Utz Koester

Utz Köster grew up in Freden (Leine) in Lower Saxony. After secondary schooling at the Roswitha-Gymnasium in Bad Gandersheim, he began his musical studies at the Musikakademie of the city of Kassel. In 1987, he went on to postgraduate artistic studies at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin under Hans-Joachim Greiner. In November 1989, Utz Köster joined the violas of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. From 2006 to 2013, he was deputy chairperson of the committee representing members of the orchestra. He is frequently invited to play with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. His passion for chamber music led to the founding in 1991 of the annual summertime Internationale Fredener Musiktage. Since then, he has been the Festival’s general manager and has shared its artistic direction with the English violinist Adrian Adlam. In 2010, the Fredener Musiktage festival was awarded Lower Saxony’s Praetorius Musikpreis.