Shirai-san is a wanderer between two worlds. Living in Tokio and Vienna, he describes himself as Kei-kun: neophyte (learner). With this attitude he developed our ensemble staidly.

Since 2020 started for Kei Shirai as a concertmaster of the most renowned orchestra in Japan, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, a new chapter of his musical life. As a soloist he performed with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the most other Japanese Symphony Orchestras. In Europe he played the concerto of Johannes Brahms with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague.

Japanese violinist Kei Shirai was born in Trinidad and Tobago and began playing the violin at the age of three. As a child he was taught by Tsugio Tokunaga and, while studying at Geidai University of the Arts in Tokyo, by Chikashi Tanaka and Miyoko Yamane-Goldberg. Upon his graduation in 2007, Kei Shirai was awarded a Japanese Government Scholarship to continue his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Johannes Meissl. Among his awards at major international competitions are the second prize and the audience prize at the 2009 ARD Competition in Munich.

Kei enjoys a multi-faceted career as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. His concert engagements take him frequently to Japan’s biggest venues and festivals. In Europe he performs regularly with the Stefan Zweig Trio. In Japan he member of the Trio Accord and music director of the Revolution Ensemble.

LCP Repertoire Highlights with Kei: Beethoven Septet, Sarasate Gipsy tales, Gadel Tango

“I love to play second violin!”. Ensemble playing is for Emily a passion and for us a big fortune and pleasure to play with her!

Emily Körner was born in Illinois, USA and grew up in Canada. She studied at The Juilliard School in New York with Sally Thomas and Joel Smirnoff. As a scholarship recipient of the Canada Council and Huntington Beebe Fund, she moved to Berlin in 1995, where she continued her studies with Professors Uwe-Martin Haiberg and Mi-Kyung Lee at the Hochschule der Künste.

From 1998 to 2000 she was the solo violinist of the “Palastorchester with its singer Max Raabe.” Before joining the SWR Symphonie Orchester as principal second violin in 2002, she held the same position for two years in the Radiophilharmonie Hannover of the NDR (Northern German Radio). In addition, she is an honorary professor of violin at the State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart.

As an highly regarded chamber music player, she plays with the Hegel-Quartett.

Emilys LCP Repertoire Highlights: Schubert Octet „Adagio“, Glinka Overture Ruslan and Ludmilla

He dances, sings and plays the bagpipes. Janis is always good for a surprise.

Janis Lielbardis was born and raised in Riga. The folk music of the Latvians is very close to his heart. His core repertoire includes not only songs and dances from his home country, but also contemporary music by young Latvian composers. For many years he was a member of the “Kremerata Baltica” and chamber music partner of its conductor Gidon Kremer. As a guest he played at the festivals in Lockenhaus, Gstaat and Oslo. As a chamber musician he played with Tatyana Grindenko, Sergio Azzolini and Ilze Grudule.

Janis Lielbardis has been a violist in the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart since 2002.

LCP Highlights by Janis: Beethoven Variations, Liadov „Baba Yaga“

Gen-chan (little Gen) is the youngest member of the ensemble. But he is familiar with the music stages of the world.

Gen Yokosaka has performed with such conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Kenichiro Kobayashi and Kazuki Yamada with orchestras including Symphonieorchester des Bayerishen Rundfunks, the NHK Symphomy, Yomiuri Symphony, Japan Philharmonic and Tokyo Symphony. He has had both recitals and concerto performances broadcast on national TV (NHK and TV Asahi)

Born in 1986, Gen Yokosaka began to play the cello at the age 4 and studied with Katsuro Washio and later with Hakuro Mori at the Toho School of Music as well as taking further lessons with David Geringas and Jian Wang at the Ishikawa Music Academy. He finished his studies at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart with Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Gen quickly became known as the most promising cellist of his generation in his native Japan after being awarded the top prize in the string section of the All Japan Classical Music Competition at 12 years old. He went on to win numerous competitions including, at 15, the 2002 Viva Hall Cello Competition in 2002 of which he is the youngest ever winner. Among his awards at major international competitions are the second prize at the 2010 ARD Competition in Munich.

In 2005 Gen performed in La Folle journée au Japon and took part in Pierre Boulez’ Lucerne Festival Academy. In the same year he was presented the Idemitsu Music Award.

On CD he released CD of the “3 Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Cembalo” by J.S. Bach (WARNER 2016) and a Recital with works by Mendelssohn and Schumenn (EXTON 2020).

Gens LCP Highlights: Beethoven Septett, Offenbach Les Larmes de Jaqueline

Without Ryu there would be no LCP. He brought us together and organized our first Japan experiences together. On the double bass he is the energy source of the ensemble.

Ryutaro Hei has been an institution in his home country for several years. There is a real fan community for his double bass recitals and numerous recordings and videos bear witness to his virtuos and energetic double bass playing. Ryutaro Hei has also made a name for himself as a teacher in Japan.

In his “European” life he is a member of the double bass section of the SWR Symphony Orchestra.

Ryutaro Hei was born in Tokushima and grew up in Kobe. He started playing the bass with his father. During his studies in Tokyo he won the DAAD (German Academic Exchange) in 2004 and was able to continue his studies at the Musikhochschule in Würzburg with Prof. Bunya. As a chamber musician and soloist he has been invited to the ECLAT Stuttgart Festival, Spor Festival Denmark and “La Folle Journée” in Tokyo, among others. Since 2010 he has also been a member of the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra.

