Frøydis Ree Wekre
Former professor of horn and wind chamber music at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo
The daughter of a pianist and an amateur violinist, she learnt to play the piano and violin at a very early age. She only took up the horn at the age of 17 and studied this instrument in Sweden, Russia and the USA. Her teachers included Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto and Vitali Bujanowskij.
Her first engagement was with the Norwegian Opera in 1960. Then in 1961 she was engaged by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1965 to 1991 she was principal horn in this orchestra, as well as at the Norwegian Opera.
Since 1991 she has been professor of horn and wind chamber music at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. She also gives masterclasses in Europe and North America. She is the author of the book Thoughts on Playing the Horn Well, which has been translated into several languages. Several composers have written around 40 works for Wekre, including Sigurd Berge's Hornlokk and Trygve Madsen's Horn Sonata. The Horn Concerto op. 49 by Wolfgang Plagge from 1990 is also dedicated to her.