Matic Kuder
Clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic
Matic Kuder
Clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic
Matic Kuder started playing the clarinet at an early age. Especially because he had two great role models in his family: a cousin and an uncle. It was from the latter that the Slovenian-born son received his first clarinet lessons. Later, he studied in Ljubljana at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet with Dušan Sodja and at the Academy of Music, and at the Graz University of the Arts with Gerald Pachinger and at the Nuremberg Academy of Music with Thomas Holzmann. He has also honed his skills in numerous masterclasses, including with Matej Bekavac, Wenzel Fuchs, Francois Benda, Paolo Beltramini and Hari Mäkki. He gained his first orchestral experience as a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. It was the positive experience in this orchestra that contributed significantly to Matic Kuder's decision to become an orchestral musician.
Winner of several international competitions, he began his career as a solo clarinettist with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in 2017 and moved to the Berliner Philharmoniker four years later. One of his first assignments was the clarinet part Es in Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, which he experienced with the Berliner Philharmoniker in a rehearsal with Sir Simon Rattle in 2012 and has been fascinated by the sound of the orchestra ever since. "It's incredible to be part of this orchestra with all these amazing musicians," says the clarinettist, who enjoys skiing, tennis and culinary delights in his spare time.
"I love the clarinet for its warm and dark sound and its wide range. It can be very virtuosic, but also very loud. Classical, jazz, klezmer, folk music.... I think the high clarinet is a very interesting and exciting instrument. It is usually very easy to hear and, together with the piccolo, it provides a high register in the woodwind section."