Saskia Niehl began learning to play the violin at the age of five and has been active in numerous orchestras since the age of nine. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the Freiburg College of Music and her master’s degree in orchestral music at the University of the Arts, Berlin. This young violinist has been a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie since 2016. She was concertmaster of the University Orchestras in Freiburg and Berlin and at Hanover College of Music, Media and the Arts where she is currently a member of Elisabeth Kufferath’s soloist class.

In addition, Saskia has performed as soloist with the Brandenburgische Staatsorchester Frankfurt (Oder) and has deputised with many other orchestras such as the Kammerakademie Potsdam or the Hamburg Camerata.

Saskia is also equally at home in the realm of chamber music. Since 2018, she has been a member of the NERIDA Quartet, with which she has already received several prizes, including the Boris Pergamenschikow Competition Berlin and the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition.

Raphael Zinner received his first cello lessons at the local music school aged four, and in the following years at Weimar’s specialist music school  ›Schloss Belvedere‹.  Since 2018, this cellist has been studying with Troels Svane at Lübeck College of Music. Participation in masterclasses by Peter Bruns, David Geringas, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt and Gustav Rivinius have also provided him with vital musical input. As the first ever three-time winner of ›Jugend musiziert‹, Raphael has also won numerous other prizes at international competitions such as the Heran Competition in the Czech Republic, the Liezen International Competition for Cello in Austria and the David Popper Cello Competition in Hungary. During the 2019/20 season, Raphael held an academy position with the Lübeck Philharmonic.

In addition to his solo playing, he is a passionate chamber musician. He has performed with his piano trio in the Berlin Philharmonie as well as in Boston and Washington. Together with his string quartet, he has performed at the Brahms Festival in Lübeck and at the Atlantic Festival. As prizewinner of the 27th Competition of the German Musical Instrument Fund, he plays a Genoa 1871 Niccolò Bianchi cello.

Elke Schulze-Höckelmann was national prizewinner in the ›Jugend musiziert‹ competition and a junior student at the University of Music in Münster. She subsequently studied in Cologne and Oslo and played in the European Community Youth Orchestra. But possibly her participation »in the grass-roots democratic grammar school wind orchestra« was the decisive experience that would later lead her to feel most at home with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.
To find this out, she was previously a member of the Kassel State Theatre Orchestra, the Württemberg Philharmonie Reutlingen and the Philharmonia Hungarica Marl. She has been a soloist with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 1993. When she is not playing here, she enjoys playing the historical horn in various ensembles for Early Music.

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.

Chris Rogers-Beadle began studying violin at the age of 5 before switching to viola at the age of 16. He went on to get his Bachelor’s degree at the Colburn School in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Paul Coletti and would later graduate from Yale University with a master’s degree having studied with Ettore Causa.

Chris has participated in many masterclasses and festivals in the US and Europe and has been a prizewinner in national competitions in the US.

Chris has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Philharmonic Baden-Baden and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Also a seasoned chamber musician, Chris has performed in concert with artists such as Anthony Marwood, Ivan Monighetti, and Augustin Hadelich.

Born in Essen in 1994, Lars Henrik Radloff received his first double bass lessons from Bernardo Camatta at the age of 8. After studying as a junior student and completing his bachelor’s degree at the Cologne College of Music and Dance, he earned his master’s degree with honours from the Robert Schumann College of Music in Düsseldorf. He is currently studying for his concert exam with Rick Stotijn in Düsseldorf.

Lars Henrik Radloff has been a member of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker since September 2020. 2022 was his first season as a member of the double bass section of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. He is also a regular guest with other major orchestras, including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

During his studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Jeffrey Armstrong was awarded numerous prizes, most notably the Principal’s Prize for outstanding contribution to the life of the conservatoire. He is currently enrolled in the solo class of Elisabeth Kufferath at the Hanover College of Music, Media and the Arts. In addition, Jeffrey has worked with and received memorable masterclasses from musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Lawrence Power, Antje Weithaas, and Eberhard Feltz among others

As a soloist, this young violinist has already performed many concerts including with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa. He recently won first prize in the UNISA National Music Competition, leading to a performance and recording with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Jeffrey regularly appears as a guest at the Wye Valley Music Festival in England. This violinist is also involved in other projects including the Cape Chamber Music Collective, which he jointly founded in South Africa, as well as the musical education project ›Arco Project‹ for disadvantaged children in Soweto, Johannesburg.

During her school days Friederike Latzko was a junior student at the University of Music in Cologne, where she received intensive chamber music lessons from the Amadeus Quartet. After earning her university entrance qualification, she changed to the University of the Arts in Berlin, where she gained further ensemble experience in all of the major West Berlin orchestras. She was a DAAD and Herbert von Karajan Foundation scholarship holder, associate teacher and lecturer with the German National Youth Orchestra and the Young German Philharmonic, as well as chamber music partner to renowned soloists.

