at the Dokuz Eylül College of Music in Izmir with Pinar Dinçer and continued with Prof. Dr. Çetin Aydar and Prof. Hartmut Lindemann. She completed her bachelor's degree with distinction in 2016. She began her master's degree with Prof. Roland Glassl and later continued it with Prof. Pauline Sachse at the Lübeck University of Music, where she successfully graduated. She has had the opportunity to take part in chamber music masterclasses with eminent musicians such as Emile Cantor, Ruşen Güneş, Ron Ephrat, Máté Szücs and Eberhard Feltz. During her studies in Germany, she was awarded the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Scholarship with three different chamber music groups.
Between 2015 and 2017, she was a permanent member of the Karsiyaka Chamber Orchestra. She was later part of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and performed as a guest artist with orchestras such as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.
She has performed as a soloist with the Dokuz Eylül Academic Orchestra and the Karsiyaka Chamber Orchestra. As part of the 45th Istanbul Festival, she won the “Festival seeks its young soloist” competition and performed as a soloist with the DESO under the direction of Hakan Şensoy.
Icellioglu has been a permanent member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2022. She has worked with conductors such as Jonathan Nott, Vasily Petrenko, Alan Gilbert, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowsky and Ádám Fischer and has performed as an orchestral and chamber musician in world-famous concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Suntory Hall and Sala São Paulo.
Thomas Tyllack was born in Munich, where he studied cello with Fritz Kiskalt. In 1982 he completed his bachelor’s degree with distinction, followed two years later by a postgraduate degree. Thomas Tyllack was a member of the World Youth Orchestra and participated in the Menuhin Academy in Gstaad. He attended master courses with Radu Aldulescu and the Alban Berg Quartet. In 1984 he was appointed principal cellist at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duisburg. Since 1986 he has been principal cellist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. In addition to his love for orchestral playing for the opera and concert stage, he dedicates himself intensely to chamber music. He greatly enjoys passing on his knowledge and skills to his students.
Olivia Jeremias is one of the outstanding cellists of her generation. She began playing the instrument at the age of five. Taught by renowned cellists such as Peter Bruns, Colin Carr and Josephine Knight, she completed degrees at the Dresden Music Academy Carl Maria von Weber and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, both with honours. At the age of 20, she played the solo part in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto under the baton of Sir Colin Davis at Dresden’s Semper Opera, a performance also recorded for radio. She won international renown with a first prize at the Heran Competition in the Czech Republic and as a finalist in the Antonio Janigro Competition in Zagreb. In 2004 she received the Pierre Fournier Special Award. Olivia Jeremias appears regularly as a soloist with various orchestras, for example as the soloist in Tan Dun’s cello concerto “The Map” with the Essen Philharmonic. She has been invited to well-known festivals such as the Kilkenny Festival in Ireland, the Encuentro de Musica y Academia Festival in Santander, Spain, the Highgate Festival and Spitalfields Festival in London. In the summer 2004 she appeared at the Music at Menlo Festival in San Francisco, USA. In September 2005 Olivia Jeremias moved to Hamburg, where she holds the position of principal cellist of the Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Clara Grünwald was born in Munich in 1990, receiving her first cello lessons at the age of six. From 2009 to 2015 she studied with Martin Ostertag at the Karlsruhe Music Academy and attended master courses with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Wolfgang Boettcher, Guido Schiefen, Thomas Demenga and Morten Zeuthen. Clara Grünwald held scholarships from the Heinrich Hertz Society (2009) and from Yehudi Menuhin’s “Live Music Now” (2012). She gathered orchestral experience as a substitute of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and as a member of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s academy. Since 2015 she has been associate principal cellist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Markus Tollmann received his first cello lessons at the age of seven. In 1984 he became a junior student at the Detmold Music Academy, studying with Irene Güdel, and continued as a regular student there from 1988 onwards. From 1991 to 1992 he was a student of William Pleeth in London, moving on to the class of Klaus Stoppel at the Lübeck Music Academy, where he received his artistic diploma in 1994. His education was rounded out by participation in international master and chamber music courses, including those given by Zara Nelsova, Bernard Greenhouse, Gerhard Mantel, members of the Amadeus Quartet and the Euler Quartet in Basel. He has been playing with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the end of 1993 and was appointed assistant section leader of its cello group in 1994.
Ryuichi Rainer Suzuki was born into a family of musicians in Berlin. After starting out on the violin, he switched to the cello at the age of ten, studying first with Jan Polásek in Munich, with David Grigorian (a master student of Rostropovich) in Zagreb and then with William Pleeth (Jacqueline du Pré’s teacher) in London. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Music in London with distinction and an advanced degree with distinction at Berlin’s University of the Arts, where his teacher was Wolfgang Boettcher. His personal contact with Maestro Sergiu Celibidache also had a major influence on his musical development. Ryuichi Rainer Suzuki won numerous prizes and awards, for example the International Brahms Competition in Austria. He is currently assistant section leader at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and teaches at the Hamburg Conservatory. As a soloist and chamber musician, partnering such musicians as Rainer Kussmaul, Toru Yasunaga and Anton Barakhovsky, he is a welcome guest at concert series in Europe and Japan. The international press has praised his astonishing technique and powerful tone as well as his expressive, sophisticated interpretations. His debut CD “My cello my soul” was praised extensively by the international press. Alongside classical and romantic music, Ryuichi Rainer Suzuki’s special interest is in contemporary music and historically informed performance practice of 18th-century music. He plays an instrument built by Giovanni Battista Rogeri in Brescia in 1690.
Monika Märkl began her cello studies in her hometown of Würzburg, later moving on to the Hanover Music Academy, where Friedrich-Jürgen Sellheim was her teacher. Master courses with André Navarra, the La Salle Quartet and the Melos Quartet completed her education. Since 1989 Monika Märkl has been a member of the cello section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Arne Klein was born in 1960 and began playing the cello when he was six. Like many children, he played as a hobby, without great ambition. Only shortly before graduating from secondary school did the wish to make more of this hobby arise. Arne Klein studied with Wolfgang Mehlhorn at the Hamburg Academy of Music and the Performing Arts, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in 1990. One year before, he had already been engaged by the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Even during his student days, but also within orchestral life, Arne Klein has always enjoyed playing in smaller chamber music formations. Working on chamber music works independently is a welcome change from orchestral playing. The sensitive communication demanded of the individual musicians as they pursue their common goal is a great challenge leading to wonderful results.
Brigitte Maaß began playing the cello in 1972. From 1975 to 1983, Edwin Koch was her teacher; she then became a junior student of Arthur Troester at the Lübeck Music Academy. In 1984 she began studying with David Geringas, graduating in 1990. Since 1992 Brigitte Maaß has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. As part of her numerous chamber music activities, she actively promotes contemporary music.
Tobias Bloos received his first cello lessons from Martin Löher, subsequently studying with Wolfgang Mehlhorn at the Hamburg Music Academy from 1994 onwards. He took up studies with Wolfgang Boettcher at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2002. A native of Hamburg, Tobias Bloos is the winner of various competitions such as “Jugend musiziert”, the Domenico Gabrielli Cello Competition, the International Charles Hennen Chamber Music Competition in Heerlen, Netherlands, and the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta, Italy. He also received the Eduard Söring Prize of the Foundation for the Support of the Hamburg State Opera. Tobias Bloos has appeared at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, among others. He has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2008.
Merlin Schirmer was born in Stuttgart in 1988. His first cello teacher was Erik Borgir, who awakened an interest in contemporary music in his student early on. Merlin Schirmer studied in Stuttgart and Vienna, his teachers including Rudolf Gleißner, Claudio Bohórquez and Valentin Erben, cellist of the former Alban Berg Quartet. Early on, he developed the wish to join a major opera or symphony orchestra. First steps on his path toward this goal were his membership in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester founded by Claudio Abbado and an internship with the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. Towards the end of his studies, Merlin Schirmer was first appointed principal cellist of the Jena Philharmonic for a year and then joined the Dresden Philharmonic for another year as a cellist, before becoming a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in August 2015.
Christine Hu was born in Vienna in 1985. She studied with Tobias Kühne and Heinrich Schiff in Vienna, with Thomas Demenga and Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) in Basel as well as Thomas Grossenbacher in Zurich. She attended master courses with Steven Isserlis and Miklós Perényi, among others. She received scholarships from the Herbert von Karajan Foundation and the Thyll-Dürr Foundation and was supported by Yehudi Menuhin’s foundation “Live Music Now” and Villa Musica. In 2013 she was interim section leader of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. She has performed regularly with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and Camerata Bern and was a member of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne before becoming a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2016. As the cellist of the trio oreade, Christine Hu has explored string trio literature extensively, winning the first prize at the International String Trio Competition in Munich in 2012 and making debuts at the Tonhalle Zurich in 2014 and at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad in 2016, among others. The trio’s debut CD/Blu-Ray was released in 2015 by bmn-medien. The trio oreade has been playing three instruments built by Antonio Stradivari since the autumn of 2017, generously loaned to them by the Stradivari Foundation. Having grown up bilingually and under the influence of two different cultures – her parents are originally from Taiwan – Christine Hu feels that the search for balance and intercession is an essential part of her artistic life.
