Rodrigo Blumenstock

Oboe · principal

Rodrigo Blumenstock studied in Freiburg and Hanover with Ingo Goritzki, Heinz Holliger and Hans Elhorst. He joined The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen as a solo oboist in 1988 as one of the very first wind players. Prior to that, the orchestra had been exclusively a string ensemble.

His musical activities outside the Kammer­philharmonie have gone through different phases. In the early days, he made frequent solo appearances, accompanied among others by the WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra Cologne. He has given concert performances in Frankfurt, Cologne, at the Bach Week in Ansbach, the Shanghai International Radio Music Festival and the Würzburg Mozart Festival. His interests include playing on historical instruments as well as New Music. The composer Qigang Chen dedicated his oboe concerto ›Extase‹ to him.

There followed a phase in which Rodrigo Blumenstock taught at the University of Music in Cologne/Wuppertal and Essen.

For some years now, conducting has been a focus of activities alongside the Kammer­philharmonie. Rodrigo Blumenstock conducts the Bremen orchestra sinfonia concertante, whose team of directors also features other colleagues from the Kammer­philharmonie. Other conducting engagements have included the Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia, projects for the Herbsttanzakademie Bremen.

Occasionally he also conducts his orchestra colleagues, for example on a European tour of the Kammer­philharmonie with soloist Gidon Kremer and concerts at London’s Barbican Centre, the Théâtre du Chatelêt in Paris and the Vienna Musikverein. His versatility is demonstrated on a portrait CD dedicated to him produced by The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

He also likes exploring cultural diversity in his spare time, especially on extended family holidays to other cultural regions.