Volker Jacobsen studied viola at the Lübeck Academy of Music with Prof. Barbara Westphal. Ever since youth he has bee passionately devoted to chamber music; in 1989 he founded the Artemis Quartet, of which he remained a member until 2007. The Artemis Quartet won the Munich ARD International Music Competition and the Paolo Borciani Prize. They went on to make a great number of CD recordings and appeared at all major international classical music venues, as well as in two films directed by Bruno Monsaigeon. Jacobsen was Professor of Chamber Music at Berlin University of the Arts, as well as at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Élisabeth in Brussels. In 2007 he was appointed Viola Professor at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.

Gustav Rivinius was the only German musician to be awarded the 1st prize and the gold medal of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990. Since then he has performed as a soloist all over the world with leading musicians, orchestras and conductors. He is equally passionate about chamber music. He founded the Rivinius Piano Quartet, the Trio Gasparo da Salò, the Tammuz Piano Quartet and the Bartholdy Quintet and is a sought-after guest at important music festivals.
He regularly performs with Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Isabelle Faust and Sharon Kam, among others, and numerous CD recordings attest to his artistic activity. Gustav Rivinius has been a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Saar for many years. He gives annual master classes and was a juror at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Internationally acclaimed violist BARBARA WESTPHAL concertizes regularly as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia. She also appears regularly as guest artist at international music festivals such as those of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Sarasota, Florida; Great Lakes, Michigan; Vaasa, Finland; Schleswig-Holstein, Germany; and Incontri in Terra di Siena, Italy, among many others.
Ms. Westphal won the only prize for solo viola in the 1983 Munich Competition, as well as the prestigious Busch Prize the same year. From 1978 to 1985, Ms. Westphal was the violist of the highly acclaimed Delos String Quartet, First Prize Winner at the 1981 International String Quartet Competition in Colmar, France. In addition to numerous international tours with the Quartet, she recorded extensively with the ensemble both on radio and disc. Her own recordings on the Bridge label include the Brahms Viola Sonatas (with Ursula Oppens), the Reger Viola Sonatas and a recital program of works by Rebecca Clarke, Henri Vieuxtemps and Georges Enesco (both with Jeffrey Swann) and the six Solo Suites by J.S. Bach. Fanfare magazine said of the Brahms CD: “This recording absolutely outshines any others that are currently available and, to me, seems worthy of comparison with the legendary Primrose. For fans of a deep viola sound full of character it is absolutely unique.” Her most recent CD, on the Centaur label, features Brazilian Music for Viola and Piano with Christian Ruvolo.
In 1997 Ms. Westphal founded the Trio da Salò with violinist Ani Kavafian and cellist Gustav Rivinius which immediately celebrated major successes at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. The Trio’s first CD, featuring works by Mozart and Beethoven, was recently released on the Kleos Classics label. She is also a founding member of the Bartholdy Quintet.
Barbara Westphal studied in London and New York and took her concert examination under Itzhak Perlman and Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet). Since 1989 she has held a professorship at the Lübeck College of Music in Germany. She is a much sought-after teacher whose students are engaged with top orchestras in Germany and abroad, and several of her students have won awards at international competitions. Ms. Westphal regularly presents master classes in Europe and the United States and serves as a judge at major competitions.

Ulf Schneider studied violin with Jens Ellermann, Felix Galimir, and Thomas Zehetmair. As a co-founding member of the renowned Trio Jean Paul, he was First Prizewinner at the international chamber music competitions of Osaka, Melbourne, and Bonn. Widespread activities as the member of a duo, the Jean Paul Trio, and the Bartholdy Quintet have led him to make regular appearances in prestigious concert series as well as at music festivals in Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. Schneider also favours collaborations with actors and actresses in programmes that combine music and the spoken word. He holds the post of Violin Professor at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.