Håkan Hardenberger

Håkan Hardenberger (born 1961, Malmö) is a Swedish trumpeter. Taking up the trumpet at the age of eight under the guidance of hometown teacher Bo Nilsson, Hardenberger pursued further studies at the Paris Conservatoire, with Pierre Thibaud, and in Los Angeles with Thomas Stevens. He has quickly established a career as a virtuoso who possesses not only an impressive command of the classical repertoire, but has also commissioned many new works from contemporary composers, including Harrison Birtwistle, Hans Werner Henze, Rolf Martinsson, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Heinz Karl Gruber and Arvo Pärt. Hardenberger has even been called "the best trumpeter on earth" by The Times.