Andreas Wittmann

»It has been my dream since childhood to be able to play in this orchestra. I am so grateful that this has become a reality.«

Andreas Wittmann had his first encounter with the oboe during a stop in Salzburg en route to Italy. It was there with his parents that he passed the Festspielhaus while someone was practising near an open window. To Andreas’s question, what instrument was being played, his father answered that it was an oboe. A little later his parents gave him a recording of Mozart’s Oboe Concerto. That settled the choice of instruments for Andreas Wittmann, and at the age of twelve he had his first lessons.

Andreas Wittmann began his studies at the University of Music in Munich with Manfred Clement and later continued at Berlin University of the Arts with Hansjörg Schellenberger. In Munich, he also studied conducting with Hermann Michael, and participated several times in the conducting courses of Sergiu Celibidache. This was followed by a scholarship to the Orchestra Academy from 1985 to 1986 and subsequently his engagement with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 1988, he founded the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet together with four of his colleagues.

For several years, he was principal oboist with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and makes guest appearances as a soloist, chamber musician and as a teacher both in Germany and abroad. For many years he has been an instructor with the Karajan Academy, whose manager he was from 2013 to 2015. He is currently also a regular guest conductor of the Orquesta Sinfonica Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. In addition, he conducts, among others, the Sinfonie Orchester Berlin and the Berliner Sibelius Orchester. Andreas Wittmann loves good food and wine and very much enjoys going to the theatre.