Professor of Historical Clarinet
Hochschule für Musik (Trossingen, Germany)
Praised by the press as a "stylistically confident" performer with "inspiration, spirit and rigorous precision" Ernst Schlader is one of Europe's top specialists in the performance of Baroque and Classic clarinet repertoire on historical instruments. He has recorded more than thirty CDs as soloist, conductor, and member of today's most eminent period instrument ensembles. His latest recording of clarinet sonatas by eighteenth-century composer Johann Baptist Vanhal on contemporary instruments (Gramola Records, 2013), was recently awarded the Pasticcio Prize from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF).
Dr. Schlader's performance activities are deeply rooted in his research on the historical clarinet, its history, design, and playing styles. Trained as an instrument maker by Paul Beekhuizen at the Delft University of Technology, he has collaborated on the reconstruction of dozens of historical clarinets, basset horns, and chalumeaux with the internationally acclaimed instrument maker Rudolf Tutz (Innsbruck, Austria). He regularly performs on these instruments as a soloist and member of Europe's finest Early Music ensembles such as Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and La Scintilla Zurich working with leading conductors like Rene Jacobs, Ton Koopman and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. His upcoming appearances as soloist include a performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the Mozart Festival Augsburg (Germany) in May 2015.
Dr. Schlader is founder of the Calamus-Consort, which won the first prize at the International H.I.F. Biber Competition in 2009 and since then has been invited to numerous early music festivals such as Resonanzen Wien, Bach-Fest Leipzig (Germany), and Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord Vert (France). Their CD Un dolce affanno (Passacaille, 2012) features highlights from operas performed at the Viennese court around 1700 with chalumeau, clarinet, and harpsichord as solo instruments.
Dr. Schlader holds degrees in clarinet performance and pedagogy from the Linz Anton Bruckner University, and in historical performance practice from the Royal Conservatory The Hague (The Netherlands) where he studied early clarinet with Eric Hoeprich. Moreover, he holds a PhD in musicology from the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt/Main (Germany) and recently earned a MBA from the Kepler University of Linz to complement his musical training. His teaching appointments include the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt, the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Austria), the University Mozarteum Salzburg, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Vienna Conservatory, and the Handel Academy Karlsruhe (Germany). Since 2007 he has been Professor of Historical Clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik Trossingen (Germany).