Prof. Christian Lampert received his musical training in horn performance from Francesco Raselli (Basel), Mahir Cakar (Stuttgart) and Prof. Erich Penzel (Cologne). At an early age, he was awarded a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation and won prizes at various national and international competitions, including the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition and the German Music Competition in Bonn. 
Christian Lampert gained his first orchestral experience in the German National Youth Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the European Community Youth Orchestra. 
He later became principal horn player in the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. 
In addition to his solo activities, Christian Lampert is particularly dedicated to chamber music. He regularly performs in various renowned ensembles, including German Hornsound, HR-Brass, German Brass, Linos-Ensemble, Consortium Classicum, Antares Ensemble and AVALON Wind Quintet. 
After many years of successfully leading the horn classes at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts and the Basel University of Music, Christian Lampert moved from Stuttgart to Bern in 2022 and now teaches exclusively in Switzerland at the Bern University of the Arts and the Basel University of Music.
Since 2018, Christian Lampert has also been President for Wind Instruments at the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition. 

Johannes Hinterholzer studied with Prof. Josef Mayr and Prof. Radovan Vlatković at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and attended masterclasses with Peter Damm, Wolfgang Wilhelmi and Anthony Halstead. Even as a student, he won numerous prizes at national music competitions and, in 1998, first prize at the Gradus ad Parnassum competition in Austria, which led to numerous invitations as a soloist and chamber musician. From 1997 to 2009, he was principal hornist of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, and since 2012 he has been principal hornist of the Camerata Salzburg.
Johannes Hinterholzer has performed as a soloist with numerous major symphony and chamber orchestras, including the Camerata Salzburg, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Munich and Vienna Chamber Orchestras, and many others, performing works by Vivaldi, Telemann, Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Saint-Saens, Strauss and Britten. In 2007, he made his debut with Mozart's Horn Concerto KV 495 at the Salzburg Festival, where he also performed Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings together with Ian Bostridge and the Camerata Salzburg in 2013.

Since 2000, he has been performing as a guest solo hornist in orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart and many others.
One of Johannes Hinterholzer's specialities is playing historical horn instruments: the baroque horn and the natural horn. In addition to numerous recital programmes, he regularly performs with Concentus musicus Wien, Il Giardino Armonico under Giovanni Antonini and many other international ensembles.
In addition to his orchestral activities, Johannes Hinterholzer is a sought-after chamber music partner and has played with Daniel Gaede, Lukas Hagen, Veronika Hagen, Erich Höbarth, Dag Jensen, the Kuss Quartet, Francois Leleux, Andrea Lieberknecht, Benjamin Schmid, and many others.
In 2006, Oehms Classics released a complete recording of Mozart's horn concertos with Johannes Hinterholzer and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under Ivor Bolton, which was very well received by the international trade press. His recording of Joseph Haydn's horn concerto with Il Pomo d'oro under Riccardo Minasi won an Echo Klassik Award.
From 2000 to 2010, he taught a horn class at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, and since autumn 2008 he has been professor of horn at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.

Alec Frank-Gemmill has performed extensively as an orchestral player, chamber musician and also as a soloist, the latter most recently alongside Pekka Kuusisto and Allan Clayton with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. His 4th album for BIS records, of Mozart's horn concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, was released in November 2024 and was one of Gramophone Magazine's discs of the year. 

From 2023-2025 Alec studied conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He made his professional debut as conductor in 2022 with the Norrbotten chamber orchestra in Sweden and has since conducted projects with, among others, the Manchester Camerata, the BBC Philharmonic and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. 

For almost ten years he was principal horn of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. With the orchestra he performed frequently as a soloist in a wide range of repertoire, including Mozart on the natural horn and the Hamburg Concerto by György Ligeti. In 2019 he moved to the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra as first horn. There he has featured as soloist in Oliver Knussen's horn concerto and will premiere a new concerto by Helen Grime next season.

Alec is the founder and director of Odin Ensemble, a Gothenburg-based group which performs on instruments from the early 20th century. They toured to Germany at the end of last year and were immediately re-invited. In recognition of "an artistry in constant development and deepening", Alec received the 2023 Sten A. Olsson scholarship for culture from Sweden's Stena Foundation.

