HaFaBra news
Horn workshop (March 7, 2026)
On Saturday, March 7, 2026, we are organizing a workshop for horn players in collaboration with the Dutch Horn Society (NHG).If you play the French horn, alto horn, or cor horn, you are very welcome to participate.Riane van Kooten and Gerben de Boer have agreed to lead these workshops.Both musicians play in the orchestra of the Royal Military Band “Johan Willem Friso” from Assen.wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex”>
Thanks to the partnership with the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG), members of the society can participate in the workshop at the NHG’s expense. Not yet a member? Don’t panic. Register with the NHG quickly before registering for the workshop to be eligible for free participation.
Biography Riane van Kooten
Riane van Kooten began playing the alto horn at the age of seven in the local brass band. At 15, she switched to the French horn.
She studied horn at the Utrecht Conservatory, earning her teaching diploma in 1996 and her performing diploma in 1998.
During her studies, she played in the National Youth Orchestra and the Netherlands Student Orchestra.
From 1999 to 2002, she studied wind and brass band conducting at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg.
Riane played as a substitute with various Dutch symphony orchestras and musical orchestras.
Since 1997, she has worked as a horn player in the Royal Netherlands Army, first with the Royal Netherlands Army Fanfare Corps and, from 2005, with the Royal Military Band Johan Willem Friso.
As a horn teacher and conductor, she has been and continues to be active in various music associations and provides private lessons. She also leads workshops and group horn rehearsals.
Biography Gerben de Boer
Gerben de Boer grew up in Varsseveld in the Achterhoek region, where his interest in music was sparked by the brass band music of the local Jubal group. It was primarily due to the lack of horn players that the horn became the instrument on which he took his first musical steps. He quickly became fascinated by the instrument’s rich history and the many facets of horn playing in ensembles and orchestras. After playing for several years in the National Youth Fanfare Orchestra, the conservatory was the next step.
At the Twente Conservatory in Enschede, he obtained his teaching diploma under Miroslav Ricanek and regularly attended masterclasses with Hermann Baumann, among others, and summer courses in Brno, Czech Republic. Gerben then pursued the performing musician program at the Maastricht Conservatory, graduating in 1995 with Prof. Erich Penzel.
Since 1996, Gerben has been employed as a horn player at the Ministry of Defence, initially with the JWF band and currently with the KMKJWF. In addition to his work at the band, Gerben has also been busy giving horn lessons during those years, including at the Center for the Arts in Emmen/Coevorden, and further developing his horn playing on the alphorn and Viennese horn.
