Rie Koyama

Principal bassoon

Rie Koyama was born in Stuttgart in 1991 and grew up in Germany. She studied with Akio Koyama in Trossingen and with Dag Jensen in Munich.

She won first prizes in 24 national and international competitions, including The Muri Competition and in 2012 the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. The greatest success of her career was when she won the International Music Competition of the ARD in 2013 in the category bassoon. She was also awarded with the special prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned piece at this competition.

As a soloist she has performed with numerous orchestras in Europe and Asia and is a regular guest at renowned music festivals. Her regular chamber music ensembles include the Trio Walter, the Veits-Quintett and the »franz ensemble«.

From 2025 until 2022, Rie Koyama has been principal bassoonist with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under the baton of Paavo Järvi. In November 2020 she joined the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra as a principal bassoonist. Since 2023, she is also principal bassoonist at the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.