About us
Elbwinds is a wind quintet that breathes a breath of fresh air into the chamber music scene of Hamburg. Our strength lies in diversity; each member comes from a different culture, performing together, music from a variety of epochs. The stream connecting the five of us is our current residency in Hamburg, home of the Elbe.
Founded in March 2021 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Elbwinds was formed through our love for the wind quintet repertoire. As of March 2022, Elbwinds is supported by the Live Music Now Foundation, and performing recitals across Hamburg.
The Musicians
LUISE RAUM
Oboist
Luise Raum, born in Berlin, first began learning the piano and received her first oboe lesson in 2009. Since 2018 she has been studying the oboe in the class of Prof. Beate Aanderud at the HfMT Hamburg. Luise has successfully taken part in various national competitions and attended masterclasses with Prof. Ingo Goritzki, Prof. Jean-Louis Capezzali, Albrecht Mayer and Juri Vallentin. She gained orchestral experience as a substitute in the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, the Klassische Philharmonie Nordwest and multiple youth orchestras. In December 2021 she gave a concert as a soloist with members of the Kärntner Sinfonieorchester. In addition to playing in an orchestra, Luise also enjoys playing chamber music in various ensembles with oboe and cor anglais. She is not only familiar with historical but also with modern performance practice, has taken part in several world premieres and was a scholarship holder of the Akademie kontemporär 2021 in Hamburg.
Since the beginning of 2022, Luise has been supported by the Live Music Now e.V. Foundation Hamburg with the quintet „Elbwinds".
BRENDAN CONNELLAN
Hornist
Brendan is a student of Professor Szabolcs Zempléni, studying for a bachelors degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. He studied originally in his homeland at the Royal College of Music Junior Department in London, under the tutelage of Susan Dent. Here he won the Barbara Boissard Junior Concerto Competition, the May Edwards Prize and the Senior Recital Prize. During this time, he also achieved his DipABRSM diploma in horn performance and often performed with local orchestras, including as a soloist in concertos by Gordon Jacob, Haydn, Mozart and Richard Strauss. Brendan spent 4 years with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, where he was principal horn for 3 years, performing in prestigious halls in England including at the BBC Proms. In the autumn of 2021, he began his studies in Hamburg.
MERCAN DEMIRKANLI
Flutist
Mercan Demirkanli was born on May 24, 1998 in Istanbul. From 2007 to 2016 she studied flute with Prof. Uludere at the Istanbul State Conservatory "Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Devlet Konservatuvarı".
She won the 2nd prize at the Bulgaria International Competition of Young Virtuosos in 2009, 2nd prize at the Izmir International Flute Competition in 2011, 1st prize at the Izmir International Flute Competition in 2012 and 2nd prize at the Monaco Flautissimo Competition in 2014. In April 2020 she was selected in Turkey by the IKSV (Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation) as "Tomorrow's Female Star".
She had actively participated in the master classes of Sir James Galway, Maxence Larrieu, Philippe Bernold, Davide Formisano, Felix Renggli, Juergen Franz, Gergely Ittzés, Robert Winn, Lidya Oshavkova, Yossi Arnhem, Moshe Epstein, Bülent Evcil, Sibel Kumru Pensel and Gülsen Tatu .
At the age 14 she gave her first solo concert with the youth orchestra Mimar Sinan. She have solo and orchestral concerts in CRR Concert Hall, National Castles, Notre Dame De Sion, Notre Dame du Rosarie, Elbphilharmonie, Shenzhen Concert Hall, NDR Hamburg, NDR Hannover and many other concert halls.
In addition to youth orchestras such as the NDR Youth Symphony Orchestra, she had the opportunity to work with professional orchestras early on. At the age of 16 she played in the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and then at the Hamburg State Opera and played as a solo flute in the New Philharmonic Hamburg in China.
She got the scholarships such as “Chamber Music Scholarship” and “Success Scholarship” from Mimar Sinan University. In Germany she is supported by the Johannes Brahms Foundation, the Otto Stöterau Foundation, Siemens and the DAAD. In 2021 she won the Borusan Music Scholarship.
Since 2020 she has been supported by "Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now".
She is currently studying as a master's student at the HfMT Hamburg, in the class of Prof. Björn Westlund.
CHIH-YUN CHOU
Clarinetist
Chih-Yun Chou was born in 2000 in Taipei, Taiwan. She started her musical education at the piano from 5 years old. When she was 8 years old, she started playing the clarinet. During her studies in Taiwan, she has had many experiences on orchestra and chamber music.
Before coming to Germany, she attended Andreas Ottensamer's master class in 2019. In the winter semester of 2019, she began her bachelor studies at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama with Professor Alexander Wener Bachelor.
Since 2022, she has been sponsored by the Yehudi Menuhin Live Musik Now association. She is also a member of the Hamburg State Opera as a substitute.
LEE HUI
Bassoonist
Lee Hui is a Singaporean bassoonist who is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg under the tutelage of Prof. Christian Kunert. Before she came to Germany, she completer her Bachelor studies in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Singapore, with Prof Zhang Jin Min, the former principal bassoonist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
She is a keen chamber musician, passionate about wind music and its possibilities. Together with her ensemble in Singapore, she has clinched the third prize in the International Chamber Music competition 2019 by the Hitmaker Academy. Currently, she is funded by the Live Music Now grant as a part of ELBWINDS.
Some of her highlights in her orchestral experience in include Jakarta Concert Orchestra, Penang Philharmonic Orchestra, Bandung Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Music Makers and Musicians’ Initiative. In Germany she has had the pleasure to perform with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Berliner Symphoniker and the Landesjugendorchester Bremen and Hamburg.