 Ulrich
Herkenhoff was born in Osnabrück, Germany, in 1966. He
took his first piano lessons at the age of six. At 14 came
his encounter with the panflute at a concert given by the
Romanian virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir.
Herkenhoff’s intensive
autodidactic studies soon earned him a reputation as "the
best non-Romanian panflute player". He stood out not
only through his interpretation of classical music, but also
for his work in the field of Romanian folk-improvisation.
Following his flute studies
at the Munich Richard-Strauss Conservatory with Jochen Gärtner,
Ulrich Herkenhoff became the first German panflute player
to be officially registered at the Advanced Class with final
examination.
He received special support
for his studies of Romanian folk music from the Swiss ethnomusicologist
and publisher Marcel Cellier, who discovered Gheorghe Zamfir.
Together with Cellier Herkenhoff produced his first CD in
1990.
Through his interpretation
of classical music Ulrich Herkenhoff has inspired several
contemporary composers to write music for the panflute. In
1992 he was awarded the Munich "Förderpreis des
Gasteig Kulturkreises" (Sponsorship of Culture Group)
and in 1996 with the Bavarian "Staatsförderpreis
für junge Künstler" (State Sponsorship for
Young Artists).
Besides giving concerts
Ulrich Herkenhoff is also acting in the pedagogical area;
he is invited to national and international panflute seminars
as an instructor since several years. In 1993 he inaugurated
the first official class for panflute at the music-school
in Bad Tölz, Germany. In the year 2000 he received the
famous "Echo" award of the "Deutsche Phono
Akademie e.V." for his CD "Symphonic Cinema",
honoured as best classical virtuoso of the year.
Since then Herkenhoff
is also much asked for as soloist for cinema soundtracks.
Among others he participated in the Oscar-winning music of
“Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King"
(composer: Howard Shore). He also contributed to the recording
of Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack of "Fateless"
(Roman eines Schicksallosen).
Besides his concert activities
Ulrich Herkenhoff is also acting in the pedagogical area and
he is applying himself to publishing literature for panflute.
Since the winter semester 2007 he is teaching panflute as
core theme at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz/Austria.
All instruments he is
playing are manufactured by himself.
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