Principal horn Katy Woolley | Concertgebouworkest

Born in Exeter, Katy Woolley began playing horn at age ten. She studied with Sue Dent and, later, Simon Rayner. Ms Woolley graduated from the Royal College of Music in London with a first-class degree and was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal by the Prince of Wales. She served as principal horn in the European Union Youth Orchestra for two years and undertook further study with Christian Friedrich Dallmann at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
Ms Woolley was appointed principal horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra at age twenty-two, having previously been awarded the third horn position while she was still a student. She has joined the Philharmonia Orchestra as a soloist in Mozart’s Horn Concerto Nr. 2, both Richard Strauss’s Horn Concertos, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings and Tansy Davies’ ‘Forest’ Concerto. She has also performed as a soloist with the London Mozart Players and the New York Philharmonic.
A passionate teacher, she has been a professor of horn at both the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. As a visiting teacher, she has educated students at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
In 2019, Katy Woolley was appointed principal horn of the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam.

[@hyesunjung4641]

I heard such a beautiful horn performance at the Seoul concert today. It was the best horn sound I've ever heard. Thank you😊

[@sybcnoops7527]

I heard her play the solo parts in Bruckner’s 4th symphony. Her playing is so beautiful and stunning!

[@martineyles]

Hope I never fall out of love with the horn or playing music! Glad that moving to Concertgebouw restored that for Katy Woolley.

[@obscurecult]

You can see she loves the instrument

[@MagicDuel]

It is a near tragedy that Ms. Woolley fell out of love with music because of a job, but a joy that she found one that brought that love back. I for one am extremely grateful that I can continue to hear her do what she does so well and wish her and her colleagues many happy years together.

[@petersametz600]

Nice interview, with honest comments about the up and down relationship to the instrument that is a challenge for many. And, yes, often that's fuelled, both positively and negatively, by relationships with fellow musicians. Congratulations on the appointment and best wishes. Katy can be heard on youtube performing Mozart K407 and K452 from the same concert at the 2016 Whittington Festival. Well worth listening to.

[@robertstehman4949]

Wow, Katy. What great fortune you did not quit. The only place I’ve heard such expressive sounds out of a French horn is some of the recordings by Dennis Brain. I’m looking forward to some recordings of the solo literature for the horn done by you. The performance of the Mozart horn quintet that can be found on KZbin just gives a hint of what you could do with the four Mozart concertos, not to mention the two by Richard Strauss. Please don’t leave us just praying for more...

[@paulcaswell2813]

Wonderful player. Heard her in Strauss 2 in Coventry a few years back. It's still a mystery to me what actually happened with the Philharmonia.

[@RetiredBrass]

I recently have seen the light as well. At age 45, I switched to Horn, coming from Trumpet, Tuba and Euphonium...

[@MrRAYMON123]

I am a blind person, and I’ve never really touched a French horn before, actually it’s been years since I have, but I never got a chance to really learn how it actually works and how you change notes. Can you make a video explaining it to me as you’re doing it?

[@cmcer1995]

Wow, very impressive. I just stumbled upon this as I use to play the horn back in high school and loved it. Now many years later I truly regret not continuing on like I had originally planned as a musician or conductor. Katy plays like I have never heard any horn player before and she is just gifted to do what she does. Her record speaks for itself with all of her accomplishments Congratulations on your appointment as well.

[@agoogleuser529]

A wonderful player like you should always love the horn...glad you got the love back!!

[@Hanswurst-iy4jw]

From Britain to Amsterdam. So next to come Germany, maybe Berlin?

[@MikeDrewYT]

Unbelievable success at that age. Principal of Concergebouw at 30? I’ve never even heard of that.

[@JiveDadson]

Listen to her play. It will make perfect sense.

[@paulcaswell2813]

She had a desk in the Philharmonia when still a student!

[@injectchen]

Not too many of Katy’s playing that we can find on KZbin. In my opinion, she, if not already the best horn player, will be the best!

[@robertmanno5749]

Some of her most beautiful playing can be found in Mahler 9 with Chung and the Concertgebouworkest at the Elb Philharmonie in Hamburg.

