Jeroen Mentens

Belgian classical trombonist, born in 1982. At the age of 17, Mentens was the winner of several national competitions such as Jong-Tenuto and Axion Classics. He gave a solo recital in the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg in Brussels and recorded Rimsky-Korsakov's trombone concerto in the Marconi Studio of the Brussels Radio. He was the first prize winner of the International Competition for Light Music in St. Gallen and the Concours Européen de l'UGDA pour Trombone, Euphonium et Chant in Luxembourg. In New Orleans he was a finalist of the Robert Martseller Concours, organized by the International Trombone Association. For three years in a row he was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, where he played with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Paavo Järvi, Lorin Maazel and Bernard Haitink. In 2005 he was a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy, directed by Pierre Boulez. He studied in Amsterdam and New York with the celebrated trombone virtuoso Joseph Alessi. He plays as a temporary assistant with well-known orchestras such as the Koninklijk Concertgebouw Orkest, WDR Sinfonie Orchester, Gürzenich Orchester Cologne, Zurich Opera House, Hamburg State Opera, German Chamber Philharmonic, Ensemble Modern and deFilharmonie. He works with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Christoph Eschenbach, Riccardo Chailly, Sebastian Weigle, Myung-wuhn Chung and others. Before he became principal trombonist of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra in 2010, he was with the Brussels Philharmonic from 2007 to 2008 and with the Essen Philharmonic from 2009 to 2010. In 2008 he also played as a guest solo trombonist in the Seoul Philharmonic and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2010 he has been involved in numerous recordings by the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra on the Oehms Classics label, including in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Lohengrin, Till Eulenspiegel's funny pranks / Symphonia Domestica and others.