"The course will cover the entire repertory from baroque to contemporary music. For example: how can music by Mozart be played authentically on a modern oboe and what aspects of early music can help us perform contemporary music in all its diversity? How does one handle microtonality on the oboe?" (Ernest Rombout)

 

Ernest Rombout was born in 1959 in the Netherlands. After one year as guest student at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, he studied with professor Heinz Holliger in Freiburg. In 1984 he concluded his work there with the rarely-awarded Soloist's Diploma cum laude. Subsequently he studied with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Maurice Bourgue. In 1983 he made his debut as a soloist at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with Richard Strauss' oboe concerto. Since then he has enjoyed a busy solo career, appearing all over Europe, the USA and Japan as well as making various recordings. New works have been created for him by renowned composers such as Luca Francesconi, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, David del Puerto, Maurice Weddington, Stefano Bellon, Richard Rijnvos and Seung-Ah Oh. He has appeared at various international festivals such as the Biennale in Venice and Munich, the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Takefu International Music Festival in Japan and the Summerfestivals in LA and Avignon. For DECCA he recorded his first solo-CD with oboe concertos by Haydn and Mozart together with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. In 1998 he was a member of the jury of the International Competition for Oboe in Geneva. In 1985 he was invited to become Professor of Oboe at the conservatory of Utrecht and since 2007 also at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam.

In addition to solo playing, Rombout is also a member of the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam (Contemporary music), The Atlas Ensemble (Contemporary music combining instruments and styles from Europe and the Silk Road countries). He also conducts these ensembles occasionally, as well as larger chamber music projects at both Conservatoires.

Ernest Rombout has also given many masterclasses in London, Graz, Lisbon, Moscow, Tashkent and Liechtenstein.