David Gorol, violin
Andres Mehne, viola
Martin Smith, cello
The Berolina Ensemble, founded in 2009, concentrates mostly on bringing the works of composers who have been forgotten in the course of musical history to the concert halls of today. The activities of the ensemble include performances at the Lunch Konzerte of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Crescendo Music Festival and the Thüringer Orgel Sommer, with works comparable with those of Mozart, Schubert and Brahms.
David Gorol
- Was born in Gera in 1978
- Played in the Bundesjugendorchestra, Jungen Sinfonie Berlin and the Jungen Deutschen Philharmonie.
- Was accepted at the age of ten to the &Franz Lizt& class at the Music school in Weimar and studied the violin with Susanne Jaspers &Concertgebouworkest& in Amsterdam.
- Studied at the School of Musik and Theater in Leipzig with Prof. Christoph Jacobi. Continued his studies with Prof. Johannes Leertouwer, Prof. Ulrike Anima-Mathé and Prof. John Holloway.
- Was first Konzertmeister at the Staatstheaters Cottbus, Berlin Symphoniker, Sinfonieorchesters Trondheim and a few other chamber orchestras.
- Performed as a soloist with the Staatskapelle Halle and Jenaer Philharmonie.
- Taught at youth and amateur orchestras.
- Founded the Berolina Ensemble to devote himself mainly to chamber music, particularly unknown composers.
- Loves to catch predatory fish and, with a glass of eighteen year old whiskey in his hand, prepare them for dinner!
John Doig
- Born in 1988 in Oxford
- Started the violin at the age of eight and was accepted three years later as a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School.
- Completed his Bachelor of Music in London while studying first with Simon Fischer and later Boris Brovtsyn.
- Played chamber music and as a soloist at the Wigmore Hall and Menuhin Festival in Gstaad Switzerland.
- Has been studying for a masters degree since 2011 at the Musikhochschule Lübeck under Prof. Heime Müller
- Plays in the table football league in Lübeck.
Valentin Priebus
- Was born 1985 in Bergisch-Gladbach
- Played in the Landesjugendorchester NRW and the Jungen Deutschen Philharmonie
- Studied at the Hochschule für Musik &Hanns Eisler& in Berlin with Prof. Stephan Forck
- Other musical influences include Steven Isserlis, Natalia Gutman, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt and Peter Bruns
- Is an academist at the Deutschen Symphonie-Orchesters Berlin
- First prizewinner at the Bundeswettbewerbs &Jugend musiziert& and the Internationalen Violoncellowettbewerbs Woluwe St. Pierre, Brüssels
- Is our resident sportsman, finding time to kite surf and play field hockey. He also knows every ski resort in Germany!
Martin Smith
- Born 1981 in Sydney Australia
- Studied at the Sydney Conservatorium with Susan Blake and Uzi Wiesel, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater &Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy& in Leipzig with Prof. Peter Hörr and at the Schola di Musical di Fiesole in Florenz with Natalia Gutman
- Lessons and masterclasses with Heinrich Schiff, Yo-Yo Ma and Gary Hoffman
- Won a scholarship from the Ian Potter Foundation, the Australian Musikstiftung and the DAAD
- Performed as a soloist with the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, the Esbjerg Ensemble and the Lyoner Kammerorchester
- Is a prizewinner of the Australian Council Musicprize, the Marten Bequest Stipendium in Australia 2009 and Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra &Young Performer of the Year& 2009.
- Member of the Streeton Trio and Lyon Streichtrio
- Chamber music collaborations include artists such as Kim Kashkashian, Leon Fleisher, und Midori Goto
- Has been invited to play at festivals such as Ravinia (USA), Prussia Cove (England), Los Angeles (USA) und Mahler-Musikfestivals (Italien)
- Lives on a diet of pure sushi
Rolf Jansen
- Born 1980 in Wesel
- Had his first double-bass lesson at the age of nine
- Studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Prof. Peter Pühn Has been playing since 2005 in the Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
- Was the solo bassist in the Bundesjugendorchester and the European Union Youth Orchestra
- Won first prize at the &Jugend musiziert& competition as a Solist chamber musician
- Scholarship holder at Villa Musica
- Has played chamber music with Tabea Zimmermann, Antje Weithaas and the Faurequartett
- Stands for hours with his camera waist deep in water waiting for the perfect bird photo and for the same length of time playing snooker in the evening!
Viller Valbonesi
- Began his piano studies in 1989 under Mauro Minguzzi with whom he continued studying until he got his Diploma with 'the highest praise' from the Konservatorium in Fermo Italy.
- Completed his studies under Fabrizio Lanzoni at the Conservatory &G. Frescobaldi& in Ferrara and Sergio Perticaroli at the &Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia& in Rome graduating with honors.