‘The truly regal Marie-Luise Neunecker plays the horn with a melodic grace and effortless, agile phrasing that other horn players can only dream of,’ wrote the Berliner Morgenpost. 
Highly acclaimed for her extraordinary virtuosity, the horn player can look back on a successful international career. She is in great demand as a soloist and chamber musician and is considered one of the most distinguished instrumentalists of our time. 
During her tenure as principal hornist with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1989, she attracted attention as a prize winner at several renowned international competitions, including the German Music Competition in Bonn (1982), the International ARD Competition in Munich (1983) and the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York (1986). Today she performs in the world's most prestigious concert halls. In 2013 she was awarded the prestigious Frankfurt Music Prize. 

In addition to her successes as a soloist, which have brought her together with orchestras such as the radio orchestras of NDR, SWR, MDR, hr, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, she also devotes her attention to chamber music. Her chamber music partners include Frank Peter Zimmermann, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Antje Weithaas, András Schiff, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Martha Argerich, as well as the Zehetmair Quartet. 
She has also appeared as a chamber musician and/or soloist at major festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Marlboro Music Festival, the Risör Festival and the Vienna Festival. 
György Ligeti wrote his horn concerto ‘Hamburgisches Konzert’ for Marie-Luise Neunecker, which she premiered in January 2001. Since then, she has performed the concerto dedicated to her in several countries. She recorded the work with the Asko Ensemble and Reinberg de Leeuw for the Ligeti Edition at Warner Classics. 

With numerous recordings that have won awards such as the ECHO Klassik and a Grammy nomination, the horn player has not only documented her exceptional status and versatility, but has also contributed significantly to raising awareness of horn literature from a wide range of eras. She has performed Strauss' horn concertos with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Ingo Metzmacher and Britten's Horn Serenade with tenor Ian Bostridge. She has also released a recording of Hindemith's concerto and a CD featuring horn concertos by Russian composers such as Reinhold Glière, Alexander Glazunov and Vissarion Shebalin. As a chamber musician, she has released a recording of Brahms' horn trios with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch, a CD with works by Othmar Schoeck, Charles and Ethel Smyth, and most recently, with Lars Vogt on piano, a recording with works by Hindemith, Kirchner, Brahms, Beethoven and Schumann. 
Marie-Luise Neunecker was professor of horn at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin until 2020. She travels all over the world giving masterclasses.

Horn soloist and teacher Frøydis Ree Wekre from Oslo, Norway, initially studied piano and violin before turning to the horn at the age of 17. Outside of Oslo, she completed her studies in Sweden, Russia and the USA. 
After a year at the Norwegian Opera, she became a member of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and played there as principal horn until 1991. She has played under conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Bernhard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Kirill Kondrashin, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Monteux, Esa Pekka Salonen and many others. In addition to her orchestral activities, she has been active as a soloist and chamber musician, primarily in Europe and North America. 
She was a professor of horn and chamber music at the Norwegian Academy of Music until 2011. Today she travels the world giving lectures and masterclasses. 
Her book, ‘Thoughts on Playing the Horn well’, has been translated into many languages. Her latest book, ‘Collected Writings’, was published in 2020. More than 40 compositions have been written for her. Some of them have been recorded for the SIMAX, CRYSTAL and 2L.no labels. 
Frøydis Ree Wekre is an honorary member of the International Horn Society, where she was also president for a time. For many years she has been associated with the Sarasota Music Festival, USA, Banff Festival of the Arts and Domaine Forget, Canada.

Beginning her musical studies at the ‘Sociedad Musical de Alboraya’ in her hometown, with Gabriel Diago as a horn teacher, she then moved to the Conservatorio Superior de Música ‘Joaquín Rodrigo’ in Valencia where she got her degree under J. Rosell, after that, she moved to Germany to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg i.B. to study with Bruno Schneider, where she got her postgraduate degree. Back in Spain, she further developed her knowledge and skills on natural and modern horn with Javier Bonet. 

She was granted with scholarships from the ‘Alexander von Humboldt’ Foundation and the Government of Valencia. Regarding French horn competitions she was awarded at the Concorso Internazionale `Città di Porcia´ and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hochschulwettbewerb in Berlin.

