As a schoolchild, Ulrike Höfs realized that all she wanted to become in life was a musician. After participating successfully in several music competitions and gaining first orchestra experience in the regional and national youth orchestras and the Young German Philharmonic, Ulrike Höfs originally studied under Prof. Renate Greiss-Armin, then with Prof. Peter-Lukas Graf. She already played with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie during her student days. As a partner, she has been a permanent member of the orchestra since 2003.
For her, the special thing about her favourite orchestra is the energy flow onstage and the supportive way the team pulls together.

Apart from her work with the orchestra, Ulrike Höfs enjoys playing chamber music and devoting time to her family. She loves the beaches of northern Germany, white wines from her native region of Rhine Hesse, good food and books.

Born in Zweibrücken in 1991, the percussionist Moritz Wappler studied percussion at Hanover and Bern Colleges of Music and went on to achieve a distinction in his master’s degree in performance percussion with Jochen Schorer and Brian Archinal.

Moritz Wappler is a percussionist and member of the management team of the Orchester im Treppenhaus. Together with percussionists from Hanover, he founded the international percussion festival Überschlag.

Temporary engagements with orchestras and ensembles have taken him to the NDR Radio Philharmonie, the Düsseldorf Symphoniker, the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, the Lucerne Festival Strings and the Ensemble Resonanz, among others.

He has performed in various chamber music formations at the Heidelberg Frühling Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Grafenegg Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Moritz Wappler lives and works as a freelance percussionist in Hanover. He is a lecturer at Hanover College of Music, Drama and Media.