Ilka Kirbschus-Lohse was born in Hamburg in 1961, where she also grew up. She started playing already at the age of 6. At first she had violin lessons but later switched to viola. In 1989 she began studying viola at the music conservatory and has studied in both Lübeck and Hamburg. She gained her first orchestral experience when she played in the Albert Schweitzer Jugendorchester Hamburg and later in the Mozartorchester Hamburg. From 1989 – 1991 she played in the Schleswig-Holsteinischen Landestheater in Flensburg, after which she switched to Sønderjylland's Symphony Orchestra and has thus played here since 1991.