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.

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.

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.