Saskia Hirschinger was born in Halle an der Saale in 1995 and took cello lessons with Tamara Steger from the age of five. In 2014 she began studying with Wen-Sinn Yang at the Munich Academy of Music and Theatre. She received important musical impulses at master courses with Wolfgang Boettcher, Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Jens Peter Maintz and Troels Svane. During the 2018/19 season Saskia Hirschinger was a member of the Academy of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. She subsequently continued her master’s degree studies with Martin Ostertag at the Karlsruhe Music Academy. She also won several competitions and the award of the New Liszt Foundation in Weimar. Saskia Hirschinger was a fellow of “Live Music Now” in Munich and also won a “Deutschlandstipendium” scholarship. She gained orchestral experience as a cellist at the Stuttgart State Orchestra and as a substitute in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. In March 2020 Saskia Hirschinger became a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Minyoung Kim was born in 1999 in Seoul, South Korea. She began her musical education at the age of 4 on the piano, and at 9 on the cello. She completed her bachelor's degree at Yonsei University with Prof. Sung-Won Yang. Since April 2023, Minyoung has been studying in the master's program at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin with Prof. Claudio Bohorquez. Young cellist had the opportunity to broaden her musical horizons by participating in Cello Akademie Rutesheim, Virtuoso&Belcanto Festival, Festival Cello Leon,Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Borromeo Music Festival, and Spring Festival in New York, where she performed at Lincoln Convention Center Rose Hall. Minyoung received important impetus from master classes given by Wen-Sinn Yang, Natalie Clein, Tamás Varga, Troels Svane, Iaszlo Fenyo, Laurence Lesser, Johannes Krebs, Adrian Brendel, Emil Rovner, Quatour Modigliani, and Novus String Quartet. From January 2020 to March 2022, she was a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, and from March 2022 to December 2022, she was an academist of the Korean National Symphony Orchestra. Since November 2023, she has been an academist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Gerhard Kleinert was born in Hamburg in 1963. During his studies with Andreas Koch in Hanover and Gerhard Dzwiza in Hamburg, he was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie for many years. Since 1987 he has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, in 1995 he was appointed principal of his section. Apart from his activities as a soloist, Gerhard Kleinert teaches and coaches various youth orchestras, including the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. He is also a member of several chamber music ensembles.
Stefan Schäfer began his studies at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre as a pianist before changing to the double bass in the class of Hans-Dieter Eschmann. He graduated with a diploma and soloist exam with distinction and continued his advanced studies with Klaus Stoll and Ovidiu Badila. Stefan Schäfer holds the position of principal double bassist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg and is an enthusiastic chamber musician, performing and recording with various ensembles (e.g. octet ensemble acht). He has recorded numerous CDs as a soloist and chamber musician. He is the chairman of the association “kammermusik heute e.V.” and has taught at the Hamburg Conservatory since 1995. In 1993 he was awarded the first prize of the Elise-Meyer-Foundation Hamburg. He is often invited to give international master classes for double bass and chamber music and serves as a jury member or chairman for international instrumental and interdisciplinary competitions. His numerous compositions are wide-ranging in genre and instrumentation. They are performed all over the world, e.g. in famous concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and the Philharmonie Berlin. His works are also played at several competitions; for example, he composed the compulsory piece for the Third International Johann-Matthias-Sperger-Competition. In Great Britain and the USA his works were awarded composition prizes (British and International Bass Forum, International Society of Bassists). His works are either self-published under the imprint bassist composer publications or by the Hofmeister Musikverlag in Leipzig. From 2010 to 2012 Stefan Schäfer was Composer-in-Residence of the Baden-Württemberg Pedagogical Double Bass Association, which aims to launch new compositions for double bass instruction, but also for workshops and competitions. Furthermore, Schäfer’s oeuvre includes songs and chamber compositions as well as orchestral commissions for the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. www.bassist-composer.de
Tobias Grove grew up in Heidelberg. After receiving his first lessons from Peter Laue and Michael Tkacz, he studied with Gerhard Dzwiza in Hamburg and Alois Posch in Vienna. He also joined master classes with Ludwig Streicher and Heiner Braun. Since 2003 Tobias Grove has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra; in 2011 he was appointed associate principal double bass. He is also a frequent guest of other orchestras, for example the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and as Principal Double Bass Player at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. Solo and chamber music performances regularly take him to almost all European countries. He is co-founder of the Ensemble Arabesques. Among others he works with Kolja Blacher, Brett Dean, Baiba Skride and, most recently, with the Philharmonic String Quartet of the Berlin Philharmonic. In his free time, he dedicates himself primarily to his family, outdoor sports and cooking.
Yannick Adams was born in Buñol (Valencia) in 1994. He studied the double bass with Miloslav Jelínek at the Janácek-Academy in Brünn (Czech Republic). He gained orchestral experience with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the “Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana” and the “Brno Philharmonic”. He was deputy solo double bassist in the Orchestra of the National Theatre Brünn from 2017 until 2022.
As soloist, he participated in many international competitions and received multiple awards: 3rd Place “Leoš Janáček International Competition” in Brünn in 2018, 1st Place “International Competition Premio Clivis” in Rome in 2016 and 2nd Place "International Double Bass Competition Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf" in Slovakia in 2015.
Yannick Adams has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the season of 2022/23.
Friedrich Peschken was born in West-Berlin in 1961. As a child he attended a Waldorf school and received piano and cello lessons, later studying double bass with Rainer Zepperitz. He was a student at the Berlin University of the Arts and held a scholarship from the Herbert von Karajan Foundation. He gathered orchestral experience in the National Youth Orchestra of Germany and the Bundesstudentenorchester (today the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie), and undertook concert tours with the European Community Youth Orchestra (today the European Union Youth Orchestra). Since 1987 Friedrich Peschken has been a member of the double bass section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. He occasionally plays as a guest with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and other ensembles, for example baroque and chamber music with colleagues as part of the Akademie am Meer in Klappholttal on the island of Sylt.
Katharina von Held has been a member of the double bass section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1997. She discovered her love for the double bass by way of jazz. She studied her instrument with Günther Klaus at the Frankfurt Academy of Music and Performing Arts; further teachers included Gary Karr, Klaus Stoll and Dieter Manderscheid. She began her career as associate principal double bass at the Mainz State Orchestra, followed by the orchestras of the Saarländischer Rundfunk and the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra. Her chamber music activities still speak of her love for jazz. Apart from purely classical formations such as the Frankfurt Double Bass Quartet, she appears with crossover ensembles such as The Philharmonic Clowns (together with the Philharmonic’s clarinettist Christian Seibold). For many years she has also been a pedagogue, holding positions at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre and the Rostock Music Academy.
Franziska Kober was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, in 1984, and received her first double bass lessons at the early age of nine at the Klagenfurt Conservatory. From 2003 to 2010 she studied with Christina Hoock at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and with Dan Styffe in Oslo. She gathered her first professional experiences as a member of the Wiener Jeunesse Orchester and the European Union Youth Orchestra. She was a member of the academy of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden and played as a substitute with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Franziska Kober participated several times in national and international competitions, for example Bass 2010 and the International Music Competition in Markneukirchen. She has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2010.
Hannes Biermann was born in Hamburg in 1980 and began playing cello at the age of eight. Later, he switched to the double bass and after an intensive year of coaching by Gerhard Kleinert (principal bass of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra) he joined the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. His studies took him to Lübeck, Helsinki and Frankfurt / Main, where Christoph Schmidt was his teacher before graduation in 2008. Hannes Biermann was an intern at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, associate principal at the Lübeck Philharmonic and substitute principal at the Finnish Radio Symphony orchestra. After completing a limited engagement, he became first principal bass at the Wiesbaden State Orchestra and played regularly as a guest of the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra and the Mannheim National Theatre. Since 2014 Hannes Biermann has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Lukas Lang began playing the double bass early in life, joining several youth orchestras, including the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. In 2008 he enrolled as a junior student, in 2009 as a regular student at the Würzburg Music Academy, where his teacher was Michinori Bunya. In 2013 he joined the academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which was followed by a limited engagement there. In 2016 Lukas Lang completed his bachelor degree at the Munich Academy of Music, where he was taught by Heinrich Braun. His education was complemented by master classes with Janne Saksala, Günter Klaus and Klaus Stoll. He worked regularly as a substitute, for example with the Munich Philharmonic, among others. In 2017 he held a limited engagement at the Munich State Opera. Since the 2017/18 season, Lukas Lang has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
Felix von Werder was born in 1990, grew up in Kiel and started playing the double bass when he was seven. After influential years in the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, he began studying double bass right after graduating from secondary school in 2009; Ekkehard Beringer (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra) was his teacher at the Hanover Academy of Music, Theatre and Media. His studies were complemented by master courses with Dorin Marc, Esko Laine and Nabil Shehata, among others. He also spent a year at the Janáček Academy in Brno, Czech Republic, in the class of Miloslav Jelínek. During his studies, Felix von Werder held a scholarship of the Joseph Joachim Academy of the NDR Radio Philharmonic. Even during his last year of studies, he received an engagement there for the 2017/18 season before joining the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in October 2018. He has played as a substitute in Göttingen and Kiel, at the Hanover and Braunschweig State Theatres and at the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne. A sought-after and passionate chamber musician, his artistic collaboration with musicians such as Avi Avital is characterized by the wish to expand the double bass literature by unknown works, and to convey these to a larger audience. He finds educational work similarly important and therefore enjoys coaching youth orchestras, for example the Schleswig-Holstein State Youth Orchestra.
