Masterclass Oboe

Hansjörg Schellenberger
Personal homepage :
www.hansjoerg-schellenberger.de

Born in 1948 his later addiction to musical life was established immediately: The parents were ardent music-lovers caring very early for a musical education of their children.
Playing the treble-recorder from his 6th birthday on it became a quite genuine passion for the 10 years old Hansjörg Schellenberger to play baroque music in the families of friends and starting to compose his own music – preferably at moonshine...!

At the age of 13 (1961) he started playing the oboe. After having finished school 1967 - encouraged by a youth competition in Germany in which he won the first price in 1965 and followed by a first price in conducting at Interlochen music camp (USA) at the age of 17 – he studied oboe, conducting and – mathematics in München and Detmold. After having won some important music-competitions – like ARD-competition in Munich in 1972 – he started his professional musical life with the WDR-Symphony-Orchestra Cologne (Germany) in 1971 being oboe-solo from 1975 until 1980. Having substituted at Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert v.Karajan from 1977 on he was appointed solo-oboist there in January 1980 which until summer 2001 was his musical center. After 30 years playing in orchestras he left Berlin Philharmonic concentrating on his career as soloist and conductor.
His artistic activities have never been limited to orchestral work only:
He is worldwide famous as oboe-soloist since many years and has played as soloist with conductors like Herbert v.Karajan, Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, James Levine and many others.
His chambermusic activities focus on "Ensemble Wien-Berlin" (soloists of Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic) which has ist most successful 20th anniversary in 2003.
1991 he founded and leads as artistic director "Haydn-Ensemble Berlin".
During all his time as member of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra he was "student" of all great conductors who did concerts in Berlin: studying their way of musical interpretation and learning about their way of conducting.
In 1994 he re-started his career as conductor which led him very quickly to collaborations with important orchestras like Jerusalem Symphony, Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Orquesta de la Municipad Madrid, Orchestra Verdi di Milano, Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, Rome and Kansai Philharmonic, Osaka and NHK-orchestra Tokyo – to mention only a few. In many of those concerts he appears both as soloist and conductor.

Since he started studying music he had a very close relationship with young composers which developed a lasting passion for todays music which he perfers to include in concert-programs.

His artistic life is documented on more than 50 CD’s on labels like DGG, DENON, SONY CLASSICAL, ORFEO and others – some of which he did with his wife the harpist Margit-Anna Süss (One of their recordings won the Deutschen Schallplatten-Preis 1999).

In 1997 - together with his wife - he created his own CD-label – CAMPANELLA MUSICA – on which he records all repertoire which became important for him during his musical life, having his friends at Berlin Philharmonic being involved in that project.