Collegium Musicum Weimar

Rehearsal dates

Weekly rehearsal: Wednesdays from 07.10.2026, 18:45 - 21:30
Rehearsal weekend: Fri, 04.12.2026 - Sun, 06.12.2026

Concert dates

Fri, 29.01.2027, Thomaskirche Erfurt
Sat, 30.01.2027, Schießhaus Weimar

Programme

Giacomo Puccini: Preludio sinfonico, SC 32
Edward Elgar: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra E minor, op. 85
Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky: Symphony No. 1 "Winter Dreams" G minor, op. 13

We begin with Giacomo Puccini’s (1858–1924) second orchestral work, Preludio sinfonico, which he composed in 1882 as his final piece of study at the Milan Conservatoire. During Puccini’s lifetime, the work was presumably performed only once. Yet the composition already contains a wealth of melodic material and compositional maturity that foreshadow his later operas.
In 1917, Edward Elgar (1857–1934) composed his Cello Concerto in E minor during a difficult period, both socially and privately. The First World War and his wife’s illness cast a shadow over his life and his work as a composer. This emotional and melancholic mood finds expression in this work.
With the title ‘Winter Dreams’, the ‘master of lyrical expression’, Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), provides an atmospheric setting for his First Symphony. The music conjures up a snow-covered winter landscape in the listener’s mind’s eye, revealing many facets of winter – from ‘Dreams of a Winter Journey’ to the ‘Land of Desolation’.

The Collegium Musicum Weimar, founded in 1994, grew out of the desire of students of school music to perform demanding symphonic works themselves in an orchestra. Prof. Michael Berg was the first conductor to lead the Collegium before it was placed in the hands of the students of the Department of Conducting and Opera Correpetition.

The Collegium was incorporated into the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar as an official university ensemble at the beginning of the winter semester 2018 and now consists largely of students of music education and musicology. The musical rehearsal work is enriched by students from the Bauhaus University Weimar, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of Erfurt and the Leipzig Conservatory as well as professional amateur musicians from all over Thuringia.

The Italian cellist Caterina Isaia (born 2002) studied from 2017 to 2021 as a scholarship holder at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London and subsequently at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar under Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in 2026 and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree.

Caterina has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, the International Vychytil Cello Competition in Prague, the Rudolf Barshai International Strings Competition and the E. Sollima International Music Competition. As a soloist, she has performed in renowned concert halls such as the Tonhalle Zurich, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Teatro alla Scala and the Teatro La Fenice. Since 2022, she has been a member of the LGT Young Soloists and performs as a soloist and chamber musician. Her artistic partners include, amongst others, Giovanni Sollima and Alexander Gilman. Her debut album featuring Pēteris Vasks’ Cello Concerto No. 2 ‘Presence’ was released in August 2025 on Sony Classical. This will be followed in September 2026 by a release on Deutsche Grammophon featuring music by Philip Glass for cello ensemble, recorded together with Camille Thomas. Since September 2026, Caterina has been a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

She plays a Francesco Gagliano cello from 1753, which is made available to her by the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar.

Sebastian Ickstadt has been studying orchestral conducting at the HfM Weimar with Prof Ekhart Wycik and Prof Gregor Bühl since 2024, and previously also with Dominik Beykirch. At the same time, he completed his studies in opera correpetition with Prof Hans-Christian Steinhöfel. He gained his first conducting experience with Johannes Klumpp.

During his studies, he already worked with renowned orchestras such as the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hof Symphony Orchestra and the Thuringia Philharmonic Orchestra Gotha-Eisenach. He has also worked at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, the Erfurt Theatre and the Chemnitz Theatre. He received important impulses from masterclasses with Nicolas Pasquet, Johannes Schlaefli, Johannes Klumpp and Otto Tausk.

He has also performed as a pianist in several symphony concerts at the university and worked with renowned conductors such as Ton Koopman, Simon Gaudenz, Vladimir Jurowski and Ekhart Wycik. In 2025 he is a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association Frankfurt.

Pauline Hüls is the organisational director of the Collegium Musicum Weimar. She studies musicology and intercultural music and event management at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar. She gained practical experience in areas such as concert organisation and programme design at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. In addition to her coordinating duties in the orchestra, she also plays in the cello section.