Maria plays often as a soloist with orchestras and chamber ensembles, and is frequently invited to perform at international festivals such as International Horn Society, British Horn Society or Nordic Horn Festival. She is very passionate about teaching and has been invited to give masterclasses at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Berklee College of Music and at the most significant Spanish Youth Orchestras and Conservatories.

With regard to her orchestral career, she is regularly invited as a solo horn with several European orchestras such as Berliner Philharmoniker or Orchestre de Paris.

As a result of her commitment to contemporary music, composers such as Voro Garcia, Elena Mendoza, Joan Magrané, Nuria Núñez or Amparo Edo have composed pieces for her.

She has released a solo recording called ‘Se hace saber’ in 2024, which has been awarded with the ‘Premio Carlos Santos’ as the best contemporary classical music album.

In 2000 she joined the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (Teatro Real) and from 2002 she is principal horn at the Orquesta de València. She is a member of ‘Quintet Cuesta’ and ‘Dreisam Ensemble’.

Raimund Zell, born in 1977, grew up in the southern German brass music scene. He studied with Michael Höltzel in Detmold and Christian Dallmann in Berlin. As a former member of the German National Youth Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra, he was a horn player in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for 10 years following engagements with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Komische Oper Berlin and the Staatskapelle Dresden. He has also played regularly with the Mahler-Chamber Orchestra for 15 years and is a regular guest with the major symphony and opera orchestras in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Raimund Zell has won several international competitions as a soloist and chamber musician, including the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition in 2004, and is active internationally as a chamber musician, soloist and teacher in addition to his orchestral activities. He taught horn for six years at the Berlin University of the Arts in the class of Christian Dallmann and held a professorship for horn and chamber music at the Bern University of the Arts in 2011/2012. From 2012-2015, Raimund Zell was professor of horn at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz and has been professor of horn at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz since 2012, as well as a mental coach. He lives with his family in Vienna.

Szabolcs Zempléni, born in 1981, won first prize and the special prize at Concertino Praga at the age of 17. This was followed by first prize at the International Horn Competition in Békés, second prize at the International Horn Competition in Markneukirchen in 2000 and first prize at the International Horn Competition in Brno in 2001.
Szabolcs Zempléni won first prize at the International ARD Music Competition in Munich in 2005. Since then, he has performed solo concerts in the Czech Republic, Japan, China, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States under the baton of Ivan Fischer, Yakov Kreizberg, Jonathan Nott, Daniel Raiskin and Michael Sanderling. He has already made his debut in major concert halls such as the Auditorium in Rome, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Philharmonie im Gasteig in Munich and the Bartók Hall in Budapest. He has also performed with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen and others. His chamber music partners include András Keller, Péter Nagy, Dénes Várjon, Christoph Eschenbach, Elena Bashkirova, Christian Zacharias and the Atos Trio.
Szabolcs Zempléni is a visiting professor at Trinity Music College in London and Tokyo Music College in Japan. In 2010, he was appointed professor of French horn at the University of Music in Trossingen. In 2018, he accepted a position at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg. Since 2024, he has been professor of French horn at the Berlin University of the Arts.
His first solo CD (Colours of the French Horn) was released in 2011.

KV Prof Jörg Wachsmuth comes from a family of musicians from Thuringia, grew up in Potsdam and studied tuba at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin under KV Prof Dietrich Unkrodt. Today, he is undisputedly one of the world's leading virtuosos on his instrument. His musical home is the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been solo tuba player there since 2000. His chamber music activities include the renowned Melton Tuba Quartet. He won first prize at the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition for tuba in 1992 and is an internationally sought-after soloist and orchestral tuba player. Concert tours have taken him to Europe, Asia, Scandinavia, South America and the USA. In addition to his many musical commitments, he began an equally successful teaching career at an early stage. He has been teaching at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden since 2002. Jörg Wachsmuth was appointed chamber musician in 2006 and chamber virtuoso in 2012. In 2009, he was appointed honorary professor for tuba. Today he teaches all over the world, organises masterclasses and is a sought-after adjudicator for competitions.

