grasp and let go

Hans-Jakob Eschenburg received his first cello lessons at the Rostock Conservatory. After studying with Josef Schwab at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, he was principal cellist of the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1988.

With the renowned Petersen Quartet, of which he was a founding member and to which he belonged until 2000, he won several international competitions (Prague, Evian, Florence, Munich) and performed at major concert venues and numerous festivals in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia. Several of the Petersen Quartet’s numerous CD recordings have won international awards.

Since 1999, Hans-Jakob Eschenburg has been principal cellist of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. He held the same position in the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra. He regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician, including as a member of various chamber music ensembles such as the Gideon Klein Trio. Hans-Jakob Eschenburg teaches as an honorary professor at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. He is also involved as a mentor at the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Yugo Inoue was born in Tokyo in 1995. He began playing the violin at the age of five and switched to the viola at 16. He studied at Tokyo University of the Arts with Toshihiko Ichitsubo and, since 2020, under Veit Hertenstein at the Detmold University of Music.

He gained orchestral experience from 2021 to 2023 as an academician with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, as well as through temporary positions with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. He received further inspiration from masterclasses with Hariolf Schlichtig, Tabea Zimmermann, and Nobuko Imai. Since 2023, he has been playing in the viola section of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Richard Polle was born into a family of musicians. At the age of six, he received his first violin lessons from his mother. At the age of 12, Richard began his training as a junior student at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar with Jost Witter and continued two years later at the Music High School Schloss Belvedere Weimar. He completed his bachelor’s degree with Josef Rissin at the University of Music Karlsruhe with honors and his master’s degree with Antje Weithaas at the University of Music “Hanns Eisler” Berlin.

He has won numerous national and international competitions. He won first prizes and special prizes in the solo and duo categories at the German national competition “Jugend musiziert,” at the international violin competition “Postacchini” in Fermo (Italy), “Villa de Llanes” in Llanes (Spain), and was a prize winner at the international violin competition “Kocian” in Ústí nad Orlicí (Czech Republic), at the international Lake Constance violin competition, and at the competition of the Kulturfonds Baden e.V.

He has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of the Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Suhl, the Philharmonic Orchestra Erfurt, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Kirov (Russia), the Berlin Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim, and the Kurpfälzisches Chamber Orchestra Mannheim, and has participated in several master classes with Thomas Christian, Olga Parkhomenko, Roman Nodel, Ana Chumachenko, Boris Garlitsky, Jörg Widmann, and others.

Richard Polle was a scholarship holder of the Thuringian Ministry of Culture, the Sparkassenstiftung Erfurt, the Friends of the Karlsruhe University of Music, and the Musical Instrument Fund of the German Foundation for Musical Life, and received the Gerd Bucerius Scholarship from the ZEIT Foundation in the German Foundation for Musical Life.

From 2014 to 2016, he was a scholarship holder at the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and since 2016 he has been a permanent member of the first violins.

Christa-Maria Stangorra (*1995/ Germany) received her first violin lessons at the age of four. She studied in London, Hamburg (Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender), Sion and Florence (Pavel Vernikov), and finished her Master degree under Ning Feng at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in 2022. In 2021 she became a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, one year later she won a permanent position in the same orchestra in the 2nd violins. As for the 2024/25 season she changed into the 1st violin section of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Christa-Maria received prizes at various national and international competitions and participated in numerous masterclasses. Christa-Maria appeared several times at London’s Wigmore Hall and Madrid’s Ateneo. She gave solo performances with orchestras including the Polish Chamber Philharmonic, North German Philharmonic Orchestra and Asian Chamber Orchestra of Hongkong. As a member of the LGT Young Soloists she was featured at concert venues such as Tonhalle Zürich, Rheingau Musik Festival and Victoria Hall in Singapore. Several CDs with the LGT Young Soloists‘ were released for Sony/ RCA Red Seal.

As a very passionate chamber musician Christa-Maria has appeared at London’s Wignore Hall, Madrid’d Ateneo as well as several chamber music festivals, namely „Thy Chamber Music Festival“ in Denmark or Clasclas Festival in Vilagarcia where she shared the stage with sought-after artists such as Máté Szücs, Guy Braunstein, Alena Baeva and Vadim Kholodenko. She took part in the Zermatt Festival & Academy launched by the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic.