Double bass player and trumpet player pass the probationary period

The Berliner Philharmoniker is pleased to welcome two new members: Bertold Stecher and Piotr Zimnik, who have both passed their probationary period. Congratulations!

Piotr Zimnik has been playing in the double bass section of the orchestra since January 2022. The Polish-born musician studied at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno and at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin, and was also a scholarship holder at the Karajan Academy. He gained orchestral experience as a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and as assistant leader of the double bass section with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. A prize-winner of several international competitions, he has also worked with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, among others.

Bertold Stecher moved from his position as principal trumpet in the orchestra of Deutsche Oper Berlin to second trumpet of the Berliner Philharmoniker in August 2022. Raised in South Tyrol and its brass music tradition, he received his training at the Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium under Lothar Hilbrand and at the Mozarteum University under Hans Gensch. Before Bertold Stecher became a professional orchestral musician, he played in various youth orchestras. He began his career in 2012 as principal trumpet in the Bolzano Haydn Orchestra and has made guest appearances in solo positions with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Orchestra of La Scala Milan, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, among others.