Artistic direction

Norbert Stertz studied horn at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg im Breisgau under Prof. Ifor James, and at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt under Prof. Marie Luise Neunecker. While still a student, he was a solo horn with the Bundesstudentenorchester Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. He has won prizes in the Concours International de Musique Chambre in Martigny, Switzerland, and the Concours International de Musique de Chambre in Illzach, France. Stertz was a solo horn with the Dortmund Philharmonic from 1989 to 2006, and has occupied the same position at the Westdeutsche Sinfonia since 1997. He has been widely involved in chamber music as a member of the Diaphonia wind quintet, which won the Wettbewerb des Deutschen Musikrates in 1992. Concert tours as a soloist and chamber musician have taken Stertz to the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, England, Scotland, Russia, Venezuela and Korea. He taught horn and chamber music at the Dortmund campus of HfM Detmold from 1993 to 2004, and the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen from 2004 to 2005. In the following year, he was appointed professor of horn at HfM Detmold, where he conducts the hfm-BRASS ensemble. Since his appointment, Prof. Stertz has revived the tradition of horn ensemble playing maintained by his predecessor, Prof. Höltzel, and created the Detmolder Hornensemble. In October 2008, he was elected vice-rector of HfM Detmold. He continued in this position until September 2014. In 2009, he became artistic director of the Detmolder Sommerakademie, and in April 2013 he was appointed artistic director of Orchesterzentrum|NRW in Dortmund for one year. He teaches horn at Detmold together with Prof. Michael Höltzel.