Basma AbdelRahim Violin was born in Cairo into a renowned family of musicians. At the age of six she began to learn the violin at the children's department of the Cairo Conservatoire, where she later studied, and from which she graduated in 1982, obtaining a teaching position. In 1981 she began a parallel course at the ‘Hochschule für Musik’ in Frankfurt/Germany. A ‘DAAD’ scholarship between 1984 and 87 enabled her to continue her studies, obtain the diploma in 1987 and join the Solo Studies class. Since 1987 she has been a member of the first violins of the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra, and is active as a chamber musician in house ensembles. A Fulbright Commission scholarship enabled further post-graduate studies, leading her to Bloomington/Indiana (U.S.A.), where, in addition to modern violin, she had her first instruction in baroque violin at the attached Early Music Institute. From 1994 to 96 she studied baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Among her teachers L.Yashwili, S. Ganiev, Y.Neaman, S. Karolyi and Y. Yaron are particularly worthy of mention , as are M.McDonald, S.Ritchie and T. Hengelbrock for baroque violin. She has performed throughout Europe, the U.S.A. and the Middle East, especially in her home town of Cairo, where she appears regularly as soloist with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, in solo recitals and chamber music concerts. She has made a number of radio, TV, and CD recordings, and given several world premieres especially of works dedicated to her, e.g. by her father Gamal Abdel-Rahim. In 1998 she became a member of the renowned ‘Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble’ (Dir. T.Hengelbrock) and is active in several other ancient music ensembles. In 2002, together with her husband Kamel Salah-Eldin, she founded the Horus Ensemble, a group with the aim of giving genuine musical performances on period instruments. In 2005 she joined the ‘Ohrwurm’ educational project which enables children to experience classical music live in schools. She maintains contacts with various chamber orchestras in both a coaching and leading capacity, especially the ‘Concerto Armonico’, with whom she directed a solo-vocal/ orchestra project in 2007 in Florence, in 2008 in Blonay, and with whom, most recently, she performed the Mozart KV 215 violin concerto conducted by T.Hengelbrock in 2010 in Italy. ******************* Kamel Salah-Eldin Violoncello Born in Cairo to a family of architects and artists, he began to play the cello at the age of nine at the children's school of the Cairo Conservatoire, where he later studied with E.Issakadze and R.Abdullaev among others. In 1979 he graduated and obtained a teaching position. He was admitted to the ‘Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst’ in Frankfurt, Germany in 1981 for post graduate studies with G.Mantel, and for this purpose was granted a ‘DAAD’ scholarship (1982 to 86). In 1983 he obtained the ‘Reifeprüfung’ followed by the ‘Konzertexamen’ in 1986. Between 1982 and 1985 he joined the ‘Johannesen School of the Arts’ in Victoria, Canada regularly, as a participant, and as assistant to Prof. H. Shapiro (Juilliard school) In 1985 he was prize winner at the 5th International Chamber Music Competition in Trapani, Italy. In 1988 he became a member the cello group of the Frankfurt Opera and Museums Orchestra as co-principal, where he regularly plays the continuo part as baroque cellist (e.g. Monteverdi's ‘l'Incoronazione di Poppea’, ‘Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria’, Cavalli's ‘ll Giasone’, Handel's ‘Ariodante’ and Vivaldi's ‘Orlando Furioso’.) He is also much in demand as a chamber music partner in a wide variety of groups. His concert activities encompass solo and chamber music performances in many countries. He has given the world premiere of a number of works, including works dedicated to him by his Father-in-law and composition teacher Gamal Abdel-Rahim, among others, and has made radio, TV and CD recordings throughout Europe, the U.S.A. and the Middle East. Since 1989 he has been an established guest in the Cairo Opera House , where he regularly appears in solo recitals, and as a soloist with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted the Chamber Orchestra of the C.O.H. since 1998. In 2000 he joined the ‘Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble’ conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock, performing on period instruments. In 2002 he was invited to be a tutor at the Jeunesse Musicale project ‘Orient-Okzident’ in Weikersheim Castle, and in the same year joined the team of the ‘Ohrwurm’ project, which enables children to experience live classical music in a fresh new way in schools. 2002 also saw the founding of the ‘Horus Ensemble’ which he started together with his wife, Basma Abdel-Rahim. Kaamel Salah-Eldin maintains an intensive contact with his students, in Germany as well as in Egypt, where he holds workshops frequently with the cello class of the Cairo Conservatoire. ************************* Ludwig Hampe Viola/ Viola d’Amore Was born in Munich, Germany. At the age of 6 he received his first violin lessons. After his first studies in history of art, he became viola student of Prof. Ulrich Koch at the Music Academy of Freiburg/Breisgau. Since 1985 he has been co-leader of the viola section at the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra ‘Frankfurter Museumsorchester’. Besides many solo and chamber music concerts, he has taken part in several international festivals, such as the Salzburg Festival and Ansbach Bach-Weeks as viola, baroque viola, and viola d’amore player. He is a frequent guest in many leading orchestras in Germany and Europe. ************************ Mechthild Blaumer Violin Violin playing accompanied her through her life since the age of five. She enjoyed an intensive musical youth, a lot of orchestra and chamber music experiences (musical youth competitions, bavarian youth orchestra, and several chamber music