Elias Agsteribbe

Since September 2019 Elias Agsteribbe (1998) was appointed principal  contrabassoon of the Phil Zuid in Maastricht - Eindhoven. 

As a guest he plays bassoon/contrabassoon with the Brussels Philharmonic (Queen Elisabeth competition), the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hilversum, the Residentie Orchestra the Hague, and the Flanders Symphony Orchestra. He was also guest contrabassoon at the Zürich Opera house, and with the National Orchestra of Lithuanian during the Musica Romantica festival in Switzerland.

Elias was 6 years old when he heard the contrabassoon and immediately decided to learn both the bassoon and contrabassoon. After his studies in bassoon and chamber music with Koen Coppé in Roeselare, with Pieter Nuytten at the Royal Conservatory in Ghent and with Filip Neyens (contrabassoon), he went on to study at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste with Giorgio Mandolesi (solo bassoon of the Orchestre de Paris) and Hans Agreda (solo contrabassoon of Tonhalle Orchester Zürich).

In October 2013, Elias received the first prize in his category at the bassoon competition in the Conservatory in Amsterdam. One of the prizes was a series of lessons with Gustavo Nunez: principal Bassoon of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. In May 2018 he was finalist in the competition for woodwinds in Riddes, Switzerland. Elias has participated in masterclasses with Mor Biron, Susanne Sonntag, Guilhaume Santana, Bram van Sambeek, Simon van Holen, Joost Bosdijk,...

Elias has performed with different Flemish Youth Orchestras, performing in Belgium, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Denmark. He has also played with some (semi)professional orchestras such as the Antwerp Sinfonietta and Ensemble 1828. He performed as a soloist in Vivaldi with the youth orchestra of East-Flandres. In July 2015 and 2018 he performed as a young artist in the Jacobus Festival for historical music in Ghent. In Switzerland he played with the Zürich youth orchestra (JSOZ) and the National Youth Orchestra of Switzerland (SJSO) as a contrabassoonist. He played the historical contrabassoon in Brahms's Requiem with the Belgian ensemble Apotheosis (on period instruments).

Elias is supported as a young talent by foundations Robus (Belgium), Swuk (Belgium) and Rahn Kulturfonds (Switzerland).

He has regular duos with pianists Wouter Valvekens and Samuel Van de Velde. The various programs include works by Saint-Saëns, Mozart, John Williams, Nino Rota, and others.