Isabel Kern, born in Switzerland, had already been playing the flute in her local brass band for several years when she discovered the oboe at the age of 12. Her passion was quickly awakened and with it her career aspirations - after graduating from high school, she began her studies at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Thomas Indermühle.
The search for new impulses led her further to the class of Jochen Müller-Brincken at the Musikhochschule Würzburg, where she received her diploma in 2008.
In addition, she attended master classes with Ingo Goritzki, Günther Passin, Klaus Becker and Christian Wetzel.
Before becoming principal English horn in the Dresden Philharmonic in 2006, she was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and completed an internship in the orchestra of the Stuttgart State Opera. Several times she was a guest with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the MDR Sinfonieorchester.