Andreas Ottensamer, born in Vienna in 1989, comes from an Austro-Hungarian family of musicians. He received his first piano lessons when he was four, at the age of ten he began studying cello in his home town at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, then changed to the clarinet under Johann Hindler in 2003. Andreas Ottensamer gained his first orchestral experience as a deputy in the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic and as a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. In 2009 he interrupted his Harvard studies to become a scholar of the Orchestra Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
From July 2010 to February 2011 he was principal clarinettist with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Since March 2011 he is the principal clarinettist with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Ottensamer has won first prize in competitions for clarinet, cello and piano, and performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the world. His artistic partnerships include work with Murray Perahia, Leif Ove Andsnes, José Gallardo, Leonidas Kavakos, Janine Jansen and Yo-Yo Ma. In 2005 Andreas Ottensamer founded the clarinet trio The Clarinotts with his father Ernst and brother Daniel, both solo clarinettists in the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic. Several works have been dedicated to the ensemble.
In February 2013 Andreas Ottensamer entered an exclusive recording partnership with Deutsche Grammophon. His first album with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been released in June 2013.
