WELCOME!

Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt studied with David Geringas, Mstislav Rostropovitch and Aldo Parisot. Amongst other achievements, he has won the Deutsche Musikwettbewerb and was a prize winner at the Rostropovich Cello Competition in Paris and at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In 1992 he won the first prize at the International Music Competition PACEM IN TERRIS in Bayreuth. Since then he has performed with major orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin working with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Marek Janowski, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jiri Belohlavek, Vassili Sinaiski and Hugh Wolff. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt is a professor at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt“ in Weimar.

Maria Grätzel studied violin with Lukas David at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and literature and theatre studies, as well as philosophy in Erlangen and Osnabrück. She has been a dramaturg for both concerts and operas in Heidelberg, Kassel and Freiburg/Breisgau, amongst others. Having worked as artistic administrator for the Munich Chamber Orchestra she became cultural consultant to the Tertianum Residenz in Munich. In 2003 she took over the directorship of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 2011 Maria Grätzel has been the artistic administrator of the Tonkünstler-Orchester, Lower Austria and of the Grafenegg Cultural Organisation.

Born in Sweden, Frans Helmerson was taught by Guido Vecchi in Gothenburg, Giuseppe Selmi in Rome and William Pleeth in London. Encouraged early on by Mstislav Rostropovitsch, Helmerson won the Concorso Gaspar Cassado in Florence in 1971 and has performed with renowned orchestras and conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Colin Davies, Neeme Järvi, Evgeni Svetlanov, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, Sergiu Comissiona, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Kurt Sanderling. Between 1994 and 2001 Frans Helmerson was the Artistic Director of the Korsholm Festival in Finland. He holds teaching positions at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, the Kronberg Academy and the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.

Christian Jost is one of the pre-eminent composers of his generation. His operas and orchestral works are performed regularly throughout the world. In 2003 Jost was awarded the advancement prize by the Ernst von Siemens Foundation, and he has received commissions from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Zurich Opera, the Lucerne Festival and the Komische Oper Berlin, among others. His opera “Hamlet” was named “World Premiere of the Year” by Opernwelt magazine, as chosen by critics. As a conductor, Christian Jost has lead numerous orchestras including the philharmonic orchestras in Bremen, Hamburg, Essen and Graz, as well as the Netherlands and Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestras.

Born in Pretoria, Gérard Korsten studied violin with Ivan Galamian in Philadelphia and with Sándor Végh in Salzburg. He was the concertmaster and substitute musical director of Camerata Salzburg, and in 1987 became the concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Since 1996 he has devoted himself to conducting, including as principal conductor in Uppsala, Pretoria and Cagliari. Korsten has worked at the opera houses in Milan, Lyon, Stockholm, and at the Glyndebourne festival. His conducting engagements have included concerts with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and the SWR Symphony Orchestra. Gérard Korsten has been principal conductor of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra since 2005 and Music Director of the London Mozart Players since 2010.

Nikolaus Trieb was born in Stuttgart and studied with Andre Navarra and David Geringas. Since 1992 he is solo - cellist of the Düsseldorf Symphonic Orchestra, and since 1997 he teaches at the "Robert - Schumann" academy of music in Düsseldorf. Furthermore, he is solo - cellist of the Bayreuth Festival´s orchestra since 2009. He also addresses himself a lot to chamber music: He played, among others, together with Martha Argerich, Nelson Freire, David, Geringas, Heinrich Schiff, Ida Biehler, Jürgen Kussmaul, Isabel Charisius. Nikolaus Trieb also cares very much about contemporary  music: He performed the solo part at the worldpremiere of Bernd Franke´s "CutX", he first performed the cello concerto of Xaver Paul Thomas in Düsseldorf and recorded Thomas Blomenkamps´ Cello - Suite for the Label "Neos" in 2012. 

Igor Ozim was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he attended the local music school. After studying with Max Rostal in London, he won the Carl Flesch Prize and, in 1953, the ARD International Music Competition. Numerous concert engagements followed, both in Europe and overseas including performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Many of the contemporary works he has premiered are dedicated to him. As one of the most sought after violin teachers in Europe and the world, Igor Ozim teachers at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, at the Hochschule für Musik in Bern, and, since 2002, at the Mozarteum Salzburg.

Natalia Prishepenko was born in Siberia und was taught the violin by her mother Tamara before moving to the conservatoire in Novosibirsk to study with Zachar Bron, whom she followed to the Musikhochschule in Lübeck in 1988. In 1989 she became a founder member of the Artemis Quartet, a world renowned string quartet, which Natalia Prishepenko lead for eighteen years until 2012. She has won important competitions such as the Wieniawski Competition, the Paganini Competition in Genua (1990), the Tokio Competition (1992), and was a prize winner at the 1993 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Alongside her teaching at the University of the Arts in Berlin, Natalia Prishepenko has been performing as a soloist since 2012.