Even as a child, Manuela Tyllack, who was born in Hamburg in 1968, loved the beautiful sound of the flute; at the age of ten she received her first lessons on the instrument. At 15 her teacher became Michael Bardeli, then a flutist in the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, who was a profound influence and awakened her wish to become an orchestra musician. A first prize at the “Jugend musiziert” competition and other awards paved the way for her studies with Karlheinz Zoeller at the Berlin University of the Arts, followed by a scholarship of the Karajan Academy from 1992 to 1994. During these two years, she was taught by Andreas Blau and was able to join concerts and tours of the Berlin Philharmonic in North America, Japan, Israel and Europe. In 1994 Manuela Tyllack was appointed to her first principal flute job in Lübeck, followed by the engagement as associate principal flute at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 1996.
Björn Westlund was born in Stockholm in 1962. At the age of 15, he enrolled at the Malmö Music Academy as a junior student, where his teacher was Bertil Melander. From 1979 to 1983 he continued his studies with Lennart Erhenlood at the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm. As part of a scholarship of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, he also studied with Andreas Blau, the orchestra’s principal flutist. Björn Westlund performed both with the Berlin Philharmonic and in numerous chamber music performances of the orchestra’s musicians. Since 1984 Björn Westlund has been principal flutist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Ever since, he has been a regular guest of orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Stockholm Philharmonic, the Royal Opera in Stockholm and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1986 he has regularly played principal flute in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. The Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall features Björn Westlund in a performance of “Salome” under Sir Simon Rattle in 2011. Since 1988 Björn Westlund has been a professor at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre. He acts as juror for several competitions in Germany and Scandinavia. He has given master courses all over Europe, especially in Scandinavia, as well as in South America, Japan, China and Australia.
Vera Plagge was born in Essen in 1969 and began playing the flute when she was eight. She was a student of Jean-Claude Gérard and Matthias Perl in Hamburg and also studied with Karlheinz Zoeller at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 1993 she was a member of the orchestral academy of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Since 1994 she has been a piccolo flutist at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Katarina Slavkovská was born in 1999 in Poprad (Slovakia). She studied the flute with Václav Kunt at the Janáček-Academy in Brno (Czech Republic) and with Robert Winn at the Cologne University of Music. She gained orchestral experience with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the “European Union Youth Orchestra”, the “Brno Philharmonic”, the Orchestra of the National Theatre Brno amongst others. She was Solo-flautist in the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2022.
As Soloist, she participated in multiple international Competitions and received a variety of awards: 1st place “Leoš Janáček International Competition“ in Brno 2019, 1st place “International Woodwind Grandprix Competition“ in Varaždin 2019, 1st Place Cologne Hochschulwettbewerb 2021.
Katharina Slavkovská has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the season of 2022/23.
Guilherme Filipe Costa e Sousa was born in Coimbra, Portugal. He completed his bachelor of music in oboe performance after studies with Ricardo Lopes at the Escola de Música e Artes do Espectáculo in Porto. He then completed a master of music degree with Diethelm Jonas at the Lübeck Music Academy. Both as a soloist and chamber musician, Guilherme Sousa has won various competitions, including first prizes at the music competition of the Portuguese Radio RTP “Prémio Jovens Músicos” in the solo and chamber music category, the first prize at the National Wind Instrument Competition in Terras de La-Sallete, the second prize at the 51st Possehl Music Award and the third prize at the 5th Józef Ciepłucha International Oboe Competition in Łódź, Poland. In Portugal, he was named Musical Newcomer of the Year in 2013. From 2015 to 2017 he was a member of the orchestral academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, performing concerts in Germany and abroad under conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kent Nagano and Sir John Elliot Gardiner. In 2017 Guilherme Sousa was appointed associate principal oboe at the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He then became principal oboist of the Düsseldorf Symphonic Orchestra at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from 2017 to 2020. In 2020 he won the position of principal oboist at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Sevgi Özsever studied oboe and composition at the Istanbul Conservatory, the Hanns Eisler Music Academy and the University of the Arts in Berlin. She gathered her first orchestral experiences as a member of Jeunesses Musicales and the orchestra academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. She attended master courses with François Leleux and Albrecht Mayer and held scholarships from the Eczacibasi Cultural Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service. Sevgi Özsever was a member of the academy of the Berlin State Opera, played principal English horn at the Stuttgart State Opera and has appeared as a soloist with the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Since 2007 she has been associate principal oboe of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Thomas Rohde, born in Bremen in 1962, was a member of the boys’ choir “Unser Lieben Frauen” in his hometown for nine years. He studied oboe with Wolfgang Hoth in Bremen and Winfried Liebermann in Hamburg. At the age of 20, he was appointed principal oboist at the Mannheim National Theatre, and in 1988 he took up the same position at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. In 1995 he was the recipient of the Eduard Söring Prize. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Saito-Kinen Orchestra, which was founded and directed by Seiji Ozawa. Since 1998 he has also been a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra regularly and plays as a guest with many major German orchestras (Bavarian National Theatre, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestras of the WDR, NDR and hr etc.). Thomas Rohde has played under the baton of renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Gary Bertini, Christoph Eschenbach, Seiji Ozawa, and others. Teaching regular master classes in Asia, recording solo concertos and chamber music complete his musical portfolio.
Birgit Wilden, a native of Hamburg, studied oboe with Winfried Liebermann at the Music Academy in Heidelberg/Mannheim and with Paulus van der Merwe at the Lübeck Music Academy. She gathered her first professional experience as a substitute player in the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Saarland State Orchestra. Since 1995 Birgit Wilden has been the cor anglais player of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Rupert Wachter has been principal clarinet of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1988. He also regularly plays as a guest with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestras of the NDR, MDR, Bavarian and Hessian Radio, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich. He has worked with conductors including Nicolaus Harnoncourt, Horst Stein, Christoph Eschenbach, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Lorin Maazel, Kent Nagano, Christian Thielemann and Zubin Metha. As a chamber musician and solo clarinettist, he has toured large parts of Europe, Japan, China, South Africa and the USA. Since 2016 he has taught at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre.
A native of Augsburg, Alexander Bachl received his first clarinet lessons at the age of twelve from Herbert Hohaus. After secondary school and lessons at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, he studied with Ralph Manno at the Cologne Academy of Music, graduating with distinction. He won first prizes at the federal level of the competition “Jugend musiziert” and at the Cologne Academy Competition. Since 1997 he has been principal clarinettist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. The artist has undertaken numerous concert tours in Germany and abroad. Since 2004 Alexander Bachl has also been professor of clarinet at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre.
Patrick Hollich learnt to play the clarinet with Prof. Anton Hollich, then studied at the Stuttgart University of Music and completed his master's degree at the Berlin University of the Arts. He won first national prizes at "Jugend musiziert" and has won several prizes at prestigious competitions, including the international Lions Club Competition, the 49th Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition and the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition in Berlin. From 2014 to 2015 he was a Karajan Foundation Academician with the Berliner Philharmoniker and since 2015 he has been Deputy Principal Clarinet of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Christian Seibold was born in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg, in 1966. He enrolled as a junior student at the Munich Music Academy at the age of 17, studying with Gerd Starke from 1982 to 1989. After an engagement at the Frankfurt Opera, he joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra as an E-flat clarinettist in 1993. His orchestral activities have taken him to internationally renowned orchestras, such as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the Gürzenich Orchestra, where he has performed under such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Wolfgang Sawallisch. He also makes regular guest appearances at major opera houses, e.g. the Bavarian State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Cologne Opera, Essen Opera and Hanover State Opera. In addition to his orchestral work, he has long been an active piano accompanist. Alongside his love for opera and art song, he also has a passion for jazz. In 2005 he founded the “Philharmonic Clowns” together with Larry Elam (trumpet), and they can be heard regularly with popular jazz standards throughout Hamburg. Another important focus for Seibold is chamber music. He has performed with various ensembles at such events as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, in Hitzacker and the Waldhaus Concerts in Flims, Switzerland. The clarinettist also teaches at the Hamburg Conservatory and serves as a juror for the federal competition “Jugend musiziert”. He has coached the wind section of various youth orchestras, such as the Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Hamburg University, and teaches at various summer academies.
Kai Fischer was born in Heidelberg in 1966 and studied at the Mannheim Music Academy with Hans Pfeifer. From 1991 to 1994 he was a member of the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1994 he has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Matthias Albrecht was born in Berlin in 1969. He studied in Mannheim with Prof. Hans Pfeifer and has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 1992.
José Silva, born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 1995, started playing the bassoon at the age of nine as part of the education programme “El Sistema”. He gathered orchestral experience in various Venezuelan orchestras under conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado. At the age of 15, he first toured Europe with the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra. In Caracas, he participated in master courses with Klaus Thunemann and Carlo Colombo, among others. From 2012 to 2017 he studied with Matthias Racz at the Zurich Academy of the Arts. José Silva was a member of the academy of the Bavarian State Orchestra and played as a substitute with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich and the Dresden Philharmonic. He won prizes at the Concours National d’Exécution Musicale de Riddes and the Carl-Maria von Weber Bassoon Competition in Wroclaw. Since 2018 he has been principal bassoon of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Minju Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea and has received bassoon lessons from when she was eleven years old. At the 73rd Prague Spring International Music Festival she won not only first place, but also five special awards. Additionally, she was the winner of the International Muri Competition, where she was also awarded the audience award.
Early on, she was awarded many first prices at prominent competitions in Korea, like for example the first price at the music competition of the newspaper Dong-a Ilbo, and the first price and the Head Mayor’s Award at the music competition of the TV-channel Busan MBC, amongst others.
