The musicians of arte di tromba
Bernhard Muenchbach (trumpet)
Bernhard Muenchbach (*1963) studied music at the "Paedagogische Hochschule" in Freiburg/Germany with Erden Bilgen (trumpet); private studies with Rolf Quinque (Munich) and Anthony Plog (Freiburg). As a musical border hopper he played at jazz recording sessions and concerts with Albert Mangelsdorff, Jon Faddis etc., in big bands (for example "FreeDig Bigband": CD "Tribute To The Beatles", "Dig Dirt"), dance music orchestras ("5th Avenue Orchestra", "Casino Band Baden-Baden"), salsa with Wito Rodriguez, José Cortijo, Freddie Santiago etc. ("Wito con Caché") or currently with the French salsa band "Sonando" (CD „salsa explosiva„, radio & TV-shows), lead trumpet in the musical "Beauty And The Beast" in Stuttgart/Germany and numerous gigs in recording studios (e.g. Calren-Studios March-Hugstetten, Audiosoft of Jaques Belzung at Ensisheim/F, GMP-Studio Freiburg, Studio Justus Liebich Lohmar/Koeln; recordings in his own studio); in baroque, classical and contemporary music Bernhard Muenchbach plays principal trumpet at the "Philharmonie am Forum" (symphonic orchestra) in Offenburg and is member of the "Offenburg Ensemble" (contemporary music) and other orchestral projects.
As member of the „Black Forest Brass Quartet„ he accompanied the „Bach-Choir Ortenau„ (conducted by Thomas Strauss) on it's U.S.-tour 2002, performing Bach´s „Christmas Oratorio" and Vivaldi´s famous „Concerto C major for 2 trumpets“.
He teaches trumpet at the music school in Offenburg/Ortenau; he conducts a concert band and was teacher at numerous music workshops.
In 1993 he founded the trumpet ensemble arte di tromba and has performed in more than 100 concerts with it.
Silke Asmuss (trumpet)
Silke Asmuss was born in Konstanz/Germany in 1970. She started her musical studies in 1990 with Prof. Robert Bodenroeder (trumpet) at the "Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik" in Freiburg/Germany. In 1993 she changed to Prof. Anthony Plog and finished her studies in 1995/96. During this time she took part in workshops with Hakan Hardenberger, David Hickman and Thierry Caens.
As well as teaching the trumpet at the "Jugendmusikschule Suedlicher Breisgau" she is a freelance musician in various orchestras and spends a lot of time in playing chamber music in various ensembles.
In 2002 she joined arte di tromba.
Stefan Börsig (trumpet)
Stefan Boersig (* 1968) studied trumpet with Antony Plog at the "Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik" in Freiburg/Germany. He had private lessons with Johannes Sondermann (trumpet soloist at the SWR radio symphony orchestra Baden-Baden/Freiburg). In 1994 he took part in an orchestral workshop organized by the Bavarian broadcasting company (conductor: Lorin Maazel). Stefan Boersig made a lot of recordings for broadcasting and CD productions at the studios of the SWR in Freiburg. Since 1996 he has been a member of the "Wuerttembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn" (professional symphony orchestra). He often works for the orchestras of the theater in Freiburg, at the SWR broadcasting symphony orchestra Baden-Baden/Freiburg and at the opera house in Frankfurt.
As member of the „Black Forest Brass Quartet„ he accompanied the „Bach-Choir Ortenau„ (conducted by Thomas Strauss) on their U.S.-tour 2002, performing Bach´s „Christmas Oratorio" and Vivaldi´s famous „Concerto C major for 2 trumpets“.
He has been a member of arte di tromba since 2000.
Thomas Strauss (organ)
Thomas Strauss was born 1965 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He received his early musical education at the Conservatory of Strasbourg, France. He attended the State Academy of Music in Freiburg studying with Hans Musch (organ), A.K. Klein-Sheljasov (piano) and Klaus Hoevelmann (condictor). He continued his organ studies in 1990 with Ludwig Doerr, Xavier Darasse and Klemens Schnorr. Working towards the highest church music degree available in Germany, the „A-Exam„, Thomas Strauss studied harpsichord with Robert Hill and choral and orchestral conducting with Hans-Michael Beuerle. He participated in masterclasses with many acclaimed organists such as Zsigmond Szathmary, Ludger Lohmann, Wolfgang Ruebsam und Daniel Roth.
In 1990 and 1991 he received recognition for his outstanding abilities as an organist by winning major prizes in the National Young Musicians Competition of Germany and the Conservatory Organ Competition. He was awarded his degree with honors in 1992.
From 1990 to 1992 Thomas Strauss held the position of principal organist and choir director at the motherhouse of St. Vincent in Freiburg, Germany. Since 1993 he has been the organist and choir director at St. John The Baptist Catholic Church in Oppenau. In the same year, Strauß founded the „Bach Consortium Thomas Strauss„, a chamber music ensemble, and in 1995 the „Bach-Choir Ortenau„, presenting larger works such as The Christmas Oratorio, St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion by J.S.Bach and Elijah by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. He works as artistic director and conductor for both organizations and is initiator of the „Festwoche klassischer Musik„ in Oppenau. In 1998 and 2002 Thomas Strauss and his „Bach-Choir Ortenau„ were invited by Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia to perform Bach’s St. John Passion, Magnificat and Christmas-Oratorio at the Bach-Haendel-Festival. In 2002 the faculty of Shenandoah Conservatory voted unanimously to award Thomas Strauss the „Conservatory Medal of Excellence“.
Thomas Strauss has played the organ and harpsichord in concerts in Germany, France, Norway, Italy, Sardinia, Switzerland as well as in Hawaii and several times in the U.S.A..
He has performed with arte di tromba since 2002.