Philippe Tondre, Principal Oboe
French oboist Philippe Tondre joined the COE as Principal Oboe in March 2019.
Principal oboe of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, former principal oboe of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, member of the Mito Chamber Orchestra and the Saito Kinen Orchestra and member of the newly-founded Kammer Ensemble de Paris, Philippe has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Deutsche Sinfonie Orchestra Berlin, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra and played in many prestigious halls like Tokyo Suntory Hall, the Wigmore Hall in London, la Salle Gaveau in Paris, the National Concert Hall in Taipei.
After winning prizes in several major competitions : Prag, Birmingham, Tokyo and Geneva, Philippe won the ARD Music Competition as well as the Audience Prize and the prize for the best interpretation of Liza Lim’s commissioned composition in Munich in 2011. In 2012 he received the «Beethoven Ring» a musical honour given by the Beethoven Fest in Bonn, thus joining the prestigious list of previous recipients including Julia Fischer, Lisa Batiashvili and Gustavo Dudamel. Philippe Tondre’s invitation to appear in the ARTE television Programme «Stars of Tomorrow », hosted by Rolando Villazon, was an exceptional and exciting moment. He made his Début as a soloist at the Berlin Philharmonie Hall as he was 22 years old and recorded for the Bavarian Radio pieces from Antal Dorati and Klement Slavicki receiving international acclaim.
His attachment to contemporary repertoire led to his highly acclaimed performance of the German Premiere of James MacMillan’s Oboe Concerto, conducted by the composer, accompanied by the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony orchestra, and the unforgettable Japanese Premiere of György Ligeti’s Double Concerto for Flute, Oboe and Orchestra, with Jacque Zoon (flute) and the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra conducted by Kazushi Ono.
Philippe Tondre is a passionate chamber musician and is regularly invited to the Kissinger Sommer Festival, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Tokyo Spring Festival, the Mozart Fest Würzburg and the Festival de Besançon. He performs with international artists including Heinz Holliger, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Yuri Bashmet, Radek Baborak, Jacques Zoon, Denes Varjon and the Modigliani Quartet.