In 1980, Friederike founded The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen together with like-minded fellow students – at first under the name ›Chamber Orchestra of the Young German Philharmonic‹, then later from 1987 in Frankfurt ›Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie‹. In the meantime, she has been a solo violist and dedicated music teacher here for over 30 years.

With Mark Scheibe, she created the ›Melody for Life‹ and with Rodrigo Blumenstock, Stefan Latzko and Gunther Schwiddessen the orchestra project ›Sinfonia Concertante‹, in which members of The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen play alongside dedicated amateurs.

Friederike Latzko has two grown-up children and spends any spare time in her studio painting and working on her next exhibition.

Maximilian Krome has played the clarinet with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since April 2014. He was born in Höxter, North Rhine-Westphalia in 1988 and studied with Prof. Martin Spangenberg at The Liszt School of Music in Weimar, where he gained an Artistic Diploma in June 2012. During this time he had a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation.

He is a multiple prizewinner in national competitions as well as at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition in England. As a scholar of the Jürgen Ponto Foundation and the German Foundation for Musical Life, he played solo engagements at the opening of the Schwetzingen Mozart Festival, the Essen Philharmonic, the Margravial Opera House of Bayreuth and in Switzerland.

His concert activities focus on performances with various chamber music ensembles, with appearances, for example, at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the international music festival The Next Generation at the Harenberg-Center Dortmund, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Cologne Philharmonic and at the invitation of the Academy of St.Martin-In-The-Fields in London.

From 2012-2014, Maximilian Krome was Academist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.

Today, he regularly plays as a guest with the Chamber Academy Potsdam, the Camerata Bern and the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra.

Michaela Špačková is a brilliant and charismatic artist who, using her instrument as a voice, sees her music as a journey to connect us with our human nature. This Czech bassoonist, equally at home in classical and contemporary music, enjoys experimenting with different styles, techniques and multidisciplinary projects. She regularly performs new works for solo bassoon, most recently the world premiere of Matthieu Stefanelli’s work ›Gaïa – The Cry of the Earth‹ as part of Renaud Capuçon’s Nouveaux Horizons festival, which was broadcast on Arte.

She has also performed in renowned concert halls around the world such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, where she played at the Suntory Hall Festival together with Radek Baborák. She was principal bassoonist in the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Christoph Eschenbach and at the Akademie der Staatskapelle Berlin with Daniel Barenboim. Michaela Špačková has also received numerous awards and has won more than 20 prizes at various competitions, including the ARD Music Competition and the Prague Spring. In addition to her musical activities, Michaela is actively involved in intercultural activities, educational projects and environmental issues and enjoys spending time in nature.

Born in 1989 to a musical family on the outskirts of Berlin, Konstanze Glander began learning the violin at the age of 5. As well as being very musical in her youth, dance was also a strong influence and it was for this reason that, as far as her career aspirations were concerned, she was a ›late bloomer‹. It was eventually an opera production with the National Youth Orchestra which brought about the decisive change.

Konstanze Glander studied with Professor Axel Wilczok and Stefan Hempel at Rostock College of Music and Drama. For her final performance she played Mozart’s violin concerto with the North German Philharmonic of Rostock. She was also a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and dedicated herself during her studies to the music of the tango.

As a member of various ensembles, Konstanze Glander was able to amass a wealth of artistic experience and it was as an Academy Student at the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim that she gained valuable insights into the behind-the-scenes world of opera, ballet and the concert hall. During her time with the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique in London, she was able to hone her Baroque and Classical technique. The direct collaboration with John Eliot Gardiner, who led the workshops and teaching sessions, was a unique experience.

Konstanze has been a permanent member of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since October 2018, where dance is still her greatest passion.

Belgian cellist Marc Froncoux studied at the Music Colleges in both Brussels and Detmold, with Edmond Baert and Professor Andre Navarra respectively. He is the prize winner of several competitions such as the international Premio Vittorio Gui competition in Florence. On completing his studies, Marc Froncoux was appointed teacher of Professor Edmond Baert’s solo class in Brussels and also played solo cello at the Opera in Lucca, Italy.

Marc Froncoux has been solo cellist with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 1998. In his adopted North German home, he conducts the Oldenburg Chamber Orchestra and is regularly involved in chamber music courses for amateurs.

Along with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen he has guested in many concert venues in numerous international capitals. He is one of the section leaders in the orchestra and regularly performs in the orchestra’s series of chamber music concerts.

In his free time, Marc Froncoux enjoys spending time in the country. He trains regularly for his trekking tours in the Himalayas, thus combining healthy exercise with his search for inner calm.