Eddy Vanoosthuyse & Zemlinsky Quartet
Biography Eddy Vanoosthuyse & Zemlinsky Quartet
Eddy Vanoosthuyse
received his first lessons from his father. He furthered his studies with Hendrik Six (Municipal Music Conservatory Kortrijk), Freddy Coppé (Kunsthumaniora for Music Ghent) and Freddy Arteel (Royal Music Conservatory Ghent).
He started his artistic career very young as clarinet soloist at the ‘Opera voor Vlaanderen’, later he became the principal clarinet of the new orchestra of the Flemish Opera, a position he exchanged for that at the Brussels Philharmonic (formerly BRT Philharmonic Orchestra). He also teaches clarinet at the Royal Conservatory of Music Ghent (Hogeschool Gent/School of Arts) and at the Fontys Academy for Music and Performing Arts Tilburg.
He has made solo recordings with SONY, Decca, EMI, Naxos, Briljant Classic, Aeon, Talent, Gobelin and Phaedra as well as radio and TV recordings for BRTN/VRT, RTBF, VARA, Radio Suisse Romande, Magyar Radio, Czech Radio, Slovanian Radio, Danish Radio, Lietuvos Radio, Chili Radio and Exqui.
Vanoosthuyse has worked with some of the most prominent composers of his time such as Olivier Messiaen, John Corigliano, Alfred Reed, Hans Zimmer. He has created about 50 such works dedicated to him, including works by Arturo Marquez, Oscar winner Nicola Piovani, Dirk Brossé, Johan Duijck, Jan Van der Roost, Scott McAllister, Wilfried Westerlinck, Roland Coryn, Oscar Navarro, Eric Desimpelaere, Norbert Goddaer, Alfred Prinz, Piet Swerts, Wim Henderickx, André Laporte, Jean Louel, Raymond Decancq, Alain Crepin, David Loeb, Marc Matthys, Frits Celis, etc.
He has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Simon Bolivar Orchestra / Caracas, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Stanislavsky Theater Moscow, Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, I Pommerigi Musicale Milano, Symphony Orchestra Flanders, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Slovak Sinfonietta, ChengDu Symphony (China), Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra (Japan), Free State Symphony (South Africa), Beethoven Academy / Krakow, BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansas Sinfonietta, Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Symphony Orchestra), Sofia Soloists, and many others with conductors such asFernand Terby, Silveer Vandenbroeck, Georges Octors, Yoel Levi, Michel Tabachnic, Peter Oundjian, Saulius Sondeckis, Paul Meyer, Jan Lathem-Koenig, Dirk Brossé, Jan Stulen etc.
Because of his love for the concert band, he has performed with the Royal Symphonic Windbands of the Belgian Guides, Navy and Air Force, the Royal Military Band of the Netherlands, the Symphonic Windband of the Honor Guard Lithuania (of which he was the permanent guest conductor for 4 years), the US Army Band, Simon Bolivar Symphonic Windorchestra / Caracas (which he also conducted) and other orchestras in France, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy.
In addition, Vanoosthuyse has performed Mozart’s quintet more than 150 times (as well as other quintets) with various international string quartets such as the Ysaÿe Quartet and Ensemble, Ciurlionis Quartet, Vilnius Quartet, Simon Bolivar Quartet, Daniel Quartet, Arriaga Quartet, Roman Quartet, Bangkok Quartet, Beijing String Quartet, Odeion String Quartet and his own ensemble.
He performed at the Festival of Flanders, Klara Festival, Festival of Wallonia, Festival of Contemporary Music ARS MUSICA, November Festival, Festival de Bourgogne, Mozart Festival, Ljubljana Festival, Vilnius Festival, Janáček Festival, Extravaganza Festival, Beijing Festival, Festival Domaine Forget Charlevoix-Québec, Holland Festival, Caracas Festival, etc. in almost all European countries, China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, USA, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and South Africa.
Vanoosthuyse is the artistic manager of International Music Promotion, the prestigious International Clarinet Competition Ghent and Clarinets on Stage. He sits on the jury of various international competitions and teaches at universities and conservatories in 5 continents. Since 2017 he is chairman of the "International Art Competition Singapore".
In 2010, he was the co-founder of the European Clarinet Association that was officialized in the Townhall of his hometown Kortrijk.
In April 2020, he was elected by his colleagues as the Vice President of the prestigious International Clarinet Association, the world organization of the clarinet.
Eddy Vanoosthuyse was selected for the World Philharmonic Orchestra (Georges Prêtres) and invited to the Symphonicum Europea (Lincoln Center Fisher Hall, New York).
Zemlinsky Quartet
Founded in 1994 while the members were still students, the ZEMLINSKY QUARTET has become a much lauded example of the Czech string quartet tradition. The Zemlinsky Quartet won the First Grand Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2010. They have also been awarded top prizes at the Banff International String Quartet Competition (2007), Prague Spring International Music Competition (2005) and London International String Quartet Competition (2006), where they also received the Audience Prize. The Quartet was recipient of the Alexander Zemlinsky Advancement Award in 2008. Other notable prizes include Beethoven International Competition (1999), New Talent Bratislava (2003), Martinů Foundation String Quartet Competition (2004), and the Prize of Czech Chamber Music Society (2005). In the season 2016/17, Zemlinsky Quartet was appointed as the residential ensemble of the Czech Chamber Music Society.
While students at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts Prague, the ensemble was coached by members of renowned Czech string quartets including the Talich, Prague, Kocian and Pražák Quartets. The ensemble also took part in several master classes including ProQuartet, in France and Sommerakademie in Reichenau, Austria where they were awarded First Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Janáček. From 2005 to 2008, the quartet studied with Walter Levin, the first violinist of LaSalle Quartet. Their recent mentor has been Josef Klusoň, the violist of the Pražák Quartet.
Zemlinsky Quartet is named after the Austrian composer, conductor and teacher Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), whose enormous contribution to Czech, German and Jewish culture during his 16-year residence in Prague had been underrated until recently. His four string quartets (the second one being dedicated to his student and brother-in-law Arnold Schönberg) belong to the basic repertoire of the ensemble. Since 2005, the quartet has maintained a special relationship with the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation in Vienna.
The Zemlinsky Quartet performs regularly in the Czech Republic and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Canada, USA, Brazil, Japan, South Korea). Recent major appearances of the Zemlinsky Quartet include London’s Wigmore Hall, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Library of Congress, Place des Arts in Montreal, Prague Spring Festival, and their New York debut on Schneider/New School Concerts Series.
Their vast repertoire contains more than 200 works ranging from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak to works by contemporary composers. The members of the ensemble also perform as soloists and are individual prize-winners of several competitions (Concertino Praga, Spohr International Competition Weimar, Tribune of Young Artists UNESCO, Rotary Music Competition Nürnberg,Beethoven International Competition, Kocian International Competition).
Between 2006-2011, the Zemlinsky Quartet were Assistant Quartet-in-Residence at Musikakademie Basel in Switzerland. Music education is an important part of their professional life and during their tours, the quartet is often invited to give master classes to students of any age. They also perform educational concerts for
students. Recently, František Souček and Petr Holman have been appointed Professors at the Prague Conservatory.
