Gert Frischmuth (18 July 1932 – 4 May 2012) was a German

choral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

Life

Born in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, Frischmuth studied music education at the

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. After twelve years of teaching at the Humboldt-Oberschule in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, he was appointed to the

Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar The University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar (in German: Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar) is an institution of music in Weimar, Germany. The Hochschule Franz Liszt, who spent a great deal of his life in Weimar, encouraged the founding o ...

for the subject of choral singing/choral conducting after additional studies in choral conducting. There he successfully directed, among other things, the chamber choir of the conservatoire, which won several awards. In 1979, he was appointed a Professor. In 1988, after twelve years as guest conductor and two years as interim leader, he was appointed choir director of the Leipzig Radio Choir, later to become the

MDR Rundfunkchor MDR Rundfunkchor is the radio choir of the German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), based in Leipzig, Saxony. Dating back to 1924, the choir became the radio choir of a predecessor of the MDR in 1946, then called Kammerchor des Senders ...

. He led the choir until 1998, and under his direction it developed into one of the top choirs in Europe. He also conducted the Erfurt Male Choir for over forty years and, in 1998 and 1999, the . Frischmuth died in

at the age of 79. Students * Volkher Häusler, Conductor and choirmaster * Hubert Hoche, Conductor and composer * Markus Teutschbein, Conductor and choirmaster * Christian Frank, Conductor and composer

Awards

* Two 1st prizes as choral conductor at the singing competition of the Erfurt district at

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

* 2003

References

External links

* * German choral conductors German music educators Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1932 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Jena {{Germany-classical-musician-stub