Jakob Spahn was born in Berlin in 1983 and received his first cello lessons at the age of 7. As a junior student, he studied at the Cologne University of Music with Prof. Maria Kliegel, later with Prof. Hans-Christian Schweiker. Since autumn 2005, he has been studying with Prof. David Geringas at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. He received further inspiration from master classes with Frans Helmerson, Philippe Müller, Antonio Meneses, Arto Noras, Bernard Greenhouse, Lynn Harrell and Heinrich Schiff, among others.

He is a multiple first prize winner of the "Jugend musiziert" competition in the categories of solo cello and chamber music. In 1999, 2001 and 2003, he also won the "Sonderwertung Klassik" prize in Münster. He is the recipient of the "Diethard Wucher Memorial Prize" and the Wolfegger Chamber Music Prize. In 2001, he was the second prize winner of the International Dotzauer Competition in Dresden, and in 2004, he won the International Cello Competition in Liezen. Concert tours as a soloist and chamber musician have taken him to Japan, Italy, Israel, Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, Sweden and Turkey. He was principal cellist in the German National Youth Orchestra.

He is a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation and is supported by the association "Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now". Jakop Spahn plays an instrument by "Francesco Ruggieri", which is provided to him by the Baden-Württemberg State Collection.

Jaka Stadler

Born on 9 September 1983 in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
1990: first cello lessons
1998 Enrolled at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana
1998-2003 numerous performances as a soloist with the Academy Orchestra and the Ljubljana Philharmonic Orchestra
2003 Graduated from the Academy of Music
2003 Admitted to the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
2001-2003 Member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra
1997 1st prize at the Alfredo Marcosig Competition in Gorizia (Italy)
2000 First prize at the Slovenian Youth Competition
2001 First prize at the Antonio Janigro Competition in Zagreb
Since 2003, Jaka Stadler has been studying at the Munich University of Music with Prof. Wen-Sinn Yang
Courses with Wen-Sinn Yang, Martin Ostertag, Patrick Demenga, Wolfgang Boettcher, among others

Georgiy Lomakov

Born on 5 January 1984 in Odessa (Ukraine).
1990 Began playing the cello with Prof. Valentina Rymachevskaya-Balon at the Piotr Stolyarski Music School in Odessa.
1992: First prize at an international youth competition in Urgench (Uzbekistan).
1993: Transfer to Prof. Yuri Polanski at the Mikolaj Lysenko Music School in Kiev. After Prof. Polanski's sudden death, continued lessons with Yelena Chekhova at the same school.
1996 First prize at the International Antonio Janigro Competition in Zagreb.
1997 Moved to Nuremberg to live with the family of Reiner Faupel, then principal cellist of the Nuremberg Philharmonic Orchestra, and studied with him. Attended the Veit-Stoß State Secondary School, graduating in 2001.
1998 National winner of the "Jugend musiziert" competition.
1999 Winner of the International Heran Cello Competition in Usti nad Orlici (Czech Republic) in all categories.
1999 Finalist and prize winner at the European Young Concert Artists Audition in Leipzig.
Performances in Nuremberg, Würzburg, Hanover, Gera, Leipzig, Munich, Vienna, Gdansk, Hagen, among others. Numerous recitals and concerts as a soloist with orchestra (Haydn
in C major, Schumann, Shostakovich op. 107, Friedrich Gulda, among others).
2001-2003 Studied at the Nuremberg-Augsburg University of Music in the class of Prof. Siegmund von Hausegger.
2003 Artistic diploma with distinction. 2002 Participation in the master classes of the Verbier Festival Academy with Lynn Harrell and Gary Hoffman. Awarded the Prix Jean-Nicolas-Firmenich for the most promising course participant. 2002 After participating in a master class at the Kronberg Academy, recommendation by Bernard Greenhouse to continue studies in Boston, MA. 2003-2005 Full scholarship at the New England Conservatory of Music Boston in the Graduate Diploma Programme with Laurence Lesser. In addition, private lessons with Bernard Greenhouse. 2004, 7 February US debut with Schumann concerto in Dallas, Texas, with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra conducted by its principal conductor Anshel Brusilow.
2004 Scholarship holder at the Ravinia Festival (performance with Miriam Fried) and I Palpiti Festival.
2005 January Application for German citizenship.
2005 May Graduate Diploma with distinction at NEC Boston.
2005 Since September Master class with Prof. Wen-Sinn Yang at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich.
2003-2005 Three scholarships from the Rudolf von Tobel Foundation, Bern.
2006 As a prize winner of the 14th competition of the German Instrument Fund in the German Music Foundation, Georgiy Lomakov has been playing a violoncello by Marinus Capicchioni (Rimini 1958) since February, initially for a limited period of one year, a fiduciary submission from

Tai Yang Zhang was born in Kim Ming, People's Republic of China, in 1982 and began playing the cello at the age of six and a half. Four years later, he won first place in the entrance examination and was accepted into the primary school of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. From 1994 to 2000, he also attended the secondary school of the Central Conservatory of Music and studied with Prof. Song Tao, one of China's most renowned cello professors. After studying for a year at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, he transferred to the University of Music in Augsburg in 2002 to study with Prof. Julius Berger. He is currently attending Prof. Berger's master class. Tai Yang Zhang has won numerous prizes at national competitions in China and participated in the international Casals Cello Competition in 2004. Since 2003, he has been sponsored by "Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now". He has also played numerous chamber music concerts in Germany, France, Italy and China. In addition, he has participated in contemporary music projects with composers Sofia Gubaidulina, Frangis Ali-Sade and Wolfgang Rihm. As a soloist, he has performed cello concertos by Elgar, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Haydn and others with the Kunming Symphony Orchestra in China.