Robert de Bree – Recorders and Historical Oboes
Robert de Bree is a recorder player, oboist and improviser.
In 2010 he made his debut as a soloist in Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He was a soloist with Holland Baroque, Erik Bosgraaf and this year performed concertos by Telemann and Vivaldi, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with his orchestra Symphonie Atlantique in a festival programmed next to Orchestra of the 18th Century.
He also performed with Ton Koopman, L’Arpeggiata, AKAMUS, Budapest Festival Orchestra and this year at the BBC Proms with EBS under Sir John Elliot Gardiner.
Robert teaches historical improvisation at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and taught workshops at the University of Texas (Austin), Liszt Academy Budapest, conservatories of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Zwolle, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Mexico, Budapest and at festivals like Open Recorder Days Amsterdam and Recorder Festival Nordhorn.
As a co-founder of orchestra Symphonie Atlantique he focuses on the historical performance of classical and romantic music.
As a co-founder of The Scroll Ensemble he performs entirely improvised concerts and explores the boundaries of audience interaction. Improvisation builds community, especially in the world of classical music where the 4th wall is still felt so strongly. Theatre, branches, stories from the audience and Robert’s charm make each concert more than just an improvisation extravaganza.
He was successful at several competitions, such as the Prinses Christina Concours, Musica Antiqua Brugge, Telemann Wettbewerb and was a jury member for the international competition at the Open Recorder Days Amsterdam 2015.
In his solo recitals he brings together his qualities of storytelling, various instruments from different regions and periods and an original concept. An example is his programme “De-Partita” which contrasts Bach’s monodic solo partita for flute with ‘polyphonic’, ethnic wind instruments from the exotic regions known in Bach’s time.
Teaching is a very important part of his practice and he tries to specialise in this area too, for example by following the course ‘Artist as Teacher’ for Conservatory teachers at The Hague or a course in “Improvised Theatre” to bring more play and psychology to his teaching. He also teaches toddlers with the auditory PI-method as a proxy to the Conservatory of The Hague.
Robert also regularly acts as a host and presenter to concerts and competitions. Finally he loves learning languages, like Polish, Hungarian and Irish.