He demonstrates his comedic talent alongside top musical performances in the theatre play ‘Ilse Bähnerts Tubamania’, which has also been published as an audio book. Numerous CD productions, radio and television appearances are part of his artistic work. One of his particular passions is the world's largest playable giant tuba from the music town of Markneukirchen, which was named ‘Ilse’ in October 2015 and on which he set a world record of 52.96 seconds playing Rimski-Korsakov's “Hummelflug” in the MDR television programme ‘Stefanie Hertel - Meine Stars’ and then improved this again to 52.73 seconds in the late night show ‘TV Total’ with Stefan Raab (Pro7).

His favourite instrument is the B&S F-Tuba 3100 -IL ‘Ilschen’, model Prof. Jörg Wachsmuth, which received its public naming ceremony in the music town of Markneukirchen in 2023.

The tuba was chosen as the instrument of the year 2024 by the state music councils. The Saxon Music Council appointed Prof Jörg Wachsmuth as patron for the Free State of Saxony.

Øystein Baadsvik is voted one of the top ten brass players in history by the listeners on Classic FM. He did the first TED talk on the topic tuba and is one of the most popular classical musicians on YouTube with more than eight million views. His multi-faceted musical career as a soloist and recording artist has taken him all over the world. He regularly gives masterclasses and clinics at major universities worldwide.

His engagements include performances with orchestras such as the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Taipei National Symphony Orchestra and Singapore Philharmonic. Baadsvik has performed in some of the most famous venues in the world and 2006 made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall.

Baadsvik is an active recording artist whose CDs receive unstinting praise. In their review of “Tuba Works”, American Record Guide said, “This spectacular recording establishes Baadsvik as one of the best solo tubists in the world.” Film composer John Williams said about Baadsvik’s recording of his tuba concerto: «His rendering of my concerto far surpasses anything a composer might hope for»

Note: For audio clips and further information, please visit www.baadsvik.com

Winning the first prize at the “Concours International d’Exécution Musicale” in Geneva in 1991 marked the beginning of an extraordinary career as a tuba soloist for Jens Bjørn-Larsen.
He was also awarded the 1st Prize at The Nordic Soloist Competition, Grand Victor Borge Award, the Japanese Bunkamura Prize and the European Juventus Award.
Between 1987 and 2005, he held the position of principal tuba with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 2010 he has been member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
In 2002 Jens Bjørn-Larsen was appointed professor at the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater”, Hannover, becoming the first full-time distinguished tuba professor in Europe.
Today his students hold orchestra positions all over the world.
Jens Bjørn-Larsen teaches at the Royal Danish Academy and is the Visiting Professor at The Royal College of Music in London. He now regularly travels as a B&S and Melton Artist, performing recitals, solo concerti with major orchestras and giving masterclasses worldwide.

Gérard Buquet, born in France in 1954, is a tuba player, composer and conductor, and is regarded as one of the leading figures in contemporary music. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and musicology in Strasbourg, and was influenced in his compositional style by Claude Ballif and Franco Donatoni.
From 1976 to 2001, Buquet was a tuba player with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under Pierre Boulez, where he played a decisive role in shaping the modern tuba repertoire. As a soloist, he performed at international festivals and worked regularly with leading French orchestras. He became particularly well known for his interpretations of Helmut Lachenmann’s Harmonika. Alongside his international concert career, Buquet worked as a teacher for over two decades: From 1999 to 2022 he was Professor of Tuba at the CNSM in Paris, directed the Ensemble for New Music at the Karlsruhe University of Music from 2001 to 2018, and taught contemporary scores for wind instruments.

As a composer, he has written works for renowned ensembles such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Slowind and Nomos. His output includes solo works, chamber music, ensemble and orchestral pieces, as well as music theatre projects. Among his most recent compositions is Mnémosyne (2024/25) for saxophone and electronics.

