Edicson Ruiz, born in 1985 in Caracas, took up the double bass at the age of eleven. As a fifteen-year-old, he was awarded First Prize at the International Society of Bassists Competition in Indianapolis/USA. Soon afterwards he attended courses given by Janne Saksala and became the youngest scholarship holder of the Orchestral Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, where he studied with Klaus Stoll.Already during these studies, Edicson Ruiz was appointed a member of the world-famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra after a convincing audition. Conductor Christian Vásquez, born in 1984 in Caracas, is, as is Edicson Ruiz, a protégé of the internationally known Venezuelan Sistema and has already established himself as one of the most promising developing talents from the Americas.