Jury Preselection

Oliver Kipp studied violin at the conservatories in Hannover with Atila Aydintan and in Berlin with Thomas Brandis. Kipp received his training as an orchestral musician during his studies as a member of the “European Community Youth Orchestra” (1987–1993), with the NDR Radiophilharmonie (1991–1993) and as a guest violinist of the Berliner Philharmoniker (1994–1998). He has been section leader of the NDR Radiophilharmonie since 1998.

In 1999 he founded the “Hyperion Trio”, with which he won the International Johannes Brahms Competition in 2001. Since then, he has performed extensively with this ensemble. Oliver Kipp has been the violin and chamber music tutor for the European Union Youth Orchestra since 2008. He has a teaching position at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media. He also works regularly with the academy members of the NDR Radiophilharmonie. He is a sought-after juror at international competitions, a lecturer at master classes and a member of the audition panel of the European Union Youth Orchestra.

Find out more at https://www.oliverkipp.com

Anna Lewis was born near Moscow, where she also received her first training at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Prof. Fedor Druzhinjn. She has lived in Germany since 1992 and initially studied in Freiburg with Prof. Kim Kashkashian, before she continued her studies in Frankfurt with Prof. Tabea Zimmermann, where she graduated with the academic degree “Concert Soloist”.

In 1994 she became solo violist at the Zurich Opera and from 1998 to 2002 she played as 1st solo violist at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. She was principal viola at the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and has been principal viola at the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover since 2003. Anna Lewis regularly plays chamber music, among others with the Arte Ensemble.

Kathrin Rabus studied in Basel with Sandor Zöldy, in Tel Aviv with Pjotr Bondarenko and in New York with the famous violin teacher Dorothy DeLay. Masterclasses with Nathan Milstein, Henryk Szeryng and Gidon Kremer complemented her artistic training.

Rabus was first concertmaster of the NDR Radiophilharmonie from 1988 to 2022, becoming the first woman to hold this position in a German radio symphony orchestra. She is a welcome guest at international festivals and was honored with the prestigious ECHO Klassik Award in the chamber music category in 1999. As a soloist, she has performed Bartok's 2nd Violin Concerto under Michael Gielen, Schumann's Violin Concerto under Berhard Klee and Schumann's “Fantasie” under Heinz Holliger.

Her teaching and lecturing activities have taken her to the German National Youth Orchestra, the Japanese Chamber Music and Orchestra Academy Toyama, the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Villa Musica Mainz and the University of Music and Drama Hannover.

Reynard Rott was born in California and studied in Philadelphia before obtaining his bachelor's degree from the Juilliard School in New York at the age of 20. He then pursued a Master's degree in contemporary music performance at the University of California, San Diego under Prof. Charles Curtis. Since 2003, he has been the principal cellist of the State Orchestra of Lower Saxony in Hannover and has performed in this position with numerous orchestras in Germany and abroad.

Active as a teacher for many years, Reynard Rott teaches regularly at the Orchesterzentrum NRW in Dortmund, and is a Lecturer for orchestral studies at the University of Music, Theatre and Media in Hannover. His specialisation in contemporary music performance has led to appearances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Kampnagel Festival in Hamburg, and the Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen. His work is documented on recordings released by Mode Records, Saltern, and ZHdK Records.

With her profound, multi-faceted and virtuoso violin playing, Friederike Starkloff is considered one of the most meaningful musicians of her generation. Born in Chemnitz in 1990, she received violin lessons from Wolfgang Marschner and Ariane Mathäus at the Pflüger Foundation in Freiburg at the age of five. This was followed by musical training with Rainer Kussmaul in Freiburg and Antje Weithaas to whom she was an assistant from 2017 to 2022 at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.

At the age of 24, Friederike Starkloff became the youngest concertmaster of a radio orchestra in Germany to win the position of first concertmaster of the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover. Since then, she can look back on a period of diverse artistic experience, which she is continuing with the 23/24 season in the position of first concertmaster of the Basel Symphony Orchestra. She also performs as a sought-after soloist and is a popular chamber musician in numerous concerts and productions.

Find out more at www.friederikestarkloff.com