Floris Onstwedder

Concert/Recital

Floris Onstwedder began his studies under the tutelage of the solo trumpeter of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Frits Damrow, at the age of eleven at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam, where he subsequently studied under Wim van Hasselt. He obtained his Bachelor diploma as a student of Theo Wolters at the Conservatorium Maastricht. Recently, Floris finished his masters in Solo Performance at the University of Arts in Zurich, Switzerland.

As a 12-year-old Onstwedder appeared on Dutch Television in the “Kinderprinsengrachtconcert” in Amsterdam, and later in the the renowned “Prinsengrachtenconcert” in 2009, together with a soprano Danielle de Niese. He made several guest appearances in the popular program “De Tiende van Tijl”, performed an own composition at the 65th birthday of the Dutch Television producer Joop van den Ende and welcomed the former Dutch Queen Beatrix during the Hofvijverconcert in The Hague, both of which were broadcast on live television. On live radio Floris was heard in performances from the Spiegelzaal (Mirror hall) at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and de Doelen in Rotterdam, to mention a few.

As a soloist with orchestra, Floris frequently performs in his home country the Netherlands and abroad. He played the trumpet concerto of Arutunian in the big hall of the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, premiered a new trumpet concerto in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ and was a guest soloist at the famous North Sea Jazz festival. During a solo concert tour through China, Floris made a great impact with his interpretation of the virtuoso solo work “Carnival of Venice” by J. B. Arban, and in collaboration with the Princess Christina Competition, Floris performed concerts in Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto. At the invitation of trumpet virtuoso Jens Lindemann, Floris was a guest soloist at the ‘Brass Residence’ in Banff, Canada for three consecutive years.

As an orchestral musician Floris served as principal trumpet at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Europe, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonie Zuid- Nederland under guidance of conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Jaap van Zweden, Marc Soustrot, Gustavo Gimeno, Japser de Waal en Jan-Willem de Vriend.

Onstwedder is regularly heard in recitals throughout Europe with the talented Lithuanian pianist Ieva Dudaite and is a reliable guest soloist at various chamber music ensembles, such as the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Insomnio and Doelenensemble. With the ensemble of violinist Maria Milstein he played Stravinski’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” and in cooperation with Mathieu van Bellen, he organized the New Years concerts at the distinctive Historical Church of Oost Souburg.

Alongside his musical collaborations with great international stars such as Wynton Marsalis, Sergei Nakariakov, Jens Lindemann and Pacho Flores, Floris has won 1st prizes in “Stichting Jong-Muziektalent-Nederland”, the “Prinses Christina Concours” and at the European “Yamaha Trumpet Competition 2009” in Hamburg. Recently he was the finalist of the prestigious competition “Aeolus Wettbewerb” in Düsseldorf and won the 2nd prize at the leading international solo competition “Girolamo Fantini” in Rome. Summer 2019 brought Floris to St.Petersburg, Russia, where he became one of the 3 best trumpeters in the world famous International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Floris’ extensive repertoire spans from early Baroque to contemporary music. He has a passion for chamber music, as well as Bach’s famous works, which he plays on the piccolo (Bach-) trumpet. Several composers wrote works exclusively for Floris- examples are Thijmen van Tol’s trumpet concerto ‘Lof der Zotheid’ and Andrew Clark’s ‘A Solis’.

Floris plays Yamaha, Adams, and van Laar instruments.