Desmond Hoebig

Hoebig, Desmond

Desmond Hoebig. Cellist, b Vancouver 18 Oct 1961; B MUS (Juilliard) 1981, M MUS (Juilliard) 1982. He studied cello 1968-78 in Vancouver with Ian Hampton, James Hunter, and Jack Mendelsohn, and first appeared as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at eight. He went on to study 1979-83 at the Juilliard School with Channing Roberts and Leonard Rose. He won the 1976 Concertino Praga Competition organized by Czechoslovak Radio, the 1980 Canadian Music Competitions International Stepping Stones, and the 1981 CBC Radio Talent Competition, and was a finalist in the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. With his sister, the violinist Gwen Hoebig, and the pianist David Moroz, he formed the Hoebig-Moroz Trio in 1979. The trio won first prize in the 1983 CBC Radio Talent Competition and toured in Canada, the USA, and England.

Hoebig is equally accomplished as a solo, chamber, and orchestral player. He has appeared as a soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra, the NACO, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, the TS, and other orchestras in Canada and abroad. In 1980 he began to perform as a duo recitalist with the pianist Andrew Tunis. They have toured widely, won first prize in the 1984 Munich International Competition, and by 1991 had made two recordings (see Tunis). After a 1983 recital by the duo, critic John Kraglund wrote that Hoebig 'is as well equipped, technically, as any of today's young cellists, and has a broader interest than most in the less hackneyed repertoire' (Toronto Globe and Mail, 12 Mar 1983). Hoebig was associate principal cello 1984-7 of the MSO and principal cello 1987-9 of the Cincinnati SO. He joined the Orford String Quartet in 1988 and stayed with the ensemble until it disbanded in 1991, whereupon he became principal cello of the Houston SO.