Chamber concert by the RSB Orchestra Academy

Seogyun Noh was born in South Korea and studied violin at the Korea National University of Arts, where she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She then became a member of the KBS Symphony Orchestra Academy Programme in Seoul. She is currently continuing her studies in the Master of Music programme at the Cologne University of Music and Dance in the class of Prof. Yeeun Choi. She is a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and an academician in the orchestra academy of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Antonia Mütze (born in Solingen in 2004) grew up in Berlin and began taking violin lessons at the age of five, which she later continued under Prof. Johannes Kittel (Hanns Eisler Academy of Music, C. Ph. E. Bach Music School). Since 2018, she has also studied the viola with Marion Leleu, which has become her second principal subject. She has won several national prizes at the ‘Jugend Musiziert’ competition on both the violin and the viola.
She made her debut as a soloist at the age of ten with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra at Altenberg Cathedral and has performed with, amongst others, the Brandenburg State Orchestra in Frankfurt (Oder). In 2025, she performed as a soloist with the Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra. She attended masterclasses with Nobuko Imai and Hariolf Schlichtig and took part in masterclasses at the Kronberg Academy. Antonia gained orchestral experience with, amongst others, the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie and the Berlin Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
In 2023, she began her viola studies with Prof. Diemut Poppen (HfM Detmold). Since 2024, she has been studying with Prof. Veit Hertenstein in Detmold and, in the same year, was awarded a scholarship by the Hans and Eugenia Jütting Foundation.
Antonia plays a viola by Falk Johannes Peters (Aachen).

Livia Paté, born on May 5, 2002, in Berlin.
She began her musical journey in 2006 with violin lessons under Yoko Hoshino. In 2012, she became a student at the C.P.E. Bach Gymnasium and a junior student at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, studying with Professor Kittel. In 2015, she switched to the viola and continued her studies with Professor Ditte Leser. In the same year, she became a member of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie and, in 2016, joined the International Music Academy Berlin.

From 2021, Livia Paté studied with Professor Pauline Sachse, initially in Lübeck, and in 2024 she moved with her to the University of Music in Leipzig. In parallel, she became a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in 2024 and completed an Erasmus semester at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Professor David Gaillard in 2024/2025.

Her artistic activity encompasses solo, chamber, and orchestral performances. Highlights include solo concerts within the International Music Academy at the Konzerthaus Berlin (2017), a piano quartet concert as part of the “Preludes Concerts” series (2019), solo appearances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Rotes Rathaus for the opening of the Music School Congress with Klaus Lederer (2019), and a concert with the Julius Stern Institute Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach (2019). Other significant engagements include the chamber music workshop “Making Music Together” at the Kronberg Academy (2020), various chamber music concerts with quartet lessons under Professor Heime Müller (2022), a masterclass with a concluding solo concert with orchestra in Bad Elster (2023), and participation in the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (2024).

Livia Paté has received numerous awards and scholarships, including a scholarship from the International Music Academy Berlin (2017), support from the Ad Infinitum Foundation (2022), the Young Talent Award of the Chursächsische Philharmonie (2023), and a grant for social engagement with 14 quartet concerts through Musethica (2024).

Born in 2003, the Korean cellist Danbin Lee is regarded as one of the most promising young musicians of her generation. She is highly regarded for her expressive tone, musical maturity and refined artistic sensibility. She is currently studying for a Master of Music in cello at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin under Professor Troels Svane.
In 2025, Lee was selected as a Fellow and Principal Cellist of the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival and School (USA). Her participation in Aspen marked an important milestone in her international career and demonstrated her exceptional talent both as a soloist and as an orchestral musician.
She is a prize-winner at major international competitions, including First Prize at the 8th International Dotzauer Competition for Young Cellists (2022), First Prize at the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition (Junior Division), and First Prize at the David Popper International Cello Competition.
As a soloist, Lee has performed with orchestras in Europe and Asia, including the Torrevieja Symphony Orchestra (Spain) and the Dresden University Symphony Orchestra (Germany), performing works by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Boccherini and Haydn. Her solo recitals have been presented at venues including the Hanns Eisler Chamber Music Festival in Berlin, the Kumho Art Hall and the Elim Art Hall in Seoul.

As a dedicated chamber musician, she has performed at festivals such as Music in PyeongChang and the Mostly Cello Festival with Jens Peter Maintz. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Arts Council Korea (ARKO) in Europe Ensemble and has given concerts at prestigious venues such as the Stiftung Mozarteum Wiener Saal in Salzburg.
Her musical development has been shaped by masterclasses with world-renowned cellists, including Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Wen-Sinn Yang, Danjulo Ishizaka, Jens Peter Maintz, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Miklós Perényi. Her active participation in the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses and the Kronberg Festival, as well as at the Cello Academy Rutesheim (Germany), where she further deepened her artistic expressiveness, proved particularly formative.
Combining lyrical sensitivity with intellectual precision, Danbin Lee continually expands her artistic horizons across Europe, Asia and the United States, representing a new generation of cellists who share music as a universal language with the world.

