Balthasar Hens, bass clarinet player of the Stuttgart Philharmonic, studied in the classes of Ulrich Wurlitzer, Johannes Peitz and Ralph Manno at the Colleges of Music in Wurzburg, Hanover, and Cologne and before that he was taught by his father, the clarinettist Bernhard Hens and by Prof. Hans Pfeifer. He was awarded a scholarship to the Orchestra Academy of the Essen Philharmonic and one of his first jobs was in the Orchestra of the State Theatre in Saarbrucken where he discovered the joys of playing the lowest members of the clarinet family. As a soloist Balthasar Hens performed, amongst others things, the world premiere of Werner Heider’s The Unexpected for Bass Clarinet Solo and Chamber Orchestra during the International Summer Academy in Pommersfelden. He also performed, together with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the rarely heard Concerto for Bass Clarinet by the composer Josef Schelb. Alongside his job as an orchestra musician, Balthasar Hens also plays in the Stuttgart Philharmonic’s “Philharmonic Wind Quintet” and regularly appears with the pianist Hsiao-Yen Chen as the “Duo Bathyphon”. From 2011 he has taught bass clarinet at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. In 2014 he released his first recording which was commended for its expressive sound by local and international press.
