The viola player Barbara Linke-Holicka was born in Prague in 1976. Initially a student at the Prague Conservatory, she later went on to study with Professor Kim Kashkashianan at the Hanns Eisler College of Music in Berlin, where she attained her degree with honours. She also completed a solo Performance Diploma with Wolfram Christ at the Freiburg College of Music.

Barbara Linke-Holicka played as one of the youngest members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado in 1993. She has been awarded several prizes and also a number of scholarship awards. During her time as an academy student at the opera house in Zurich she devoted much of her attention to historical performance practices, since which time she has continued to play baroque viola. She has performed as solo viola with the Camerata Academica Salzburg, the Czech Philharmonic, the National Theatre Mannheim and the State Opera Oldenburg. She has also been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Barbara Linke-Holicka is solo viola with the Ensemble Musica Assoluta in Hannover and has given frequent performances together with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen as part of its Chamber Music Series. The Czech-born viola player has lived with her family in Bremen since 2007.

Manfred Schmidt was born in Zams, Austria. After graduating from Prof. Heidi Köhler’s piano class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover, he continued his studies on the ›Artist Diploma‹ programme at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He completed his studies in 2002 at the Lübeck Academy of Music with Prof. James Tocco. He has attended masterclasses with such renowned artists and teachers as Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Anatol Ugorski or Klaus Hellwig.

He received a scholarship from the Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst, the Richard Wagner Sociaety Berlin and the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. In 2005, the International Carl Loewe Society made him an honorary member. Manfred Schmidt was selected for the 48th German Music Council’s Young Artists’ Concerts and was awarded the diploma d’onore in the 8th International Piano Competition A. M. A. Calabria in Italy.

The young artist has performed as a soloist at orchestra concerts, piano recitals, as a chamber musician and Lied accompanist in Germany and abroad. He has appeared at festivals such as the German-Czech summer of culture, Rhineland-Palatinate summer of culture, Lucerne Festival or Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival. Since 2005, he has taught at the University of the Arts in Berlin.

Manfred Schmidt performs regularly with renowned singers, appears in concert with soloists from The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen and is pianist in the Aiolos Trio Berlin. In 2011, he initiated the ›Musik & mehr‹ event in cooperation with the Heiligensee tram depot. He has been Artistic Director of the Festival Mitte Europa since February 2015. In February 2012 he brought out a solo album featuring works by J. S. Bach and L. v. Beethoven.

Beate Weis studied violin with Gerhard Voss (Melos Quartet) at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, where she also studied string quartet playing in the Melos Quartet class. She then completed her concert studies with Ernst Kovacic at the Viennese College of Music.

After completing her studies, she became a member of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen and played a key role in shaping the orchestra’s artistic development over many years. In addition to her musical work with international conductors and soloists, her field of activity to this day includes music education at various levels and conceptual work (programmes on words-and-music events, recitals). There have also been several periods during which she has been a member of the orchestra’s board with a deciding role in the management and running of the orchestra.

For many years, she has regularly taught chamber music courses for amateur musicians alongside Jörg Assmann and Marc Froncoux. Her own chamber music and solo performances, for example with the Camerata Bremen, the Oldenburg Kammerorchester and the Bremen Universitätsorchester, complement and enrich her activities.

Her keen interest and knowledge of wine endures although the vintner ›Flaschenweise‹ no longer plays a major role.

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.