Ji Woo Yoon is a Korean-Australian cellist who, after completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover with Prof. Tilmann Wick and Paolo Bonomini, is currently studying at the Berlin University of the Arts with Prof. Konstantin Heidrich.

Her numerous competition successes abroad include: winner of the string category at the Valsesia Juniores Musica Competition 2020 (Italy), 1st prize at the Melbourne Youth Orchestra Virtuosity Competition and a special prize at the J.S. Bach and Great Romantics Competition, both organized by the Melbourne Recital Centre.

She was a prize winner at the Tiroler Festspielhaus Erl Academy 2023 cello audition. She was an intern with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and had a temporary contract as a principal player with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra.

Ji Woo loves interacting with other musicians who share her passion and finds it exciting to share her own ideas and interpretations with other artists and the audience when she is on stage.

Jannis Lichtenfels was born in Heidelberg in 1999. At the age of six, he began taking his first drum lessons at the Mosbach Municipal Music School with Wessela-Kostowa-Giesecke. After completing his A-levels, he began his bachelor’s degree in 2018 at the Saar University of Music in Saarbrücken under Prof. Thomas Keemss, MaNhias Weißenauer and Mar=n Hennecke. During this time, he initially gained experience as an intern with the Trier Philharmonic Orchestra, before taking up a fixed-term contract there as a percussionist and timpanist for the subsequent 2021/22 season. He also gained further experience through masterclasses with Franz Lang, Guido Marggrander and Jochen Schorer, amongst others.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in Saarbrücken, he won the audition for the Percussion Academy with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra at the end of 2023, where he served as an academy member until August 2025.
Shortly after beginning his time at the academy there, he simultaneously continued his Master’s studies at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf under Prof. Peter Stracke. Since the start of the 2025/26 season, Jannis Lichtenfels has been an academy member with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Oliwia Meiser, a Polish cellist based in Berlin, is a talented musician with an international career. She studied under Prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the University of Music in Weimar and graduated with distinction from the Berlin University of the Arts. Since 2024, she has been an apprentice with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 2025 began her concert exam with Prof. Alexey Stadler at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, as well as a Master’s in Chamber Music (with the Fiestravaganza Ensemble) under Prof. Gregor Sigl (Artemis Quartet)
She has performed at festivals such as Prussia Cove, the Kronberg Academy, the Villars Institute Academy and the Zermatt Music Festival, and has given concerts in venues including the Elbphilharmonie, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Musikverein in Vienna. Oliwia was a member of the LGT Young Soloists (Sony RCA recordings: Nordic Dream, Souvenir) and regularly collaborates with ensembles such as Eroica Berlin and the Dogma Chamber Orchestra.

She has won prizes at numerous competitions, including the Janigro International Competition, TONALi18, the Mendelssohn Competition and the German Music Competition. She has been part of the Pirastro Young Artist Family since 2023.
Oliwia has received scholarships from the DAAD, PE-Förderungen, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Ad Infinitum and Live Music Now Berlin. She is a co-founder of the Ensemble Musica Libera and works as an orchestra coordinator at the Fiestravaganza Academy.
She plays an exceptional Italian cello by Paolo Castello, generously made available to her by a private patron.

At the music conservatories around the world, students learn to master their instrument or voice technically and artistically, and to interpret music skillfully. However, what can only be taught to a limited extent is how to play or sing and the general interaction within a large ensemble, which for many graduates becomes part of their professional life later on. To bridge this gap, an increasing number of orchestras and choirs are offering specialized training programs. At the RSB, the Orchestra Academy for String Players was founded in 2002 at the initiative of the orchestra’s friends and supporters.

Students from all over the world apply for the thirteen scholarships, which are awarded for two years to promising talents under 26 years of age. In the 2018/2019 season, musicians from ten different nations were represented in the academy, highlighting the diverse nature of the orchestra.

The members of the academy are assigned to orchestral duties just like the full-time colleagues, playing in rehearsals and concerts, as well as recording CDs and going on tour. In their section, they each have a dedicated contact person. These mentors provide guidance, constructive criticism, lessons, and share their own experiences. In this way, the academy members are strengthened as artists and learn a great deal about working within an artistic collective. Regular workshops are held where topics outside the musical repertoire are addressed. For example, they receive training in audition preparation, concert program dramaturgy, music education for children and adults, or musician health. Once a year, the members of the Orchestra Academy perform a chamber concert.

For many academy members, their time at the RSB serves as a real career springboard, enabling them to secure positions in renowned national and international ensembles—sometimes even during their time in the academy—and to begin their professional lives with more confidence, often continuing within the RSB itself.