Marc Gruber

Marc Gruber discovered the horn at the age of 4. Now, thirty years later, he stands as a model of virtuosic, timeless interpretations and richly nuanced performances.

As a soloist, Marc Gruber appeared with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Prague Radio Orchestra, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Niederrheinische Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bilkent Symphony OrchestraAnkara, the Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia as well as the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. With the latter, he made his debut recording performing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for four solo winds and orchestra. In summer 2018, Marc Gruber made his debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Antonio Méndez as part of the Debut im Deutschlandfunk Kultur series, performing Glière's Horn Concerto. In May 2022 he stepped in at German Hornsound for the world premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür's Symphony No. 10 Æris for four horns and orchestra in Bochum. He performed Ethyl Smyth's Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra with the Brucknerorchester and Francesca Dega under Markus Poschner in Linz in 2024/2025.

Marc Gruber is Solo Horn of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra since April 2016. He previously held the same position with the Beethovenorchester Bonn from 2014-2016, the youngest ever solo horn in the orchestra. He's toured extensively these orchestras as well as the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the European Union Youth Orchestra in China, Japan, Korea and all over Europe.

He is a permanent member of the Monet Quintett, which received a scholarship from the German Music Competition 2016 and was awarded a special prize. In 2017, the quintet was a laureate at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition and has since performed all over Germany and Europe. The musicians released their debut recording on the CAvi-music label, featuring works from Dubugnon, Taffanel, Holst and Françaix. As a chamber musician, Marc Gruber has also performed with renowned ensembles and soloists such as the Schumann Quartett, the Linos Ensemble, the Mannheim String Quartet and hr-Brass at national and international festivals.

In 2016, the horn player won the 2nd prize at the ARD International Music Competition (1st prize was not awarded) and was also awarded the Brüder-Busch Special Prize and the Audience Prize. In 2013, the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund appointed him as a scholarship holder. He is prizewinner of the Lions European Music Competition, the South German Chamber Music Competition and was a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy Frankfurt in 2010. He was the first brass player ever to receive the sponsorship award Debut um elf.

Marc Gruber was a young student of Professor Joachim Pöltl in Düsseldorf and then continued studies with Professor Paul van Zelm in Cologne. Further tutelage came from Hermann Baumann, Erich Penzel, Prof. Christian Lampert and Froydis Ree Wekre.