Werner Herbers

Werner Herbers, founder and artistic director of the Ebony Band, has been principal oboist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for over thirty years.

As a soloist he has appeared with conductors such as Haitink, Harnoncourt, Berio, Leitner, Edo de Waart en Hans Vonk.

Until the group disbanded in 1988, Herbers also was first oboist in the Netherlands Wind Ensemble for over 25 years, many of them in his additional capacity as Joint Artistic Director. He undertook many successful tours of the United States with the NWE, appearing in many cities including New York (Carnegie and Alice Tully), Boston, Chicago, Washington, San Fransisco and Los Angeles. Unusual programming and unconventional stage manner, hallmarks of the former Netherlands Wind Ensemble, also stamp the character of Herbers' new group, the Ebony Band. This group, consisting of members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, has specialised on forgotten and unknown music from the interbellum. The Ebony Band has appeared in New York, Toronto, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Paris. Several CD recording have been awarded internationnaly.