Recently, she has played as a substitute with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Zürcher Symphoniker. She was also able to expand her orchestral experience during her internship with the Bern Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, she took part in the Gstaad Menuhin Festival as the leader of woodwind instruments of the Amateur-Project Orchestra.
For her Bachelor’s, Minju Kim studied at Seoul National University. After that, she completed her MA at Zurich University of the Arts, where she is currently studying with Matthias Rácz in the course MA Specialized Music Performance – Soloist.
Minju Kim has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the season of 2022/23.
Olivia Comparot, born in Mönchengladbach in 1987, received her first bassoon lessons at the age of 11. In 2004 she was accepted as a junior student at the Cologne Music Academy, where Georg Klütsch also remained her teacher when she enrolled fully after graduating from secondary school in 2006. She completed her studies in 2012. Olivia Comparot first gained orchestral experience as a member of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra’s academy from 2009 to 2011. During the 2012/13 season, she was associate principal bassoon at the State Orchestra of the Saarland in Saarbrücken. Since 2013 she has been associate principal bassoon of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
María Rodríguez Díaz was born in Madrid, Spain, in May 1997. She received her first bassoon lessons at the age of eight.
She studied with Prof. Pierre Martens and completed her Bachelor's degree in July 2021 at the Musikhochschule Lübeck.
She has been studying for her Master of Music at the Lübeck University of Music since October 2021.
In 2015 she was a full scholarship holder of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and in 2022 a full scholarship holder of the Ad Infinitum Foundation.
In July 2023 she played as a soloist at the soloist concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck.
She gained orchestral experience at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival and as a substitute with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Staatstheater Kassel and the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra.
María Rodríguez Díaz has been Associate Principal Bassoon of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since December 2024.
Fabian Lachenmaier, born in the Eifel region, studied with Albrecht Holder and Ulrich Hermann at the Würzburg Academy of Music, graduating with a diploma and distinction in 2009. During this time he became a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the International Ensemble Modern Academy. During the 2009/10 season he was an intern at the SWR Symphony Orchestra. He joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2010. As a chamber musician, he has been involved in productions with Ensemble Kontraste in Nürnberg for the Bavarian Radio and ZDF/Arte.
Born into a family of musicians, Christoph Konnerth was introduced to music at an early age, learning to play the saxophone and bassoon. At the age of 16 he began studying bassoon with Albrecht Holder at the Würzburg Academy of Music. Christoph Konnerth plays with great passion in various chamber music ensembles and also serves a substitute for orchestras such as the Ulm Philharmonic and the Hamburg Symphonic Orchestra. During his study year abroad at the Maastricht Conservatory in 2011/12, he completed his first compositions for various band projects and smaller ensembles. In June 2017 he was awarded his master’s degree after studying with Christian Kunert and Rainer Leisewitz at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre. From 2017 to 2019 Christoph Konnerth was a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra’s academy.
Bernd Künkele was born in Kiel in 1964 and studied with Erich Penzel at the Cologne Music Academy and with Froydis Ree Wekre at the Oslo Music Academy. After graduating with distinction, he began a master’s degree course as a soloist with Marie-Luise Neunecker at the Frankfurt Academy of Music in 1992, completing this in 1996 with the concert diploma. Bernd Künkele was the winner of the International Competition “Città di Porcia” in 1991, the German Music Academy Competition in 1992 and the International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen in 1994, among others. He also received the Eduard Söring Prize in 1994. Since 1992 he has been principal horn of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra; from 1998 to 2001 and 2008 to 2010 he was also a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Isaak Seidenberg, born in Osterburg in the Altmarkt region in 1976, received his musical education at the Bach-Gymnasium in Berlin, where Kurt Palm was his teacher, remaining in that role when Isaak Seidenberg moved on to study at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music. He graduated as a student of Stefan Dohr. He won federal prizes several times at the competition “Jugend musiziert”. His first engagements took him to the Komische Oper Berlin and the Frankfurt Opera before becoming a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2002.
Jan Polle was born in Limburg in 1997. He first began taking horn lessons at the Limburg Music School at the age of eight. From October 2012 to September 2015 he was a junior student of Esa Tapani at the Frankfurt am Main Academy of Music and Performing Arts. There, he also began his bachelor studies in 2015. Jan Polle was a winner of the competition “Jugend musiziert” several times, including a prize at the federal level in 2012. He took master courses with Johannes Hinterholzer, the ensemble German Brass and Ensemble Modern (“epoch f”). From 2018 to 2020 Jan Polle was a member of the Kassel State Orchestra’s academy. He also gained professional experience as a substitute principal horn player at the State Orchestra of Lower Saxony in Hanover and elsewhere. Jan Polle has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2020 and has been deputy principal horn since 2022.
Jan-Niklas Siebert was born in Neuss in 1988 and grew up in a musical family. He began his music education at the age of six, first learning to play the trumpet and piano. Two years later he moved from trumpet to horn. His father, a horn player with the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, became his first horn teacher. From 2001 to 2007 he gathered orchestral experience as a member of the symphony orchestra of his music school, the State Youth Orchestra of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. In 2005 he enrolled as a junior student at the Cologne Music Academy, where Paul van Zelm was his teacher; he also became a full-time student there later. In August 2009 he joined the academy of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Since March 2011 Jan-Niklas Siebert has been a member of the horn section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. In 2013 he received the Eduard Söring Prize of the Foundation for the Support of the Hamburg State Opera.
Ralph Ficker, born in the Netherlands in 1984, studied at the Maastricht Music Academy with Will Sanders and Willy Bessems between 2003 and 2009. He also took lessons from Markus Maskuniitty in Hanover. During his student days he was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. After an internship at the Bochum Symphony Orchestra and a limited engagement with the Niederrheinische Symphoniker in Mönchengladbach-Krefeld, he became second horn player of the State Orchestra of Lower Saxony in Hanover in 2007. In addition, he played projects with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich and the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. Since August 2011 Ralph Ficker has been second horn player and Wagner tuba player at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. He also teaches horn at the Hanover Academy of Music, Theatre and Media and is the initiator of Germanmasterclasses. Since October 2016 Ralph Ficker has been teaching at the Aachen Music Academy, collaborating with Paul van Zelm and the Cologne Academy of Music and Dance.
Saskia van Baal, born in Aarle-Rixtel in the Netherlands, studied with Erich Penzel at the Maastricht Conservatory. From 1996 to 1998 she was a member of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Since 1998 Saskia Baal has been a member of the horn section of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Born in Edinburgh, Torsten Schwesig first came into contact with brass instruments through a trombone choir and moved on to the horn via a school orchestra. While still studying music in Stuttgart, he gained his first orchestral experience with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, among other venues. Since 1988 he has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Here he first held the position of 2nd horn and then switched to the position of Wagner tuba and 4th horn in 2009. From 1998 to 2014 he was a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Clemens Wieck, born in Hamburg in 1969, studied horn with Knut Hasselmann and Christoph Kohler at the Lübeck Academy of Music. He won prizes at the federal level of the competition “Jugend musiziert” twice and is also a winner of the International Natural Horn Competition in Bad Harzburg. After interning with the Orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein State Theatre, he became principal horn at the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra before joining the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2007.
Born in 1995 in Halle/Saale, Felix Petereit received his first trumpet lessons at the age of 12. In 2013 he began his bachelor’s studies with Tobias Willner at the Dresden Music Academy, graduating in 2017; this was followed by master’s degree studies with Helmut Fuchs, also in Dresden. Felix Petereit gathered orchestral experience during his studies as a substitute at the Dresden State Operetta and as a member of the orchestral academy of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, where Jonathan Müller was his mentor and teacher. In March 2020 Felix Petereit was appointed principal trumpet of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Eckhard Schmidt was born in Stuttgart in 1963. While still a student, he became principal trumpet of the Berlin Symphonic Orchestra. In 1989 he graduated from the Stuttgart Music Academy with a teaching and a performance diploma. In 1988 he became principal trumpet of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Since 1994 he has also taught trumpet at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre, where he has held a part-time professorship since 2000. He has been invited as a guest musician by the major German and international orchestras (NDR Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphonic Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Heilbronn Chamber Orchestra, Barcelona Opera Orchestra, Real Filharmonia de Galicia and others), and has benefited from working with conductors such as Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Herbert von Karajan, Roger Norrington, André Previn, Helmuth Rilling and others. He divides his time between a busy teaching schedule in Germany and abroad, including at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart, and extensive national and international concert performances as a soloist.
Christoph Baerwind, born in Lübeck in 1966, began playing the trumpet at the age of nine. While graduating from secondary school, he was already a junior student of Peter Kallensee at the Lübeck Music Academy and then went on to study at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre. While still a student, he joined the orchestra of the State Theatre of Lower Saxony in Hanover. In 1989 he became a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Since 1992 Christoph Baerwind has also been a member of German Brass.
Martin Frieß has been playing the trumpet since he was six years old. After many years of playing in trombone ensembles and youth orchestras in Southern Germany, he studied with Fritz Wesenigk and Konradin Groth at the Berlin University of the Arts. During this time, he was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra. He also pursued studies with Pierre Thibaud as the recipient of a DAAD scholarship. In 1991 he joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra as a second trumpet player. His favourite pieces are “Le Sacre du printemps”, “Salome”, “Tosca”, “Così fan tutte” and “Wozzeck”.
