Ernest Rombout, oboe 
Ernest Rombout was born in 1959 in The Netherlands. After having studied as a guest student at the Royal conservatory in The Hague for one year, he was admitted to the class of professor Heinz Holliger in Freiburg, Germany. In 1981 he passed his final examinations cum laude which allowed him to continue studying for the Soloist’s Diploma. In 1984 he was awarded the Soloist’s Diploma cum laude. Subsequently he studied with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Maurice Bourgue. He made his debut as a soloist in 1983 in the concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the oboe concerto by R. Strauss. In 1985 he was invited to become Professor of Oboe at the conservatory of Utrecht and since 2007 also at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam.

Since 1981, Ernest Rombout has enjoyed a busy solo career, appearing in festivals such as the Biennale in Venice, the Ludwigsburger Festspiele, the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Takefu International Music Festival in Japan and the Summerfestival in Los Angeles.

Conductors he has worked with include Christopher Hogwood, Marc Foster, Ernest Bour, Ed Spanjaard, Jaap van Zweden and Heinz Holliger. In addition to his performances with such orchestras as the Radio Symphonie Orchester Berlin, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, The Prague Chamber Orchestra , the Vienna String Soloists and the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam. Rombout has made numerous radio, television and CD recordings all over Europe. In 1990 he made his first tour to the USA.

On his first solo-CD (DECCA) in 1994, he recorded the oboe concertos by Haydn and Mozart with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. In the summer of 1998 he was a member of the jury of the International Competition for Oboe in Geneva. Since Ernest Rombout has also engaged himself in modern music, numerous compositions have been composed for him by noted composers such as Luca Francesconi, David del Puerto, Maurice Weddington, Stefano Bellon, Wen Deqing, Eric Verbugt, Rokus de Groot,Richard Rijnvos, Wim Laman, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf and Seung-Ah Oh.

In addition to solo playing, Rombout is also a member of the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam (Contemporary music), The Atlas Ensemble (Contemporary music combining instruments and styles from Europe and the Middle and far East). He also conducts these ensembles occasionally, as well as larger chamber music projects at both Conservatoires.

He is also co-founder of the Sinfonietta Amsterdam  and was solo oboist of The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra for six years. Ernest Rombout has also given many masterclasses in London, Graz, Lisbon, Moscow and Liechtenstein.