Collegium Musicum Weimar

Rehearsal dates

Weekly rehearsal: Wednesdays from 08.04.2025, 18:45 - 21:30
Rehearsal weekend: Fri, 12.06.2026 - Sun, 14.06.2026

Concert dates

Sat, 04.07.2026, Schießhaus Weimar
Sun, 05.07.2026, Schießhaus Weimar

Ticktes

Via the following link you can purchase tickets online. 

Tickets costing €8, or €5 for concessions, are also available from the Weimar Tourist Information Office and at the box office.

Programme

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Theme and Variations, Op. 42
Robert Schumann: Concert Piece for Four Horns in F major, Op. 86
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

This semester's program opens with Theme & Variations, Op. 42, by Erich W. Korngold. It marks Korngold's last completed original composition and is a work in which his affinity for film music is clearly audible.

A stylistic leap then takes us to Robert Schumann. The valve horn, which made chromatic playing possible, had only been around for about 30 years when Robert Schumann composed his Concert Piece for Four Horns and Orchestra, Op. 86. In this work, Schumann took full advantage of the new possibilities offered by the instrument, placing great technical demands on all soloists. We are delighted to perform this work together with Prof. Jörg Brückner and three of his students.  

The program concludes with Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70. While working on the symphony, he wrote: “I am currently working on a new symphony, and everywhere I think of nothing else but my new work, which must have the power to move the whole world, and God grant that it will be so.” And indeed, the premiere of this symphony was one of Dvořák's greatest successes and brought him great recognition. Of his nine symphonies, the Seventh is probably the most tragic and dramatic.

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.

Jörg Brückner, born in Leipzig in 1971, began his musical career at the Schloss Belvedere Music School in Weimar, where he was taught from 1985 to 1989. He then studied from 1989 to 1992 at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar under Professors Reiner Heimbuch and Karl Biehlig, as well as under Prof. Hermann Märker in Leipzig.

His professional career as a horn player took off in 1992, when he played as third horn in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the baton of Kurt Masur until 1997. From 1997 to 2008, Jörg Brückner was principal horn with the Dresden Philharmonic, before holding the position of principal horn with the Munich Philharmonic from 2008 to 2019 under renowned chief conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel and Valery Gergiev. During this time, he performed as a soloist with renowned ensembles such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Leipzig Bach Orchestra and the Dresden Chamber Orchestra.

In addition, he has served as a guest principal horn player with numerous leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, the Hessian Radio Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Paris, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

Jörg Brückner has been teaching as Professor of Horn at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar since 2006. 

Martin Reiter is currently a Master’s student at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar under Prof. Jörg Brückner. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in 2023 at the University of Music in Freiburg under Prof. José-Vicente Castelló. During the 2024/25 season, he was employed on a fixed-term contract with the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra. During his studies, he has also performed with, amongst others, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Prior to his studies, he received tuition at the Kirchheim unter Teck Music School and won numerous prizes in the ‘Jugend musiziert’ competition during this time. In 2025, he was also a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Foundation.

Ursula Weber was born on 6 October 2000 in Saarbrücken and had her first horn lessons at the age of 12.

She began making music at a very early age. Chamber music courses involving the piano – which she began learning at the age of 5 but did not pursue professionally – had a profound influence on her. Before developing a passion for playing the horn, she took her first trombone lessons at the age of 10, which led her to brass music. She then began playing the horn at the age of 12.

Her three successful participations in the national competitions of ‘Jugend musiziert’ in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as her membership of various orchestras, such as the Saarland State Youth Symphony Orchestra, led her to study music. In 2019, she joined the preparatory class under Prof. Jörg Brückner and has been studying in his class at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar since the winter semester of 2020.

She has enriched her musical CV by taking part in various masterclasses, including those led by Prof. Sibylle Mahni and Prof. Frøydis Ree Wekre. She has also gained experience playing with various orchestras, such as the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Jena Philharmonic, the Erfurt Theatre Orchestra and others.

She also gained valuable professional experience during a two-year internship at the Würzburg Theatre. This was followed by a fixed-term contract at the Landestheater Coburg.

Benedikt Strasser is studying the horn on the Bachelor’s programme at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar under Prof. Jörg Brückner and is currently in his fourth semester.

He began his musical training in 2009 on the tenor horn/baritone horn with Bernhard Thomas Klein and Thomas Räth at the Württembergisches Allgäu Youth Music School. In 2020, he switched to the horn and received tuition from Ferdinand Fremerey. Since 2023, piano lessons have complemented his musical training. He gained further artistic inspiration through masterclasses and horn festivals.

He gained orchestral experience with, amongst others, the Quarta – 4 Länder Youth Philharmonic, the Swabian Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Rügen Island Orchestra. He has also participated in projects with the Junge Norddeutsche
Philharmonie. He gained further practical musical experience with the Westallgäu Chamber Orchestra, the Upper Swabian Chamber Orchestra, the City Orchestra of the JMS Württembergisches Allgäu and the CamerOrchester. In addition, he has been active in various symphonic and chamber music projects, gaining diverse ensemble experience in the process.

Since October 2025, he has been supported by the Deutschlandstipendium and is a member of the brass ensemble Liszt Brass.

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.