Born in Chur into a musical dynasty, René Oswald received his first clarinet lessons from his father.
René Oswald studied at the music academy and conservatory of Zurich under the tutelage of Hans-Jürg Leuthold. Further studies followed at the music academy in Basel with Hans-Rudolf Stalder and continued with professor A. Prinz (Vienna) and Professor H. Deinzer (Germany). He received valuable encouragement from professor E. Koch in Eastern Germany, which led him to enter the sound world of the German clarinet school.
René Oswald was awarded the prize of the government of the canton of Grison. He has concerted at home and abroad including at the renowned Wigmore Hall, London, in Austria and in Germany with recordings for radio in Switzerland and Austria etc. He is the head of international courses for the historical and modern clarinet.
His clarinet repertoire encompasses all styles from early classical to the standard literature. One of the passions of René Oswald is the music of our time. Many contemporary composers have written works for him including Jürg Brüesch, Mario Giovanoli, Gion Antoni Derungs and Meinrad Schütter.
In addition he is also dedicated to historical instrument praxis. He plays works from the heyday of various instruments including the chalumeaux, the bivalve clarinet and the historical basset horn. René Oswald is a lecturer at various festivals and master courses.