Performers 2026 | Was uns am Herzen liegt

Vocals

Vocalists

Rock and soul powerhouse

Petra Rennings

Petra had just turned 15 when she made her first appearances as a band singer and began writing her own songs. More bands soon followed, along with lead roles in rock musicals and her first CD productions. Music has taken her from pop, soul, and rock all the way to jazz. She still relishes this stylistic balancing act today, which is why she loves taking part in band and benefit projects of every genre. Nowadays she is mostly booked as a lead singer and soloist and has been passing on her experience as a vocal coach for many years.

Charming frontman

Jean-Pierre Domaniwski

Jean-Pierre’s extraordinary voice decisively shapes the sound of our benefit concerts – his high-energy, tailor-made entertainment turns them into unforgettable, first-class live acts. Jean-Pierre is a vocal teacher as well as founder and owner of the Stuttgart music school Music Planet, a songwriter and producer in his own recording studio, and collaborates with renowned artists. He is the frontman and mastermind of the band Jake and the Convolution as well as frontman of the Stuttgart cover band Dropzone – die Eventband.

Our mastermind

Dr. Yvi Szoncsò

Yvi is a multi-instrumentalist (main instruments: violin and piano), composer, songwriter, professional musician, and lecturer. Born in French-speaking Switzerland and raised in Austria, she studied music in Graz and earned a doctorate in musicology, appeared on The Voice of Germany in 2012, and lives out her passion in her bands. In 2020 she co-founded the mobile music school ABBY ROAD. Yvi is Musical Director of “Was uns am Herzen liegt” and responsible for the arrangements and musical dramaturgy.

Frontman on the move

Yahya Salman

Yahya is a singer-songwriter, producer, and stage performance coach with over 16 years of international stage experience across the EU. Since 2024 he has been coaching at renowned festivals for emerging artists – including the Newcomer Contest 2026 – supporting rising talents with valuable guidance for a strong stage presence and unforgettable performances. He is currently touring as lead singer of his cover band “Salman Soul” and coaches established bands as well as solo artists.

Find out more at www.highstages.com

The opera-singing IT manager

Benjamin Calvo Cabet

Music was my first love. That certainly holds true for Benjamin Calvo Cabet. Classical music captivated him from an early age: he began taking classical singing lessons at the age of 13. While still at school, he was already performing at the opera and in musicals, but was also on the road with numerous pop and rock bands. In 2013 he joined the team of “Was uns am Herzen liegt”. Working full-time as an IT manager, he continues to support the WUAHL project with great passion.

Soul, pop, and so much more

Sonja Kufferath

Sonja Kufferath brings feeling and groove to the stage – whether with laid-back bossa nova or high-energy pop and soul sets. An experienced singer, she delivers the perfect soundtrack – stylish, versatile, live.

Next Gen

Jessie Rennings

We are delighted to welcome Jessie Rennings to the team – a very young soloist of just 22. Despite her age, she already has plenty of stage experience to show for herself. “My life is music,” she says. Thanks to her musical parents, she quickly found opportunities to perform professionally. For several years she has been on the road with various bands and genres and passionately supports musical projects for children. Jessie captivates with her soulful yet powerfully rock-infused vocals and her unmistakable charisma.

Rising star

Lilly Wafe

14-year-old singer Lilly Wafe is making her way in the music world step by step. She became known to a wider audience in 2024 through her appearance on The Voice Kids. She proved she can win people over live as well at the young talents festival at the 2025 Backnang Straßenfest, where she took first place with her debut single “It’s OK”. With dedication and initiative, the young artist works on her repertoire together with her manager, coach, and producer Yahya (founder of High Stages). Since May, her second single “You’re Enough” has been available on all major streaming platforms. Lilly is looking forward to being part of the 2026 WUAHL team and will be performing live at the big concert in October.

She’s got the blues

Heike Schwegmann

Music has always been an important part of Heike’s life. Recorder lessons and singing in the children’s church choir were her first musical experiences. Later she played the flugelhorn in the town band and took accordion lessons. Ten years ago she began professional singing lessons with Jean-Pierre at the Music Planet music school in Stuttgart-Wangen. Out of this grew the desire to start a band. Today she is the frontwoman of the Roxette tribute band THE BIG L.

Instruments

Band

The man at the grand piano

Prof. Dr. Dirk Schieborn

Dirk is a pianist as well as co-founder and chairman of the board of the “Was uns am Herzen liegt” association. He pursues his passions as a university professor, management consultant, and keyboarder of the Stuttgart cover band Dropzone.

