Dominik Wollenweber - oboe, English horn


- has been a vital member of the Berlin Philharmonic since 1993, he is considered the best English horn player worldwide. „As an English horn player I have a lot of time to listen. I mostly play when all the other musicians are silent. The dark sound of the English horn is especially effective at lyrical, melancholy and contemplative moments“. The sound of the horn has accompanied him since his childhood, for his father played the horn in the Bavarian State Opera. Only at the age of fourteen Dominik started with the oboe, before he had played the flute. His further oboe steps directed him to the classes of Hagen Wangenheim at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich and later he studied under Simon Dent at Richard Strauss Conservatory, also in Munich. In the years 1991-93 his first connection with the Berlin Philharmonic began while being a scholarship holder of the Orchestral Academy and studied under Hansjörga Schellenberger. At the same time Dominik performed as a solo oboist with the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), under the conduction of Claudio Abbado. Dominik Wollenweber is a laureate of the music competition ARD (1996). His orchestral and chamber performance goes together with his pedagogical activities, since 2000 he has been engaged in the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin as an external professor and also in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (GMJO) as a supervisor of the wind instruments´ section.



Vilém Veverka - oboe


Vilém Veverka (1978) is one of the Czech Republic’s most respected interpreters. A graduate of the Prague Conservatory (F. X. Thuri) and Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts (Liběna Séquardtová), he also attended a number of courses by French oboist Jean-Louis Capezzali. His involvement in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra was a key spur to his artistic development, as were his subsequent studies under leading German oboist Dominik Wollenweber at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. A two-year stint with the Berlin Philharmonic (on a Karajan Foundation grant) greatly benefitted his professional development, while the preeminent foreign oboists Albrecht Mayer, Hansjörg Schellenberger, Maurice Bourgue and Heinz Holliger provided him with more than mere inspiration. His journey culminated with triumph in one of the most prestigious oboe competitions, the Sony Music Foundation (Tokyo, 2003). Veverka’s performances of contemporary music have won him attention as a soloist. His repertoire includes pieces in all styles, from Baroque to contemporary. He works with outstanding Czech and foreign orchestras (Prague Philharmonia, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bayerisches Kammerorchester, Münchener Kammerorchester, Slovak Philharmonic, Krakow Philharmonic, etc.). He has performed several demanding compositions from the second half of the 20th century in their Czech premiere (Berio, Britten, Carter, Feldman, Rihm, Yun, Zimmermann), including concertos by Martinů and Kopelent. His versatility as an interpreter underscores not only the first Czech complete recordings of Telemann’s 12 Fantasias for Oboe solo but also the first complete rendition of Zelenka’s Trio Sonatas with the Ensemble Berlin-Prag, which he founded in 2011 with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. Veverka is solo oboist with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, chief of the PhilHarmonia Octet and an ambassador of the French company Buffet-Crampon. In 2014 he was artist in residence at the top German festival Mitte Europa. In September 2015 he brought out his third solo album on Suprahon, of concertos by Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann, which he recorded exclusively with Ensemble 18+.
www.vilemveverka.cz
www.facebook.com/VeverkaVilem



Mor Biron - basoon


- his first instruments had been the (violon)cello and the bass flute, later he concentrated on playing the bassoon. He had studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance under Gad Lederman and Maurizio Paez. In 2004, he broadened his experience at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin where he studied under Klaus Thuneman and Volker Tessman. In the years 2004-2006 Mor was studying at the Orchestral Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, since 2007 he has been a bassoon player in this prestigious ensemble. Mor Biron has perfected his mastery with various orchestras, primarily with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (GMJO), the Jerusalem Camerata and the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin. He is a soloist of an eminent ensemble of Daniel Barenboim, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. As a chamber player, he has appeared also with the Philharmonic Octet Berlin or the Berlin Philharmonic Winds. Since 2014 he has been playing as a soloist with the harpsichordist Barbara Maria Willi.



Barbara Maria Willi - harpsichord, fortepiano, historic organ


- the harpsichordist of German origin studied in Freiburg and Strasbourg under Aline Zylberajch, apart from mastering the harpsichord she also studied the hammerklavier. Later she studied harpsichord/fortepiano with Kenneth Gilbert and Early music performance practice with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where she graduated in1995. In the same year she earned the first prize of prestigious "Prix d’encouragement-special mention" (an international harpsichord competition in Bruges). After 1989 Barbara has settled in Czechoslovakia where she has found the new working and living base. Barbara Maria Willi is a professor of historic keyboard instruments at the Janacek Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, where she has established and leads her own harpsichord studio. This internationally respected soloist is a sought after expert in the Czech Republic, as for Early music. She has also performed at numerous renowned Czech and European music festivals. Together with the famous British violinist John Holloway and the lutenist Nigel North, she recorded newly-discovered sonatas by J. H. Schmelzer from the Kromeriz music collection. This recording was awarded the "Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik" (the prize of German music reviewers) and has met with an outstanding response of the American music reviewers "Fanfare and American Record Guide 2001". In 2000, she co-operated with the mezzo-soprano Magdaléna Kožená and the counter-tenor Thierry Grégoire in a performance of George Frideric Handel´s cantatas at the music festival Concentus Moraviae. The television broadcast of the performance was awarded the prestigious Golden Prague Festival Prize, 2000. Barbara also worked with Magdaléna Kožená on the recording of the CD with the Prague Chamber Philharmonia, conducted by Michel Swierczewski for a reputable recording company Deutsche Grammophon.



Pavel Nejtek - double bass


- there is no need to introduce the profile of the Czech double bass player Pavel Nejtek at great length, his command of double bass speaks for itself. This respected artist has been a member of the Czech Philharmonic since 1988 as an assistant director of double bass section. Before studying at the Conservatory in Pilsen, the Czech Republic (1979-84), he had graduated from the Comprehensive school of natural science in Cheb, the Czech Republic. In 1982 Pavel Nejtek had won the first prize in an international double bass competition in Kroměříž, followed by a successful audition to the Suk Chamber Orchestra, Prague. Pavel Nejtek is a popular chamber player besides his activity in the Czech Philharmonic. In 1996 Pavel earned the first prize in an international chamber music competition in Osaka, Japan. He performs as a guest player in the PhilHarmonia Octet Prague and is a member of the ensemble Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis. Pavel Nejtek also plays an important part in many leading Czech Quartets, such as The Stamitz Quartet, The Panocha Quartet, Apollon Quartet and Henschel Quartet. He has participated in realization of a wide range of recordings, such as J.D.Zelenka; Magic Bassoon, featuring Pergolesi, Geminiani, Marcello, Corrette, Telemann, Braun, Fash etc.


Ulrich Wolff - double bass, violone, viola da gamba


- initially started with the violin, later the double bass has prevailed over. He graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts where he studied under Rainer Zepperitz. In 1977 Ulrich Wolff continued to gain experience as a musician in the International Youth Orchestra which was founded & directed by Leonard Bernstein and a year later he has become a member of the Berlin Philharmonic. In the years 1981-85 he performed as a solist under the conduction of Sergiu Celibidache in the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and in 1997 Ulrich became a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra where he stayed for three years. Ulrich Wolff has also been intensively devoted to chamber music, mainly with chamber ensembles such as the Philharmonic String Octet, the Musica Antiqua Köln (as a former member) or the Concerto Melante. Ulrich Wolff is an expert on such historic instruments as the violone in D and G and the viola da gamba. Since 2005 Ulrich has given lectures at the Academy of G. Mahler in Potenza, Italy which was founded by Claudio Abbado.