The Davidoff Trio, consisting of Johannes Wendel (violin), Christoph Lamprecht (cello), and Yona Sophia Jutzi (piano), was founded in Mainz in January 2021. Already in the fall of 2021, the trio was awarded as a prize-winning ensemble at the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition. Since then, they have pursued an active concert schedule throughout Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, performing at festivals such as the Brixen Classics Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Musikdorf Ernen Festival, and the Swiss Chamber Music Festival Adelboden.
Concert recordings of the Davidoff Trio have been broadcast internationally several times, most recently on SRF Kultur. In 2023, the trio was awarded the annual prize of the Freunde Junger Musiker Kassel and is supported by the Walter-Kaminsky foundation as well as the Akademie der Wissenschaften Mainz. In 2024, the ensemble received a scholarship from the Werner Richard – Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation and were included in the foundation's concert promotion. Additionally, they won 3rd prize at the International Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award in Lugano (CH).
The trio is currently pursuing a master's degree in chamber music at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, studying with Prof. Thomas Hoppe. The ensemble also receives chamber music lessons from Emanuel Wehse (Morgenstern Trio), Prof. Andreas Lehmann (Liszt Trio Weimar), and Prof. Boris Kusnezow. Masterclasses with Prof. Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet), Prof. Eberhard Feltz, Prof. Konstantin Heidrich (Fauré Quartet), and Prof. Angelika Merkle complement the young musicians' chamber music education.
The name "Davidoff Trio" traces back to the first piece the ensemble worked on together: Anton Arensky dedicated his 1st Piano Trio in 1894 to the memory of the great cellist and composer Carl Davidoff (1838-1889) – this music and the process of forming the ensemble are so closely connected that the three musicians essentially owe their collaboration to the passing of the cello virtuoso.
johannes wendel
Johannes Wendel began playing the violin at the age of five. After attending the music focused high school »Schloss Belvedere« in Weimar, he first completed his Bachelor's degree with Liviu Casleanu at the Mainz University of Music and afterwards his Master's degree with Prof. Andreas Lehmann at the »Franz Liszt« University of Music in Weimar. He is currently studying in the Master`s program for Chamber Music at the Folkwang Universität der Künste with Prof. Thomas Hoppe. He has also received important artistic inspiration from Günter Pichler, Eberhard Feltz, Konstantin Heidrich, Frank Reinecke and Florian Schötz.
Johannes Wendel has won prizes at international and national competitions and has received scholarships from renowned institutions such as the Jürgen Ponto Foundation, the Erich Bachmann Foundation, the Lions Club Pirmasens, the City of Pirmasens, the Walter Kaminsky Foundation, the Friends of Young Musicians and the “musica aeterna” foundation of the Frankfurter Sparkasse.
His versatile concert activities include engagements all over Germany and abroad, including as a founding member of the Davidoff Trio. He has worked as principal section leader, assistant section leader and tutti player in renowned orchestras such as the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the NDR Elbphilharmonieorchester Hamburg, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz. Additionally, he regularly teaches as a lecturer of the violin sections at the Landesjugendorchester Rheinland-Pfalz and Hessen.
Johannes Wendel plays the violin “Baron Knoop” by the Amati brothers (Cremona, 1590), which is being provided to him by the Swiss Maggini Foundation.
christoph lamprecht
Christoph Lamprecht received cello lessons from the age of 7. He completed his bachelor's degree at the Mainz University of Music in the class of Prof. Manuel Fischer-Dieskau. He then completed his Master's degree at the Basel Music Academy with Prof. Thomas Demenga with distinction and finished his soloist training there with a Master's degree in Specialized Soloist Performance. He is currently continuing his education in the Master’s program for Chamber Music at the Folkwang Universität der Künste, studying with Prof. Thomas Hoppe. Additionally, he received important musical impulses from Walter Grimmer, Christoph Poppen, Eberhard Feltz and Günter Pichler, among others.
As a soloist, most recently with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, and as a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Davidoff Trio, he regularly performs all over Germany and abroad. After playing as assistant principal cellist at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden on a temporary contract, he has been a permanent member of the Meininger Hofkapelle in the same position since the 2022/23 season. He passes on his orchestral experience to young musicians as a sought-after lecturer at the Landesjugendorchester Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz.
Christoph Lamprecht currently plays an English cello from 1820, which has kindly been made available to him from a private collection.
yona sophia jutzi
Yona Sophia Jutzi began her piano lessons at the age of six and initially studied at the Peter-Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz as well as at the Moores School of Music in Houston, Texas. She completed her Bachelor's degree in piano and her Master's in piano chamber music under the guidance of Prof. Thomas Hell, Prof. Sae-Nal Lea Kim and Prof. Boris Kusnezow. She is currently continuing her studies in the Meisterklasse program with Prof. Boris Kusnezow at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig as well as with Prof. Thomas Hoppe at the Folkwang Universität der Künste. She has also received musical inspiration from Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alfred Brendel, Günter Pichler and Eberhard Feltz, among others.
The pianist has won prizes at various competitions and is supported by the Deutschlandstipendium, the Walter Kaminsky Foundation and the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz. Solo and chamber music concerts have taken her to renowned concert halls in Germany and abroad, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, and to international music festivals such as the Musikdorf Ernen Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Brixen Classics Festival. Recordings of the pianist's concerts have been broadcast internationally several times.
Additionally, Yona Sophia Jutzi is the founder and artistic director of the “Konzerte im Nirgendwo”, supported by the #MusikerZukunft scholarship from the Deutsche Orchesterstiftung, among others. She is also head of music education at the Schaumburger Schlosskonzerte and works as a project manager for the International Music Academy for Soloists (IMAS