Find out more at www.pianoptikum.de

The man behind the beats

Gabriel Illert

Gabriel has been on the road as a drummer with various artists and bands for many years, including his metal band ANGA. He works as a live and studio musician and producer, and as a session musician has accompanied numerous well-known artists, among them James Blunt, Tim Bendzko, Eagle Eye Cherry, Nik P., Bernhard Brink, and Joel Brandenstein. TV credits: Schlag den Star, SWR New Pop Festival, ZDF Fernsehgarten, Luke Mockridge Show, ZDF Sportler des Jahres, Bayrischer Rundfunk.

The string virtuoso

Uwe Metzler

Uwe Metzler studied guitar at the conservatories of Graz and Munich from 1986 to 1988. Since then, countless national and international CD productions and tours have followed, including with Lou Bega, Randy Crawford, Duran Duran, Sarah Brightman (2004 world tour), Katja Ebstein, and Peter Kraus. From 2005 to 2011 he played in the live band of the TV show DSDS, since 2013 in Peter Schilling’s band; in 2017 he toured with Andrea Berg and since October 2023 with Nino de Angelo. He is also, among other things, guitarist with Anyones Daughter, a member of the Anne Wylie Band and of the Orchester der Kulturen. He has always passed on his knowledge at music schools and in private lessons.

The stunt guitarist

Roland Hrastinski

Roland Hrastinski, born and raised in Stuttgart, has long been part of the Stuttgart music scene – among others with the band Gallery, which scored a chart hit in 2000 with “Blue” (TV appearances on MTV, Viva, Top of the Pops, ARD/ZDF). Today he works mainly as a guitar teacher and as a live and studio guitarist, including for Nena and Mungo Jerry. Since 2022 he has been the guitarist of Disney’s Hollywood-Sound-Orchester and accompanies musical stars such as Alexander Klaws, Willemijn Verkaik, and Mandy Capristo on their tours.

On the keyboards

Michael Friedinger

Michael plays piano and keyboards with great passion, joy, creativity, and remarkable stylistic flexibility. Since his studies at the conservatories of Trossingen, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart, he has been in demand as a sideman in numerous bands across a wide range of styles. He has played with artists as diverse as Bob Mintzer, Roberto Blanco, Max Mutzke, Julia Neigel, Stefan Gwildis, Cassandra Steen, and Randy Brecker. In 2024 he released his debut album “Between Chairs”, featuring twelve original compositions.

The lady on bass

Brigitte Kohler

Brigitte is a formally trained bassist, equally at home on electric bass and double bass. With her low notes and the right sound and pulse for every song, she provides a solid foundation for our programme – both musically and personally. We are delighted that she is on board with us again for the fourth time!

Percussion

Bene Neuner

Anyone active in the German pop and electro music scene is bound to cross paths with Bene. The drummer and percussionist has been supplying artists with groove for over 20 years. Since 2011 he has been on stage and on TV with the electro-pop band “Glasperlenspiel”. He has played for Olly Murs, Michael Schulte, Tom Beck, and Yvonne Catterfeld, among others, and was part of the band for Joko Winterscheidt’s TV show “Win Your Song”.

On the saxophone

Dr. Oliver Boese

This year Oliver supports the band as a saxophonist with his expressive sound. He has been on stage for over 30 years and plays in various musical formations. Stylistically, he moves between jazz, soul, and funk.

Next gen on drums

Yannik Rebmann

Yannik Rebmann, 18, discovered his passion for making music early on: as a child he enthusiastically drummed on the pots in his mum’s kitchen, and at the age of three he started guitar lessons. He gained his first professional experience from 2017 to 2018 as “Michael Banks” in the musical “Mary Poppins” at Stuttgart’s Apollo Theater. During that time he taught himself the basics of drumming with drum cams on YouTube, started drum lessons with Gabriel Illert a few months later and has kept developing ever since. This summer he finished school with his Abitur (A-levels) and is now looking forward to the road ahead – with music always holding a special place. Yannik is especially happy to be part of “Was uns am Herzen liegt” on drums and to support a good cause.

Together

Choir

Our choir

Solitude-Chor Stuttgart

The Solitude-Chor was founded in the 1980s as the school choir of the Solitude-Gymnasium in Stuttgart-Weilimdorf. Since 1994 it has performed as an independent ensemble under the direction of Klaus Breuninger. Its members are ambitious singers from the greater Stuttgart area. The Solitude-Chor sees itself as an independent project choir with a busy concert schedule, placing its musical focus on rarely performed works by outstanding national and international composers.

The choir regularly collaborates with other ensembles, above all with the symphony orchestra of the University of Hohenheim. Its performances span sacred and secular compositions, from a cappella pieces and large-scale oratorio works to demanding gospels, spirituals, rock, pop, and jazz songs.

