Hanspeter Oggier, pan flute
Hanspeter Oggier grew up in the Valais mountain village of St. Niklaus (Switzerland) and became familiar with the authentic sound world and expressiveness of the panpipe as a child by listening to records and CDs. He began learning the instrument at the age of 8 and was taken into the musical care of the famous panflutist Simion Stanciu, alias Syrinx, in Geneva at an early age. He completed his studies with the SMPV (Swiss Music Pedagogical Association) in Geneva and Zurich with a teaching and concert diploma. He was the first panflutist ever to be fully admitted to a Swiss college of music and successfully completed his studies with Janne Thomsen at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts with a “Master of Arts in Music with Major Performance Classic”.
He is passionate about contemporary music on the pan flute and has close contacts with many composers of our time his repertoire is broad and includes works from the Renaissance to contemporary compositions. The exploration of both early music and traditional music, thus the authentic roots of his instrument, have recently become the main focus of the musician. Hanspeter Oggier plays on panpipes made in the old manner, thus emphasizing the connection between baroque and traditional music. His contacts with instrument maker Luc Breton, pianist and harpsichordist Michel Kiener as well as sound engineer Jean- Daniel Noir encourage him to use almost forgotten forms of articulation on the panpipe and thus give the instrument back its original naturalness and language. The characteristics of the spoken language should be integrated into the musical language as much as possible.
Hanspeter Oggier has a busy concert schedule as a sought-after soloist and chamber musician. He is a member of the Ensemble Fratres as well as the Ensemble Inversa and plays with the cellist Mathieu Rouquié in the Duo Rythmosis and with the lutenist Luca Pianca in the duo Orpheus and Syrinx.
The musician is a laureate of the Kiefer Hablitzel Stiftung (2007) and the Raiffeisen Kulturstiftung Mischabel-Matterhorn (2014). He performs as a soloist as well as a chamber musician. Examples include his participation in a concert series at the “ETH Zurich”, his fruitful collaboration with the Ensemble Fratres and his debut at the "Flötenfestival Freiburg", where he was invited by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flöte. He has had the opportunity of playing in many countries such as Germany, France, Spain and Austria among others.
The rich discography of the pan flutist, who has received prizes from various foundations and competitions, includes the CD Arpeggione, which he recorded together with the pianist Matthias Clausen and the flutist Marielle Oggier. The two albums Vivaldi Pan Flute Concertos and Telemann Music for Flute, recorded with the Ensemble Fratres have been released by Brilliant Classics. Since 2011 Hanspeter Oggier teaches the main subject Pan Flute at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
In addition to these live performances, he has recorded on the CDs "Arpeggione" (2008) with Marielle Oggier (flute) and Mathias Clausen (piano) on Musica Nobilis, "Vivaldi Pan Flute Concertos" (2015) and "Teleman Music for Flute" (2016) with the Ensemble Fratres on the Dutch label Brilliant Classics. In 2020 another CD will also be released on Brilliant Classics: "With More Than A Hundred Pipes" is a duo with the organist Sarah Brunner.