LECTURERS

Bum-Suk Kim (Piano)

The German-Korean pianist, Bum-Suk Kim was born into an artistic family in 1977 in Seoul, South Korea.

At the age of 10, he won the 1st prize in Kyung-Gi Piano Competition. In following years, he was also awarded the 1st prize in the Korean Newspaper Piano Competition and Samik Piano Competition,...

Henri Sigfridsson (Piano)

The Finnish pianist Henri Sigfridsson has established himself as one of the most sought after soloist and chamber musician in the European concert scene As a soloist Sigfridsson has played with the leading Finnish orchestras and numerous orchestras throughout the world, including the MDR Orchestra,...

Oleg Poliansky (Piano)

Oleg Poliansky was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1968.

He is prize winner of many international competitions, first of all of the international `Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow` (Russia) in 1998. In addition to that, he won prizes in Tokyo (Japan) in 1986, in Montreal (Canada) in 1988,...

Alexander Zolotarev (Piano)

Alexander Zolotarev is always a welcomed guest in concert halls and festivals in Germany and abroad, both as solo and ensemble player.  A few notable selections from his long list of performances are: the Music Festival of Schleswig-Holstein, the Celebration of Richard Strauss Tage, the Musical Festivals in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,...

Yumi Cho (Piano)

Yumi Cho displayed her mastery of each and every tempo to provide a perfect and iridescent performance. (B.Hoffmann)
When Yumi Cho moved to Germany in 2004 to study with Professor W. Wagenhäuser, she had already enjoyed a remarkable career in her homeland Korea. She had already at the age of 10 won the national piano competition,...

Klesie Kelly Moog (Gastprofessorin, Vocal)

The american soprano Klesie Kelly-Moog studied at the Wisconsin University-Madison with Bettina Björnsten and at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie-Detmold with Helmut Kretschmar and Günther Weissenborn,...

Emily Hindrichs (Vocal)

The American soprano Emily Hindrichs holds degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Exeter and the New England Conservatory and completed her musical formation as a member of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow. Hindrichs is a recipient of a Sullivan Foundation Award,...

Ken Schumann(Violin, Chamber-Music)

Ken Schumann was born near the German city of Cologne into a family of musicians. He began playing the violin as a four-year-old and made his début with orchestra at the age of 10. He received his violinistic training from Zakhar Bron, Thomas Brandis and Heime Müller, with Pinchas Zukerman and Gerhard Schulz,...

Andrea Andonian(Vocal)

Andrea Andonian (mezzo soprano) was born in Colorado, USA. She earned her Bachelor's Degree (Music/Voice Major) at Stetson University, and her Master's Degree (Music/Voice Major) at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

After her initial engagements in Germany with the Cologne Opera studio and the theater of Krefeld/Mönchengladbach,...

Arne Willimczik (Accompanist)

Arne Willimczik is a highly articulate and intelligent musician with an infectious passion for music. He studied conducting at Hamburg University of Music and Theatre with Klauspeter Seibel and has a wide range of experience in the opera houses of Germany, including Hamburg, Cologne, Kassel, Regensburg,...

Jozef Hamernik (Transverse flute)

Jozef Hamernik wurde 1984 in Bratislava geboren. Im Alter von zehn Jahren begann er mit dem Flötenspiel bei Mag. Valeria Banovska und bereits nach wenigen Jahren folgte ein Studium am Konservatorium Bratislava, später gleichzeitig am Konservatorium in Budapest. Seit seinem 16. Lebensjahr studierte Jozef Hamernik,...

Togrul Hüseynli (Piano/Accompanist)

Togrul Huseynli, born in Baku,  ranks amongst  the rising stars  of Azerbaijani classical music. Having begun his performing  career at the age of two years.  Togrul´s talent shone forth  and his dedication to the world of classical piano is undeniable,...

Michael Junghans (Bassposaune)

Michael Junghans, geboren 1954, studierte Bass-Posaune an der Musikhochschule Würzburg bei Prof. Daum.Nach Engagements an den Opernhäusern von Würzburg, Hannover und Stuttgart führte ihn sein Weg 1979 als Bass-Posaunist zum WDR Sinfonieorchester,...

