Felix Klieser at BBC Proms: who is German French horn musician born without arms - how does he play?

The Royal Albert Hall played host to another night of incredible classical musical talent as The Proms continued with more high energy performances yesterday evening (13 August). 

The latest session was broadcast on BBC Four and audiences were thrilled by a unique performance by a popular German musician.

Felix Klieser made his Proms debut, playing the French horn, an instrument he has played for most of his life. However, born without arms, Klieser had a harder job than most classical musicians in earning a place at the prestigious Proms concert, the largest classical music festival in the world.

Klieser’s performance brought the audience at the Royal Albert Hall to its feet, and the musician later spoke to presenter, radio broadcaster Petroc Trelawny and special guest flautist Hannah French about his experience as a disabled musician.  

Who is Felix Klieser?

Felix Klieser is a 32-year-old German musician who was born without arms who learned to play the French horn aged four, despite his disability.

Klieser began playing the instrument with another person holding it in place and using his left foot to operate the valves. Later, he had a special stand developed to hold the instrument in place, whilst he plays it using his toes.

He studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover. When he first became interested in playing, teachers had suggested that he start with different instruments before graduating to the French horn when he was older, but he resisted and took up the horn straightaway.  

Klieser was awarded the ECHO Classic prize in the for Best Young Artist in 2014, and in 2016 he received the Leonard Bernstein Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.

He has written an autobiography, Fußnoten (Footnotes) about his musical experience, available in German, Japanese, and Mandarin.

What did Felix Klieser do a BBC Proms?

Klieser made his Proms debut on Sunday as he performed a rendition of Mozart’s Concerto number 4, supported by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kirill Karabits.

The roughly 23 minute piece was composed in 1775 by Mozart for his successor at the Salzburg Court Orchestra, Antonio Brunetti, and consists of three movements. The concerto is performed by violin, strings, oboe and horn.

Klieser received a standing ovation following his performance. Speaking to Proms presenter Petroc Trelawny, he said “I always wanted to become a real good musician and a musician that was accepted in the classical world … I was not talking about arms, about handicaps.

“Now I have been doing this for 10 years, the situation is different and the thing I want to do now is show people what is possible when you believe in yourself. Even if you think something is not possible or there is a huge problem you cannot overcome or you have a limit you cannot overcome that does not mean it is not possible.”

“When I wanted to become a horn player noone was believing in me… but I wanted to become a horn player. It was a long journey, a hard journey, but in the end I am sitting here.”

Other performances at the Proms yesterday evening played by the orchestra include Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony - in celebration of the composer’s 150th birthday - and Ivan Karabits’ first Concerto for Orchestra which was written to mark the 1,500th anniversary of the founding of Kyiv, the now capital of Ukraine.

Where can you watch Felix Klieser’s Proms performance?

The performance, titled Felix Klieser plays Mozart at the Proms, is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, and will be on the site for 11 months. You can also listen to the full performance on the BBC Sounds app.