Kai Rapsch

Born in Berlin in 1978, Kai Rapsch attended the Musikgymnasium Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and at the age of 15 was admitted as a young student to the Julius-Stern-Institut. From 1997 he studied oboe with Burkhard Glaetzner at the Universität der Künste Berlin, moved in 2000 to Günther Passin at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and graduated there with distinction in 2004. While still a student he played in the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg; in 2004 the Münchner Philharmoniker engaged him as solo cor anglais player and oboist, and he is a lecturer at their orchestral academy. From 1994 to 1996 he held a scholarship from the Jürgen-Ponto-Stiftung; he won further prizes at Jugend musiziert, at the competition of the Konzertgesellschaft München and at the Händel-Wettbewerb in Halle. As a soloist and chamber musician he has appeared as a guest with the Bach Collegium München and the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum Leipzig, among others; concerts and masterclasses have also taken him to Japan and South Korea. In 2012 he founded the firm Reeds for Oboes, for which he makes reeds for oboe and cor anglais by hand.