FACULTY

Hoang Van Hoc

Artist Faculty, Horn

musvhh@nus.edu.sg

Singaporean horn player Hoang Van Hoc began his studies with David Jolley at the Hartt School of Music, Connecticut, USA and with James Sommerville at the Longy School of Music, Massachusetts, USA where he received his Undergraduate Diploma in 2000 and his Master of Music in 2001. Shortly afterwards, he won a full-time position with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) beginning in 2002.

In 2005 he successfully auditioned for a place at the Hochschule fuer Musik (HfMDK) in Frankfurt, Germany and left the SSO in order to further his studies with Sibylle Mahni, Erich Penzel and Esa Tapani, where he received a Graduate Diploma in 2008. Since then he has worked with various top tier orchestras in Germany, including the Stuttgart Staatstheater, Oper Frankfurt, Wiesbaden Staatstheater and the Suedwestrundfunk (SWR) Sinfonieorchester.

In 2013 Van Hoc began studies in Natural Horn with Ulrich Huebner at the HfMDK where he graduated with a Masters Degree in Historical-Interpretations-Praxis in 2016. During this time, his engagements with historical orchestras include MusicAeterna in Perm, Russia under Teodor Currentzis, Das Neue Orchestra in Cologne, Germany under Christoph Spering as well as the Hamburg Barockorchester. He can be heard on recordings on the Sony label with MusicAeterna – Don Giovanni, and with Compagnia di Punto – Rosetti Symphonies.

As a firm believer in giving back to the community, Van Hoc has served as guest principal and mentor for several ensembles in the Singapore music scene, which inspired him to pursue a career in music. These include Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra, National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra (now The Philharmonic Orchestra), Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Youth Orchestra (now Singapore National Youth Orchestra), Philharmonic Winds and the Singapore Armed Forces Central Band. In recent years, that list has expanded to include the Orchestra of the Music Makers and Re:Sound Chamber Orchestra.  

In a display of diverse playing styles, Van Hoc has toured with artists such as Deep Purple, David Garrett and Paul Potts. His previous teachers include Dixie de Souza and Jamie Hersch. 2019 marked his return to the SSO.