His debut CD “The Sound Of Double Bass” was released in 2015 on the TACET label. Here he plays with the Japanese pianist Kei Kosuge.

Ryius LCP favorite pieces: Beethoven Septet, Rimsky-Korsakoff Flight of the bumble bass, Astor Piazzolla KICHO, Prokofiev Quintet

Dirk likes to tinker around with programs. And if there is no suitable literature, it will be arranged. “Mostly” to the delight of everyone involved 😉 Contemporary music in our programs is very important to him.

For more than 30 years, Dirk Altmann has been a principal solo clarinet with the SWR Symphonie Orchestra in Stuttgart. In addition, he is very active as a soloist, chamber musician, arranger and teacher. In recent years his concert activities have often taken him to Japan. In addition to concerts in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, he produced Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet at the End of Time” for NHK television in 2019 with Mako Okamoto, Kei Shirai and Gen Yokosaka. Likewise in 2019 his recording of Mozart clarinet concerto KV 622 and the clarinet quintet KV 581, with the Ludwig Chamber Players and Masato Suzuki (fortepiano, conductor) has been released by the TACET label . In 2016 he produced PARIS, an album with the Japanese pianist and professor Mako Okamoto. Further CDs with works by Charles Koechlin, Robert Schumann and Paul Hindemith have been released with the labels Hänssler classic and TACET. As a soloist Altmann recorded the Première Rhapsody by Claude Debussy with Heinz Holliger and RSO Stuttgart for SWRmusic.
As a chamber musician he plays with the Ludwig Chamber Players (LCP), the STUTTGART WINDS, the newears.ensemble and in a duo with pianist Mako Okamoto.
An ensemble version of the “Visions fugitives” by S. Prokofiev (TACET:Prokofiev Chamber music), which he did for the Ludwig Chamber Players, was nominated for the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) 2017.
As a soloist, he was a guest at international festivals, In Ferrara, Schwetzingen, Salzburg or the Rheingau Music Festival, with Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Neville Marriner, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Thomas Hengelbrock, Peter Eötvös, Heinz Holliger and Daniel Harding as conductors.
In recent years, Dirk Altmann has repeatedly been invited to master classes in China, Taiwan and Japan. Since 2010 he has been cooperating with the Japanese woodwind instrument manufacturer JOSEF Woodwind Manufacture (Okinawa) and the clariner supplier LIGAPHONE Paris.

Favorite pieces from the LCP repertoire: Gideon Klein PARTITA arranged for septet, Schubert octet, Johann Strauss Wildfeuer polka

Creativity and flexibility are essential qualities of a bassoon player. In every second of our concerts you can feel Hanno’s love for his instrument.

Hanno Dönneweg not only demonstrates his skills on his instrument, he is also festival director, teaching, arranging and producing on numerous occasions. Since 2002 he has been the solo bassoonist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra and member of the orchestra commite.

Hanno Dönneweg was born in Sankt Georgen in the Black Forest. It was not just him who was shaped by his musical family, also the town itself where he was born, music schools and festivals where foundet by his family.

Hanno Dönneweg startet his bassoon lessons with Oscar Bohórquez. After he studied in Aachen, Stuttgart and Berlin with Prof. Klaus Thunemann, Prof. Sergio Azzolini and Oscar Bohórquez.

He played at the festivals in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein, the Schwetzinger SWR Festival and the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte (Switzerland) and gives concerts regularly with the Ludwig Chamber Players, the Stuttgart Winds and the SWR Swing Bassoon, as well as in a duo Steffen Mark Schwarz.

Hanno Dönneweg has played as a soloist with the RSO Stuttgart, the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra, the Palatinate Chamber Orchestra, the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra, the Black Forest Chamber Orchestra and the Arcata Chamber Orchestra Stuttgart under conductors such as Eiji Oue, Sigiswald Kuijken, Sir Roger Norrington, Michael Sanderling and Patrick Strub. CD and radio productions for TACET, Hänssler, Organum, Coviello, NDR, Deutschlandradio and SWR.

He gives master classes in Germany, Japan, Taiwan and the USA. Lecturer at Affinis Festival in Japan. In 2008 the music festival “Bergstadtsommer” started in St. Georgen, which Hanno Dönneweg co-founded.

Hannos LCP favourites: Borodin “In the Steppes of Central Asia” (Tarkmann), Schubert Octet, Johann Strauss Ouverture to “The Bat” (M.UCKI)

Whole and Gloria! You need a horn player like Wolfgang for that. His horn playing sounds romantically beautiful and then again wonderfully heroic. Wolfi loves digging up classic repertoire treasures.

In the course of his long career, Wolfgang Wipfler has gone through all the stations that enrich the life of a horn player. He was principal horn of the Württemberg State Opera in Stuttgart, the HR Symphony Orchestra and since 2004 has held the same position with the SWR Symphony Orchestra (formerly RSO Stuttgart). As a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, he shaped its special sound for many years.

Wolfgang Wipfler was born in Baden-Baden. He started playing in early ages the organ and then horn. He completed his studies in the legendary class of Prof. Penzel at the Cologne Music Academy. His orchestra career began as a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra (ECYO).

Wolfgang Wipfler is high regarded chamber music partner, as evidenced by numerous CD and radio productions. In addition, he is in great demand as a teacher. He has been teaching for many years at the Stuttgart Music Academy and gives regularly courses in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the USA.

Favorite works from the LCP repertoire: Blanc Septett, Nielsen Serenata in Vano, R. Strauss Till Eulenspiegel (Hasenöhrl)