* En anglais uniquement
Andreas Ottensamer is an Austrian clarinetist. Born April 4, 1989, in Vienna and trained as a multi-instrumentalist, he took piano lessons at age four and started cello at ten, before he settled on the clarinet in 2003, studying with Johann Hindler at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. ("Music was present from the first day of my life before I could even realize what was going on," he told Australia's Limelight magazine.) He has won awards in major competitions for all of his instruments, and he became principal clarinetist for the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He was pursuing graduate studies at Harvard University when he was named as a scholar of the Orchestra Academy of the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in time becoming principal clarinetist with the
Berlin Philharmonic in 2011. As a chamber musician, he has performed with
Murray Perahia,
Leif Ove Andsnes,
Janine Jansen, and
Yo-Yo Ma, among others, and serves as co-artistic director of the Bürgenstock Festival with pianist
José Gallardo. He has performed with his father,
Ernst Ottensamer, and his brother,
Daniel Ottensamer, in clarinet trio the
Clarinotts. The group released its
eponymous CD on Mercury Classics/Deutsche Grammophon.
Ottensamer has ventured into jazz and pop, accompanying
Tori Amos on her album
Night of Hunters (2011).
Ottensamer made his solo debut with
Portraits: The Clarinet Album in 2013 on the Deutsche Grammophon label, which, to his surprise, had sought him out. Featuring concertos by
Copland, Spohr, and Cimarosa (as well as
Gershwin's Preludes arranged for clarinet), the album made no bid for crossover success, and
Ottensamer continued to explore unusual programming concepts on subsequent releases. His 2015 album
Brahms: The Hungarian Connection brought to light Hungarian influences, even in such an absolute work as the Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115. That album earned
Ottensamer Echo Klassik's Instrumentalist of the Year award in Germany.
Ottensamer moved to Decca for his 2017 release
New Era, featuring clarinet works by members of the Mannheim school who brought the instrument to prominence in the orchestra.