Solo positions for Balder Dendievel and Janos Wollenweber

Balder Dendievel © Damien Lovegrove
Janos Wollenweber © Clara Evens

Two students from Prof Dominik Wollenweber's oboe class have won solo positions in renowned symphony orchestras: Balder Dendievel will be principal oboist in the Philzuid South Netherlands Philharmonic in the Netherlands and Janos Wollenweber won the audition as principal oboist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.

Balder Dendievel has been studying for a Bachelor's degree at the Eisler since 2019, while at the same time gaining orchestral experience in the orchestra of the Brussels opera house La Monnaie, the Belgian National Orchestra, the orchestra of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, the Flanders Symphony Orchestra and the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He has won prizes at several competitions, including the Young Belgian Talent Competition, the Honda Competition for Classical Music and the International Anton Rubinstein Chamber Music Competition. He also received the ‘Golden Label Young Talent’ award from the Belgian magazine ‘Klassiek Centraal’. In addition to his engagements on the modern oboe, he studied baroque oboe with Antje Thierbach at the Eisler and performed with several renowned early music ensembles. He will take up his solo position in the South Netherlands Philharmonic in Eindhoven and Maastricht in September 2024.

Janos Wollenweber, who has been studying oboe with his father Prof Dominik Wollenweber since 2020, won the audition for a permanent position as solo oboist with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Before starting his bachelor's degree, he was a member of the National Youth Orchestra from 2018 to 2020. In 2023, he was accepted into the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, where he is currently still being taught by oboist Jonathan Kelly alongside his studies at the Eisler and gaining professional experience as an orchestral musician. In addition to his main subject on the modern oboe, he also took lessons in baroque oboe with Antje Thierbach and played as a baroque oboist in several chamber music and orchestral formations. In January 2025, he will begin his position as solo oboist in Bamberg.