Ralph Ficker, born in the Netherlands in 1984, studied at the Maastricht Music Academy with Will Sanders and Willy Bessems between 2003 and 2009. He also took lessons from Markus Maskuniitty in Hanover. During his student days he was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
After an internship at the Bochum Symphony Orchestra and a limited engagement with the Niederrheinische Symphoniker in Mönchengladbach-Krefeld, he became second horn player of the State Orchestra of Lower Saxony in Hanover in 2007.
In addition, he played projects with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich and the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. Since August 2011 Ralph Ficker has been second horn player and Wagner tuba player at the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. He also teaches horn at the Hanover Academy of Music, Theatre and Media and is the initiator of Germanmasterclasses.
Since October 2016 Ralph Ficker has been teaching at the Aachen Music Academy, collaborating with Paul van Zelm and the Cologne Academy of Music and Dance.