Thomas Leyendecker

»What I especially enjoy in the Berliner Philharmoniker is the constant change of repertoire and the variety of musical demands it creates. Besides that, it’s fantastic always to be playing with outstanding musicians: the different conductors and soloists but, most of all, my colleagues in the orchestra.«

At the age of eleven, Thomas Leyendecker, who until then had only played the recorder, decided he wanted to learn the trombone – because it looked so impressive. Another possible motivating factor here was his father, an amateur band trombonist, who also inspired Thomas’s interest in the sound of trombones with his recordings by Glenn Miller. From 1999 Leyendecker studied with Henning Wiegräbe at the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule. Another decisive influence on his career was the instruction of Hartmut Karmeier. Before he came to the Berliner Philharmoniker, he gathered orchestral experience during an internship with the Duisburg Philharmonic and through a scholarship from the Orchestra Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He played in the German national jazz orchestra and with several opera and symphonic orchestras, most notably the Ludwigshafen Staatsphilharmonie; he was also engaged by the Darmstadt Staatstheater. Leyendecker’s interest in early history and pre-history takes him on frequent visits to Berlin’s museums. He enjoys hiking and has just discovered a new hobby: foldboating.