Chamber concert Ballhaus Wedding

Richard Polle was born into a family of musicians. At the age of six, he began his first violin lessons with his mother. At 12, Richard started his studies as a junior student at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Jost Witter and continued his education two years later at the Musikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere Weimar. He completed his bachelor’s degree with honors under Josef Rissin at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe and earned his master’s degree with Antje Weithaas at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin.

He won numerous national and international competitions, including first prizes and special prizes in solo and duo categories at the “Jugend musiziert” national competition, the international violin competition “Postacchini” in Fermo (Italy), the “Villa de Llanes” competition in Llanes (Spain), as well as awards at the international violin competition “Kocian” in Ústí nad Orlicí (Czech Republic), the international Lake Constance Violin Competition, and the competition of the Kulturfonds Baden e.V.

He has performed with the Kammerorchester der Rheinischen Philharmonie Koblenz, the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Suhl, the Philharmonisches Orchester Erfurt, the Philharmonie der Stadt Kirow (Russia), the Junge Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, and the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim. He has also participated in several masterclasses, including those with Thomas Christian, Olga Parkhomenko, Roman Nodel, Ana Chumachenko, Boris Garlitsky, and Jörg Widmann.

Richard Polle has been a scholarship recipient from the Thüringen Ministry of Culture, the Sparkassenstiftung Erfurt, the Friends of the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, the Musikinstrumentenfonds of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, and received the Gerd Bucerius Scholarship from the ZEIT Foundation in the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

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

Violinist Ania Bara-Rast began her violin studies as a junior student in Conrad von der Goltz’s early development class in Regensburg and continued her studies after graduating from high school in Krzysztof Wegrzyn’s class at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. She completed her bachelor’s degree with top marks, as well as her master’s degree at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg with Tanja Becker-Bender.
She received special musical impulses in numerous masterclasses with professors such as Maxim Vengerov, Mauricio Fuks, Ulf Wallin and Nora Chastain.
She has won several national prizes in the “Jugend musiziert” competition, both as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles.
She was concertmaster of the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra and a member of renowned youth orchestras such as the German National Youth Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.
Ania has been a trainee at the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover since 2012, was accepted into the Academy of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Hamburg for the 2013/2014 season and was also a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss.
She has played in the 2nd violin section of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2016.
She has also been 2nd violinist in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra since 2021.

Alejandro Regueira Caumel, born in 1991 in Málaga/Spain, began playing the violin and piano at the age of six. In Madrid, he studied with Anna Baget and moved to Dionisio Rodríguez as a violist in 2008. In 2009 he came to Germany and studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” with Pauline Sachse and Tabea Zimmermann. Master classes with Wilfried Strehle, Andreas Willwohl, Roberto Díaz, Felix Schwartz and Jean Sulem complemented his education.

Chamber music has been a particular focus of his career to date. He participated in the chamber music festival of the “Kronberg Academy” and in the “Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland”, performed repeatedly with the Frielinghaus Ensemble and can be heard regularly at chamber music festivals such as the “Festival Ribeira Sacra” or in the Nikolaisaal Potsdam. He also won first prizes at various competitions, including the “Concurso Ibérico de Música de Cámara con Arpa” (in duo with harpist Maud Edenwald), the XII. International Competition for Viola and Cello “Villa de Llanes”, at the “Concurso María Cristina” for young soloists and at the competition of “Jeunesses Musicales” in Spain.

Alejandro Regueira Caumel gained orchestral experience as a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, as well as through substitute work with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and as principal violist with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Orquesta Nacional de España.

From 2010 to 2012 he was an academist with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and has been its principal violist since 2015.

Andreas Kipp, born in 1975 in Hameln, began his first cello lessons at the age of six with Frauke Rottler. He continued his musical education with Christiane Aydintan before enrolling in studies with Michael Sanderling at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin. After completing his diploma in Berlin, Andreas Kipp furthered his studies with a postgraduate course in Frankfurt am Main. From 1995 to 1999, he was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the European Union Youth Chamber Orchestra.

In 1998, he began working with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, initially as an intern and later as an academy member. Andreas Kipp also played as a substitute with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, where he had a temporary contract from 2006 to 2009.

Since 1994, Andreas Kipp has been active in chamber music as a member of the cello quartet “Berliner Cellharmoniker.” The ensemble won the “Charles Hennen” International Chamber Music Competition (Netherlands) and the Violoncello Ensemble Competition in Beauvais (France), and received the Special Prize of the City of Beauvais, the EMCY Special Prize “Dancing Angel,” and the Förderpreis of the European Cultural Foundation “Pro Europa.”

The ensemble’s performances on renowned stages and at prestigious music festivals, such as the Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festivals, as well as appearances in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and several CD productions, demonstrate the vibrant engagement of this cross-over ensemble.