Kai Frömbgen, Principal

Kai Frömbgen became a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in January 2012.

He said: "It is always a high aspiration to play orchestral music as if it were chamber music. The members of the COE are outstanding musicians who are dedicated to playing chamber music at the highest standard and who have a unique way of interpreting the repertoire. It is extraordinarily inspiring to make music together and for me it is like a dream come true to have the opportunity to play with the COE."

Born in Koblenz, in 1977, Kai had his first oboe lesson at the Luxemburg Conservatoire with Norbert Matters. He received the first prize of the federal competition “Jugend musiziert” three times, in 1991, 1993 and 1995. After passing his A-levels, he started studying with Professor Christian Wetzel in the School of Music and Drama “Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” in Leipzig. He received scholarships from the Foundation of the German People, the Villa Musica and the Richard Wagner Society.

He played in the EUYO for two years, in 1998 and 1999. In 1999, he was offered the guest principal oboe position in the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and he then became the principal oboe of the Bamberger Symphonikern - Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie in 2003. Kai is a keen chamber musician and performs with Frank-Peter Zimmermann, Christian Zacharias, Mirijam Contzen, Christoph Eschenbach and the wind ensemble Sabine Meyer. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, he was the principal oboe of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, directed by Claudio Abbado.