2013 saw the European premiere of the Holocaust oratorio “i believe” in the presence of Canadian composer Zane Zalis, followed in 2014 by the US premiere on Broadway in New York with the Solitude-Chor taking part. In January 2017 another performance followed on the occasion of the 7th Holocaust Remembrance Days in Stuttgart’s twin city of Łódź, Poland. The world premiere of Zane Zalis’ oratorio “NOSTOS – A Journey of Others” in Stuttgart in 2018 and at the Murau International Music Festival (MIMF) in Austria was enthusiastically received by audiences.

The highlights of recent years include two further major works by Karl Jenkins: the peace mass “The Armed Man” in 2019 and the unifying “One World” in 2025.

On our stage the Solitude-Chor will be joined by the Soul Voices. We are delighted to have this wonderful choir on board.

A cappella

Soul Voices

The Soul Voices formed in October 2017 out of a group from the Solitude-Chor that wanted to explore new musical paths together. Since then they have joyfully sung rock, pop, and jazz – preferably in expressive a cappella arrangements.

The group has gathered stage experience on very different occasions: from the cheerful summer street festival on their own doorstep and the atmospheric Open Mic Night of the Fellbach cultural association to the annual Christmas concerts in the courtyard of the Old Castle during the Stuttgart Christmas market and in the Salvatorkirche in Weilimdorf together with colleagues from the other choirs of the Solitude association.

Conductor, Solitude-Chor and Soul Voices

Klaus Breuninger

Klaus Breuninger (1961–2026) studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Karlsruhe University of Music. He worked as a freelance musician and directed several amateur and professional choirs and orchestras.

Together with professional singer colleagues from all over Germany, he founded “Die Meistersinger” in 1998. The ensemble performs concerts throughout Germany and has released five successful CDs, available in stores and on all major streaming services.

Under his musical direction, the label “musicpartner” produced a globally distributed series of CDs titled “Chorsingen leicht gemacht” (Choral singing made easy), which allows choral singers to learn all the great oratorios at home.

Alongside his busy concert schedule with his ensembles, it was also important to Klaus Breuninger to sing with people simply “just for fun” – in his fun choirs and at the so-called “Singvergnügen”, everything that brings joy is sung together: rock, pop, or Schlager.

The Wolfbusch children’s choir with conductor Edith Hartmann

The Wolfbusch children’s choir performing on stage

The Wolfbusch youth choir with conductor Edith Hartmann

The Wolfbusch children’s and youth choir in concert with orchestra

Young voices

Wolfbusch Kinder- und Jugendchor

The Wolfbusch children’s choir was founded in 2007 by Edith Hartmann with 25 children; the Wolfbusch youth choir followed in 2015. Today more than 100 children and teenagers sing in four children’s choir groups and one youth choir group. The Wolfbusch Kinder- und Jugendchor belongs to the Solitude-Chor Stuttgart e. V. and is a member of the Wilhelm Hauff Choral Association.

The choir’s repertoire covers sacred, secular, and traditional children’s songs, musicals, gospel, Christmas music, classical works, and seasonal songs. The choir performs at various events in Weilimdorf and the Stuttgart region. In 2021 the Wolfbusch Kinder- und Jugendchor recorded its own Christmas CD together with friendly ensembles, and in 2024 the children and teenagers could be heard in a swimming pool for the first time: together with the Solitude-Chor Stuttgart and the choir of St. Theresia in Weilimdorf, they gave a Christmas concert at the Albthermen in Bad Urach. Last year’s highlight was “Mass of the Children” by John Rutter, with a concert trip to Sigmaringen and performances at the Salvatorkirche and the cathedral of St. Eberhard in Stuttgart. Joint outings, concert visits, and a choir retreat round off the programme.

Next year the Wolfbusch Kinder- und Jugendchor celebrates its 20th anniversary – and in 2026 the young voices can be experienced on our stage as well. That makes us especially happy, because here too we are committed to supporting young musical talent.

Find out more at www.wolfbuschkinderundjugendchor.de

Director, Wolfbusch Kinder- und Jugendchor

Edith Hartmann

Edith Hartmann has been leading the Wolfbusch Kinder- und Jugendchor for almost 20 years, with heart and professionalism in equal measure. Since 2023 she has also directed the adult choir of St. Theresia in Stuttgart-Weilimdorf as well as various adult and male choir projects.

She completed her studies at the universities of music in Trossingen and Stuttgart and works freelance as a teacher of voice and piano and as director of the Weilimdorf singing school. She received her vocal training from Annerose Krämer and Susanne Vogelmann and her acting training from Marie Helle, and took master classes with Julia Hamari among others. Edith Hartmann appears as a soloist at sacred concerts and is a member of various ensembles such as Trisonore and “Musik des Lebens”.

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