The members of the Anima Trombone Quartet: Polina Tarasenko (Ukraine), Tolga Akman (Turkey), Elai Grisaru Drori (Israel), and Amit Rozenzweig (Israel) started working together as students in the class of Professor Jonas Bylund at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

The Anima Trombone Quartet set itself as a goal, from the first moment on, to break the stigma and reputation of the trombone in the classical music scene as a functional instrument. They wish to expand the repertoire of the Trombone quartet, putting together meaningful programs with new socially related concepts and with the help of young composers, bringing onto classical music stages new music that is influenced by their different tradition and homelands while they keep exploring and expanding the technical and musical abilities of their instrument.

The Anima Trombone Quartet gave its debut concert in January 2022 at the Nikolaisaal Potsdam, followed by several concerts in the HMTM Hannover. Since then, the ensemble played concerts in Aurich, Burgdorf, Dortmund and Stade and in May 2023 has been invited to the festival Gezeitenkonzerte in Ostfriesland. In September 2024, the Quartet was awarded the first prize at the first International Littin Competition for trombone quartet in Frankfurt/Main.

Polina Tarasenko is an international soloist and first-prize winner at many international competitions around the world like the International Aeolus Competition and the ARD Competition. She currently is a member of the Mendelssohn Academy at the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig.

Tolga Akman, principal trombonist of the Magdeburg Philharmonic, was an intern at the Munich Philharmonic and is the prize winner of many international competitions in Europe and the United States.

Elai Grisaru Drori, principal trombonist at the Symphony Orchestra Wuppertal, is a prize winner of the International Aeolus Competition and played as a guest in orchestras such as the Staatsorchester Hannover, the Munich Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.  

Amit Rozenzweig, former solo bass trombonist of the Israel Opera Orchestra, was an intern at the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra, is a member of Ensemble Reflektor and plays regularly as a guest in orchestras such as the Staatsorchester Hannover and the Haydn Orchestra Bolzano.