Christoph Poppen (born 9 March 1956) is a German conductor, violinist and academic teacher.
Career
Poppen was born in
Münster
Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
. As a violinist, he was awarded first prize in the
Kocian Violin Competition age 14. He studied the violin with Kurt Schäffer at the
Robert Schumann Hochschule, later with
Oscar Shumsky,
Nathan Milstein, and
Joseph Gingold.
[Background Information](_blank)
ECM 2001
In 1978, Poppen founded the
Cherubini Quartet, winning in 1981 at the international string quartet competition in Evian. He was the conductor of the chamber orchestra
Detmolder Kammerorchester from 1989 to 1995.
He then succeeded
Hans Stadlmair as the conductor and artistic director of the
Münchener Kammerorchester. In collaboration with
ECM he
recorded with the orchestra contemporary music of composers such as
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century.
Life
Born in Munich, the son ...
,
Tigran Mansurian,
Anton Webern
Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...
,
Sofia Gubaidulina,
Giacinto Scelsi,
Valentin Silvestrov and
Barry Guy
Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of or ...
.
As a violinist, he recorded in 2000 works of
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
with the
Hilliard Ensemble. The title ''Morimur'' (We shall die) stands for a juxtaposition of Bach's
Partita for Violin No. 2, which is related to Easter according to scholar Helga Thoene, and interspersed
chorale
A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale:
* Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...
s, some from his
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
s and
Passions. The Partita's final Ciaconna is performed twice, once with the chorale which Bach may have had in mind, along with the violin music. The recording was described as
... one of those increasingly rare things – a moving and intelligently programmed disc that is effective from beginning to end.''
From 2006 Poppen has been the conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, which was, together with the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern, named
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern in 2007. In 2007 he conducted in the
Herkulessaal the premiere of
Wilhelm Killmayer's ''Dithyramben'' for orchestra with the
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.
Poppen was the artistic director of the
ARD International Music Competition from 2000 to 2005.
[Christoph Poppen – Professor für Violine und Kammermusik](_blank)
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts music school, conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, locate ...
2005 He was also
Hong Kong Sinfonietta's Principal Guest Conductor starting from 2015. and will be their music director starting from April 2023 (succeeding
Yip Wing-sie).
In 2014, Christoph Poppen founded the Festival International de Música de Marvão. This Portuguese village, situated at the border with Spain, has only 97 inhabitants. During the 10-day festival with 31 concerts, the village welcomes some 10,000 guests.
Teaching
In 1988, Poppen was appointed professor of violin and chamber music at the
Hochschule für Musik Detmold.
He taught at the
Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin from 1995 and was its director from 1996 to 2000. He has been professor for violin and chamber music at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts music school, conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, locate ...
since 2003.
In 2012–13, Poppen taught at the
DO School in Hamburg as part of a Fellowship program for young social entrepreneurs. He worked with the Fellows to produce a multicultural concert involving local youth groups; currently, he remains involved with the program in role of an advisor.
Awards
*2002
Prize of the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation, with the
Münchener Kammerorchester
*2010
Auszeichnung an Christoph Poppen
Deutsche Radiophilharmonie
References
External links
*
Christoph Poppen
Deutsche Radiophilharmonie
bach-cantatas.com
arte.tv 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poppen, Christoph
German male classical violinists
German male conductors (music)
Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Munich
ECM Records artists
1956 births
Living people
People from Münster
Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Detmold
21st-century German conductors (music)
21st-century German classical violinists
21st-century German male musicians
Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin
Robert Schumann Hochschule alumni
es:Christoph Poppen#top