Thomas Keller
For more than 25 years, he was the principal tuba player with the Staatskapelle Berlin, whose distinctive sound provided a foundation for the brass section of the orchestra and the Staatskapelle as a whole. Thomas Keller, who hails from Saarland, initially began playing the trumpet, but switched to the tuba at the age of eleven. He trained with tuba players Henrik Tietz and Bernd Schäfer from the Saarland State Orchestra, as well as at the Saarbrücken University of Music with Markus Hölzel and later with Robert Tucci, principal tuba player of the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich. At the early age of 22, Thomas Keller joined the newly founded Orchestra Academy at the Staatskapelle Berlin, where he was part of the first cohort. General Music Director Daniel Barenboim recognised the young musician's extraordinary potential and promoted him – with the logical step of engaging him as a permanent member of the Staatskapelle Berlin in 1999 after a successful audition.
During the orchestra's opera and concert performances in Berlin and on worldwide tours, Thomas Keller made a significant contribution to the playing of the Staatskapelle Berlin with his skill and sense of sound. His technical mastery was as impressive as the great calm and confidence he radiated. His warm and mellow sound, rich in overtones and colour, blended organically with the brass section and gave it, and the overall sound of the orchestra, a distinctive character. These qualities were particularly evident in performances and recordings of the great works of Wagner, Bruckner and Strauss.
Thomas Keller was widely recognised as a tuba player of international stature. He often played as a guest with top orchestras such as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, to which he was appointed by Claudio Abbado in 2009. He also played regularly in renowned brass ensembles, including with his colleagues in the Lindenbrass ‘house ensemble’. He was also in demand as a soloist, performing tuba concertos in public on several occasions. In 2008, he appeared alongside Staatskapelle flutist Simone Bodoky-van der Velde and Daniel Barenboim in the Great Hall of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, where they performed Galina Ustvolskaya's Trio Composition I: Dona nobis pacem.
Thomas Keller often enjoyed playing on old or restored original instruments, depending on the repertoire and the specific sound it required. He also passed on his knowledge and skills as a highly regarded teacher, including at the Academia de Estudios Orquestales in Seville, supported by the Barenboim-Said Foundation, as well as at the Berlin University of the Arts and the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music.
Thomas Keller was very well liked within the Staatskapelle Berlin from the very beginning. He was a kind, humorous person, down-to-earth and reliable, yet independent and individual, a real character. A few days before his 50th birthday, Thomas Keller died tragically as a result of a stroke shortly before a rehearsal of Wagner's Götterdämmerung. The Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Staatskapelle Berlin, which were the centre of his musical activities for many years, owe him a debt of gratitude and will honour his memory.
On behalf of the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden