Berlin Philharmonic Horn Quartet
Profile
Stefan DohrOriginally Stefan Dohr learned to play the viola. One day he was given a hunting horn, and, after hearing a concert by the famous horn player Hermann Baumann, he came to the conclusion: ¢äThat horn sounds better than my viola!¢ã After studying in Essen and Cologne he became principal horn of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, and engagements followed with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester of Berlin before, in 1993, he finally became a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker. As a soloist he has collaborated with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher and Claudio Abbado. Along with the Classical and Romantic horn repertoire, he is also interested in contemporary works by Ligeti, Knussen and Kirchner. In March 2008 in the Vienna Musikverein, he will give the premiere of the horn concerto written for him by Herbert Willi. Another of his central preoccupations is chamber music, in which he appears not only in various ensembles with his Philharmonic colleagues but also with Maurizio Pollini, Lars Vogt, Kolja Blacher and Ian Bostridge. In addition, he is a member of the Ensemble Wien-Berlin. Stefan Dohr, who prefers to spend his free time in his family circle, teaches as a visiting professor at Berlin¡Çs Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule and in the Philharmonic¡Çs Orchestra Academy.
Klaus Wallendolf
Klaus Wallendorf owes his being a horn player to chance: the music teacher at his Gymnasium was asked by the Dusseldorf Youth Music School to look for pupils to learn the hunting horn. Klaus signed up - actually in response to a completely different question - and already had the horn in his hand. He showed so much talent for it that at the age of 16 he won the German national competition ¢äJugend musiziert¢ã and since 1965 has - as he puts it - been active as a ¢äsalaried horn player¢ã. He served as principal horn in orchestras including the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande before becoming a permanent member of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In addition, Wallendorf has played for more than 25 years in the Consortium Classicum. An ensemble member of German Brass since 1985, he has a major role in its concert appearances both as horn player and as master of ceremonies. In addition, he serves the Berliner Philharmoniker and some of its chamber ensembles as ¢äoccasional wordsmith, utility lyricist, moderator and semi-official entertainer¢ã. The horn player can also be experienced in this capacity outside the orchestra - as cabaret artiste at Berlin¡Çs Bar jeder Vernunft and Gasthof Kandler in Oberbiberg, Bavaria, as a stand-in for Loriot, as presenter of the German Order of Merit award to chief conductors and doctors of tropical medicine, as well as the composer of musical tributes and other songs.Fergus Mcwilliam
At the age of six, Fergus McWilliam went to a symphony concert with his mother and was so taken with the horns that he decided on the spot to become a horn player himself. As a newspaper delivery boy he earned the money for his first instrument and first lessons. He studied in Canada with John Simonelli, Fred Rizner and Eugene Rittich; in Amsterdam with Adriaan van Woudenberg; and in Stockholm with Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto. He was only 15 when he made his solo debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa. From 1970-79 he belonged to several Canadian orchestras and chamber ensembles. In 1979 he became a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In 1982 he went to Munich and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and three years later to the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 1988 with colleagues, he founded the Philharmonic Wind Quintet. He also belongs to the Berlin Philharmonic Winds. Fergus McWilliam, also highly sought after as a teacher, is an instructor in the Orchestra Academy as well as at London¡Çs Royal Academy of Music. The dyed-in-the-wool Scot, who is always happy to return to his roots in his lovely ancient hometown on Loch Ness, has introduced many of his orchestra colleagues to the joys of single malt Scotch whisky.
Sarah Willis
¢äThe horn is for boys¢ã, her schoolteacher believed, and so he suggested that she learn the flute or oboe. That remark served as a challenge to the US-born Brit, who grew up in Tokyo, Boston, Moscow and England and had her first horn lessons at the age of 14. After completing her three-year course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, she put the finishing touches on her training with Fergus McWilliam in Berlin. From 1999 to 2001 she was a member of the Berlin Staatskapelle, meanwhile also performing with such other leading orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic and appearing as a soloist in England, Germany and Asia. Sarah Willis also plays in various chamber ensembles, among them Divertimento Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic Brass. She¡Çs also deeply involved in the orchestra¡Çs education programme and in her free time enjoys salsa dancing.
