"Music has always been and is always contemporary. Playing contemporary music is not so much a question of learning new techniques as of letting ourselves get inspired by the visions of composers who are (or could be) our friends and neighbors. Just like we delve into other realms of music in order to find fascinating, original and relevant expressions, we do the same with new music. On this journey, we constantly rethink our technique and reinvent our vocabulary of sounds." (Bill Forman)

 

William Forman, born in New York in 1959, is one of the leading exponents of contemporary trumpet literature in Europe. Upon completion of his studies at the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, he moved to Europe in 1981, and now lives in Berlin. Foman's extraordinarily diverse career has taken him to the forefront of all realms of classical and new music. During the 1980´s he occupied positions in symphony and opera orchestras in Germany and Belgium and in 1986 and 1987 was awarded prizes as a trumpet soloist at the international music competitions in Prague (gold medal), Markneukirchen, and Geneva. From 1990 until 2001, he was the trumpeter of the Frankfurt based Ensemble Modern where he collaborated closely with many of the leading composers of our time.

Forman has appeared as a soloist with many of the worlds renowned orchestras, including the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. His performances include works by Stockhausen, Kagel, Ligeti, Frank Zappa among others, theater pieces by Heiner Goebbels, and baroque music on the natural trumpet. An esteemed pedagogue, he has given workshops and courses for new music and brass music worldwide. Since 1994 Bill Forman has been professor for trumpet at the Hanns Eisler Acadamy of Music in Berlin. He is also the founder and artistic director of "Totally Trumpet" the Berlin Festival of New Trumpet Music.