Fabian Otten is principal percussionist in the Philharmonische Staatsorchester Hamburg and a composer of contemporary music for chamber ensembles, orchestras and music theatre.
He began his percussion studies at Hamburg College of Music and Drama in 2012 with Massimo Drechsler, Stephan Cürlis and Cornelia Monske. He continued his studies at the Hanns Eisler College of Music with Franz Schindlbeck and Rainer Seegers and the percussion soloist Li Biao. His first orchestral position was with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen in 2014. He has also played as a soloist in the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. He was a finalist at the international competition of the Percussive Arts Society in Italy, won 2nd prize at the international competition ›Marimba Festival‹ in Bamberg, a special prize from the Bavarian Radio and the Eduard Söring Prize 2020. Since the summer semester 2023 he has held a teaching position for marimba at Leipzig ollege of Music and Theatre and has been a member of the Philharmonische Staatsorchester Hamburg since the 2017/18 season.
Since 2020, he has composed several works for percussion and chamber music – his composition ›Samsara‹ – a work that deals with the basic principle of Buddhism – won the ›2021 Interstellar Composer Competition‹. Two further works which deal with philosophical and social issues were premiered to great critical acclaim by the Philharmonische Staatsorchester Hamburg in the Elbphilharmonie. Since then, his compositional repertoire has expanded through various commissions (including Edition Svitzer, Philharmonische Staatsorchester Hamburg, Hamburg Ballet, Festival WinterMUSIK Altona) with pieces for chamber ensembles, orchestra, music theatre and dance. He is currently finishing his master’s degree in composition with Fredrik Schwenk at Hamburg College of Music and Theatre. Vladislav Parapanov directed his miniature opera ›Drei Szenen einer Frikadelle‹, which recently premiered at the Hamburg Staatsoper.