Team
Leila Weber (violist, artistic director) taught children's and youth orchestras at "El Sistema" in Venezuela as part of an initiative by the German Music Council. Her experience at "El Sistema" inspired her to found Hangarmusik in 2015. She has also worked with various youth orchestras in Europe, South Africa and Jamaica and has acquired a wide range of skills in working with children from socially deprived backgrounds. She studied viola at the University of Music Freiburg im Breisgau with Wolfram Christ and at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin with Walter Küssner, supplemented by lessons and masterclasses with Tabea Zimmermann, Jörg Widmann and Thomas Riebl. Leila Weber has played in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, with the Faust Quartet, the Ensemble Resonanz, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Andreas Knapp Andreas Knapp (co-director) founded HANGARMUSIK together with Leila Weber. For the Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, he offered exceptional artists, including Leonard Bernstein, Alfred Brendel, Peter Eötvös, György Ligeti, Frank Zappa, and for many years, Sir Simon Rattle, the finest opportunities to realize their artistic potential. He now provides these same opportunities for young talents at HANGARMUSIK. After studying German philology (M.A. phil) in Frankfurt am Main, specialising in exile literature, he worked for several years at the Fritz Bauer Institute on the history and impact of the Holocaust. In addition to his artistic work, he is dedicated to documenting contemporary historical topics with a focus on culture and migration through his photography. www.andreas-knapp.de
www.andreas-knapp.de
Natalie Plöger (double bass) studied classical double bass, instrumental pedagogy and school music at Detmold University of Applied Sciences. During her studies, she was deeply engaged with jazz music, gaining experience in various big bands and jazz-pop ensembles Musical work with children is particularly close to Natalie's heart, which, in addition to her involvement with Hangarmusik, is expressed in her many years of teaching at the Kleinmachnow music school, among others.
Angela Brunton-Trüg (double bass) is an orchestral musician and Gestalt therapist. She has worked with the NDR Symphony Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein State Theatre and the Komische Oper. Since 2013, she has been a freelance musician, performing both nationally and internationally. In addition to her career as a musician and music educator, she is an independant Gestalt therapist with a focus on trauma therapy and is a member of the Society for Psychotraumatology and Violence Research (GPTG). For Angela, the special thing about working with HANGARMUSIK is experiencing how making music together without the pressure to perform has a healing and stabilising effect on so many levels. Since all participants are welcomed for the skills they bring at any given moment, everyone plays a part in creating unique musical experiences and fostering a supportive community.
The English cellist Anna Carewe's believes that every musical goal should serve as a gateway to the unknown. This applies both to her work with her duet partner, vibraphonist Oli Bott, and to her work with the Sheridan Ensemble, which she founded. Both are ensembles that lead the audience into surprising musical worlds and invite them to expand their own listening horizons. The further teaching endeavours she has been pursuing since 2022 have been a great enrichment to Anna’s life working with HANGARMUSIK has been a focus of Anna's work since 2023 and forms the basis of her philosophy that music can positively influence a person's life on many psychological levels.
Brigitte Täubl (Violin) Already during her studies at the Graz University of Music, she was interested in the baroque style of playing the violin and attended several masterclasses in Innsbruck with Ingrid Seifert. From 1987 she deepened her training in this direction at the Scola Cantorum Basiliensis with J. Schröder and Th. Hengelbrock. From there she crossed paths with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, where she has been a member for over 30 years. She has performed with renowned artists such as Ivor Bolton, Rene Jacobs, Cecilia Bartoli, Jordi Savall, Thomas Quasthoff, N. Harnoncourt and others. Together with Lorenz Duftschmid, she founded the Ensemble Armonico Tributo in 1989, where she serves as concertmaster and performs as a chamber musician.
Since beginning of 2024 Luzie Jehle has been part of the HANGARMUSIK team since the beginning of 2024 and supports our beginners and second violins. She is inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the young people and constantly amazed by how effectively the principle works—that anyone can join, regardless of prior experience. Luzie has often highlighted that there is a continuous cycle of learning amongst the children, with everyone teaching and learning from one another across the orchestra As a social worker, she recognises that HANGARMUSIK is an important part of the integration process for young refugees. A sense of belonging and enrichment through musical interaction can have a positive impact upon this process.
(Foto: Michael Unger)