Simone Sommerhalder
Country: Switzerland
Instrument: Oboe
Born in 1987 in Detmold, Germany, Simone Sommerhalder started playing the recorder at the age of five. At age ten he added the oboe, studying with Remo Peronato. From 1998 he studied with Karsten Behrmann (recorder) and Gernot Schmalfuß (oboe) at the Detmold Hochschule für Musik. In 2000
he studied with Hans Elhorst (Lugano) and Francesco DiRosa (Milan, Teatro alla Scala), and later with Adriano Mondini at the Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” in Como, Italy, graduating with distinction in 2005. Since 2004 he has been studying with Diethelm Jonas at the Hochschule für Musik in Lübeck, Germany. He has attended master classes by Maurice Bourgue, Hansjörg Schellenberger, Luca Vignali and Omar Zoboli.
In 1998, Simone won first prize (recorder) at the International Music competition of Scopello Valsesia, Italy. In 2000, he won first prizes for both recorder and oboe at the Swiss National Youth Music Competition in Berne, as well as first prize for oboe and the second prize for recorder at the German National Youth Music Competition Jugend Musiziert in Berlin. In 2003 he won Jugend Musiziert again. He has received two scholarships and a Fine Arts Award from the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, Michigan.
Simone has been a member of several youth orchestras, including Claudio Abbado’s newly-founded Mozart Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra Fondazione Arturo Toscanini under Lorin Maazel. He has appeared as a soloist with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Basle Chamber Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Heidelberg, Philharmonia Hungaria, Lucerne Festival Strings, Camerata Berne and Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2001 he gave a recital at the renowned Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. Several of his solo performances have been broadcast on radio (DRS, SWR, WDR).
In 2004/2005 the Stiftung für junge Musiktalente (Foundation for Young Musical Talent) of Meggen enabled Simone to give two concerts.
Simone is sponsored by the Stiftung Ruth und Ernst Burkhalter.
Repertoire - Semi Finals
- A. Ponchielli: Capriccio for oboe and piano
- W. A. Mozart: Concerto for oboe in C major, KV 314
