Sun, Mar. 22, 2026, 11.00 am | Elbphilharmonie, Recital Hall
Advance ticket sales start in 18 days on Mon, May 19, 2025, 11.00 am
Ernst von Dohnányi: String Sextet in B flat major
Jörg Widmann: “180 beats per minute” for string sextet
Johannes Brahms: String Sextet in B flat major op. 18
Violine: Kathrin Wipfler
Violine: Sawako Kosuge
Viola: Bettina Rühl
Viola: Yitong Guo
Violoncello: Tobias Bloos
Violoncello: Saskia Hirschinger
Kathrin Wipfler was born near Stuttgart in 1992. She was a junior student of Emily Körner in Stuttgart, then studying with Elisabeth Kufferath in Hanover and, as an exchange student, with Nora Chastain in Zurich for one year. During her studies, she was supported for five years by the String Instrument Collection of the State of Baden-Württemberg. She also attended numerous master courses given by Nora Chastain, Mi-Kyung Lee, Donald Weilerstein, Mauricio Fuks and András Keller, among others. A passionate chamber musician, in 2016 she received a scholarship to attend the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, USA, where she had the opportunity to work and perform with members of the Cleveland, Juilliard and Brentano String Quartets. She has also performed chamber music with Elisabeth Kufferath and Donald Weilerstein. Kathrin Wipfler gained orchestral experience as an intern and regular substitute at the NDR Radio Philharmonic in Hanover, at the NRD Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Stuttgart State Orchestra. Since 2018 she has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Sawako Kosuge was born in Tokyo and received her first musical education at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Tokyo. After gaining orchestral experience in Japan, including with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, she came to Germany in 2018. In 2021, she completed her master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig with Prof. Henrik Hochschild, and continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden with Prof. Ralf-Carsten Brömsel. In the seasons 21/22 and 22/23 Sawako Kosuge was an academist of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2023 she plays in the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg.
Bettina Rühl studied with Rainer Schmidt in Würzburg and Ingrid Philippi in Stuttgart. During this time, she was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and was an intern at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, also attending master courses with Serge Collot and Madeleine Prager, among others. She appeared as a chamber musician with the Trio Giocoso (viola clarinet, piano), the Ensemble Kontraste in Nürnberg and others. After five years as principal viola at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, Bettina Rühl joined the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2001. She is a regular substitute at the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. She strives to perform musical rarities and to focus more on chamber music. Bettina Rühl is a sought-after chamber music partner, appearing regularly in the chamber music series of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and with ensemble acht. In 2013 she joined her colleagues in recording the collected chamber music of Felicitas Kukuck. Since 2015 she has been a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
Yitong Guo was born in Lanzhou (China) and grew up in Beijing. He studied at the Juilliard School in New York, the Manhattan School of Music, the Berlin University of Arts as well as at the Mozarteum Salzburg. He is currently continuing his Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. At the same time, he is a teaching assistant for viola at HfMT Hamburg. His teachers and mentors include Thomas Riebl, Pinchas Zukerman, Hartmut Rohde, Anna Kreetta, Patinka Kopec, and Samuel Rhodes. Yitong Guo received the 1st prize at the International Clara Schumann Competition, the 2nd prize at the Hudson Valley String Competition, the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Centre in Canada, and 5th place at the International Max Rostal Competition. As a musician, he has participated in various festivals and masterclasses, such as the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Festival, the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, and the Seiji Ozawa International Academy. Since 2020, Yitong Guo has been a violist in the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg.
Tobias Bloos received his first cello lessons from Martin Löher, subsequently studying with Wolfgang Mehlhorn at the Hamburg Music Academy from 1994 onwards. He took up studies with Wolfgang Boettcher at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2002. A native of Hamburg, Tobias Bloos is the winner of various competitions such as “Jugend musiziert”, the Domenico Gabrielli Cello Competition, the International Charles Hennen Chamber Music Competition in Heerlen, Netherlands, and the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta, Italy. He also received the Eduard Söring Prize of the Foundation for the Support of the Hamburg State Opera. Tobias Bloos has appeared at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, among others. He has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since 2008.
Saskia Hirschinger was born in Halle an der Saale in 1995 and took cello lessons with Tamara Steger from the age of five. In 2014 she began studying with Wen-Sinn Yang at the Munich Academy of Music and Theatre. She received important musical impulses at master courses with Wolfgang Boettcher, Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Jens Peter Maintz and Troels Svane. During the 2018/19 season Saskia Hirschinger was a member of the Academy of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. She subsequently continued her master’s degree studies with Martin Ostertag at the Karlsruhe Music Academy. She also won several competitions and the award of the New Liszt Foundation in Weimar. Saskia Hirschinger was a fellow of “Live Music Now” in Munich and also won a “Deutschlandstipendium” scholarship. She gained orchestral experience as a cellist at the Stuttgart State Orchestra and as a substitute in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. In March 2020 Saskia Hirschinger became a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra.
The soundscapes of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra's chamber concerts are as diverse as the characters of the musicians who perform in them. The demands in the orchestra pit are often characterized by the size and diversity of the voices. Chamber music, on the other hand, reduces this dimension to smaller ensembles and allows for intimate musical interaction. As in a dialog, different opinions come together, new ideas emerge and develop during the performance, opening up a creative space for spontaneous development.
Venue: Elbphilharmonie, Recital Hall, Platz der Deutschen Einheit 4, 20457 Hamburg
Advance ticket sales start in 18 days on Mon, May 19, 2025, 11.00 am
