Since his debuts with Sir Simon Rattle, Magdalena Kožená and the Berlin Philharmonic and also at the Salzburg Festspiele, Christian Schmitt has been one of the world’s most sought-after organists. During the 2021/22 season, he will be the ‚Artist in Focus‘ of the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich. Since 2014 he has been curating an organ series at the Bamberg Concert Hall as the ›Principal Organist‹ of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Recent international concert highlights include his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Japanese premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s ‚Embrace – Light and Shadow‘ with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Christian Schmitt has given recitals at the Bachfest Leipzig, at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and has played the organs of international concert halls from Vienna to Montréal. He has worked with many renowned conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Barenboim, Philippe Herreweghe, Jakub Hruša, Marek Janowski and Manfred Honeck.

As a supporter of new organ music, Christian Schmitt regularly plays works by composers of the 20th and 21st centuries and combines contemporary compositions with works by composers such as Bach and Schumann.

Since the winter semester of 2021, he has been Organ Professor at Codarts University Rotterdam and successor to Ben van Oostens.

Described by the Tagesspiegel newspaper as a »once-in-a-century talent«, Tarmo Peltokoski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen in January 2022, thereby becoming the first conductor in the orchestra’s history to hold this position. In May 2022, he was appointed Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and was later appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Since the 2025/26 season, this Finnish conductor has been Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. From the 2026/27 season, Peltokoski will become Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, having served as Designated Music Director in 2025/26. In addition, Peltokoski will begin his three-year residency as ›Exclusive Artist‹ at the Konzerthaus Dortmund in the 2025/26 season.

Peltokoski has already conducted numerous orchestras of note worldwide, including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and The Los Angeles Philharmonic. He conducted his first complete ›Ring Cycle‹ at the age of 22 at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. His upcoming Wagner opera productions include ›Tristan und Isolde‹ (Dutch National Opera), his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with ›Parsifal‹,  and ›Lohengrin‹ with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.

In 2023, he received the OPUS Klassik award for his recording with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen. In October of the same year, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon; his debut album was released in May 2024.

At the early age of six, Matthias Höfs declared the trumpet »his instrument, because it was so beautiful and shiny«. He received his professional training from Peter Kallensee at Hamburg College of Music and Drama and from Konradin Groth at the Berlin Philharmoniker Karajan Academy. At just 18, he became principal trumpet with the Philharmonische Staatsorchester Hamburg and at the same time was a member of German Brass, with whom he became world famous. Since the ensemble’s first concert in 1985, he has been tailoring arrangements for him and his colleagues to perform, which continue to inspire brass players from every genre.

With a pioneering musical spirit, incomparable virtuosity and a love of experimentation, Matthias Höfs continues to broaden the horizons of his instrument, whether through the close collaboration with composers as ›Ambassador of the Trumpet‹ in his native Schleswig-Holstein, or through the long-term cooperation with instrument makers Max and Heinrich Thein. Since 2000, Höfs has been conveying his passion for his instrument to the students at Hamburg College of Music and Drama, where he teaches with great commitment. Alongside his extensive concert activities as soloist and chamber musician, this trumpeter has also produced numerous solo CDs. In October 2016 he was awarded an Echo for CD recordings with German Brass.