Swedish born Urban Agnas studied at the Ingesund College of Music in Arvika, Sweden. In 1987 he became the principal trumpet with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra before moving to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 1989 where he remained until 1992.
Urban won prizes at the ARD-Wettbewerb, Munich and the Radio France International Trumpet Competition, Toulon. As a soloist he has performed with orchestras such as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony and the London Mozart Players, with whom he has also recorded J. N. Hummel’s trumpet concerto.
Since 2001 Urban is professor of trumpet at the Academy of Music in Cologne, Germany. Before accepting his position in Cologne he taught at the Music Academies in Stockholm, Gothenburg Ingesund and Piteå.
A multi award winner, Tom Poulson won both the Trumpet and Contemporary Performance prizes at the Aeolus International Competition for Wind Instruments as well as 2nd place overall. He is a Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe competition winner and runner up at the Bromsgrove International Young Musicians’ Platform.
Tom has performed concertos with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Düsseldorf and Nürnberger Symphonikers, English Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Scotland and Euro Symphony SFK. Tom is currently the Co-Principal Trumpet of the Västerås Sinfonietta as well as being a member of KammarensembleN and WorldBrass.
In 2021 Tom became the Trumpet teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. He has taught masterclasses at Music Academies around the world including the Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Baylor University Texas, Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique Lyon and Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.
Annamia Larsson was born in Sweden, and since 2010 has been the principal Horn of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Sweden. She started her orchestral career in the Verbier Festival Orchestra and after that won the position as Co-principal horn of the Royal Opera in Stockholm at the age of 21.
Annamia studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and also at Universität für Darstellende Kunst und Musik Wien. She is performs frequently as a soloist with orchestras in Scandinavia including the Swedish Radio Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gävle Symphony and Reykjavik Chamber Orchestras. She is also a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta and the contemporary ensembles New European Ensemble in the Hague and KammarensembleN in Stockholm.
After graduating from the soloist diploma class of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 2008 she filled the position as horn teacher of the College before taking on the position full time in 2013. She has given masterclasses for the International Horn Society Macomb USA, South East Horn Workshop Virginia USA and for the Nordic Horn Symposium in various cities in Scandinavia.
After completing his studies at the Stockholm State Academy of Music in 1987, Jonas Bylund became principal trombonist of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Soon after he won 1st prize at the international soloist competition CIEM, Geneve and 2nd prize at the ARD-Wettbewerb, München. He was offered the position of principal trombone with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 1990 returned to Stockholm with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra until 1995.
Jonas has appeared as a soloist with a number of Europe’s leading orchestras, including the Philarmonia, Royal Stockholm Philarmonic, Oslo Philarmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony and the BBC Scottish. Since 1995 Jonas has held the position Professor of Trombone at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover. His students have been prize winners at international competitions and have gained positions in leading symphony orchestras around the world. In 2016 Jonas accepted to position of Professor of Trombone at the -Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, which he now shares with Hannover. He is frequently invited to serve as a juror at international competitions, which have included CIEM Geneva 1998, Prague Spring Competition 2004, ARD Wettbewerb 2007.
Dirk Hirthe was born in Germany. After his studies with George A. Monch and Prof. Jens Björn-Larsen he played one year at the state opera in stuttgart. Since 2008 he been the tuba player of the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe and is regularly invited to perform with the leading orchestras in Germany. He has also played with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Lucerne Festival Brass Ensemble as a guest member. As a soloist he has appeared with the Museums Orchester Frankfurt, the Bochumer Sinfoniker, the Badische Staatskapelle amongst others.
Since 2014 Dirk is the Professor for Tuba at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe. Many of his students have won international competitions and play in orchestras across Europe.
Dirk has given masterclasses at universities in almost every country in Europe including: Conservatoire Superiore Paris, Hochschule für Kunst und Musik Wien, Mozarteum Universität Salzburg, Musikhochschule Krakow and Musikhochschule Vilnius.
Dirk performs on tubas from the German brass manufacturer, Miraphone, and since 2014 he has helped them to develop their tubas. He particularly helped them with the development of their Elektra model F Tuba and their Hagen model B Tuba. Dirk became an official Miraphone Artist in 2015.