Brass Quintet Music of All Kinds
Ventus Quintus Brass Ensemble brings together musicians from across Switzerland. It originated from a collaboration in a youth orchestra, where the members first met. Founded in 2024, it is a very young quintet whose mission is to embrace stylistic diversity and explore a wide range of musical settings.
Alongside the classical brass quintet repertoire, including the works of Victor Ewald, its core repertoire also features early music such as the madrigals of Barbara Strozzi, as well as more recent, jazz-influenced compositions. This portfolio is further enriched by the ensemble’s own creative projects, including the creation of new adaptations and arrangements for the brass quintet instrumentation.
For 2026, the ensemble is planning a recording series featuring its own arrangements.
Annouk Bircher
Trumpet
Annouk Bircher was born in Chur in 2002. She began trumpet lessons at the age of eight with Hanspeter Bircher, studying with him until the summer of 2021. From 2019 to 2021, she also took lessons with Jennifer Tauder in Basel. She is currently studying in Zurich with Frits Damrow and Immanuel Richter.
In addition to her chamber music activities, she performs in larger ensembles such as the Zentralschweizer Jugendsinfonieorchester and various wind orchestras, including Aulos, the Nationale Jugendblasorchester, and Blasorchester Siebnen. She has been an academy member of the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden and has also performed as an additional player with the orchestra, as well as with the Schweizer Jugend-Sinfonie-Orchester.
Tuba
Noah Gutheinz (*2001) from Schüpfheim received his first tuba lessons at the Musikschule Schüpfheim before enrolling in the preparatory course for music studies at the Hochschule Luzern – Musik. There, he studied with Prof. Simon Styles and Prof. Thomas Rüedi. In 2024, Noah completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Hochschule der Künste Bern under Prof. Rex Martin. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Music Education, with a minor in Conducting, at the Hochschule der Künste Bern. Noah is the conductor of the Jugendblasorchester Schüpfheim, the Beginners Band, the Entlebucher Jugend Brass Band, and the Musikgesellschaft Grossdietwil-Altbüron. In addition to his work at the ÄMS, he teaches tuba and euphonium at the Musikschule Muri-Gümligen.
Noah performs with many renowned ensembles, including the Aulos Blasorchester and numerous others.
Trumpet
Valentin Merki was born in 1999 in Basel. He began trumpet aged 11 with Franz Leuenberger, continuing his studies with a precollege with Simon Lilly at the Basel Musikakademie before studying Bachelor‘s in Lucerne with Immanuel Richter and Huw Morgan. He also completed his Master‘s degree in music pedagogy there.
Today, Valentin Merki teaches at the Emmen music school while working as a freelance musician in a variety of ensembles. Apart from his interest in the modern trumpet, Valentin is a passionate player of the baroque trumpet and baroque repertoire.
Horn
André Marquês from Sarnen in Obwalden is a horn player, conductor, and music educator. His studies took him to Lucerne, Bern, and Zurich. As a former member of the Schweizer Jugend-Sinfonie-Orchester, he regularly performed in major concert halls across Switzerland.
For projects, he appears with various orchestras such as the 21st Century Orchestra, Argovia Philharmonic, and Sinfonietta Zug. As a horn player, he is frequently active in the wind orchestra scene, including with Feldmusik Sarnen and the Aulos Blasorchester. Since 2025, he has been the conductor of Musikverein Herrliberg. As an arranger, he works with music in a variety of ensembles and instrumentations.
Janis Schaller
Trombone
Janis Schaller (*2003) from Ruswil LU began trombone lessons at the age of 8 at the local music school. From 2018 to 2025, he was a member of the Jugendblasorchester Luzern. In addition, he played in various bands, ensembles, the Nationale Jugendblasorchester, and the Zentralschweizer Jugendsinfonieorchester.
Today, he still has, as he himself says, “ongoing exciting projects.” Since 2023, he has been a member of the Symphonisches Blasorchester der Feldmusik Sarnen, and since 2025 he has been studying Social Sciences and History at the Universität Bern.