Matthias Moosdorf (born April 20, 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 ...

) is a German

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and politician (

Alternative für Deutschland Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

Life

Music

Born in

, Moosdorf is the son of the Leipzig violinist Otto-Georg Moosdorf. After the , he studied 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 ...

with Jürnjakob Timm,

Wolfgang Weber Wolfgang Weber (born 26 June 1944) is a German former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is best remembered for scoring the last-minute equaliser for Germany national football team, W ...

and Gerhard Bosse. In 1991, he passed the Konzertexamen and was an assistant at the Leipzig University of Music until 1996, where he subsequently held a teaching position for violoncello and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

until 2006.Lebenslauf Matthias Moosdorf
on the web site of the Leipzig Stringquartet, retrieved 23 March 2021. Moosdorf was a member of the

Leipzig String Quartet The Leipzig String Quartet (in ) is a German string quartet established in 1988. The ensemble was also part of the 'Ensemble Avangarde' with the pianist Steffen Schleiermacher from Leipzig. History The Quartet was founded in 1988 as the "New Le ...

from 1988 to 2019, with whom he recorded over 120 CDs and gave guest performances in 60 countries. At the same time, he was principal cellist at the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra from 1991 to 2001. From 2006 to 2014, he played in the "Ex Aequo" trio with Gerald Fauth (piano) and Matthias Wollong (violin), and since 2007 in the ''Ecco (!)'' Trio with Moosdorf's wife Olga Gollej (piano) and

Karl Leister Karl Leister (born 15 June 1937) is a classical clarinet player from Wilhelmshaven, Germany. At a very young age, he learned to play the clarinet from his father, also a clarinetist, and later studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. As a ...

(clarinet). Until 2018, he was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of the music series "Musique aux Salles de Pologne". He plays on a cello by

Andrea Guarneri Andrea Guarneri (1626, in Casalbuttano; 1698, in Cremona) was an Italian luthier, musician and founder of the Casa Guarneri. He is the most important student of Nicola Amati and grandfather of one of the best luthiers, Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guar ...

from 1697.

Politics

In September 2016, Moosdorf joined the

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

party. Within the party, he was initially considered a close confidant of party leader

Frauke Petry Frauke Petry (; ; born 1 June 1975) is a German politician who chaired the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from July 2015 to September 2017. A chemist by training and with a professional background as a businesswoman, some political scienti ...

and her husband Marcus Pretzell, at whose wedding celebration he took part in December 2016. He wrote texts for Petry's blog "Der Blaue Kanal" and acted as an advisor to the AfD parliamentary group in the Saxon state parliament. Inge Kloepfer: ''Wut, Bürger.'' In ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', 9 April 2017, . In March 2017, music critic

Arno Lücker Arno Lücker (born 14 April 1979) is a German composer, musicologist, music critic and music dramaturge. He worked as a journalist in Berlin for press and radio, and as dramaturge at the Konzerthaus Berlin where he installed the series ''2 x hör ...

reported critically on Moosdorf's political engagement and statements, which Lücker characterised as

right-wing populism Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establis ...

, in the music blog of the '' Neue Musikzeitung''. After a rift with Petry and Pretzell, Moosdorf turned to the right wing of the party. Together with he campaigned for the establishment of a party-affiliated foundation of the AfD under the name "Gustav-Stresemann-Stiftung". Since around January 2018, Moosdorf has been a research assistant to the Bavarian AfD member of the Bundestag

Martin Hebner Martin Hebner (10 November 1959 – 7 July 2021) was a German politician for the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and from 2017 member of the Bundestag. Biography Hebner was born in 1959 in the West German city of Frankfurt am Main and bec ...

. He was one of the first signatories of the ''

Erklärung 2018 Erklärung 2018 (English: Declaration 2018) was an open letter in Germany calling for intellectuals to provide support for protests against what the document describes as mass immigration into Germany. Initially published on the internet with 34 si ...

'' against "illegal mass immigration". In August 2018, in a blog commentary, he accused the former pastor of Leipzig's

Thomaskirche The St. Thomas Church () is a Lutheran church in Leipzig, Germany, located at the western part of the inner city ring road in Leipzig's central district. Martin Luther preached in the church in 1539. It is associated with several well-known ...

, he had "brought on the way from the unspeakable pulpit" that now " ery day" doctors were "murdered early in their office hours ..by migrants" and girls were "raped and killed". A criminal complaint by Wolff against Moosdorf for

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

was not pursued by the Leipzig public prosecutor's office. According to reports by the ''

RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland The (RND) () is the Hanover-based joint corporate newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editing, editors, and Television producer, producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournal ...

'' and ''

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

'' in November 2018, Moosdorf was the main person responsible for the AfD campaign against the

Global Compact for Migration The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is an intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, that describes itself as covering "all dimensions of international migration in a ...

. Mariam Lau,

Mark Schieritz Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

, Michael Thumann:
Migrationspakt – Unter keinem guten Stern.
' In ''Die Zeit'', No. 49/2018, 29 November 2018. “In 2024 Moosdorf accepted a part-time honorary professor position at Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. The school, financed by Russia’s culture ministry, made headlines just days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when a staff member performed a concert wearing a black sweatshirt with the letter “Z” on it, which symbolizes support for Moscow’s war. “Music knows no ideological boundaries,” Moosdorf wrote on Facebook, adding that accepting the professorship is “a sign of understanding.” “I want to give the young people there

n Russia N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphab ...

the feeling that they are not left behind in Europe,” Moosdorf said. He added that he spent three days in Moscow in September to give an inaugural lecture and plans to go back a few days every quarter to teach chamber music”
politico

Publication

* ''Ludwig van Beethoven. Die Streichquartette''.

Bärenreiter Bärenreiter (Bärenreiter-Verlag) is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle (1903–1975) in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still has its headquarters; it ...

2007,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moosdorf, Matthias German classical cellists Alternative for Germany politicians 1965 births Living people Musicians from Leipzig Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029