Duo
ex nihilo
Two voices, one name.
Violeta Kadesha
Violin
Greek-Albanian violinist Violeta Kadesha studied with Prof. Skerdjano Keraj at the Cologne University of Music and Dance (Aachen campus), graduating with a Bachelor of Music and an additional profile in instrumental pedagogy in 2025. Chamber music was a core of her studies — in the Veritas piano trio and in chamber music profiles with Prof. Hans-Christian Schweiker and Prof. David Quiggle.
Performances have taken her to New York's Carnegie Hall (Mahler's 2nd Symphony with the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra), the Megaron in Athens, and the Festival Academy Budapest Youth Chamber Orchestra. She has organized her own chamber series "Reflexionen der Realität" since January 2026. Alongside her concert work she teaches violin at the municipal music school in Aachen.
Jakob Grabenhorst
Cello & Voice
Cellist and singer Jakob Grabenhorst completed his bachelor's degree in cello with Prof. Hans-Christian Schweiker at the Cologne University of Music and Dance in 2025, where he is now pursuing a master's degree in cello as well as vocal studies with Prof. Kai Wessel.
He is a multiple prizewinner of the Dr. Alexander Sikorski Competition (1st prize 2023 and 2024) and of the national "Jugend musiziert" competition. Engagements have taken him to Ensemble ColLab (including the "Gurre-Lied" at the Cologne Philharmonie and "Pierrot Lunaire"), the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Sommeroper Höör in Sweden, and the Aachen Cathedral Orchestra. Since 2023 he has formed Duo Cellux, admitted to the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Köln sponsorship program in 2026; since 2022 he has conducted the Chorcollegium Aachen.
The story
Born out of the joint chamber music series "Reflexionen der Realität", which Violeta Kadesha has organized with Jakob Grabenhorst and pianist Giulia Loperfido since January 2026, this duo takes its name seriously: out of nothing — violin and cello, two voices, one sound.
