Felix Klieser - Horn

BIOGRAPHY

It is not talent, but holding on to your dreams against all odds that is the path to happiness.
– Felix Klieser

Felix Klieser has always been a problem solver who focuses on the art of the possible. Born without arms to a non-musical family, at the age of four he determined that he would learn to play the French horn. He took his first lessons at the age of five and became a junior student at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media at the age of thirteen. In 2014, he received the ECHO Klassik Award as Young Artist of the Year and also the Music Prize of the Association of German Concert Directors. His second book, Imagine It’s Not Possible – Yet Someone Does It Anyway, was published by Ullstein in the summer of 2024. He received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the 2016 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.      

In the summer of 2022, he made his debut at the Ravenna Festival at the invitation of Maestro Riccardo Muti and the following year made his highly acclaimed debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, marking the conclusion of his two-year residency with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The concert was broadcast live on radio and television.

Highlights of the 2026/2027 season include his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a tour with the Residentie Orkest, featuring concerts in The Hague and Utrecht, among other cities. In addition, he will perform with the early music ensemble L’arte del mondo and give several concerts with the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra and the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra. Klieser will embark on an octet tour once again. Joining him will be his renowned colleagues Sebastian Manz (clarinet), Theo Plath (bassoon), Franziska Hölscher (violin), Stephen Waarts (violin), Wen Xiao Zheng (viola), Andrei Ioniță (violoncello) and Dominik Wagner (double bass).

In March 2019, Felix Klieser released his recording of the complete Mozart horn concertos with the Camerata Salzburg on Berlin Classics, which subsequently spent three months in the top 10 of the German classical music charts. His album A Golden Christmas, which was also widely popular with audiences, was recorded together with the Wiener Concert-Verein and released in Decem­ber 2023 under the same label. In 2022, he performed the world premiere of the horn concerto Soundscape by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson, which was dedicated to him, together with the German Radio Orchestra. A recording of the composition is included on the album Northern Colours, which was released by Berlin Classics in April 2025. His debut album Reveries with works for horn and piano was released in 2013 and received the ECHO Klassik award. It was followed in 2015 by Horn Concertos, Klieser's first orchestral CD with works by Mozart and the brothers Joseph and Michael Haydn. This Album was recorded together with the WKO Heilbronn and Ruben Gazarian. His album Horn Trios, pro­duced by BR and released in 2017, features Felix with his chamber music partners, Andrej Bielow and Herbert Schuch, exploring Brahms’ profound Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano and lesser-known works for this exciting combination of instruments. His recording with CHAARTS Chamber Orchestra (Beyond Words with arias arranged for horn and orchestra) has been a huge digital success on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.

During last season's tour with the ensemble I Solisti di Pavia, which included a performance at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Felix Klieser presented his new programme, Senza parole, featuring Italian opera arias transcribed for horn and orchestra. The eponymous album was released in spring 2026 on the Berlin Classics/Edel label. Klieser once again appeared at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms, this time performing with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under the direction of Benjamin Marquise Gilmore. He also returned to Glasgow and Edinburgh with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Søndergård. Additionally, he toured Switzerland as part of a trio alongside Maria Loudenich (violin) and Oliver Schnyder (piano). For Klieser, a personal highlight of the past season was a concert tour of Ukraine. Despite the ongoing war, he performed in Kyiv and Lviv with the Liatoshynskyi Capella and the Lviv Academic Symphony Orchestra. These emotionally intense events created a profound sense of connection, leaving an indelible impression on both Felix Klieser and the Ukrainian audience.

Orchestras that Felix Klieser has performed with in the past include the Camerata Salzburg as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Orchestra Sinfonica Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Milan), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, the Slovenska Filharmonija (Bratislava), the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Kammerakademie Potsdam and the chamber orchestra O/Modernt (Stockholm). He has also performed as a chamber musician in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, in the Philharmonie in Essen, in the Glocke in Bremen, the Beethoven House in Bonn, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Oxford Chamber Music Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Felix Klieser likes to share his everyday life as an artist with his audience on social media and at concerts also gives them a peek behind the scenes. His horn “Alex”, a model 103 from the manufacturer Gebr. Alexander (Mainz), leads a life of its own on Instagram and Face­book and can be seen engaging in activities such as cooking, reading, and vacationing. Felix Klieser regularly shares his expertise in the form of masterclasses and is also active as a speaker on the topics of resilience and problem-solving.

Klieser must rank as one of the most inspiring figures on the concert scene today, and someone who will become a beacon for young people striving to overcome physical challenges to make music.
– The Times (London)

Status: September 2026