Sir Donald Runnicles

Chief Conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie

Introducing Sir Donald Runnicles! More pictures & videos of our new Chief Conductor can be found here.

Sir Donald Runnicles has been Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic since the 2025/26 season. In his concerts, he aims to combine the familiar with the new, as well as emotional immediacy with intellectual depth. In the summer of 2026, the Scottish-born conductor will conclude his 17-year tenure as General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He champions the principle of quality over quantity and has thus forged close artistic ties with renowned institutions worldwide, both in the opera pit and on the concert stage.

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Wolfgang Hentrich

1st Concertmaster

Prof. Wolfgang Hentrich studied with Gudrun Schröter and Gustav Schmahl in Dresden. From 1987 to 1996 he was First Concertmaster of the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra Chemnitz, before becoming Coordinated Concertmaster of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra in 1996. He has played with the orchestra several times as a soloist, and numerous CD recordings attest to his musical output.

He is director of the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, primarius of the Dresden String Quintet and the Carus Ensemble Dresden, and has led the German String Philharmonic since 2013. In 2002, together with music-loving amateurs, he founded the Fördervereinsorchester der Dresdner Philharmonie, of which he has been conductor ever since.

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Dalia Stulgyté-Richter

Concertmaster | Chairperson of the Orchestra Board

Dalia Stulgyté-Richter was born in Lithuania and received her first violin lessons from her father (a student of David Oistrakh). She graduated from the University of Music in Lübeck in 1995 with a diploma under Petru Munteanu, followed by a concert exam with Zakhar Bron. She worked as concertmaster with the Rias Youth Orchestra, the Philharmonia of Nations and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra before joining the Dresden Philharmonic in 1999 as deputy concertmaster.

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Cordula Fest

Concertmaster 2nd Violin

Cordula Fest received her first violin lessons at the age of 5. She studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden with Prof. Reinhard Ulbricht and with Prof. Yair Kless at the University of Music in Graz/Austria. Numerous master classes, among others with Zakhar Bron, Donald Weilerstein and Roman Totenberg/USA completed her studies.

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Antje Becker

Antje Becker been a member of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra since 1993. She attended the Special School of Music Dresden, studied at the Dresden Academy of Music and completed her subsequent postgraduate studies with the concert exam. From 1994 to 1999 she was a violin teacher at the Dresden Special School of Music.

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Annegret Teichmann

Annegret Teichmann attended the Special School of Music Dresden (E. Friedrich), studied at the Dresden Academy of Music (R. Ulbricht), took lessons with K. Vogler, gained professional experience from 1995 to 1997 with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, is active in various chamber ensembles and is a member of the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

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Christina Biwank

1st Principal Viola | Member of the Orchestra Board

Christina Biwank is principal violist of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also active in a variety of chamber music activities and holds a teaching position at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.

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Matan Gilitchensky

Principal Viola

Matan Gilitchensky, born in Israel, received his first viola lessons at the age of 15 with Lilach Levanon at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music (Tel Aviv). He graduated there with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2011, and continued his studies at the Berlin University of the Arts with Hartmut Rohde, graduating with a Solo Master's degree.

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Steffen Neumann

Steffen Neumann studied with Alfred Schindler at the Dresden Academy of Music from 1979-1984, was a substitute with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra from 1982 to 1984, and became a permanent member of the orchestra in 1988, after being engaged as violist/solo violist in Schwerin from 1984 to 1988. He also plays with various "early music" ensembles, including the Dresden Baroque Orchestra, the Capella Sagittariana, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. He is a founding member of the "Dresdner Hofmusik e. V.". He is engaged in cultural politics by organizing events in favor of the "Treberhilfe Dresden e. V." and the "Arche Noah e. V.".

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Andreas Kuhlmann

Andreas Kuhlmann began his viola studies at the Folkwang Academy of Music in Essen with Prof. Konrad Grahe. The concert exam with Prof. Emile Cantor in Trossingen and further studies with Prof. Serge Collot in Paris followed. As violist of the Werethina Quartet he graduated with distinction in chamber music.

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Irena Dietze

Irena Dietze, born 1978 in Neubrandenburg, studied violin at the special school for music "Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach" and at the UDK Berlin. Afterwards she studied viola with Prof. Thomas Selditz in Hamburg. During her studies she was a scholarship holder of the ZEIT Foundation. Her studies focused on chamber music through numerous master classes and concerts at the Stuttgart Court Concerts and Schwetzingen Music Festival, among others. She was a trainee with the NDR Radiophilharmonie and had engagements with the Hanover State Opera and the Dresden Staatskapelle. She has been a member of the Dresden Philharmonic since the beginning of the 2010/2011 season.

