Andreas Ottensamer has captured audiences and critics alike with his distinct musicianship and versatility as clarinetist, artistic director and conductor.
Ottensamer is considered one of the leading instrumentalists of our time and performs as a clarinet soloist in the major concert halls around the world with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic and the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, Sir Simon Rattle, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Daniel Harding and Lorenzo Viotti.
Since the 2020/21 season, Ottensamer has taken the podium as a conductor and is already much sought after. He recently made a hugely successful Asian conducting debut with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Aichi Chamber Orchestra in Nagoya and with Soul’s KBS Symphony Orchestra. This season’s conducting engagements include appearances with the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, the Zurich Kammerorchester, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, Real Filharmonia de Galicia, Prague Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra.
His artistic partnerships as a chamber musician include work with Yuja Wang, Leonidas Kavakos, Janine Jansen, Lisa Batiashvili, Gautier Capuçon and Sol Gabetta. Together with pianist José Gallardo, Ottensamer is artistic director of the Bürgenstock Festival in Switzerland.
Ottensamer has an exclusive recording partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, making him the first clarinetist in the label's history. For his album Blue hour, which includes works by Weber, Mendelssohn and Brahms, played with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Mariss Jansons. Thanks to this album he received the second Opus Klassik prize for instrumentalist of the year. Together with Yuja Wang and Gautier Capuçon, he has recorded Brahms' Clarinet Trio, which Deutsche Grammophon released in September 2022.
Since March 2011, Ottensamer has held the position of principal clarinetist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