As a conductor, Buquet has also made a name for himself with numerous world premieres and projects, including productions at the ZKM in Karlsruhe, the Staatstheater Karlsruhe and with contemporary music ensembles in Germany, Austria and France.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Ulli Haas took his first steps in music at the age of 10, playing the baritone and euphonium, and four years later the tuba. After taking lessons from his father, Berthold Haas (tubist with the WDR Symphony Orchestra), he trained under Prof. Paul Heims (Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne). The period leading up to his studies saw competition successes at Jugend Musiziert – in both the solo and ensemble categories.
Following his studies in Cologne with Prof. Hans Gelhar, he took up engagements at the Staatstheater Kassel and with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. 
Alongside his orchestral work, Ulli Haas has played in the Melton Tuba Quartet since 1987, with whom he has performed both nationally and internationally and has pioneered new works for this ensemble.
He teaches with considerable success as a professor of tuba at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Many of his students play in German cultural orchestras, in the Bundeswehr’s military bands, or work as music teachers. 
At the same time, he is involved in amateur music-making and the promotion of musical talent.
As a soloist on both the euphonium and the tuba, he performs 
with major symphonic wind orchestras and brass bands.

Prof. Eiichi Inagawa was born in Hiroshima in 1945. He began playing the tuba at the age of 12 and continued his training after graduating from school by studying tuba at the Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1970, he took up his first position as a tuba player with the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra. In October 1972, he moved to Germany and studied with Prof. Engels at the Berlin University of the Arts.
From 1973 to 1989, Eiichi Inagawa was a tuba player with the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne and also worked as a lecturer at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf and as a trainer for the German Armed Forces Music Corps in Hilden. In 1978, he was awarded the title of Chamber Musician by the City of Cologne. Today, he is a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts.

The internationally acclaimed performer, teacher, clinician and adjudicator Dutch born Hans Nickel(1958), recently retired from his position as solo tuba with the German WDR Symphony Orchestra, a position which he held from 1986 - recorded by the press as '*a legend retires'.*
As a performer Nickel has been invited to premiere works by respected contemporary composers including Stockhausen, Bedrich, Gregson, Van der Roost, Adler-McKean and Hamers. In 2024 he gave the German premiere of *Reflections on the Mississippi for Tuba and Orchestra* by Michael Daugherty in a live stream performance from Cologne with the WDR Symphony Orchestra.
He won the hightly esteemed 'European Soloist of the Year' prize twice at the EBBC in Rotterdam and Cardiff. His many solo CD recordings include *canTUBAllada*(considered 'essential listening' by the Sunday Times),*Tuba Obsessions, In Freundschaft, 'aus den leopardi-zyklus'* and Bernstein's *Mippy.*
During the Corona pandemic Nickel turned more to social media and easy-listening music. Thus the *Hans Nickel plays...*series was created by the WDR with popular classics re-arranged for tuba and chamber orchestra. The first of the eight recordings in this series reached over one million people earning him the comment '*The Tuba becomes a digital star...'-*all these recordings can be viewed on YouTube.
As a popular teacher Hans Nickel still teaches at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, and has just retired from the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf and the Conservatorium in Maastricht. He also taught the low brass of the German Bundeswehr in their pre-university programme for many years.
Nickel regularly teaches worldwide and can now enjoy seeing his former students holding positions in the world's top orchestras including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Radio Orchestra Athens, Opera Marseille, the Seoul Symphony Orchestra and Xi'an Symphony Orchestra. Other have become dedicated teachers themselves and teach at renowned institutes and some have become successful conductors - Joost Smeets and David Daubenfeld for example- whilst others such as Thomas Leleu enjoy a world wide reputation as a performer.
Nickel enjoys working as a chamber musician and has performed with the Belgian Brass Soloists, the Asko Ensemble, Ensemble Modern and many others.
In 2008 he formed Brass Consort Köln with his orchestral brass colleagues, who went on to create the project 'Das Blech Kommt' which was adopted by the WDR as an educational project throughout NRW. The BCK have been popular musicians in the WDR 'Maus' series and produced a YouTube film in 2025 'First Aid With The Mouse' with which they went on an educational tour.
2025 was a busy year with participation in the ThaiTEC 2025, the LizBrass '25(Leiria Brass Festival, 2025 Wuhan Low Brass Festival and other major events, playing with many symphony orchestras including NDR, the Brussels Philharmonic and his former orchestra WDR, plus appearing as a soloist with several Dutch groups.
2026 is proving to be an equally busy and rewarding year.
In other words 'retirement' has merely meant a slight change in direction…

**Professor Hans Nickel - proud to perform on instruments 'Made by ADAMS'** Spring 2026