Biography

The Dutch hornist Ab Koster was Professor for Horn at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg from 1990-2019 and is active not only as an international soloist but also gives masterclasses regularly in many countries around the world.

Ab Koster was born in The Hague, Holland as the son of a Dutch hornist. He completed his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in his hometown with the honor of “Prix d’Exellence”. He then continued his studies at the Folkwang University in Essen with Hermann Baumann, who named him one of the “leading hornist of his generation”.

Starting in 1977, Ab Koster held the position of principal horn in the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany until 1990. In order to accept the many invitations as a soloist and chamber musician, he left the orchestra in 1990. He exhibits his excellent soloistic mastery not only on the modern valved horn but also on the historical natural horn. The many years of collaboration with Jean-Pierre Rampal, Gustav Leonhardt, and Frans Brüggen (“Orchestra of the 18. Century”) as well as many solo performances, records, radio and TV recordings in various countries earned him an outstanding international reputation.

Concert tours have led him to almost all countries in Northern, Western, and Eastern Europe as well as in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Taiwan.

For years, Ab Koster belongs to the small circle of soloists who are sought after world-wide, on the natural horn as well as on the valved horn. In addition to this, he holds a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. His interpretation of the concertos by Mozart and Strauss are particularly celebrated all over the world.

Some of the orchestras and ensembles with whom Ab Koster played as soloist:

Germany

NDR Symphony Orchestra
Duisburger Symphonic
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Gelsenkirchen Phiharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Symphonic
Staatskapelle Weimar
Junge Münchner Philharmonic
Westfalen New Philharmonic
Studio Orchestra Duisburg
Hessen State Opera Orchestra Wiesbaden
Landesorchester Thüringen
Hamburger Symphoniker
Erfurt Symphony Orchestra
Westfalen Philharmonic Orchestra
Vogler Quartet Landes-Sinfonie-Orch. Thüringen-Gotha
Philharmonic Orchestra Augsburg
Sinfonietta Köln
Halle Philharmonic State Orchestra
Telekom Classical Philharmonic Bonn
Northwest German Philharmonic
Göttinger Symphony Orchestra
Folkwang Chamber Orchestra
Bonn Philharmonic
Bach-Collegium Munich
Südwestfälisches Sinfonieorchester
Würzburg Symphony Orchestra
Braunschweig State Orchestra
Philharmonica Hungarica
Minguet Quartet

Netherlands

Orchester des 18. Jahrhunderts
Noord Nederlands Orkest
Gelders Orkest
Metropool Orkest
L´archibudelli
Danzi Quintett
Ardito Quintett

France

L`Orchestre National de Radio France
L´Orchestre de Francois Paillard

Austria

Concentus Musicus Wien
Camerata Academica Mozarteum Salzburg
Wiener Concert-Verein
Salzburg Soloists

USA

Pottstown Symphony Orchestra
Kansas Symphony Orchestra

Canada

Tafelmusik Toronto

Czech Republic

Czech State Philharmoic Brno
Cappella Istropolitana
Czech Chamber Soloists

Greece

Athens Philharmonic Orchestra
Thessaloniki Philharmonic Orchestra

Korea

Korean Chamber Orchestra
JeJu Symphony Orchestra

Japan

Kyushu Symphony Orchestra

Taiwan

Symphony Orchestra Taipei
National Orchestra of Taiwan in Taichung

Russia

Ural Symphonic State Orchestra

Hungary

Franz-Liszt-Chamber Orchestra Budapest
Hungarian Baroque Orchestra

England

London Chamber Orchestra

Australia

Australian Chamber Orchestra
Orchestra-Geminiani Melbourne

Belgium

Vlaanderen Orchestra in Antwerpen

Estonia

Philharmonic Orchestra Tallin

Norway

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra

Some of the conductors under whom Ab Koster played as a soloist:

Werner Andreas Albert
Herribert Beissel
Andrej Boreyko
Hermann Breuer
Frans Brüggen
Welisar Gentscheff
Roy Goodman
Peter Gülke
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Michael Helmrath
Toshiyuki Kamioka
Bernhard Klee
Reiner Koch
Ton Koopman
Roman Kopman
Jürgen Kussmaul
Gustav Leonhardt
Dimitri Liss
Jacques Mercier
Rainer Miedel
Kenneth Montgomery
Gerard Oskamp

Nicolas Pasquet
Christoph Prick
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Caspar Richter
Peter Schneider
Georg Schmöhe
Jaap Schröder
Jonathan Seers
Christian Simonis
Jiri Starek
Mark Stringer
Jan Stuhle
Ferdinand Terby
Bernard Thomas
Nikos Tsouschlos
Sandor Vegh
Hans Vonk
Hans Wallat
Günter Wand
Klaus Weise
Johannes Wildner
Helmut Winschermann

Ab Koster demonstrates his soloistic competence on the valved horn as well as the natural horn.

His collaboration with conductors such as:

– Ton Koopman,
– Gustav Leonhardt,
– Frans Brüggen (Orchester des 18. Jahrhunderts)
– und Bruno Weil (Tafelmusik Toronto)

shows his extreme flexibility to adapt to the original performance practices of the instrument.

For years, Ab Koster belongs to the small circle of worldwide sought-after soloists on the natural horn as well as the valved horn.

International festivals at which Ab Koster was invited to perform and/or teach:

Germany

Mozart Festival – Würzburg
Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival
Bad Harzburg Music Days
Schubertiade Duisburg
Festival in Münsterland
Festival in Rellingen
Hambach Festival
Schloß Elmau
Schloß Anderbach
Sony-Festival in Iersee
Festival „Mitte Europa“
Mendelssohn-Festival Hamburg

Austria

Salzburg Festival

Netherlands

Holland Festival
Early Music Festival in Utrecht
Orlando Kerkrade Festival

Italy

Associazione Amici Della Musica
Festival in Verona
Festival in Napoli
Festival in Rome
Festival in Milan

Japan

Affinis Music Festival

France

Festival “Salon de Provence”
International Festival in Cannes “MIDEM”
“Festival de Cluny”
“Festival de Vernegues”
“Festival des Cuivres” in Dijon

Spain

Granada International Festival Emmanuel de Falla
Alzira Festival Spanish Brass

Norway

Risör Music Festival

Czech Republic

International Music Festival “Mährischer Herbst” in Brno
International Festival “Prager Frühling”
Janáchek Festival – Ostrava

Taiwan

Taipei Music Festival
Taichung Music Festival

USA

Houston Chamber Music Festival
Lincoln City, Oregon – Chamber Music Festival

← back