Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer

Vision on teaching

It gives me pride and joy to assist potential future colleagues in a (very individual) process of discovering their musical capabilities, and to help them find their way towards a musical career that suits their personalities and qualities. My coaching style may be qualified as non doctrinal, challenging within confidence limits, and striving for creating instead of reproducing music. I feel both my musical personality and my experience and knowledge in a wide range of classical, romantic, modern and contemporary repertoire support me in this role.

Biography

Dutch clarinetist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer (1977) studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory with Walter Boeykens and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York with Charles Neidich on a sponsorship by the Fulbright International Scholarship Program.

In his earlier career, Lars has won several first prizes at both international and national competitions such as SJMN (1991), PCC (1993 and 1994), International Competition for Youth (Lisbon, 1994) and RTBF Jeunes Solistes (Brussels, 1993), Philip Morris Music Award (1999) Vriendenkrans of the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, 2000). In 1999 he made his debut recitel in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and performed successfully as a Rising Star in the so named concert series in 2001-2002. Since then, Lars has played in major venues such as Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Musik Verein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Cité de la Musique Paris, Philharmonie Berlin, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Kölner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konserthuset Stockholm and the Schoenberg Center Los Angeles.

He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of the Netherlands, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen, Het Gelders Orkest, Het Brabants Orkest, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Orkest van het Oosten, Limburgs Symfonie Orkest, and Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam. He worked as a soloist with conductors such as Hartmut Haenchen, Marc Soustrot, Michel Tabachnik and James MacMillan. He performed and recorded the world premiere of the Clarinet Concerto Yellow Darkness by Willem Jeths written for him.

Lars is a member of Spectrum Concerts Berlin, including colleagues such as Janine Jansen, Maxim Rysanov and Torleif Thedéen, as well as a member of Dutch ensembles such as Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, Insomnio, and the Orlando Wind Quintet. He has performed with string quartets and ensembles such as Skampa Quartet, Quatuor Danèl, Quatuor Ebène, Manderling Quartet, Auryn Quartet, Quartetto di Torino, Szymanowski Quartet, Ad Libitum Quartet and Altenberg Trio Wien. As a principal clarinetist he appeared in orchestras such as The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

In 2003, Lars was awarded an Edison for his debut CD. Other CD’s followed, with music by, amongst others, James MacMillan (which received the five star Concerto Choice in the BBC Music Magazine September 2014) , Ursula Mamlok and Paul Hindemith. In 2009 and 2011, Challenge Records released his CD with the Reger and Brahms sonatas, which received outstanding reviews by the international music press.

From 2008-2010, Lars was the artistic director of the Toon Festival Brabant in Den Bosch. The Musis Sacrum concert venue of Arnhem invited Lars to be Artist in Residence in 2014-2015. At the Boulez Festival 2015 in Vredenburg, Utrecht, he performed Boulez’ Dialogue de l’ombre double. He gave a reprise at the Musica Sacra Festival 2016, together with works of Alexander Goehr, Karl Heinz Stockhausen, and James MacMillan.

Lars teaches at Academy of Music and Performing Arts Tilburg since 2004.

Some press quotes on performances and CD recordings:
• Seine Technik ist nicht nur von äußerst seltener Perfektion, sie zeigt in jeder Lage Feinsinn und Geschmeidigkeit geradezu sensationeller Art. (Berliner Morgenpost)
• Wouters handles this temperamental instrument with complete command, and his finger work is nothing short of stunning. (Fanfare Magazine)
• Die ‘Kontraste’ für Klarinette, Violine und Klavier von Béla Bartók, in denen Klarinettist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer in Bezug auf dynamische Flexibilität, Weichheit und Klangschönheit in allen Registern nichts zu wünschen übrig lieb. (Berliner Zeitung)
• Allen voran begeisterte der Klarinettist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer in seinem langen Solosatz mit scheinbar endlosem Atem,wenn er einzelne Töne vom fast Unhörbaren bis kurz vor dem Platze steigerte. Ein Höhepunt dieser grossartiger Aufführung von Messiaens Quatuor pour la fin du temps. (Kulturradio Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg)
• The ‘Berliner Morgenpost’ did not call his technique of an utterly rare perfection for nothing! But his musicality, his finesse and his flexibility are also qualities that define Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer. A thrilling musician to listen to, both in concert and in this fine musical document on CD! (www.sterlingmusic.se)

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