Young-Ah Kim (Liedbegleitung)

Young-Ah Kim, Pianist erhielte sie ihren Bachelor und Masters-Abschluss im Fach Klavier an der Seoul Nationalen Universität in Korea mit Bestnote(Cum Laude). Danach schloss sie ihr Meisterklasse(Konzertexamen) Klavier mit Auszeichnung(1,0/1,0) bei Prof. Bernd Glemser an der Hochschule für Musik Würzburg ab,...

Goran Krivokapić(Guitar)

Mit technischer Virtuosität und seiner charakteristischen Interpretation von altem und neuem Repertoire setzt Goran Krivokapić neue Maßstäbe in der neuen, internationalen Gitarrenszene. Mit vierzehn Jahren gewann er seinen ersten internationalen Wettbewerb,...

Nicolai Pfeffer(Clarinettist)

Described in the German press as a consummate performer and scholar, Nicolai Pfeffer has been praised in the magazine DER SPIEGEL for his distinctive blend of fluid technique, his colourful, brilliant tone, and unique musical voice. Even as a student he was described by the legendary Viennese clarinettist Alfred Prinz as,...

Young Wook Kim(Vocal)

Young Wook Kim, geboren in Taegu (Südkorea), studierte zunächst an der Seoul National Universität bei Prof. Philip Kang, bei dem er auch als Assistenz tätig wurde. Seine weitere Ausbildung erhielt er an der Musikhochschule Mannheim bei Prof. Rudolf Piernay und an der Hochschule,...

Miljenko Turk(Vocal)

Born and raised in Croatia, Miljenko Turk’s passion for music and singing was recognized and encouraged at an early age. He played the piano at home as a small child. He then attended the primary school for music and art in his home town Čakovec and the music high school in Varaždin, which he graduated as one of the best in his class,...

Judith Thielsen(Vocal)

Judith Thielsen has been part of the Cologne Opera ensemble since the 17/18 season. Since then she can be heard in various roles. These include Death in Stravinsky's “The Nightingale”, Mercédès in “Carmen”, Saint Margaret in “Jeanne d'Arc - Scenes from the Life of Saint Joan”, the title role in Benjamin Britten's ,...

Ivana Rusko(Vocal)

Die tschechische Sopranistin Ivana Rusko absolvierte ihr Gesangsstudium am Konservatorium in Brno und auf der Hochschule für Musik in Bratislava, und ist Preisträgerin verschiedener internationaler Wettbewerbe. Sie nahm an Meisterkursen bei Francisco Araiza, Luana DeVol, Peter Dvorský, Magdaléna Blahušiaková teil, ...

Simon Deffner(Violoncello)

Simon Deffner wurde 1983 in Recklinghausen geboren und ist seit 2008 stellvertretender Solocellist beim WDR Sinfonieorchester. Als Kammermusiker ist er regelmäßig in verschiedenen Formationen aktiv und an diversen CD Produktionen beteiligt. Er ist zudem Mentor der Orchesterakademie des WDR Sinfonieorchesters, ...

Sebastian Gottschick (Violin, Viola)

Sebastian Gottschick was born in Düsseldorf to a family of church musicians. He studied violin, composition and conducting in Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and at the Juilliard School in New York. The broad spectrum of his interests and experience, ...

Harutyun Muradyan (Conducting)

In der Spielzeit 21/22 leitet Harutyun Muradyan die Live-Premiere der Oper „Pünktchen und Anton“ von Iván Eröd und die Wiederaufnahme der Oper „Die Kluge“ von C.Orff an der Oper Köln. Des Weiteren dirigierte er im Rahmen seiner Assistenz von Hermann Bäumer am Staatstheater Mainz, ...

Anže Rupnik (classical saxophone)

Anže Rupnik (*1996 in Celje, Slovenia) completed his studies (Bachelor of Music in 2019, Master of Music in 2021, Konzertexamen in 2023) with top marks under Prof. Daniel Gauthier at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. In 2015, he graduated with a high school diploma in "classical saxophone" , ...

Pavel Gililov(Piano)

Visiting Professor

Erik Schumann(Violin)

Visiting Professor