Bridges Kammerorchester

We are revolutionising
the concert experience

Johanna-Leonore Dahlhoff has been the artistic director of Bridges – Musik verbindet in Frankfurt since 2016 and founded the Bridges Kammerorchester together with Anke Karen Meyer in 2019. She studied flute in Hamburg and Hanover and music therapy in Berlin. Johanna-Leonore Dahlhoff is an alumna of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the DAAD and the Robert Bosch Stiftung and was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra. On her concert tours as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician to numerous countries around the world, it is always important to her to get to know the musical traditions of the respective host country. Since 2015, she has also been active as a composer and arranger, including for the Bridges Kammerorchester.

Vladimir Dindiryakov attended the renowned National School of Folklore Arts in Bulgaria and won several prizes at national competitions, including first prize at the Pesenna duga nad Kutev (2012) and the first special prize at Primorska Perla (2013). The kaval player is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester, a member of the Bridges ensemble Balkan Fuego Trio and is active in music education with the Bridges Kammerorchester. He is also a music teacher for flute at the Geschwister-Scholl-Schule in Schwalbach (Taunus).

Yazan Alsabbagh studied clarinet in Damascus and Berlin and sound engineering at HOFA-College. During his studies, he performed as a soloist with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra and the Oriental Music Symphony Orchestra and performed works composed by him or for him. He also taught clarinet at the Soulhi Alwad Music School in Damascus. Yazan Alsabbagh is a clarinettist in the Bridges Kammerorchester and also gives private lessons in clarinet, music theory and piano. He performs with his various bands in renowned venues such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Jazz festival jazzopen Stuttgart.

Peter Klohmann is a saxophonist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of the Landesjugendjazzorchester Rheinland-Pfalz and the Bundesjazzorchester and studied jazz saxophone in Mainz and Stuttgart as well as jazz composition with Prof. Rainer Tempel in Stuttgart. In 2013, he received the Arbeitsstipendium Jazz from the City of Frankfurt am Main. Peter Klohmann is in demand as a guest musician with the hr-Bigband, among others, and performs with his own artistic projects. Tours have taken him to Brazil, the USA, South Africa, South Korea, Russia, Romania, Poland, India, Italy and the Balkans. Peter Klohmann is a member of the Bridges Ensemble Noor Jazz Ensemble.

Carmen Zarco studied horn in Granada and Valencia and is currently based in Frankfurt. She has been a member of numerous orchestras, including the JOSG (Jugendorchester Granada) and the OUGR (Universitätsorchester Granada), and has performed at the Valencia Youth Wind Ensemble Festival, among others. In addition to her studies, she is involved in various music projects, including the musical Cabaret at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, performs as a guest musician and teaches horn.

Andrés Rosales studied jazz guitar and composition in Colombia and the USA. He is a guitarist and tiple player in the Bridges Kammerorchester, composer and winner of the Young Composers’ Competition of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia. In addition to his international concert and composition activities, Andrés Rosales writes arrangements and compositions for the NDR and the Bridges Kammerorchester, among others. As a composer, he has worked with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia and orchestras from Buenos Aires and has performed on stage with major representatives of the Latin American scene. His compositions La Suite and Sendero – Camino en viento salvaje have appeared on the albums of the Bridges Kammerorchester Identigration and Complementarity.

Salim Salari has been playing the Azerbaijani long-necked lute Tar since the age of thirteen and was a member of various ensembles and orchestras in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan in Iran, including the Radio Chamber Orchestra. He has lived in Germany since 2016 and plays in the Bridges Kammerorchester, for which he also composes, as well as in the Bridges ensembles Turnalar Quartet and Meyjana Trio. Salim Salari also completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering.

Eleanna Pitsikaki is a kanun player and studied world music in Mannheim and jazz improvisation at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. She is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester and a member of the Bridges ensembles Balkan Fuego Trio, Noor Jazz Quartet, Eliá, Lel and RIZA. As an expert in transcultural music education, she also plays in the music education ensemble Tiny Bridges and leads the Bridges Sessions. She works as a composer and arranger for the Bridges Kammerorchester and for other musical projects, including her band EPI Music. Eleanna Pitsikaki also teaches, for example at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz since 2024 and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln from 2023 to 2024.

Cham Saloum studied oud in Abu Dhabi and the bachelor’s degree in world music at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg. After her first guest appearances in the Bridges Kammerorchester since 2022, she has been part of the orchestra’s regular line-up since 2024. As part of her international concert activities, she has performed as a soloist and orchestral musician in Germany, Denmark and Luxembourg, among others, and has played with numerous orchestras such as the Philharmonisches Orchester des Staatstheater Cottbus, the Trickster Orchestra and the Ornina Orchestra. Cham Saloum is also a member of her trio Synkope, which performs works composed by her, among others. Her own compositions are characterized by experimental, classical, traditional, transcultural and electronic music.

Dennis Merz studied guitar in Frankfurt and San Sebastian and is a founding member, guitarist, composer and arranger in the Bridges Kammerorchester. He deals with folkloric music from all over the world and incorporates sounds from flamenco, tango, bossa nova, Arabic and Indian music into his works. The world premiere of his composition Arroyo with the Bridges Kammerorchester in the hr-Sendesaal in 2019 will be particularly memorable. Dennis Merz is also a member of the Bridges ensemble Balkan Fuego Trio. He also teaches at music schools in the Rhine-Main area and performs with his band Nomadenpuls and the Trio Aroha.

The instrumental musician and vocalist Enkhtuya Jambaldorj studied orchestral music, music education and Mongolian folk music in Ulaanbaatar. She is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester and a member of the Bridges Ensemble Perismon. She was an orchestral soloist for classical and folk music at the state music theater in Bulgan and in the police ensemble in Ulaanbaatar. Enkhtuya Jambaldorj has lived in Germany since 2000, first playing in the world music ensemble Renaissance Kontinental and later in the ensemble Enkhtuya, which she founded. She performs as a soloist and is active in various music projects, such as Enkh Khuur, Hatan and The Colours and Voices of Wiesbaden. With the mongolian women’s band Hatan, she won 2nd place at the International Music Festival Sharq Taronalari in Uzbekistan in 2019.

Samira Memarzadeh studied harp in Frankfurt and London and is at home in orchestras, chamber music and transcultural music ensembles. She is constantly discovering new possibilities on her instrument in a wide variety of musical styles – from minimal music to transcultural music. In addition to her concert activities, she has been working as a music educator at Bridges – Musik verbindet since 2018 and at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf since 2021. She is also in demand as a transcultural music mediator and speaker in collaborations with various actors in the music scene (including Heidelberger Frühling, Netzwerk Junge Ohren). Parallel to her music studies, she completed a degree in Islamic Studies in Freiburg. Samira Memarzadeh is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester and a member of the Bridges ensembles Grupo Maloka, Perismon and the music education ensemble Tiny Bridges.

Youssef Laktina is a multi-percussionist and specializes in frame drums and percussion instruments from the Mediterranean region. He has been studying percussion at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim since 2018. In 2022 he won the Tamburi Mundi award for young aspiring frame drummers. Well versed in a wide variety of musical styles, Youssef Laktina composes and arranges stylistically diverse music for his trio Syncope (kanun, oud, percussion) and for Bridges Ensembles. He is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester as well as a member of the Bridges ensembles Eliá and Tiny Bridges, the ensemble Colourage of the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the cross-genre band collective Niribu Natives in Mannheim.

Ramin Rahmi began his musical career at the age of four with the Persian percussion instruments tombak and daf, before studying the Persian long-necked lute tar and musicology at the Tehran Conservatory of Music. He continued his training at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and also studied with highly respected masters of traditional Persian music such as Mohamadreza Lotfi and Hosein Alizadeh. Ramin Rahmi has performed in Iran, Italy, Germany, Sweden, France and Russia. He is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester and also a member of the Bridges Ensemble Meyjana Trio. 

Hagit Halaf completed her violin studies in Tel Aviv and Vienna. She has performed worldwide with renowned orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Solistes Europeéns Luxembourg and the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, and has played under top conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Daniel Barenboim in internationally renowned music centers such as Carnegie Hall and the Musikverein Wien. She also devotes herself intensively to chamber music of all styles, from classical to world music and contemporary music. Hagit Halaf is also a violinist in the Bridges Ensemble Perismon.

Walid Khatba studied violin in Damascus and is trained in classical European as well as traditional and classical Arabic music. He was a member of the Syrian National Orchestra, the Syrian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians (England), among others. He has also played with internationally renowned ensembles such as the band Gorillaz and as a soloist with the WDR Funkhausorchester and composed the music for the documentary Exodus, which tells the story of migrants fleeing across the Aegean Sea. Walid Khatba has been an active member of Bridges – Musik verbindet since 2016 and composes and arranges works for the Bridges Kammerorchester as well as for several ensembles. He has recorded two of his orchestral arrangements of famous Arabic classics for the Bridges Kammerorchester on CD. 

Vladislav Belopuchov studied violin in St. Petersburg, Oslo, Mannheim and Würzburg. He has performed in various quartets and string trios since his student days. As part of his international concert activities, he has performed as a soloist and in chamber music concerts in Russia, Europe and South America, including under the patronage of Princess Kira of Prussia and the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation. Vladislav Belopuchov is also a member of the Kammerphilharmonie Frankfurt and the international string ensemble L’Orchestra I Sedici, specializing in a wide range of musical genres from baroque to contemporary music. He is also a violinist and narrator in the successful co-production Coulours of Democracy between the Bridges Kammerorchester and the Volksbühne Frankfurt.

