Detlef Bensmann studied saxophone at the UdK Berlin with Prof. Omar Lamparter and double bass with Prof. Heinz Jablonski from 1975-1985: Orchestra School, Diploma and Reifeprüfung (equivalent to concert exam). Since his debut on 15 October 1980 as a saxophone soloist in the Berlin Philharmonie with the DSO Berlin as part of the ‘RIAS presents’ series, he has dedicated himself to the saxophone as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician as well as composing, conducting and teaching at the UdK (since 1984), HfM Berlin (since 1991) and AFM Berlin (since 2018). From 1986-1993, he was the first saxophone soloist of the German Music Council's Federal Programme, which resulted in numerous engagements as a soloist with German orchestras, even beyond the funding period; e.g. with the RSO Frankfurt of the HR under the direction of GMD Dmitrij Kitajenko, who also invited him to Basel. In 1999, the HR engaged him as dramaturge, conductor, soloist and composer for the concert in the series ‘rund um.... (the saxophone)’ series. State and radio orchestras in Poland, Cuba, Macedonia, Greece, Switzerland, Bulgaria and the Ukraine invited him as a saxophone soloist. He has composed 4 saxophone concertos and created two orchestral versions of Erwin Schulhoff's Hot Sonata and a new version of Claude Debussy's Rhapsody as well as various chamber works. Numerous saxophone concertos, chamber music and solo works were composed for him.
Tianhong Wu studied composition at the Nanjing University of Arts, China. He completed his saxophone studies in 2019 with a master's degree under Detlef Bensmann at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). He plays with the Pentaton Saxophone Quartet and won 1st prize at the ‘Holz Pur’ chamber music competition in 2014. He was co-founder of the Bensmann Saxophone Quartet Berlin, with whom he later played concerts in Germany, Croatia, Macedonia, China, etc. Since the beginning of 2018, he has been the second chairman of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Saxophonisten e. V. In the same year he became a member of the Adumá Saxophone Quartet. He performs as a soloist and is a regular guest in orchestras to realise the saxophone parts.
Lilly Paddags is a multiple winner of Jugend Musiziert with special prizes for contemporary music, as well as a finalist in international competitions. She performed as a soloist in Dietrich Erdmann's saxophone concerto with the State Youth Orchestra in November 2019. As an encore, she played a double concerto composed by her duo partner. She is studying music at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, majoring in saxophone.
Holger Neuberts studied chemistry in Berlin and worked in the fields of chemistry and IT. He took saxophone lessons with Friedemann Graef in order to play music himself in his spare time. He is a friend of almost all styles of music, has experienced many interesting concerts and would like to give a little work back to music with his voluntary work.
Xi Chen is a representative of ArDeSa in the People's Republic of China. He studied ‘Artistic Education with Saxophone as his main subject’ at the Berlin University of the Arts from 2012 to 2018 in the classes of Detlef Bensmann and Johannes Ernst. During his studies, he played saxophone parts in German orchestras and chamber music ensembles in Italy, Croatia and Ukraine. He is the winner of the 15th Concorso Internazionale Per Giovani Musicisti ‘Luigi Zanuccoli’ and 2nd prize winner of the ‘1st Concorso Internazionale Premio Citta’ Di Padova.’
Seit seiner Rückkehr nach China 2018, arbeitet er dort als Saxophonist und Lehrer. Er veranstaltet Konzerte, in denen er für die ArDeSa wirbt.
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ARDESA e.V.
Christstr. 38
14059 Berlin, Germany
© 2025 ArDeSa e.V.. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der:
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