Gäste / Guest Artists

Baroque violinist Alfia Bakieva is an internationally renowned concertmaster, soloist, and chamber music partner. She studied with Enrico Onofri and Hiro Kurosaki and is the prizewinner of numerous competitions. She regularly performs in leading positions with orchestras such as Il Pomo d’Oro, the Cappella Mediterranea, the Dresden Festival Orchestra, Il Concerto Scirocco, and the Basel Chamber Orchestra. Bakieva plays a Francesco Ruggeri violin, built in 1680 in Cremona, Italy, lend to her by the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation.

Jonathan Ponet is a Belgian violist and violinist, chamber musician, and ensemble player with a focus on historical performance practice. He studied at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Thomas Riebl and Hiro Kurosaki. He is a sought-after musician who performs with numerous ensembles and at international chamber music festivals throughout Europe and other parts of the world.

Martin Schneider developed a great interest in early music at a young age, which led him to study at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Mayumi Hirasaki (baroque violin) and Reinhard Goebel (historical performance practice). He is a member of numerous orchestras and ensembles.

Arisa Yoshida studied double bass at the Tokyo University of the Arts, the Mozarteum University Salzburg, and the University of Music Saar, where she graduated with the concert exam degree. She gained orchestral experience with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, among other ensembles. Thanks to Vittorio Ghielmi, she came into contact with the violone. This fascinating instrument continues to inspire her enthu siasm for early music. She currently plays various bass instruments in a number of ensembles.

Thanks to his expressive playing and dramatic skill, Axel Wolf is regarded as one of the leading lutenists today. He performs worldwide with artists such as Dorothee Oberlinger, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Ivor Bolton, Teodor Currentzis, and Sergio Azzolini as well as with ensembles such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and The English Concert. In addition to taking part in more than 70 award-winning CDs as a continuo player, he has released several solo productions.

Gambist and cellist Robert Smith is particularly dedicated to interdisciplinary projects and to straddling genres. A winner of the Bach-Abel Competition, among others, Axel Wolf, Laute 16 he is an internationally sought-after continuo player and chamber music partner whose playing has been characterized by The Observer as „of exceptional quality.“ In 2022 he was appointed professor at the Cologne University of Music.

Anne-Suse Enßle is a soloist and chamber musician who is dedicated to the interpretation of early and contemporary music. Her focuses include collaboration with composers, developing new, often interdisciplinary concert formats, and chamber music at the highest level. She studied recorder with Dorothee Oberlinger and Carsten Eckert and baroque bassoon with Makiko Kurabayashi and Jennifer Harris. Since 2020 she has taught a recorder class at the Tyrolean State Conservatory in Innsbruck.

Alexander von Heißen studied with Eva Maria Pollerus, Jesper Christensen, and Diez Eichler. He has received the Opus Klassik award as well as Second Prize at the Musica Antiqua competition in Bruges and performs as a soloist and in ensembles worldwide with artists such as Andreas Scholl, Dorothee Oberlinger, Luca Pianca, Michael Schneider, and Reinhard Goebel. He was awarded a scholarship at the 2021 German Music Competition and was accepted into the competition’s concert support project. He currently teaches at the music universities in Münster and Frankfurt.

Elisabeth Wirth’s musical interests range from the sixteenth-century art of diminution to the passionate exploration of contemporary music. She is constantly searching for formats off the beaten path. She studied with Dorothee Oberlinger and Gerd Lünenbürger and regularly performs with Dorothee Oberlinger, Vittorio Ghielmi, Reinhard Goebel, Midori Seiler, and Nils Mönkemeyer. She has taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna since 2018 and, as a recorder player and teacher, is a frequent guest at numerous festivals and masterclasses.

Felix Gutschi is studying recorder at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Dorothee Oberlinger. He has given guest performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Verbier Festival, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, and the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival. Both as a soloist and with ensembles, Gutschi has won awards at numerous international competitions. With his fusion band Chez Fría, he successfully breaks through genre boundaries.

Jonathan Volbers is studying with Dorothee Oberlinger at the Mozarteum University Salzburg. He has received significant musical inspiration from Walter van Hauwe, Han Tol, Maurice Steger, Antonio Politano, and Michael Form. He is supported by the Von Detten-Foundation Münster and the German Foundation for Musical Life.