Clara Yuna Friedensburg grew up in a family of musicians and began playing the cello at the age of seven. She made her debut at the age of eleven and went on to perform as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Her highlights include performances at the Verbier Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. She was awarded first prize and a special prize at the national Jugend Musiziert competition and second prize at the international Anton Rubinstein competition for young cellists as well as at the international Young Musicians competition in Tallinn. She was awarded fourth prize at the international Polstjärnepriset competition in Sweden and, aged 13, was named ›Talent of the Year‹ by the Norwegian Council of Cultural Schools.

Clara Yuna Friedensburg studies with Prof Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. As a ‘German Foundation for Musical Life’ scholarship-holder she plays a J.B. Vuillaume cello on loan from the German Musical Instrument Fund.

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.

Born in Vienna in 2001, Lukas Sternath performed as a Viennese choirboy on the major stages of Europe, North America and Asia. He received his musical training on the piano from Anna Malikova and Alma Sauer at the Vienna College of Music and Performing Arts. Since 2022, he has been studying with Igor Levit at Hanover College of Music, Drama and Media. His other mentors include Till Fellner, Ingolf Wunder and Sir András Schiff. In September 2022, Lukas Sternath caused a sensation at the International ARD Music Competition; in addition to first prize, he was awarded seven other special prizes including the Audience Award. The previous year, he won several prizes at the International Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Bolzano, the International Schubert Piano Competition in Dortmund and the European Piano Competition in Bremen.

In recent seasons, Lukas Sternath has made his recital debut at the Musikverein Vienna and performed for the first time with the Wiener Symphoniker, the SWR Symphonie Orchester and the Münchner Philharmoniker. Most recently, he made his debut in the recital series of the Brussels Flagey, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the Munich Prinzregententheater, the Turin Lingotto and the Tonhalle Zürich. Further highlights included a tour with Jakub Hrůša and the Bamberg Symphoniker, performances at the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival and the Heidelberger Frühling. Nominated in 2023 by the Musikverein and Konzerthaus Wien as well as the Philharmonie du Luxembourg, Lukas Sternath was named ECHO Rising Star of the 2024/25 season.