Bernhard Sieberer Bernhard Sieberer (born 12 January 1963 in

St. Johann in Tirol St. Johann in Tirol is a market town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kitzbühel district. In the regional ductus, the last syllable of the name is stressed as "Sankt yo-Hahn'". History St. Johann is situated in the Leukental, which extends from Jo ...

) is an Austrian

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

and conductor.

Education and teaching

Bernhard Sieberer studied conducting with Edgar Seipenbusch at the

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Conservatory, and attended master classes with

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures as ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Gustav Kuhn Gustav Kuhn (born 28 August 1945) is an Austrian conductor and manager, also a composer, and a teacher and author. During his international conducting career, he founded the later "Accademia di Montegral" for young musicians and singers in 1987, ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

at the

Mozarteum Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

(funded by the

Alban Berg Foundation The Alban Berg Foundation (''Alban Berg Stiftung'') is an Austrian organisation dedicated to the legacy of the composer Alban Berg (1885–1935). Founded in 1969 by the composer's widow, it cultivates the memory and works of the composer, and awards ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

). From 1986 to 1992 he acted as musical director for the "Europasommer" in Fiecht in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. Since 1988 he has been teaching conducting, baton technique and choral conducting, also as assistant of Gustav Kuhn in the field of symphony music. He has also headed the two-year seminar for choir conductors offered by the "Tiroler Sängerbund" ("Tyrolean Choir Association"). From 2008 to 2010 he taught in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, where he was in charge of sustainable musical development at the Sekem Initiative and at the Heliopolis Academy in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. Sieberer was formerly principal guest conductor of the chamber choir

Jauna Muzika Jauna muzika is a chamber choir in Vilnius, Lithuania, formed in 1989 The members of the choir are professional musicians - graduates and students of the Lithuanian Academy of Music. Depending on the repertoire being performed, the number of the s ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and has been cultural commissioner of the town of

Kufstein Kufstein (; Central Bavarian: ''Kufstoa'') is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 19,600 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The great ...

since 1993. Since 2015 he has been presenting a radio show featuring choir music.

Artistic activities

;Choirmaster 1990 to 2008 and 2011 to present: choirmaster of the chamber choir Collegium Vocale Innsbruck.Collegium Vocale
; Retrieved 3 December 2016
1991 to present: permanent choirmaster of the vocal ensemble Vocapella Innsbruck.Kammerchor Vocapella
Retrieved 3 December 2016
2012 to present: choirmaster of Chor der Vielfalt (choir of diversity), an amateur choir in Innsbruck committed to cultural integration and diversity.
2015: Sieberer establishes the "Innsbrucker Jugendchor" (youth choir of Innsbruck, JUKO) for which he also functions as choirmaster.Innsbrucker Jugendchor
; Retrieved 3 December 2016 ;Theatre In 1992 he was in charge of staging and rehearsal of the theatre music for the "Volksschauspiele

Telfs Telfs is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol, west of Innsbruck. It is the third largest municipality in Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical regio ...

". From 1995 to 2001 he conducted Werner Pirchner's incidental music for

Hugo von Hoffmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

's '' Jedermann'' at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

. In 1997 he conducted the world premiere of

Werner Pirchner Werner Pirchner (13 February 1940 – 10 August 2001) was an Austrian composer and jazz musician. Life He was born in Hall in Tirol, and had his musical start playing jazz. In 1963 he played vibraphone in the Oscar Klein, Oscar-Klein-Quartett. ...

's ''Shalom – Choräle für Streichorchester'' at the festival "Steirischer Herbst". In 2013 he acted as musical director of the "Passionsspiele Erl".Portfolio der Passionsspiele Erl 2013
; Retrieved 3 December 2016 ;Conducting In 1990 he made his conducting debut with the

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, Pa ...

at the

Konzerthaus Vienna The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and ...

and the

Brucknerhaus The Brucknerhaus () is a festival and congress centre in Linz, Austria named after the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. The building was designed by Finnish architects Heikki and Kaija Siren. Its construction took place from 1969 to 1973. It op ...

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

. Since then he has worked with a number of international choirs and orchestras and performed at Steirischer Herbst, Salzburg Festival, Slovakian Philharmonics,

Innsbruck Festival of Early Music The Innsbruck Festival of Early Music (German: Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik) is a festival of historically informed performances of music from the late Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods which takes place annually in ...

and Tiroler Feststpiele Erl. Many of his performances have been recorded on CD or have been broadcast on national and international radio and television. This includes two recordings of contemporary Tyrolean music: the CD „strings“, a complete collection of music for strings by Werner Pirchner, and the CD „Totentanz“, featuring music by

Maria Hofer Maria Hofer (1894–1977) was a renowned organist, pianist and composer. The daughter of an accomplished female singer, she was born in Amstetten, Lower Austria. Already as a child she was learning the organ, and within a few years was permitted to ...

. An ongoing collaboration with the Slovakian chamber orchestra

Capella Istropolitana The Cappella Istropolitana is a Slovak chamber orchestra based in Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bor ...

has produced a number of recordings which have been published under the title "...im Gespräch" ("... in conversation"). These feature a conscious engagement with the deconstruction of, reflection on and performance of a number of well known musical works. The aim of this engagement is to cultivate a more in-depth understanding and more nuanced listening of these often-played pieces. Such recordings of works by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

have already been released, and work is on going on pieces by

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

, as well as a selection of 20th-century music. ;Repertoire Bernhard Sieberer has a broad repertoire: it includes choral works from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

up until the 21st century and orchestral pieces by a variety of composers, ranging from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

, from Mozart to

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, from Beethoven to

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, and from

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...

to Pirchner. A main focus has been orchestral choir music by

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

and

Schütz Schütz (also spelled ''Schuetz'' without Umlaut ü) is a German surname, deriving from ''Schütze'' (shooter/marksman). Notable people with the surname include: People * Alfred Schütz (1899–1959), sociologist and philosopher * Antal Schütz ...

. Sieberer regularly conducts works by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

, Bach, Haydn, Mendelssohn and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, as well as Bruckner,

Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata ''Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Carl O ...

and

Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

, and also contemporary music.

Selected works

* Werner Pirchner – strings (Capella Istropolitana, Litauisches Kammerorchester, Camerata St. Petersburg), ORF 2002 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Fagottkonzert, Oboenkonzert, Klarinettenkonzert (Richard Galler, Dominik Wollenweber,

Wenzel Fuchs Wenzel Fuchs (born 1963 in Innsbruck, Austria) is an Austrian clarinetist. He studied clarinet at the Innsbruck Conservatory with Walter Kefer and at the Vienna Music Academy with Peter Schmidl. He has performed with the Vienna State Opera, the Vi ...

, Capella Istropolitana), RCR 2006 * Maria Hofer – Totentanz (Art of Brass, Hans Gansch, Andreas Öttl, Peter Sadlo und andere, Capella Istropolitana), RCR 2007 * Mozart im Gespräch – Divertimenti in D-Dur und F-Dur, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Klavierkonzert Nr. 11 in F-Dur (Carlo Grante, Cappella Istropolitana), RCR 2008 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Klavierkonzerte Nr. 10, 14 und 23 (Carlo Grante, Barbara Panzanella, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Roma), Music&Arts 2008 * Beethoven im Gespräch – Symphonie Nr. 7, Ouvertüre zu Egmont (Cappella Istropolitana), RCR 2010

Sources

Bernhard Sieberer in the Inventory of the Austrian National Library

References (German)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sieberer, Bernhard Male conductors (music) 1963 births 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians 21st-century Austrian conductors (music) Austrian music educators Austrian choral conductors Living people 21st-century male musicians