- Has been having lessons since 2012 at the &Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler& in Berlin with Fabio Bidini
- Has had masterclasses with Bruno Canino, Alexander Lonquich, András Schiff, Michel Beroff anf Arie Vardi
- Won first prize at the 2012 &Berliner-Klavierwettbewerbs&, the special &Mozrt& prize at the &Schubert-Klavierwettbewerb& in Dortmund (awarded for the best interpretation of a piece by Mozart) and numerous other prizes at international competitions.
- Has played works of Liszt, Chopin and Ravel on Italian Radio &RadioClassica&
- Can only enjoy his evening meal if it's accompaied with Tuscan red wine.
Franziska Dallmann
- Born 1981 in Berlin
- Played in many youth orchestras including the RIAS-Jugendorchester
- Studied at the Hans Eisler school of music with Prof. Eberhardt Grünenthal and Prof. Christina Faßbender and at the HfMT Hannover with Prof. Andrea Liebknecht Continued her studies with Renate Greiss-Armin and Jean-Claude Gerald
- Won scholarships at the &Villa Musica& Foundation, the Wettbewerbs des Deutschen Musikrats (Bundesauswahl junger Künstler) and the Yehudi Menuhin's foundation &Live music now&
- Was an academist at the Staatskapelle Berlin and had a contract at the Dresdner Philharmonie and Komischen Oper.
- Performed the D major Concerto by Mozart and the B minor Suite by Bach as a soloist.
- Won first prize at the &Jugend musiziert& and is a prizewinner at the &community MSU& and Deutschen Musikwettbewerbs
- Loves to do puzzles!
Friederike Roth
- Born 1982 in Bernkastel-Kues
- Played in the Bundesjugendorchester
- Sudied at the Music school Köln with Prof. Ralph Manno and was awarded a distinction in her final exams at the Universität der Künste in Berlin with Prof. François Benda
- Had masterclasses with Prof. Karl-Heinz Steffens, Prof. Eduard Brunner and Prof. Karl Leister
- Was the Solo-Clarinetist of the Deutschen Kammerorchesters, the Bergischen Sinfoniker and the Berliner Symphoniker
- Played as soloist with the Landesjugendorchester Nordrhein-Westphalen, the Sinfonietta Köln and other chamber orchestras
- Won a Bundespreis at the Jugend musiziert 2000 and in 2008 a special prize at the Mozart-Wettbewerb in Wisebaden
- In 2010 founded the Clarinet quartet BLATTGOLD, with whom she won the Alice-Samter-Preis in Berlin the same year
- Had a teaching post at the Universität der Künste in Berlin
- Enjoys nothing more than the combination of an expresso and a couple of hours in her photography studio
Viola Wilmsen
- Born 1985 in Bonn
- Studied in Lübeck with Diethelm Jonas, in Paris with Jacques Tys and in Berlin with Dominik Wollenweber
- Won scholarships at Ad- Infinitum-Foundation, the foundation Villa Musica, the J. Ponto-Stiftung, the deutschen Stiftung Musikleben, and the deutschen Musikrates
- Won first prize at the Sony Competition in Japan, (the first time the prize had been won by a German or a woman), the Audi Mozart- Wettbewerb in Italien, the Michal Spisak Wettbewerb in Poland, the Beethoven Society Bonn and at the BBC &Young Musician of the Year& in England
- Has made solo appearances with the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra Japan, the Haydn-Orchestra Italy, the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden, Switzerland, the Münchener Kammerorchester and the Klassischen Philharmonie Bonn
- Has taken part at internationalen Musikfestivals such as The Next Generation II, the Festspielen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , & Sandstein und Musik&, the Hitzacker Musikwochen, the Kultursommer Nordhessen and the Festivals Gstaad und Flims, Switzerland
- Has played on German television
- Loves funk and fusion music
Justus Mache
- Born 1989 in Schwerin
- Was solo basson in the RIAS-Jugendorchesters and the Baltic Youth Philharmonic
- Studied at the Universität der Künste in Berlin with Prof. Eckhart Hübner
- Won a scholarship at the Brigitte-Feldtmann-Foundation and the &PE-Förderkreises für Studierende der Musik&
- Was an Academist at the &Deutschen Oper& Berlin
- Played with the Neubrandenburger Philharmonikern, the Deutschen Symphonieorchester Berlin and the Karajan-Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker
- Can't survive the summer without a few days holiday at the Baltic sea!
Maciej Baranowski
- Born 1989 in Poland
- Studied at the Universität der Künste with Prof. Friedrich Dallmann
- Won several scholarships at the polnischen Kulturministeriums
- Member of the Karajan Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker
- Played in the orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Bachakademie Stuttgart, the Deutschen Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
- Won first prize at the Polish Horn Competition in Lódz, the Internationalen Musikwettbewerbs Sannicandro di Bari, and received an award at the 59th International Music Competition &Prague Spring&
- When not practicing Maciej is sailing!