Born in Tübingen in 1972, Mario Schlumpberger had lessons at the Tübingen Music School from 1981 to 1989. From 1981 to 1992 he won the competition “Jugend musiziert” several times as a soloist and ensemble member. After three years as a junior student, he studied with Reinhold Friedrich at the Karlsruhe Music Academy from 1992 to 1996. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the European Community Youth Orchestra (now EUYO). Mario Schlumpberger was also a member of the brass ensemble “Brass Partout”, which has released three CDs on the label BIS. Since 1993 Mario Schlumpberger has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Artemii Lachinov was born on 3 February 1999 in Moscow, Russia.
He began playing the trumpet in a wind orchestra at the age of ten and subsequently attended the Mikhail Tabakov Music School in Moscow and the Academic Music College of the Moscow University of Music. He is currently a Bachelor's student at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre in the class of Professor Matthias Höfs.
In 2016, he won first prize at the National Russian Competition in Moscow in the wind instruments category and also the Moscow Mayor's Prize for Talented Young Musicians. In 2021 he won 3rd prize at the International Competition in Moscow.
He gained his orchestral experience as a substitute with the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra Kiel and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.
Artemii Lachinov has performed as a soloist with many orchestras. These include the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia.
He has been on a temporary contract with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since September 2023.
João Martinho was born in Guimarães, Portugal, in 1991. He studied trombone with Stefan Schulz at the Berlin University of the Arts. He gathered orchestral experience in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, the Berlin State Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin and as a member of the orchestral academy of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2017.
The young Austrian Maximilian Eller was born in Tyrol in 1999. At the age of nine years old, he received his first trombone lessons in the State Music School Wipptal and has been completing his education with Benjamin Appel at the Tyrol State Conservatory since 2015. In 2017, he won the State- and National Competition Prima la Musica.
He gained orchestral experience with the Vienna Youth Orchestra and was a member of the Orchestra of the State Theatre at Gärtnerplatz in Munich.
Maximilian Eller has been deputy solo trombonist at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the season of 2022/2023.
Hannes Tschugg is a native of Austria. He has been a trombonist in the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2009.
Joachim Knorr studied at the Robert Schumann Music Academy in Düsseldorf and was bass trombonist and associate second trombonist at the Mannheim National Theatre from 1989 to 1994. From Mannheim, he moved on to the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, where he has held the position of bass trombonist ever since.
Jonas Burow was born in Bopfingen in Swabia in 1990 and has been playing the trombone since he was ten. After being taught by his brother and Hubert Hegele, he became a junior student of Lothar Schmitt at the Würzburg Music Academy. There he also began full-time studies in 2009, graduating with distinction in 2014. He then completed a master’s degree with Stefan Schulz at the Berlin University of the Arts. Jonas Burow began playing in various youth orchestras at a young age and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany for many years. In 2010 he became bass trombone player at the Nürnberg Symphonic Orchestra. In 2016 he was appointed bass and contrabass trombonist at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Apart from his orchestral work, chamber music is another important focus for him. Jonas Burow has been a founding member of the brass ensemble Salaputia Brass since 2011, producing several CDs so far.
In addition, in 2019 he received a teaching assignment for bass and contrabass trombone at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf in the class of Prof. Matthias Gromer.
Jonas Burow exclusively plays a bass trombone built by Josef Gopp.
The tuba player Andreas Simon was born in Mannheim in 1967. After training as a laboratory technician in physics, he studied tuba at the Würzburg Academy of Music and the Mannheim Academy of Music, whereupon his first engagement was at the Mannheim Opera. Since 1996 he has been a tuba player in the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Jesper Tjærby Korneliusen was born in Copenhagen in 1972. He studied with Bent Lylloff at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory. From 1996 to 1999 he was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, where he played under conductors including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Seiji Ozawa and Semyon Bychkov. He began his career as principal timpanist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Southern Westphalia; since 2004 he has been principal timpanist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Here, he received the Eduard Söring Prize in 2005. Since 2017 Jesper Tjærby Korneliusen has also played regularly in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Brian Barker was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1976, studying first in his hometown and then with Pierre Béluse in Montréal. In 2002 he moved to Berlin to take lessons from Rainer Seegers of the Berlin Philharmonic. Working with Seegers and later also with Marek Stefula of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig influenced him profoundly. After engagements at the Theater des Westens in Berlin and at the Staatskapelle Schwerin, Brian Barker joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2006. During the 2014/15 season he was a guest at La Scala in Milan. Brian Barker teaches at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre and also at the Conservatorio Guido Cantelli in Novara near Milan. Brian Barker has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Kirill Petrenko, Daniele Gatti, Paavo Järvi, Riccardo Chailly, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Herbert Blomstedt.
Fabian Otten began his studies at the HfMT Hamburg in 2012 with Massimo Drechsler, Stephan Cürlis and Cornelia Monske. He continued his studies at the Hanns Eisler University of Music with Franz Schindlbeck and Rainer Seegers and the percussion soloist Li Biao. His first orchestral position was with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen in 2014. He also played in the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, with whom he performed as a marimba soloist in Messiaen's La transfiguration. He was a finalist at the international competition of the Percussive Arts Society in Italy, won 2nd prize at the international competition "Marimba Festiva" in Bamberg and a special prize of the Bavarian Radio. He has held a teaching position for marimba at the HMT Leipzig since the summer semester 2023 and has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the 2017/18 season. In addition to his percussion activities, he initially composed several works for percussion and chamber music - his composition "Samsara" won the "Interstellar Composer Competition 2021". Since then, his compositional repertoire has expanded through various commissions with pieces for chamber ensembles and orchestra. He is currently studying composition in the Master's program at the HfMT Hamburg with Prof. Fredrik Schwenk.
Matthias Schurr was born in the Swabian town of Ehingen (Donau) and completed his bachelor studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Andreas Boettger, Erich Trog and Guido Marggrander. Currently, he is getting his master’s with Prof. Franz Schindlbeck and Prof. Rainer Seegers at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.
He gained musical experience with a multitude of sound bodies, like for example the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Hanover State Symphony Orchestra and Elbtonal.
During 2017 and 2019, Matthias Schurr was a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and subsequently had a temporary contract there. After his post as solo percussionist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Hansestadt Lübeck, Matthias Schurr moved to the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, where he plays as solo percussionist since August of 2022.
Massimo Drechsler studied percussion with Robert Hinze and Gernot Schulz (Berlin Philharmonic) at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre. During this time he played in various bands and crossover projects. Since 1989 he has been a percussionist in the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and also teaches at the Hamburg Music Academy. Among the CD recordings documenting his work are those of the percussion ensemble Elbtonal from Hamburg.
Born in the Frisian region near Oldenburg, Frank Polter received percussion and piano lessons from the age of twelve onwards. After his graduation from secondary school, he studied percussion with international soloists and renowned orchestral percussionists of the Berlin Philharmonic, La Scala Milan and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Frank Polter completed his diploma and soloist’s exam with distinction at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre, where he frequently participated in film, television, radio and CD recordings in many different genres. Apart from his position as percussionist at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra (since 1993) and his solo work, he was an active concert presenter for several years and is now an artist manager as well. In addition to percussion, he is also a composer and conductor.
Matthias Hupfeld received his musical training at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre. This was followed by one-year contracts with the State Orchestra in his hometown of Kassel and the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra. For three years he was a member of the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin. In 2004 Hupfeld moved to the Hanseatic City of Hamburg and has been a percussionist in the Philharmonic State Orchestra ever since.
Lena-Maria Buchberger was born in Frankfurt am Main and began playing the harp with Esther Groß at the age of eleven. She studied with Prof. Maria Graf at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music and with Prof. Xavier de Maistre at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama.
From 2010 to 2012 she was a scholarship holder of the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, where she was mentored by Marie-Pierre Langlamet.
As a solo harpist, she has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the WDR Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has gained experience under Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann and Bernard Haitink.
Concert tours have taken her to Asia, Australia, the USA and through large parts of Europe.
In the 2009/2010 season, she performed in the "Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler" of the German Music Council, and in 2014 she was awarded the Ritter Prize of the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation.
Lena-Maria Buchberger has been principal harpist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2013.
The French harpist Clara Bellegarde grew up in a musical environment: Her parents were both musicians, which significantly shaped her early approach to music. She discovered her love of the harp at the age of six in her home town of Lille. This passion led her to an impressive career: in 2015, at the age of just 23, she was appointed principal harpist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Since then, Clara has not only thrilled audiences in Hamburg, but also as a guest musician in renowned orchestras worldwide. She performs regularly with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam.
Under the direction of conductors such as Kent Nagano, Charles Dutoit, Tugan Sokhiev, Philippe Jordan, Teodor Currentzis, Antonio Pappano and Paavo Järvi, she has performed in some of the world's most famous concert halls: at the BBC Proms in London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Vienna Musikverein, the Salzburg Festival, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Sala São Paulo. In January 2017, she played the opening concert of the Elbphilharmonie, one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world, with her orchestra, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Her love of chamber music has taken Clara Bellegarde to international stages and festivals, where she has performed at the Forest Hill Musical Days in San Francisco, the Norsjø Chamber Music Festival in Norway, the Italian festival Tra Luce e Sogno and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, among others. She has performed with outstanding artists such as Mari and Momo Kodama, Nils Mönkemeyer, Veronika Eberle, Edicson Ruiz, Xavier De Maistre, Hartmut Rohde, Luigi Piovano and Matt Haimovitz. She has also performed as a duo with the English horn player Ralph van Daal, with whom she has made several recordings, and with the soprano Maria Chabounia, which also reflects her passion for the operatic repertoire.
