Born in Augsburg, Germany, Ulrich Pluta received his first clarinet lessons at the age of 9 in his Bavarian hometown. He won first prizes in the national competition for young classical musicians Jugend musiziert and was a regular member of the Bavarian national Youth Orchestra and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. After his Abitur, Ulrich went to Cologne to study clarinet in the internationally acclaimed class of Prof. Ralph Manno at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. After only 18 months he was offered a position in the orchestra academy of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Essen, where he studied with his mentor Harald Hendrichs. Before finishing his studies in Cologne, Ulrich won the audition for Principal Clarinet of the famous Staatskapelle Dresden, the oldest Symphony Orchestra of the world, which is regularly ranked as one of the ten best and most influential symphonic ensembles globally. Working there for three years, he worked with the current stars of classical music, participated in recordings for Radio, CD and Television and toured internationally. Further engagement brought him as a principal clarinet player also to other great Orchestras such as the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. Ulrich is an alumnus of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation for high achieving university students.