Since 2009 with West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Jussef Esa was born in Germany in 1985, the son of a Palestinian father and a German mother. He received his first clarinet lessons at the age of 9. Later study in Detmold with Professor H.D. Klaus and Professor Thomas Lindhorst. In addition, he attended various kinds of chamber music with notable professors and musicians such as Professor François Banda, Professor Norbert Kaiser, Professor Eberhardt Feliz, Matthias Glander and Pierre Boulez.
He joined the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra as a regular member in 2009, and performed Pierre Boulez’s “Dialogue de l’Ombre” as a soloist on the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Together with Maestro Daniel Barenboim and other members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Jussef has also performed chamber music at several concerts.
He was an academic member of the Bavarian State Opera and Staatsoper Berlin, as well as assistant Principal Clarinetist at the Bavarian State Opera for one year. As guest he has performed with various orchestras such as NDR Elbphillarmonie Orchester, Kammerphillarmonie Bremen or HR Sinfonieorchester, and has worked with directors such as Zubin Metha, Kent Nagano, Kirill Petrenko and Daniel Barenboim.