In the classical music world, violinist Christian Tetzlaff is known as an exceptional musician and is highly praised for his expressive and sensitive interpretations. His individual approach to the score, in which he always seeks the emotional and structural depth of a composition, is often described in concerts as a truly existential experience. Since his spectacular debut with Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto in Berlin, Munich and Cleveland in 1988, this violinist has performed with leading orchestras of the highest calibre and has collaborated with multiple renowned conductors. His extensive repertoire ranges from Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas to lesser-known concertos by Giovanni Battista Viotti and Joseph Joachim to contemporary works by György Ligeti, Jörg Widmann and Thomas Ades. In February 2026, the violinist is giving the world premiere of Ondrej Adamek’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in Paris, followed by national premieres in Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Chamber music is an integral part of Christian Tetzlaff’s career. In 1994, he founded the Tetzlaff Quartet together with his sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, and which was awarded the Diapason d’or l’année. This violinist has also received numerous awards for his many recordings as soloist, including the Diapason d’or, the German Record Critics’ Award and the Midem Classical Award. In 2023, he also took over as artistic director of the Spannungen Festival in Heimbach. This extraordinary musician has enjoyed a close friendship with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for many years.

Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this collaboration has been the acclaimed, globally celebrated performances of the Beethoven cycle, for which Järvi received numerous awards including the ›Echo Klassik Conductor of the Year‹ award and the prestigious annual ›German Record Critics‹’ award. Their Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Schumann and Brahms; both cycles also received numerous awards. Since autumn 2021, the focus has been on Joseph Haydn’s twelve London symphonies, and since 2024, an intensive exploration of Franz Schubert’s symphonies.

Paavo Järvi has been Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich since the start of the 2019/2020 season. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival, which he established in 2011. He regularly appears as a guest conductor with major orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he was named ›Artist of the Year‹ by both the British magazine Gramophone and the French magazine Diapason. This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for ›Conductor of the Year‹. Other awards include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’ Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the title ›Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres‹, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015, Paavo Järvi also received the Sibelius Medal in recognition of his work in bringing this Finnish composer’s music to a wider audience, and in 2012 he received the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. As a committed supporter of Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013.