[@RD-is2px]

Does anyone else think some of her comments have a slightly bitter undertone? Everyone is really happy she has found a job she loves, but at least a few of her former colleagues might be a little offended by the way she speaks about the Philharmonia vs. RCO? Good luck to her though, no doubt she'll be a star there..

[@playermartin286]

Fuck her former colleagues

[@paulcaswell2813]

All I can say is that I've never seen her looking so happy! Even her horn demonstration video done for the Philharmonia doesn't have the joie de vivre shown by Katy here. A fine player indeed.

[@skisunfb]

New colleagues, different vibe, an orchestra truly committed to music (the RCO is not the highest paying job in the world of major orchestras), tradition, sound concept etc. You can't get promoted once you're solo horn in any given orchestra so you might as well try and get the exact job you want! I totally get where she's coming from and... she fits and sounds great with the RCO.

[@howardtaylor9640]

In my opinion the RCO is the best orchestra in the world. They command a lot of respect with having the likes of Haitink and Jansons at the helm,two of the greatest conductors. So I think Katy is in the right place and at 30 she has a great future!!

[@ArtisticElegance]

Ok I’m taking up french horn asap

[@cmw12]

How's it going? I just rented one a few days ago and am looking for a teacher. Having played oboe and violin, I'm excited to try a brass instrument... at age 37...

[@Moonstein]

When did she leave from Philharmonia Orchestra to Concertgebouworkest?

[@hudsoncampos5976]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@MissaMelodica]

0:25 ouch!

[@toniodak8993]

How much do instruments of these standard usually cost?

[@marcostorres3571]

A lot of beginners will start on a single F (usually cost around 1000-3000 USD) but more advanced players usually play on a double which can cost up to 3000-10000 USD

[@marcostorres3571]

In this video shes playing a hand hammered Alexander 103 which cost a bit under 9000 USD

[@toniodak8993]

@@marcostorres3571 thanks for the info! Looks like I got a lot of organ pipes hammering before I afford myself one of these Alexanders...

[@paulcaswell2813]

@@marcostorres3571 This one would be pretty bespoke too, so I'd imagine considerably more than the $9000 you quoted...

[@av-uc4vx]

We love you! Wonderful musician you are!

[@edm9704]

I could not hear you say the name of the orchestra at the beginning of the video. You spoke it too softly and fast.

[@apfelsnutz]

When I started playing in Holland, I was 28...many years ago. My European adventure had begun... I stayed for 20 years, playing in many countries, but my best memories are from Holland. I hope you have learned the language by now. At the time of this video you definitely don't speak the language, and that's a pity and an insult to Holland. I hope you're able to grow into your position and become a part of a great land and people... Success!

[@dembakirtzis2227]

How expensive was her horn?

[@padin6604]

8000€

[@ggwangenwangen6535]

A normal alex 103 is around 7000 euro plus handhammerd is 800 euro

[@mrmusiclover8355]

Practising at home? Brass instruments are loud enough for neighbours to hear/listen to.

[@RetiredBrass]

If it sounds like her, I wouldn't mind if done during reasonable hours. Ah, what the heck, if it sounds like her, I wouldn't even mind in the middle of the night!

[@mrmusiclover8355]

I guess she is bilingual - proficient in English and Dutch.

[@stefanufer608]

Well done, Katy!

[@notaire2]

I like her British accent. No Brexit, please!

[@jamestaylor35]

Why

[@notaire2]

I just anticipated that Brexit might shrink the international personal exchange between UK and the Netherlands, aside from the influence of coronavirus infection, at the time of my original comment.

[@soavemusica]

@@notaire2 You could also consider if the Union is working for Europe. Any topic would do, coronavirus not being the first or last failure. The Union certainly likes the power, the people - not so much.

[@soavemusica]

@@jamestaylor35 More exits would be music to my ears. Europe can hardly survive under the Union.

[@notaire2]

@@soavemusica So far as the coronavirus infection is concerned, the Union does not work well, but the isolated UK works worse.

[@parzenbua]

You know nothing, jon snow

[@Lion_McLionhead]

It's not the Concertgebouworkest she loves but a man.

[@madaxe]

?