Sarah Christian’s wish is to convey the honest emotion and energy of classical music to her listeners. In her artistic life, she enjoys combining all influences, not having to compromise anything in her many roles as soloist, chamber musician, the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen’s concert master or as Artistic Director of a chamber music series in her home town of Augsburg. Here she makes the highest demands on herself. Her focus, when studying scores, is always on the music itself, which she approaches with the greatest respect. Her most important teacher is Antje Weithaas, with whom she studied at the Hanns Eisler Music College in Berlin and whose assistant she later became. As professor, Sarah Christian supervises her own class at the Stuttgart College of Music and Performing Arts.

One of her greatest competition success is the ARD Music Competition 2017, at which she won 2nd Prize (no 1st prize was awarded). She also won the audience prize and the Munich Chamber Orchestra’s special prize. Sarah Christian has performed in many European countries, as well as in China, Japan, South America and The United States. As soloist, she has played with orchestras such as the Camerata Salzburg, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia. She gave her debut at Carnegie Hall with the Bavarian State Orchestra in March 2018. Her Debut CD (GENUIN, 2017), featuring Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 80 and Schubert’s C Major Fantasy has been greatly praised by the press »Sarah Christian’s solo debut is simply fantastic! This violinist has proven to be an extremely sensitive interpreter and she is technically quite simply unimpeachable.« (klassik.com).

During his studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Jeffrey Armstrong was awarded numerous prizes, most notably the Principal’s Prize for outstanding contribution to the life of the conservatoire. He is currently enrolled in the solo class of Elisabeth Kufferath at the Hanover College of Music, Media and the Arts. In addition, Jeffrey has worked with and received memorable masterclasses from musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Lawrence Power, Antje Weithaas, and Eberhard Feltz among others

As a soloist, this young violinist has already performed many concerts including with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa. He recently won first prize in the UNISA National Music Competition, leading to a performance and recording with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Jeffrey regularly appears as a guest at the Wye Valley Music Festival in England. This violinist is also involved in other projects including the Cape Chamber Music Collective, which he jointly founded in South Africa, as well as the musical education project ›Arco Project‹ for disadvantaged children in Soweto, Johannesburg.

7歳でヴァイオリンを始め、11歳でヴィオラも習い始める。オークランド大学でスティーブン・ラーセンに師事し、両方の楽器を学ぶ。その後、ヴィオラに専念することを決め、シュトゥットガルト音楽演劇大学でアンドラ・ダルツィンスに師事し、現在修士課程修了に向けて研鑽を積んでいる。

これまでに室内楽、オーケストラ、ソロ演奏など幅広い音楽教育を受ける。室内楽に情熱を注ぐグレースは、主要コンクールで受賞歴を持つ様々なアンサンブルに参加経験があり、現在はNERIDAカルテットのメンバーとしても活躍。ソリストとしても、ニュージーランド全国コンチェルト・コンクールやギズボーン国際音楽コンクールで入賞している。オーケストラでは、ニュージーランド交響楽団、ナショナル・ユース・オーケストラ、シュレースヴィヒ＝ホルシュタイン祝祭管弦楽団などと共演。また、クライストチャーチ交響楽団とオークランド・フィルハーモニア管弦楽団にもアカデミー生としてスタートの後、在籍していた。

4歳で、地元の音楽学校で初めてチェロのレッスンを受ける。リューベック音楽大学にてトレルス・スヴァーネのもとで学士号を取得。2022年より、ライプツィヒ音楽大学の修士課程でペーター・ブルンスに師事。ペーター・ブルンス、ダヴィド・ゲリンガス、ウォルフガング・エマヌエル・シュミット、グスタフ・リヴィニウスのマスタークラスにも参加し、重要な音楽的インプットを得る。全ドイツ青少年音楽コンクール「ユーゲント・ムジツィアート」で三度の1位に輝くほか、チェコのヘラン国際コンクール、オーストリアのリーツェン国際チェロコンクール、ハンガリーのダーヴィト・ポッパー国際チェロコンクールなど、数々の国際コンクールでも受賞を重ねている。

ソロ演奏に加え、室内楽にも意欲的で、自身のピアノ・トリオでベルリン・フィルハーモニー、ボストン、ワシントンなどでコンサートを開催。また、弦楽カルテットを組み、リューベックのブラームス音楽祭や大西洋フェスティバルに出演している。ドイツ国家楽器基金第27回コンクールでの受賞により貸与されたニコロ・ビアンキ（ジェノヴァ1871年製）のチェロを使用。2022年、オーディションに合格し、ドイツ・カンマーフィルハーモニーのアカデミー生となる。その才能を見込まれ、アカデミー在籍中の2023年にはカンマーフィルハーモニーの試用期間を無事終え、2024年より正式に入団。

Elke Schulze-Höckelmann was national prizewinner in the ›Jugend musiziert‹ competition and a junior student at the University of Music in Münster. She subsequently studied in Cologne and Oslo and played in the European Community Youth Orchestra. But possibly her participation »in the grass-roots democratic grammar school wind orchestra« was the decisive experience that would later lead her to feel most at home with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.
To find this out, she was previously a member of the Kassel State Theatre Orchestra, the Württemberg Philharmonie Reutlingen and the Philharmonia Hungarica Marl. She has been a soloist with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 1993. When she is not playing here, she enjoys playing the historical horn in various ensembles for Early Music.

