Martin Lutz (born 19 May 1950) is a German musicologist, conductor and harpsichordist. He was the musical director of the concert choir

Schiersteiner Kantorei Schiersteiner Kantorei (Schierstein Chorale) is a German concert choir, founded in 1962 at the Christophoruskirche, Schierstein, Christophoruskirche in Wiesbaden-Schierstein. The choir performs regularly in the Marktkirche, Wiesbaden, and in Eber ...

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

from 1972 to 2017, and founded the biennial festival Wiesbadener Bachwochen in 1975.

Biography

Lutz studied church music and musicology at the Evangelisches Kirchenmusikalisches Institut Heidelberg, and art history and ancient history at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. He has been active since 1972 as a cantor of the Christophoruskirche (St. Christopher Church) in Wiesbaden-

Schierstein Schierstein is a southwestern borough of Wiesbaden, capital of state of Hesse, Germany. First mentioned in historical records in 860, Schierstein was incorporated into Wiesbaden in 1926. Today the borough has about 10,000 residents. Situated on the ...

. He has been the conductor of the

, a choir of then about 40 singers, which he shaped to one of the largest concert choirs in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. He is also the conductor of the chamber orchestra Bach-Ensemble Wiesbaden. He continued the series Schiersteiner Vespermusik at the Christophoruskirche, vespers music started by his predecessor, as a forum for early music in Wiesbaden. More than 400 concerts took place as of 2011. In 1975, Lutz founded the festival Wiesbadener Bachwochen, and in 1994, the Musikherbst Wiesbaden. From 1981 to 1999 he was a lecturer in the Musicology Institute of the

. From 1997 to 2003 he taught conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its kind in the Federal State of Hesse. It was founded in 1938. At present around 900 student ...

. Since 2003 he is teaching again at the University of Mainz as an oratorio and early music specialist. He was appointed as a professor in 2009. He has performed as a harpsichordist, organist and conductor in France, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, Poland, Portugal, China, Switzerland and the Netherlands. He is also a member of the baroque ensemble Parnassi Musici. On 8 May 1995, 50 years after the end of World War II, he conducted a performance of Britten's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a choral and orchestral composition by Benjamin Britten, composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, in the Englis ...

'' during a ceremony of the government of Hesse at the

Kurhaus Wiesbaden The Kurhaus ("cure house", ) is the spa house in Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, Germany. It serves as the city's convention centre, and the social center of the spa town. In addition to a large and a smaller hall, it houses a restaurant and the ...

, with choirs from countries who were opponents during the war, the Swindon Choral Society from

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

, UK, the Macon Civic Chorale from

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, the Schiersteiner Kantorei and the Chor von St. Bonifatius, prepared by

Gabriel Dessauer Gabriel Dessauer (born 4 December 1955) is a German Cantor (church), cantor, concert organist, and academic teacher. After studies with Diethard Hellmann and Franz Lehrndorfer, he was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden ...

. He recorded Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of th ...

'' and ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the earliest of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as director of church music in Leipzi ...

'' with the Schiersteiner Kantorei and

Christoph Prégardien Christoph Prégardien (born 18 January 1956) is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music. He is well known for his performances a ...

as the Evangelist, and

Bach cantatas This is a sortable list of Bach cantatas, the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. His almost 200 extant cantatas are among his important vocal compositions. Many are known to be lost. Bach composed both church cantatas, most of them for ...

for solo alto with

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...

. Since 2004, he is part of a project to perform all Bach sacred cantatas in monthly services, introduced by a lecture. The services are held at both the Marktkirche and the

Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt St. Catherine's Church () is the largest Protestant church in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is a parish church in the old city centre near one of the most famous city squares, the Hauptwache. The church is dedicated to the martyred early Christ ...

, in a collaboration with the Kantorei St. Katharinen and the

Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

. For his artistic work, he was awarded the Public Service Medal of the City of Wiesbaden Silver (1987) and in Gold (1997), the Culture Prize of the City of Wiesbaden (1990, together with the Schiersteiner Kantorei) and the

Goethe-Plakette des Landes Hessen Goethe-Plakette (Goethe Plaque) is the highest award by the Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts of the federal state of Hesse, Germany, named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It has been awarded since 1949 at irregular intervals. The award ...

(Goethe Medal of the State of Hesse) in 2007.

References

External links

*
Martin Lutz

* Britta Steiner-Rinneberg
Schiersteiner Kantorei ersang sich unter Martin Lutz einen Namen, der im In-wie Ausland bekannt und gefragt ist
rmt-magazin.de 8 February 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutz, Martin German harpsichordists German musicologists German male conductors (music) Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz 1950 births Living people Musicians from Wiesbaden 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians