Frank-Michael Erben (born 7 September 1965) is a German violinist and conductor. He is the first

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

and plays the first violin in the Gewandhaus Quartet.

Life

Erben was born in 1965 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

as the son of the cellist Friedemann Erben and the pianist Mathilde Erben. He received his first violin lessons at the age of five from

Klaus Hertel Klaus is a German language, German, Dutch language, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klau ...

, and from 1972 he was his pupil in the children's class of the Leipzig Academy. In 1987, at the age of 21, Erben was elected first

of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Since 1993 he has also been the first violinist of the Gewandhaus Quartet. Since the winter semester 2005/06 Erben has held a teaching position at the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest univ ...

. From the beginning of the 2009/2010 season until 2014 he was chief conductor of the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, which performed under the name "Westsächsisches Symphonieorchester" until 2011. He has also been guest conductor of various orchestras, including the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) () is a Scottish orchestra, based in Glasgow. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has played an important part in Scotland’s ...

.Frank-Michael Erben
on IMLSP

References

External links

*
Internetseite des Gewandhausorchesters
(Frank-Michael Erben aufrufen) * 1965 births Living people Musicians from Leipzig Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig 20th-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) 20th-century German classical violinists 21st-century German classical violinists German male classical violinists Concertmasters of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra {{Germany-conductor-stub