Nathan Watts

A founding member of the Oliveros Experiment, cellist Nathan Watts is deeply committed to keeping contemporary music and improvisation current and accessible through diverse programming and collaboration. Nathan currently performs in the GROW quartet, trio Namiro, the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra and Ensemble Tempus Konnex. Recent festival performances include the Kurt Weill Fest, Impuls Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, 180 Degrees Festival, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Lucerne Festival Academy, Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood Music Center.

After earning his Bachelor of Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Stephen Geber, Nathan completed a Master of Music at Rice University with Desmond Hoebig and a Masters at the International Ensemble Modern Academy at the HfMDK Frankfurt.

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nathan lives in Frankfurt am Main.

Alberto Carnevale Ricci

As soloist and chamber musician, pianist Alberto Carnevale Ricci’s career spans Europe, the USA and Asia. Alberto has appeared as a guest performer at international festivals such as Festival Acht Brücken in Cologne, Gaudeamus in Amsterdam, Festival Mixtur in Barcelona and Yang Yun in Tong Yeong, Korea.

Alberto’s particular interest in contemporary classical music has led to extensive projects with composers, including Alessandro Solbiati, Mark Andre, Helmut Lachenmann, Matthias Pintscher and Pierre Boulez. As part of Olivier Messiaen’s centennial celebration he performed “Des Canyons aux étoile …” under the direction of Peter Prommel, and his recording of works by Alfredo Casella appears on the “Stradivarius” label and was broadcast on Italian Radio 3. Alberto has performed for radio broadcast recordings on SWR2, WDR2 and for Radio Classica and has performed with the Detmolder Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and the Dresdner Philharmonie.

Originally from Milan, Alberto began his studies in Italy with his mentor Ottavio Minola. Further mentors and influences include E. Pace, E. Wirsaladze, J. Achucarro, O. Marschev, and U. Wiget. He completed his first degree at the Milan Conservatory; thereafter he was a 2010/2011 stipend recipient for his Masters degree in contemporary music at the Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt am Main. He completed his Konzertexamen degree at the Detmold Conservatory for Music.

Jessica Ling

Violinist Jessica Ling is enjoying a diverse contemporary music career, playing in orchestras, ensembles, and chamber groups throughout the US and Europe. From 2015-2016, she joined the International Ensemble Modern Academy, and since then has performed in Musikfest Berlin, Acht Brücken Köln, Lucerne Festival, Klangspuren Festival, Impuls Festival, Cresc Biennale, Witten Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, and Festival Mixtur. In addition, she has worked with renowned composers including Beat Furrer, Hans Abrahamsen, Helmut Lachenmann, Michel van der Aa, Unsuk Chin, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Heinz Holliger, and Enno Poppe.

A co-founder of Mobile Beats Ensemble, Jessica has also played with Ensemble Modern, Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, Kommas Ensemble, and Eco Ensemble. Since 2018, she has been a member of the Taiga String Quartet which recently premiered SEGIA, a cross-disciplinary production that features commissioned works from five female Nordic composers.

Following her studies at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Chicago, Jessica moved to Germany for a masters degree in contemporary music at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main.

Thomas Dworschak

Thomas completed his studies in Indology, cultural studies, and philosophy at Leipzig University (2003-2009). In 2006/07, he received an ERASMUS grant at Pisa University.

In July 2015, he earned a PhD at the Leipzig University’s Institute for Philosophy. His thesis “Hörbarer Sinn” (“Audible Sense”) was supervised by Prof. Andrea Kern. In April 2014 he began working as a research assistant to Prof. Volker Schürmann at the Cologne German Sport University’s Institute for Pedagogy and Philosophy.

Emanuel Dantscher

Following his work as a director and director’s assistant at the Theater Bremen, Emanuel Dantscher studied clarinet under Prof. Sabine Meyer and Prof. Reiner Wehle at the Lübeck Academy of Music.