appearances through ‘ Munic Musikseminar’. She started to study music in Munich, then in Vienna with Günther Pichler (leader of the famous Alban Berg Quartet), as well as Gerhard Schulz ( same quartet). She expanded her studies through various master classes with prominent baroque music experts, such as Sigiswald Kuijken, Ingrid Seifert and Reinhard Goebel. Ever since she has been performing with her own ensemble Via Nova and various specialised Baroque ensembles, such as ‘Balthasar-Neumann- Ensemble’ (Th.Hengelbrock), ‘Barockorchester Stuttgart’ (F. Bernius), ‘Concerto Köln’ and others. Mechthild Blaumer holds a teaching position for historical interpretation and chamber music at Highschool of Music Saar in Saarbrücken ************************ Lee Santana Lute/Composer Was born into a musician’s family in Florida. His childhood and early youth he spent playing the guitar, first rock- and jazz,  less ‘classical’, later, the other way around. In three college terms of studying the classical guitar he concentrated on new music as well as early music and became fascinated with the lute and historical instruments. So began studies in performance practise and early music at the Emerson College (Longy School of Music) in Boston, Massachussets. His main teacher for lute was Patrick O’Brien in New York. A desire to write music, thwarted by a distrust of institutionalized new music, was temporarily appeased by an additional curriculum of music theory. He worked together with the composer Richard Cornell, who encouraged him to write his own pieces. He passed both courses of study with ‘Magna Cum Laude’ distinctions. Subsequently he studied privately with the lutenist Steve Stubbs in Europe. In 1984 Lee Santana moved to Germany where he still lives as a free-lancing lute-player and composer.
In the course of the years he has had the honour to perform with numerous very good ensembles as well as with interesting directors and soloists. He is active as a soloist  and as duo partner of the gambist Hille Perl. Together they founded the trio ‘Los Otros’ with Steve Player and the quartet ‘The Age of Passions’ with Petra Müllejans and Karl Kaiser. He also plays in Hille’s ensemble ‘Sirius Viols’. All these projects, as well as programs of his own music have been documented on numerous CDs. After  three futile years teaching at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Lee Santana is back full force on the concert circuit and in the recording studio. Several highlights this year include a new solo CD entitled ‘Pentagram’ with works of Bach, Vallet and Santana, as well as his first ECM recording with the legendary Manfred Eicher. ************************ André Henrich Lute/Theorbo Born in Oberwesel/Germany. In 2000 he graduated from the Musikhochschule in Cologne, where he studied with Konrad Junghänel. He now performs internationally as a soloist and continuo player on the lute, the theorbo and the baroque guitar. Based in Paris since 2002, he has worked with renowned ensembles and directors, as ‘Les Arts Florissants’ and William Christie, ‘Musica Antiqua Köln’ and Reinhard Goebel and ‘Collegium Vocale Gent’ and Philippe Herreweghe. In the field of chamber music he works regularly with ‘Les Folies Françoises’, ‘Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien’, ‘Fuoco e Cenere ‘and with the recorder player Dorothee Oberlinger’s ‘Ensemble 1700’. 
André Henrich has performed throughout Europe and the USA and also in Japan, Taiwan and Egypt. He has participated in more than thirty CD recordings and also DVD and television productions. As a soloist, he is particularly interested in Geman and French repertory for the baroque lute. He has presented solo recitals in Paris; for the English Lute Society in London; at the festival ‘Baroque Strings and Bows’ in Poznan, Poland; at the ‘Muziek Biennale Niederrhein’, Germany ; and in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, Japan. In addition, he has given several premiere performances of contemporary works for lute and theorbo. ************************** Steven Player Baroque Dance/ Baroque Guitar Has for over 20 years been a performer of renaissance and baroque music and dance.This combination of skills has led to professional work all around the world from Asia and Australia to North and Central America as well as regular performance in Europe. His knowledge of and ability to perform Early Dance has enabled him to work with some of the leading ensembles of this music in Europe. Andrew Lawrence-King and ‘The Harp Consort’ ,with Hille Perl and Lee Santana in ‘Los Otros’,Thomas Hengelbrock and The ‘Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble’, ‘Akademie für Alte Musik’ Berlin, The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, ‘Tragicomedia’, ‘Concerto Copenhagen’, ‘The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra’ , ‘The Dufay Collective’ ,’Circa 1500’, and with harpsichordist Knut Johannesen and soprano Clara Sanabras in their ensemble ‘Palimpsest’,and in the USA with ‘Apollo’s Fire ‘and the ‘Paul O’Dette Consort’. He has also recorded many discs with these ensembles as both baroque guitarist and dancer (heard but not seen). He has also performed,choreographed and taught for TV and theatre at home in the UK and throughout Europe. including ‘The Royal Shakespeare Company’ and the BBC on both radio and TV. In addition he has taught in schools and universities to students of all ages and abilities.Particular pleasure comes from teaching music students the more practical, but no less intellectual discipline, of the physical expression of their art, in The Royal Academy of Music in London and for the Early Music Schools in Bremen and Trossingen. Before becoming a performer he studied fine art at Falmouth School of Art ,lute at The Royal College of Music, also dancing Early Dance with Mary Collins and Danserye with whom he continues to collaborate. Everything else was picked up here and there on the way. ********************************************************************** CVs