Originally from New Zealand, Emma Yoon began her studies with Stephen Larsen at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. She then completed her master’s degree and concert exam with Elisabeth Kufferath at the Hanover College of Music, Drama and Media. She also studied chamber music with Oliver Wille in Hanover. Among other prizes, this violinist has won the New Zealand National Concerto Competition. In 2010 she made her solo debut with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. Emma Yoon is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with outstanding artists such as Sarah Christian, Florian Donderer and Tanja Tetzlaff. Her most recent recording, the chamber music album ›Jonny‹, was nominated for an Opus Klassik in 2020.

Both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, Emma Yoon has performed concerts throughout Europe, the UK, the USA and New Zealand, and has appeared at international festivals such as the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, the Rottweil Musikfestival Sommersprossen and the Heidelberger Frühling. She was an academist with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen from 2017 to 2019 before becoming a permanent member of the orchestra, and has played as concertmaster in ensembles such as the Kammer­philharmonie Landshut, Musica Assoluta and Camerata Hamburg.

She has also completed an internship with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover and has played as a section leader in ensembles such as the Kammer­philharmonie Landshut and the Camerata Hamburg. Since 2018, Emma Yoon has also been a member of the Estonian Festival Orchestra, working with Paavo Järvi at the Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia.

Saskia Niehl began learning to play the violin at the age of five and has been active in numerous orchestras since the age of nine. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the Freiburg College of Music and her master’s degree in orchestral music at the University of the Arts, Berlin. This young violinist has been a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie since 2016. She was concertmaster of the University Orchestras in Freiburg and Berlin and at Hanover College of Music, Media and the Arts where she is currently a member of Elisabeth Kufferath’s soloist class.

In addition, Saskia has performed as soloist with the Brandenburgische Staatsorchester Frankfurt (Oder) and has deputised with many other orchestras such as the Kammerakademie Potsdam or the Hamburg Camerata.

Saskia is also equally at home in the realm of chamber music. Since 2018, she has been a member of the NERIDA Quartet, with which she has already received several prizes, including the Boris Pergamenschikow Competition Berlin and the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition.

Maria del Mar Mendivil was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina. After studying in Buenos Aires at the ›Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón‹, she participated in the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, where she met Ingrid Zur and decided to continue her studies in Germany. Supported by the Germany Scholarship and the Mozarteum Argentino Foundation, Maria del Mar was able to begin her undergraduate studies at the Frankfurt College of Music and Performing Arts in 2016, where she is currently completing her master’s degree.
This viola player was able to acquire further inspiration through participation in masterclasses with Garth Knox, Lars Anders Tomter, Eberhard Feltz, Heime Müller and Gerald Fauth.

Her musical life has been particularly shaped by close contact with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen and the Frankfurt Opern- und Museumsorchester, where she was able to accumulate valuable experience and impetus.

She has had further musically formative experiences with the Malbec Piano Quartet. With this ensemble she studied chamber music in Frankfurt with Angelika Merkle. Furthermore, she and the quartet have won prizes at chamber music competitions, recorded a CD and played numerous concerts both at home and abroad.

When she is not working as a freelance viola player in Germany, Maria del Mar likes to spend time in her hometown, enjoying contact with family, friends and the sea, sometimes on a surfboard.

Born in Paris, Tristan Cornut has won prizes at many international competitions, including the ARD Music Competition, the Domnick Competition and the Gaspar Cassado Competition. He studied with Roland Pidoux at the Paris Conservatoire and at Stuttgart College of Music as well as with Jean-Guihen Queyras at Freiburg College of Music.

He has performed as soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphonie Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk, the Stuttgart Kammer Orchester, the Münchner Kammer Orchester, the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble Resonanz, among others. Since 2012, he has been principal cellist of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

A passionate chamber musician, he has performed alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Antonio Meneses, Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Giuranna, Miguel da Silva and Daniel Hope as well as being prize-winner at the Melbourne, Trondheim and Joseph Haydn (Vienna) chamber music competitions.

Tristan Cornut has been Professor of Violoncello at the Stuttgart University of Music since 2017. He currently plays a 2005 Urs Mächler cello.