Dimitri Ashkenazy
was born in New York to an Icelandic moth- er and a Russian father, and grew up in Iceland and Switzerland. Now himself the father of two boys, he divides his time between recording (for paladino, Orlando, Sheva Collection, Brilliant Classics, VDE Gallo, DUX, ABC Classics), performing all over the world, giv- ing masterclasses and coaching at various academies, and caring for his children at home. Dimitri Ashkenazy lives in Basel.

Robin Sharp
is a solo performer, chamber musician, concertmaster, and teacher. In addition to maintaining a private teaching studio, Ms. Sharp performs as Concertmaster of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and is on the music faculty at Stanford University as Full-time Lecturer in Violin and Chamber Music. In addition she performs as violinist with the Saint Michael Trio, and plays in the San Francisco Symphony as a substitute violin- ist.

Mechthild Karkow
performs internationally as a soloist, orchestra leader and chamber musician in and with various ensembles and at renowned festivals. Her main focus is on historical performance practice of the 17 th – 19th centuries. She complements her concert activity with seminars, talks and masterclasses on that subject. Since 2013 she has been a professor for baroque violin and chamber music at the HMT Leipzig, and she currently also teaches at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (HfMDK) in Frankfurt am Main.

Jennifer Anschel
A native of Minnesota, Jennifer Anschel started playing the viola at age three. She went on to study at the prestigious Juilliard School and then travelled overseas to study in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl. Shortly after joining the Faust Quartet in Germany, Jennifer met and played her first concert with Dimitri Ashkenazy. They became instant friends and played many concerts together during her time in the quartet. Currently she lives in Berlin where she is the solo violist of the Kammerakademie Potsdam.

Gundula Leitner
born in Linz, studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Wilfried Tachezi, Enrico Bronzi und Clemens Hagen.

Since 2015 she has been a regular player in the Vienna Philharmonic and at the Vienna State Opera. From 2016 – 2017 she was the principal cellist of the Royal Opera House La Monnaie in Brussels. She is a passionate chamber musician, and plays with partners such as Sophie Pacini, Martin Grubinger, Fazil Say und Barbara Bonney.