Thomas Hoppe (piano), born in 1971, went to the USA as a student of Lee Luvisi and later completed his training at the Juilliard School in New York. There he was a long-time studio pianist for Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman. The prize-winner of many international competitions has performed as a duo with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Antje Weithaas, Vilde Frang, Tabea Zimmermann, Jens Peter Maintz and Frans Helmerson. He regularly performs with renowned string quartets such as the Shanghai Quartet, the Modigliani Quartet, the Mandelring Quartet and the Simply Quartet as well as with the ensemble 4.1 piano windtet. As a member of the Atos Trio he gives guest performances worldwide. For about two decades Thomas Hoppe has worked as a piano partner for international competitions (Queen Elizabeth Brussels, Joseph Joachim Hannover, Indianapolis and Singapore International Violin Competitions). He gives master classes in piano accompaniment and chamber music worldwide, including at the Zhuhai Violin Festival in China. In April 2018, he accepted an appointment as professor of piano chamber music at Folkwang University of the Arts Essen. He is an artistic collaborator at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin, supervises a chamber music course with the Atos Trio at the Accademia Perosi in Biella (Italy) and participates as a jury member in the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition TICC. In autumn 2019, a complete recording of Beethoven's piano trios was released with him as a live recording from the Wigmore Hall.
Stephan Forck (violocello) was born in Brandenburg an der Havel in 1965. He began his musical education in 1977 at the Special School of Music in Berlin (now the "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach" Music High School). From 1983 to 1987 he studied cello at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler Berlin" with Josef Schwab and Eberhard Feltz. Studies with the LaSalle Quartet at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and with Bernard Greenhouse rounded off his musical education. Together with Tim Vogler, Frank Reinecke and Stefan Fehlandt, he founded the Vogler Quartet in 1985, which continues to perform in unchanged formation to this day. In 1986 the ensemble won 1st prize at the International Quartet Competition in Evian. This was followed by over 2,000 concerts in all the major concert halls worldwide as well as numerous radio, television and CD recordings (RCA, Sony, Nimbus, Hännsler Classic and CPO). Since 1999 Stephan Forck has been professor of violoncello at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin. From 2007 to 2012 he was visiting professor for chamber music at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts. He regularly gives master classes in Europe, America and Asia.