Kurt Suttner (born 8 August 1936 in Regensburg) is a German music teacher and choir director. He is the founder of the Via Nova Choir, with which he was awarded at numerous international competitions.

Career

Born in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

, Suttner studied music and voice at the

Hochschule für Musik München The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, located at Arcisstr ...

. While still a student, he was a co-founder of Konrad Ruhland's Capella antiqua. Following his training, he initially worked as a music teacher at various schools in Munich. Later he became a music teacher at the German School in the Ethiopian capital

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

and worked as a music consultant at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Madagascar. After his return to Germany he became a lecturer for choral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik München, from 1967 to 1968 and again from 1972 to 1974. In 1975 he was appointed to the Chair of Music Education at the

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg () is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively young campus university with a ...

, which he held until 1998. He made numerous international concert tours with the chamber choir of the university. From 1989 to 1999 Suttner was also director of the Bayerische Singakademie (Bavarian Academy of Singing), devoted to training young singers.

via-nova-chor München

In 1972, he founded in Munich the via-nova-chor München, focussed on the performance of contemporary choral music. He formed the amateur choir to a professional ensemble. In close contact with composers such as

Peter Michael Hamel Peter Michael Hamel (born 15 July 1947 in Munich) is a German composer. His works have been associated with the Minimal music, minimalist style of composition, and in the late 1970s with the New Simplicity movement. He is the son of the film ...

, Robert Helmschrott,

Max Beckschäfer Max Beckschäfer (born 23 February 1952 in Münster) is a German organist, composer and academic who taught at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Hochschule für Musik Augsburg-Nürnberg. He received commissions from the Munic ...

Moritz Eggert Moritz Eggert (born 25 November 1965 in Heidelberg) is a German composer and pianist. Life Moritz Eggert began his studies in piano and composition in 1975 at Hoch Conservatory, Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium in Frankfurt (with Wolfgang Wagenhaeu ...

, Kay Westermann, Killmayer,

Harald Genzmer Harald Genzmer (9 February 1909 – 16 December 2007) was a German composer of classical music and an academic. Biography The son of the legal historian , Genzmer was born in Blumenthal, near Kiel, Germany. He studied composition with Paul ...

and

Günter Bialas Günter Bialas (19 July 1907 – 8 July 1995) was a German composer. Life Bialas was born in Bielschowitz (today Bielszowice, a subdivision of Ruda Śląska) in Prussian Silesia. His father was the business manager of a German theatre, and his ...

, the choir created numerous choral works in first performances and premieres. They won awards and accolades at several international competitions, including the Kulturpreis der Bayerischen Landesstiftung (Cultural Award of the Bavarian State Foundation), the grant from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, prizes in international choral competitions in Tours, The Hague, Cork, Budapest, Tolosa, and the special prize for contemporary choral music in the Deutscher Chorwettbewerb (German Choir Competition) in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

. In early 2008, he handed over the direction of the choir to

Florian Helgath Florian may refer to: People * Florian (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Florian (Marcus Annius Florianus), Roman emperor in 276 AD * Saint Florian (250 – c. 304 AD), patron saint of Po ...

Awards

* 1998:

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 2006: Medal "München leuchtet" * 2007: Orlando-di-Lasso-Medaille of the Bayerischer Sängerbund * 2007:

Bayerischer Verdienstorden The Bavarian Order of Merit () is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people". The orde ...

References

External links

*
Kurt Suttner
via-nova-chor.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Suttner, Kurt German musicologists German choral conductors German male conductors (music) Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1936 births Living people 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians