Claus Kanngiesser - Born in Oldenburg, Germany, Kanngiesser enjoys a rich musical life as soloist, chamber-music player, teacher, director, juror and advisor. He studied with Heinrich Schüchner in Hamburg and with Zara Nelsova in New York and received further artistic inspiration from Gaspar Cassado, Pablo Casals, Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Rudolf Serkin. He has performed with many leading orchestras of Europe under well-known conductors including A. Dorati, M. Rossi, H. Schmidt-Isserstedt, St. Skrowaczewski, P. Dervaux, Sir Charles Groves and others. Guest performances at festivals include Spoleto, Naples, Marlboro, Berlin, Bonn and Schleswig-Holstein. Kanngiesser has been a member of Stuttgart Pianotrio (1981-91), Trio Paideia (1992-97), and was Artistic Director of the oldest German chamber-music Festival "Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker" (1993-2001). He was appointed as the youngest German Professor for Violoncello at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken (succeeding Maurice Gendron). Currently, Kanngiesser is deputy director of Musikhochschule in Cologne, Germany.