Clara Bellegarde received her training at renowned music academies. After preliminary studies with Anne Le Roy, she completed her bachelor's degree with Isabelle Moretti at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris before obtaining her master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt with Françoise Verherve. She gained her first orchestral experience in the Orchestre Français des Jeunes and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, where she received decisive impulses for her career as a young musician. She later returned to this orchestra as a coach to share her knowledge and experience with the next generation.
She appreciates the harp's versatile sound, which is not only heavenly and delicate, but can also be very powerful and express her soul. Both on the concert stage and in the orchestra pit at the opera, she loves the harp's role in adding a very special timbre to the overall sound, thus creating something unique together.
Nilüfer Sude Güçlü was born in Ankara in 2000. In 2011, she was admitted to Bilkent University Music Preparatory Primary School with a scholarship in violin major, where she enjoyed her violin education in the class of Adilhoca Azizov from 2011-2018 and participated in various concerts of Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra, Türksoy Chamber Orchestra and Ankara Youth Symphony Orchestra.
She participated in the Bilkent Violin Days in 2015 and 2016 and the Burdur 4th Young Talents Classical Music Festival in 2015, before winning the second prize in category C at the 10th International Grumiaux Violin Competition in Belgium in March 2017 and participating in the Keshet Eilon Summer Course in Israel on a scholarship in July 2017. She was then invited by Prof. Shmuel Ashkenasi to the Curtis Institute of Music in the USA, where she had the opportunity to work with him.
In 2018, she performed the 5th Violin Concerto in A major by W.A. Mozart as a soloist with the Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Işın Metin and participated in the 8th International Violin Festival "Young Master" in Lindau, Germany. In the same year, she graduated from Bilkent University High School of Music and Performing Arts, after which she was eligible to complete her undergraduate studies at Germany's leading music universities such as Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and Berlin University of the Arts.
In 2019, she had the opportunity to perform on stage with conductor Gürer Aykal and pianist Gülsin Onay at the Stars Ensemble Project concert, in which she was invited to participate. She also benefited from the "Women Stars of Tomorrow" support fund organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), as part of which she performed at a concert in the Albert Lange Hall of Boğaziçi University at the Istanbul Music Festival. In summer 2019, she attended the Cagliari Music Academy in Italy.
In 2020, she was awarded the Special Jury Prize (Outstanding Achievement) for her success at the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition and received the first prize at the Violin-Viola-Cello Competition organized by the Online Classical Music Academy.
Güçlü has actively participated in the masterclasses of Krzysztof Wegrzyn, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Rosa Fain, Vadim Gluzman, Mark Gothoni, Guy Braunstein, Itamar Golan, Alexander Markov, Igor Tkatchouk, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Lutsia Ibragimova, Edua Zadory and Mincho Minchev, completed an internship with both the NDR Radiophilharmonie and the Bochum Symphony Orchestra in 2023 and has been an academy member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2024.
Nilüfer Sude Güçlü plays on a Nicolaus Amatus violin from 1680, which is made available to her by the Niedersachsen Stiftung and the Hausmann family, and is currently continuing her basic studies at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media in the violin class of Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn. For orchestral works, she is taught by Kathrin Rabus, the former concertmaster of the NDR Radiophilharmonie Orchestra.
Born in Hubei, China, Langyu Qin was a student at the Wuhan Music High School at the age of 12. He then took private lessons for a while with Adam Kostecki, professor of violin at the Hanover University of Music, before beginning his studies at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin at the age of 16. There he first studied with Prof. Stephan Picard and Ning Feng and currently with Prof. Eva-Christina Schönweiss. In summer 2024, he successfully passed his final exams for his Bachelor's degree and chamber music exam. He has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since August 2024.
After a master class, Vadim Gluzman said of Langyu Qin's playing: “The sound comes from the heart, is very natural and has a natural and perfect musicality.”
Yu Kai Sun was born in 1998 in Shenzhen, China. She grew up in Montréal, Canada, where she began her violin studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with Helmut Lipsky. She later earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, studying under Professor Victor Danchenko. Most recently, she completed her Master of Music at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where she studied with Martin Beaver.
A recipient of the JM Canada Foundation’s Choquette-Symcox 2023 Award and the Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant, she is an active performer across Europe, North America, and Asia. She was appointed co-concertmaster of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan in 2022 and concertmaster of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra in both 2018 and 2021.
Yu Kai Sun performs on a violin on loan by the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
Since August 2024, she has been a member of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg Academy.
Maurice Appelt was born in Hamburg. After his junior studies with Prof Barbara Westphal at the Lübeck University of Music, his Bachelor's degree took him to Prof Ditte Leser and Prof Erich Wolfgang Krüger at the "Franz Liszt" University of Music in Weimar. He is now studying for his Master's degree with Prof Lena Eckels at the Lübeck University of Music. He gained orchestral experience in the German National Youth Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and as an academy member of the Staatskapelle Weimar. He is a member of the Reflektor ensemble and has been a regular substitute principal with the Staatskapelle Schwerin since 2023. He has been a member of the Philharmonic State Orchestra's Orchestra Academy since March 2024.
Marta Rasztar was born in Poland in November 2002. She received her first cello lessons at the age of nine. In June 2024 she completed her bachelor's degree at the Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland in the class of Prof. Tomasz Lisiecki. She also studied at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, Belgium, where she was an Erasmus student in the cello class of Prof. Justus Grimm. In October 2024 she started her master studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg in the class of Prof. Alexey Stadler.
Since 2023 she has been a member of one of the most renowned European youth orchestras - EUYO, with which she has had the opportunity to work under the direction of outstanding conductors such as Gianandrea Noseda, Ivan Fischer, Sir Antonio Pappano and Manfred Honeck. She has made three tours with this orchestra, not only in Europe but also in the USA, during which she played at Carnegie Hall New York, Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, among others. She gained further orchestral experience as a substitute in the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Baltic Neopolis Orchestra.
Marta has participated in many master classes with world-renowned cellists such as Prof. Gregor Horsch, Prof. Troels Svane, Prof. Konstantin Heidrich, Prof. Arto Noras and Prof. Julius Berger. In 2021, as a member of the Chamber Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Poznań, she recorded the record with the DUX record company, which includes works by Schönberg and Strauss. 2023 Marta won the 2nd prize in the XI.
National Danczowski Cello Competition in Poznan, Poland and as a member of the Anteros String Quartet she won 3rd prize in the International Chamber Music Competition “KraCamera 2023” and 3rd prize in the 10th International Chamber Music Tournament in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She received a “Young Poland 2022” scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the scholarship of the Rector of the Academy of Music in Poznań (2023-2024). In 2023 Marta received the “Student of the Year” award from the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań.
Marta Rasztar has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since August 2024.
Jon Mendiguchia is a double bass player born in 1997, in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque region of Spain. His musical journey began at the age of 4 with piano and solfege lessons. Transitioning to the Double Bass, he studied at the Jesús Guridi Junior Conservatoire under Aleksander Mikolajczyk and later Prof. Julio Cesar Romero, immersing himself in both jazz and classical styles.
In this period he joined the Basque Youth Orchestra, leading to scholarships from the Basque National Orchestra and his professional debut in 2015. Continuing his education, he pursued studies at the Royal College of Music under Prof. Caroline Emery, where he received the entry audition award and took part in various lessons and masterclasses from professors and soloists such as Paul Ellison, Colin Paris, Rodrigo Moro Martin, Joel Quarrington, Rudiger Ludwig, Rick Stotijn and David Allen Moore.
In 2020, Jon joined the Basque National Orchestra as a replacement, followed by joining the Moritzburg Festival academy in 2022 and becoming a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester in 2023. He is currently pursuing a master's degree at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam under Olivier Thiery and Naomi Shaham. He regularly performs as a freelancer with numerous Dutch orchestras
including Residentie Orkest and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and has worked with numerous world class soloist and conductors such as Jakub Hrůša, Semyon Bychkov, Martha Argerich, Vadim Gluzman, Nikolai Lugansky, Danielle Gatti and Augustin Hadelich amongst others.
Lina Kochskämper (*2002, Varel) began her musical education at the age of five on the sopranino and switched to the flute at the age of eight. In cooperation with the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, she was in the preliminary class of the Institute for the Early Promotion of the Musically Gifted. She completed her Abitur at the Schloss Belvedere music high school in Weimar, where she was a student of Benjamin Plag and Anna Cuchal. Since 2021, she has been studying with Anna Dina Björn-Larsen at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. In addition, she received regular lessons and attended courses with Wally Hase, Christina Fassbender, Carin Levine, Angela Firkins and Peter-Lukas Graf, among others. She has won prizes at national and international competitions and has received several 1st national prizes at Jugend musiziert. This resulted in a special prize from the German Composers' Association and the German Foundation for Musical Life. She is also a scholarship holder of the Dr. Hildegard Schnetkamp Foundation and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation at Live Music Now. She gained professional orchestral experience as a substitute at the Hanover State Opera, the Braunschweig State Theater and as a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. As a finalist in the German Music Competition 2024, she played as a soloist with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and won the Audience Award as well as a scholarship from the German Music Council with inclusion in the 2025/2026 concert funding program. She has also been an academy member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since August 2024.
Seiji Ando was born in Osaka, Japan.
