Ensemble
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes about the Ensemble Pyramide, founded in Zurich in 1991: „When you hear the members of the ensemble making music together, you are still fascinated by a joy of playing and an enthusiasm that never seem to run out.“
The Ensemble Pyramide, consisting of flute, oboe, violin, viola, violoncello and harp, likes to show surprising musical connections in its concert programmes by juxtaposing early and new music. It has developed a special repertoire, which includes French chamber music with harp from the first half of the 20th century in addition to the quartets and quintets of the classical period. Years of playing together in the same formation have resulted in an unmistakable ensemble sound and a special stylistic flexibility in dealing with music from the Baroque to the 21st century. Ensemble Pyramide is also dedicated to the revival of works that have fallen into oblivion and commissions compositions, for example, from Elena Firsova, Gao Ping, Rudolf Kelterborn, Jean Halsdorf and Athanasia Tzanou.
The Berner Zeitung wrote: „In both the sextet and the quartet, the artists captured the audience with an outstanding ensemble performance. Their playing was precisely coordinated and authentically depicted the respective stylistic background.“
For its unusual ensemble and repertoire work, Ensemble Pyramide received the City of Zurich’s cultural award „Werkjahr für Interpretation“ in 2006.
The ensemble has been organising its own concert series in Zurich since 1995 and the summer concerts in Jonental and Ritterhaus Bubikon since 2007. Radio and CD recordings for Ars musici, Intégral productions, Divox, Naxos, Brilliant Classics and Toccata Classics complement a busy concert schedule in Europe.
Members
Markus Brönnimann, flute, studied with Günter Rumpel in Zurich, with Michel Debost at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the USA and with Renate Greiss-Armin at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe. He received the Kiwanis Music Prize and the Migros-Genossenschaftsbund Study Prize. After engagements with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Philharmonic Orchestra Hagen/Westphalia, he has been principal flute of the Philharmonic Orchestra Luxembourg since 1998.
Barbara Tillmann, oboe, studied with Louise Pellerin in Zurich and Heinz Hol-liger at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg im Breisgau. She has received several scholarships from the Kiefer-Hablitzel Foundation and the Ernst Göhner Foundation in cooperation with the Migros-Genossenschaftsbund. Engagements as a soloist with the Camerata Bern, the Basel Chamber Orchestra and the Camerata Academica of the Mozarteum Salzburg. Currently solo oboist with the Camerata Switzerland. She has recorded baroque oboe concertos for Claves Records. Barbara Tillmann is a lecturer in didactics at the Zurich University of the Arts and runs annual music courses for children and young people at the Villa Jolimont.
Ulrike Jacoby, violin, studied with Prof. Ernst Mayer-Schierning and with Thomas Füri at the Detmold and Basel conservatories. Engagements with the Camerata Bern and the Collegium Novum Zurich. Since 1996 she has been a member of the first violins of the Zurich Opera Orchestra and the Zurich Opera’s baroque orchestra „La Scintilla“.
Muriel Schweizer, viola, studied with Christoph Schiller in Zurich and with Bruno Giuranna in Berlin. She received a scholarship from the Kiefer-Hablitzel Foundation. Engagements with the Sinfonietta Berlin and the Collegium Novum Zurich. She is a member of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera. Currently she plays as solo violist in the Camerata Schweiz and the Camerata Castello. She accompanies silent films in the Sinfonia Ensemble, is concertmaster in the AltstadtOrchester Zurich and the Musikgesellschaft Caecilia in Rapperswil.
Anita Jehli, violoncello, studied with Markus Stocker and Claude Starck at the Zurich Academy of Music. She later continued her studies in baroque cello, conducting and church music practice at the Zurich University of the Arts and in cultural management at the University of Basel. She is the winner of the Kiwanis Music Prize, the Chamber Music Prize of the Migros-Genossenschaftsbund and the Koeckert Prize. She is the solo cellist of Camerata Schweiz, conductor of the AltstadtOrchester der reformierten Kirche Zürich and ORCHESTRINACHUR, and headmaster of the Domat-Ems Felsberg Music School. In 2019, she received the recognition award of the city of Chur for her artistic activities.
Marie Trottmann, harp, graduated with the highest honours from the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main in Françoise Friedrich’s class in Artistic Training and Pedagogy. Previously, she studied at the Lausanne School of Music, where she completed her Bachelor’s degree with a prize. She also won first prize at the SSPM Interpretation Competition. Today she teaches at the Basel Music Academy and plays regularly in various orchestras and chamber music formations.
