These talented musicians have, in a sense, been born to play. Marion began playing when she was five years old; Anne began, she said, when she was six years, and Jochen Tschabrun began the clarinet at the age of eight. Marion said that she chose to play the bassoon as she 'liked the instrument and found it interesting and irresistible.' Anne played the piano before, but she also wanted to play a wind instrument, and so went in for the oboe, which she has been playing since the age of 11. 'I enjoy both the piano and the oboe,' she said. Jochen tried brass and wood instruments. The oboe appealed to him so he opted for it. He has now been playing the instrument for 22 years. Jan has played the horn for about 20 years now. He chose this instrument because its sound is 'warm and sensitive.' To quote Jan, 'It's an instrument that goes well with woodwind and brass instruments.'

As children, the five musicians went to music schools in the afternoon after the normal schools. Later on, they concentrated purely on music. They took pains in the selection of their pieces, such as Beethoven's Adagio and allegro for a mechanical clock, Franz Danzi's Quintent in F, op. 68/II and Lucine Berio's Opus Number Zoo, the last containing unusual portions like Barn Dance, The Fawn, The Gray Mouse and Tom Cats.

'We chose some of them as they reflect our countries. We brought in pieces, such as the wind quintet of the famous Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti, to reflect some of the highlights of wind quintets since the 16th century. We wanted the audience to enjoy the full range of our music. They are reflections of compositions over the centuries,' said Jan. 'We play only classical type of music although we hear other music too, like jazz and occasionally pop,' said Marion. The members of the quintet play in different orchestras as professionals in Germany and in chamber music in addition, whenever they find the time.

Asked about the timeframe for practice, the musicians explained that they had played some of the pieces before, and for this particular performance they had been rehearsing for many weeks. The tour was planned by the Goethe Institut to places in India such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and they hoped to go to Kolkata, Delhi and then on to Pakistan, to Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. It was in the course of this tour that they heard live tabla and sitar music. They had bought some CDs with Indian and Bangladeshi music. Jan said, 'We all enjoy listening to world music and Indian music is a part of it.' Fusion music appeals to them, especially as it appears in rock and jazz. 'We have fixed compositions in traditional classical music and can't go over to such experimentation ourselves. But we like listening to fusion music,' said Jan.

The Orsolino Quintet was formed in Berlin and the name 'Orsolino' meaning 'little bear' in Italian was inspired by Berlin's mascot, the Berlin bear. The musicians, Walter Auer (flute), Anne Angerer (oboe), Jochen Tschabrun (clarinet), Jan Wessely (horn) and Marion Reinhard ( bassoon) were members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy, and now hold positions in various leading German orchestras.