Michael Makarov studied violin in Odessa and Würzburg and has been a member of the Bridges Kammerorchester since 2019. His orchestral activities have included playing in the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie under famous conductors such as Gary Bertini and Rudolf Barschai, the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Camerata Würzburg, the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, the La Isedici Orchestra, the Capitol Orchestra and the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck. Michael Makarov is also active in the field of chamber music, having already dedicated himself to new music at a young age in the Ensemble Frescos of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra and also discovered jazz, funk, art rock and pop for himself. He is a member of the Dialog String Quartet, Arco String Quartet, Violincello Quartet (known as Russian Quattro), Ultimate Duo and the Tony Osanah & Michael Makarov Project.

Zolo Klingen studied violin in Frankfurt and Leipzig. During her studies, she played in the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Baltic Youth Philharmonics and the Sinfonietta Frankfurt. She took part in numerous masterclasses, including with Thomas Brandis, Yvonne Smeulers and Christian Tetzlaff, and has performed worldwide under Lothar Zagrosek, Christophe Rousset, Kristjan Järvi, David Afgam, Jonathan Nott, Stefan Asbury, Ivor Bolton and Kurt Masur. Zolo Klingen is also active in the field of classical crossover and creates and publishes his own productions.

Alireza Meghrazi Solouklou first began playing the violin, also learned the kamanche and studied harmony, composition and solfège. He has appeared on radio and television and has played in renowned Iranian orchestras, among others. Alireza Meghrazi Solouklou was awarded Best Kamanche Player at the Tehran Music Festival and Best Composer at the Folk Music Festival. He has also released several music albums, including Aghaie Sama, Zarchon baharan, Norouznamak and Shooride.

Christoph Emmanuel Langheim studied viola in Frankfurt am Main, Tel Aviv, Vienna and Maastricht and is currently a music teacher at the Waldorf School in Frankfurt and a lecturer in the Hessen State Youth Symphony Orchestra. He also works as a freelance editor for Ut-Orpheus Edizioni. He was principal violist in the orchestra LaVerdi Milano under Riccardo Chailly and played in cooperation projects with La Scala Milan and the Frankfurt Opera, as guest principal violist in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ensemble Midt Vest. Christoph Emmanuel Langheim also works as an arranger for the Bridges Kammerorchester.

Rabie Azar studied viola in Damascus and is trained in classical European, traditional and classical Arabic music as well as contemporary pop music. He was a member of the Syrian National Orchestra, the National Syrian Orchestra of Arabic Music and the Mediterranean Orchestra, among others. International tours have taken him to Spain, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon and the Arab Emirates. Rabie Azar has also taught violin and viola at Al Baath University in Homs and the Sulhi al Wadi Institute for Music in Damascus. He is a founding member, composer and arranger of the Bridges Kammerorchester and a member of the Bridges ensembles Meyjana Trio and Lel.

Gabriel Mientka first learned to play the violoncello from his father and studied cello in the USA and Frankfurt. He is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester, for which he also composes and arranges. His compositions Istanbul and Constantinople were premiered by the Bridges Kammerorchester and released on the Bridges Kammerorchester albums Identigration and Complementarity. Gabriel Mientka plays as solo cellist in the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt and is an internationally sought-after chamber musician, for example in the Lupu-Mientka Duo together with his wife, the concert pianist Anca Lupu, as well as in the multi-style cello ensemble cellharmonics.

Nicola Pacha Vock studied orchestral music in Frankfurt and business administration at the University of Hagen. She is a freelance double bass player, a member of the Bridges Kammerorchester and the Bridges ensembles RIZA and Tiny Bridges and has been Head of Education and Community at the Bridges Kammerorchester since 2024. She also develops her own projects and works as a teacher in the school project “Response – New Music in Schools” at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt. Nicola Pacha Vock was managing director and part of the artistic management of the Kammerphilharmonie Frankfurt and taught at a school with a focus on language support from 2018 to 2021. She played in the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester during a temporary contract and was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie as well as a trainee in the orchestra of the Staatstheater Darmstadt.  

Eduardo Sabella studied e-bass in Mainz and double bass in Mannheim and is in demand as an e-bass and double bass player in numerous jazz clubs in Germany, Europe and China. Other appearances have taken him to the Staatstheater Mainz and Wiesbaden and to numerous festivals, such as the Burghausen International Jazz Week, Palatia Jazz and Apéro’s Jazz in Luxembourg. Eduardo Sabella has also contributed to various pop and jazz albums, such as Red Messiah by Jan Felix May, Jetzt und Heute by Ima Kyo and the film music for the ORF/ARD film production Bergfried. Eduardo Sabella is a founding member of the Bridges Kammerorchester and a member of the Bridges Ensemble Noor Jazz Ensemble.