Mathias Breitschaft (born in 1950) is a German church musician and university teacher.

Biography

Breitschaft began his musical career as a member of the boys' choir

Regensburger Domspatzen The Regensburger Domspatzen (literally: Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows) is the cathedral choir at the Regensburg Cathedral in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. The boys' choir dates back to 975, and consists of boys and young men only. They perform i ...

. After his studies of music at the

Musikhochschule Frankfurt The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (german: Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, italic=no, link=no, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its ...

with

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademi ...

and

Kurt Hessenberg Kurt Hessenberg (17 August 1908 – 17 June 1994) was a German composer and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt. Life Kurt Hessenberg was born on 17 August 1908 in Frankfurt, as the fourth and last child of ...

, he headed the

Limburger Domsingknaben Limburger Domsingknaben (; "Limburg Cathedral singing boys") is the name of the boys' choir at the Limburg Cathedral in Limburg, Hesse, Germany. The choir was founded in 1967 by the then bishop of Limburg, Wilhelm Kempf. Its conductors were Han ...

from 1973 to 1985. In 1985 he was appointed cathedral conductor at the

Mainz Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Mainzer Dom nw.jpg , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt = , pushpin mapsize = , relief = , map caption = , iso regi ...

. In addition to the direction of the

Mainzer Domchor The choir Mainzer Domchor is the choir at Mainz Cathedral, of boys' and men's voices. It was founded in 1866 by the then bishop of Mainz, Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler. History The choir of c. 140 voices is mainly concerned with the musical part ...

, he was the founder of the Cathedral Chorale (''Domkantorei'') (1987) and the girls' choir of the Mainz Cathedral (1995). He taught as a lecturer and professor for choral conducting at the

. In 1994 he was appointed professor for choral conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik Mainz The Hochschule für Musik Mainz (HfMM, Mainz School of Music) is a university of music, part of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. It is the only such institution in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History The institution wa ...

of the

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

. His interpretations have been documented in radio and television recordings. He has performed with his choirs in Europe, Israel, North and South America. On 22 March 2012, Prelate Heinz Heckwolf announced that Breitschaft would retire at the end of July 2012 and would become the new cathedral conductor on 1 August 2012. Breitschaft has been working as a voice coach for the traditional choir Kiedricher Chorbuben since autumn 2012.

Awards

Breitschaft received the highest award of the

Allgemeiner Cäcilien-Verband für Deutschland The Allgemeiner Cäcilien-Verband für Deutschland (General Association of the Cecilian Movement Germany) (abbreviated as ACV) was founded in 1868 and is an organization for choral singing of the Catholic Church The Catholic Church, als ...

, the on 6 May 2010. On 22 December 2010, Breitschaft received the Gutenberg badge of the state capital

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

.Gutenberg-Plakette für den Mainzer Domkapellmeister Mathias Breitschaft
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References

External links

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Mainzer Domchor Weihnachtsoratorium Bach, Leitung Prof. M. Breitschaft
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Breitschaft, Matias Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz 1950 births Living people 20th-century German musicians German music educators German conductors (music) German choral conductors 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music)