Our Lecturer Team
Sabine Wüsthoff
Conductor
Sabine Wüsthoff has been in charge of the Berlin Girls Choir since 1998. Born in Berlin, she successfully completed an education as a sports and gymnastic teacher, before she graduated studying music at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media which she finished with a state examination. She has been a freelance conductor, composer and music educator ever since. In workshops and master courses, she specialized as choir director and orchestra conductor.
Besides the Berlin Girls Choir, Sabine Wüsthoff also conducts the Schöneberg chamber orchestra which was founded by her, as well as the vocal ensemble Canto Berlin. She regularly gives courses for choir directors and conductors with the focus on body action and creativity. In 2003, Sabine Wüsthoff obtained the conductors’ prize of the International Johannes-Brahms-Competition Wernigerode, and in 2008, she won the first prize in a competition of composers of the RIAS Chamber Choir.
In 2015, the Berlin Choir association assigned the Mendelssohn-Medal to her for outstanding merits for choir music in Berlin.
Frederik Botthof
Conductor
Born in Berlin, he began cello lessons at the age of 10 and has since played in the Charlottenburg Youth Orchestra, the Lower Saxony Young Philharmonic Orchestra and was principal in the Hanover Young Symphony Orchestra.
He completed an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree (cello, singing, piano) and artistic-pedagogical training at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH). Study abroad took him to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. This was followed by a Master’s degree in children’s and youth choir conducting at the HMTMH with Prof. Friederike Stahmer. Frederik Botthof attended various master classes, including with Prof. Andreas Felber, and was a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association Hanover and the Germany Scholarship. After completing his teacher training, Frederik Botthof now teaches at a secondary school in Berlin.
As a singer, he is a founding member of the vocal quartet Sonorus Quartett, a member of the Junges Vokalensemble Hannover and has been a phonation teacher there since 2018. 2016-2018 director of the YMCA Gospel Choir Bissendorf, 2017-2020 director of the Coro Piccolo at the Markuskirche Hannover. Since the school year 2022/23 children’s choir conductor with the Berlin Girls Choir.
Sara Magenta Dang
Conductor, Phonation Teacher
She was a member and soloist of the Dresdner Kammerchor, has performed in Potsdam, Dresden, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Wroclaw and Paris, and has worked with Helmuth Rilling, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Rudolf Lutz and Ludwig Güttler.
In 2010 she was awarded the 3rd promotional prize of the city of Perleberg. At the 2014 National Singing Competition in Berlin, she won the special prize for concert engagements.
Teaching takes an important role for Sara Magenta Dang. In addition to being a private voice and piano teacher, she was a voice coach in the Cantate Children’s and Youth Choir from 2011-2018. Since 2019, she has been a lecturer for singing in the church music department of the Evangelical Church Berlin/Brandenburg/Silesian Upper Lusatia.
Justine Eckhaut
Accompanist
Since 2019, she has also accompanied the vocal class of Prof. Elisabeth Werres, Caitlin Hulcup and Prof. Aris Argiris at the Berlin University of the Arts. From 2019 to 2021, Justine Eckhaut was a participant in the Lied Academy of the Heidelberger Frühling International Music Festival under the artistic direction of Thomas Hampson.
In the 2021/22 season, in addition to her correptiton with the Small Concert Choir, the Concert Choir and the Vocal Consort, the Frenchwoman is the pianist and artistic director of the Berlied Festival.
Carolin Frank
Conductor, Phonation Teacher
Already during her studies she started her work as a lecturer for voice training in the project “Toni sings” of the Chorverband Nordrhein-Westfalen and later as a choir teacher for different children’s choirs in the project “SING!” of the Rundfunkchor Berlin. From 2013-2019, Carolin Frank was subject group leader of the elementary level at the Paul Hindemith Music School Neukölln.
The focus of her work is on the holistic approach to voice training, in which the voice, breathing and the human being as a sound body form a unity.
In addition to her work as a voice teacher, Carolin Frank is active as a singer and receives regular impulses from baritone Christian Oldenburg.
Eleni Irakleous
Conductor
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Johanna Kaldewei
Phonation Teacher
She performed as a concert soloist in the Händel Festival Halle, the Munich Biennale, the Bad Hersfeld Festival and the International Festival of Church Music in Oslo. Concert tours took her to France, Poland, Italy, Latvia and Switzerland. In 2014, she made her opera debut as Romilda in Händel’s “Serce”. In the season 2017/18, she appeared for the first time in the Berlin Philharmonie performing in Mozart’s C Minor Mass.
In addition, she focuses on evening recitals. She also has been recognized by many prizes, last not least in 2017 in the podium for young concert solists of the German Concert Choir Association (1. prize) and in the 9th International Telemann competition in Magdeburg.
Juliane Roever
Conductor
The choir director, music teacher and music theorist studied music at the Universität der Künste (UdK) Berlin and history at the Humboldt-Universität Berlin. She also studied music theory at the UdK under Prof. Dr. Hartmut Fladt. She received conducting lessons from Mirjam Sohar, Frank Markowitsch (choir conducting) and Tammin Julian Lee (orchestra conducting). Her musical education is complemented by a master class with Prof. Anne Kohler with a focus on choral music of the 20th century. She also received important impulses from Prof. Christian Grube and Sabine Wüsthoff.
From 2008 to 2014 Juliane Roever conducted the choir of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and in 2013 she founded the Junge Kammerchor Berlin. Since 2014 she has been teaching music and history at a grammar school in Berlin, where she also directs the school choirs. Since 2017 she has also been a lecturer for music theory at the UdK. Juliane Roever has two little daughters. She sang for many years in the Berlin Girls Choir.
Susan Wang
Accompanist
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The piano duo Susan and Sarah Wang has performed in numerous concert halls and festivals, including the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United States. It was awarded third prize at the ARD International Music Competition in 2010. In 2008 it won the 2nd prize in the prestigious “Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition”. In 2012 the twin sisters recorded and released their debut CD “American Crossings”. The piano duo enjoys devoting themselves to interdisciplinary projects in which they collaborate with composers, dancers, actors and singers.
Susan currently works as a piano teacher and répétiteur in Berlin and at the Goethe Gymnasium Schwerin.