Dominik Wollenweber

The sound of the English horn has been familiar to him since his earliest childhood: his father was the English horn player in the Bavarian State Orchestra. But Dominik Wollenweber took the long way round to this instrument. He first played the flute and, aged 14, took up the oboe, which he studied in Munich with Hagen Wangenheim at the Musikhochschule and with Simon Dent at the Richard Strauss Conservatory.
He made his first contacts with the Berliner Philharmoniker as a scholar of the Orchestra Academy, in which he studied from 1991-93 with Hansjörg Schellenberger. During this time, Wollenweber was principal oboist of the European Union Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado. After applying for various oboe positions, he approached the Berliner Philharmoniker to audition for the vacant English horn post and was engaged.
In addition to his many activities in the orchestra and chamber music, he has taught since 2000 as a visiting professor for oboe at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule. The father of six children, he prefers to spend his free time with his family.