He studied with Akiko Butsuda at the Osaka College of Music from 2015 to 2019 and with Thomas Rohde at the Hamburg Conservatory from 2019 to 2021. He is currently in master's studies at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Prof. Juri Vallentin and Michael Höfele.
In 2018, he played as an oboist in Asian Youth Orchestra. During his master's studies, he received a place as an intern in the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra (2022/23).
Master classes with renowned artists such as Kalev Kuljus, Prof. Jaime González or Prof. Eric Speller complete his education.
Carl Steppes, born in Leipzig in 2004, has been studying with Prof. Johannes Gmeinder at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Academy of Music and Theater in Leipzig since October 2022. His musical education began at the age of 5 at the “Johann Sebastian Bach” music school in Leipzig, initially with the recorder. He has been taking clarinet lessons since 2013, including with Edgar Heßke. He has won several national prizes in both solo and chamber music competitions at “Jugend Musiziert”, including a 1st national prize in the clarinet solo category. As a long-standing member of the Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra, he gained his first orchestral experience, including concert tours to Japan, Greece and Denmark. He gained further concert experience, also as a solo clarinettist, with the LJO Sachsen, the Junge Kammerphilharmonie Sachsen, the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra Leipzig and the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra. Performances have taken him to important concert halls such as the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and the Kulturpalast Dresden. Carl was a scholarship holder at the International Starnberg Music Days 2023. He is also a founding member of the “ariaventus ensemble”, a young woodwind quintet from Leipzig. Carl Steppes has been an academy member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since February 2025.
Lennart Hansen was born in Wiesbaden in 2004 and started learning the bassoon at the age of 5 at the local music school with Amrei Liebold. From 2016-2021 he had lessons with Professor Tobias Pelkner in Detmold, and since 2021 he has been studying with Professor Ulrich Hermann at the Cologne University of Music and Dance.
From 2015-2019 he was a member of the Chamber Music Center NRW. During this time, he won several prizes in the state and national Jugend musiziert competitions in the chamber music category, as well as a first national prize in the solo category.
His chamber music teachers include Prof. André Sebald, Prof. Anthony Spiri and Prof. José Luis Estellés-Dasi. He has been a regular member of various chamber music ensembles since his youth and is currently a bassoonist in the Aventurin Quintet in Cologne.
Lennart Hansen has been a member of various youth orchestras since the age of ten, including the LJO NRW, the Junge Oper Baden-Württemberg and the Western Balkans Youth Orchestra. He also gained orchestral experience as a substitute with the Lower Rhine Symphony Orchestra Krefeld Mönchengladbach, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. Lennart Hansen found inspiration in master classes with Prof. Tobias Pelkner, Prof. Eckart Hübner, Prof. Ulrich Hermann and Prof. Theo Plath. He has been an academy member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since February 2025.
Sumire Okamoto was born in Japan in 2001. She started playing the horn at the age of 13. She then studied music at Kobe Yamate Girls' High School from 2016 to 2019 and at Tokyo University of the Arts from 2019 to 2023.
She is currently studying with Prof. Maskuniitty Master at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.
She has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since August 2024.
Haein Kang is an outstanding trumpeter who has attracted attention both in Korea and internationally. She studied at Hanyang University in Korea and has won prizes at numerous competitions in Korea. She is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. With her outstanding skills and profound musical interpretations, she recently impressed audiences in Korea, where she performed with the orchestra of the “Going Home Project”.
She has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since August 2024.
Varvara Athinaiou was born in Athens in 2000 and grew up in Corfu. She received her first music lessons in violin and piano at the age of six, before taking up the trombone at the age of eleven.
She graduated from the Corfu Conservatory with a degree in trombone. This was followed by studies at the Bern University of the Arts with Ian Bousfield. She completed this in 2021 with a bachelor's degree.
She has been a member of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO) since September 2021. Varvara Athinaiou has played with the Greek Radio Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera, the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra and the Athens State Orchestra.
She has been a member of the EUYO (European Union Youth Orchestra) since January 2022. As a member of the EUYO, she has had the opportunity to play with conductors such as Iván Fischer, Gianandrea Noseda, Elim Chan, Antonio Pappano, Manfred Honeck and Gustavo Gimeno as well as soloists such as Renaud Capucon, Francesco Piemontesi in various concert halls throughout Europe, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
In March 2023, she began her master's degree at the HMDK Stuttgart with Henning Wiegräbe. Varvara Athinaiou has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since March 2024.
Clara de Groote was born in Frankfurt am Main in 2002. She started playing the violin at the age of five and later switched to the drumset until she finally found her way to classical percussion in 2015.
In 2018, Clara became a junior student at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, where she is currently studying for her bachelor's degree with professors Franz Schindlbeck, Rainer Seegers (both from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) and Biao Li.
As a member of the German National Youth Orchestra, she has performed with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Alexander Shelley and Ingo Metzmacher in Germany's largest concert halls, including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Berlin Philharmonie. These tours have also taken her abroad, to Luxembourg and South Africa. She gained further orchestral experience as a substitute with the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the ensemble reflektor, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, among others.
Clara has received numerous scholarships and is supported by the Mozart-Gesellschaft Dortmund and the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. As part of these scholarships, she has already performed several times as a soloist with orchestras such as the dogma chamber orchestra and the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra Bad Brückenau.
From February to July 2022, she gained valuable orchestral experience as an intern in the percussion section of the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra. Since 2023, Clara has been a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), with which she has toured throughout Europe, Mexico and the USA under conductors such as Antonio Pappano and Manfred Honeck.
She regularly performs at German chamber music festivals as part of her duo with pianist Marie Hauzel, which she founded in 2022. Clara de Groote has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since April 2024.
Born in Vienna in 2000, Chiara Sax began taking harp and piano lessons at the age of seven. Already in 2012 she was accepted at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna as a young student for harp, as well as in the university's program for gifted students. Since 2018, she has been studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in the class of Prof. Xavier de Maistre and, after successfully completing her Bachelor's degree in June 2022, is now in the Master's program.
Chiara Sax participated as a harpist in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (spring tour 2023), as well as in the Lucerne Festival Academy (summer 2023). She gained further orchestral experience through concerts and projects with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Camerata and several other youth orchestras. With the Young Masters Ensemble she undertook concert tours to the USA (2016) and Greece (2017). She also performs regularly in Germany and Austria and has appeared as a soloist at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Vienna Musikverein, and the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 2021, the Austrian harpist received the 1st prize at the competition of the VDH - Association of Harpists in Germany, won the selection competition for Musica Juventutis in 2017, participated in several international competitions and is a six-time winner of the state and national competition prima la musica, solo and in ensemble settings. Since 2020 she has been a scholarship holder of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Hamburg.
She attended master classes with Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Isabelle Moretti, Catherine Michel, Sylvain Blassel, Mirjam Schröder, Andreas Mildner, Margit-Anna Süß and Monika Stadler.
Since August 2023 Chiara Sax is a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg.
Gideon Schirmer was born in Stuttgart in 1990. At the age of eight, he began playing the violin, taught by Ulrike Abdank during his school years. He graduated from secondary school one year after winning a First Prize at the federal round of the competition “Jugend musiziert”. He went on to study with Winfried Rademacher and Christoph Schickedanz. He gathered orchestral experience as a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, as a member of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra’s academy and with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden. He became a regular member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra at the beginning of the 2018/19 season. Gideon Schirmer is passionate about water sports; when he is not sailing on the Alster, he might be surfing in other German or far-away coastal waters.
Jonas Burow was born in Bopfingen in Swabia in 1990 and has been playing the trombone since he was ten. After being taught by his brother and Hubert Hegele, he became a junior student of Lothar Schmitt at the Würzburg Music Academy. There he also began full-time studies in 2009, graduating with distinction in 2014. He then completed a master’s degree with Stefan Schulz at the Berlin University of the Arts. Jonas Burow began playing in various youth orchestras at a young age and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany for many years. In 2010 he became bass trombone player at the Nürnberg Symphonic Orchestra. In 2016 he was appointed bass and contrabass trombonist at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Apart from his orchestral work, chamber music is another important focus for him. Jonas Burow has been a founding member of the brass ensemble Salaputia Brass since 2011, producing several CDs so far.
In addition, in 2019 he received a teaching assignment for bass and contrabass trombone at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf in the class of Prof. Matthias Gromer.
Jonas Burow exclusively plays a bass trombone built by Josef Gopp.
Maria Rallo Muguruza was born in Hondarribia, Spain, in 1996. She studied viola with Pauline Sachse in Dresden. She gained her first orchestral experiences as a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the academy of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. She has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2017.