He has received numerous awards, including a prize at the Deutscher Hochschulwettbewerb and from the DAAD, and has performed at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival with Daniel Hope, the International Orchestra Academy Teatro del Lago in Chile and Warsaw Autumn as a member of the European Workshop for Contemporary Music.

Since 2013, he has been the musical director of the Junges Orchester Hamburg and worked as a conductor at the Theater Bremen and the Schauspielhaus Hamburg. In October 2016, Emanuel began his studies in orchestral conducting under Prof. Sebastian Tewinkel at the Trossingen University of Music.

Esther Saladin

Ester performs as a soloist, chamber musician and in ensembles at various festivals throughout Europe, such as Ultima Oslo, Donaueschinger Tage für Neue Musik, Acht Brücken Köln, Musikfestival Bern, among others.

She is a member of the Améi Quartett, Trio uBu and Trio Radial and regularly plays with her piano partners Sophie Patey and Bernhard Ruchti. Her engagements include working with Ensemble MusikFabrik, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble recherche, Das Neue Ensemble Hannover, Ensemble Proton, Ensemble VIL Stuttgart, Experimentalstudio of the SWR, and many others.

She has received prizes and awards at competitions, including 1st prize at Kammermusikwettbewerb of Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt (2012 with Améi Quartett), 1st prize at Boris Pergamenschikow Chamber Music Competition in Berlin (2016 with Trio uBu). In collaboration with composer Sivia Rosani and visual artist Inês Rebelo, an interdisciplinary performance for cello and live electronics (White Mask) is currently being created.

JiYoun Doo

Composer JiYoun Doo, born in Seoul, is the director of the ensemble Tempus Konnex, which she founded in Leipzig in 2015. Since successfully completing her post-graduate studies in composition (Meisterklassenexamen) 2016 at the HMT Leipzig, she has represented a part of the Leipzig/central Germany music scene with Tempus Konnex on international projects in Xi’an, Antwerp and Paris and supported young composers by providing them with the opportunity to have their pieces performed nationally.

JiYoun, together Thomas Chr. Heyde (FZML), initiated the international Ensemblefestival and is responsible for handling the artistic, conceptual and organizational aspects of the festival. In addition, she acts as the head dramaturge for FZML projects.

Martin Steuber

Martin Steuber has appeared as a soloist at festivals such as the “MDR Music Summer”, the “Mendelssohn Festival” in Leipzig and the “Grame” in Lyon, and the “Poznan Festival for Contemporary Music”.

He is regularly invited to perform concert programs of contemporary and baroque music with Ensemble Avantgarde, Ensemble Infinity, the Zafraan Ensemble, ensembleKONTRASTE, the KNM Berlin, the Münchener Kammerorchester, Sinfonietta Leipzig, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Schauspiel Leipzig, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bielefelder Symphoniker, as well as with the Leipzig Barockorchester, the Sächsisches Orchester, the Leipzig Vocalconsort, ensemble collegio corona, Michaelis Consort, among others.

His main focus is working with the duo steuber.öllinger, as well as the ensembles “Tempus Konnex”, “Die Athleten”, and “Combo CAM”. Concerts have led him throughout Germany and to Spain, France, Holland, Hungary, Poland, China, Japan and the USA.

He is a prizewinner and finalist of several international competitions and teaches at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Institute for Music as well as at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig.

Qing Lin

Qing is a renowned Chinese oboist, who won first prize at the 2013 Gillet-Hugo Fox International Competition at the 33rd International Double Reed Society (IDRS) in the USA.

His first CD “The world of oboe” was recorded for EMI in China. He finished his first Master’s degree at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Geneve under Prof. Maurice Bourgue and his second under Prof. Jean Louis Capezzali at the Haut Ecole de Musique de Lausanne.

In early 2016 he successfully completed his postgraduate degree (Meisterklassenexamen) under Prof. Nick Deutsch at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig. Qing currently gives numerous master classes in many different countries and teaches at the music conservatories in Leipzig and Xi’an (China).He is guest principal oboist of the Filarmonica della Scala in Milano.