Werner Herbers
Dutch oboist, conductor and researcher Werner Herbers was born in Bilthoven to German immigrants on 11 August 1940. He studied oboe, piano and orchestral conducting at Muzieklyceum Amsterdam between 1960 and 1965.
He began his career as an oboist, playing as principal oboe with various Dutch radio orchestras, with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He was also a member and co-artistic director of the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble (Netherlands Wind Ensemble) from 1962 until 1988.
In 1990 he founded the Ebony Band from members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, specialising in music by forgotten and unknown composers who died in World War II or who fled the Nazis, or more generally on music written during the first half of the twentieth century. Werners recorded and toured extensively with the Ebony Band.
Werner Herbers died from cancer in Amsterdam on 5 June 2023, aged eighty-two.
A selection of articles about Werner Herbers
Classical music news - June 2023 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month
CD Spotlight. Quite Eclectic - Geoff Pearce is entertained by three absurdist works from the 1930s. '... a snapshot of a different age, captured brilliantly.'