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Harald Hufnagel

Harald Hufnagel studied with Emile Cantor at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Intensive chamber music collaboration with Dirk Mommertz of the Fauré Piano Quartet shaped his musical education, as did courses with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Thomas Riebl, Jürgen Kussmaul, the Mandelring Quartet and Jeunesse Moderne at Schloss Weikersheim.

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Konstanze Pietschmann

1st Principal Cello

The young cellist Konstanze Pietschmann developed a passion for the cello at a very early age thanks to her musical upbringing and received her first lessons from Gerda Scharf at the age of three. After studying in Anna Niebuhr's class for young talent at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater in Leipzig, she began studying music at the same university in 2018 in the class of Prof. Peter Bruns.

She has won prizes at several national and international competitions.

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Dorothea Plans Casal

Dorothea Plans Casal received her first cello lessons at the age of eight at the "Johann Sebastian Bach" music school in Leipzig. She was taught by Prof. Wolfgang Weber as part of the young talent development class at the "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Academy of Music there.

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Daniel Thiele

Daniel Thiele was born in Dresden in 1971. Growing up in a church music environment, he became acquainted with the great passions and oratorios at an early age. His professional musical education began at the Sächsisches Landesgymnasium für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden and continued in 1989 at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. He later moved to Munich where he completed his studies with Prof. Reiner Ginzel. He received additional impulses during courses with David Geringas, Walther Nothas and Anner Bylsma. In 1994 Daniel Thiele became a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, where he took lessons with Peter Bruns.
Since 1995 he has been a cellist with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

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Ilie Cozmatchi

Ilie Cozmațchi, born in Romania, studied at the Iași Music Conservatory (Romania), at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Prof. Wolfgang Güttler and at the Nuremberg University of Music with Prof. Dorin Marc. He was a trainee with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Stuttgart State Opera and had engagements with the Munich Philharmonic and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. He has been a member of the Dresden Philharmonic since 2008.

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Undine Röhner-Stolle

1st Principal Oboe

Undine Röhner-Stolle was born in Berlin and began playing the oboe at the age of 13. She studied at the Leipzig Academy of Music with Burkhard Glaetzner. As a Mendelssohn scholarship holder, she won first prizes at the International Competitions in Geneva (1988) and Manchester (1989) and was subsequently a prizewinner of the German Music Council.

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Daniel Bäz

1st Principal Bassoon | Member of the Orchestra Board

Daniel Bäz, born in Dresden in 1982, received his first piano lessons at the age of six and studied bassoon with Mario Hendel from 1995. During this time he was several times first prize winner and finalist of national competitions. He completed his studies in Cologne with Georg Klütsch with the concert exam with distinction.

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Robert-Christian Schuster

Principal Bassoon | Spokesperson of the Orchestra Board

Robert-Christian Schuster, born in Rostock in 1977, began playing the recorder at the age of 6. Accompanying this, he attended music theory lessons at the municipal music school. In 1991 he received his first bassoon lessons from Prof. Bernhard Rose, bassoonist of the Saxon State Orchestra (retired), and was admitted to the Saxon Special School of Music. From 1992 he was taught by Prof. Mario Hendel. From 1993 to 1996 Schuster was a bassoonist in the Saxon State Youth Orchestra, and at the same time was active as a chamber musician in various ensembles and formations. 

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Björn Kadenbach

2nd Trumpet

Björn Kadenbach received his first trumpet lessons in Helmstedt with Gheorghe Herdeanu. After graduating from high school, he started as a junior student with Matthias Höfs in Hamburg, where he studied fully from 2003.  

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Karolina Juodelyte

organ

Karolina Juodelyte, an organist originally from Lithuania, studied organ and church music in Vilnius, Vienna, Helsinki, Detmold and Berlin, and has won prizes at numerous competitions. As a soloist, she performs with renowned orchestras in Germany and Lithuania and also gives solo recitals and chamber concerts, including numerous world premieres, particularly of works by Lithuanian composers. Since July 2024, she has been the church musician at the Bernhard Lichtenberg parish in Berlin-Mitte.

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