Philharmonic Chamber Music: Of Pilgrims, Lovers and Child Prodigies

Cornelia Gartemann has been a member of the second violin section of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2003. She received her first violin lessons at the age of six. At the age of 15, she studied under Eckhard Fischer at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, where she continued her training under Thomas Christian after completing her artistic matriculation examination. She also attended master classes held by Saschko Gawriloff, Rainer Kussmaul, Herman Krebbers and Yfrah Neaman. Cornelia Gartemann has won prizes at various national and international competitions; she was a scholarship holder of the Jürgen Ponto Foundation, the German Foundation for Musical Life and the German Music Council. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts and at festivals in Germany, other European countries and Asia.

Julia Gartemann studied viola at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold under Nobuko Imai and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under Michael Tree. She was subsequently a scholarship holder at the Berliner Philharmoniker’'s Karajan Academy. Julia Gartemann enjoyed success in various competitions and was awarded numerous prizes and scholarships (German Foundation for Musical Life, German Academic Scholarship Foundation, among others). In November 2000, the musician was accepted into the viola section of the Berliner Philharmoniker.  Julia Gartemann gives guest performances as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Germany and abroad. She is also involved in Philharmoniker chamber music groups (Venus Ensemble Berlin, Brahms Ensemble Berlin) and with her sister Cornelia in the Duo Vialto. She also teaches as a lecturer at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin.

Christoph von der Nahmer started playing the violin at the age of five. He studied under Thomas Brandis, the long-time first concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and was a scholarship holder at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. This was followed by solo performances with the Landesjugendorchester NRW, the Baden-Baden Philharmonie and the Berliner Symphoniker. In 1997, Christoph von der Nahmer was accepted into the second violin section of the Berliner Philharmoniker while still a student. It was not until the following year that he took his concert exam at Berlin University of the Arts. In addition to his work in the orchestra and solo performances, the violinist is involved in chamber music with the Philharmonic Camerata.

Bruno Delepelaire has been first principal cellist of the Berliner Philharmoniker since November 2013, but he already played in the orchestra before that: “I still remember my first concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker very well. I was a scholar at the Karajan Academy at that time, and we played Beethoven’s Third Symphony under Bernard Haitink. The energy emanating from the orchestra was incredible. I immediately felt swept away – it was a dream!” Only a few months after his appointment, Bruno Delepelaire played the solo cello part in Strauss’s Don Quixote with the orchestra, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Since then, he has appeared several times as soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker – in such varied works as Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 and John Williams’s Elegy for Cello and Orchestra. Bruno Delepelaire, who also appears frequently as a guest with other orchestras, has won prestigious awards, both as a soloist and with his string quartet Quatuor Cavatine. He also performs as a chamber musician in the Berlin Piano Quartet and with the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Martin von der Nahmer played the violin for five years before switching to the viola at the age of eleven. He first became a student of Konrad Grahe at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. From 1999 to 2004, he studied under Hartmut Rohde at Berlin University of the Arts. While still a student, Martin von der Nahmer performed as a soloist with the Philharmonia Hungarica and the Landesjugendorchester NRW. Before even graduating, he auditioned for the Berliner Philharmoniker, who accepted him into their viola section in 2004. Martin von der Nahmer is also a keen chamber musician, for example in the Violentango ensemble. Together with Philharmoniker colleagues, he also founded the Varian Fry Quartet in the 2012/13 season.

Solène Kermarrec comes from Brest (France) and completed her cello studies at three renowned institutions: at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique in Paris under Jean-Marie Gamard, at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest under Miklós Perényi and at Berlin University of the Arts in the class of Wolfgang Boettcher. She has been awarded several prizes, including first prize at the Domenico Gabrielli Competition in 2003. Since January 2007, Solène Kermarrec has been a member of the cello group of the Berliner Philharmoniker and consequently also of the internationally successful ensemble of the 12 cellists; she also plays in the Venus Ensemble Berlin.