Katy Woolley

Born in Devon, South West England in 1989, Katy Woolley was appointed Solo Horn of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2019 and is considered one of the most exciting horn players of her generation. 

She studied as a scholar at the Royal College of Music in London with Simon Rayner and at Berlin’s Universität der Künste with Christian Friedrich Dallmann. During her studies Katy won the position of third horn in the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, under Esa Pekka Salonen and was promoted to Princpal Horn a hear later. She was the first female brass member in the orchestra’s 75 year history. On graduating from the Royal College of Music with a first class degree, Katy was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal by the HRH The Prince of Wales.

As an international soloist she has performed the classic horn works by Mozart, Strauss and Britten, as well as premiering Tansy Davies’ “Forest” Concerto for four horns with the Philharmonia and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. On joining the Concertgebouworkest, Katy dived into the world of chamber music and has played throughout Europe all the way to Japan and Hawaii with Camerata RCO and Concertgebouw Brass. 

With a passion for helping young musicians realise their potential, from 2012-2019 Katy Woolley was professor of horn at the Royal Academy of Music in London, a post evolving into International Visiting Professor on her move to Amsterdam. As a guest teacher she has worked with students all over Europe, as well as North and South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.