Zuzana Schmitz-Kulanova was born in Slovakia and began taking violin lessons at the age of six. Her move to Igor Karsko at Lucerne Music College – where she obtained her diploma in concert and solo performance with honours – was followed by continued studies with Vesselin Paraschkevov at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen.

Between 2007 and 2017, she was concertmaster of the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra in Essen and has held the same post with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra since 2016. The violinist is a very welcome guest performer with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and the Aachen Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, Zuzana Schmitz-Kulanova has frequently performed with the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra as well as with the Kosice State Philharmonic and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.

Her particular passion is for chamber music. She is a founder member of Ensemble Ruhr, with whom she performs regularly in a variety of chamber music formations. She has been a member of The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2017.

Anja Manthey was raised in Wilhelmshaven, not far from the orchestra’s current home city of Bremen. She left the North Sea town to study at the University of Music in Hamburg and Freiburg. She joined the then Chamber Orchestra of the Young German Philharmonic back in 1982.

Apart from a busy orchestra schedule and regular chamber music appearances in various ensembles, she is particularly interested in the humanities. In 2012, she graduated with distinction in Musicology, German and English. For many years, Anja Manthey has contributed her enthusiasm and wealth of experience in these subjects to organizing and holding the concert introduction events ›en passant‹ and ›Auftakt‹ (engl. ›Prélude‹) for the Bremen subscription concerts.

Her favourite leisure pastimes – beyond music and musicology – include reading. In 2020, she was awarded her doctorate (DPhil).

Ulrich König was first prizewinner in the national ›Jugend musiziert‹ competition and a member of the RIAS Youth Orchestra Berlin. He studied the oboe in Berlin, Hanover and Stuttgart. During this time, he played with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the European Union Youth Orchestra.

He became a member of The Deutsche Kammerphil-harmonie Bremen in 1988 and was thus one of the first wind players to be admitted to the orchestra as a partner. He has also performed as a soloist with the Kammer-philharmonie and has made guest appearances for example at Gidon Kremer’s Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival and Lars Vogt’s ›Spannungen‹ chamber music festival at Heimbach Power Station.

Ulrich König also enjoys adapting and arranging pieces – ranging from classical works for The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen’s wind soloists to pop music for his ensemble ›Das ABBArtige Quartett‹.