Saskia Hirschinger was born in Halle an der Saale in 1995 and took cello lessons with Tamara Steger from the age of five. In 2014 she began studying with Wen-Sinn Yang at the Munich Academy of Music and Theatre. She received important musical impulses at master courses with Wolfgang Boettcher, Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Jens Peter Maintz and Troels Svane. During the 2018/19 season Saskia Hirschinger was a member of the Academy of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. She subsequently continued her master’s degree studies with Martin Ostertag at the Karlsruhe Music Academy. She also won several competitions and the award of the New Liszt Foundation in Weimar. Saskia Hirschinger was a fellow of “Live Music Now” in Munich and also won a “Deutschlandstipendium” scholarship. She gained orchestral experience as a cellist at the Stuttgart State Orchestra and as a substitute in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. In March 2020 Saskia Hirschinger became a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
José Silva, born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 1995, started playing the bassoon at the age of nine as part of the education programme “El Sistema”. He gathered orchestral experience in various Venezuelan orchestras under conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado. At the age of 15, he first toured Europe with the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra. In Caracas, he participated in master courses with Klaus Thunemann and Carlo Colombo, among others. From 2012 to 2017 he studied with Matthias Racz at the Zurich Academy of the Arts. José Silva was a member of the academy of the Bavarian State Orchestra and played as a substitute with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich and the Dresden Philharmonic. He won prizes at the Concours National d’Exécution Musicale de Riddes and the Carl-Maria von Weber Bassoon Competition in Wroclaw. Since 2018 he has been principal bassoon of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Merlin Schirmer was born in Stuttgart in 1988. His first cello teacher was Erik Borgir, who awakened an interest in contemporary music in his student early on. Merlin Schirmer studied in Stuttgart and Vienna, his teachers including Rudolf Gleißner, Claudio Bohórquez and Valentin Erben, cellist of the former Alban Berg Quartet. Early on, he developed the wish to join a major opera or symphony orchestra. First steps on his path toward this goal were his membership in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester founded by Claudio Abbado and an internship with the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. Towards the end of his studies, Merlin Schirmer was first appointed principal cellist of the Jena Philharmonic for a year and then joined the Dresden Philharmonic for another year as a cellist, before becoming a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in August 2015.
Christine Hu was born in Vienna in 1985. She studied with Tobias Kühne and Heinrich Schiff in Vienna, with Thomas Demenga and Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) in Basel as well as Thomas Grossenbacher in Zurich. She attended master courses with Steven Isserlis and Miklós Perényi, among others. She received scholarships from the Herbert von Karajan Foundation and the Thyll-Dürr Foundation and was supported by Yehudi Menuhin’s foundation “Live Music Now” and Villa Musica. In 2013 she was interim section leader of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. She has performed regularly with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and Camerata Bern and was a member of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne before becoming a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2016. As the cellist of the trio oreade, Christine Hu has explored string trio literature extensively, winning the first prize at the International String Trio Competition in Munich in 2012 and making debuts at the Tonhalle Zurich in 2014 and at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad in 2016, among others. The trio’s debut CD/Blu-Ray was released in 2015 by bmn-medien. The trio oreade has been playing three instruments built by Antonio Stradivari since the autumn of 2017, generously loaned to them by the Stradivari Foundation. Having grown up bilingually and under the influence of two different cultures – her parents are originally from Taiwan – Christine Hu feels that the search for balance and intercession is an essential part of her artistic life.
Fabian Lachenmaier, born in the Eifel region, studied with Albrecht Holder and Ulrich Hermann at the Würzburg Academy of Music, graduating with a diploma and distinction in 2009. During this time he became a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the International Ensemble Modern Academy. During the 2009/10 season he was an intern at the SWR Symphony Orchestra. He joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2010. As a chamber musician, he has been involved in productions with Ensemble Kontraste in Nürnberg for the Bavarian Radio and ZDF/Arte.
Franziska Kober was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, in 1984, and received her first double bass lessons at the early age of nine at the Klagenfurt Conservatory. From 2003 to 2010 she studied with Christina Hoock at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and with Dan Styffe in Oslo. She gathered her first professional experiences as a member of the Wiener Jeunesse Orchester and the European Union Youth Orchestra. She was a member of the academy of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden and played as a substitute with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Franziska Kober participated several times in national and international competitions, for example Bass 2010 and the International Music Competition in Markneukirchen. She has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2010.
Konradin Seitzer, born in Aachen in 1983, began playing the violin at the age of four and enrolled at the age of 14 as a junior student in the class of Atila Aydintan at the Hanover Academy of Music and Theatre. He then continued his studies with Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, from which he graduated with distinction in January 2009. He has appeared around the world as a soloist with orchestras including the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Brandenburg State Orchestra in Frankfurt and the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie, appearing at venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Glocke in Bremen and the Seongnam Arts Center in South Korea. In addition to his work as a soloist, Konradin Seitzer is also dedicated to chamber music and has given concerts with artists such as Robert Levin, Thomas Brandis and Ulf Hoelscher. Konradin Seitzer was previously First Concertmaster of the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin; since 2012 he has held the same position at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. In 2015 he received the Eduard Söring Prize of the Foundation for the Support of the Hamburg State Opera.
Jesper Tjærby Korneliusen was born in Copenhagen in 1972. He studied with Bent Lylloff at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory. From 1996 to 1999 he was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, where he played under conductors including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Seiji Ozawa and Semyon Bychkov. He began his career as principal timpanist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Southern Westphalia; since 2004 he has been principal timpanist of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Here, he received the Eduard Söring Prize in 2005. Since 2017 Jesper Tjærby Korneliusen has also played regularly in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Bettina Rühl studied with Rainer Schmidt in Würzburg and Ingrid Philippi in Stuttgart. During this time, she was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and was an intern at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, also attending master courses with Serge Collot and Madeleine Prager, among others. She appeared as a chamber musician with the Trio Giocoso (viola clarinet, piano), the Ensemble Kontraste in Nürnberg and others. After five years as principal viola at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, Bettina Rühl joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2001. She is a regular substitute at the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. She strives to perform musical rarities and to focus more on chamber music. Bettina Rühl is a sought-after chamber music partner, appearing regularly in the chamber music series of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and with ensemble acht. In 2013 she joined her colleagues in recording the collected chamber music of Felicitas Kukuck. Since 2015 she has been a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Fabian Lachenmaier, born in the Eifel region, studied with Albrecht Holder and Ulrich Hermann at the Würzburg Academy of Music, graduating with a diploma and distinction in 2009. During this time he became a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the International Ensemble Modern Academy. During the 2009/10 season he was an intern at the SWR Symphony Orchestra. He joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2010. As a chamber musician, he has been involved in productions with Ensemble Kontraste in Nürnberg for the Bavarian Radio and ZDF/Arte.
Brian Barker was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1976, studying first in his hometown and then with Pierre Béluse in Montréal. In 2002 he moved to Berlin to take lessons from Rainer Seegers of the Berlin Philharmonic. Working with Seegers and later also with Marek Stefula of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig influenced him profoundly. After engagements at the Theater des Westens in Berlin and at the Staatskapelle Schwerin, Brian Barker joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2006. During the 2014/15 season he was a guest at La Scala in Milan. Brian Barker teaches at the Hamburg Academy of Music and Theatre and also at the Conservatorio Guido Cantelli in Novara near Milan. Brian Barker has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Kirill Petrenko, Daniele Gatti, Paavo Järvi, Riccardo Chailly, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Herbert Blomstedt.
Yitong Guo was born in Lanzhou (China) and grew up in Beijing. He studied at the Juilliard School in New York, the Manhattan School of Music, the Berlin University of Arts as well as at the Mozarteum Salzburg. He is currently continuing his Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. At the same time, he is a teaching assistant for viola at HfMT Hamburg. His teachers and mentors include Thomas Riebl, Pinchas Zukerman, Hartmut Rohde, Anna Kreetta, Patinka Kopec, and Samuel Rhodes. Yitong Guo received the 1st prize at the International Clara Schumann Competition, the 2nd prize at the Hudson Valley String Competition, the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Centre in Canada, and 5th place at the International Max Rostal Competition. As a musician, he has participated in various festivals and masterclasses, such as the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Festival, the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, and the Seiji Ozawa International Academy. Since 2020, Yitong Guo has been a violist in the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg.
Jan Polle was born in Limburg in 1997. He first began taking horn lessons at the Limburg Music School at the age of eight. From October 2012 to September 2015 he was a junior student of Esa Tapani at the Frankfurt am Main Academy of Music and Performing Arts. There, he also began his bachelor studies in 2015. Jan Polle was a winner of the competition “Jugend musiziert” several times, including a prize at the federal level in 2012. He took master courses with Johannes Hinterholzer, the ensemble German Brass and Ensemble Modern (“epoch f”). From 2018 to 2020 Jan Polle was a member of the Kassel State Orchestra’s academy. He also gained professional experience as a substitute principal horn player at the State Orchestra of Lower Saxony in Hanover and elsewhere. Jan Polle has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2020 and has been deputy principal horn since 2022.
Christian Seibold was born in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg, in 1966. He enrolled as a junior student at the Munich Music Academy at the age of 17, studying with Gerd Starke from 1982 to 1989. After an engagement at the Frankfurt Opera, he joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra as an E-flat clarinettist in 1993. His orchestral activities have taken him to internationally renowned orchestras, such as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the Gürzenich Orchestra, where he has performed under such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Wolfgang Sawallisch. He also makes regular guest appearances at major opera houses, e.g. the Bavarian State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Cologne Opera, Essen Opera and Hanover State Opera. In addition to his orchestral work, he has long been an active piano accompanist. Alongside his love for opera and art song, he also has a passion for jazz. In 2005 he founded the “Philharmonic Clowns” together with Larry Elam (trumpet), and they can be heard regularly with popular jazz standards throughout Hamburg. Another important focus for Seibold is chamber music. He has performed with various ensembles at such events as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, in Hitzacker and the Waldhaus Concerts in Flims, Switzerland. The clarinettist also teaches at the Hamburg Conservatory and serves as a juror for the federal competition “Jugend musiziert”. He has coached the wind section of various youth orchestras, such as the Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Hamburg University, and teaches at various summer academies.