horn

Stefan Dohr, widely regarded as an icon of his instrument and one of the world’s greatest horn players, is a celebrated soloist, chamber musician, and Principal Horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Praised with having both a “thunderous sound that resounds throughout a valley” (Berliner Zeitung) and a breathtakingly “delicate piano that sounds as if from afar” (Badische Zeitung), he delights audiences worldwide on all international concert stages. Dohr’s interpretations are always considered as influential, whether he is playing well-known works of horn repertoire or contemporary compositions.

Dohr's virtuosity and thirst for discovery inspire many leading composers to dedicate new works to him and to explore the possibilities of his instrument; the horn concertos composed for him significantly expand the horn repertoire. In 2011, Toshio Hosokawa wrote the concerto ‘Moment of Blossoming’, which Dohr premiered with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle. In 2014, Wolfgang Rihm wrote a piece for him, which was first performed by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Danil Harding. Other composers who have written works for Stefan Dohr include Herbert Willi (2008), Jorge E. López (2009), Johannes Wallmann (2010), Dai Bo (2015), and Hans Abrahamsen (2020). Most recently, Jörg Widmann wrote a horn concerto for him, which had its world premiere in Berlin in May 2024 and was jointly commission by the Berliner Philharmoniker, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, and Luzerner Sinfonieorchester.

In addition to his work as a soloist, Stefan Dohr is also a valued chamber music partner of artists such as Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore, Maurizio Pollini, Kirill Gerstein, Kolja Blacher, Carolin Widmann, and Guy Braunstein. He is a member of the Ensemble Wien-Berlin and the Philharmonische Oktett Berlin.

[www.berliner-philharmoniker.de]