The Royal Wind Orchestra of Thorn
The Royal Wind Orchestra of Thorn was founded in 1812 as the Philharmonic Society of Thorn. In 1865 the title 'Royal' was granted to the orchestra. Throughout the years the orchestra has been very successful, on both national and international level, and is generally known to perform on the highest level in amateur-wind music. In 2008 ‘’The Royals of Thorn’’ were crowned Dutch national champion in the highest division for the 14th time and in 2013 and 2016 The Royals of Thorn won the European Championships of Wind Orchestras.
The orchestra has always been lead by prominent conductors, in recent years for example by Sef Pijpers, Jan Cober and Norbert Nozy. In the 2017 season, Jan Cober joins the Royal Wind Orchestra of Thorn for the second time. Jan Cober grew up in Thorn and as a young man played clarinet with the Royal Wind Orchestra of Thorn. Jan Cober has conducted a number of high-quality wind orchestras around the world. Nowadays, he is also chief conductor of La Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid. As of 2017 the Royals of Thorn, conducted by Jan Cober, have given various concerts at home and abroad, including a concert in St. Petersburg in 2019.
The Royal Wind Orchestra of Thorn is committed to make every concert a musical event of superior quality. The orchestra strives for a regular renewal of the repertoire. In the selection of the works, special attention is paid to a balanced representation of both classical and original compositions written for concert band.
Jan Cober
He grew up in the musical town of Thorn in Limburg and as a young man played clarinet with the famous Koninklijke Harmonie of Thorn. He studied Clarinet, Wind/Brass Band Conducting, and Orchestral Conducting at Conservatorium Maastricht. He became Principal Clarinettist with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and The Hague Philharmonic and continued his conducting studies with Willem van Otterlo, Ferdinand Leitner and Neeme Järvi. For over 25 years, Jan Cober was a member of the Residentie Wind Quintet.
He has conducted a number of high-quality amateur wind bands in Limburg (with which he has regularly given very successful performances), the wind ensemble of the European Community, and the Nationaal Jeugd Harmonie Orkest, which he also founded. He works worldwide as a guest conductor, from Spain to Japan and from Portugal to Australia. He was Principal Conductor of the Swiss Army Band and the Rundfunk-Blasorchester Leipzig, and Artistic Director of the Bläserakademie Sachsen.
He is also the Artistic Director of the European Institute of Conducting in Trento, Italy. In addition to his activities in the world of wind music, Jan Cober has been a guest conductor with nearly every Dutch symphony orchestra and several symphony orchestras abroad. As of 2015 he is Artistic Advisor of the WMC Kerkrade.
