Bassoonist Tonko Huljev was born in 1986 in Šibenik. As a child he began to play the piano and at the age of thirteen also the bassoon. Until his studies he was under the mentorship of his father Damir Huljev. In 2004 after a successful entrance exam, he began to study at the University of Music in Munich in the class of prof. Eberhard Marschall.
In 2001 and 2004 he received first prizes at the regional and national competition TEMSIG and in 2002 at the Croatian national competition in Dubrovnik with the highest number of points. He also won the competition of all instruments in Povoletto in 2003. During his studies in 2009, he was the second prize winner of the competition of German music colleges in Detmold.
So far he has played in the famous concert halls such as Wiener Musikverein, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, KKL Lucerne, Royal Albert Hall London, Milan Scala, Herkulessaal Munich and with great conductors such as Franz Welser – Möst, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Charles Dutoit, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Bruno Weil, Zubin Mehta, and Jonathan Nott. He also played with musicians such as Stefan Schilli, François Leleux, Marco Postinghel, Andras Adorjan, Wolfgang Gaag, Johannes Hinterholzer.
With a special invitation, in 2009 he was the solo bassoonist of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and in the same year he became a member of the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. After two years in this top orchestra, in 2011 he became the solo bassoonist of the Hof Symphony Orchestra.
