Markus Mester

Principal trumpet

Markus Mester was born in Troisdorf near Cologne. He studied at the Cologne and Düsseldorf Universities of Music as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. From 1988 to 1992 he was solo trumpet in the European Community Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado. In 1992 he was a Herbert von Karajan Foundation student in Berlin.

As a soloist he performed with the Bamberg Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Hagen Philharmonic Orchestras, among others. He also played in the Berliner Philharmoniker, Hamburg NDR Sinfonieorchester, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, Cologne WDR, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras.

He worked with the hr-Brass and German Brass ensembles, and co-founded Bach, Blech & Blues and the Bamberg Symphony Brass Quintet. He regularly leads advanced classes at universities in Germany and abroad. From 1996 to 2018 he was 1st trumpeter in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Markus Mester has been principal trumpet with the Bamberg Symphony since 1992.