Felix Klieser – horn (Germany)

Felix Klieser is an extraordinary horn player whose artistic journey has attracted international recognition. He began horn lessons at the age of five and, by thirteen, was admitted as a junior student to the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. In 2014 he was awarded the ECHO Klassik Prize as Young Artist of the Year as well as the Music Prize of the Association of German Concert Managers; in the same year his autobiography “Notes – A Hornist Without Arms Conquers the World” was published by Patmos Verlag. Two years later he received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
Recent highlights include his debut at the Ravenna Festival at the invitation of Riccardo Muti (2022), a two-year residency with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra culminating in a spectacular debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2023, broadcast live on radio and television. In the 2023/24 season Klieser made his first appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa under Alexander Shelley, and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under John Butt. He has also appeared in such prestigious venues as the Berlin Philharmonie, Cologne Philharmonie and the Vienna Konzerthaus.
Equally devoted to chamber music, Klieser embarked on an extensive tour with his septet programme alongside distinguished colleagues Sebastian Manz (clarinet), Dag Jensen (bassoon), Franziska Hölscher (violin), Wen Xiao Zheng (viola), Lionel Martin (cello) and Dominik Wagner (double bass), performing in cities including Innsbruck and Munich. He has also collaborated with ensembles such as the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn and the Robert Schumann Philharmonic, which presented Soundscape, a work dedicated to him by Rolf Martinsson.
His discography reflects both breadth and depth: the acclaimed debut album Reveries (2013), awarded the ECHO Klassik Prize; Horn Concertos (2015) featuring works by Mozart and the Haydn brothers; a celebrated recording of Mozart’s complete horn concertos with Camerata Salzburg (Berlin Classics), which remained in the German classical Top 10 for three months; Horn Trio (2017, Bayerischer Rundfunk); and the widely streamed project Beyond Words – Arias for Horn and Orchestra with CHAARTS. More recently, he has released chamber music recordings with the Zemlinsky Quartet, featuring works by Haydn and Mozart.
Alongside his concert career, Klieser engages his large online audience with behind-the-scenes glimpses of his life as a performer. Since 2018 he has held a professorship in horn at the University of Music in Münster and shares his expertise through international masterclasses.